47 Jia Jin Sheng, I actually did not want to kill you (2/2)

At the entrance of the village, many people gathered as they sent the caravan off with their gazes.

“You must come again next year!” Reluctant to see them depart, the children shouted loudly.

The adults had more complicated expressions.

“The road ahead is unforeseen. In these hard times, for those who are able to come to the village next year, how many would still be familiar faces?”

“Be it at the merchant caravan or in the village, it is not easy to earn a living.”

As the caravan left further and further, as the crowd dispersed.

The cheerful and lighthearted market atmosphere had also subsequently disappeared. The original spot that had erected tents and shops was left now with a huge mess. The grass turf had been walked upon continuously by the crowd, grassroots and mud soil trampled out. The rainwater hit on its surface, immediately forming mud and numerous little pot-holes that collected muddy water. In addition to that, there was a lot of garbage left over.

Fang Yuan stood on a secluded hillside, watching the merchant caravan from far away alone. The merchant caravan was like a fat and colourful flower python, snaking through the narrow mountain road under the grey heavy rain, slowly entering the dense mountain forest.

“Ah, the heavens are sending their blessings...” Fang Yuan sighed lightly.

He held a butter yellow paper umbrella, quietly standing in the rain.

Fang Yuan wore the most plain flax cloth garment, his body slim, his skin bringing about the pale whiteness of a fifteen year old teenager, a settled clump of clean and short black hair atop his head. The ends of his hair trembled slightly in the wind under his umbrella.

While others curse the weather, he was lamenting the timely appearance of the rain.

He killed Jia Jin Sheng last night and cleaned up the scene, but because it happened so unexpectedly, there was bound to be areas of neglect. Especially with the bloody smell, because the cave is not ventilated, the smell could not disperse easily.

With this rain, it cleaned up the air and environment, greatly reducing the chances of getting exposed by smell tracking methods. The crack was bound to have a small cascade of water flowing down, and once the fresh water vapour diluted the air, he would not be exposed for the short time being.

Of course, once time passes, the chance of getting exposed increases.

In this world there were all sorts of Gu worms, and investigative methods were abundant, even Fang Yuan only knew a portion of them.

The rain produced pitter patter sounds as it hit on the yellow umbrella. Then following the shape of the umbrella, streams of water flowed down onto the limestones beneath Fang Yuan’s feet, hitting and creating splashes.

Seeing the caravan curve into a corner, completely disappearing into the forests, Fang Yuan did not show a sign of relief, but instead looked grim.

“Although Jia Jin Sheng’s cultivation was weak and had little talent, he had a special status. The caravan’s people are all busy with business, thus no one found out that he’s missing. But once some time passes, it’d definitely be found out. By then, Jia Fu would return to investigate, and the real challenge would be then.”

“The Jia family head intentionally arranged Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu to be on the same caravan, he had deep intentions. In terms of cultivation, they are worlds apart. In terms of cunningness, they’re also incomparable. Such an arrangement is to inflict a blow to Jia Jin Sheng and let him be clear of reality, and live life peacefully. At the same time he is testing Jia Fu’s nature, for if he is too overbearing on Jia Jin Sheng, how can he hand the position of clan head to him?”

“Jia Jin Sheng never truly understood his father’s intentions. Although he had some intelligence, he only managed to scratch the surface of a merchant’s wits, what a pity. A pity of such a good pawn piece.”

Fang Yuan felt regrettable in his heart. With five hundred years of experience, he could easily see past the surface and understand the true nature of the situation.

When he saw the dispute between the two that night, he could tell the complicated relationship between Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu, and thus he had a vague plan formed in his heart from then on.

In his plan, Jia Jin Sheng was a very suitable pawn. His cultivation was weak but he held a high position in the caravan, and although he had some wits, he had little experience, thus Fang Yuan could easily manipulate him.

Once controlled, this pawn would be extremely useful.

For one, he could build a strong network of smuggling through his relationship, preparing up for usurping treasures from future killings.

Secondly, Fang Yuan could hide in the background and use the image wall to stir up conflict among the Qing Mao mountain’s three families, causing a civil war and enabling him to be able to reap the rewards.

Thirdly, Fang Yuan could rely on him to make his way into the Jia family interior. The future Jia family dispute caused a large scale Gu fighting competition, it will be a huge affair with lots of benefits to gain. Fang Yuan could make use of this to acquire the greatest reward for himself.

“My cultivation is still too low, restraining me greatly in doing things. If there was a pawn for me to use, I can do some things that I cannot attempt myself, it is not only convenient but also lowers the risk of doing so. If I get exposed, I can simply discard the pawn and stay safe myself.”

“The surrounding people know the situation well and are loyal to the family, thus they aren’t good to manipulate. Only an outsider like Jia Jin Sheng can be used more efficiently to execute my plans. Unfortunately, I did not expect the Flower Wine Monk to leave behind his power inheritance.”

The Flower Wine Monk is a Rank five Gu Master, his inheritance is definitely more valuable than this pawn.

Of course, it’d be good if he could get the best of both worlds, but in face of such treasure, Jia Jin Sheng could not longer be controlled, thus he had to be discarded.

“Nothing will go smoothly forever in this world.” Fang Yuan sighed and shook his head.

The Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance appeared and disrupted Fang Yuan’s original plans. In addition, after the changes to the image wall, the videos and images were all gone, only showing a line written in blood, telling Fang Yuan to destroy the image wall and reveal a cavern entrance. Following the trail, he would be able to get the inheritance.

The blood writing only appeared for a few breaths before vanishing, and the image wall also turned back into the most ordinary mountain wall.

Fang Yuan spent the entire night cleaning up the murder scene, and had no time to break the wall.

“Killing Jia Jin Sheng in a hurry, this would leave many problems for me in the future, and I am but only temporarily safe. Although I succeeded in getting rid of the evidence, there is bound to be trouble coming for me in the future. In this case, I would have to change my way of exposing the Liquor worm. I cannot go to the secret cave behind the wall crack either. I have to stay in the mountain village for some time to anticipate investigation in the near future.”

Fang Yuan turned around and held his umbrella, walking in the rain towards the village.

“But this is fine too. I can spend a large amount of primeval stones during this period to refine to middle stage primeval essence. Using it, I can nurture my aperture and break through into the middle stage. Once I reached the middle stage, my power will double, allowing me to get the inheritance more easily and with greater confidence.”

A demonic cultivator’s inheritance was not as mild and gentle as a righteous cultivator’s, for there was often dangerous tests and tasks, and if one cannot get through, they’d have to pay the price with their life.

“The world is hard to predict, but it is precisely this that makes it interesting.” Fang Yuan smiled coldly.

The green mountain beneath the heavy rain extended continuously and unending, its green mixed with grey, appearing stifling and heavy.

A gust of wind blew, and the raindrops inclined a little, hitting onto Fang Yuan’s shoulder and attacking him with a burst of chilliness.

He thought about Jia Jin Sheng again.

Sighing in his heart, he thought, “Jia Jin Sheng, actually I… did not want to kill you.”

What a waste of a good pawn.