Chapter 004
Chapter 4: Opportunity
“My name is Liu Ying. I can see the sky projection, and my elder sister practices a method to sense the dangers carried by the wind. As I grew older, I understood that it was a form of cultivation,” the woman spoke softly, her gaze filled with expectation as she looked at Wang Jie. “Before, my big brother and his group always kept me with them, and I helped them avoid danger several times. But this time, my big brother’s cultivation advanced, and he didn’t listen to me, so…”
Wang Jie understood: “But you didn’t sense the person in the bungalow.”
Liu Ying sighed helplessly. “I’m too far from him. Unless he releases a very obvious aura, it’s hard for me to sense him.”
Seeing that Wang Jie hadn’t responded yet, Liu Ying gritted her teeth. “Ten tubes of beast blood.”
Wang Jie was taken aback. She had that much beast blood? “What cultivation level is your big brother?”
“Three seals.”
Wang Jie chuckled. “You really think highly of me,” he said, though his external appearance only showed two seals of power.
Liu Ying glanced at his feet. “You’re not a bad person.”
“But I’m not a good one either.” Wang Jie replied lightly. Still, he accepted the task and confirmed the method of handing it over before walking away.
Ten tubes of beast blood… the price wouldn’t be light.
When a mutated beast dies, its blood coagulates rapidly. Even with quick action, the total amount of blood collected from a mutated beast is limited. However, the blood of mutated beasts contains cultivation power that can be absorbed and refined by cultivators. Apart from the blood, materials like bones and plant parts also have cultivation uses. In other words, the more mutated beast materials one obtains, the faster the cultivation progress.
These materials were collectively known as cataclysm materials.
Cataclysm materials are the currency of cultivators, while ordinary people use gold. The barter system is commonly employed for trade.
Golden Hill Base was surrounded by high walls, which people outside dreamed of entering. The walls represented safety. Yet, inside, there were divisions. Though not as obvious as the walls, the ground gave it away.
Beyond the walls, the ground was covered in sewage and garbage, the air filled with a foul stench. But walking further inward, one would find clean streets, where people dressed in neat clothes. The most telling sign was that people there rarely left unless necessary. Even if it was just a street apart, it felt like an insurmountable gap.
It was as if the air itself was divided.
The outside was the sewage district, and the inside was the clean district.
Though many complained, human nature is treacherous. When order collapses in the apocalypse, such a clear division is necessary to suppress the unruly.
Wang Jie changed his clothes, stepping through the sewage with one foot, and onto the clean pavement with the other, leaving a trail of footprints from dark to light as he walked further in.
His home was in the clean district.
Every street had a name, which left the most direct impression on Wang Jie.
His house was on Minghe Road, No. 17.
It was a small two-story house. Looking from here toward the sewage district, one could only see broken high-rise buildings. From the clean district, the walls were almost invisible, blocked by the tall buildings.
He opened the door, revealing a small yard—neat, though small.
Inside the yard, a young man with a thin, pale face lay on a chair, his head tilted to the side, eyes rolled back, and his mouth slightly bleeding—a clear sign of someone not resting peacefully. A thick blanket had fallen to the ground beside him.
Wang Jie paused, staring at him.
Five seconds passed.
No movement.
Ten seconds later, the pale young man suddenly coughed violently, sitting up as he coughed, gesturing at Wang Jie.
Wang Jie walked in. “You always do this. One day, you should just die for real and spare me the drama.”
“Cough, cough, boss, don’t be so vicious. Cough, cough, I’m just livening up the atmosphere,” the young man coughed intermittently. He was Old Five.
Wang Jie didn’t care. “Where’s Old Nine?”
“Cough, cough, he’s upstairs, soaking up the sun.”
Wang Jie looked up.
On the second-floor balcony, a young man was holding a book, completely immersed in the sunlight. His face was handsome, resembling a scholar.
As Wang Jie looked at him, the young man seemed to sense it, glanced down at the yard, smiled, and waved his book in greeting.
“Old Nine, that guy, cough, spends all his time reading, no use at all. Cough, boss, how about taking me out for a walk?” Old Five asked, his tone hopeful.
Wang Jie picked up the blanket and covered Old Five, blocking the wind. He said flatly, “I should have found something to heal your internal injuries. Wait for me to come back.” He turned and walked out of the yard.
Old Five blinked. “Well, boss, I think I’ve gotten fond of coughing. How about we skip the treatment?”
Wang Jie had already gone far.
Old Five sighed and looked up at Old Nine.
Old Nine shrugged, smiled, and said nothing.
Wang Jie’s home was No. 17. He stepped out of the yard, turned right, and entered No. 18.
Compared to the neatness of No. 17, No. 18’s yard was sealed off, dark and unclear from the outside. Once inside, the mess was even more apparent, with things scattered all over the ground. Wang Jie was used to it. He stepped through the yard and entered the house, heading straight for the basement.
Wires were haphazardly connected, and strange bones and blood were scattered around. The air was even more putrid than the sewage district. A row of massive green liquids bubbled inside containers.
