Chapter 158: The Wedding

The small village was not very large to begin with, but once everyone had been called together, the small courtyard was filled to capacity.

The withered old man glared around with a gloomy expression, taking a headcount. His already heavy expression grew even uglier, and suddenly he shouted, "Where is Pockmarked Zhou? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"

Following the shout, the noisy courtyard instantly grew much quieter. Everyone cast their gazes toward the withered old man—some with fear, some with reverence, and others with disdain—but no one answered his question.

Standing to the side, looking aggrieved and alone, the fox widow simpered, "I already called him. He said he would be here shortly."

Instantly, a flash of cold light crossed the withered old man's sunken eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "He must have gone to inform on us."

"Inform? Inform about what?"

...

The small courtyard once again plunged into a hubbub of discussion, the sound of debates drowning out the fox widow's cries.

With an ugly expression, the withered old man shouted angrily, "Shut up, all of you, unless you want to die!"

The shout was not very loud, but in a courtyard so filled with commotion, every single person heard it as clear as a bell, and so no one spoke another word.

"Fox, go look for Pockmarked Zhou. If he shows any intention of betraying us, kill him."

Hearing the withered old man's command, the fox widow's expression tightened. She immediately stood up and dashed out of the courtyard like a flying arrow.

Then, the withered old man continued coldly, "A general from the Heavenly Demon City has died in our village. This matter cannot possibly be kept under wraps, and the wrath of the Heavenly Demon City is not something we can bear."

"Who killed him?" The burly Blacksmith Liu, whom they had seen earlier, said in a deep voice, "The generals of the Heavenly Demon City possess extraordinary strength. Very few people in the village could manage to kill one."

Standing nearby, Su Fan's expression flickered slightly. He slowly stepped forward and said coldly, "I killed him."

Blacksmith Liu's expression changed instantly, and he suddenly burst into laughter, "Good! Good lad! I thought your cultivation was low and that you were just relying on the old man's status to freeload here. I never expected you to have such extraordinary strength."

Su Fan looked startled and glanced questioningly at the withered old man.

The withered old man snorted coldly and scolded, "Old Ruffian Liu, you are so crude yourself, do you want to turn him into a brute just like you?"

Blacksmith Liu laughed instead of getting angry. He bellowed, "Back in the day, I single-handedly hacked down thirteen generals of the Heavenly Demon City. That split-mountain giant axe of mine was consecrated with the blood of those very men."

The withered old man gave a mocking smile and said coldly, "What is there to boast about? Which person here hasn't killed a general of the Heavenly Demon City?"

Su Fan felt a stir within him. He had thought he had stirred up a catastrophic disaster, but unexpectedly, the Heavenly Demon City was not that formidable after all, and everyone here had actually killed a general.

Beyond his astonishment, what made him even more curious was why the fox widow, who clearly could have killed that red-robed elder earlier, chose not to do so, leaving it to him instead.

He did not ask this question, choosing instead to listen quietly, knowing that even if he asked now, he would not get an answer.

Blacksmith Liu looked at Su Fan with a good-natured smile and said gently, "Little brother, what is your name?"

Su Fan had always believed in the creed: if you dare to bully me, I dare to kill you. But if you show me a modicum of respect, I will repay it tenfold. Seeing Blacksmith Liu's goodwill, Su Fan smiled, cupped his fists, and said, "I am Su Fan. Greetings, Brother Liu."

Blacksmith Liu laughed heartily, "Brother is too much. Since you are the old man's son-in-law, you might as well just call me Old Ruffian Liu."

Hearing these words, Fan Ruoyu's face instantly turned red. She glanced timidly at Su Fan, then lowered her head again.

Su Fan smiled faintly and said gently, "I shall still call you Brother Liu."

...

The discussion continued, though the voices were much lower now. Perhaps out of fear of the withered old man's might, or because they now knew the truth of the matter, there was simply nothing left to debate.

With his expression returned to normal, the withered old man looked toward the distant horizon. After a long while, he commanded, "I caught a dragon earlier. Everyone can have a bowl of dragon blood now, but remember to be quick about it."

Upon hearing the words "dragon blood," the murmuring crowd stopped arguing. They immediately formed a long queue according to a certain rule, waiting for the pre-prepared dragon blood, and each person took up a bowl.

Blacksmith Liu was first in line. After receiving the dragon blood, he exhaled a wisp of ghostly fire, and as soon as the flame died down, he drained the bowl in one gulp, his face beaming with excitement.

The withered old man gave Blacksmith Liu an impatient glare and said coldly, "The dragon scales are inside the house, and the dragon bones can be yours too, but you must forge two sets of inner armor by tonight."

Instantly, that previous excitement was swept away, replaced by what could truly be called elation. With his eyes gleaming brightly, Blacksmith Liu trotted eagerly into the small cabin.

When he emerged, he cupped his fists toward the withered old man and asked in a deep voice, "Is tomorrow morning really that urgent?"

Without answering, the withered old man turned and went back into the cabin with a gloomy face.

Blacksmith Liu let out a helpless, bitter laugh and muttered, "Tomorrow it is, then."

With that, Blacksmith Liu waved at Su Fan and strode quickly out of the courtyard.

Before the dragon blood had even been fully consumed, the fox widow returned. Her right hand was visibly stained with blood, making it clear she had engaged in a fierce battle. Traces of dense spiritual energy still fluctuated around her, showing that the fight had been extremely perilous and consumed a vast amount of spiritual energy.

Seeming to have sensed that the fox widow would return, the withered old man hurried out of the cabin and anxiously asked, "Is he dead?"

