The night was silent, so quiet that the drop of a pin could be heard. Leaning against the wall, Gu An was frustrated, wondering why his heartbeat was so fast.
For some reason, although he couldn't hear any movement outside, he inexplicably felt that the Demon of Greed was approaching his house.
His gaze moved back and forth between the door and the windows. Moonlight streamed in through the cracks in the door and windows, bright and terrifyingly so.
The White Spirit Rat, trembling, made Gu An's chest itch, making him want to throw it out, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Time slowly passed as Gu An held his breath and focused.
Gu An had never longed for daylight as much as he did now.
The Supreme Sect was not safe at all!
In the future, he would need to accumulate more life span. While keeping a low profile, he must not stop growing stronger!
Gu An was lost in thought, not knowing how much time had passed when his gaze suddenly fixed on the threshold of his door.
The door was to his left, less than a meter away. It was illuminated by the moonlight, and a dark shadow appeared in the door crack, sending shivers down his spine.
The Demon of Greed!
It was coming!
Gu An's heart reached his throat, his body tense.
He even felt an urge to rush out!
Suddenly!
Gu An's body stiffened. He felt a wet hand touching his head, its sharp nails pressing against his forehead, sending chills down his spine.
His mind went blank as he cautiously looked up, only to see a pale arm emerging from the darkness above, looking like a woman's arm, the hand pressing on the top of his head with nails sharp as claws.
The owner of the arm reached out from the darkness, a disheveled and ferocious face pushing through, her true face unclear, only her mouth full of dripping fangs visible.
She was smiling!
Damn!
Gu An was terrified to the point of madness, lashing out with his arm in anger, slapping the face of the Demon of Greed.
Boom!
The roof of the house was blasted open, flesh and blood splattering inside, tiles and turf flung dozens of feet into the air, disappearing into the night.
The night sky was so dark, the mountains and forests around Medicine Valley appeared to be standing like demons and ghosts.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Gu An was gasping for air, his right arm in the air, trembling, his palm smeared with blood, the blood of the Demon of Greed splashed all over his face.
When everything quieted down, Gu An still couldn't calm himself.
Moonlight poured in, illuminating the inside of the house.
On the wall, a huge blossom of blood spread, horrifying and terrible, a pale severed arm lying at Gu An's feet.
Ten breaths later, Gu An finally calmed down.
[You have successfully taken 52 years of life from the Demon of Greed (Tier 2)]
Staring at the notification that popped up before him, he was still gasping for breath, but his expression turned peculiar.
"Is that it?"
Gu An found it ridiculous, was he too strong, or were Chu Jingfeng and the others too weak?
Just as he was puzzled, he faintly heard a door opening; he immediately lay down, closed his eyes, and casually hung the severed arm of the Demon of Greed over his body.
That wasn't enough; he also raised his hand, pried open the palm of the Demon of Greed, and then grabbed his own neck. After doing all this, he spread his hands and pretended to faint.
...
As autumn approached, the weather was no longer so hot.
Gu An was picking Calming Grass in its dedicated area while Li Ya and Meng Lang stood outside the wooden fence, watching him work.
Half of Li Ya's body was wrapped in white bandages, with two shocking scars on his face, nearly reaching his right eye, hard to imagine what he had gone through.
Meng Lang seemed unharmed. He watched Gu An and clicked his tongue in wonder, "This kid can still be so happy picking herbs, as if he hadn't encountered the Demon of Greed before."
Li Ya's face was expressionless, his facial scars adding a fierce air to him as he calmly said, "Maybe he's finding solace in his hardship, how do you know he can still smile after he closes the door?"
The night four days ago seemed like just last night. Li Ya recalled his encounter with the Demon of Greed, feeling scared just thinking about it.
He survived purely by luck.
Chu Jingfeng was more injured than him, having an arm violently torn off, while Cheng Xuandan, Zhang Chunqiu, and Meng Lang were completely unharmed.
That morning, the Supreme Sect sent several cultivators, all with higher cultivation levels than Chu Jingfeng, the highest reaching the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm. They questioned Gu An about the specifics, and Gu An pretended to be utterly frightened, claiming ignorance.
Eventually, the cultivators concluded that someone else had acted, saving the life of this servant disciple from Medicine Valley, as Gu An had not a trace of spiritual power, so it couldn't have been him who slew the Demon of Greed.
Afterwards, Gu An deliberately changed rooms, and Zhang Chunqiu treated him even better, seemingly feeling guilty.
As Li Ya and Meng Lang discussed Gu An, Gu An himself was relishing the joy of seizing life span from the second-tier medicinal herbs.
Second-tier medicinal herbs could provide him with two to five years of life span. He helped Li Ya and the others pick them, this time able to gather sixty stalks in total, an incredibly delightful experience.
At the same time, he couldn't help but think of the Demon of Greed.
Slaying the Demon of Greed had granted him fifty-two years of life, did this not imply that by eradicating demons, he could gain even more life span?
However, as soon as he thought of that night's terrifying experience and the injuries of Chu Jingfeng and Li Ya, he immediately dismissed the idea.
It wasn't necessary!
He was not in a rush to become stronger. Why risk his life?
Hmm.
He mustn't be reckless, he needed to develop discreetly!
After a while.
Gu An finally finished picking sixty stalks of Calming Grass and, carrying a bamboo basket, he approached Meng Lang, ready to hand them over.
Meng Lang cleared his throat and said, "This time, you should report it to the eldest apprentice brother."
