He would rather damage his own foundation just to artificially boost his temporary strength in a short amount of time—what could that possibly be except a desire to silence them permanently?
He had to kill him with a single sword strike before the medicinal power took effect, otherwise things would get terribly troublesome.
"Clang—!"
Manager Zhang swung his sword, but the other party easily blocked it with a blade.
Seeing this, Chen An did not just stand by and watch. He frantically provided fire support from a distance, continuously shooting golden light toward Manager Ouyang.
Unfortunately, the man dodged every single shot.
Right now, Manager Ouyang's eyes were bloodshot, his muscles bulged all over, and his aura surged violently.
His strength was already approaching the Qi Condensation 8th Layer.
It was not something a low-level Qi Condensation 4th Layer cultivator like him could hope to contend with.
"Hum!"
Suddenly, Manager Ouyang flashed right in front of Chen An in a single step, fiercely throwing a punch at his forehead, determined to eliminate this annoying fly first.
Relying on divine sense strength far exceeding that of ordinary cultivators, Chen An reacted quickly and dodged the fatal punch.
However, he only avoided the fatal blow, not the entire punch.
His forehead was spared, but his shoulder was grazed by the opponent's fist instead.
"Crack!"
With that sound ringing out.
The very next second, Chen An was sent flying backward instantly, crashing into a patch of grass, his life or death unknown.
Seeing this, Manager Zhang turned around and ran without a second word, choosing to abandon Chen An to save his own skin.
He had zero confidence in defeating a powered-up Manager Ouyang. Believing in sacrificing a fellow traveler rather than oneself, he decided to get a head start.
However, how could Manager Ouyang let him escape?
Ignoring Chen An in the grass, he turned and gave chase to the fleeing Manager Zhang.
Manager Zhang was not fast, and was caught up with in an instant.
Realizing that he truly could not escape, Manager Zhang immediately pulled out all the valuables on his body and said to Manager Ouyang:
"Manager Ouyang, this matter has nothing to do with me. I didn't see anything today. I have 10 mid-grade spirit stones hidden under the desk in my office in the cheap district. That's the savings I've accumulated over the past thirty-something years. I'll give them all to you right now. It'll be enough for you to live in carefree luxury back at Black Iron Manor for decades; there's no need for both of us to perish together here."
"I want the spirit stones, and I want your life too."
With that, Manager Ouyang moved in for the kill with full force.
As an undercover agent for Black Iron Manor, it had taken him more than a decade to climb to his current position in the Bamboo Leaf Gang. How could he just pack up and go back like that?
Wouldn't all his previous efforts go to waste?
Black Iron Manor would go to full-scale war with the Bamboo Leaf Gang in just a few years, and by then he would need his identity as the manager of the Bamboo Leaf Forest to help him accomplish some secret missions.
"In that case, let's die together!!!"
With bloodshot eyes and gritting teeth, Manager Zhang knew the other party would not let him live today, so he chose to mount a desperate counterattack, determined to drag the enemy down with him to the grave.
...
PS: Bowls out, begging for monthly votes and recommendation votes!
22. Explosions Are an Art
Chen An climbed up from the grass with difficulty, extending his left hand to touch his right shoulder.
"Hiss!"
The pain immediately made him gasp sharply.
He glanced at his left hand; it was stained with warm blood.
At the same time, intense pain radiated from his right shoulder.
It felt agonizingly painful.
His right shoulder bone was shattered.
And it was a comminuted fracture.
If he weren't a cultivator, the pain would have driven him half-mad, and in a severe case, he might even have gone into shock.
Strongly enduring the excruciating pain from his right shoulder, Chen An hunched over and dragged himself back toward the carriage.
The moment they saw their husband injured, the wives and concubines in the carriage turned pale with shock, and anxiously rushed over to care for him and ask:
"Husband!"
"Husband, what happened to you?"
"I'm fine, don't worry."
As he spoke, Chen An rummaged through the carriage and fished out a small, snow-white medicine bottle containing Lesser Returning Pills.
This was an expensive pill capable of treating both internal and external injuries simultaneously. It belonged to the Tier 2 pills and was something he had bought previously for emergency use.
Now it finally came in handy.
Pulling out the stopper, he swallowed a Lesser Returning Pill.
In just an instant, Chen An could clearly feel the pain in his body subside significantly.
After that, he took out another snow-white medicine bottle from elsewhere, and poured the medicinal powder inside onto his injured right shoulder to accelerate its self-healing speed.
Having dealt with his injured right shoulder in a few quick strokes, Chen An began to think.
Manager Zhang was weaker than Manager Ouyang and would probably be finished off before long.
