Book 10 Chapter 12 – Killing Barbarians
OCTOBER 11, 2017 ~ EMILYEVELAN
Uncle Ke, Ke Nanshan, and Ke Shi all froze. After a moment, Ke Dashan laughed. “Ah Feng, you’re too kind. Unfortunately, I’m already used to living here and I don’t want to move. Although it’s tough here, I can still stand it. I wouldn’t know what to do if I left.”
Ke Nanshan also rejected Lei Xinfeng’s suggestion. He thought that his life at Tiger Cliff was good enough.
Ke Shi shook his head. “I only know how to hunt and nothing else, so… I’ll stay at Tiger Cliff.”
No one was willing to leave their homeland. They were regular people, different from practitioners. They dreaded leaving the comfort of familiar places.
Lei Xinfeng sighed to himself, saying, “Okay, I won’t insist on it.” He believed that he could offer a good replacement and make their lives a bit easier, but since they don’t want to leave, he wouldn’t force them. It was a decision that everyone had to make for themselves.
Ke Nanshan smiled. “Although we won’t go, Ah Feng, I still thank you for your offer.”
Lei Xinfeng nodded. “Let’s go back to Tiger Cliff. We still have a mountain of bulls to take care of.”
Speaking of bulls, Ke Dashan and the hunters were suddenly reminded of the herds that Lei Xinfeng slaughtered, and how they suddenly disappeared. They’ve been meaning to ask, but they didn’t know where to start. However, without them asking, Lei Xinfeng brought it up himself.
“Where are the bulls?” Ke Dashan asked curiously.
“I have them. I’ll take them out when we get to Tiger Cliff,” Lei Xinfeng said, smiling.
Ke Dashan was confused, but since Lei Xinfeng didn’t explain, he didn’t ask. It’s not like they would understand even if Lei Xinfeng did explain; non-practitioners probably couldn’t even wrap their minds around the concept of Hidden Lun spaces.
Ke Nanshan smiled and said, “In that case, let’s not worry about it too much. If Ah Feng has it, we’ll definitely see those bulls again. Come on, let’s go back.”
After they returned to Tiger Cliff, Chief Hu Cangya personally came to receive them, but when he saw them he was secretly surprised that so many hunters only managed to hunt some wild beasts and small game. Although he couldn’t see anything else, he still welcomed them back warmly.
When Lei Xinfeng released all the bulls from his Hidden Lun space, everyone was shocked.
Over two hundred bulls were stacked on the ground. “It seems that I will have to trouble everyone to help,” Lei Xinfeng said. “I think we should split these two hundred bulls into a dozen or so parts and hand them up. Everyone except for the old and young should help.”
Hu Cangya used to be a hunter himself, the best in fact, but he’d never seen so many bulls hunted at once. This meat must be preserved quickly. Fresh meat couldn’t be left out for too long or it will go bad. He didn’t know whether to be happy or surprised, so he immediately left to organize the residents of Tiger Cliff.
Even if Hu Cangya didn’t order them to come help, everyone would’ve still come. They couldn’t not come; the commotion was too big. It was a spectacle that Tiger Cliff had never seen since before its establishment.
Giant wooden frames were constructed and bulls strapped on it. All the hunters began to skin and divide the bulls. Every pelt had women taking them to treat. Organs were put into basins. The horns were also quality products, so they were put aside for later. Big chunks of meat were cut off and immediately treated with salt, then put up to dry.
Meanwhile, Lei Xinfeng and his guards were honored in Hu Cangya’s home.
Although two hundred bulls were a large amount, setting up the meat for preservation was a task that the entire mobilization of Tiger Cliff finished in a day. The less urgent tasks of refining pelts and horns were left for later.
That day, every family was stewing meat or making bone soup. The entirety of Tiger Cliff smelled of delicious bull meat.
Lei Xinfeng only took a part of the bacon and a dozen pelts; he left the rest for Tiger Cliff. Every family had several hundred jins of meat, several hundred jins of bone, and some organs.
It was like a festival in Tiger Cliff. The children were running around joyfully because even though Tiger Cliff had many hunters, not everyone could afford to eat meat. The only people that could really fill their stomachs were the hunters. The others lived a harder life.
Lei Xinfeng returned to his home. Everything was as it was when they left, but his grandfather and sister was still missing.
Sighing, Lei Xinfeng sat in the yard, gaze empty.
His guards sat on watch nearby.
After a moment, Lei Xinfeng said, “Ah… if only my grandfather came back. If he was back once, then I’d know where to start looking.”
“Why don’t you leave a contact location so if he does come back, he can come find you? At the very least, news can get to you from here,” Jin Daya suggested.
Lei Xinfeng nodded. He knew that his secret sect had people stationed all over this continent, as did Fengying and Shihu. He told Shihu to notify Hu Cangya and leave one such contact location, along with instructions to give it to his grandfather if he comes looking.
It was a speck of hope, and Lei Xinfeng was betting on this hope. If Lei Bao did come here, he’ll definitely find him.