Recalling his shameful performance that night, he truly had no face to steal Gu An's credit.
Gu An did not refuse and smiled, "Okay."
He politely nodded at Li Ya, then headed towards Zhang Chunqiu's loft.
Li Ya didn't stay either, turning away and walking towards a distant forest, and Meng Lang looked back and forth, touching his nose awkwardly.
Inside the hall.
Gu An handed over all of the Calming Grass to Zhang Chunqiu. Zhang Chunqiu did not ask him to leave immediately, instead, he engaged in perfunctory small talk, asking if he had been sleeping well recently.
Zhang Chunqiu often recalled how the Demon of Greed had throttled Gu An, and his heart swelled with guilt. As the eldest apprentice brother, he had not managed to protect his junior, which was humiliating.
How honest and obedient Gu An was on regular days; if such a disciple were to die, truthfully, it would be distressing to even think about.
"Right, about the Demon of Greed, let's not speak of it again. Today, I heard outside that the demon was kept by a certain elder in the Sect. This message shouldn't be spread; pretend it never happened," Zhang Chunqiu earnestly said.
Upon hearing this, Gu An frowned.
So that was it; no wonder that demon had been free to roam around for so long.
Zhang Chunqiu, seeming uneasy, added, "Such elders are not ones we can afford to provoke. A single word from them could make our Medicine Valley disappear. Coming from a humble background, you should understand the disparity that status brings. Only by being patient can we survive."
He then raised his hand and pulled out a manual from his robe, saying, "This is a Secret Technique prepared for you by Master. Master spent five years of Sect contribution for this, after all, you truly have suffered an injustice."
Gu An immediately appeared delighted, accepting the manual and seeing three words on the cover.
Residual Wind Leg!
"Thank you, eldest apprentice brother, thank you, Master!" Gu An immediately bent over to give thanks.
Zhang Chunqiu blinked and smiled, "Practice it when you have free time. Maybe in the future it could protect you. Don't share this manual with Meng Lang. As for Li Ya, he has shown exceptional talent and Master has decided to help him break through the Foundation Establishment Realm. I guess in two years at most, he will leave Medicine Valley."
Gu An, upon hearing this, was not surprised; someone of Li Ya's cultivation remaining in Medicine Valley would indeed be a waste.
Then, after exchanging pleasantries with Gu An, Zhang Chunqiu let him leave.
Once Gu An closed the door, Zhang Chunqiu murmured quietly, "Truly an honest kid, he can definitely take care of Master for me in the future, so I can finally leave the mountain... Lotus, wait for me…"
As Gu An descended the stairs, his steps faltered momentarily, but then he continued downwards.
…
Although the attack by the Demon of Greed had not resulted in any deaths in Medicine Valley, it had changed the atmosphere markedly. Li Ya became even more mysterious, hiding in the forest after finishing his chores, and even Meng Lang started practicing with more diligence.
Gu An practiced the Residual Wind Leg from the manual for a month, managing to barely make the technique appear on display, which was a big blow to him, leading him to give up practicing and plan to try his luck later.
Seasons changed; autumn leaves covered Medicine Valley.
Gu An's figure constantly appeared in various parts of the valley, becoming the busiest person in Medicine Valley. Zhang Chunqiu trusted him more and more, no longer supervising his work. As for Cheng Xuandan, he stayed in his house refining elixirs all day, hardly seen once a month.
As autumn turned to winter, the white snow blanketed everything, engulfing Medicine Valley in a white vastness.
A new year arrived amid the heavy snow.
Until the winter snow began to melt, finally, some people from outside the valley came to visit, specifically looking for Gu An.
Inside the room, Gu An closed the door then walked over to the table to pour hot tea for the young man already seated there.
The youth, dressed in the Supreme Sect Outer Disciple's blue robe, surveyed the room while asking, "How have you been this past year and a half?"
Among those who followed Ji Xiaoyu to join the Supreme Sect were five individuals, including Gu An and the youth in front of him, both house servants.
The youth, named Du Ye, with a Four Spirits Root, had joined the Supreme Sect's Outer Sect with the help of Ji Family, and had changed considerably over the year.
"Not bad," Gu An casually replied.
Du Ye looked at him, shook his head slightly, and said, "You, you, you insisted on coming here. With the third miss and Ji Family's influence, sneaking you into the Outer Sect wouldn't have been difficult. Why choose to suffer here with no hope of cultivation?"
Gu An looked at his lifespan of less than one hundred fifty years, then compared it with his own nearly a thousand years, and said with a smile, "My qualifications are mediocre, and I am afraid of both death and pain. Places like this, quiet and secluded, suit me better."
Du Ye shook his head with a chuckle, criticized him for a bit, then revealed the purpose of his visit, "Young Master Ji Lin is planning to create an influence for the third miss within the Supreme Sect and gather connections. We all have to contribute. Collecting medicinal materials diligently on your part, I'll come every six months to collect them.
These materials can serve as the bargaining chips for Young Master Ji Lin to win over other disciples."
"Okay, no problem," Gu An agreed in one breath, since medicinal materials weren't very important to him anyway.
Seeing how agreeable Gu An was, Du Ye smiled.
After chatting for a while longer, Gu An escorted Du Ye to the valley entrance before turning back.
Just as he returned to the courtyard, he saw Li Ya waiting.
Li Ya approached Gu An, placing a manual against his chest, and said, "I'm preparing to leave. Consider this sword technique a farewell gift. Thank you for everything you've done for me these past eighteen months."