novelapdf Chapter 32 Destroying the Corpse and an Unexpected Gain
Chapter 32 Destroying the Corpse and an Unexpected Gain
The night wind was salty and pungent, carrying the lingering smell of gunpowder from inside the house, which wafted straight into my nostrils.
Gu An did not collapse to the ground panting, even though his lungs were burning with pain.
In this outer gate, dead people are not scary; what's scary is dying improperly and attracting the mad dogs of the Enforcement Hall.
He deftly ripped off Xun Yin's tattered black robe, stuffing it, along with the pieces of flesh and severed limbs on the ground, into the still-intact bed sheet. He tied a knot, tightened it, his movements as practiced as a seasoned butcher.
"rise."
Gu An gave a low shout and hoisted the heavy package onto his shoulder.
Pushing open the door, the courtyard was silent.
Although the explosion was loud, most of the outer disciples had set up soundproof arrays in their courtyards to ensure a quiet environment for cultivation. As long as the houses weren't destroyed, the neighbors who were in seclusion next door would most likely just assume that someone had blown up their furnace and wouldn't bother to get involved.
This gave Gu An the best cover.
He activated the Turtle Breathing Technique, suppressing his aura to the extreme, like a night-roaming turtle carrying a heavy shell, silently making his way towards Ghostly Valley under the cover of night and bamboo forest.
The wind howled in the valley.
Since the mutated mulberry forest lost its earth vein yin energy and was no longer irrigated by Gu An's "blood poison syrup," it is now in a state of extreme thirst and frenzy.
Gu An walked to the edge of the fissure in the ground where the corpse of the demonic cultivator had once been buried. This was the place with the heaviest yin energy in the valley, and also the perfect place to destroy evidence.
"You got off easy."
Gu An flicked his wrist, tossing the package on his shoulder into the dark crevice, but it didn't land with a dull thud.
As soon as the package entered the darkness, more than a dozen thick, python-like tree roots suddenly emerged from the cracks in the rock wall, accompanied by a chilling whistling sound, and instantly wrapped tightly around the package.
"Click, click."
A sickening sound of bones cracking echoed from underground.
The tree roots seemed to have grown mouths, and countless tiny roots pierced the corpse like steel needles, greedily sucking the blood and flesh containing spiritual energy.
In just three breaths, the package deflated.
Gu An watched this scene expressionlessly. In this world of cultivation, cannibalism was commonplace, and even trees eating people was not unusual. Rather than letting the corpse rot, it was better to turn it into spring mud, even if that mud was black.
After disposing of the body, Gu An did not immediately return to his house, but instead turned and headed to the neighboring courtyard—No. 12, Courtyard B.
Xun Yin is dead, but the mess he left behind has not been cleaned up yet.
The Corpse-Listening Gu, still frantically bobbing around in the bottle in Gu An's room, has its mother still in Xun Yin's room. If someone with ulterior motives discovers the mother worm's sudden death and follows the clues to find her, it could be quite troublesome.
Xun Yin's courtyard gate was ajar, probably because he was too confident when he went out to kill someone, thinking he would be able to come back soon to collect the body.
Gu An squeezed through the crack in the door, and a strong, nauseating stench of decay hit him, even stronger than he had expected.
The room was dimly lit, with only a pale green lamp burning in the corner.
In the center of the room stood a large vat filled with a dark, viscous liquid. Several human finger bones could be vaguely seen floating on the surface of the liquid. Looking at the hemp clothing scraps that only servants wore floating on the surface, Gu An was horrified.
"What a madman."
Gu An covered his mouth and nose, his gaze quickly sweeping across the room.
On an altar in the corner, there was a black earthenware jar, from which came out a series of restless buzzing sounds.
Gu An stepped forward, and without opening the lid, a golden light flashed from his fingertips.
"puff."
The earthenware jar, along with the mother insect inside, was instantly pierced by the force of Geng Jin's finger. The buzzing sound abruptly stopped.
With the hidden dangers resolved, it's time to reap the rewards.
Gu An rummaged through the hidden compartment by the bedside and found all of Xun Yin's belongings—a storage bag and several old booklets scattered around the pillow.
He didn't dare to look closely, stuffed everything into his pocket, and then casually knocked over the ever-burning lamp.
Green lamp oil was spilled on the ground, which was covered in corpse oil.
"call--"
Flames erupted instantly.
Without any hesitation, Gu An left the courtyard just before the firelight illuminated the window paper, and closed the gate behind him.
The fire spread quickly, but this wasn't unusual in the outer sect. Every year, several unlucky individuals would be burned to death by exploding furnaces during corpse refining or by going into a state of demonic possession and being engulfed in flames.
By the time the people from the Enforcement Hall come to put out the fire, all that will be left here is a pile of charred remains. Who will be able to tell whether it is Xun Yin or that vat of rotten flesh?
……
Back to Courtyard No. 13, Building B.
Gu An closed the doors and windows and checked the restrictions again.
