The Third Visit to the Princess's Mansion

Yang An glanced at the four kind-hearted strangers.

The formation flags in their hands were clearly extraordinary, and the coordination between them was so exquisite and seamless that he immediately understood.

“Brother-in-law, look. Those four good Samaritans work together perfectly.”

“They must have trained together for years.”

“They’re telling us to leave because they’re worried that if we rush over to help, we’ll only interfere with their coordination and disrupt their rhythm.”

“In that case, Brother-in-law, let’s go first.”

Li Yan suddenly understood.

“So that’s how it is. We can’t repay their kindness by disrupting their formation. Let’s hurry and leave.”

He called out another word of thanks to the four men from afar, then he and Yang An took off down the mountain.

The four brothers of the Chen family stubbornly endured the attacks of the red-scaled horned python. Watching the two men flee into the distance, they were so furious that their eyes nearly split open.

They roared again and again, “You beasts! You absolute beasts!”

Li Yan and Yang An ran for their lives.

They did not stop until they reached the outskirts of Cloudridge Mountain and could no longer hear any movement from the red-scaled horned python. Only then did they finally relax.

Ignoring the wet, filthy snow beneath them, the two collapsed onto the ground and began gasping for breath. After resting for a while, they looked at each other and saw how disheveled they both were. Unable to hold it in, they burst out laughing.

But before their laughter had even faded, an enraged beast’s roar rang out behind them, shaking the bloody water into a spray!

Yang An: “!”

Li Yan: “!”

The two paled in terror. They thought the red-scaled horned python had broken through the four good Samaritans’ blockade and chased after them.

They sprang up from the snow and turned toward the roar, only to discover that it was not the python at all, but a brown bear standing over a zhang tall.

The monstrous bear’s fur was black and glossy as oil. Several crisscrossing patches of white mane covered its chest, and it stared at them with murderous intent, as if they were some kind of delicious delicacy.

The two immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yan could tell at a glance that the bear was no more than ninth-grade. Thinking of how he had lost face in front of the red-scaled horned python earlier, he bared his teeth in a savage grin.

“I was just worrying about having no clothes and not knowing how we’d get home. And now someone’s delivered us a new set.”

He was just about to attack when Yang An raised an arm to stop him. Rolling his wrists, Yang An said, “Brother-in-law, leave this to me.”

The cold smiles on their faces made the bear’s heart tremble.

Why aren’t these two afraid of me at all?

Why do they look as if they’re eager to attack?

This is bad!

I picked the wrong people to provoke!

Cold sweat appeared on the bear’s forehead. It turned around decisively and charged into the forest.

But how could Yang An let it escape?

He suddenly activated his threefold battle strength and strode after it. After knocking the bear down with several dull thuds, he drew the dagger at his waist and ended its wicked life.

In the blink of an eye, Li Yan—who had been reduced to streaking in broad daylight—was wearing a bear-skin coat.

Yang An was dressed the same way.

They wrapped bear hide several times around their bare bodies, then swiftly tied up the butchered bear meat and carried it on their backs.

Once everything was packed, Li Yan sighed.

“The commotion caused by that red-scaled horned python was so enormous. There are hunters all over Cloudridge Mountain, so the news has probably already spread.”

“Material of such fine quality… Even if it didn’t fall into the hands of those four good Samaritans, someone else would have set their sights on it. I doubt there’ll be anything left for us.”

Li Yan paused, then continued, “But Erlang, don’t worry. After we get back, I’ll ask Hunter Zheng again and see whether he’s heard of any other seventh-grade ferocious beasts. When the time comes, we’ll gather more people and go hunting together.”

With the talent known as “Heaven-Descending Demon Lord,” Yang An could increase his cultivation simply by devouring heavenly treasures. He knew that achieving a perfect foundation would only be a matter of time.

He did not take the matter to heart at all.

“It’s fine, Brother-in-law. What is meant to be yours will eventually be yours, and what isn’t meant to be yours cannot be forced. I still have a black eagle buried up on Cloudridge Mountain. We’ve been out for half a day already, so my sister is probably worried sick waiting at home. Let’s hurry and retrieve the black eagle and head back.”

“All right.”

Without the red-scaled horned python pursuing them, the two made their way unhurriedly to the pine forest where the eagle was hidden.

Li Yan was already a ranked martial artist and possessed tremendous strength. He took out a shovel, chose the right spot, and began digging. Before long, he had dug a large pit and unearthed the black eagle.