“Quickly fix Old Five, or else I’ll get depressed too,” a voice grumbled from behind broken equipment. A man with a wild afro, thick glasses, and a white lab coat, which was torn and stained, appeared. He looked like he was in his forties—Uncle Luo Po.
Wang Jie tossed him the hibiscus tears.
He caught it. “What’s this?”
“Hibiscus tears.”
“What? Hibiscus tears?” Uncle Luo Po’s eyes widened, pushing aside the equipment and staring at the liquid in the glass bottle.
Wang Jie looked at him. “Can it heal Old Five?”
“It can.” Uncle Luo Po was certain, peering through the bottle and laughing. “You kid are good. Mutated hibiscus is tough to deal with. Even the Five Extremes don’t like to mess with it. Getting your hands on this is no easy feat.”
“Maybe it can even heal your injuries.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Are you sure? It’s a rare opportunity, you could give it a try.”
Wang Jie didn’t say more. He pulled out the beast blood and mutated beast teeth from his pocket and tossed them over.
“See if it works.”
Uncle Luo Po sniffed and grimaced. “These teeth stink. Useless. You can absorb them for cultivation yourself. As for this beast blood…” He opened it, sniffed, and shook his head. “Not useful.”
“Humans can cultivate, and mutated beasts can too. The materials from mutated beasts change as they cultivate. So, even if you get the materials from the same mutated beast on different days, their effectiveness might differ. To heal Old Nine’s leg injury, you’ll have to experiment one by one. Unless you can get the Three-Eyed Wolf King, like hibiscus tears, it would be easy to heal these injuries. Otherwise, just try slowly.”
Wang Jie frowned. “Didn’t you say Old Nine’s injury was close to being healed?”
“Yeah, just a bit more experimentation. If you’re not in a hurry, wait for a bit.”
Wang Jie’s gaze deepened.
After a while, Uncle Luo Po shouted excitedly, “Good stuff, this really is good stuff. Huh, kid, why haven’t you left yet?”
“I want a 33-year-old flower.”
“Here.” Uncle Luo Po casually tossed a mutated flower to Wang Jie.
Wang Jie walked out of the basement, his gaze sharp, scanning the grayish world. He walked into the field, placing the flower in the green sprout.
It dropped straight down.
He picked it up and walked back into the basement. “This isn’t a thirty-three-year-old one.”
“What do you mean? Are you that strict about the year? What do you want it for?”
“Do you have one?”
“No, go buy it yourself.”
Wang Jie placed the flower aside and left.
He glanced at No. 17 but didn’t go back. Instead, he headed toward the sewage district.
This was a house he rarely visited. As a guide, Weed had another home, one that only existed in the sewage district.
Old Nine watched Wang Jie’s retreating figure until it disappeared.
The third garbage dump in the sewage district, the fifth corner to the right—this was Weed’ home. Wang Jie also stayed here when he returned to Golden Hill Base.
But recently, there were more “customers” here.
Wang Jie stopped at the door and sensed something. He raised his hand and knocked.
“You knock to get home?” A woman’s voice came from inside, followed by the door opening, revealing a woman in delicate engraved iron armor and two men.
One of the men was a guide Wang Jie recognized, called Grey Claw.
Wang Jie’s gaze fell on the woman.
She was very beautiful and alluring—someone who belonged in the clean district.
The woman also examined him.
“Who are you?” Wang Jie asked, his tone calm.
Grey Claw stepped forward and whispered to Wang Jie, “They’re big clients. They want to capture a snow steed in the wild. You know what a snow steed is, right?”
Wang Jie was surprised. “That beautiful big dog?”
Grey Claw nodded. “As long as you help them find the snow steed, you won’t need to lift a finger. They’ll do the capturing themselves, and your reward will be high. More importantly, you can become the Zhao Clan Hunting Team’s designated guide.”
Wang Jie looked at Grey Claw. “They’re from the Zhao Clan Hunting Team?”
The Zhao Clan Hunting Team was a powerful local hunting team from Golden Hill.
The woman interjected. “No, we’re from the Zhao family. The Zhao Clan Hunting Team is just one of our industries. If you help us find the snow steed quickly, this can easily be arranged. The catch is, you need to find it within three days.”
Wang Jie was confused. “Why such a rush?”
“That’s none of your concern. Grey Claw says you’re the best guide in Golden Hill. We hope you won’t disappoint us,” the woman said, her tone dismissive of any refusal. “Of course, if you can’t do it, then don’t bother coming back to Golden Hill Base.”
Wang Jie’s gaze grew sharper. He neither agreed nor declined.
The woman walked out of the house, passing by Wang Jie. She spoke faintly, “If you hadn’t knocked but just walked in, this opportunity wouldn’t have fallen on you.” She then left.
Grey Claw patted Wang Jie’s shoulder. “We leave tomorrow morning. Meet at the east gate.” He quickly followed the woman.
Wang Jie watched them leave. Zhao family, huh?
They were leaving tomorrow. It was time to prepare.
He closed the door and decided to buy the flower first.