Cultivating for Immorality: I Evolved Martial Arts into the Immortal Path – Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Returning to the Village, Ambush!

The black market was filled with silence.

Everyone was shocked by the terrifying strength of the dark shadow.

He was dressed in black, wearing a black mask, his eyes extremely cold. He glanced at the two unconscious men, then gently swayed.

Whoosh!

He turned into a blur and disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Afterward, the sound of footsteps could be heard, and several black-robed men appeared, dragging the two unconscious men away.

After they left, the people in the market began to whisper among themselves.

“So powerful, was that person just now the legendary ‘Black-Faced Market Master’?”

“It should be him.”

“It is said that he has the strength of the Skin Tempering Realm.”

“Even the County Magistrate has to give him some face, allowing him to operate this black market…”

Being able to successfully coagulate blood was enough to make one a tyrant in an ordinary village.

If one could go a step further and reach the Skin Tempering Realm, they could become an overlord in the county town.

A powerhouse of this level was highly respected even by the local County Magistrate.

“Black-Faced Market Master.”

Chu Liang had heard this name from Qi Shun. This Black-Faced Market Master was the one controlling the black market from behind the scenes.

In the black market, he was the rule.

“To be able to see such a powerhouse in action, this trip was not in vain.”

Chu Liang walked to a stall selling medicine and bought a sufficient amount of Blood Activating Powder, planning to evolve it twice after returning.

Before leaving, he took a fancy to a set of hidden weapons.

“Sleeve Arrows, Willow Leaf Knives, Seven Kill Needles, Plum Blossom Darts…”

The stall owner spread out the entire set of hidden weapons, picking up each one and explaining it in detail.

An open spear is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is hard to defend against.

Chu Liang was not a malicious person. He bought these things just to protect himself. After all, the world was too chaotic, and it was necessary to prepare early.

This set of hidden weapons was not cheap, costing him a full one hundred and fifty taels of silver. Ordinary martial artists would be reluctant to buy them.

“There’s nothing else worth buying for now.”

Chu Liang looked around and then withdrew his gaze.

He greeted Wu Dafu and then drove the donkey cart, under the guidance of the black market managers, leaving the black market through a relatively hidden exit.

It was already five o’clock in the afternoon, and the sun was setting.

Chu Liang drove the donkey cart, leisurely rolling over the official road south of the city.

The wheels rumbled, and the hooves clattered.

At this time, there were very few people on the official road.

Most of the villagers who came to the market would leave the county town before two o’clock in the afternoon so that they could return to their villages before dark.

“Whoosh…”

The evening breeze blew gently.

Chu Liang suddenly frowned, smelling a trace of blood in the wind.

On the road ahead, a thin man stood with a saber, dark red blood dripping from it. The smell of blood was coming from there.

The thin man stared at Chu Liang, grinned, and said loudly, “Friend, it’s getting late, and you’re traveling alone. You’ve got some guts.”

“It’s not even dark yet, and you dare to rob people. You’ve got some guts too.”

Chu Liang replied calmly, his expression unchanged.

This place was very close to the county town, and it was still on the official road. The fact that the other party dared to block the road with a saber meant that he was not only bold but also had a strong background.

Ordinary mountain bandits would only dare to rob villagers on mountain trails. They would not dare to block the official road in broad daylight.

The thin man chuckled after hearing Chu Liang’s words, “Friend, I’m not robbing. I’m just collecting a toll.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Of course! Mountain bandits who rob people will not only take your money but also your life. I’m different. You can just give me a little toll.”

He shook the bloody saber in his hand and carried it on his shoulder, saying loudly.

“Green Robe Gang?”

Chu Liang guessed the man’s identity.

The Green Robe Gang was the largest gang in the county town. It was said that the gang leader had some connections with the County Magistrate and paid him a sum of money every year.

Only people from this gang would dare to block the road and rob people on the official road.

“Friend, since you’ve guessed it, I won’t waste any more words,” the thin man said. “Leave everything in your cart, and you can go. Otherwise, your life…”

Swish—!

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly widened his eyes and clutched his neck.

At that moment, a sleeve arrow suddenly shot out from Chu Liang’s sleeve, fast as lightning, sharp as a cold blade, instantly piercing his neck, bringing out a spray of blood.

“Gurgle… gurgle…”

He looked panicked, not expecting Chu Liang to act so decisively. Warm blood gushed out from his neck, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop it.

After a few seconds, he fell backward.

His body twitched in the pool of blood, and finally, he stopped moving.

Dead!

At this moment, a roar came from the nearby forest.

“How dare you! You dare to kill someone from my Green Robe Gang?”

The voice was filled with disbelief and anger.

Then, more than ten people rushed out from the woods on both sides of the road, each with an angry expression and holding a weapon, charging towards Chu Liang’s donkey cart.

The person in the lead was actually a woman, tall and slender, with curved willow eyebrows, looking quite attractive.

Seeing this, Chu Liang did not flee but calmly threw an evolved sleeping drug antidote into his mouth and fed another to the donkey, then quietly opened the evolved Soul-Bewitching Smoke.

