I Can Devour Spirits

Xia Honghua said rather boldly, ”What’s up with you? I pay you two contribution points every day. You work for two hours and then run off. Do you really think I’m that easy to fool?!”

”Don’t get handsy.” Duan Rong twisted his arm, used the Bone Shrinking Technique, and slipped his arm out of Xia Honghua’s grasp.

Xia Honghua gave a slight yelp, looking at Duan Rong quite surprised.

Duan Rong said, ”We had an agreement. When I come, when I go, you can’t interfere.”

Xia Honghua snorted through her nose, ”I won’t interfere as long as you do the job well!”

”How do you know I haven’t done it well?”

”You’re only here for two hours a day, and that’s considered done well? You’re kidding me.”

Duan Rong looked at Xia Honghua as if she were a fool and said, ”Come, follow me.”

”For what? Where to?”

”To look at the accounts!”

The two of them went together to the room where the account books were kept. Duan Rong took out a flint and lit the candle.

In the cramped room, several account books were placed on the long table in the middle.

Duan Rong pulled one out and pushed it towards Xia Honghua on the table, raising an eyebrow, ”There, see for yourself.”

Xia Honghua opened it; it was the March account book she had transcribed and recorded. Inside, amidst the originally messy entries, almost every page had several changes and notes in handwriting that were elegant and flowing, clearly not hers.

Xia Honghua flipped through it, seeing that most of the book had already been annotated, with only a few pages left. The entire account book appeared to be almost thoroughly reviewed.

Xia Honghua looked up at Duan Rong and asked, ”Did you do all this in the last five days?”

Duan Rong sat down casually in a chair and said, ”What else?”

”You can check carefully if you want. See if I made any random changes.”

”No need.”

Xia Honghua had already picked a few places to look at, and indeed, the corrections were made in locations where she originally had errors or omissions.

Xia Honghua laughed awkwardly, ”At this rate, we can definitely finish the first half of the year’s accounts by July 3rd.”

Duan Rong stood up, looking at Xia Honghua, and said, ”I’ve already said, I will make sure madam can report back without issue. Please, in the future, don’t be suspicious of me. Anything else? If not, I need to return to my master, there are other tasks to do there.”

”No... nothing else.”

Duan Rong and Xia Honghua left the room one after the other.

As Duan Rong passed the counter, he said to Xia Honghua, ”See you tomorrow, Aunt Xia.”

Xia Honghua originally wanted to reply, but her smile suddenly froze on her face. ”Aunt?!”

Watching Duan Rong’s back, Xia Honghua shouted, ”You little brat, who are you calling ’Aunt’? Am I that old?”

Duan Rong didn’t turn his head, just waved his hand.

Not long after Duan Rong left, Xia Honghua sat at the counter, the more she calculated, the more she felt cheated.

”This kid only comes for two hours a day and earns my two contribution points. And he doesn’t even come every day, only whenever he feels like it.”

”This is too easy money.”

”No way! The next time I see this kid, I need to bargain with him.”

But then Xia Honghua thought, what if this kid just drops the job, and with time this tight, where would she find someone else?

Forget it, better to play it safe for now, wait until the semi-annual account period is over, and then talk.

Xia Honghua recalled Duan Rong’s graceful and attractive handwriting, and those clear accounts, her frowning brows finally relaxed a bit.

”Kid, it’s only because you’re good at your job. I’ll let you take advantage for now... Once this accounting period is over, I’ll settle the score with you...”

Duan Rong left the Medicine Pavilion and returned to Shang Xiangyu’s mountain.

In the dense forest, he first practiced his four martial arts thoroughly, then calculated the days; today was the day to feed the Black Blood Vine again.

He caught two sacks full of venomous insects, hefted the bulging sacks, and headed deep into the cave.

Duan Rong was familiar with this cave, having walked through it several times, but he never dared wander aimlessly here.

It’s not just because the Black Blood Vine is terrifying and eerie, but also because Duan Rong knew what species the Black Blood Vine was.

The Black Blood Vine is a variant originating from the twisted space of the Underworld.

The fact that the Black Blood Vine can grow deep in this cave indicates that it is very close to the warped underground space.

In the twisted underground space, there are many dangerous variants; even martial artists in the Primordial Qi Realm may not be able to make it out unscathed.

Moreover, Duan Rong had just entered the True Qi Realm.

Since this cave is already close to the twisted space of the Underworld, if Duan Rong casually explored here and accidentally wandered in, he might die without leaving a trace...

Duan Rong was already skilled at feeding the Black Blood Vine.

Holding a torch, he reached the edge of the black rock layer and saw on another Black Blood Vine, two fruits, both glowing red with a flicker of black mist within...

Duan Rong’s eyes moved. ”Another two Black Blood Fruits have matured.”

Duan Rong knew that the Black Blood Fruit was the main ingredient in Shang Xiangyu’s alchemy.

Even though he saw the two Black Blood Fruits mature, he skillfully scattered the two bags of venomous insects around the two Black Blood Vines.

Afterward, he turned and left.

Duan Rong crossed the forest, walked along the cliffside for a while, and reached Pan Yong’s cave entrance, calling out a few times.

It was a bright afternoon, yet he wasn’t sure if Pan Yong was inside or not.

Duan Rong called out a few times but got no response, preparing to leave. As he turned around, he saw a figure emerging from the cave.