And once Manager Ouyang took care of him, he would inevitably come back here to finish off Chen An.
If he wanted to leave with his wives and concubines, he could only drive the carriage.
Yet they were still more than ten miles away from the core district, and the carriage traveled too slowly—they wouldn't get far before Manager Ouyang caught up.
Unless... he could harden his heart, abandon his wives and concubines, and run away alone.
Chen An glanced at Song Huaying beside him, who was supporting a large belly, and then at Gu Xinyue, who was still worrying about his shoulder injury on the other side. No matter what, he just couldn't bring himself to abandon them.
He continued to think.
Since running away wasn't an option, should he head back into the forest now and team up with Manager Zhang to take down Manager Ouyang?
No, that wasn't realistic; going back would most likely be sending a double-kill.
Besides, Manager Zhang might already be dead by now.
Going back at this time would be no different than walking right into the tiger's den.
Then... set up some poison traps and wait for Manager Ouyang to fall for them?
That didn't seem right either.
The other party had just witnessed with his own eyes how his companions were afflicted with Bone-Softening Powder and then picked off one by one; he would definitely be on guard against poisons now.
Who knew, he might even be holding an antidote pill in his mouth right this second.
So annoying!
This wouldn't work, that wouldn't work—what on earth should he do?!
Chen An felt extremely irritable.
This was the biggest crisis he had encountered since transmigrating.
"Husband..."
Seeing Chen An furrowing his brow tightly the entire time, Gu Xinyue by his side couldn't help calling out with a heart full of worry.
She wanted to ask how bad the situation was, why Manager Zhang hadn't come back, and how her husband had injured his shoulder.
But after thinking about it, she ultimately didn't ask.
She didn't want to add pressure to Chen An.
On the other side, seeing that Chen An's right shoulder was still continuously oozing blood, Song Huaying picked up a bottle of external injury medicinal powder and spoke to him in a gentle, soft voice:
"Husband, your shoulder is still bleeding. Would you like me to apply some Hemostatic Powder for you again?"
"No need, I applied enough just now."
Chen An said, looking at the medicine bottle in Song Huaying's hand.
Seeing that her husband said no, Song Huaying bit her thin lips and had no choice but to put the medicine bottle back in its place.
Whether due to a lack of concentration or something else, she accidentally knocked the bottle as she set it down; it slipped from her fingers and shattered on the ground below, scattering white medicinal powder everywhere.
"Husband, I... I didn't mean to."
Song Huaying panicked, afraid her husband would blame her.
Because she could tell her husband was extremely upset right now.
Yet Chen An didn't speak. He just stared wordlessly at the spilled medicinal powder scattered all over the ground, as four words surfaced deep within his mind:
—Dust explosion.
His eyes lit up, and he finally thought of a way.
Using medicinal powder to create a dust bomb inside the enclosed carriage!
This might be their only path to survival!
Thinking of it, he acted immediately!
Pointing at the forest opposite, Chen An said to his wives and concubines:
"Yue'er, Ying'er, you two hurry down from the carriage and hide. Go hide over there, as far away as you can."
Both wives were sensible; without asking why, they immediately did as Chen An said, stepping down from the carriage and running toward the forest on the opposite side.
Song Huaying couldn't run with her large belly, so Gu Xinyue, who was a cultivator, picked her up and ran together with her, showing deep sisterly affection.
The moment his wives stepped off the carriage, Chen An immediately started making the dust bomb inside.
The principle of a dust explosion was very simple.
Combustible dust mixed with air in a confined space to form a dust cloud.
Then, under the action of an ignition source, these mixtures would burn rapidly, causing the temperature and pressure within the confined space to rise sharply, resulting in an explosion.
And right now, Chen An was scattering all the medicinal powder he could get his hands on, making it form a dust cloud inside the airtight carriage.
To keep these medicinal powders suspended in the dust cloud state, Chen An found an electric fan he had invented in the past when he was bored.
Calling it an electric fan, it was actually just a simple wind-mill, except it could keep spinning continuously under the power of spirit stones, achieving an effect similar to an electric fan.
Chen An placed this electric fan at the bottom of the carriage, keeping it blowing continuously at the floating powder inside, ensuring the powder maintained a certain degree of fluidity.
Having created the dust cloud, Chen An went outside and picked up many sharp, jagged stone fragments, soaked them first in a specially prepared poisonous powder solution, and then scattered them all at the bottom of the carriage as shrapnel to increase the explosion's lethality.
Next, he quickly fetched two pieces of flint commonly used for cooking fires in the kitchen.
He placed one piece inside the carriage.
