Chapter 28: Tragic Li San

　　Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

　　‘That d*mn, deceptive system! Why didn’t it at least warn me a little?!’

　　Bei Feng felt like crying but had no tears. His current situation was very dangerous, and the Frost Qi inside his body was just like a sword of Damocles hanging over his head!

　　The main problem was that the level of Bei Feng’s body was too low. The only saving grace was that he had the Blood Origin Fruit’s medicinal essence within his body.

　　If it wasn’t for its medicinal essence, he would have already been transformed into an ice sculpture the instant Extreme Arctic Frost entered his body!

　　However, even with the Blood Origin Fruit’s help, Bei Feng’s body temperature had still dropped considerably. It was as if he had turned into a cold-blooded creature.

　　Furthermore, he felt like his body had been weighed down by a heavy burden. Even the slightest move required more effort and energy than usual.

　　Sneezing violently, Bei Feng hurriedly returned to his room and crawled into his bed, carefully pulling the blankets over his head…

　　***

　　Midnight, 1 a.m. Not a single cloud could be seen within a hundred li of in the cloudless sky. Gentle white moonlight blanketed the entire mountain and nocturnal creatures scurried about.

　　Five shadows, cloaked in black, quietly sneaked in front of Bei Feng’s yard. Impressively, it was none other than Li San and his underlings from the afternoon.

　　“Ah Qiang, go and open the door,” Li San commanded in a hushed tone.

　　“En. Watch me!” Zhang Qiang nodded heavily and walked up to the huge front door, a watermelon knife in his hand.

　　He inserted the knife into the gap between the doors and lightly pushed against the primitive wooden pole fixed horizontally on the other side of the door. It was placed there instead of an ordinary lock.

　　‘We came unprepared during the day and had to leave with dust on our faces. This time, we even brought our weapons here. I dare say that even that disgusting muscular hulk of a guy wouldn’t dare to fight against our blades unarmed.’ Li San thought.

　　“Pa!”

　　“Big brother, the door is unlocked!” A light sound of something dropping rang out in the stillness of the night. Zhang Qiang immediately turned around with a joyful look and exclaimed softly.

　　“Good. let’s go in. Remember, our target is the kid from this afternoon. If it’s possible not to alarm that gigantic fellow, then try to leave him alone. We’ll secretly give the brat a beating and then leave. When we come back again in the morning, I’d like to see if the little bastard still dares to refuse!” Li San thought about the huge thug behind Bei Feng and instructed in a serious tone.

　　“Let’s split up and look for him. We’ll meet again under that Banyan tree after we find the little brat.”

　　The group of men shuffled into the yard and exchanged a knowing glance. Nodding, they immediately split off into different paths in a well-practiced manner as they looked for Bei Feng’s room.

　　Zhang Qiang, being the usual lazy slacker, peered casually into a few rooms and swiftly returned under the Banyan tree.

　　‘Ai, when will these days end? Although this sort of work looked good at first glance, there’s no real money in it…’ Zhang Qiang thought gloomily to himself.

　　“Suo, suo!”

　　The Vampiric Vine, which was not far from Zhang Qiang, swayed rhythmically along the night breeze.

　　Sensing the presence of a living creature, several tens of vine roots extended out of the soil as they slowly crept up the stone chair which Zhang Qiang was sitting on.

　　“How was it? Did you guys find anything?”

　　Li San asked the group as soon as he returned to the area beneath the Banyan tree.

　　“I found him. He’s in that room over there, sleeping like a log,” one of the guys pointed in a direction and said.

　　“Good! We must make sure to give that kid a good beating tonight!” A ruthless glint flashed past Li San’s eyes as he rubbed his hands in glee.

　　“Hmm? Tsk. Stop playing around!”

　　Li San raised his hand and brushed it across his back.

　　The Vampiric Vine’s roots momentarily shrunk back at the touch. But, after a short period of time, it resumed its creeping advances up Li San’s back again.

　　“You… AHHH!”

　　Li San was a little annoyed and as he turned around to lecture his pig-headed lackeys for messing around on a serious mission like this, he saw dozens of hollow roots swaying about in mid-air in front of his eyes. In that moment, he could not stop himself from shrieking out loud in shock.

　　The Vampiric Vine was similarly stunned by the disgraceful scream in the middle of the night as it shrunk back slightly in hesitation. However, it soon reared up menacingly again, shooting toward Li San.

　　“Help! Ghosts!!!”

　　The other four were shaking uncontrollably as they watched countless roots stab mercilessly into Li San’s body.

　　“AHHH! I’ll hack you to death!”

　　Zhang Qiang was scared silly at first, but as he finally managed to regain his wits, he started brandishing his watermelon knife madly in the air and charged toward the Vampiric Vine.

　　“Pu Chi!”

　　Blood-like sap spurted out of the roots as it swayed crazily in the air, spraying all over Zhang Qiang’s face. Noticing their opportunity, the remaining guys immediately carried Li San between them and turned around to flee!

　　“What the f*ck was that?!”

　　The group finally regained some semblance of calm after they had escaped quite far down the dried mud path. Their backs were all drenched in sweat. There was even a pungent smell of urine hovering in the air!

