The prison on the west side of the Qingshan County Government Office.
Each cell was crammed with prisoners.
Some were petty thieves from the streets, others were gang members, and some were ragged beggars.
Almost all of the idle vagrants in Qingshan County had been captured by Li Wenlin and thrown into this place.
At this moment, Li Wenlin was walking toward the depths of the cells with a tall and thin old man.
"Is this the Longevity Gourd?" Li Wenlin greedily gazed at the yellow-skinned gourd in the hands of the tall and thin old man.
The palm-sized yellow-skinned gourd was smooth with silver patterns running across its surface.
"Can it really ward off evil and protect the virtuous, and even brew Longevity Wine?"
"Longevity is, of course, impossible," chuckled the tall and thin old man. "But to extend one's life is no problem."
Li Wenlin felt somewhat reassured and nodded, "Show me."
"As you command," the tall and thin elder slightly bowed, his expression a mix of a smile and not.
A string of cumbersome curses spilled out from his mouth.
The silver threads on the yellow gourd sparkled, and a puff of white vapor sprayed out from the mouth of the gourd.
The vapor circled in mid-air before diving into the pitch-black cell.
A short and abrupt scream followed, and the white fog flew back.
The tall and thin old man shook the gourd, and the sound of a light liquid swishing could be heard.
He took out two jade wine cups from his sleeve and turned the gourd upside down.
Drops of pale red liquid flowed out, resembling fine grape wine.
He shook vigorously, pouring out every last drop, barely enough to just cover the bottom of the two cups.
The tall and thin old man put away the gourd, drank one cup without a word, and with an expression of enjoyment, handed the other cup to Li Wenlin.
Li Wenlin took over the cup, half in doubt, and drank it down.
Before this, he had already had several servants test the Longevity Wine.
Having observed them for several days without noticing any adverse reactions, he now boldly drank it down.
A cool sensation spread from his stomach throughout his body.
A feeling of refreshment instantly assaulted his brain.
His thoughts were now unprecedentedly agile and clear.
Details that he had previously overlooked were now obvious, as clear as patterns on his palm.
What was more crucial was that he felt his Shape Cultivation Technique, which had been stuck at a bottleneck for many years, was finally showing signs of loosening!
"With enough Longevity Wine, absolute success in Marrow Transformation isn't a dream!"
"Excellent!" Li Wenlin couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Li Wenlin scrutinized the cell filled with prisoners, "I'll leave this place to you."
The tall and thin elder smiled and nodded, "Rest assured."
"Don't you play any tricks on me," Li Wenlin stared fiercely at the old man. "Your grandson is still in my hands."
"Please take care of him, Commander-in-chief." The tall and thin elder bowed his head in a bow. "My grandson likes to eat beef."
"Heh! If you do a good job, I'll let him eat beef for a lifetime!" Li Wenlin laughed heartily and turned to leave.
The tall and thin elder stood straight, smiling broadly as he watched the other's retreating figure, and called out loudly, "Many thanks, Commander-in-chief!"
Once Li Wenlin had completely disappeared, the tall and thin old man gleefully spit out the fresh red liquid that he had hidden in his stomach.
"Longevity Wine? Heh..."
He spun around on the spot, looking at the cells crowded with prisoners showing faces of terror, his smile growing even more radiant, "What do you say, how should I repay him?"
"How about sending him to death, hehe... hahaha!"
The yellow-skinned gourd was like a balloon with its surface punctured, white smoke erupted violently, rapidly spreading throughout the entire prison.
Shortly followed by a series of short and muted screams, then all that remained was a deathly silence.
...
By the Bailang River. Chen Mu gripped an Iron Lotus Seed tightly, staring nervously at the dense fog ahead.
The sound was getting closer, and the ground shook more and more violently.
Chen Mu's back was drenched in sweat, and just as he could not bear to throw the Iron Lotus Seed.
A black horse burst through the fog.
A tall, sturdy, bald middle-aged man wearing black clothes with a stern face rode upon the horse, locking his gaze onto Chen Mu.
The atmosphere gradually grew tense.
"Are you Chen Mu?" the bald strong man asked coldly.
Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat, and with a sincere face, he said, "I am not."
The bald strong man: "..."
Had it not been for the portrait given by Jie Jia which he had seen earlier, he might have almost believed him!
"You aren't Jie's nephew, Chen Mu?" the bald strong man asked incredulously.
You're a notorious assassin from the underworld, you don't have any bloody acquaintances!
"Not mine, yours," Jie Jia gestured vaguely towards the carriage behind with a nod of his head.
