Chapter 15: Spicy Hand (Seeking Follow-up Readers)

Otherworld.

Temporary campsite.

Fang Xing opened a second-hand smart computer he had acquired from the market.

"Start the data transfer!"

His fingers flew over the keyboard, and various images appeared on the screen.

These included a large amount of video footage taken by imitation bird drones and images and sounds recorded by beetle monitors.

"Hmm, it indeed is an ancient agricultural society... The farming techniques are very primitive."

In the surveillance footage, farming dominated the scene.

Watching one ragged-clad 'farmer' after another, their faces turned towards the brown earth and backs to the sky, sweating profusely, Fang Xing fell silent.

These 'farmers', at the very least, were all First or Second Realm Martial Artists, and even some from the Rough Jade Realm occasionally appeared!

Luckily, the Martial Artists from the local Rough Jade Realm generally had low vigilance, or rather, they had never encountered imitation surveillance equipment, so they noticed no flaws.

Most of these Martial Artist farmers worked in silence, their faces numb, devoid of vitality.

Only occasionally did they speak to each other.

After days of collection, from lip-reading to pronunciation, the data was now complete.

Fang Xing's task was to have the smart brain integrate all data for the last time and then learn this new language!

'It's a pity there's no learning device, but learning this language won't take much time...'

After all, as an excellent student from a competitive educational system, Fang Xing was quite confident in this regard.

The practice of Martial Arts was essentially a form of evolution, where one's brain's memory and thought agility greatly enhance with the increase of Realm!

"Martial Artists here can only farm or pick up dung, or else venture into the wilderness, right?"

As the second-hand computer organized and analyzed data, Fang Xing began scanning the surveillance footage, attempting to understand the ecological setup of this world's Martial Artists.

He had seen Martial Artists farm, transport dung carts, and even adventure—most of them lived poorly, with only those in the Rough Jade Realm enjoying somewhat better lives.

"Besides that, there exist people of higher status..."

Fang Xing opened a surveillance clip, shot from a great distance. It showed a slightly overweight middle-aged man dressed in silk robes, similar to a business owner, collecting resources house-to-house, including rice, ore, medicinal herbs, and even the crystal sand he had...

At the end, several large carts were fully loaded and taken away, escorted by Martial Artists of the Rough Jade Realm. However, in front of this middle-aged business owner, their status appeared much lower, showing extreme politeness, and even reverence.

This was not merely a disparity in status but more likely in power!

This short, plump business owner might have the ability to kill several Martial Artists from the Rough Jade Realm!

"Talismans..."

Fang Xing recalled the Talisman that the team leader of the four adventurers had used, as well as the image of the Golden Bell Shield, and a judgement formed in his mind.

"The priority now is to learn the local language first, then change my outfit and try to make contact..."

He glanced at the old computer screen and noted that the translation progress of the 'Otherworldly Language' was less than 10%.

"There's still time, huh?"

At that moment, the first drone Fang Xing had sent on a surveillance mission transmitted back an image.

In the image, a woman with tattered clothing and blood all over her body was fleeing desperately.

Judging by the direction, she would discover the temporary campsite within a few minutes!

"Hmm? Is this another one of that wild boar's exploits?"

Fang Xing frowned.

The nearby wild beast was extraordinarily powerful.

Except for the previous Rough Jade Realm four-man team leader who barely escaped alive using the power of a Talisman, all other Medicine Gatherers encountered it invariably met their death, truly a bane to Medicine Gatherers.

Even the bodies of these Medicine Gatherers eventually ended up in the belly of the wild boar, leaving no remains intact.

This woman didn't need much consideration; she was definitely some sort of Medicine Gatherer, desperately driven by that wild boar.

"But why is she running towards my location?"

Fang Xing felt a headache brewing.

"Judging by her physique and speed, she should be lower than the Third Realm, a Second Realm Martial Artist... She probably doesn't carry any dangerous items either; otherwise, even a single Talisman would have prevented her from being pursued to this extent by that wild boar."

He sighed, let the protective suit cover his entire body, missing no part including eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, and picked up an electric baton: "Let's go have a look..."

...

Swoosh!

A figure flickered, and Xue Yuling utilized a movement technique, skimming past a thorny shrub.

She was tall and fair-skinned, her long legs once made even an Immortal Master linger and forget to return.

If it weren't for the difficulties, she wouldn't have ventured out alone to gather medicine.

"Damn, I've been duped!"

"The purchase price of 'Vermilion Dragon Grass' at Qinglin Square has gone up, making harvesting even more dangerous... Those people up there don't want to give us any leeway at all."

Xue Yuling gritted her teeth.

The competition in the square was too fierce, with some female Immortal Masters specializing in bewitching techniques entering the fray for survival.

