The caravan ends up leaving as soon as they are done healing most of their wounded, which is two weeks later. I made sure to keep the prices in the shop lower than everyone else, so the shop also got a pretty good popularity boost. Now I can use twenty primeval stones for cultivation each day!
I stop cultivating, yawn and open my eyes. Shen Cui is still sleeping so I just read through the inheritance until I wake up.
I've been using the dream gu to explore dream realms and get those colored fruits. I don't feel any different regardless of how many grey fruits I eat, so this is probably a case of quality being more important than quantity.
I haven't tried the Blood Sea Ancestors dream realm again yet, but I'll have to start trying to progress through it sooner rather than later, especially if solving the easier dream realms doesn't yield anything significant.
By the time that Shen Cui wakes up I'm almost done speed reading through the rest of the inheritance. I honestly should have done so earlier, since it contained some pretty useful knowledge.
Today is martial arts training again, so I head to the courtyard after getting myself bathed and dressed by Shen Cui. This time the academy elder is also present along with the martial arts instructor. The elder patiently waits for everyone to arrive before giving an announcement. "You will be given an additional gu worm from the academy stores in four weeks time. A combat tournament will decide the order that you will follow when picking your gu worm. The tournament will last for an entire day, as each student will have the opportunity to face off against any other student. Train hard and make the clan proud!"
With his words said the academy elder takes his leave, allowing the martial arts instructor to start his yapping session. "Today you will be training dodges and kicks! Footwork is key! If you are not capable of controlling your legs, your opponents will control your lives! Being severely wounded is almost the same as death! Your opponent will not show any mercy!"
—
I take the bag of primeval essence stones from Cui Wen. The shop has been making much more primeval stones ever since the Hu caravan came and went. I smile when I finish counting, thirty four. "Business has been much better ever since we traded with the Hu caravan."
Cui Wen shakes his head. "Nah, that's just having the teller be a pretty girl like Wen instead of a grumpy old man like me."
I shrug and hand Cui Wen four primeval stones. "You'll start getting wages each week from now. Two of the primeval stones are for you, Wen and Wan will each get one primeval stone."
Cui Wen takes the primeval stones and nods. "Allright, any possibilities for a bonus?"
I give him a nod. "If the store makes more than sixty primeval stones for every single day in a week I'll double all of your wages for that week."
Cui Wen laughs. "Good. See ya boss."
I leave the store, the bells ringing both when I open the door and when I close it. My next destination is the forest, it's time to hunt.
—
The boar angrily charges towards me, I use the rock fist gu and turn my closed fists into stone. The rock fist gu has a downside that I probably should have expected beforehand, you can't move your fingers or wrist at all while it is active.
The boar is almost in front of me, so I step forward and smash downwards at its head. Gore is thrown about everywhere as its head is caved in. I look at my rocky fist and sigh.
Another problem that the rock gu series has is that you can't deactivate it early, you need to wait for the effect to run out. I repeatedly open and close my hand once the rock fist gu's effect subsides.
This does not mean that the gu is worthless, it is still a very useful defensive and offensive option. I lean down to pick up the boar and feel a gust of wind go over my back, before hearing a loud thud.
I rise up and immediately find out what had happened.
There's a dead body next to the boulder in front of me, the back of its head and brain is splattered all over the boulder and the ground. The face is bearing an expression of surprise, indicating that his death was instant.
Turning the dead body over reveals nothing of note, so I begin to search it. This guy was probably a gu master, otherwise he wouldn't be fast enough to break his skull against the boulder like an egg.
My search proves fruitful, as I find multiple gu on the man. A rank 2 love life separation gu, A rank 2 shadow follower gu and a rank 1 leap gu.
There's nothing else of note on the body, so I can't tell what this guy wanted to do with me for sure. This was probably Wang Da, a rank 2 demonic gu master.
He's got a family of mortal hunters who know about him and are supporting him, so they'll probably know more about why he tried to kill me. My uncle hiring him is improbable, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
I leave the body as it is. If there's more to this I can probably find some use for it. The rank 2 gu themselves are also a welcome addition.
The rank 2 love life separation gu is a poison path gu. It grows the user's fingernails into sharp blades, coating them with an extremely potent poison. Refining it requires the heart of someone you truly love, so it's pretty difficult to refine. It eats the bodies of poisoned insects, so feeding it is pretty easy.
This guy killed his wife and turned her heart into poisoned fingernails.
The rank 2 shadow follower gu is a dark path gu. It coats the user in a lump of shadows, allowing them to move much more stealthily through shadows and dark areas. It eats shadows, so feeding it is trivial.
