Death… and me

Tan Tan had lost his head, and couldn't select the right way to go back in the rush. He was as anxious as a stray dog, and as restless as a fish that had barely escaped the net.

He nearly returned to the cave soon after. However, he suddenly had a realization. So, he turned his head and confirmed that those three weren't following him. This made him groan. Then, he sat down on the ground, and gasped heavily for breath.

[That was scary! That white-robed man… was so frightening!]

[Why didn't that large pack of silver wolves dare to fight back?]

Tan Tan wiped his cold sweat. He still had a lingering fear in his heart. He thought for a very long time about the prowess of that white-robed man. However, only the word 'scary' could do justice to his description.

[Damn. I was lucky that those three psychos mistook me as their king for some reason. Otherwise, I would've been in a big trouble…]

He suddenly felt that he had something in his bosom. And, it felt somewhat heavy. He took a look to know what it was. And, he found that it was the bundle of the inner cores of silver wolves. He didn't know when he had conveniently taken advantage of a crisis for his personal gain…

"Crap! I made a fortune!" Tan Tan shouted in excitement. But, he then covered his mouth. Then, he stealthily stuck his head out, and looked everywhere. And, he contently held his face in his arms once he was certain that those three men hadn't been chasing after him…

Tan Tan hadn't given serious attention to the matter that those three men had called him their 'king'. [I'm an ordinary man. Wouldn't the words of those crazies have been the greatest insult to my wisdom and supernatural IQ?]

[I don't even know who my parents are. So, how can I know who their king is? This is bullshit…]

He took out an inner core of the Howling Moon Silver Wolf and threw it into his mouth. He suddenly felt a kind of comfort in his whole body… as if each hair on his body was dancing in joy! In fact, this sensation felt to be life's greatest enjoyment!

Young Master Tan continuously moaned for a while. In fact, it sounded as if he was having an orgasm, "Oh~~ Ah~~ oh~~" Then, he again untied the bundle, and ate three more of the inner cores. And, a feeling of hunger-satisfaction welled up in his stomach as a result. So, he sighed in satisfaction as his cheek streamed with tears, "I can finally eat my fill…"

Then, he thought for a while, and opened the bundle again. He divided those approx. five-hundred Howling Moon Silver Wolves inner cores into three small bundles. He put one of them into his bosom. He hung another one inside his clothes by pinning it under his crotch. And, he kept the last one on his back. Then, he conveniently caught two snow chickens, and put them on the top of the third bundle.

"Hey, I can't do anything about it. Master, I'm not deceiving you on purpose…" Tan Tan sighed in grief, "It's just that you won't let me eat these…"

He hopped after he was done hiding them. And, he was able to confirm that there was no influence impact on his crotch. This made him feel relieved. Then, he walked away…

…

Meng Chao Ran was sitting when Chu Yang came back. However, Master Meng was fiercely glaring and interrogating Tan Tan…

"What did you do?" Meng Chao Ran strictly asked.

"I…" Tan Tan moved his eyes here and there, "I only went out to have fun in the snow…"

"Enjoy the snow?" Meng Chao Ran sneered, "Did you enjoy the snow?"

"Yes, yes…" Tan Tan nodded like chicken pecks rice. "I saw that it had suddenly started to snow. So, I became very excited. I wanted to write a poem. I wanted to sing songs… This pure white snow… this fluttering snow… this beautiful snow… this… this fu*king snow…"

Meng Chao Ran's complexion turned more and more grim. He coldly glared at his disciple.

"Oh, by the way, Master… check out the two chickens that I killed and brought back for you. They are fat and tender. Both of them are female…" Tan Tan hastily lifted the snow chickens as if he was presenting a treasure to Meng Chao Ran and flattered, "Master, you will be full after you eat them…"

Bang! Meng Chao Ran slapped both the chicken away to a side. He nodded and said, "What's that?" He had obviously seen the bundle on Tan Tan's shoulder.

"Eh… these are the inner cores of the spirit beast that I hunted…" Tan Tan forced a smile and laughed a bit. Then, he hastily grabbed the bundle, and placed it on the ground very carefully, "I hunted so many. There were so many…"

"Take them all out! You have more!" Meng Chao Ran remained unmoved.

