Translator: AnubisTL
Gu Feng staggered to the lakeside, washed his face, and felt a bit more awake. He didn't go down to save the person but instead squatted there, quietly watching.
Although the person was a female cultivator, why bother saving someone who had jumped into the lake to commit suicide? Saving her would be against her will, wouldn't it?
What he needed to do was wait for her to die completely, then fish her out, take all the valuable items from her body, and incidentally do a good deed by burying her.
Due to his drunken state, Gu Feng couldn't accurately gauge her cultivation level, but he vaguely judged it to be around the Qi Refining Realm.
"With the physical constitution of a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, she should be completely dead in about two hours!"
Gu Feng silently estimated the time in his heart. Feeling a bit hungry, he took out a roasted beast leg, tore into it, and began chewing.
As time passed, he figured it was about the right moment. He tossed the leftover bone aside and dove into the lake.
He groped around in the vast lake and finally found a body. His spirits lifted. As a professional robber, he was particularly sensitive to fabrics and clothing. With just a light touch, he could roughly determine whether something was valuable or not.
"This is a big catch!"
Gu Feng thought to himself as he dragged the body ashore with great effort.
"It's her?"
Under the faint moonlight, Gu Feng recognized her face. The female cultivator who had jumped into the lake wasn't a disciple of the Sunset Glow Sect but Bao Shaoqiong, who had participated in the Alchemy Conference earlier that day.
A strange thought flashed through his mind: this woman's mental resilience was too weak. Was it really necessary to seek death just because she had concocted a batch of Diarrhea Pills? He brewed Diarrhea Pills every day and still lived happily and carefree.
Under the moonlight, Bao Shaoqiong's wet clothes clung to her body, outlining her graceful figure. Her face was flawless and rosy, and her long eyelashes, damp from the lake water, trembled slightly.
"What a pity, a beautiful alchemist, gone just like that!"
Gu Feng silently lamented in his heart. Suddenly, he felt something was off. Bao Shaoqiong's complexion didn't look like that of a dead person!
He extended two fingers to check her condition and muttered, "Damn, the timing's off. I shouldn't have come down so soon."
Bao Shaoqiong wasn't completely dead yet, leaving Gu Feng in a dilemma: either throw her back into the lake and wait for her to die before taking her belongings, or take the items now and leave.
After a moment of thought, Gu Feng decided to take all the valuable items from Bao Shaoqiong's body and then throw her back into the lake.
This way, he would save himself the trouble of fishing her out again and wouldn't be going against her original intention.
"I'm so clever!"
With that thought—
Following the principle of prioritizing the most valuable items first, Gu Feng first took her storage ring, then the jade pendant at her waist...
"That's it?"
Gu Feng's hands moved through Bao Shaoqiong's hair, behind her ears, and along her neck... Finally, he realized with disappointment that apart from the storage ring and the jade pendant at her waist, Bao Shaoqiong had nothing else of value.
To be precise, there was also her exquisitely crafted and high-quality robe.
But she wasn't dead yet, and she was a female cultivator. It wouldn't be appropriate to strip her now!
Under normal circumstances, Gu Feng would have stopped there, but tonight was different. He had drunk far too much.
When you drink too much, your thoughts become more active, and you often end up doing things you wouldn't normally do.
"She's going to die anyway, might as well consider her dead already!" As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Gu Feng's hands began to move.
He removed Bao Shaoqiong's outermost robe and boots, leaving her in only her undergarments and trousers.
"This looks a bit indecent!"
Gu Feng glanced around, then ran off. After a while, he returned with two large banana leaves and wrapped them around Bao Shaoqiong's upper body.
Then—
He picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and scanned the lake. "It should be around here!"
With a splash, Bao Shaoqiong, wrapped in banana leaves, fell back into the lake, right where she had been before.
Gu Feng nodded in satisfaction, then straightened his clothes, hummed a tune, and headed back to his small courtyard.
Not far along, he saw a yellow figure rushing toward him from the side. Gu Feng turned his head and was momentarily stunned. The attire seemed to belong to someone from the Bao family.
Gu Feng instinctively tilted his head and quickened his pace. A girl's voice came from behind: "Senior Brother Gu, have you seen my lady?"
The girl's tone was anxious.
Gu Feng adjusted his demeanor, turned around, and put on a puzzled expression. "Your lady?"
"Bao Shaoqiong!"
