Chapter Forty-Five: Dangerous Neighbor

Wang Changsheng was at his wit’s end, nearly in tears—how could his luck be so wretched as to end up with such a neighbor!

He was well aware of Old Mou’s eccentricities and had always guarded against him. If Old Mou ever decided to land a fatal blow, Wang Changsheng wasn’t sure he could dodge it. Yet, despite all his precautions, he hadn’t anticipated that Old Mou would attack the very instant he opened his own door.

Old Mou rarely ever left his house!

“Neighbor Wang?” Old Mou’s face betrayed a hint of confusion.

“Yes, yes, I’m your neighbor Wang. We’ve lived beside each other for so long, how is it you still can’t remember?” Wang Changsheng replied helplessly.

Old Mou glanced around Wang Changsheng’s room—it certainly looked lived-in. Noticing that his attack had left half the wall in ruins, Old Mou seemed somewhat embarrassed, though his unkempt, filthy appearance made it hard to discern any real expression.

“Alright, I’ll remember you now. It won’t happen again,” Old Mou said solemnly.

Wang Changsheng was speechless.

He doubted Old Mou would actually remember him. This wasn’t the first time Wang Changsheng had reminded him; last time, Old Mou had also promised to remember, but clearly, nothing had changed.

Without a backward glance, Old Mou turned and left the small courtyard, his figure soon fading from sight.

Wang Changsheng picked himself up off the ground and surveyed the collapsed room; there was nothing for it but to repair it himself.

Fortunately, Wang Changsheng was a cultivator. In only two hours, he had fully restored the room!

“To be saddled with such a dangerous neighbor—what a fate…” Wang Changsheng wore a look of resignation.

Not only had he taken a beating, he had to fix his own shattered room, and he couldn’t even get angry about it. If he did, this slow-witted Old Mou might just slap him to death, and who’d hear his complaints then?

This time, after mending the room, Wang Changsheng carved a plank with a message and set it between their homes:

“I am your neighbor—Neighbor Wang!”

Satisfied, he placed the plank where Old Mou would be sure to see it and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“There’s no way he won’t remember me now!” Wang Changsheng muttered.

Before long, he saw Old Mou returning from outside, looking surprisingly pleased. Wang Changsheng noticed the old man carried a cloth sack much like the one from last time.

“Are the rations being distributed again?” Wang Changsheng immediately stood up.

Old Mou entered the courtyard with a puzzled look.

Wang Changsheng quickly pointed to himself, then to the message board.

Old Mou stared at the board for a moment, then nodded, even managing a faint smile toward Wang Changsheng.

The sight of Old Mou smiling actually sent a chill down Wang Changsheng’s spine.

Then, to his surprise, Old Mou hoisted the sack and walked straight towards his own room.

“Wait?” Wang Changsheng frowned. “Old Mou, you’re not sharing with me?”

Old Mou seemed intent on carrying the bag into his room, giving no sign he’d leave any behind. With every step Old Mou took, Wang Changsheng’s worry grew.

Creak.

Old Mou had already pushed open his door, one foot inside.

“Old Mou!”

At last, Wang Changsheng couldn’t restrain himself and called out.

Old Mou turned, looking back in confusion.

“Old Mou, um… did you just collect the sect’s distributed rations?” Wang Changsheng asked nervously.

Old Mou nodded.

Seeing Old Mou still showing no intention of sharing, Wang Changsheng became anxious.

“These rations… do they include my share?” he asked, probing.

Old Mou frowned.

Seeing this, Wang Changsheng grew even more uneasy.

“Was last time just because Old Mou was in a good mood?” he wondered.

As Wang Changsheng fretted, the cloth sack came flying toward him—Old Mou had thrown it over.

“If you want it, then take it. Nourish yourself well, get nice and plump!” Old Mou said.

With a bang, he closed his door.

Hugging the sack, Wang Changsheng looked at Old Mou’s shut door and sighed, “Why the rush? I still have questions for you.”

But with the door closed, Wang Changsheng dared not knock. If Old Mou forgot him again and reacted as before, Wang Changsheng might not be quick enough to avoid another beating.

