Chapter 11

Following the exclamation of surprise, Zichen saw an old man in a hemp robe looking at him in the hall.

"Manager Zhang."

Zichen recognized the old man; he was the manager here, surnamed Zhang, a very amiable person. Although his status was not as high as that of inner disciples, it was higher than that of outer disciples. Disciples returning from outside would come here to hand in some items.

The old man quickly walked up and whispered to Zichen, "Where have you been for this period? You've been missing for several months."

"I went out to train for a while. I brought back these things." Zichen took out many animal skins from the bundle on his back.

"You need to be careful. Recently, Wang Meng has been looking for you, and also for Zhao Can. By the way, you're back, but why hasn't Zhao Can returned?" Manager Zhang took the animal skins and whispered.

Though he wasn't gifted and was old, Manager Zhang was a good person, his words full of concern.

Zichen smiled faintly and said, "Zhao Can is dead."

He spoke lightly, as if it were a cat or a dog that had died, not his good brother.

Manager Zhang, being old and wise, just glanced at Zichen and patted his shoulder. He clearly saw something in Zichen's demeanor.

"You need to be careful recently. I don't think they have good intentions." After saying this, Manager Zhang took Zichen's bundle and left.

At this moment, two young men walked in from outside. One of them, seeing Zichen, said sarcastically, "Oh, isn't this Zichen? How come you haven't died after a few months?"

"Is there something?" Zichen turned around and calmly looked at the two.

"Hmph, what could we want from you? We are not in the same world as you. It's Brother Meng who is looking for you. I really don't know what kind of luck you have to make Brother Meng so concerned." The other young man sneered.

The two men, the taller one named Fu Jie and the shorter one named Chi Ming, as they said, had never interacted with Zichen before.

Because they all followed Wang Meng, and Wang Meng was Wang Xiong's brother, the two sides, who had never interacted before, now had contact, clearly for the sake of the 500-year-old snow ginseng.

"Let's go."

Seeing Zichen standing still, Fu Jie's voice became sharper.

"Where to?" Zichen looked at Fu Jie.

"Of course, to find Brother Meng." Fu Jie said impatiently, "I really don't know what kind of luck you have, to make Brother Meng so interested in you."

"I don't know where I stepped on a pile of dog shit, but I know the dog shit you two stepped on must have come from in front of Wang Meng's door, and it's as smelly as your mouths." Zichen glanced at the two coldly and mocked.

After saying this, he ignored them and left.

"Stop."

Being mocked by Zichen, the two men's faces turned very ugly. Fu Jie's figure flashed, blocking Zichen.

At the same time, Chi Ming followed closely, his body emitting true qi, his gaze coldly sweeping over Zichen.

"True Qi Fifth Layer?" Zichen looked at the two, his pupils slightly contracting.

"Exactly, True Qi Fifth Layer, firmly entering the inner disciples. Boy, you should know the difference between inner and outer disciples. If you offend us, you won't even know how you die." Fu Jie sneered, his face showing arrogance.

More people were gathering, and some noticed this scene. Hearing Fu Jie's words, there was envy in their eyes.

"This Zichen, to offend Senior Brother Fu Jie, he's really asking for death."

"Exactly, Senior Brothers Fu Jie and Chi Ming are both about to become inner disciples."

Some people, to curry favor with Fu Jie and Chi Ming, even mocked Zichen from a distance.

"Haha, Zichen, now I'll give you a chance to kneel and apologize, then obediently go with us to see Brother Meng." Hearing the surrounding voices, Chi Ming laughed even louder, his expression extremely arrogant.

For outer disciples, entering the inner disciples was the greatest wish, and inner disciples were high and mighty.

Many onlookers had pity in their eyes. Offending Fu Jie and Chi Ming was like offending Wang Meng, and offending Wang Meng was like offending Wang Xiong. Zichen's path was almost cut off, and even if he entered the inner disciples, it wouldn't be easy.

"Right, kneel and apologize, then tell everyone who the real dog shit is." Fu Jie also sneered.

"Idiots."

Zichen didn't bother to respond, looking at them as if they were idiots, and said disdainfully, "Kneel and apologize? What are you, trash?"

The crowd around them was stunned.

In this situation, Zichen had several choices: apologize, be strong, or remain silent. But they never expected Zichen to counterattack with such harsh words, and so thoroughly.

He directly said they were worthless.

"You!"

Zichen's reaction was also unexpected by the two. The arrogance on their faces disappeared, replaced by anger, intense anger, and a killing intent. The aura of True Qi Fifth Layer locked onto Zichen, clearly about to attack.