“How long are we staying here? Jin Daya asked.
Lei Xinfeng said, “This isn’t a place to remain in. Let’s go pick up your Jin Dapan. Heh, I really miss that fellow’s cooking. He’s quite the talent.”
On the second day, Lei Xinfeng and his guards left. Hu Cangya was a bit regretful. If Lei Xinfeng could stay and go on another hunt, then this year would be plentiful. However, he realized and understood that he had no way of making someone of this caliber stay.
After exchanging a few words with Ke Dashan, Ke Nanshan, and Ke Shi, the four of them flew into the sky, leaving quickly.
“Where is this place?”
Lei Xinfeng smiled. “This is Hongtong City.” He could still remember that year when he first left Tiger Cliff and lived here for some time, killing an elder’s great-grandson, causing quite a bit of trouble.
Qi Xuan and Du Hongcheng both lived in Hongtong City, and they could both be considered friends to some extent: they did get into a fight with the inner elder An Zishi in order to protect him after all. In the end, it was his grandfather that simply slaughtered the opposition and ended the conflict. Back then, he wasn’t even a Milun Master; he hadn’t been cultivating for long.
Suddenly, Lei Xinfeng thought of something. His grandfather and the leaders of Hongtong knew each other; maybe they’ve had contact. He turned to his guards. “I want to get some information from a few friends.”
“In Hongtong City up ahead?” Jin Daya asked.
Lei Xinfeng nodded. “Yes, right ahead. Let’s fly there.” From the sky, he could see the road that he initially took to enter the city. Lei Xinfeng flew ahead, leading the way.
Like so, the four of them entered Hongtong City.
After ascertaining the direction, Lei Xinfeng found the place that Qi Xuan liked.
The four landed, scaring a crowd of practitioners. As practitioners, they all knew that anyone that could fly was someone incredibly powerful. And now, four of them landed at once; it was too terrifying.
They were all Hundred Lun Masters, Thousand Lun Masters, and a few were Ten Thousand Lun Masters. The leader was a Milun Master. At Lei Xinfeng’s level, he could see their cultivation levels in an instant, and he could not find a single Sage.
“Is Great Elder Qi Xuan here?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
The Milun Master, clearly flustered, asked, “May I ask… the name of this honored guest?”
Lei Xinfeng laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m a friend, not an enemy.”
Fengying laughed along with him. “If we were enemies, this city wouldn’t even exist anymore, hehe!”
The Milun Master was so scared he began to shiver. That line was too scary; Fengying meant that if they were enemies, this city would have already been obliterated. However, after hearing that Lei Xinfeng said that they were friends, he sighed in relief. If the newcomers were enemies, he really didn’t know what to do. He very respectfully said, “Honored senior, I will notify the elder. Please wait.”
Shihu nodded. “Not bad. He seems calm enough.”
The Milun Master backed up a few steps and entered the house. Fengying and Jin Daya had a mischievous expression on their face, both trying to stop their laughs. Shihu’s words were indeed ironic.
After a while, a few people walked out of the house. The leader was Qi Xuan, accompanied by Du Hongcheng. The last one was Du Hongcheng’s female disciple, Wen Yan.
The three of them paused when they saw Lei Xinfeng since he had changed so much. He’d changed from a tender youth to a full adult. However, despite not recognizing him, they couldn’t help but feel a bit of familiarity.
“Who…” Qi Xuan began.
Lei Xinfeng shook his head, a little embarrassed. “I’m Lei Xinfeng. Do you remember me?”
This time, not only did Jin Daya and Fengying not manage to stop their laughter, even Shihu smiled. His friends? He actually asked if his friend remembered him! It was hilarious.
Lei Xinfeng’s face reddened, a little humiliated. Thankfully, Qi Xuan was quick on the uptake; when he heard Lei Xinfeng’s name, he remembered him. However, he still had some suspicions. The report he had was that the four visitors landed from the sky. He knew that only Sixth Ring Sages and above could fly. Four of them coming at once was definitely scary.
Qi Xuan also knew that when Lei Xinfeng left, he wasn’t even a Milun Master. What kind of joke is suggesting that Lei Xinfeng could have become a Sixth Ring Sage in such a short time?
Qi Xuan was still trying to organize his thoughts. “Ah… you… so you’re Ah Feng…” he stuttered, pointing at the sky, then at Lei Xinfeng. “This… uh… you flew here?”
Jin Daya smiled. “Of course he flew here; what did you think he did, walk? Heh, Ah Feng is a Seventh Ring Sage.”
Qi Xuan’s brain fogged. No matter how hard he tried, he could not comprehend how Lei Xinfeng was a Seventh Ring Sage. It couldn’t have been that many years since the last time they met, how could he have ascended so quickly? Qi Xuan himself was only a Third Ring Sage back then, and now, he has no chance to ascend, but Lei Xinfeng already surpassed him?
A reminder that their secret sect’s chinese terminology is 秘门, the same characters for the Hidden Gate they use. This is important.