"My acquaintances?" Chen Mu rolled his eyes and unbelievingly turned around to lift the carriage's curtain.
A pair of bright, sparkling eyes appeared.
"Brother Chen?!"
"Hey! Did you bring any rice balls?"
Cheng Ming?!
Chen Mu looked further inside.
An awkward, chubby middle-aged man cupped his hands in greeting, "Young Master Chen, what a coincidence."
Du Huai from Qingshan County?
He'd been used as free labor by the County Government Office to draw up wanted posters; it was this man's handiwork.
The second-in-command of the County Government Office running away?!
Chen Mu looked utterly absurd as he turned to the last burly man.
He had a beard around his jaw, eyes as big as copper bells, wore black, tight-fitting clothes, and was tall and sturdy.
With a Ghost Head Greatknife strapped to his back, he faced Chen Mu with a forthright expression, "Brother, we're sharing the road so it must be fate."
"My name is Zhang Ye. What's yours?"
The dimwitted gang leader of the Bailang Gang?
Chen Mu: "..."
So, they really are acquaintances...
Pulling down the curtain abruptly, Chen Mu leaned against the carriage and closed his eyes.
At this moment, he didn't want to say a word.
...
At the Qingfeng Observatory's Ancestral Master Hall on Little East Mountain.
"Master, the human cauldron has been placed on the altar," Cheng Yi entered the Ancestral Master Hall and said to Feng Ren, who was sitting in front of the carved scriptures.
"Blood sacrifice the Heartless Bell, absorb the vital energy of the whole city. Yi'er, do you think I was wrong?" Feng Ren murmured, his voice ethereal and hinting at confusion.
Cheng Yi respectfully bowed his head, "To live for the Dao, to die for the Dao."
"The Dao? Heh..." Feng Ren's voice carried a note of melancholy, "Is this why you poisoned me?"
"You forced me to," Cheng Yi's eyes showed a trace of resentment, "Otherwise, how could I get the Elixir of Longevity?"
"Without the Elixir of Longevity, I can't cultivate my Shell Soul, can't open the gate to heaven, and can't obtain eternal life," Cheng Yi's emotions grew more agitated.
"To live for the Dao, to die for the Dao! Master, that's what you taught, right?"
"With Cheng Ming around, you don't need... you really don't need it..." Feng Ren let out a long sigh, and blood began to drip from the corners of his mouth.
"Cheng Ming again, always Cheng Ming! This Elixir of Longevity was prepared for Cheng Ming, right?" Hate flickered in Cheng Yi's eyes.
"Heh... Elixir of Longevity? It's Longevity Poison..." As Feng Ren opened his mouth, blood calmly flowed from it, dripping down his chin and saturating the ground beneath him.
The blackish-red bloodstain spread from where Feng Ren was sitting, growing larger and larger until it covered half of the Ancestral Master Hall.
"Don't blame me, Master. I just want to see that wonderful world," Cheng Yi's eyes became bloodshot, and a tear fell from his eye.
"To live for the Dao, to die for the Dao..." Only this resolute murmur remained in the Ancestral Master Hall.
...
"Brother Chen, just give me some rice balls, I'm really hungry," Cheng Ming peeked out from behind the curtain, pestering Chen Mu by tugging at his shoulder repeatedly.
"Here, take it, take it! Stop touching me, I'm irritated!" Chen Mu pretended to rummage in his cloth bag and tossed a fist-sized pouch to Cheng Ming.
It contained five Fasting Pills.
"Thank you, Brother Chen!"
"When my master and senior brother come to fetch me, I'll ask them to treat you to a feast at the biggest restaurant in Nanyang Prefecture!" Cheng Ming grinned from ear to ear.
"Go away, their cooking probably isn't even as good as mine."
"If you want to thank me, ask your master to give me money directly!"
"No problem!" Cheng Ming said heartily, "You can scam as much as you want; my senior brother is loaded. Heh heh!"
Cough cough!
Jie Jia coughed twice and suddenly turned to look at Cheng Ming.
"Old man, what's up?"
"Those rice balls, I have some too," Jie Jia said with a grin, "Do you want to buy them?"
"I can keep a tab."
Looking at Jie Jia with a sense of resignation, Chen Mu thought back to when he had believed Jie Jia had a low benchmark for earning money.
But in truth, it seemed he simply didn't have one at all.
You don't have any damn rice balls! Selling the food you scrounged from me for money?!
"No problem! My senior brother treats me really well! He gives me all the money I ask for," Cheng Ming said cheerfully.
"Put it on my tab! Put it on my tab!"