"I only have this many…" Tan Tan started to become meeker as he continued to speak. And, he was eventually defeated by Meng Chao Ran's gaze. Then, he took out the small bundle from his bosom. It seemed as if he was about to cry, "Master, this is it… I haven't hidden any more in my pants… under the crotch …"

"Take them out! Hurry up!" Meng Chao Ran coldly shouted.

"I don't have more… I don't have any in the crotch of my pant…" Tan Tan tightly clamped his legs together.

"Huh?" Meng Chao Ran gloomily snorted, "Are you taking them out or not?"

"I will take them out…" Tan Tan hung his head dispiritedly, and opened his legs. He lifted up his robe. He stood in a horse stance now. Then, he held the bundle in his hand at first. After that, he separated it from his waist, and put it on the ground.

"I don't have any more…" Tan Tan softly said.

"Well, I'm convinced that you don't have any more of them," Meng Chao Ran nodded.

"Master, how do you know that?" Tan Tan was flabbergasted, "I had slyly put these things in more than one places. This was an excellent strategy…"

Meng Chao Ran couldn't control his desire to laugh. However, he forcibly controlled it and scolded loudly, "Good Tan Tan! You have learned to tell lies now?! See how I teach you a lesson!"

"Master, forgive me!" Tan Tan broke into a run. But, he bumped head-on with Chu Yang who was rushing over here along with the snow and wind.

The unsuspecting Minister Chu wasn't guarded in the least. And, he was left to feel that he had been hit by a train engine. In fact, he was sent out flying, and fell down on the snowy ground in a battered and exhausted state.

Tan Tan was also sent out flying. And, he bumped into Meng Chao Ran. But, Master Meng was standing with his arms wide open. So, Tan Tan got caught on the spot. He then got beaten up very fiercely with crackling and rattling sounds! He repeatedly howled in grief because of the beating as tears streamed down his face.

Chu Yang hadn't imagined this even in this wildest dream. He had heard his master and junior martial brother talking from far away when he was returning in high-spirits. So, he entered the mouth of cave, but got bumped into Tan Tan very violently. In fact, it had seemed as if he had bumped into a black bear…

He would've been broken by this collision if his cultivation wasn't too good.

He then went in with a dizzy head. Meng Cho Ran appeared right before his face and said, "So, you still remembered to come back…?"

Minister Chu became dumbstruck for a moment.

…

A long while had passed. Meng Chao Ran had also let out his anger by now. And, he finally felt relieved in his heart. Meng Chao Ran looked at both his disciples bowing their heads with drooping faces. And, he couldn't help but expose a smiling expression from the corner of his eyes. Then, he snorted.

Then, he told Chu Yang about the things that transpired after he had left.

"He ate spirit beast inner cores…? Ninth grade King level Expert…?" Chu Yang was stunned. He opened his mouth wide. Then, he turned his head to look at Tan Tan. Tan Tan's face had already become like a pig's head because of the beating. Tan Tan exposed a smile on his face. But, it was uglier than crying…

Chu Yang became puzzled. [How can Tan Tan level up so quickly?]

[I'm the Nine Tribulations Sword Master. But, even I'm only a fifth grade King Level Expert. Tan Tan's foundation has been inferior to mine. He has never been as good as me. So, how did he surpass me so suddenly?]

[This doesn't conform to common sense…]

He hurriedly asked Sword Spirit about it. But, Sword Spirit also opened his small eyes wide in awe. He too didn't know…

"Then… what else do you want to eat when you're hungry… besides spirit beast inner core?" Chu Yang asked.

"I don't feel like eating anything else… I can't eat anything else…" Tan Tan swallowed his saliva as he pitifully replied.

"And, what happens after you finish eating the spirit beast inner cores?"

"I don't feel like eating anymore. My belly feels full. Would you eat after having a full belly if you were in my place?" Tan Tan rolled his eyes.

Meng Chao Ran and Chu Yang looked at each other in dismay. They both felt that this fact was too bizarre.

"Master… I think that this shouldn't be an issue." Chu Yang cautiously explained, "The spirit beast inner cores are used for promoting the spiritual power. Tan Tan's consumption of them… seems to be harmless. The problem is that he has digested an inner core of a ninth grade spirit beast — the first one that he ate. However, these ones are the inner cores of low level spirit beasts…"

Chu Yang concluded, "Moreover, let him eat since he doesn't feel like eating anything else. Also, his strength has grown so quickly after eating these… So, this is a good thing."

