Chapter Thirty: The Reunion

Night hung over Wu Family Village like spilled ink, with a full moon suspended in the sky. Its silver light bathed the entire village in a serene glow. Twenty villagers, divided into two fully armed squads, patrolled the village vigilantly.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Lei Yan stepped out from the guest room and rapped on Qing Ling’s door.

From within came Qing Ling’s voice, followed by the rustling sound of clothing being adjusted.

Hearing the sounds, images of Qing Ling’s graceful figure surfaced in Lei Yan’s mind, and a faint smile curved his lips. He replied softly, “It’s me.”

The door creaked open. Qing Ling looked up, surprised to see Lei Yan. “Brother Lei, is something the matter? Hmm… come in.”

Lei Yan nodded and entered. Inside, he noticed the flower spirit lying on the bed, eyes gently closed, clearly asleep. Lei Yan took a seat by the table. “Ling’er, I have some things I need you to keep safe.” As he spoke, he pulled several spiritual artifacts from the demonic weapon storage, items obtained from the secret chamber of the Ghost Venom Sect.

His intention was simple: entrust these spiritual weapons to Qing Ling so she could select one suitable for defense, and in case anything happened to him, these weapons could still be of use.

Knives, spears, swords, halberds, fans… Watching Lei Yan lay out these weapons, Qing Ling’s heart grew heavy. She longed to ask him to take her along to Niu Family Village, but she already knew his decision from earlier that evening—he would not bring her. Gritting her teeth, her eyes free of hesitation, she made up her mind to secretly follow him. Having resolved this, a subtle smile touched her lips.

“Ling’er, choose one of these spiritual weapons for self-defense.” Lei Yan took out two more artifacts. Qing Ling had yet to respond when he instinctively looked up to find her covering her mouth, smiling foolishly, as if lost in a happy thought. Her pure face, her perfectly curved figure, especially in her tight clothing causing her body to tremble ever so slightly—this sight enraptured Lei Yan for a moment.

“Brother Lei…” Qing Ling softly called out, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

A stirring rose within Lei Yan’s heart. He reached out, pulling her into his embrace. Her subtle fragrance and supple body stirred his passion, and he couldn’t resist pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. The suddenness left Qing Ling momentarily flustered, struggling slightly, but his fervent response only deepened. Gradually, she ceased resistance.

“Daddy… what are you two doing?” The flower spirit awoke at the noise, sitting up sleepily and gazing at Lei Yan and Qing Ling.

Startled as if caught in the act, Qing Ling broke free from Lei Yan’s arms, hurried to the bedside, and quickly diverted the topic. “Xiao Lan, your daddy has brought out many spiritual weapons. Go see if there’s one you like.”

Though puzzled by their behavior, the flower spirit’s eyes brightened at the mention of many spiritual weapons. With a joyful leap from the bed, despite their uselessness to her, her childlike nature compelled her to find something appealing. Qing Ling sat by the bed, cheeks flushed, steadying her breath.

Lei Yan gave a helpless smile. The mood had been interrupted by the flower spirit’s innocence. He continued pulling out the remaining spiritual weapons from the demonic cache.

With a soft “eh,” Lei Yan discovered one weapon he could use himself—a pair of gauntlets. When drawn from the collection, the gauntlets felt chill to the touch. With his keen sight, Lei Yan immediately recognized them as forged from millennia-old cold iron, though the exact materials infused within were unknown to him.

He returned the gauntlets to the cache and quickly brought out the other weapons. Watching the flower spirit pick through them, he spoke slowly, “Ling’er, I’ll go back and refine those gauntlets. You pick one for self-defense.” With that, Lei Yan left Qing Ling’s room.

Back in his own room, Lei Yan immediately took out the gauntlets. More strength meant more security. Though he planned to leave for Niu Family Village that very night, he decided it was worth taking the time to refine this spiritual weapon. Unlike demonic weapons, refining a spiritual weapon meant imbuing it with spiritual awareness. Since he didn’t intend to make it his core weapon, he only needed to drip a drop of his essence blood to activate it.

These gauntlets were crafted by the Ghost Venom Sect and, to this day, no one had used them. Thus, no other spiritual consciousness was embedded within. Lei Yan sliced his finger, letting a glowing drop of blood fall onto the gauntlets. The moment the blood seeped in, he immediately understood their power. Known as the Strength Gauntlets, they enhanced the wearer’s power by a thousand jin (approximately 500 kg) during attacks.

Excitement welled in his chest. For a natural-born martial artist, a thousand jin of strength was considerable, especially when using internal energy. A foundation-stage cultivator’s strength was roughly five thousand jin. This gauntlet alone added a thousand jin, an intimidating boost. Of course, a cultivator’s power could not be measured by strength alone; attacks infused with the Dao transcended simple force, reaching the level of law itself.

Donning the gauntlets, Lei Yan swung his arm casually. A fierce roar echoed as the table before him shattered into dust. Satisfied, he smiled, then sat cross-legged, centering his mind and using his entire body as a dantian to recover the lost essence quickly.

