The corpse was charred black, its face a horrifying sight.
It was still emitting a black gas even after leaving the water. A single glance was enough to tell it had been killed by a Demon Technique.
He had been thinking of letting it sink back into the water, but then Lü Zhong spotted a Golden Thread Bag at the corpse's waist, and his gaze was instantly fixed.
'Could it be…'
A guess flashed through his mind. 'If this is real, I'm about to strike it rich!'
Lü Zhong hurriedly tightened the fishing line. The corpse bobbed unstably under the river's fierce current. If the Golden Thread Bag was washed away, he would regret it forever. He had to haul the body up.
The waterlogged corpse was dead heavy. It took Lü Zhong a great deal of effort to pull it onto the boat.
His heart was about to leap out of his throat. He tremblingly tore off the Golden Thread Bag and channeled a sliver of Spiritual Power into it.
Immediately, the Golden Thread Bag reacted.
"A Storage Bag! It really is a Storage Bag!"
Lü Zhong never expected that such a precious item would actually fall into his hands.
He didn't know why Storage Bags were so expensive, but he knew their selling price in the shops of Qingliu Ruins all too well.
The asking price started at a minimum of three-digit Spirit Stones!
Suddenly obtaining such an expensive item, Lü Zhong was so excited his hands could barely hold the Golden Thread Bag.
After a good while, he managed to calm down a little. He paid no mind to the soaking wet Storage Bag and immediately tucked it into a pocket of his inner clothes.
Then, filled with anticipation, he searched the corpse again.
Unfortunately, aside from a bottle of waterlogged and swollen Pills, there was nothing else to be found.
"My apologies. It seems I can't give you a proper burial." Seeing there was nothing else, Lü Zhong memorized the features of the mutilated corpse's clothing, then gave it a shove and pushed it back into the river.
He didn't forget to meticulously rinse the boat's deck with river water and also dealt with any lingering aura he might have on him.
When it came to his own life, he could never be too cautious.
If he had any Cleaning Talismans now, he would have slapped on two or three without a second thought.
Then, he gave up on the idea of continuing to fish.
After catching a mutilated corpse killed by a Demon Technique, Lü Zhong didn't dare continue fishing. He knew there was definitely a school of Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish below, but he quickly grabbed his oars and rowed toward Qingliu Ruins.
He rowed so fast that he was back at the dock in just a quarter of an hour.
Without a moment's rest, Lü Zhong carried the two Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish and hurried toward Jiangwei Pavilion.
In a small tea stall next to Jiangwei Pavilion, Wei Tie was drinking tea with two of his subordinates.
He wasn't in a good mood. This was partly because he had been reprimanded by Steward Li the day before, and also because of some news he'd heard that morning. If the news was true, then the cushy job he had worked so hard to get would become a deadly noose.
Catching a running figure in the corner of his eye, Wei Tie thought he looked somewhat familiar. Then he remembered: it was the young man who had gotten him scolded yesterday. He instantly wanted to vent his pent-up anger on him.
However, Wei Tie didn't act immediately, deciding to wait and see.
After all, Steward Li had instructed that if this person brought another good catch, he was to be notified immediately.
As the figure got closer, Wei Tie's expression turned ugly.
'Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish? And two of them?'
He knew that no matter what, he couldn't touch the young man today.
On the contrary, he had to greet him with a smile.
The more Wei Tie thought about it, the more frustrated he felt. Having to suppress his anger was incredibly vexing.
"Greetings, Elder Wei. I was lucky enough to catch two Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish. I was wondering if you could inform Steward Li for me?" Lü Zhong said, panting as he held up the two lively fish.
Wei Tie looked at the two Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish and forced a smile. "No need. Steward Li has given instructions. If you have another catch, young man, you can take it directly to the back kitchen to collect your reward."
A short while later, the fish in Lü Zhong's hands had been exchanged for Spirit Stones.
Jiangwei Pavilion was quite generous, giving him a full seven Spirit Stones.
Seven Spirit Stones. Lü Zhong didn't even know how many Cleaning Talismans he would have to sell to earn such a huge sum.
With these Spirit Stones, he finally had his starting capital.
Taking a deep breath, he thanked the accountant who had given him the money several times before finally leaving Jiangwei Pavilion.
With money in his pocket, Lü Zhong walked with a spring in his step.
He even dared to look directly at the shops displaying expensive goods.
However, Lü Zhong didn't immediately go on a spending spree. Instead, he prepared to head home first.
'I wonder what's in the Storage Bag. I hope it's a big score!'
With this thought in mind, he quickened his pace toward his small, dilapidated hut.
As he passed a clinic, he saw a corpse covered with a white sheet being carried out. Beside it, a woman holding a swaddled baby girl was crying inconsolably, drawing sighs from the passersby.
"Sigh, another one whose life was taken by a Demon Cultivator!"
"Those damn Demon Cultivators deserve to be sliced into a thousand pieces! With the pillar of the family gone, I'm afraid Xiuniang is..."
The person didn't finish their sentence, but Lü Zhong knew what they meant. The woman was about to have everything she owned taken from her.
It would be one thing if she were a cultivator herself, but it seemed she was just a mortal. Facing the hungry pack of wolves that would soon circle, the mother and daughter, alone and powerless, would probably be driven out of Qingliu Ruins within three days.
Sighing, the powerless Lü Zhong continued on his way.
Through this incident, he came to see many things.
Qingliu Ruins seemed peaceful on the surface, but in the corners untouched by sunlight, there were likely many shady dealings.
It was only because Lü Zhong was dirt poor, with not an ounce of profit to be squeezed from him.
Otherwise, all sorts of covetous gazes would have fallen upon him.
Lü Zhong immediately felt a sense of urgency, wishing he could instantly raise his cultivation to a high level.
...
He soon returned to his dilapidated hut.
In the kitchen, out of sight from the outside, Lü Zhong took out the Golden Thread Bag.
Since it was now an ownerless object, he opened the bag with ease.
He sent a weak wisp of his Divine Sense inside and found it was a Storage Bag about half a cubic meter in size.
Then, he turned the bag's opening downward, and three items immediately fell out.
The items had looked miniature inside the bag, but they returned to their original size as soon as they came out.
A Cyan Jade Medicine Bottle.
A sheet of Talisman Paper with complex patterns.
A small, exquisitely bound booklet.
These were all the items in the Storage Bag.
The Cyan Jade Medicine Bottle was stoppered with a cork. Inside was a single, ghastly green Pill that gave off a foul, fishy stench. It didn't seem like a good thing, and Lü Zhong didn't dare touch it. He simply re-stoppered the bottle and set it aside.
The Talisman Paper was easy to identify. A single glance told him it was a type of Fireball Talisman.
He didn't know what specific type it was, but he figured that a Tier One Middle Grade Fireball Talisman couldn't be too weak.
As such, it could serve as a trump card.
When he picked up the small booklet, Lü Zhong's expression changed drastically, and he murmured:
"The Qingyang Jade Profound Technique... How can it be this Cultivation Technique!"