Chapter 21: The Poison Sac

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a sharp whistling sound.

In the dark night, a flare shot up to the sky, exploding in mid-air, and countless fragments of light poured down like raindrops.

The glow of the fireworks reflected on Su Heng's face.

His gaze was vacant, seemingly mulling over something, and his entire demeanor became quiet.

"Have you figured it out?"

A voice rang out beside Su Heng.

Su Heng was startled, blinked, turned his body, and the face that appeared before his eyes was none other than Su Gui's, flushed with a rosy glow.

"Figured out what?" His face showed confusion, and he asked somewhat perplexedly.

"The matter of the arranged marriage," Su Gui said with wide eyes, trying to persuade him, "A few days ago, the Xue Family came to propose. They brought many betrothal gifts, including deeds to a large number of shops. If you accept this marriage, all this wealth would be..."

"Not interested," Su Heng interrupted Su Gui's endless talk.

Even though he expected such a response, Su Gui still sighed, with a trace of regret on his face.

"Didn't you use to quite fancy that girl from the Xue Family?"

"The past is the past, now is now," Su Heng said, "This world is no longer the same."

The eldest daughter of the Xue Family was named Xue Caixiao, and she was very beautiful.

In Su Heng's eyes, she was second only to his sister Su Li.

Previously, Su Heng had also thought about marrying and having children in Changqing County, taking over the family property, and living a stable life.

It seemed quite nice.

Unfortunately...

The appearance of the Golden Finger and the demons

had completely disrupted Su Heng's mundane thoughts, as a completely different path unfolded before him.

Love between men and women, family conversations,

these things, he no longer cared much for.

"Dong dong qiang!"

"Dong dong qiang!"

The noisy sound of gongs and drums interrupted the conversation between father and son.

On the street before them, a series of lantern floats streamed by, accompanied by children's laughter.

On both sides of the road, there were all kinds of stalls, showcasing brightly colored lanterns and decorations, and the aromas of various delicacies wafted from within, making one's mouth water.

This was actually a night market, and quite a bustling one at that.

"They say it's to boost morale," Su Gui explained with a smile, "The County Magistrate said the taxes are waived for these few days, so many people have set up stalls outside, making it look livelier."

"Those ghosts and goblins are most afraid of lively energy."

"When the spirit of the people is strong, all that evil energy, ghostly energy, and the like that harm people will naturally dissolve into nothingness." Su Gui gestured with a wave of his hand as if to drive away all those harmful beings.

"That's not necessarily the case..." Su Heng shook his head.

He looked at the bustling crowd in front of him but felt not a shred of security.

The Water Ghost had died.

But around Changqing County, there was another, even more terrifying fog demon, whom even the Grandmaster on Blackthorn Mountain couldn't vanquish, laying waste to Heikui Mountain.

If you add the strange Flesh Golem inside Heikui Mountain, that would be the second demon.

The Water Ghost was just a beginning.

As time passed, the situation in Changqing County would only deteriorate further.

Until order completely collapsed, corpses littered everywhere, and the living suffer immensely.

The current bustle of the night market seemed to dilute the gloom brought about by the Water Ghost, but those cheering and lively people appeared in Su Heng's eyes as fleeting as ephemeral clouds and smoke.

In two or three years' time...

From among these crowds, it was a mystery how many would survive.

"You don't know, recently a lot more people in Changqing County have taken up martial arts. Those sluggish martial arts halls are packed every day, especially the Pure Yang Martial Arts Hall. Even if they tripled the teaching fees, people are still queuing to learn skills non-stop!" Su Gui, unaware of the worry on Su Heng's face, spoke excitedly.

"The Pure Yang Martial Arts Hall is making money, why are you so happy about it?" Su Heng asked, puzzled.

"You forget, we invested a hefty sum in the Pure Yang Martial Arts Hall, and there's a share of the profits," Su Gui explained happily.

"…"

"Those people are useless," Su Heng said speechlessly, "I got to this point because of my strong talent, it has nothing to do with the Pure Yang Skill itself. Those people are just wasting their time and money learning martial arts. They won't learn anything significant."

"Who cares," Su Gui said indifferently, "As long as I can make money, that's fine. Whether they learn anything is their own problem."

"How are those gangs that took the opportunity to cause trouble now?" Su Heng asked again.

"Don't worry about it, they've all been dealt with," Su Gui said. "Those gangs managed to rise because the main focus of the government forces was on dealing with demons and suppressing the plague. Now that the Water Ghost has been dealt with, the police have made a resolute decision to take action, and those gang members naturally scattered like birds and beasts, becoming insignificant."

"That's good…" Su Heng finally let go of the last bit of worry that had been lingering in his heart.

"It's getting late, I'll be leaving now," Su Heng said, "You should also rest early and take care of yourself."

Su Gui nodded.

"Oh!" he said, "There's one more thing I haven't told you about."

"What is it?" Su Heng turned around.

"Su Li," Su Gui said, "I've just received news that in the next few days, your sister will be returning from the prefectural government."

"That's actually good news," Su Heng thought of a bright and vivacious figure in his mind.

Since the resurgence of demons, the world had been thrown into chaos.

Su Heng had always been worried about whether Su Li would encounter any accidents on her way home, but now it seemed he might have been overly concerned.

Everything was going smoothly.

That was the best outcome.

…

…

…

Leaving the residence.

Su Heng returned to his own courtyard and entered the basement.

Hiss!

Yang Extreme True Qi began to flow.

He lightly swiped over the wick of the oil lamp, and the flame was lit, its flickering light gradually dispelling the darkness.

This recently completed basement was about twenty square meters in size, with several oil lamps hanging on the walls and ventilation holes installed in concealed places in the ceiling.

In the center of the room was a roughly two-meter long and one-meter wide wooden table.

On the wooden table was a corpse that had been gutted and dissected.

This corpse was none other than the demon Water Ghost that had died by Su Heng's hand not long ago and had now been completely dismembered by him.

Its innards had been nearly hollowed out.

The heart, lungs, intestines, and other withered organs were hanging from metal hooks.

Parts of its limbs had also been removed and consumed by Su Heng, transformed into attribute points.

Only the torso still remained largely intact.

Su Heng put on gloves and began removing the last bits of flesh from the Water Ghost's body, which seemed useless, placing them aside.

Soon…

A dark green poison sack appeared before Su Heng's eyes.

Even though the Water Ghost was dead beyond doubt, this poison sack, the size of an adult's fist, was still pulsating and twitching as if alive.

In the darkness, it emitted a faint purple glow.

There was also an indescribable fishy smell.

Su Heng frowned slightly and, gripping the poison sack, gently pinched the connecting blood vessel, and the poison sack was completely removed.

At the same time…

A pale gray text suddenly appeared before Su Heng's eyes.

[Detecting demon remains… Analyzing… Analysis successful]

[Demon Remains: Water Ghost Poison Sack]

[Would you like to integrate?]