Chapter 28: Brother 2-Hu Still Cares About His Little Brother

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Brother 2-Hu Still Cares About His Little Brother

After Wang Erhu was knocked off the cliff, the remaining Government Soldiers were slaughtered by the monster shortly after.

At this moment, a hemp-clad figure hiding in the shadows slowly stepped out. Glancing at the corpses littering the ground, she—her slender, jade-like hands indicating her gender—slowly took out an ancient clay pot. She unsealed the jar, and worms glowing with blood-red luminescence wriggled out, quickly burrowing into the corpses of the Government Soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, the corpses rapidly shriveled up, turning into desiccated husks.

The hemp-clad figure then approached the three wooden carts transporting the treasure. Reaching out, she opened one of the wooden chests and took a look. "Iron Slave, I reward the gold and silver to you. Take the other treasures away."

Behind her, the monster heard the command and quickly walked up to the carts. It devoured all the gold and silver in a ravenous frenzy, then shouldered the remaining jewelry and valuables, disappearing into the night with the hemp-clad figure.

Fenglin Town.

Fang Xu was in the middle of his cultivation when a virtual light screen suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Your friend, Wang Erhu, has died. As his friend, you may randomly inherit one of Wang Erhu’s three legacies.]

Legacy One: [Red Legacy: Azure Dragon Saber Technique (Ninth Grade Saber Technique)]. High risk of inheritance. The Azure Dragon Saber Technique is an exclusive technique cultivated by the Government Soldiers of Huangzhou Prefecture. If one secretly practices it without being a Government Soldier, upon discovery, they will inevitably be hunted down by the entire Huangzhou Prefecture.

Legacy Two: [White Legacy: Lifespan Attribute 50 points]. No risk of inheritance, but requires touching Wang Erhu’s corpse.

Legacy Three: [Gray Legacy: Wang Erhu’s savings (equivalent to one thousand taels of silver)]. Low risk of inheritance. The Silver Contract is currently in a tent at the Huangzhou Prefecture Government Military Camp and requires the host to retrieve it in person.

"Erhu is dead!?"

Looking at the striking text on the light screen, Fang Xu’s expression turned slightly grim. Although Wang Erhu’s death was somewhat expected, it was still hard for him to accept now that it had actually happened. He couldn’t help but sigh as Erhu’s voice and smiling face from recent days floated before his mind’s eye.

Such was fate. The world was cruel, and he had no power to change it. If he didn’t want to follow in Wang Erhu’s footsteps, he could only continuously grow stronger.

Suppressing his grief, he directly selected to inherit.

On the light screen, the three legacies scrolled rapidly before gradually stopping on Legacy Two.

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining Legacy Two: Life Attribute 50 points.]

[Automatically acquired upon touching Wang Erhu’s corpse.]

After these two lines of text appeared on the screen, a scarlet arrow popped up beneath them, seemingly pointing toward the location of Wang Erhu’s corpse.

Fang Xu frowned at the screen. Wang Erhu had undoubtedly died in Tilan Mountain. If he wanted to obtain these 50 points of Life Attribute, it seemed he had no choice but to venture into the mountain himself to find the body.

The inner reaches of Tilan Mountain were far too dangerous. Ferocious beasts ran rampant, and numerous bandits roamed the area. Since he wasn’t even a Martial Disciple yet, wouldn’t entering the mountain be too risky?

However, if he delayed, Wang Erhu’s corpse might be eaten by wild beasts, and these 50 points of Life Attribute would be entirely wasted. The Life Attribute was undoubtedly beneficial to his survival, and 50 points was no small amount. It would be a genuine pity to give it up.

After pondering for a long time, Fang Xu made a decision. He would go take a look!

The periphery of Tilan Mountain had been cleared by local hunting squads year after year, so the danger was relatively low. If the place where Wang Erhu died was too deep inside, it wouldn’t be too late to give up then.

His mind made up, he immediately got up, found a shovel in the house, and weighed it in his hands. Shaking his head, he sighed, "Once I break through to become a Martial Disciple, I need to buy a proper weapon as soon as possible."

