Immortal Path to Heaven

The bustle and excitement always passed in the blink of an eye. It was already night time when Ou Yangming returned to his courtyard.

His emotions such as nervousness, agitation, elation, joy, lamentation, and so on finally simmered down. After doing the martial-art squad for half an hour, he practiced his fist art and his blade technique for half an hour. Subsequently, he entered the backyard and retrieved his military saber to burn it with his Military Fire, then stabbed it into a wild boar’s stomach.

Ou Yangming was given two quarries after the hunt, which came in handy at the moment.

After a while, when he felt that his body was already abundant in Qi and blood, he withdrew his saber firmly.

As Ou Yangming had a better understanding of the Devouring attribute, he drew blood and flesh more rationally. He no longer absorbed everything without reservation because it was wasteful and was not in line with his benefits.

Once everything was done, Ou Yangming withdrew the Devouring attribute and returned to his room.

Just as he was about to sleep soundly, a knock was suddenly heard outside the door.

Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. He could not figure out who would pay him a visit at this hour.

When he opened the door and finally saw who was outside, his face changed.

The person who was standing outside was Assistant Supervisor Zhang Yinfan from the Provision Camp. Behind him stood a middle-aged man, who was dressed up like a servant, that stooped and carried a gift box. He looked at Ou Yangming with a flattering look.

“Hehe, Master Ou, long time no see. I’m disturbing you late at night because there’s something I need to discuss, please forgive me,” Zhang Yinfan said with a smile.

Ou Yangming forced a smile and replied to him, “Sir Zhang, you’re being too polite, please come in.”

After some thought, he decided to let Zhang Yinfan lin.

Instead of letting the fellow devise an evil scheme, like a venomous snake that lurked in the dark, it was better to let him stay in the open. At the very least, Ou Yangming wanted to hear what he had to say.

Zhang Yinfan and the old servant entered together. The servant then placed the gift box on the floor and opened it.

Ou Yangming’s eyelids twitched as he questioned, “Sir Zhang, what is this about?”

“Master Ou, I’ve offended you in the past, so I hope that you’ll be the bigger person and let go of the hatred,” Zhang Yinfan answered.

“Sir Zhang, you’re being too polite, I’ve long put the past behind me.” Ou Yangming laughed.

“Master Ou, you’re a generous man indeed, I truly admire you.” Zhang Yinfan looked deeply at Ou Yangming, then stood up to bow at him.

Ou Yangming quickly shifted sideways to avoid it and said, “Sir Zhang, please don’t do this, you’re making things difficult for me.”

“Okay, since you’re so direct, please accept the gift.” Zhang Yinfan laughed out loud, then explained with a serious face, “It’s just a humble gift from me as an apology.”

“How can I let you spend so much money? I dare not accept the gift.” Ou Yangming immediately rejected it.

“Master Ou, if you don’t accept the gift, doesn’t it mean that you’re still holding a grudge against me?” Zhang Yingfan’s face changed. He insisted with a bitter face. “Please accept it so that I’ll be able to sleep well!”

Ou Yangming sighed when he looked at the gold bars that were neatly arranged in the gift box. Back then when he first met Zhang Yinfan and his nephew, they treated him with arrogance, and the proud looks on their faces were still fresh in his memory. Now, Zhang Yinfan had just paid him a visit, spoke humbly to him, and even brought a gift for him.

The difference when compared to the past was simply Heaven and Earth apart.

All of a sudden, a pair of resentful and frightened eyes appeared in Ou Yangming’s mind.

Zhang Hanyu, the Zhang family’s disciple who sneaked an attack on him in the past, but ended up being killed. Without that person in the way, perhaps Ou Yangming would really want to reconcile with the Zhang family. However, the thought of Zhang Hanyu gave him chills.

Even if Ou Yangming wanted to make peace, would the Zhang family really be willing to let the matter go without bothering about Zhang Hanyu’s disappearance anymore?

Countless thoughts crossed Ou Yangming’s mind, but he pretended like he was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. “Sir Zhang, th-that’s very kind of you.”

“Since you have no objection, it’s set then, Master Ou.” Zhang Yinfan chuckled and nodded. “It’s quite late, so I won’t disturb you any longer, I shall make a move now.”

Ou Yangming quickly stood up and said, “I’ll see you off, Sir Zhang.”

They both put up a false display of affection for each other. Finally, after Zhang Yinfan left, Ou Yangming put his smile away and inspected the gift box. There was nothing hidden in the box. Apart from roughly 200 taels of gold bars, there was also a banknote worth 1,000 taels of silver. Judging merely from the gift’s value, Zhang Yinfan had indeed shown his sincerity.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was not the same person he used to be.

Based on his ability to smith pieces of Attribute Equipment at will, if he wanted to, silver and gold would come to him like a flowing river.

The only thing that Ou Yangming cared about was Zhang Hanyu’s incident, but Zhang Yinfan did not say a single word about it earlier, hence the knot in his heart could not be unraveled.

