Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 23: Elimination

Night.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, casting silver light through the dense leaves, sprinkling specks of light in the forest.

The Spirit Beast Mountain Range was very quiet, with only occasional cries of spirit beasts coming from afar.

"Li An, how did you meet Sister Xu?" Tan Qingxue sat on a log, seemingly bored, and asked Li An.

Li An, leaning against a dense tree, was resting with his eyes closed. Upon hearing the question, he opened his eyes and glanced at Tan Qingxue.

Why would she suddenly be interested in this?

"Senior Sister, I met Sister Xu because of a rice sale," he calmly replied, but he was pondering in his heart.

"Sister Xu has always told me how smart and cautious you are... You're the first person she has praised so much," under the moonlight, Tan Qingxue's pretty face looked very beautiful, but her gaze was like moonlight, as if trying to see through people's hearts.

"You are also the luckiest person I have ever met, even encountering the Yuan Chun Grass..." she focused on Li An, thinking to herself, "Today, I must make you reveal your true colors! Make you reveal your incompetence in front of me!"

Li An became alert in his heart. Tan Qingxue had always ignored him, but now she suddenly wanted to test him?

Did he reveal some flaws? That's unlikely.

It seems that Xu Qiuhui and Tan Qingxue must have said something.

After a moment of thought, he immediately said, "It's all thanks to Sister Xu's guidance."

As he spoke, he took out the talisman pen that Xu Qiuhui had sold to him, and sighed lightly, "I wonder how Sister Xu is doing in the inner sect..."

He gently caressed the talisman pen, seemingly treasuring it, and couldn't help but ask, "Sister Tan, did Sister Xu really mention me to you?"

There seemed to be some happiness in his words.

Tan Qingxue was taken aback for a moment, suddenly realizing... Could it be that Li An likes Sister Xu?

This was quite normal. Sister Xu was a pride of the sect, and naturally, many people liked her.

"Sister Tan?"

"Oh... yes, she mentioned you."

"That's great... I remember Sister Xu likes to eat the second ripe spirit rice from the Spirit Plant Mountain, and she also likes Qi-enhancing talismans. Can I ask Sister Tan to help me send some to her?"

The topic was successfully diverted.

Not long after.

"Sister Tan, I'm going to patrol the surroundings."

Li An got up and left.

Tan Qingxue couldn't help but feel a little complicated in her heart. Through their conversation just now, she discovered that Li An seemed to understand Sister Xu even better than she did.

When mentioning Xu Qiuhui, Li An's words were sincere and detailed, revealing the inferiority and helplessness of a low-level disciple in this aspect.

After all, Sister Xu was such a remarkable person, an inner sect disciple with unlimited potential.

Where is Li An? His aptitude is average, and he's still at the third level of Qi Refining after so many years...

It's just wishful thinking.

"Sister Xu told me that Li An is very shrewd in his dealings with people. Perhaps, he's just trying to please others..." She couldn't help but shake her head, suddenly feeling that it wasn't her who was wrong, but Sister Xu. Li An is actually a very honest person...

...

Meanwhile, in the forest.

Li An was deep in thought.

Tomorrow, he needs to find a reason to leave Tan Qingxue and the others.

Just now, he used some conversational skills and tactics to divert the topic. After all, in his past life, he had many wives and concubines, so he was not lacking in experience with women.

But he wasn't confident about continuing the interaction.

...

In the early morning, the chirping of birds filled the air, spreading through the mountains along with the rising sun.

"We're going to the Cold Mist Forest today, where the Black Needle Giant Ape has been seen before," Tan Qingxue said, and they immediately set off.

The Cold Mist Forest is full of Cold Camphor trees, which are inherently poisonous. The toxic gas emitted by the forest day and night forms a layer of thin mist, making it impossible for anyone to enter on a regular basis.

Tan Qingxue took out an antidote pill and gave one to each person.

This surprised Li An. Tan Qingxue had really spared no expense for this operation. Although the antidote pill was not of high quality, it still cost about ten spirit stones per pill.

His life seed had its own detoxification function, but he remained calm and took the antidote pill.

