Chapter 26

Mengjin's female cultivator trembled slightly, sensing something was amiss, and looked toward the door.

Wei He stood at the door, his face calm as he gazed at her.

"Go on, continue," he stared at the female cultivator from Mengjin, his eyes faintly revealing a fierce light.

Mengjin's female cultivator and Xu Chun both trembled all over, hurriedly stood up, and quickly left, heads down.

If Wei He hadn't been there, it would have been fine, but with him around, they wouldn't dare to rashly come and preach.

Originally, they had noticed that the Wei family seemed to have some wealth and was willing to sell pastries to everyone at almost no profit.

The two of them had planned that if they could bring Wei Ying into their sect, they might earn a lot of benefits.

Who would have thought that Wei He would return so quickly after just leaving.

The two of them hurriedly slipped out through a small gap beside Wei He, almost fleeing, and soon disappeared around the corner of the street.

Wei He fell silent, looking at Wei Ying, who seemed somewhat uneasy.

"Sister, don't have any more contact with Xu Chun. She's not a good person; she's one of those who secretly preach at night."

"I... I understand..." Wei Ying fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, feeling a bit lost, as if she had done something wrong.

"Alright, I'm going back to practice. If you encounter any trouble, shout loudly. This area is close to Huishan Boxing Academy and our home; you can hear my voice. Remember that?" Wei He instructed.

"Okay, okay." Wei Ying nodded hurriedly, somewhat at a loss.

She had heard her brother mention the evil and danger of the Xiangqu Sect. Only now did she realize that she had been in some danger just now.

But upon careful thought, she felt that Xu Chun didn't seem like a bad person. She had even given her a handkerchief; bad people wouldn't be so generous, right? How could bad people give things away for free?

"Alright, I'm leaving first." Wei He had actually returned because he had smelled the incense of the Xiangqu Sect while wiping his hands.

These days, many people couldn't even afford coarse porridge, let alone have the leisure to buy incense to burn all day.

Apart from the people of the Xiangqu Sect, no one else would be so idle.

So he had kept an eye out, and when he left, he didn't go far before stopping to hide and observe.

He had planned to watch for a while and then return to practice if nothing happened.

But he hadn't expected the two to find his sister so quickly.

He was afraid that his sister, who was inexperienced and naive, would be easily deceived.

After driving the two away, Wei He left the shop and looked back at his sister.

She was still standing at the shop entrance, looking at him from a distance.

Wei He waved at her, signaling her to go back and rest.

Seeing Wei Ying pause, turn around, and slowly start kneading the dough and adding yeast, he left the shop.

Following the shop, he soon returned to a large black-painted door.

He pushed the door, which was unlocked, and was surprised for a moment before quickly slipping inside.

Xu Chun and the female cultivator from Mengjin were standing in the courtyard, whispering. A ceramic incense burner with a remaining incense stick was placed nearby.

Indeed, this was Xu Chun's courtyard, not his home.

After Xu Chun and the female cultivator fled in a panic, they returned to their courtyard as quickly as possible. They hadn't expected to hear the door being pushed open upon their return.

The two quickly turned to look at the door.

Whoosh.

To their surprise, all they saw was a large cloud of white powder.

Lime powder was scattered, and Wei He, in a swift move, rushed between the two, head down.

He pulled out a hard wooden stick from his pocket and started beating them fiercely.

After a dozen breaths, the two were groaning in pain, lying on the ground, unable to move, and covered in bruises.

Wei He then threw a handful of lime powder in their faces, ensuring they couldn't see his face, before quietly putting away the stick, entering the inner room, taking out two long strips of dried meat, and leaving, closing the door behind him.

The Xiangqu Sect was powerful, and it was best not to provoke them.

But Xu Chun lived too close to him and was now trying to influence his sister, Wei Ying, so he had no choice but to deal with it.

He decided to beat her up every few days and take some things, pretending to be a group of starving bandits.

This way, she would have no choice but to move.

After all, with their faces covered in lime, they wouldn't be able to see who he was.

Exiting the main door, it was the hottest part of the day.

The street was empty.

Wei He had chosen this time when no one was around to act decisively.

He turned and quietly entered his own home.

Soon, a group of people heard the commotion and quickly rushed into the courtyard, giving orders in a chaotic manner, and carried the two injured people to see a doctor.

In his own courtyard, Wei He, bare-chested, started punching the sandbag.

Soon, there was a knock on the main door.

He paused, his face calm, and walked over to open it.

"Who is it?"

Several men and women outside, holding sticks and knives, had been about to ask if anyone inside had heard or seen what happened next door.

But when the door opened, they saw a sturdy, muscular man standing inside, whose size alone was almost as big as their two thin figures combined.

The woman at the front, seeing this, immediately softened her tone.

"Brother, did you hear anyone fighting next door? Did you see anyone run out?"

