Chapter 266: Human Lives Are Worthless as Grass

“Have you said goodbye to your parents?”
“Yeah.”
On the way down the mountain, Jiang Li chatted with Yu Feng. Yu Feng’s mood was a bit low.
The three Blood Sea Sect disciples had died near the village. Their sect master would definitely investigate where they’d last been. Yu Feng had to act before the sect master found him or the village—strike first and kill him.
After killing the Blood Sea Sect master, Yu Feng could no longer return to the village.
The death tribulations Yu Feng faced might only target him—or might affect others. For the safety of the villagers and his parents, he had no choice but to leave.
He understood this deeply. He had joined many sects in the past, only to die either by the hands of fellow disciples or in extermination-level massacres.
Death was unavoidable—only a matter of dying alone or dragging others down with him.
Yu Feng had scavenged the belongings of the three Blood Sea Sect disciples. Some of the pills and spiritual herbs helped him reach Third-Level Qi Refining.
Barely meeting the standard of Nine Provinces mortals.
“I suggest you don’t take the next step.”
Jiang Li suddenly spoke. The ground beneath Yu Feng’s foot turned soft.
It was a trap!
Thanks to Jiang Li’s warning, Yu Feng instantly shifted his weight and fell backward, narrowly avoiding the trap.
Looking back, Yu Feng saw a pit disguised with turf. Inside were sharp bamboo spikes.
“A hunter’s trap?” Given Yu Feng’s physical resilience, the spikes wouldn’t have killed him.
“No. The spikes are coated in poison—not fatal, just enough to knock the prey out.”
Yu Feng didn’t believe the one who laid this trap had good intentions.
Knocked out? Just a method to make someone easier to carry off.
“Probably not meant for you. It’s likely aimed at beasts. This place is remote, not an official road. The chances of a beast showing up are way higher than a person,” Jiang Li analyzed.
Yu Feng was speechless. He thought he’d already experienced every possible way to die—yet here was another one.
“Might be people from the Heaven’s Poison Sect. Only they use poison in this area.”
“The trap’s been triggered. Heaven’s Poison Sect disciples will show up soon. When they do, buy some poisons off them,” Jiang Li said, listing several poisons, then concealed his presence.
Soon, disciples from the Heaven’s Poison Sect arrived. They thought a beast had triggered the trap—perfect to experiment on. But to their surprise, it was a cultivator.
“Greetings, fellow Daoist of the Heaven’s Poison Sect. I am Ma Liu, disciple of the Blood Sea Sect.” Yu Feng had dealings with Heaven’s Poison Sect members before.
That sect was full of poison-fanatics, fond of experimenting on humans and beasts.
But they were all Qi Refining cultivators. Since none of them could see through his cultivation, they wouldn’t make a move.
Poison cultivators were always cautious.
Yu Feng showed the identity token taken from the Blood Sea disciples. The Heaven’s Poison disciple saw he was from Blood Sea Sect—backed by a Foundation cultivator—and gave up any ideas of using him for experiments.
“So it’s Daoist Ma Liu. Apologies, the trap doesn’t have eyes. Hope it didn’t hurt you?”
“Your trap is impressive, I nearly stepped right into it. Coincidentally, I’m in need of some poisons. Would you be willing to sell me a few?”
“What do you need?” The Heaven’s Poison disciple also needed spirit stones.
“Cold Heaven Water, Viper Fangs, Red-Brown Lizard Tail…”
“Just so happens I’ve got all those. Put your spirit stones down first.”
The Heaven’s Poison disciple thought it was a coincidence—but Jiang Li had already scanned him and knew exactly what he carried.
“Let’s both place our things on the ground and swap places.”
“Deal.”
Yu Feng placed the spirit stones from the Blood Sea disciples on the ground. The poison cultivator laid out the items. Both kept their eyes on each other, cautiously circling around to switch positions.
In the end, both got what they wanted and cupped fists before leaving.
“Senior Jiang, these poisons aren’t that strong. What are they for?” Yu Feng asked. He could refine poisons too, but these ingredients at best could kill a Seventh- or Eighth-Level Qi Refining cultivator.
“Don’t worry. This is just part of it.”
Yu Feng nodded and stored the items.
He returned once again to the small town. This time, the old granny selling meat buns saw he was well-dressed—not a beggar—so she didn’t try to sell him buns.
“Go buy a meat bun from that old granny.”
Yu Feng’s eyes widened. He thought he misheard. Jiang Li repeated himself, confirming it: go buy a bun.
But the filling in her buns was human meat!
Out of trust for Jiang Li, Yu Feng forced himself to buy one. Just as he was about to eat it, Jiang Li stopped him.
“Not for you to eat.”
“Place it under that big tree. It’ll attract the black cat.”
Yu Feng sighed in relief. Eating that bun would leave a psychological scar.
The black cat smelled the bun’s aroma and strolled over with elegance. Just as it was about to eat, Yu Feng grabbed it.
“Draw some blood from the black cat, then return it to the young lady.”
The black cat flailed wildly, but couldn’t escape Yu Feng, who took its blood by force.
“This black cat—is it a demon beast?”
Yu Feng had always thought of it as nothing more than a way to earn rewards from the young lady. But now that he considered its taste for human meat buns, maybe it wasn’t a normal cat.
“It’s not a demon beast. This cat was raised on human flesh since it was young. You could call it a Nether Cat. Its blood has toxic and cold attributes—excellent for poison.”
“Raised on human flesh? Then that young lady who kept it…” Yu Feng’s face darkened. He recalled once being invited to her mansion and getting killed by her servant.
Back then he thought it was just envy from the servant. Now he realized—it might have been at the young lady’s order.
“Guess—do you think you’ve ever been eaten by this black cat?” Jiang Li teased, making Yu Feng want to strangle it.
“Just kidding. It’s been a long time since this cat last ate a person. The young lady probably picked it up from a corpse pile or graveyard. She now feeds it live fish daily, which greatly diluted its blood’s potency. Now it’s just a good poison primer.”
“Most likely, the young lady’s parents knew the cat’s origin, didn’t want her keeping it, but couldn’t say it outright—so they tossed it out. You picked it up again, which made her hold a grudge and order her servant to kill you.”
Jiang Li had scanned the young lady’s home with Divine Sense and made this deduction.
Yu Feng felt that death had been seriously unjust.
“People in this world really don’t value human life at all.”
A demonic sect like Blood Sea, killing someone just for picking up a black cat—none of this would ever happen in the Nine Provinces.
Or rather, not in the Nine Provinces now.
According to Immortal Elder Changcun, back when demonic paths were rampant, the Nine Provinces weren’t friendly to mortals either.
“Isn’t the cultivation world always like this?” Yu Feng was surprised, not understanding Jiang Li’s sigh.
Jiang Li sighed again. In the Tongu World, human lives were like grass.
“Go to the pharmacy and buy some herbs. Time to start refining poison.”
Hearing that, Yu Feng bought some common ingredients. “Senior Jiang, how do I refine them?”
“No idea,” Jiang Li answered bluntly.
“Huh?” Yu Feng froze.
“No worries. I’ll call someone to help. Lao Bai—get me the Sect Master of the Spirit Herb Sect.”