Chapter 3

The dawn light broke through the darkness.

A red sun rose in the east, its light sweeping across the land, dispelling the gloom brought by the continuous heavy rain.

"Refinement will consume my stamina, but it won't stop when my stamina is depleted; instead, it will continue until a certain goal is reached. My initial guess is that it's 10 progress points each time.

But that's just a hypothesis, and a single piece of evidence isn't enough. It needs to be tested and verified."

"Blindly slashing won't increase progress; it's futile. Perhaps 10 progress points are equivalent to the old man practicing his knife skills for three years?"

"Practicing knife skills in reality also increases progress, but the effect is far less than the 'refinement' of the Gluttony Cauldron... and the broken knife itself hasn't disappeared."

"The Gluttony Cauldron will fade in color, perhaps it will return to its original color when the progress is full. Then, how to solve the problem of eating soil?"

"What does the Gluttony Cauldron need? Is it soil and stones, or the metal content within them? If it's the latter..."

"How to find other ingredients?"

...

In the slightly glaring sunlight, Yang Yu leaned over his desk, writing down his findings and speculations, summarizing his gains and losses.

This was a habit from his previous life.

"Phew!"

Casually swallowing a pebble, he felt the familiar warm current spread, and then he let out a long breath.

After a night of sorting, he had a preliminary understanding of the Gluttony Cauldron's functions and taboos.

There were many questions, but it also had great potential.

Casually crumpling the scribbled paper and tossing it into a corner, Yang Yu stood up and picked up the broken knife hanging on the wall.

Instantly, a familiar sensation flooded his mind, along with deeply ingrained knife techniques.

Yes, just techniques, not even a proper knife style.

"Missing means dead. The old man is probably in grave danger..."

The sunlight reflected off the blade, casting a slightly worried expression on Yang Yu's face.

Outside the city, it was dangerous.

Not only because of the occasional wild beasts and starving refugees, but also because of the bandits.

Qingzhou was on the frontier of the Great Ming, much more chaotic than other regions.

An old jailer, even if he didn't die, would hardly have a good outcome.

Bang!

Bang, bang, bang!

At this moment, a series of urgent knocks and a sharp voice broke the tranquility of the courtyard:

"Auntie, open the door, open the door. It's me, Yunhua!"

"Coming."

As Yang Yu frowned, Yang Grandma put on her clothes and went to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, a woman rushed in.

She was about thirty, with cheap rouge on her cheeks, and greeted with a sharp voice. Behind her were a few middle-aged men.

"These people..."

Yang Yu frowned.

They seemed to be his relatives, but they hadn't visited for many years.

Why now...

"Why are you all here?"

After a restless night, Yang Grandma didn't look well.

"Auntie, the clan has also learned about Uncle's disappearance. We came to arrange his funeral."

The woman sighed, "Uncle didn't enjoy much in life, so at least let him have a grand funeral, don't you think?"

"Funeral..."

Yang Grandma's face turned pale, and her body swayed, "Your uncle is just missing, he will come back, he will come back."

Her voice grew softer at the end.

"Auntie!"

The woman took Yang Grandma's hand, "You know how the government works. How could Liu Sanzhi give Uncle any compensation?"

"Yes, Auntie. It's been a while, we can't delay any longer."

The men also chimed in.

"This..."

Yang Grandma was at a loss, feeling helpless.

"Auntie, why are you hesitating? Just nod, and I'll take care of everything, you won't have to worry at all!"

Seeing Yang Grandma seemingly swayed, the woman's tone became more gentle, but her sharp voice was still uncomfortable to hear.

"Not only will we arrange it, but we'll do it grandly!"

Another person chimed in.

"Of course, of course!"

The middle-aged woman nodded, then became alert, glancing around and seeing a pale-faced teenager leaning against the door, staring at her coldly.

Coldly watching the few 'relatives' in the courtyard, Yang Yu felt a burning anger in his heart.

Having lived two lives, he wasn't just a country boy; he knew exactly what these people were after.

Eating out the family!

He had heard of it before: whenever a man in a family died, relatives would come to the house and take everything of value, even the pots and pans.

They might even use the funeral as an excuse to come every day, forcing the family to host a continuous feast, eating them out of house and home!

Until they were forced to give up their property and land, and the women were driven away or even driven to suicide!

It was said that the famous courtesan Liu Rushi was forced to hang herself by such a situation, and even after her death, her property was taken away!

Yang Yu never thought he would encounter such a situation himself.

"Is this little Yu?"

The woman's face stiffened, and she forced a smile, "It's been a year, you've grown so much."

"Little Yu."

Yang Grandma sighed in relief, quickly pulling her hand away and stepping back.

"Grandma."

Yang Yu glanced at the people in the courtyard, then looked at the old woman and said gently, "Pick a suitable day and arrange the old man's funeral."

"But..."

Yang Grandma hesitated, but seeing Yang Yu's determined gaze, she could only nod.

"Little Yu is absolutely right!"

The woman, thinking there might be a setback, was now overjoyed:

"Why choose a day? Today is the best day!"

"Today won't work!"

Yang Yu shook his head, seeing the woman's displeased expression, he added, "At the very least, we need to wait for the compensation from the government."

He paused and added:

"Headman Wang promised me this."

"Headman Wang?"

The woman was taken aback, her eyes darting, hesitating, "But the government is slow. What if it takes a year or two?"

'So eager.'

Yang Yu's eyes turned cold, and he bit his lip to suppress his anger, "In three days, the compensation will come. Even if it doesn't, the old man's funeral will still be arranged."

"That..."

The woman hesitated for a moment, seeing that the men had no objections, she finally nodded.

"Ah."

After sending them off, Yang Grandma sighed deeply, looking even more haggard, "Little Yu, what can we do..."

Having lived most of her life, how could she not know these people's intentions?

But knowing what could she do?

The family's land and even the house were registered with the clan. Even if they reported it to the authorities, they wouldn't win.

"Grandma, give me the land and house deeds."

Closing the door heavily, Yang Yu was still angry.

For a moment, he wanted to draw his knife and kill these people.

But killing them would only bring more trouble, and if he was caught, Grandma would have no hope.

"Are you going to sell the land? It won't work. The deeds are registered with the clan, no one will buy them..."

The old woman shook her head.

Yang Yu gritted his teeth but smiled:

"Selling them, they won't want. But what if we give them to them?!"