"No. Anything else?" Wei He looked impatient, as if he was about to hit someone if they wasted his time any longer.

The people outside were intimidated and hesitated to speak.

Bang!

The door was slammed shut.

Wei He closed the door without a word.

Outside, the group was startled but dared not say anything harsh.

The woman leading them had seen the black belt of Huishan Boxing Academy hanging in the courtyard as soon as the door opened.

This was the key to her change in attitude.

These black belt initiates from the boxing academies were all formidable fighters. Any one of them could easily handle five or six of them.

Moreover, these boxing academy disciples often had connections with wealthy and powerful families, frequently being hired as bodyguards or security chiefs.

So it was best not to offend them.

After a moment, the group exchanged glances, unable to act, and went to knock on other doors.

Soon, the neighborhood was filled with the sounds of chaos.

Wei He ignored it, focused, and continued his practice.

After this round of beating,

It was over ten days before Wei He saw Xu Chun again.

Wei Ying felt much safer and continued to run the pastry shop as usual.

Time flowed by like a stream.

Gradually, the prices in the outer city stabilized, and people started using various coarse grains and beans ground into mixed flour as a basic exchange item, bartering extensively.

Mixed flour was exchanged for white rice, meat, and other items, gradually forming a market.

Wei He noticed that regardless of the outside situation, the food at Huishan Boxing Academy remained stable, with the same amount of rice and meat every day.

However, there was a new rule: no taking food out.

Old Zheng still had a meticulous and unhurried demeanor, lazily sitting in his chair, munching on chicken claws. It was unclear where he got so many chicken claws.

Winter quickly passed halfway.

Wei He's blood energy advanced further, slowly moving toward perfection.

Although it was slow, it was steady. He had already collected all the realm-breaking pearls and now needed to accumulate his blood energy to the maximum to break through the next level.

With hope in sight and the daily sense of subtle progress, Wei He felt the same excitement as playing a game in his previous life.

Before he knew it, winter was over, and the weather showed no signs of the cold, remaining hot.

The strange weather had caused the Feiye River's water level to drop by more than half, and the water became increasingly murky.

Food supplies in the market were dwindling.

The grain and meat Wei He received from the Cheng family each month also began to decrease, indicating that the Yonghe Escort Agency was facing difficulties.

Cheng Shaojiu had mentioned the situation a few times. The agency had previously taken on many escort jobs, mostly for living people, and often received payment in other items.

Now, the frequency of jobs had decreased, and most of the people in the outer city who could leave had already done so.

Those left were either unwilling to leave or unable to do so, and business had declined.

However, Cheng Shaojiu assured him that they would not be shortchanged.

Wei He also instructed his sister to limit the supply of buns and steamed buns and to start stockpiling food and meat.

But it seemed that everyone was doing the same, and food and meat were snatched up as soon as they appeared in the market.

Eventually, Wei Ying's pastry shop couldn't open, as the inventory was sold out within minutes of opening.

Her dream of a successful pastry shop came to an end.

Every day in Shiqiaotong, people collapsed in corners and sewers, never to move again.

The traces of stray dogs also disappeared, likely because they had been killed and eaten.

Splash.

A large basin of yellow, turbid river water was poured into a larger wooden basin.

A thin cloth for filtering was placed in the wooden basin, and two strong women, one on each side, lifted the cloth to let the turbid water drip through.

This was to filter the water.

Due to the drought, the Feiye River was getting shallower and murkier, and it couldn't be used without filtering.

Then, someone scooped the filtered water and poured it into a prepared bamboo tube filled with charcoal. The water flowed through the bamboo sections and into another clean wooden basin.

The resulting water was the cleanest.

Wei He picked up a basin of water, added the prepared medicine powder, stirred it, and then added some hot water, creating a basin of hot water for skin care.

He carried the basin of medicine water to his room and returned to his position.

His position was no longer in the corner but in the middle of the left side of the wall.

He was no longer next to Cheng Shaojiu but was practicing with a new recruit he had brought in.

The new recruit was a strong young man with naturally yellowish hair, named Ouyang Zhuang.

He seemed to come from a wealthy family and had some spoiled habits when he first arrived.

However, after being beaten a few times in brutal sparring, he became much more disciplined.

Previously, he wouldn't even call Wei He "Senior Brother," but now, he would rush over to help carry the basin and other things as soon as he saw him from a distance.

Just like now.

As soon as Wei He carried the wooden basin out, Ouyang Zhuang ran over quickly to take it from him.

The two of them slowly walked to their practice position.

"Senior Brother Wei, do you know that the number of people in the courtyard has decreased a lot recently?" Ouyang Zhuang asked in a low voice.

"Decreased?" Wei He had been focusing on accumulating blood energy to prepare for breaking through the next realm and hadn't noticed any changes.

Hearing this from Ouyang Zhuang, he scanned the courtyard and indeed found that both the old and new recruits were fewer.