Although she could make do with a barely surviving business by keeping the door half-open,

the thought of purchasing Spirit Rice or Elixirs to enhance her Martial Arts skills was wishful thinking.

Therefore, she had no choice but to come here, who could have expected encountering a wild pig Demon Beast that seemed to have advanced slightly in level, not to mention the entire team perishing, leaving her in such a miserable state.

"Almost there... just a bit further to the river, and then I can jump into it to escape!"

Xue Yuling was not sure if the demon beast boar was still behind her, but having faced many hardships from a young age, she tended to consider the worst-case scenario.

Rivers in the Great Wilderness were extremely dangerous, yet they could wash away her scent, which at this moment was her only path to survival!

Suddenly!

She saw a movement in the grass ahead, and a silver humanoid monster leaped out!

"What in the world is that?"

Xue Yuling shouted sharply, her harsh temperament from surviving the lower tiers causing her to react without hesitation. With a flick of her hand, three glinting darts flew like shooting stars, striking Fang Xing squarely in the chest.

"A hidden weapon?"

Fang Xing was momentarily stunned, then saw the three darts fall to the ground. Their sharp blades shimmered with a blue light, clearly coated with a potent poison.

Fortunately, he was wearing a nano protective suit which wasn't breached at all—even absorbing much of the force, leaving only a slight stuffiness in his chest.

"How dare you try to kill me first, from here on, it would be self-defense in any world!"

Fang Xing shouted, as his electric baton descended.

"What are those freakish sounds?"

Xue Yuling couldn't understand Fang Xing's language, but it didn't stop her from gripping an iron Judge's Pen to block the electric baton with exquisite skill.

The pen's tip even quivered, aiming straight at several vital points on Fang Xing's body, clearly prepared for a fierce counterattack.

This set of "Wind-Spraying Pen" techniques would be considered a top-tier strange skill in the regular Martial Arts realm.

Ding!

Feeling the force transmitted from the Judge's Pen, Xue Yuling relaxed her guard, "This weirdo is so weak..."

But the next moment, she was horrified to see electric sparks flashing on his black baton!

The terrifying current followed, sending her flying backward, landing on the ground in convulsions.

"A Blood Refining Magical Artifact? You actually have a Blood Refining Magical Artifact?"

Xue Yuling looked at the approaching humanoid monster, realizing he must also be from the Human Clan, and quickly cried out, "Mercy, my lord..."

Her delicate features truly invoked a protective instinct.

"What are you saying? I can't understand!"

Fang Xing guessed at her words, catching the gist that she was pleading, but alas...

"The prettier the woman, the more trouble... so you can just die!"

Fang Xing pointed with his baton.

Zap!

A white flash of electricity emitted from the tip of the electric baton, striking Xue Yuling right on her forehead.

"This vendor lied, says it could down an elephant, yet she can still talk... Zap her a few more times, just to be safe."

Fang Xing prodded her with the electric baton, making sure she was really dead before putting on rubber gloves and searching the body.

What this woman didn't know was that he had the Heavenly Eye of a drone and knew the wild beast had given up the chase long ago.

Ironically, the 'path to life' she thought she had chosen turned out to be a path to death.

I wonder if she came back to life, would she die again from anger?

"Wait... is this my first time killing someone? Should I throw up or something?"

Fang Xing, somewhat belatedly aware, took deep breaths to calm himself.

Well...

Perhaps it was the incredulity of traversing worlds, plus assimilating his predecessor's memories and enduring sufferings as a bio-human...

All things considered, he found his feelings uncharacteristically calm and devoid of anxiety or fear...

After a few deep breaths, he was completely tranquil, resuming searching the body.

"Good figure..."

"Booty... a pair of Judge's Pens, one Money Bag, and three Jade Bottles... Eh? There's even a book?"

Fang Xing picked up a book.

The book was thread-bound with yellow pages showing signs of worm damage.

On the cover, four words were written in the Otherworldly Language, of which Fang Xing recognized none.

"Good stuff..."

He wasn't disgusted, "This is prime research material, which can accelerate the decryption process once analyzed by the smart brain!"

As for the Money Bag?

Upon opening it, it contained three grains of sand identical to a batch he had obtained before.

"It looks... a bit like standard equivalent currency? This means I now have seven units of currency in total?"

Fang Xing rubbed his chin, then looked at the Jade Bottles.

Two of the bottles had been opened, and he dared not sniff or consume their contents without testing them using poison test strips and lab rats.

The last bottle, however, had a wax-sealed mouth, appearing unopened and intact.

Carved on the bottle were three words in the Otherworldly Language, which he still couldn't understand.

'A sealed bottle, how likely is it that it's a trap filled with poison?'

'A trap? Surely the humans of this world wouldn't blindly consume enemy loot?'