And kept the other piece in his own hand.
This would serve as the ignition source for the detonation later.
These preparations sounded complicated, but completing all of them took less than the time it took to brew a cup of tea.
Seeing that Manager Ouyang still hadn't emerged, Chen An simply set up traps around the perimeter of the carriage as well.
A simple poisoned pit trap.
It meant digging an earthen pit, sticking it full of various poisoned needles, and then covering it with dead branches and leaves for concealment so anyone stepping into it would fall right into the trap.
"Rustle... rustle... rustle!"
Just as Chen An was digging the pit, Manager Ouyang emerged from the forest amidst a rustling sound of branches and leaves.
His right hand was injured, and blood was continuously flowing out.
In his left hand, he held Manager Zhang's dead, unblinking head.
Manager Zhang was dead; he had been dealt with!
Seeing this scene, Chen An turned around and ran without a second word, bolting straight toward the carriage.
"Heh, futile."
Manager Ouyang sneered coldly.
Then, exerting explosive force in his calves, he chased after Chen An at extreme speed with a low hum.
Chasing?
He was only worried the man wouldn't chase him!
Chen An smiled inwardly, leaped high to vault over the top of the carriage, and ran toward the forest opposite, baiting Manager Ouyang into jumping over the carriage as well.
Sure enough, Manager Ouyang took the bait!
When Chen An had run more than ten meters away from the carriage, the man vaulted over the carriage just as Chen An had done moments before.
"Go to hell!!!"
Seizing this exact timing, Chen An hurled the piece of flint he had been holding in his hand straight toward the carriage window, aiming directly at the other piece of flint inside.
Thinking Chen An was throwing a hidden weapon and seeing how terribly skewed his throw was, Manager Ouyang couldn't help laughing inwardly: "Low-level cultivators really are trash..."
The very instant that word "trash" flashed through his mind, the piece of flint Chen An threw pierced through the carriage window, struck the flint inside with a sharp *clack*, and scraped out a flurry of sparks.
The next second, the dust cloud inside the carriage was instantly ignited, burning fiercely and generating a massive volume of gas that caused the temperature and pressure inside the carriage space to skyrocket abruptly.
Followed closely!
With a deafening boom!
The sealed carriage exploded instantly, and a terrifying golden mushroom cloud soared into the sky, swallowing Manager Ouyang—who was right in the middle of vaulting over it—and making him vanish into a sea of fire...
...
PS: Bowls out, begging for monthly votes and recommendation votes!
23. A New Home
Manager Ouyang was swallowed by the exploding sea of fire and went completely still, his life or death unknown.
Meanwhile, Chen An, standing ten meters away from the carriage, was also blasted away by the powerful shockwave generated by the explosion.
He rolled over a dozen times on the ground before barely managing to stop.
His whole body ached with bruises, and his head was ringing fiercely.
"Husband!"
Seeing this in the distance, Gu Xinyue threw all caution for her own safety to the wind and rushed out.
With a face full of worry, she came to Chen An's side, squatted down, and carefully helped him up.
Supported by Gu Xinyue, Chen An managed to sit up from the ground, his breathing slightly irregular.
He was fine, just a bit dizzy and in considerable pain all over.
After catching his breath for a few moments, Chen An stood up from the ground, smiled at Gu Xinyue beside him, and said:
"Yue'er, don't worry, your husband is fine."
Just as he finished speaking, another anxious call of concern came from ahead.
"Husband!"
It was Song Huaying's voice.
At this moment, she was supporting a large belly as she trotted slowly toward Chen An, her delicate little face filled with worry.
"Your husband is fine. You two hurry back and stay where you were before, don't come over here."
After dropping these words, Chen An immediately circulated his spiritual energy to make his fingers glow with a brilliant golden light. Opening his sensory faculties to the maximum, he walked cautiously all the way back toward the still-smoking carriage.
He needed to see what state Manager Ouyang was in now.
Whether he was dead or alive.
If he wasn't dead, finish him off; if he was dead, beat the corpse.
His wives were very obedient. Seeing that their husband really seemed to be unhurt, they relaxed slightly and returned to their hiding spot so as not to distract him.
Soon, Chen An walked to a position ten meters away from the carriage and stopped, not advancing any further.
He raised his finger and let loose a barrage toward the smoking carriage.
Dazzling golden flashes shot one after another into the billowing smoke, producing a muffled *pu-pu* sound.
"Pu!"
"Pu-pu-pu!"
"Pu-pu!"
"..."
After shooting for nearly the time it took to burn a stick of incense, until the spiritual energy in his dantian was exhausted and he could no longer project golden light outward, Chen An finally stopped his attack.
