"Give me a moment sir, I'll get it!" The waiter scurried over to Fang Yuan, smiling all over his face. "Lord Gu Master, your wine!"
Soon the dishes for both Fang Yuan and Chi Yan were also served.
Sitting at his table by himself, Chi Yan sipped on Green Bamboo Wine from time to time while snacking on slices of grilled meat along with grilled potato slices. His drinking was mostly for show though, and he pretended to be focused on his aperture, playing with the Gu worms inside.
Although Chi Yan tried to keep a calm expression, he felt that something was amiss. 'There was no Jiang Ya inside the inn today. Without Jiang Ya, the hunters wouldn't have bought the Green Bamboo Wine and caused Fang Yuan to smell the fragrance. However, in this world there was me. Interesting…'
Although this change was very small, it caused Chi Yan to feel a bit disturbed in his heart and he didn't know what to think of it.
Soon, Fang Yuan put down his chopsticks, grabbed his jar of wine and left the inn.
A moment later, Chi Yan did the same and walked out of the inn. Looking over, he saw Fang Yuan walking in a certain direction.
'He's going this way. So he's going to leave through the North gate,' Chi Yan thought. These days he studied the topography of the Gu Yue village, walked around a bit, and had some knowledge of it.
After waiting for a while, he then followed behind Fang Yuan in the distance.
Chi Yan 's eyes flashed with determination as he sighed in his heart. 'In case I get killed by Heaven's Will, then I can only curse my poor luck. At least I would die feeling no regret…'
***
Fang Yuan's POV.
The night grew thicker, the spring moon shaped like a bow. Clouds obscured the moonlight, as if coating the crescent moon with a thin sheet of gossamer.
Because it just finished raining continuously for three days and three nights, the turbid energy between the mountains had been washed away clean, leaving behind the purest of freshness. This fresh air was pure like a piece of white paper, and was more effective in spreading the wine aroma around.
Today, Fang Yuan was full of confidence and felt that he had very high chances of finding the Liquor Worm.
'After buying this jar of green bamboo wine I only have 2 primeval stones left on me. If I can't find the treasure then I'll be in grave trouble. But this inheritance is not something I can give up on. If I fail today, I can later visit the Mo faction and inform them about Chi Yan. They should give me at least 200 primeval stones for this kind of information and I'll have a lot of funds for all kinds of operations,' Fang Yuan thought as he walked into the forest.
It was still close to a month to the time when the Gu Master in Fang Yuan's memory discovered the Liquor Worm, so Fang Yuan obviously felt that it wasn't entirely impossible that he might not be able to find it at this time. Even though he didn't have a result yet, instead of giving up, he would rather take a risk and keep gambling.
Fang Yuan suddenly turned his head as he noticed the bushes moving.
A person appeared.
Fang Yuan frowned. 'Gu Yue Chi Yan. Why did he follow me?'
"Fang Yuan." Chi Yan smiled and then raised his jar of wine. "You're drinking in the woods by yourself, drink with me!"
Hearing Chi Yan's words, Fang Yuan was both relieved and annoyed. He had to quickly chase this Gu Yue Chi Yan away.
"Chi Yan, thank you for your offer, but I would rather drink by myself," Fang Yuan said with a faint smile and sighed heavily.
The emotions of helplessness and depression due to his low talent result were clearly displayed on Fang Yuan's face. If Chi Yan didn't know the truth, he might have gotten fooled!
"Hey, the wine is on me! It's my treat!" Chi Yan called out loudly as he took a few steps toward Fang Yuan, aiming to shorten the distance quickly. According to what he found out, the original Chi Yan was a bit arrogant and condescending, so he tried to copy it, even if it seemed forceful.
Fang Yuan squinted his eyes. His five hundred years of experience were telling him that there was something wrong with Chi Yan's expression and posture, and that he was planning something.
"Brother Chi Yan, you should go back. I really want to drink by myself," Fang Yuan said again.
However, Chi Yan kept approaching Fang Yuan - he couldn't drag it for long, else Heaven's Will sent wild beasts or people to disturb him, or do something.
Chi Yan squinted his own eyes and said with a glare, "I came all the way and you don't want to drink. Whatever, my bodyguard must be getting restless. Anyway, let me tell you something. Talking about wine, you know about the Flower Wine Monk's story, right? There's a little secret to it."
Chi Yan's words caused Fang Yuan's eyes to flash.
Although Chi Yan's voice wavered and he was not an expert actor, what he said was the truth and he was slightly drunk, so he should have sounded convincing at least to a decent degree.
Fang Yuan was wary, but he was also certainly curious as to what Chi Yan had to say. No matter what kind of information Chi Yan had though, Fang Yuan would not dare to carelessly attack someone with Chi Yan's background with no motive, not so close to the village, not when Chi Yan might not be alone, not without any ways to cover the traces.
Furthermore, Fang Yuan didn't consider Chi Yan to be a danger - Chi Yan might try to punch him and knock him out, but that's it; and if Chi Yan tried it, then he would be up for a surprise.
But in case Chi Yan has some crucial information, Fang Yuan began to consider knocking him out, get everything out of him and then hand him over to the Mo faction. After Chi Yan's aptitude is revealed, no one would care about what Fang Yuan had done to him.
Chi Yan smiled smugly as he drew closer, about to tell another piece of the story. He would place a hand on Fang Yuan's shoulder and whisper it to him, using this distraction, he would attack!
"Ghrrrrrr."