"It shouldn't be here."

Li An observed the surroundings and sniffed the air carefully.

The feces of the Black Needle Giant Ape were extremely foul-smelling, and in this damp and poisonous environment, the smell would spread far and wide. But he didn't smell anything.

So, he felt relieved and followed them inside.

"Hey, these are the footprints of the Black Needle Giant Ape!"

They found some footprints under a large old tree.

"Parasitic Spirit Vine!"

Li An looked with joy at the blue vines rooted in the old tree, which had already produced quite a few blue fruits.

"First-grade spirit fruits, there are so many!"

Jiang You exclaimed and immediately climbed up the tree to pick all the spirit fruits.

There were a total of six, and since they discovered them together, they divided them equally. Li An received one, and Tan Qingxue also gave him ten spirit stones.

"It seems that the Black Needle Giant Ape came here for these parasitic spirit vines... Indeed, this beast is very sensitive to spiritual medicine!"

Cao Zhirou couldn't help but speak.

Although they hadn't found the Black Needle Giant Ape yet, everyone was full of motivation.

They turned back, but as soon as they left the Cold Mist Forest, they heard a voice coming from ahead:

"Oh, it's Sister Tan from the Talisman Hall!"

They saw seven or eight young disciples waiting outside the forest, and the leader was a handsome young man. There was a small furnace pattern embroidered on the left chest of his robe.

Alchemy Hall disciples!

"Senior Qingyuan,"

Tan Qingxue frowned slightly, "Why are you all here too?"

Qingyuan smiled, "We are looking for the Black Needle Giant Ape... Tan Junior Sister, could it be that you are looking for it too?"

Tan Qingxue's heart skipped a beat, "No... we are looking for other spiritual herbs. Qingyuan Senior Brother, have you found any clues about the Black Needle Giant Ape?"

Qingyuan shook his head, "No, the Black Needle Giant Ape is very cautious. It should be in the mature stage of a second-grade spiritual herb, so it is hiding."

"Qingxue Junior Sister, you just came out of the Cold Mist Forest. I guess you used the Detoxification Pill to detoxify. The Detoxification Pill is not effective enough, and the toxins will still remain in your body."

"I have some Poison-Neutralizing Pills here, I'll give you a few."

He smiled and approached, took out a small bottle, and handed it to Tan Qingxue.

Tan Qingxue's eyes widened in surprise, "Qingyuan Senior Brother, Poison-Neutralizing Pills are valuable. I should give you spirit stones instead..."

Qingyuan laughed, "Tan Junior Sister, you're being too polite. The reason I'm giving you Poison-Neutralizing Pills is because I hope that when you discover the Black Needle Giant Ape, you can inform us."

Tan Qingxue pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, thank you then."

She took the pill and turned to leave with Li An and the others.

Not far away...

"Qingxue, Qingyuan is unexpectedly generous, it's not normal..." Cao Zhirou reminded.

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing," Tan Qingxue said.

Tan Qingxue directly took out the Poison-Neutralizing Pill and casually threw it into the nearby bushes. Although the Poison-Neutralizing Pill was quite precious, caution was necessary in the Zero Retail Mountain Range.

However, Li An couldn't help but shake his head. When Tan Qingxue took the bottle, she had already fallen into the trap.

The problem was not with the Poison-Neutralizing Pill, but with the bottle!

There should be a colorless liquid applied on it, and the taste is extremely faint. Amidst the smells of decaying vegetation, bird and animal droppings in the forest, ordinary cultivators would not be able to detect it at all.

Although Li An couldn't figure out what the liquid was, he sensed that from now on, Tan Qingxue, the hunter, had become bait for the Alchemy Hall.

They couldn't follow Tan Qingxue and the others anymore.

"Oh, there's a patch of miscellaneous spirit grass over there!"

Suddenly, Li An pointed ahead. There was a small stream flowing through the forest, cascading down the cliff halfway, and there was a cluster of lush miscellaneous spirit grass on the cliff.

"I'll go get it."

Li An excitedly spoke up and immediately ran over, carefully climbing down the cliff along the rock wall.