When he saw that the black eagle was missing a leg, Yang An thought to himself, Just as I expected.

Li Yan, however, was stunned.

He remembered that the black eagle meat Yang An had carried home had been missing an eagle leg. Confused, he asked, “How did it lose a leg?”

Then he suddenly recalled the frozen marks on the eagle leg sold by Father and Son Zheng.

He turned to Yang An. “Erlang, that eagle leg Hunter Zheng sold just now couldn’t have been…”

Yang An smiled and nodded. “It should be ours.”

“How dare Zheng Shoutian commit such an act of theft? We’ve only been apart for a few days—how did he become so shameless?”

Li Yan felt deeply aggrieved, as though a dog had bitten Lü Dongbin and failed to recognize a good person. His anger flared.

“Erlang, don’t be angry. Your brother-in-law will definitely get justice for you!”

Seeing his brother-in-law looking ready to pick a fight, Yang An struggled to suppress his laughter.

He grabbed Li Yan’s thick arm and tried to persuade him. “It’s not me who should calm down—it’s you, Brother-in-law. Actually, I could already tell back at Huang Peng’s place that the eagle leg was ours.”

Li Yan nearly jumped out of his skin. “You knew that early on, so why didn’t you say anything?! That was something you obtained with your life! How can we let thieves profit from it? How can we let people who steal and scheme get away with it?!”

“Brother-in-law! Uncle Zheng isn’t the kind of person who steals and schemes!”

“Besides, Zheng Fei said just now that they needed money to save Aunt Zheng. They probably didn’t steal it intentionally.”

After Yang An’s persuasion, Li Yan gradually calmed down. Even so, the sense of justice carved into his bones made him shake his head.

“Zheng Shoutian and I have known each other for many years. He’s a close friend. If he needed money, he could have come to me. Even if I had to sell everything I owned, I would have helped them gather it.”

“But how could he resort to theft?”

“Stealing is stealing. It doesn’t matter what the reason was or whether it was intentional. As long as it violates the laws of Great Xia, it’s wrong and must be punished!”

Seeing that Li Yan was about to have the Zheng father and son arrested, Yang An asked him a question instead.

“You’re right, Brother-in-law. But if it was the world itself that forced a good person to become a thief and commit theft, then which is more at fault—the person or the world?”

“If a person is at fault, there are laws to punish him.”

“But what if the world is at fault? How do you punish it? What punishment should it receive? And who will carry it out?”

Yang An’s words left Li Yan speechless.

He had always followed the law and been loyal to his sovereign and country, with those principles engraved deep in his bones. He had never considered a question like this before.

Even after carrying the black eagle down Cloudridge Mountain, Li Yan still could not come up with an answer.

In the end, he could only sigh.

“Erlang, I’m starting to believe that you really can take first place in the top tier of the academy examination a few days from now.”

Yang An replied confidently, “I could do that from the start!”

“Your sister is going to be overjoyed.”

The two chatted and laughed as they reached the merchants’ guild at the foot of Cloudridge Mountain.

Both Yang An and Li Yan were martial artists who needed nourishing food for their cultivation, so they naturally had no intention of selling the ferocious beast.

But if they carried all that meat home, they had no idea how long the journey would take.

The two found Huang Peng and rented a carriage.

Huang Peng had been racking his brains, wondering how to curry favor with them. The moment he heard that they wanted a carriage, he hurriedly offered them his own.

Despite his repeated insistence that they needn’t pay, Yang An left behind a silver ingot. Without saying anything more, he and Li Yan loaded the ferocious beast’s meat into the carriage and drove it back to Cloud Prefecture City.

Huang Peng’s carriage horses were swift.

By the time they returned to the city, there was still some time before sunset.

Yang An calculated things in his mind. He had been afflicted with the Five-Day Heartbreak Gu, and in another three days he would have to take the antidote. Coincidentally, the academy examination would begin three days from now.

Candidates were not allowed to hand in their papers early.

If the poison flared up in the examination hall, he would be in serious trouble.

Thinking of this, Yang An said to Li Yan, “Brother-in-law, you go home first. I still have something to take care of. I’ll be back later.”

Knowing that Yang An had his own secrets, Li Yan did not ask further. He merely reminded him, “Come back early. Your sister and I will wait for you to have dinner.”

Yang An nodded.

After Li Yan left, he put on the Thousand Illusions Mask.

Changing his appearance, he hurried toward the princess’s residence.

…

…

…

Bonus chapter!!!

Men and women, young and old—everyone, get moving!!

Hand over those tips!!!