The rank 1 leap gu is worthless to me. Its food is somewhat inconvenient to get too, so keeping it until I can explain its origin before being able to sell it while avoiding suspicion just isn't worth it. I still take it, worst case scenario I just let it die of hunger.
Asking some of the hunters from the village where this guy's family lives should get me some results, since this guy's father is supposed to be a pretty famous hunter. I feed the white boar gu before leaving, watching it devour boar carcasses has not gotten any older just yet.
—
The hunter bows as low as possible to me. "How can this one serve you, lord gu master?"
I've decided to get some information from the hunters. I know that Wang Da had a family living somewhere in the forest, but I don't know the exact location of where they live. "Do you know where the Wang family lives?"
The still bowing hunter nervously swallows. "No, lord gu master, this one does not know where in the forest the Wang family resides. All this one is aware of is that the Wang family hails from the Sucun village."
Getting a lead is still pretty good. "And where might that be?"
The hunter takes a deep breath. "It is to the west of our village lord gu master."
Someone there probably knows more about them. "Thanks for the information, you may leave now."
The hunter somehow bows even deeper. "This one thanks the merciful lord gu master!"
I understand the Hu elder now, the constant asslicking is getting pretty annoying.
—
Before leaving the Gu Yue village there's one thing to decide. Should I go and ask around the Sucun village about Wang Da's family or should I just search for their hut in the forest surrounding Sucun?
Sucun village belongs to the Gu Yue clan, so in theory they have to obey Gu Yue gu masters. In practice they can alert the Wang family that some gu master is looking for them before I can get to interrogate them.
Relying on my luck should be more than sufficient to find them, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. In the end I decide to ask some of the hunters in the Sucun village where the Wang family is while pretending to be searching for them in order to learn how to hunt and live in the wilderness.
Which brings me to this old lady selling hides in the marketplace. "Your son told me to look for you. I am searching for old man Wang. I wish to learn how to survive in the wilderness from him. I have heard that he is a very famous and successful hunter."
The old lady nods, smiling. "Old man Wang is the pride of our village! He is without a doubt the best hunter in Qing Mao mountain! He had even courted me in our younger years, such a shame that shameless whore se-"
I cough, interrupting her rant. "Apologies, may I know where they reside? I need to get back to Gu Yue village before the sun sets."
The lady sighs and shakes her head. "You young people have no patience these days! Why, when we used to be your age we respect our elders! We didn't just interrupt them needlessly! Did your parents not teach you any manners?!"
I snort. "They died when I was like, two years old, I think."
She takes a deep breath. "Old man wang lives in the forest around the village. Just follow the village stream into the forest until you reach a thick oak tree shaped like a V. That tree is really famous in our village, you know? It is the tallest tree on this mountain! Where was I? Ah yes, you follow the stream until you reach the V shaped oak tree, then you go north until you find a very large stone boulder the size of two men. Ah, I remember having my first kiss right by that boulder…"
I'm afraid that interrupting her might make her whole diatribe even longer, so I just let her yap until she finally finishes telling me the entire route. I take an apple from her stall without paying as revenge. I'm not enough of a murderhobo to chop her head off for endless yapping just yet.
I follow her instructions to the letter, which ends up leading me right to a wooden hut. I knock on the door, hearing someone yell out 'Coming!'.
The door soon opens, revealing a short old man. "Are you old man Wang?"
The old man nods. "Why yes I am, what is it that you need from me?"
I smile. "I am here about Wang Da. May I come in? This conversation will be somewhat lengthy."
Old man Wang nods. "Certainly, feel free to come in. Is green tea acceptable to your palate?"
I nod. "Green tea is more than sufficient. What can you tell me about your eldest son, Wang Da?"
The elderly man leads me inside to a wooden table with three seats. I sit on one end and he sits on the other. Old man Wang takes a deep breath. "It is painful to think about him. He died in a tragic hunting accident many years ago. He stepped into a hunter's trap while hunting alone in the woods, dying of blood loss."
It's probably best to just rip off the band aid from the start. I pull the love life separation gu out of my aperture, showing it to the old man. "I already know Wang Da got the inheritance of a poison path demonic gu master and became a demonic gu master. Someone paid him to kill me, I wish to know who it was that did so."
I put the love life separation gu back into my aperture. Old man Wang closes his eyes and sighs. "I told him not to take that request… He received it anonymously from an associate of his, I can point you towards that man if you wish. That is all that either I or my family know. If you wish to take revenge, please spare my son and daughter! They are both innocent of any wrongdoing!"
I cross my arms and consider his request for a bit. He could try to double cross me regardless of whether or not I kill him. Killing him or his family currently earns me nothing, the only real reason to do so would be to prevent them from trying to take revenge.