"Good thing…?" Meng Chao Ran snorted and said, "How would I provide him so many spirit beast inner cores to eat? Or… do you want to provide for him?" Meng Chao Ran's eyes lit up while he spoke this sentence. [Don't tell me Tan Tan is 'that' kind of person?]

"Um… this isn't impossible." Chu Yang knew that he was financially strong. So, raising such a junior martial brother was seemingly nothing for him.

"Tan Tan, how many of these do you eat in one meal?" Chu Yang touched his head. Then, he turned his head to ask Tan Tan.

"Three… of fifth grade…" Tan Tan sighed, "Nine will do in one day."

"Nine inner cores of fifth grade spirit beast… One costs two-hundred-thousand silver taels…" Chu Yang hissed, "You will eat stuff worth 1.8 million a day?!"

Tan Tan scratched his head and naively smiled.

"Who the fu*k would be able to raise you at this rate?!" Minister Chu stood up all of a sudden. "That would be 1.8 million a day… 18 million for ten days… and 54 million for a month. And, it would be… 648 million for a year?! That would be the ration of you alone?!"]

Chu Yang shouted, "Moreover, this was the calculation as long as you don't level up and demand the inner cores of spirit beasts of sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade… This… you…"

Chu Yang was speechless.

[He will need sixth grade ones if there's no effect after he eats the fifth grade inner cores… those things cost one-million each. So, that would be nearly ten-million a day. Then, it would be over four billion a year…]

[Moreover, the price is astronomical if he starts asking for Seventh Grade ones. After all, one costs ten-million. So, it would be 40 billion a year…]

[And, the eighth grade ones don't even have a market price…]

[About ninth grade…]

Chu Yang felt dizzy. In fact, he was on the verge of a collapse…

[By the time this chap has eaten the ration for twenty to thirty years in this manner… a hundred-billion? Or would even one-trillion be enough?]

"I can't afford to raise him! I can't raise him in any case! Master, how did you accept a disciple who is such a super spendthrift?" Chu Yang repeatedly shook his head. He hastily pushed this headache outwards, "Master, I will let Tan Tan stay with you. Teach him more. That would be a good thing."

Meng Chao Ran snorted. He felt very helpless in his heart. [You feel no shame in saying this about Tan Tan… which one of my disciples isn't a Super spendthrift…?]

Sword Spirit was in an excellent mood that night. He even prepared a complete version of the Nine Tribulations Pill. And, Chu Yang made Meng Chao Ran pop it down.

Its effect was very remarkable.

The injury that Meng Chao Ran had received by the Melting Meridians Hand healed in an instant. Moreover, his meridians expanded, and his cultivation rose dramatically from first grade Emperor Level to sixth grade Emperor Level!

Moreover, his mental cultivation and his comprehension of the heaven's way rushed to ninth grade Monarch level in one fell swoop!

Meng Chao Ran was surprised to the extreme by this. He pulled both of his disciples to have a chat on the same night. Chu Yang had put out wine for the celebration of his master's heroic achievement. And, Meng Chao Ran became intoxicated without hesitation. He took the hands of both of his disciples, and talked endlessly about this-and-that for the entire night.

However, Chu Yang felt that there was something wrong when he woke up the next morning. He looked at his side, and saw that Tan Tan was snoring whilst being sprawled out on his back. He was grinding his teeth from time to time in a way that could make one's teeth ache. And, he was blowing whistles too…

He would turn around from time to time, and would fart loudly with rumbling sounds…

Chu Yang covered his nose and got up. He then walked away from the entrance of the cave while heaving deep sighs. He grabbed some snow. He washed his face, and he rinsed his mouth with it. And, he became a little clear-headed as a result…

Master Meng's injury had been healed. Chu Yang had also felt happy when he saw that his master was happy because of it. So, Minister Chu hadn't cheated his master while getting drunk with him. He had been truthful, and had genuinely put his guards down…

He was about to return to the cave, but something suddenly attracted his attention. So, he stayed at the mouth of the cave…

…