"Li An, it's too dangerous, there's no need!" Tan Qingxue frowned and reminded.

This Li An's petty behavior was really delaying things. She still had to go to the next location!

"I'll be quick..."

Li An quickly climbed down, but suddenly, his foot slipped and he let out a scream. He rolled down the slope, quickly disappearing behind the trees.

"Li An!"

Everyone standing on the slope was surprised.

Tan Qingxue was even more anxious and hurried forward, but the slope was too steep, making it difficult to go down for a while. They could only stand there and call out, but no one responded.

"This kid brought it upon himself... With his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, if he falls from here, he probably won't survive."

Jiang You sneered and said, "Greedy for small gains and forgetful of one's life, he is ultimately a lowly servant, bringing death upon himself."

"It will take us at least an hour to go around to the bottom of the cliff, and there's no guarantee that we will find him... Qingxue, there's no need."

Cao Zhirou also said, "If he's not dead, he must be seriously injured. He will only drag us down in our plan. And if he's dead, what's the point of finding him? We should stick to our plan and go to Laoteng Slope."

Tan Qingxue felt conflicted, mainly because Qingyuan and others were also looking for the Black Needle Giant Ape, and she had to make good use of her time.

"Li An!"

Tan Qingxue stood on the slope of the cliff and shouted loudly, her voice echoing in the mountains.

After a moment's pause, she finally made up her mind, "Let's go first. When we come back, we can look for him again."

Although she had some brief communication and interaction with Li An, his life or death didn't matter much to her.

"It's a pity, the Tree Lingzhi and the Parasitic Spirit Vine Fruit... We'll come back and take a look later."

Jiang You also whispered a sentence.

...

And after they left for a long time.

150 meters away from the cliff, Li An held a Starlight Dagger in his right hand and deeply stabbed it into the stone wall, hanging himself on the cliff, tightly pressed against the mountain cliff.

Calmly, he swung his left hand over the Starlight Dagger, causing his palm to immediately bleed. Ignoring the pain, he used his hand to firmly grab this piece of cliff, then exerted force with his right arm. This piece of cliff was instantly pulled down along the cliff, while he used the force to jump up to a small slope.

Activating the power of his life seed, the wound in his palm quickly scabbed over.

This piece of stone rolled down the cliff, leaving behind traces of blood, creating the appearance of someone being injured and falling. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to tell.

But Li An still didn't climb up, instead, he waited for a while.

After about half an hour, with his extremely acute hearing, he finally heard a low conversation:

"It seems that someone among them fell from here?"

"It's difficult to survive a fall from here."

Someone was discussing.

"We must ensure that no one survives, otherwise when the sect investigates, we will inevitably reveal our tracks... Qin Wei, go around to the bottom of the cliff and check it out. If he's still alive, kill him!"

That was the voice of Qingyuan!

After giving the order, the voices quickly disappeared.

Fifteen minutes later, confirming that the person had left, Li An quickly felt his way up the slope of the cliff.

He was extremely cautious, concealing his aura with the power of his life seed, and searched around. In the grass on the side, he found the poison-dispelling pill bottle that Tan Qingxue had discarded.

He didn't rush to pick it up, instead, he opened his storage bag and took out a pile of first-grade medium-quality spirit talismans and the Starlight Dagger, stuffing them into his sleeve pocket. Then he used the storage bag as a glove, picked up the bottle, and rubbed it in his hand several times!

"What a pity for my Tree Lingzhi and Parasitic Spirit Vine Fruit..."

He felt extremely distressed, but it had come to this point, and there was no other way.

After doing all this, he stood up, relieved himself on the side, and then tore off a corner of his robe, wrapping a layer of soil moistened with urine. Carefully, he used a tree branch to carefully bury the detoxification pill bottle in the soil.

He tied up this piece of clothing, ensuring it was sealed, and put it in his sleeve.

Only then did he carefully carry the storage bag, avoiding any contact with the scent on the bag, and once again felt his way to the edge of the cliff, throwing the storage bag down the mountain cliff.

...

(End of this chapter)