There is, however, a method to ensure that he is as honest as possible in the information that he gives me. "I will spare your family. I will, however, be taking your daughter as my woman. I have heard that she is quite the beauty."
Gu masters in the clan are allowed to take a single wife. Elders are allowed to take one wife and two concubines. The clan leader can remake every xianxia's harem of a hundred forgotten women in theory, in practice his limits scale with his power. Only children born from wives or concubines are considered to be clan members.
This restriction has nothing to do with social norms, culture or morals. It's political in nature. Without this rule there's nothing stopping anyone from just making their own political faction by simply having many children.
Taking his daughter hostage gives me the leverage over him that I need. Old man Wang clenches his hands and takes a deep breath. If he refuses I will just kill him, since any information he will reveal from now would be compromised for sure. Finding his son and daughter wouldn't be too difficult, since the Gu Yue clan member assigned to guard the village would help me find them so that he could cover up the incident and avoid getting a bad assessment.
Old man Wang lets out a deep sigh, unclenching his hands. "Luli, you can come out."
It seems that he has realised that he has no real options right now. The door to his basement is promptly opened and two people come out. A tall, toned young man and a beautiful young woman. They are on the other end of the room, so old man Wang is between me and them. The young man is glaring murderously at me, whilst the young woman is giving her father and I anxious looks.
I drag the third seat next to me and give it a pat. "Come next to your new man."
Old man Wang turns his head back, towards them. "Do as the esteemed gu master says Luli."
She gulps nervously and begins slowly walking towards us. Her brother's glare continues to intensify as she gets closer and closer, until his anger cannot be held in check anymore. "Father, this man comes and humiliates us in this manner! He killed Wang Da, and our response is to hand Luli to him?! I cannot stand for this!"
The fool takes a combat stance and prepares to rush towards me. His father moving between the two and putting Luli behind him stops the fool. "Wang Er, apologise to the gu master."
Wang Er's expression somehow becomes even angrier. "Father, how ca-"
He is interrupted by a strong slap, his father pulling him on the ground and forcing him to kowtow with him. "Apologise to the gu master Wang Er! Do you want your sister to live without her father and brother?!"
Wang Er is too stupefied to react any further. I rise up and motion for Luli to follow me. "I do not have all day. Where can I find Wang Da's associate?"
Old man Wang responds as fast as he can, making sure to keep the stupefied Wang Er restrained and kowtowing. "He received the contract from a woman calling herself Gu Yue Dong Yu."
That's my uncle's wife, they didn't use an intermediary? That's pretty stupid. "You are forgiven for your transgressions to my person. I will need you to serve as witnesses in the future."
I leave their hut, Luli following closely behind me. I begin to hear shouting coming from the hut once I'm a fair bit away from it.
I have a way to deal with my uncle now. I stopped reading right before finding out what my inheritance is supposed to be, all I know is that it's supposed to be something good enough to give Dong Tu political power.
—
It's on the way to my apartment that I get interrupted by someone. My uncle is giving me a conflicted look. "Fang Yuan, I offer to give you three apartment buildings and ten thousand primeval stones if you agree to renounce your right to your inheritance."
I pretend to think it over, before shaking my head. "I'll have to think about it."
Dong Tu takes a deep breath and nods. "Please give me a response once you decide."
He then promptly leaves. It looks like his wife acted on her own accord behind his back. I lead Luli with me to the academy, where I quickly search for and find the academy elder. "My uncle has just attempted to assassinate me."
The elder blinks, trying to make sure that he heard me correctly. His expression becomes extremely serious afterwards. "This is a very serious accusation. If it is true then Dong Tu will be executed for treason. What is your proof?"
I take a deep breath. "The body of the assassin is in the forest. I happened upon a family of hunters who confirmed the identity of the assassin. He is Wang Da, a hunter from one of our neighboring villages who faked his own death and became a demonic gu master."
I pull out the rank 2 love life separation gu. "This is the gu that the gu master used to try and
The elder quickly realises that this is more than he chew. Dong Tu is very politically connected. For the Gu Yue clan this is the equivalent of a billionaire CEO going to trial for murder. The elder gives me an appraising look. "Show me where the body is. We will go and check on the Wang family afterwards."
—
The elder stops and stares at the body once we arrive. He then goes to the body and begins to examine it. Once he is done he rises. "This is the body of a rank 2 gu master. He is not a Gu Yue clan member, so he is almost certainly either a demonic gu master or a clan member of the Xiong or Bai clans."
The academy elder motions for me to follow him back to the village. "We will inform the clan leader about this. It is not under my purview to investigate something such as this. I merely required to confirm that this is not just a baseless accusation."