Once he was sure it was safe, he slumped onto the stone bench, not bothering to wipe the soot off his face, and first poured himself a mouthful of cold water.
The wound on his chest was still throbbing, a result of the fire poison left from enduring the corpse fire earlier.
He pulled Xun Yin's storage bag from his pocket and forcefully broke through the faint remaining marks on it with his divine sense.
A pile of miscellaneous items was dumped onto the table with a crash.
Aside from a few changes of clothes and a spare boning knife, the most conspicuous item was a pile of scattered spirit stones, about eighty or ninety pieces.
"Being an outsider isn't all that great."
Gu An cursed under his breath, but his hands obediently put the spirit stones away. To him now, even a mosquito's leg was meat.
Besides the spirit stones, there were also several bottles and jars.
Gu An identified them one by one.
Several bottles of low-quality corpse oil, two bottles of highly poisonous corpse-dissolving water, and a bottle of black pills labeled "Corpse-Nourishing Pill"—all of these were wicked and unorthodox items.
Gu An carefully put these things away, his gaze finally settling on the few tattered booklets.
One of the books was "The Art of Corpse Control," which recorded some rudimentary methods of corpse refining. Gu An flipped through two pages but lost interest; it was too bloody and would easily incur divine retribution.
Another book caught his eye: "The True Cure for All Poisons (Incomplete)".
The pages of the book were yellowed and brittle, clearly indicating its age. Gu An carefully opened it, and inside were densely packed records of dozens of methods for extracting, preparing, and detoxifying poisons from both the mortal and immortal realms.
One of the pages contains a detailed recipe for a poison called "Sealing Throat Powder".
"Take three qian of bone-rotting herb juice, mix it with antiseptic resin, and add snake venom... It is colorless and odorless, and it coagulates immediately upon entering the blood."
Gu An's eyes flickered slightly. Wasn't this the improved version of the poison he had tinkered with in Youying Valley?
With this book, "The True Explanation of All Poisons," the power of his "Thousand Threads Knot" will increase by at least 30%. It can not only kill, but also infiltrate people without them even realizing it.
More importantly, the book also records several methods for identifying the toxicity of spiritual herbs, which is a huge advantage for him, given his [Affinity for Spiritual Plants].
[Item obtained: "True Cure for All Poisons (Fragment)"]
[Reading in progress... Pharmacological knowledge +10]
Gu An closed the book, and the murderous rage in his heart finally dissipated somewhat.
Although the night was dangerous, the rewards were plentiful.
Not only did they get rid of a neighbor with malicious intentions, they also gained a useful skill.
He looked at the panel.
Name: Gu An
Lifespan: 19/91 (Recovering from minor injuries)
[Realm Level: Qi Refining Level 3 (235/400)]
[Skill: Thread Knot (Beginner 5/100)]
My lifespan limit dropped by a few years; that was the price of forcibly unleashing my potential. But thankfully, that damned "damaged" state has disappeared, and with proper care, I can recover it eventually.
Gu An took out the "treasure trove" token he had obtained from Old Zhang's pipe—a piece of purple bamboo—from his pocket.
Xun Yin's death was an interlude, but it served as a wake-up call for him. The outer gates are not a safe place; a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.
The more Xuan Yin Silk he hoarded, the greater the risk. Although things were temporarily stable on Zhao Feng's side, the greed in the eyes of Zhao Lingjue, the young master of the Zhao family, made Gu An very uncomfortable.
Those kinds of people are ruthless and heartless. Rather than waiting to be exploited by them, it's better to take the initiative.
"We still have to go to the ghost market..."
Gu An ran his fingertips along the cool surface of the purple bamboo. He had to go.
It wasn't just to sell the batch of top-grade Xuan Yin Silk that had been intercepted, but also for the auxiliary medicine on that incomplete Foundation Establishment formula.
Furthermore, he needed to buy a suitable magical artifact. The black iron hoe was already dulled; in this cannibalistic place, without teeth, he was left at the mercy of others.
Gu An stood up and looked outside through the crack in the window.
The fire in the neighboring courtyard No. 12 of Building B has been extinguished. Several disciples from the Enforcement Hall are cursing and searching through the ruins, but they have obviously found nothing.
Dawn was approaching. In the long night of the Green Wood Sect, another person was gone, and another pile of ashes remained.
Apart from Gu An, no one knew what happened last night.
He pulled out a set of night clothes that he hadn't worn in a long time from under the bed; it was something he had sewn when he was still working at the miscellaneous servants' peak.
Although it's a bit old, it fits well, and with the sect's front line on high alert and all the guards focused on the main gates, there are very few people willing to watch over the sect's paths. This is the perfect time to slip out of the sect.
"The Ghost Market will be held in a few days."
Gu An had been calculating the days; according to the Ghost Market's schedule, the grand market day was fast approaching. He inserted the low-grade magical artifact, the boning knife, into his boot, his eyes appearing exceptionally deep in the darkness.
"I hope that Manager Li can give me a good price."