※※※※

Far from the Armament Camp, in a huge residence.

The servant who was following behind Zhang Yinfan suddenly straightened his body. He seemed to have grown much taller, and his aura became completely different.

Zhang Yinfan’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Big Brother, you saw him, how did you feel?”

The servant was actually Zhang Yinli,Zhang Yinfan’s older brother. He glanced at his younger brother plainly,the look in his eyes was indescribably dignified.

Zhang Yinfan immediately lowered his head as he dared not look into his older brother’s eyes.

“Hmph, Ou Yangming has extraordinary qualities, were you blind back then? How dare you plot a scheme against him!” Zhang Yinli reprimanded straightforwardly.

Zhang Yinfan thought, ‘If I knew that the young fella would have such achievements and prestige, I’d never have done what I did. It’s taboo to offend someone with a bright future, like him.’

That said, Zhang Yinfan smiled bitterly when he recalled Ou Yangming’s timid behavior when they first met. “Big Brother, Master Ou is totally different from how he used to be, it’s as if he’s not the same person anymore. Ah, no matter, it’s my mistake, please punish me as you wish.”

“Forget it, since there’s already enmity, it can’t be helped.”

Zhang Yinfan’s heart tensed up, and he suddenly asked in shock, “Big Brother, could he be lying to us?”

“Ah…” Zhang Yinli exhaled deeply. “Before meeting him, I wasn’t sure if Yu’er’s disappearance had anything to do with him, but now…”

Zhang Yinfan’s heart immediately sank. “Could it really be related to him?”

“He was rather moved when he first heard you say that you wanted to resolve the hatred, but there was suddenly a huge change in his mood, and he became cautious of you. Heh, it means that he doesn’t trust you at all,” Zhang Yinli explained slowly, then looked at his younger brother while saying in a sorrowful tone, “As the Provision Camp’s assistant supervisor, you’ve shown your sincerity by visiting him personally, and by bringing him a gift. The fact that he reacted that way can only mean one thing.”

Zhang Yinfan twitched his mouth and expressed, “He’s so cautious of me because there’s an irresolvable enmity between us.”

“That’s right,” Zhang Yinli continued slowly, “Based on his attitude toward Ni Yunhong and Old Craftsman, I know that he’s not a person who seeks revenge for small grievances. Therefore, the only explanation is that he killed Zhang Hanyu, which is why he has his guard up against us.”

If Ou Yangming was present to hear Zhang Yinli’s assessment, he would probably admire him from the bottom of his heart.

“Big Brother, if he killed my nephew, the Fire-absorbing Badge is definitely still with him! We mustn’t let him go, or…” Zhang Yinfan took a step forward and said fiercely, then he gestured with his hand a chopping motion.

Zhang Yinli turned to look at him coldly. It only took a brief moment for Zhang Yinfan to be frightened.

“Little Brother, you’re becoming more presumptuous!” Zhang Yinli remarked, “It was indeed my mistake to have put Yu’er under your care.”

Zhang Yinfan trembled and mumbled, “Big Brother, I only want to take revenge for Yu’er because I feel sorry for him.”

“Yu’er’s revenge must be taken. Heh, I hate that person more than you do, and I can’t wait to tear him into pieces to vent my anger. That being said, we can’t lay a finger on him here.” Zhang Yinli scoffed.

“Big Brother, why?”

“You’ve seen the generals earlier. Other than General Tian, the other three generals regard him with special respect. If we attack him here, whether we succeed or not, the Zhang family won’t be able to get away,” Zhang Yinli explained.

Although his heart ached terribly because of his dear son’s death, he maintained his composure so as to not lose the main goal for a small gain.

Zhang Yinfan pondered, then nodded and asked, “What should we do then?”

“When Ou Yangming acquired a God-given attribute, do you know why Fang Yihai suddenly treated him in such a friendly manner?” Zhang Yinli sneered.

“I have no idea.”

“Because the Fang family obtained a batch of unique precious ores, and they’ve been looking for a suitable candidate to smith an archer’s equipment set. Hehe, since Ou Yangming acquired a God-given attribute—Precision, Fang Yihai will definitely seize the opportunity or he won’t be the Fang family’s disciple anymore.”

Zhang Yinfan’s eyes sparkled. “I understand now. The Fang Family’s ores and pieces of equipment are at the prefecture, so he’ll definitely invite Ou Yangming there if he wants his help.”

“That’s right!” Zhang Yinfan’s eyes were full of killing intent, and even the air around him seemed to have turned much colder. “Once Fang Yihai invites Ou Yangming to the prefecture, I’ll make a move during their journey to capture that fella. Hmph, not only will I reclaim the Fire-absorbing Badge, but I’ll also torture him so badly that he’ll wail in grief for months before he dies!”

He clenched his fists and uttered word by word, “Yu’er, don’t worry, Father will avenge your death!”