He didn’t dare risk it.

Returning to his room with the sack, Wang Changsheng opened it and was met by a surge of spiritual energy.

“As I thought…”

Seeing the spirit stones and elixirs inside, Wang Changsheng’s breath grew heavy.

He stared in particular at several stones that were clearly above the lower grade.

“These… these must be mid-grade spirit stones!” he murmured.

“What kind of sect is this, to be so wealthy?” Wang Changsheng was stunned by the bounty.

Lower-grade spirit stones were one thing, but to casually distribute mid-grade stones as rations—that was astonishing, and a little unsettling.

To hand out mid-grade stones as mere rations—what kind of power was this?

If the sect didn’t even care about mid-grade spirit stones, its strength must be unimaginable.

All the more, Wang Changsheng had planned to escape once his cultivation improved, but facing a sect so rich and strong, the thought now seemed increasingly impossible.

“No, I must find a chance to question Old Mou,” he resolved.

As for venturing into the sect himself—Wang Changsheng didn’t dare. What if he were discovered and devoured?

He simply couldn’t take that risk now.

After much fruitless pondering, Wang Changsheng could only turn to his spirit stones and elixirs and begin cultivating.

He was now at the fifth stage of the Open Veins realm, already sensing the threshold of the sixth. With enough resources, breaking through would be easy.

The Open Veins realm was a matter of accumulation—once he had enough, the breakthrough would come naturally.

The days passed swiftly, especially as Wang Changsheng threw himself into tireless cultivation, day and night, losing all sense of time.

When he finally broke through to the sixth stage, he found he still had more than half his spirit stones and elixirs left.

He rose to his feet and let out a long breath, but immediately sensed something was wrong.

“How… how did I get so fat?” Wang Changsheng was baffled. His body was more robust, his white hair had thinned, and his face looked much younger—none of which surprised him. He no longer looked so withered, rather more like a man approaching old age.

But to be growing fat—this he couldn’t understand.

He examined himself and quickly found the answer.

“All these elixirs… they’re all powerful tonics…”

Having consumed over a hundred spirit herbs and elixirs since arriving, Wang Changsheng had only needed to refine their spiritual energy for his cultivation. The medicinal properties, after partial absorption, had simply accumulated in his body.

Now, all those effects had settled into his flesh, making him gain weight!

“If this continues… in two months, I’ll be fatter than Li Fusheng!” Wang Changsheng sighed helplessly.

Never had he imagined he’d one day become a fat man.

“But if that’s the case, why is Old Mou still so thin?” Wang Changsheng was confounded.

He’d been here just over a month, and this was only the second time Old Mou had given him rations. Surely, before he’d arrived, Old Mou must have received plenty himself.

So where had all Old Mou’s spirit stones and elixirs gone?

When he’d first arrived, Wang Changsheng had entered Old Mou’s room once—besides the musty smell, there was nothing else. But if Old Mou had used the rations, he shouldn’t be so gaunt.

“What on earth is going on?” Wang Changsheng simply couldn’t understand.

“It’s time I went and asked Old Mou,” he decided.

There were too many nagging questions on his mind. Without answers, he wouldn’t be able to focus on cultivation at all—he could hardly eat or sleep.

At the very least, he needed to know what sect he’d actually found himself in.

Without even that, he didn’t even know what he was up against.

It was the unknown that filled him with dread.

Knock, knock, knock…

Wang Changsheng approached Old Mou’s room and knocked on the door.

But this time, he was more cautious—before Old Mou could react, he announced himself loudly.

“Old Mou, open up—it’s me, your neighbor Wang!”

“We’ve lived as neighbors for so long, there are matters I need to ask you!”

“Old Mou? Old Mou, open the door!”

Then, he quickly stepped back, standing in the middle of the courtyard. He didn’t dare wait by the door. If Old Mou suddenly lost his temper, at least at this distance, Wang Changsheng would have a chance to react and explain.

Yet, to his puzzlement, after knocking, Old Mou made no sound from within.

“I didn’t see Old Mou go out today…” Wang Changsheng murmured, perplexed.