By this time, the smoke billowing from the carriage had dissipated quite a bit, revealing a pile of carriage wreckage and a pockmarked patch of yellow mud.
On one piece of the carriage debris, Chen An spotted Manager Ouyang, charred black all over.
At this moment, Manager Ouyang's body had been blown to missing limbs, half of his head was completely gone, and his entire body was riddled with holes left by the piercing golden light.
He lay motionless on the ground, with no signs of life whatsoever.
Yet even so, Chen An still didn't dare to step forward blindly to check.
Being extremely cautious, he chose to take a low-grade spirit stone from his pouch to recover his spiritual power.
Once his recovery was complete a moment later, he once again circulated his spiritual energy to unleash his Golden Finger, launching a merciless, frantic barrage of fire at Manager Ouyang's corpse, wildly beating the dead body.
This wasn't out of venting anger, but rather the fear that the guy wasn't thoroughly dead and was just lying there playing possum.
Out of caution, he brutally beat the corpse for a full quarter of an hour.
Only when Manager Ouyang's body had been shot into the shape of a hornet's nest—so thoroughly destroyed that even an immortal couldn't save him—did he dare to step forward for a look.
"As expected of a Qi Condensation 7th Layer powerhouse, your physical resilience is simply exaggerated. Blasted by a dust bomb and shot so many times by golden light, you can still barely maintain human form instead of turning into a puddle of mush."
Chen An muttered with a sigh, then quickly squatted down and began looting the corpse for spoils of war.
After looting the corpses of the Black Iron Manor cultivators around the carriage, he went into the forest to find Manager Zhang's body and continued looting.
After a round of pillaging, the harvest was as follows:
2 mid-grade spirit stones.
58 low-grade spirit stones.
Plus a number of small items that looked quite valuable.
The harvest was huge, but it wasn't particularly profitable.
Because all the belongings inside the carriage had been blown to smithereens, suffering a massive financial loss in advance.
After collecting all the spoils, Chen An waved his wives over, having Gu Xinyue help him clean up the scene, pile all the corpses together, and burn them directly with fire.
Then he went deeper into the forest to dig a deep pit, burying all the skeletal remains inside.
To be safe, he even dug up a sapling and planted it on top as camouflage.
In a few years when this sapling grew tall, the remains buried underground would never be discovered by anyone.
By the time Chen An finished handling all of this, from the initial ambush to the counter-kill and cleanup of the scene, nearly an hour had passed.
Fortunately, this stretch of road was remote and rarely had passersby, allowing so much time to pass without anyone noticing.
"Speaking of which, why did these people from Black Iron Manor know I would set out for the core district today and pass by this route?"
After calming down, Chen An suddenly thought of this question.
He was utterly baffled.
After pondering it for a while, he guessed there must be many informants planted by Black Iron Manor within the Bamboo Leaf Gang.
When he set out, those informants saw him, tipped off the others, and thus led to the interception.
"Husband, what on earth happened just now?"
Seeing that the matter seemed to have been successfully resolved, Song Huaying could no longer suppress her inner curiosity and asked her husband.
Gu Xinyue was also very curious, standing quietly to the side waiting for her husband's explanation.
However, Chen An did not tell them the truth, instead instructing them: "Remember not to let today's events get out. Just pretend it never happened, that we never saw those masked men, and that we don't know Manager Zhang is dead."
"Understood, husband."
"Mm, Yue'er understands."
The two wives nodded repeatedly, promising that their lips were tightly sealed and they would never spread the word.
Afterward, the three of them walked toward the core district on foot.
Song Huaying had a large belly and found it inconvenient, so Chen An carried her in his arms the entire way.
Gu Xinyue looked on with envy, wishing she too could be carried by her husband all the way.
[You carried your wife Song Huaying on foot for over ten miles, marital affection +1.]
As they arrived at the core district, such a prompt message popped up before Chen An's eyes.
He glanced at it and ignored it, continuing to carry Song Huaying forward.
Until they were close to reaching populated areas did he finally set Song Huaying down from his arms to avoid drawing too much attention.
Besides, they were only a few hundred meters away from their new home now, a distance even a pregnant woman could easily walk.
Soon, the three of them arrived at their new home.
The moment they laid eyes on the luxurious large estate before them, both wives were instantly overwhelmed with excitement!
The number of rooms was three times that of their previous place!
The combined area of the two courtyards was more than double the old one!
Most importantly, the kitchen, outhouse, and bathrooms were all exceptionally bright and spacious!
It made them feel exceptionally comfortable just looking at it.
"Husband, is this really our home?"