At that moment the two of them turned their heads as they heard a low growl.
It was a single wild wolf that entered the area.
'A stray wolf so close to the village, really? Heaven's Will already made a move?!' Chi Yan stared at the growling wolf, his heartbeat speeding up.
Chi Yan felt danger. Not only was it the first time that he encountered a wild animal that was hungry for his flesh, but the feeling of losing control of the situation was very disturbing. Furthermore, the wolf there was much bigger and way more ferocious than Earth's cute pups that he saw on Animal Planet before.
Hurriedly, Chi Yan took a few steps toward Fang Yuan, as if retreating from the wolf.
Fang Yuan smiled bitterly at the situation. At this moment he was a Gu Master, he had primeval essence, but no Gu Worms. The wild beasts in this world were not simple - even fighting a wild wolf in his current state was dangerous.
Having no Gu worms, Fang Yuan quickly dropped down his jar of wine and pulled out a knife that he kept with him. In the case of an emergency, a mortal weapon was still much better than nothing. Furthermore, he still had Chi Yan that he could use as bait.
After seeing Fang Yuan also hold a knife in his hand now, being prepared for anything, Chi Yan's eyes narrowed to needle-size. The difficulty of sneak attacking Fang Yuan safely right now has increased several times!
'Fuck, the Gu worm that I practiced with is a close range one!' Chi Yan cursed in his heart, but he knew that he made a good choice.
In the novel at the year end competition of the Gu Academy Fang Yuan could expertly dodge even peak stage moonblades from Fang Zheng that was trained by the Gu Yue Clan Leader. If Chi Yan chose a mid-ranged or ranged Gu worm like Moonlight Gu or Fire Pellet Gu, then Fang Yuan could easily dodge his attack and then knock him out. And if Chi Yan chose an area of effect kind of Gu worm, then his attack would be simply too weak - he still only had Rank 1 initial stage primeval essence!
So in the end, Chi Yan decided on a powerful close range type of Gu that he could use to sneak attack.
Using Rank 2 Sneak Attack Gu like in some fanfictions couldn't even be mentioned. Even though it only consumes 10% of Rank 1 primeval essence and is incredibly powerful, Chi Yan knew that it's simply impossible to be refined just based on novel knowledge. Not only the infant corpse required needs to have a special constitution, but the Sneak Attack Gu also needs a prerequisite Rank 1 Gu recipe that was never mentioned in detail.
The current situation was that even if Chi Yan managed to kill Fang Yuan successfully while only sustaining light wounds from his knife, there was still the wild wolf here!
The situation was extremely on edge!
Chi Yan neared Fang Yuan while keeping his eyes up on both Fang Yuan and the wolf, while the wolf slowly neared the two of them.
Fang Yuan saw the deep fear in Chi Yan's eyes and sneered in his heart. However, he wore a serious expression as he said, "Brother Chi Yan, we can't run. The wolf will catch up to us. Take off your cloak and give it to me. I'll use it as a weapon and fight it!"
Fang Yuan was only wearing a simple linen shirt, which was unfortunate.
After a moment's lag, Chi Yan took off his cloak like Fang Yuan said.
"Wrap it around my arm!" Fang Yuan said as he presented his left arm to Chi Yan.
Fang Yuan made a decision. If he saved Chi Yan right now thought then he might be able to scam a decent reward from the Chi faction. Fang Yuan saw that the chances of it happening are pretty high, or at least much higher than zero - people like Chi Yan are very prideful, and Chi Yan would likely not want to be in Fang Yuan's debt.
For the poor Fang Yuan right now, it was a great chance, while if he's careful with experiences he can deal with a wild wolf. Although a wolf has sharp teeth and can be deadly, it also has many weak points, his defense is low.
However, in the worst case he can always knock Chi Yan out for the wolf to feed on and then run away himself, or interrogate him after dealing with the wolf about that 'Flower Wine Monk little secret'.
Holding the cloak in his hands, Chi Yan's eyes flashed. He had a brief thought of trying to obstruct Fang Yuan's vision with it, but he had a better idea.
During all this, the wolf observed the two carefully. He was just a lone old wolf, all by himself. He wouldn't normally hunt this kind of prey or hesitate, but he was simply too hungry and wary at the same time.
Chi Yan started wrapping Fang Yuan's arm in the cloak just as the latter asked for, but then he grasped his wrist-
He activated his Gu worm.
No matter what, although he was scared, Chi Yan had to take this chance and couldn't back off!
Lightning currents started running over Chi Yan's hand and then attacked Fang Yuan.
Just as Fang Yuan tried to free himself, sensing something was wrong, an intense force assaulted him. He felt electric currents moving through his body, paralyzing his muscles and making him unable to even breathe!
Fang Yuan dropped to the ground face-down, feeling shocked in his heart.
He understood that Chi Yan might run off and trigger the wolf's predatory instinct, but in this kind of situation when Chi Yan was scared for his life, he actually attacked him, his only hope! Was it to leave him for the wolf as prey?
The crime of killing a clansman is the most unforgivable in this world, it's going against the traditional moral values of the clan. It's only what a Demonic Gu Master would do!
In the first life, Chi Yan was not this kind of a demon!
Fang Yuan never thought that a greenhorn like Chi Yan would be so radical. After regressing from being a Gu Immortal, he simply never thought of the little Rank 1 Initial Stage teenager as real danger.
Intense pain surged through him like waves and paralyzed him, almost causing him to faint.