Half an hour passed. Lei Yan’s true energy reached its peak. He rose slowly and stepped out of the room. Instantly, his supernatural senses spread across Wu Family Village. Nearly everyone had fallen asleep, but lanterns still glowed in Qing Ling’s and Ding Wei’s rooms. Ding Wei was chatting with Wu Zi Xiong, while Qing Ling whispered quietly with the flower spirit.

After giving Ding Wei some instructions, Lei Yan took off, flying swiftly toward Niu Family Village.

******

Niu Family Village. Three men and one woman sat within a guest room: Li Lie, the Monk, the Flower Fairy, and Yu Yang. Li Lie leaned against the wall with eyes closed, resting. The Monk sat cross-legged nearby. The Flower Fairy sat on the bed, poised and serene like a saint. Only Yu Yang wore a face of annoyance. After a moment, unable to contain himself, he spoke, “Everyone, if that kid doesn’t come, are we just going to wait forever?”

“Don’t worry, he will come.” The Flower Fairy waved her hand, and a man appeared out of thin air. The man wore a pained expression and immediately knelt before her. The Flower Fairy lightly lifted his chin with a slender finger, smiling softly, “Am I right?”

The man trembled with fear, closing his eyes tightly. Spitting, he cursed, “Witch, give up on your life…”

The Flower Fairy shifted her body lightly to avoid the spit, then slid her right hand down swiftly. With a crisp snap, the man’s neck broke. She looked at her hand with disdain, as if the man had sullied it, then pulled a silk scarf from her waist and wiped repeatedly before tossing it aside. “I had hoped to keep one conscious… but you forced my hand.”

“Daring to spit at our Sister Hua, he deserves to die.” Yu Yang stood and stomped on the corpse several times. “But Sister Hua’s move was ruthless. Not only did she extract information from those bandits but also used it to find the treasure map. Brilliant, truly brilliant.” Yu Yang was impressed that the Flower Fairy had learned the leader of the Dragon Overlord gang from the bandits and discovered their plans to come to Niu Family Village.

“Amitabha,” the Monk slowly opened his eyes. “Sister Hua, those bandits waiting outside won’t suddenly regain consciousness, will they?”

The Flower Fairy scoffed. “Monk, do you doubt my technique? Why don’t you try it yourself?” She was displeased with his tone.

“Amitabha, I only wish to confirm,” the Monk said and closed his eyes again.

“I’ll try, I’ll try,” Yu Yang said, eyes gleaming lasciviously as he looked at the Flower Fairy’s figure, almost lunging at her.

The Flower Fairy looked at Yu Yang with disdain before suddenly blushing and shyly saying, “Do you still need to try?”

Yu Yang was about to move closer when Li Lie, leaning against the wall and observing outside with spiritual awareness, suddenly opened his eyes. “He’s coming. Everyone, conceal your aura.”

“That brat still has some spirit, coming at this time. Heh heh heh…” The Flower Fairy smiled.

“He’s finally here.” Yu Yang’s teeth clenched with anticipation as he found a place to sit cross-legged.

Niu Family Village lay just a dozen miles from Wu Family Village. At Lei Yan’s speed, less than half an hour had passed when he arrived outside Niu Family Village. The village gates were firmly shut, with torchlight flickering through the cracks. Lei Yan did not prepare to force entry; he walked calmly to the gate.

“Second Brother Leng.” Lei Yan immediately spotted Leng Lao’er standing outside. With a swift movement, he appeared beside him.

“Second Brother, you’re alone?” Lei Yan asked.

Seeing Lei Yan, Leng Lao’er respectfully cupped his fists. “Lei Ba, the brothers are all waiting inside.”

There was no unnaturalness in Leng Lao’er’s expression or eyes, so Lei Yan detected nothing amiss and nodded. “Let’s go inside.”

Leng Lao’er knocked on the door. Several villagers quickly opened it, greeting him warmly. Leng Lao’er led Lei Yan to a courtyard nearby. Upon entering, Yin You appeared respectfully. “Underling pays respects to Lei Ba.”

Lei Yan waved hand. “When did you arrive?”

“The day before yesterday.” Yin You and Leng Lao’er answered in unison.

The three entered the room. Leng Lao’er kicked Lu Kai, who was sleeping. “Lu Kai, wake up, Lei Ba is here.”

“Don’t disturb me, I’m drinking.” Lu Kai turned over, mumbling, “Lei Ba… Lei Ba…” Suddenly jolted awake, he smiled awkwardly, “Lei Ba.” At the same time, Zhao Liu crawled up nearby.

“Second Brother, how are the casualties this time?” Lei Yan saw only four men and immediately asked.

“Only two brothers died this time. The rest are resting in the neighboring room.” Leng Lao’er considered briefly before asking, “Should I wake them?”

“No need.” Lei Yan found a dry spot and sat cross-legged. “Rest well tonight. We’ll set off at first light.”

The men echoed in agreement.