The night was pitch black. Leaving the town alone, Fang Xu followed the arrow on the virtual light screen and stealthily made his way toward Tilan Mountain.

After traveling for four hours, he arrived at the outskirts of the mountain. Since hunting squads, herb gatherers, and gold panners frequented this area year-round, many paths had been trodden through the woods.

Seeing the arrow on the screen begin to flash, Fang Xu sensed that he was getting close to Wang Erhu’s corpse. He continued following the arrow’s guidance for another hour. By the moonlight, he could faintly make out a blurry figure on a rocky shoal not far ahead.

Gripping his shovel tightly, Fang Xu quickly approached, only to discover that the blurry figure was indeed Wang Erhu.

The man was already dead. The black armor on his chest was heavily caved in, his skull was fractured, and a massive amount of blood had coagulated around him. His personal weapon lay dropped nearby. There were no signs of a struggle in the immediate vicinity.

"He was probably knocked down from above and died from the fall," Fang Xu guessed, looking up at the cliff that dropped several dozen meters.

He set down his shovel and gently closed Wang Erhu’s wide, bloodshot eyes.

[Touched Wang Erhu’s corpse. Obtained Life Attribute 50 points!]

As the notification appeared, Fang Xu clearly felt a warm aura transmit from Wang Erhu’s body and flow directly into his own. Under the influence of this warmth, he could distinctly sense a wondrous transformation occurring within him. Deep inside, his very cells and internal organs seemed to emit faint, joyous ripples.

PHEW—

Taking a deep breath, Fang Xu marveled to himself. Previously, when he gained 10 points of Strength Attribute from Liang San, he hadn’t felt much. But now, obtaining 50 points of Life Attribute from Wang Erhu brought such a profound sensation. It seemed the impact of the Life Attribute on his body far exceeded that of the Strength Attribute.

"We knew each other, after all. I can’t bear to leave your corpse exposed in the wilderness." Having obtained the legacy, Fang Xu looked at Wang Erhu’s body and ultimately decided to lay him to rest.

Using the shovel, he dug a hole right there. He moved Wang Erhu’s body to the edge of the pit and tidied up his appearance. Just as Fang Xu was about to bury him, his eyes caught sight of a small cloth bag poking out from within Wang Erhu’s chest armor.

Curious, he immediately pulled the bag out, and a gold nugget the size of a quail egg tumbled out with it!

Gold!?

Astonished, Fang Xu picked up the gold nugget and hurriedly opened the bag. He discovered it was filled with the exact same gold nuggets—twenty of them in total!

"Each of these has to weigh at least one tael, right?" he guessed, weighing the gold nugget in his hand.

Gold and silver were the hard currency of the Great Yu Dynasty, but silver and copper coins were the most commonly seen on the streets. Gold was considered high-end currency; the common people rarely saw it. According to the standard exchange rate, one tael of gold could be exchanged for one hundred taels of silver, and one tael of silver was worth one hundred copper coins.

Right now, the twenty-one gold nuggets on Wang Erhu’s body were worth at least two thousand, one hundred taels of silver!

He happened to be short on money lately. This windfall couldn’t have come at a better time.

"You always did look out for me, Erhu," Fang Xu said, bowing to Wang Erhu’s corpse. He solemnly placed the body into the pit, filled it with dirt, and placed a stone at the front to serve as a grave marker.

"Rest in peace, Erhu."

Having buried Wang Erhu’s corpse, Fang Xu looked up at the cliff above. Wang Erhu had been knocked down from up there, meaning a battle must have taken place at the top. If a single Government Soldier had twenty-one gold nuggets on him, what about the others?

Wealth moves the hearts of men, and Fang Xu felt he should go up and take a look. A single gold nugget was worth a hundred taels of silver, the equivalent of ten Qi Blood Pills. It was worth the risk!

With this in mind, he grabbed his shovel and prepared to detour up the cliff to investigate.

Wang Erhu’s Broadsword was a fine weapon, but Fang Xu didn’t dare take it. It was a standard-issue weapon for Government Soldiers. If an outsider saw him with it, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself. He had no desire to shoulder the suspicion of murdering a Government Soldier.