　　“Ho… how the f*ck would I know! Quick, check how the boss is doing!”

　　Zhang Qiang’s legs were similarly quivering in fright. If not for the sudden rush of adrenaline, he would not have had the balls to charge at the Vampiric Vine like that. He continually thanked the various gods and deities for mercifully protecting his little life. Previously, he was the one who’d stayed the longest under the Banyan tree! Despite that, he had somehow managed to escape unscathed.

　　“He’s not dead yet! Quick! Send the boss to the hospital!”

　　The group of gangsters were thus sent scrambling down the dried mud path with green faces and urine-filled shoes as they all came to a single conclusion: that motherf*cking mansion was really too abnormal!

　　***

　　“It’s not too serious. He’s just suffering from shock and anemia caused by excessive blood loss. We’ll just give him a couple bags of IV drips. When you go back, make sure he eats some nourishing food like ginseng that’d help him recover the lost blood and he should be fine in a few days.”

　　The entire hospital had been turned upside down by a group of panicking gangsters as they rushed in with an unconscious, blood-covered man, tales of ghosts and demons constantly on their mouths. After a long diagnosis, the doctor finally informed the group of anxious thugs about the results.

　　Zhang Qiang and the other guys glanced nervously at each other. Anemia? The group found it hard to associate the robust and normally lively Li San with the term ‘anemia’.

　　“Perhaps… it was some sort of a vampire?”

　　The guys deduced in their hearts. In that moment, they made up their minds that they would never, ever go back to that devil-infested mansion! Not even if they were beaten to death!

　　***

　　Bei Feng was naturally unaware of how he’d narrowly avoided the pummeling he had been scheduled to receive. The next day in the morning, he awoke with a chilly feeling in his head.

　　“Am I turning into a human refrigerator?” Bei Feng touched the icy blankets and thought aloud in disbelief.

　　Shaking his head, Bei Feng folded the blankets and began his journey up the mountain as usual.

　　What he did not notice was that mice, snakes and other critters were all actively avoiding him, scrambling out of the way in panic as he passed.

　　When he finally reached his usual spot at the side of the mountain, Bei Feng began to practice the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique as usual. This time, he felt a little stiff and unnatural as he performed the movement sets.

　　“Looks like Extreme Arctic Frost’s weight is really impeding my movements. Luckily, it’s still not something I can’t manage. If the entire weight of Extreme Arctic Frost was applied on my body, I would probably have been squashed into a meat paste long ago… ” Bei Feng mumbled to himself.

　　“Come out!”

　　“Peng!”

　　He walked into the nearby woods and, as he willed it, Extreme Arctic Frost appeared on the ground.

　　A rough hole appeared as Extreme Arctic Frost smashed into the rocky granite ground. One had to know, Extreme Arctic Frost’s weight was a full 3,600 jin!

　　As soon as Extreme Arctic Frost separated from his body, an extremely light and comfortable feeling spread throughout Bei Feng’s body. It was as though he had just got freed from a huge burden. Even the blood within his body was flowing more smoothly.

　　Finally rid of his baggage, Bei Feng turned around and continued practicing.

　　The further one got with the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique, the more difficult it became. Even with a large amount of cultivation experiences from other practitioners, Bei Feng still had to find his own path one step at a time. Thus, he put in even more effort into his cultivation.

　　Soon, the sun rose over the plains and a pencil-thick ray of light shot into Bei Feng’s nostrils. In that instant, Bei Fengs’s muscles and bones hummed in unison as his body greedily gobbled up all of the sun’s energy he absorbed. Soon, layers of dead cells and other dregs emerged on top of Bei Feng’s skin.

　　The feeling of his body evolving caused a feeling of incomparable joy to surge within Bei Feng’s heart; it lingered there for a long time.

　　With his daily cultivation completed, Bei Feng recalled Extreme Arctic Frost into his body.

　　Although he was unable to wield the long spear at the moment, he should not cover its brilliance with his incompetence! This was, after all, a rare godly weapon!

　　As he did not have any reservations for the day, Bei Feng had a lot of free time on his hands. He went down the mountain at a leisurely pace, took a relaxing bath, and walked slowly to the village market.

　　“Hey little guy, you’re here! Here’s the fresh pig’s blood I prepared for you! Don’t worry, it’s perfectly pure. I did not add even a single drop of water to it!”

　　As soon as Bei Feng approached the butcher, he had immediately been recognized.

　　“En. I’ll bring the tub back first, and return it to you tomorrow. Oh, help me prepare another tub of pig’s blood tomorrow too!” Bei Feng took a look at the pig’s blood in the tub and nodded with satisfaction.

　　“No problem! In that case, I’ll be charging the super low price of 50 yuan per tub!” The butcher nodded his head happily. This business was definitely more profitable than going out of his way to make and sell pig’s blood curd!

　　“Cool. You can just deduct the money from yesterday’s deposit. When the deposit is finished, just let me know again at that time,” Bei Feng lifted the tub of pig’s blood, straightened his back and went on his way.

　　This tub of pig’s blood weighed at least 40 jin! Usually, it would be an immensely heavy load for his body. However, it actually felt rather light in Bei Feng’s hands this time! It was only now that he realized just how much his body had progressed in the recent days.