"What, are you going to attack? I'll see if you dare, even if you have the courage." Zichen said coldly.

In the Lingwu Sect, fighting was forbidden, and outer disciples didn't even have the qualification to participate in the battle platform. No matter how big the conflict, they couldn't fight within the sect.

Although Fu Jie and Chi Ming both had True Qi Fifth Layer strength and were sure to enter the inner disciples, they hadn't taken the exam yet and were still outer disciples. So, they were furious, their eyes blazing, but they couldn't do anything to Zichen.

Thus, Zichen left with a confident stride.

The farce ended, Fu Jie and Chi Ming were humiliated, burning with anger, and no one came to curry favor with them.

"Hmph, wait and see."

The two coldly snorted, only able to say harsh words before leaving.

Zichen returned to his small house. The house had two rooms, not large, but relatively well-equipped, with tables, chairs, and a bed.

Next to Zichen's house was Zhao Can's residence. In the past, because they were good friends and brothers, they had managed to live next to each other. Unfortunately, now, thinking of Zhao Can, Zichen's face was calm, but his heart was cold.

"Zichen, get out here."

Not long after Zichen returned to his house, an angry voice sounded outside. This voice was unfamiliar to him before, but now he knew it was Fu Jie's.

Fu Jie came with a fierce and arrogant demeanor.

When Zichen stepped out of his room, he found that it wasn't just two people, but three.

In addition to Fu Jie and Chi Ming, there was another younger-looking young man, who seemed younger than Zichen.

"Wang Meng."

Zichen naturally recognized the famous figure among the outer disciples, Wang Xiong's younger brother. For Wang Meng, Wang Xiong had come to the outer disciples many times before, but Zichen had only seen him from a distance, and they had no interaction.

At that time, Wang Meng was high and mighty, and Zichen was just a passerby.

"Seeing Brother Wang Meng, why don't you come over obediently?" Seeing Zichen stop at the door, Chi Ming couldn't help but shout.

"Is there something?" Zichen remained indifferent.

Because of Zhao Can's betrayal, these people who had never interacted with him before were now looking for him and causing trouble.

After surviving the great disaster, Zichen was no longer ordinary. A simple True Qi Fifth Layer was nothing to him.

"You are Zichen, very strong-willed." Wang Meng's lips curled into a faint smile, but his young face had a mature and steady tone.

Zichen didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

Wang Meng didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I think you know why I'm here. It's for the 500-year-old snow ginseng."

After saying this, Wang Meng stared intently at Zichen.

"Snow ginseng, what snow ginseng?" Zichen pretended to be ignorant.

The calm expression disappeared, and anger appeared in Wang Meng's eyes. After all, he was just a teenager, not yet mature enough to control his temper. "Are you pretending to be ignorant?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Zichen said indifferently.

"Ha, good, very good, you'll soon know what I'm talking about." Wang Meng sneered and turned to leave.

The Lingwu Sect had its rules. Inner disciples might not need to follow them, but outer disciples had to, even Wang Meng. So he left, fearing he couldn't control himself and attack Zichen. Although he could deal with the aftermath, it wasn't worth it for just one Zichen.

So he left.

"Give him a lesson." As he left, Wang Meng said coldly.

"Sure, no problem." Both nodded, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

...

The next morning, when Zichen stepped out of his room, he was hit by a foul smell. He quickly pulled his foot back.

In front of his door was a yellow lump, emitting a strong stench.

"Splosh!" "Splosh!"

At the same time, Zichen heard a sound like water being splashed. Following the sound, he saw a green-robed disciple wearing a mask, scooping some yellowish liquid from a stinky wooden bucket with a gourd ladle and splashing it on Zichen's house.

The contents of the bucket were so foul that each time the green-robed disciple splashed, he would frown and his Adam's apple would move, as if he were struggling to swallow.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Zichen shouted at the green-robed disciple and prepared to confront him.

Unexpectedly, his sudden shout scared the other person, who accidentally shook his hand, and the excrement and urine splashed onto his wrist and sleeve, making him feel like vomiting.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Zichen shouted again, carefully stepping out of the door.

The green-robed disciple was in a panic, trying to suppress the urge to vomit. Seeing Zichen approach, he quickly scooped up more liquid with the gourd ladle, which then slipped and a ladle of excrement and urine flew towards Zichen.

Then, he dropped the bucket and ladle and fled. The bucket rolled a few times and tipped over, spilling its contents, releasing an even more pungent smell.

With the arc of excrement and urine in front of him and the yellowish mess on the ground, Zichen had to carefully retreat back into his room. After avoiding the arc, he found that the green-robed disciple was gone.