Chapter 3020 — Old Man Wei's Concern

Of course, Wei Zhao had no idea whether any of them were weapons he could actually use. Every Heaven-Rank weapon required its own dedicated cultivation method to draw out its full power, and Wei Zhao possessed not a single one of those methods. He would have to go back and figure something out.

Ergoudan had by now finished his hunt. He came back hauling a wild boar, a wild roe deer, and two wild pheasants—a full load by any measure—and so the two of them set off down the mountain together.

Mornings in the village were bustling beyond compare. The mountain folk loved to sleep early and rise early; that was simply their way of life. Every day at the first crow of the rooster they were up and busy. By now the little stalls at the village entrance were already laid out, for the villagers all had the habit of coming out to browse the morning market. Even when there was no grand fair, this little market at the village entrance still drew them out, happily wandering among the stalls each and every morning.

"Ergoudan, back from the hunt? What fine game have you got today? Let your Uncle Wang have first pick!" This Uncle Wang made his living specifically by catering banquets in the village. Whenever a family had a wedding or a funeral, he was the one who handled the feast. Big restaurants were scarce in the countryside; when a family had an occasion, they either cooked themselves or hired someone to lay out the spread—and so Uncle Wang shuttled back and forth among the surrounding villages, running his banquet business.

In recent years the villagers had grown prosperous, and so paying someone to cater a feast had become a custom. Uncle Wang often bought game from Ergoudan, and when the banquets were laid out, such dishes were generally placed at the seats of honor—before the elders, the clan chief, the parents—to show them their special regard.

"Still wild boar, wild roe deer, and wild pheasant. Uncle Wang, which one do you want?" Ergoudan no longer hunted rare animals. Under Yu Yuanyuan's influence, he stuck to ordinary game, the sort that was plentiful in the mountains, and sold that. It did not earn as much as the rare catches, but Ergoudan only needed to support his family.

"Oh? Isn't that little Yi? You're back?" Uncle Wang knew Wei Zhao too. He was one of the village's old-timers—the younger brother of the Widow Wang who ran the grocery store at the head of the village.

"Uncle Wang, I've come back to see my grandfather. Business treating you well?" Wei Zhao greeted him with a smile.

"Haha, not bad, not bad!" Uncle Wang grinned broadly. From the look of him, business was indeed good.

At Uncle Wang's shout, the other villagers' attention shifted to Ergoudan's side—to Wei Zhao himself.

"It really is little Yi!"

"Yes indeed, little Yi! You came back on your own this time?"

"Little Yi, didn't your three pretty girlfriends come back with you?"

Three? Wei Zhao was briefly taken aback. Last time hadn't he come back with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu? He was sure Feng Xiaoxiao had never been here either—so where did three girlfriends come from? Still, he assumed the man had simply misspoken, for the scene was chaotic just then, with all sorts of neighbors and kin talking to him at once, and Wei Zhao could only nod and smile his way through.

It took no small effort to get through them all, and only then did Wei Zhao make his way back to his own courtyard.

The moment he stepped through the gate, he saw Old Man Wei sitting dumbly in the yard. Only when he caught sight of Wei Zhao did a trace of a smile flash across his face—gone in an instant—and he resumed his usual mild, unruffled air, saying faintly, "You're back, little Yi?"

"Heh... I'm back!" Warmth spread through Wei Zhao's heart. Judging by last time's experience, the old man had been waiting here for him a whole night and a whole morning. Though the old man put on an air of indifference, as if he were merely enjoying the cool in the yard... but who in the hell sits enjoying the cool under the blazing midday sun?

"Why did it take you so long to get back?" Old Man Wei asked, seemingly offhand, as though he hardly cared.

"Ran into some trouble. Three Heaven-Rank experts, enemies." Wei Zhao spoke calmly.

"Three Heaven-Rank? Here?" Old Man Wei's expression sharpened. "How did they get here? What faction were they with?"

In that instant, Wei Zhao suddenly felt an indescribable domineering air radiating from Old Man Wei, one that left even him—an early-stage Heaven-Rank expert—feeling suppressed. Fortunately, once the old man finished speaking, his expression returned to normal.

"Four cultivators who happened to be passing through. They weren't after me—but all four of them had ties to me!" And with that, Wei Zhao recounted in detail to Old Man Wei who these four were, where they came from, and how they had died.

"Oh? Ergoudan killed one? Just as well he went up the mountain—otherwise you'd have been done for out there alone!" Old Man Wei gave a displeased snort. "Next time you run into trouble, call me directly!"

"Will do. But right now, isn't everything fine?" Wei Zhao smiled. "Old man, thank you for waiting a day and a night for me."

"Waiting for you? What would I wait for you for? I was sunning myself!" Old Man Wei said flatly. "You go up the mountain and you don't even think to bring me back a bit of game to eat? Where's your filial piety, eh?"

Wei Zhao was startled, then suddenly remembered: his whole reason for going into the mountains had been to hunt some game, but after running into the Heaven-Rank freak and Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve, he had clean forgotten about it. Once his strength recovered, he had simply come back. Ergoudan had bagged plenty, but Wei Zhao had forgotten to ask him for any!

"I knew you were an unreliable brat. Forget it—I'll just make myself some noodles!" Old Man Wei rose to his feet and made for the house to cook.

"Old man, let me!" Wei Zhao hurried to get there first, lighting the fire and making ready to cook. Lighting a fire was simplicity itself for Lin—he treated it as condensing forging flame, and set every stick of firewood in the stove ablaze at once.

Noodles were Wei Zhao's specialty. Back then it was these noodles that had won over the young miss and little Shu, making them accept him—and the old man, too, was happy to eat the noodles Wei Zhao cooked.

"Not in a hurry to see what you brought back?" Old Man Wei asked, watching Wei Zhao bustle about.

"Haven't I not eaten either?" Wei Zhao laughed. "Food first, then we'll talk."

Old Man Wei watched Wei Zhao's busy back and nodded in satisfaction...

After they had eaten, Wei Zhao returned to his room to study the day's gains. As for those three peerless Heaven-Rank divine weapons, he had no mind to examine them. Precious as they might appear, Wei Zhao simply had none of the cultivation methods to wield them!

And it was at moments like this that the gulf between a loose cultivator like Wei Zhao and the ancient sects became plain. In the scripture pavilions of the ancient sects were countless cultivation methods for wielding Heaven-Rank divine weapons—and Wei Zhao knew not a single one of them. (To be continued)