After taking the main target of this trip,
Chen Ye hesitated for a moment.
Although, Kong Hongxuan must have hidden quite a few good things at home,
there was no time now for him to slowly search.
With that in mind,
Chen Ye swiftly unfastened the storage bag from Kong Hongxuan’s waist,
then he proceeded without hesitation to Kong Hongxuan’s brother’s corpse and also took his storage bag.
After doing all this, he did not linger, and with a flick of his fingers, he gathered a wisp of spiritual fire, igniting the flammable items inside the house.
Moments later, flames roared up, engulfing the secluded courtyard.
The blazing fire flickered in the wind and snow, illuminating half the sky in red.
Chen Ye stood at a distance, watching the courtyard turn into a sea of fire, his eyes calm.
"Destroy the evidence..." he murmured to himself.
Burning the entire courtyard was indeed conspicuous.
But the act of murder could not be covered up in any case.
Might as well burn it all to leave no trace.
Even if Luo Heng and others suspected he killed the Kong Hongxuan brothers, they would find no evidence.
Especially in this chaotic western district, under the onslaught of demon beasts.
Even the Lingyin Sect has neither the extra energy nor personnel to thoroughly investigate this matter.
Chen Ye turned and left, his figure quickly blending into the wind and snow.
On the way back, he discovered several more corpses of loose cultivators, mostly raggedly dressed, with their belongings clearly looted.
They died miserably, some even missing limbs.
As if gnawed by demon beasts or killed by loose cultivators in ambushes.
Seeing these scenes, Chen Ye felt increasingly heavy-hearted.
The reason he spent a considerable amount of Spirit Stones to move into the Market was precisely for the order that remained here and the protection of the Lingyin Sect.
But now, it seems that even within the Market,
under disasters and the assault of outer demon beasts, this so-called order has become fragile and is teetering.
"Everyone’s living in fear..."
...
That evening.
The personnel Luo Heng sent to monitor Kong Hongxuan finally arrived belatedly.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man with a stern face and a steady aura, evidently a late-stage Qi Cultivator.
His name was Hu Duanxing, the Hall Master of another hall of the Jade Lizard Association.
Hu Duanxing received the order with some disdain in his heart.
In his view, Kong Hongxuan only became a Hall Master by relying on his ancestral treasure armor, with his cultivation barely reaching the late Qi Refining stage.
He was hardly worth a personal visit from him, a Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer cultivator.
"Hmph, just a waste relying on ancestral protection."
Hu Duanxing secretly thought, holding Kong Hongxuan in contempt.
"The president’s treasured son had his eyes on his treasure armor long ago. Without Chen Ye, the president would sooner or later find another excuse to take his Frost Scale Armor."
Just Chen Ye’s Heart-Protecting Jade alone costs over a hundred Spirit Stones.
Not to mention Kong Hongxuan’s Frost Scale Armor?
It was left by his grandfather, Luo Heng’s sworn brother.
His grandfather was once an outer disciple of the Lingyin Sect, who withdrew from the Sect after failing to advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage and died.
It’s said it took nearly three hundred Spirit Stones to commission Sect artifact refiners to create it.
Though Hu Duanxing thought this in his heart, after seeing what happened to a colleague,
he couldn’t help but feel a sense of empathy and fear.
After all, in this chaotic world, who can guarantee they’ll always be safe and not become an expendable pawn?
He quickened his pace towards Kong Hongxuan’s courtyard in the western district.
The wind and snow persisted, shrouding the entire western district in a bleak vastness.
When Hu Duanxing finally found Kong Hongxuan’s courtyard, the scene before his eyes made his pupils contract, gasping in shock.
The once tidy courtyard was now a scorched ruin, billowing with black smoke and raging flames.
Turning the flying snow into a crimson sea.
Lingyin Sect stewards had already arrived, frowning as if it were a common sight.
Using the Cloud Rain Technique to extinguish the flames.