The Soul-Bewitching Smoke was obtained by evolving a beast-use sleeping drug.

After using demon beast flesh and blood to evolve it again, the Soul-Bewitching Smoke had become a kind of sleeping drug called “Seven Steps Down.” Just by the name, one could tell how potent it was.

In a short while, Chu Liang’s donkey cart was surrounded.

“Kid, get off the cart!”

The woman shouted sharply, her phoenix eyes filled with killing intent, staring fixedly at Chu Liang on the donkey cart.

◈◈◈

“Get down!”

The others also spoke, their weapons pointing at Chu Liang.

Chu Liang remained silent, just watching them quietly.

“Kid, what are you waiting for?”

One of them sneered, “This whole area around the county town is under the control of our Green Robe Gang. Even if the authorities come, it won’t matter. You’re not getting away today!”

Chu Liang remained silent, making no move.

Seeing this, the woman said coldly, “Stop wasting time! Ah Jiu, go cripple his hands and feet first. He dares to kill someone from our Green Robe Gang, we can’t let him die too easily!”

“Yes!”

One of them responded.

The man held his saber horizontally, a fierce look in his eyes, and started walking towards Chu Liang.

However, after taking just a few steps, his legs suddenly gave way, and with a thud, he fell to the ground.

The others were shocked and quickly changed their expressions.

“Retreat quickly! This kid is using tricks!”

But it was too late.

In the blink of an eye, they fell one after another.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

One by one, they fell and could not get up.

Among them were a martial artist who had condensed two strands of Qi and blood and three who had condensed one strand of Qi and blood, yet they couldn’t hold on.

The one with two strands of Qi and blood only lasted a few breaths longer.

“It’s sleeping drug? Impossible! How can there be such a powerful sleeping drug in the county town?”

He knelt down in disbelief, his body limp and powerless. He couldn’t even hold his saber, let alone resist, becoming like fish on a chopping board.

From the time they surrounded the donkey cart to the time they all fell, only about ten breaths had passed.

Such a terrifying sleeping drug could not be found in any shop in the entire county town.

Not just in the county town, even in the prefectural city, it would be hard to find such a drug.

And they had encountered it!

On the donkey cart, Chu Liang had evolved the Corpse Melting Liquid he carried with him, obtaining a kind of yellow-brown powder called “Corpse Dissolving Powder.”

Only then did he slowly speak, “I don’t like killing…”

Hearing this, the people lying on the ground felt a glimmer of hope.

But Chu Liang continued, “I won’t torture you. I’ll give you a quick death.”

“Wait a minute!”

The martial artist with two strands of Qi and blood hurriedly shouted, “Friend, we were blind, please spare us. We are willing to give you all our wealth.”

“I don’t need money.”

“Friend, you know we are from the Green Robe Gang. Our gang leader has connections with the County Magistrate. We can offer you more than just money. We can provide you with information, women, even official positions in the government…”

He spoke quickly, throwing out a series of tempting conditions.

But before he could finish, he heard a crack—

A head rolled on the ground.

Chu Liang, expressionless, had beheaded the nearest Green Robe Gang member.

Seeing this, the martial artist with two strands of Qi and blood became even more anxious.

“Friend, that woman is our gang leader’s nineteenth concubine. If you let her go, our gang leader will definitely try to meet your demands. You can ask for anything!”

“Nineteenth concubine?”

Chu Liang’s eyebrows twitched, surprised that the Green Robe Gang leader had so many concubines.

He turned to look at the woman.

This woman had phoenix eyes, long, curved eyebrows, red lips, and a somewhat foxy face.

On closer inspection, she was indeed quite beautiful. No wonder the Green Robe Gang leader had taken a fancy to her.

Seeing Chu Liang looking at her, the woman immediately put on a pitiful expression.

Her phoenix eyes filled with tears, and she pleaded, “Young Hero, I was originally from a good family, but I was abducted by that Green Robe Gang leader against my will.”

Her voice was choked with sobs, her eyes red and filled with helplessness.

As she spoke, a few warm tears rolled down from her eyes, adding to her pitiful appearance.

Chu Liang paused, seeming to hesitate.

Seeing this, the woman felt a surge of joy.

The other Green Robe Gang members also felt a glimmer of hope.

“This kid is still young and inexperienced, easily fooled by a woman’s tears.”

“He probably has other intentions because she’s somewhat pretty.”

“Does this kid not kill women?”

“……”

Similar thoughts popped into everyone’s minds.

But before they could rejoice for long, Chu Liang moved again.

He looked calm, holding the long saber, and walked step by step towards the woman.

The woman still maintained her pitiful appearance, pleading, “Young Hero, you…”

Crack!

A cold flash!

The woman’s eyes widened, a look of disbelief remaining on her face as her blood-stained head rolled on the ground.

Chu Liang wiped the blood from his long saber, silent, and continued to walk towards the next person.

The reason he had paused earlier was that he was pondering a question.

“Will the Corpse Dissolving Powder be enough?”