The fox widow nodded heavily.

The withered old man's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed slightly before he asked softly, "How many times did you kill him?"

"How many times?"

Su Fan looked startled. Isn't once enough to kill a man? Why would it take several times? Even if he was going to turn informer and was a traitor, killing him once should have sufficed.

The fox widow's expression immediately turned troubled, and she murmured, "I killed him once."

In a flash, the withered old man's expression darkened back to its previous gloom. He shouted angrily, "Idiot! Don't you know Pockmarked Zhou has three lives? He lost one while fleeing earlier, but he still had two left!"

Three lives? There were actually people with three lives in this world? Alongside his curiosity, he felt no further perplexity; in a universe as vast as this, anything could exist, and he could only sigh at his own ignorance.

The fox widow lowered her head deeply and stammered, "I'll go kill him again."

"How will you kill him? By the time you get there, he might already have reached the Heavenly Demon City. Are you going to go into the Heavenly Demon City to kill him?" the withered old man demanded angrily.

Knowing that saying anything more would be pointless, the fox widow lowered her head and remained silent.

With a heavy sigh, the withered old man said coldly, "Drink the bowl of dragon blood left for you, and then inform everyone that we are migrating tomorrow."

Migration.

For this village that was not particularly large, the news caused quite a commotion. Disregarding the withered old man's intimidation for the moment, the crowd erupted into a noisy uproar.

The withered old man simply stated, "You have the night to think about it. Tomorrow, those who agree to leave will remain here; those who refuse are not forced to stay. But from then on, your lives will have nothing to do with me."

The crowd seemed not to have heard the withered old man's words, continuing to argue passionately, shouting cynical insults and angry rebukes.

"What kind of situations haven't we seen? No matter how powerful the Heavenly Demon City is, what can they do to us?"

"That's right! I'd rather die than leave this place. I don't want to go back to those days of fleeing for my life."

"In short, if the people from the Heavenly Demon City dare to come, I dare to kill them. But asking me to run? That is out of the question!"

"... "

A few bold and heroic remarks drew echoes of agreement from the crowd. Sitting to the side, Fan Ruoyu chuckled softly and said, "That one is a fisherman; he loves to brag. That one is a carpenter; he used to be quite reclusive, so why is he talking so much today? ..."

Fan Ruoyu did not seem to feel that the migration would have any major impact. She maintained a natural expression as she explained the backgrounds of these people to Su Fan.

Gradually, Su Fan began to understand the structure of this world. This world was unlike the mortal realm; or rather, it existed outside the mortal realm of the Great Song dynasty. One could also say that this world enveloped the Great Song.

Unlike the complexities of the Great Song, there was only one city here—the Heavenly Demon City—and it was ten thousand times larger than the Tianyuan Prefecture.

Everything here had to obey the arrangements of the Heavenly Demon City. Of course, this place still valued rules, and the rule was strength. If you possessed enough strength, the Heavenly Demon City could even be made to obey *your* arrangements.

Perhaps that seemed impossible, because the power of the Heavenly Demon City was unshakeable; it was the pillar of this world, and it had never changed since this world came into being.

With a calm tone, Fan Ruoyu briefly recounted the experiences of everyone here. Every single person's story was astonishing, whether it was Blacksmith Liu, who had charged into the myriad-strong army of the Heavenly Demon City to fight fiercely and still managed to take a general's head, or the fisherman, who had relied solely on his wits to shatter half of the defensive network of the Heavenly Demon City. Each of them was a living legend.

Amidst his lingering astonishment, Su Fan suddenly asked, "Back then, how did you and Old Man Ku get here?"

This place was not easy to enter, and the fact that the withered old man vaguely held the position of leader among these people naturally aroused Su Fan's deep curiosity.

Fan Ruoyu shook her head thoughtfully and said softly, "The withered old man brought me here. As for how we got here, I don't know either. He told me I would meet you here, and that this place was safer than anywhere else."

...

After a brief conversation, Su Fan and Fan Ruoyu returned to the dynamic they had shared back at the Dust Fate Inn, naturally falling back into playful bantering and laughter.

At some point, the withered old man appeared again. Ever since the red-robed elder had died, he seemed to have been constantly busy with unknown tasks. Only now, as the courtyard gradually emptied, did he show himself once more.

With a wry, vexed smile, the withered old man said, "We're migrating tomorrow, yet you two aren't nervous at all. Why don't you just get married tonight?"

Su Fan was startled and hurriedly said, "Why rush into marriage?"

The withered old man displeasedly retorted, "Could it be that you think my place is too shabby?"

Su Fan waved his hands frantically and said, "This junior has no such intention."

The withered old man sneered, "Since you don't, then get married. I've calculated that today is an auspicious day—why put off a good day when you've found one? It'll also bring us some auspicious luck for our migration."

Fan Ruoyu did not raise any objections. Having yearned for each other for years, what maiden would not harbor such a desire? After a little more reluctance, Su Fan was ultimately persuaded, and red wedding candles were actually set up.

There were no overly complicated rituals, just the traditional earthly bows to heaven, earth, and parents, much like in the mortal world.

The withered old man wore a rare, gratified smile as he exhorted, "Ruoyu has had a hard life over the years. Since we have this kind of opportunity..."

Before he could finish, the withered old man's words were interrupted by a sudden cry of exclamation.

varchapterid=11389691;
varindex=0;
varhtml="";
varurl="/bookservice/get";
varparams={"chapterid":chapterid};
$.get(url,params,function(data){
html+="Author's Note"
html+=;
$("#authorspenk");
},'json;
k17.;