Meanwhile, several outer disciples were eagerly rushing into the courtyard with faces of joy.
"This... what’s going on?!"
Hu Duanxing was shocked and colorless with fright.
He immediately realized the gravity of the situation and dared not stay, turning around immediately.
He rushed back to report the matter to Luo Heng at the Jade Lizard Association headquarters as quickly as possible.
...
Inside the quiet chamber at the Jade Lizard Association headquarters.
After hearing Hu Duanxing’s report, Luo Heng’s aged face first flashed a trace of astonishment, then fell into contemplation.
The first person he thought of was Chen Ye.
This person... acted so decisively?
Luo Heng lightly tapped the armrest with furrowed eyes, his gaze twinkling unpredictably.
After a while, he slowly raised his head and waved off Hu Duanxing, who was about to send more people for reconnaissance.
"No need to keep an eye on that Chen Ye..." Luo Heng’s voice was tinged with fatigue.
"This person is ruthless and decisive, by no means an ordinary Medicinal Farmer seeking comfort. Even if you grasp his weakness, it’s hard to control him truly. It may spark trouble instead."
Luo Heng pondered for a moment, then continued, "Rather than alienate him, why not try to make peace... Well, consider the hundred Spirit Stones plus an upper-grade Magical Artifact as an upfront investment to foster a relationship with a future Lingyin Sect steward."
He recalled the significant resources spent to establish a connection with Zhou Mingyuan in the past, totaling two hundred Spirit Stones and several resources.
Investing a little now to win over a potential Spirit Plant Master doesn’t seem like a loss.
"Perhaps it’s a good thing. If one truly covets comfort, in the Lingyin Sect, they won’t go far..."
Hu Duanxing was full of confusion, feeling heartache: "President, just let him go like this? That’s a hundred Spirit Stones, and a Tier One Upper Grade Magical Artifact... Besides, on Kong Hongxuan..."
"At this point, I’d rather see him go further away,"
Luo Heng interrupted Hu Duanxing, speaking leisurely.
Besides, he had not wronged Chen Ye.
On the contrary, he treated him with courtesy, sparing no rewards.
Why risk potential trouble over mere Spirit Stones?
Moreover, he was on the verge of attempting the Foundation Establishment.
These resources were trivial.
...
In the small courtyard on Shunshui Street.
Outside, the cold wind was biting, but inside it was warm as spring.
The little black-haired ball sat seriously on the meditation cushion, her small body as straight as a ramrod.
Ever since the day she introduced Qi into her body and could sense the Water Spiritual Qi, she had not stopped cultivating for a moment.
Zhiwei’s fingertips subtly guided a thread of cold spiritual Qi, circulating slowly within her body according to the path of the "Evergreen Technique."
Nearby, it seemed like she could still hear Chen Ye’s casual comment about her "three-legged cat cultivation."
The pale little girl’s face remained expressionless, with her black eyes calm like an ancient well.
But the slight press of her lips betrayed a hint of stubbornness and defiance in her heart.
Zhiwei was definitely not a "three-legged cat!"
For some reason, the little girl particularly cared about his evaluation.
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, and the more serious she became in her Introductory Qi movements, diligently.
Activating her weak sense of Qi, she focused on capturing the scarce spiritual Qi in the air.
It is unclear how much time passed.
"Creak——"
The sound of the courtyard gate opening interrupted Zhiwei’s cultivation.
She slowly opened her eyes, exhaled a long breath, and moved to the window.
Only to see Chen Ye standing in the courtyard, brushing off the accumulated snow on his body.
He looked a bit exhausted, and his body shrank from the cold, stomping his feet, appearing somewhat comical.
In reality, Chen Ye could have circulated spiritual power to ward off the cold.
But in this environment, how could he use his life-saving spiritual power just to keep warm?
The man noticed her gaze, looked up towards the bedroom, and beckoned to her mysteriously:
"Zhiwei, guess what Master brought back?"