Chapter 4

With 30 vials of blood essence in hand, Li Feng hurriedly ran to another park over ten miles away.

This park was called Plaza Park, located near Qin City Square, and it was the largest park in Qin City, without a doubt.

Covering an area of about thirteen square kilometers, it was clearly not comparable to the small park in Huangshi.

Naturally, Plaza Park was filled with a mix of people, including various groups and individuals.

There were those performing opera, practicing Tai Chi and swordplay, walking their birds, dancing in the square, and all sorts of vendors, fortune tellers, and feng shui experts—everything you could imagine!

Most importantly, there were elderly men engaged in cricket fighting, which was exactly the group Li Feng was looking for today.

He quietly found a group of middle-aged and elderly men, watching them intently as they focused on the cricket pots. Just as he was thinking about how to buy a small fighting cricket from these elderly men, an unexpected incident occurred.

"Bang, clatter..."

Silence!

The crowd of a dozen people around the cricket pot fell silent, followed by a low, urgent cry: "It's over, my Golden Headed General..."

The incident happened suddenly, causing a commotion in the crowd.

It turned out that two elderly men had each brought out their prized fighting crickets to compete, but a soccer ball had flown in from somewhere and struck the pot hard.

The pot, hit so forcefully, naturally tipped over. However, the most important thing was that the two fighting crickets inside suffered as a result.

Li Feng, who had been watching the spectacle, couldn't help but fall silent. Something had gone wrong.

The culprits turned out to be a few children around eight or nine years old. Realizing they had caused trouble, they scattered like birds, leaving the scene instantly, even abandoning the soccer ball.

Unfortunately, the two owners of the crickets suffered the most.

One of them was relatively lucky; his prized cricket, though frightened, was not hit by the ball and was quickly retrieved by its owner.

But the other elderly man was in a dire situation. His Golden Headed General had been grazed by the ball and was clearly not going to survive.

"Wow, what a large fighting cricket," Li Feng exclaimed in amazement as he saw the elderly man holding the nearly lifeless cricket.

Crickets, also known as chirping insects, were usually about 20mm in size. This one, however, was estimated to be around 28mm, which was quite rare.

A 25mm cricket was already uncommon, but this one was nearly three centimeters long and had a large golden head, hence the name "Golden Headed General." The name was truly fitting!

The people who played with crickets in the park were not professionals; they were generally amateurs, usually people with a lot of free time.

However, this Golden Headed General was clearly more formidable than those raised by professionals.

This cricket must have been quite valuable, no wonder the elderly man was so heartbroken.

"Old man, accept your loss; it's already beyond saving."

"Heaven! This powerful Golden Headed General, who would have thought it would die from a soccer ball, not from a fight. I heard it was worth tens of thousands of yuan," someone whispered in regret.

"Tens of thousands of yuan, you old man," Li Feng thought to himself, truly broadening his horizons. Such a small insect could be worth tens of thousands of yuan; insects were more valuable than people in this world!

Unfortunately, the strongest gladiator, despite being just a small insect, had met a tragic end from a single soccer ball, almost out of breath.

The elderly man, referred to as "old man," seemed to be in a daze, holding the Golden Headed General in his hands, silent for a long time. This must have been a severe blow to him, and he paid no attention to the whispers of the onlookers.

Li Feng had come here mainly to find a cricket vendor and planned to buy one to experiment with. Now, seeing this incident, he felt a pang of sympathy and had an idea.

Since he was looking for a cricket to test whether his blood essence could nourish it, why not help this elderly man?

If the blood essence could help the Golden Headed General, its miraculous properties might save it.

With this thought, Li Feng cleared his throat, "Old man, can I take a look at your Golden Headed General?"

Ignoring the skeptical looks from others, he raised his voice to ask.

However, the elderly man, deeply affected by the loss and with a strong emotional attachment to the Golden Headed General, did not respond, only staring sadly at his nearly lifeless treasure.

"Old man, my family has a long tradition of raising insects. Perhaps I can save it," Li Feng coughed and said boldly.

Save it!?

This time, the elderly man reacted, his body trembling slightly. He looked up, his hands urgently gripping Li Feng's shoulders, and asked anxiously, "Young man, what did you say? You can save it?"

"Um, I can't guarantee anything, but I have some confidence," Li Feng said cautiously, not wanting to make promises he couldn't keep.

However, he didn't realize that his cautious words sounded incredibly shocking to the onlookers.

"Where did this young upstart come from? The Golden Headed General was hit by a soccer ball. It's not just hard to save; it's hard to keep it alive for a while."

"Indeed, ha ha, these days, people's hearts are fickle. Another young man trying to take a shortcut. Does he not fear the consequences of boasting and angering the old man?"

A few elderly men in the crowd shook their heads and sighed, and Li Feng heard their words.

It seemed this old man was not simple!

However, those two elderly men had misunderstood Li Feng. He was now a bit regretful for his moment of sympathy, but since he had spoken, it was hard to back out. He could only tough it out, "I can't be sure, but I'll give it a try. Old man, your treasure is already in this state. Let me take a look; there might be a chance."

"Alright," the old man stared at Li Feng for a while before agreeing.

The young man was right; the Golden Headed General was almost dead. Whether this young man had real skills or was just trying to ingratiate himself, it was worth a try, even if it was a last-ditch effort.

"Young man, if you can save it, I, Nian Guozhong, will owe you a favor," the old man added.

This caused the onlookers to gasp. If the old man owed a favor, and the Golden Headed General was really saved by this young man, that would be incredible!

Of course, while they were amazed, they looked at the nearly dead Golden Headed General and shook their heads, not taking the promise seriously.

"Then, can I take it back and bring it back to you at this time tomorrow?" Li Feng suggested.

In reality, he didn't need to go through so much trouble. He just needed to input a bit of his essence to see the result.

However, with so many people around, and now understanding that this old man had a high status, if he saved the Golden Headed General too easily, the favor would be less valuable.

The question was whether the old man would let him take the Golden Headed General away. Li Feng had no confidence in this.

"Alright, take it and treat it. Time is running out; take the Golden Headed General and treat it quickly," the old man unexpectedly agreed, more concerned about the urgency of the situation.

With the old man's agreement, Li Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

This was not the outcome he had wanted. It was all due to a moment of sympathy and meddling in others' affairs.

He placed the Golden Headed General in a cricket pot and quickly left the scene, under the pitying gazes of the crowd.

Half an hour later.

The old man at Plaza Park had returned to a large mansion. After some time to recover, although he was still worried about the Golden Headed General, he was no longer as severely affected.

He half-leaned on a lounge chair in the courtyard, smoking silently. Soon, a man in his thirties walked in quietly.

"How did it go?"

"Old man, the young man's name is Li Feng. He is a recent graduate from Qin City University and has returned to the university dormitory," the man said respectfully, first refilling the old man's teacup.

"Hmm? A student? I must have overthought it..."

...

At the entrance of Qin City University.

"Blood essence, my dear, don't fail me at this critical moment, or you'll make me suffer." Li Feng, without much time to think, took a deep breath, spent a lot of money, and got out of a taxi, rushing back to the dormitory.

...

PS: Thank you to "Twelve-Winged Seraphim" and "False Actor" for your generous support, and to "Seventh Young Master Xie," "Yun Luo," and "Zi Meng Xin Shuang" for your support. Thank you all.

Due to the rush in publishing, the contract is still in the mail. I won't expect any recommendations this week, but I hope all new and old readers, brothers, and sisters who like this book will give it some support. I need member clicks and recommendation votes!

The book is still growing, so I ask for everyone's support. I will continue to work hard!

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