"Oh, her? Didn't she go back?" Gu Feng asked nonchalantly.
"After the Alchemy Conference ended, she said she wanted to tour the Sunset Glow Sect and would return later..." The girl's expression grew more anxious.
"Are you saying that Bao Shaoqiong couldn't accept the reality of concocting the deadly Diarrhea Pills and might have taken her own life?" Gu Feng also feigned a look of concern.
"My lady has been called a prodigy in alchemy since she was young. She could effortlessly concoct any pill, and over time, she developed a proud personality. At this Alchemy Conference, even if she didn't take first place, she considered the highest individual score as hers for the taking. But she ended up with zero points. How could she accept that?
I should have noticed her unusual behavior after the Alchemy Conference ended. I should have stayed by her side, but... wuwuwu!"
By the end, the girl was sobbing.
Gu Feng thought to himself: What a tragedy!
Then, with a change of expression, he gently comforted her: "Don't worry, I'm very familiar with the Sunset Glow Sect. I'll help you look for her!"
"Thank you, Senior Brother Gu!"
"Follow me!"
Gu Feng led the girl, named Bao Xiaoli, around in circles until they reached the lakeside.
"The grass by the lake has been trampled. Do you think your lady might be in the lake?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Bao Xiaoli jumped into the lake.
Not long after, they heard Bao Xiaoli's heart-wrenching cry, "Lady, why did you do this?"
She cried as she dragged Bao Shaoqiong back to the shore.
"Your lady's complexion is rosy; she's not dead yet!"
Gu Feng pushed aside the sobbing Bao Xiaoli, quickly checked Bao Shaoqiong's condition, then sat down cross-legged and began channeling spiritual power into her.
In fact, Bao Shaoqiong would wake up soon enough, but Gu Feng pretended to be exerting great effort, gritting his teeth with veins bulging on his forehead as he furiously channeled spiritual power into her.
Bao Xiaoli, watching her lady, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Gu Feng's forehead.
In this unfamiliar place, the Sunset Glow Sect, Gu Feng had become her last hope.
After a while, Gu Feng withdrew his spiritual power, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and gave Bao Xiaoli a reassuring look. He smiled and said, "It's alright. Your lady might just be too tired. She'll recover after a good sleep!"
"Senior Brother Gu, thank you so much." Bao Xiaoli smiled through her tears and expressed her heartfelt gratitude.
"It's nothing, just a small effort. We cultivators should help each other!" Gu Feng said with his hands behind his back, waving dismissively.
"Senior... Senior Brother Gu, there's something I'd like to ask of you!" Bao Xiaoli hesitated as she looked at the banana leaves wrapped around Bao Shaoqiong.
"Speak freely!"
"My lady must have been harmed by a villain. Her body is fine, but her clothes were taken off. She would never be able to accept this.
I'd like to ask... ask Senior Brother Gu to keep this matter a secret." Bao Xiaoli's tone was pleading.
"Well... I can certainly help keep it a secret. The clothes are easy to solve, but her storage ring is missing..." Gu Feng furrowed his brow.
"Senior Brother Gu... I can explain the storage ring like this: as a token of gratitude for saving my lady, I took the liberty of giving you the storage ring as a reward!" Bao Xiaoli said timidly.
Seeing Gu Feng's brow furrow, she quickly added, "Senior Brother Gu, I won't let you help for free. My storage ring still has some spirit stones and pills. I'll give them to you as a reward for keeping this matter a secret!"
"Is that so?" Gu Feng pretended to ponder, but inside he was already laughing with joy. He hadn't expected an unexpected windfall.
Looking at the pleading Bao Xiaoli, he finally sighed softly: "I'm deeply saddened by what happened to Bao Shaoqiong. I'll agree to your request."
"Xiaoli, rest assured, I'll keep my mouth shut. Moreover, I'll help you secretly look for that disciple who didn't save her and took advantage of the situation to steal her belongings. The outer sect of the Sunset Glow Sect is my territory. I'm sure we'll find him!" Gu Feng declared boldly.
Bao Xiaoli's face lit up with joy, and she thanked him again.
"It's late. You two should go and rest at the outer sect's inn tonight! Mention my name, and the innkeeper, out of respect for me, should be able to spare a room for you!"
If the disciples of the Sunset Glow Sect heard this, they would probably give Gu Feng a big eye-roll.
The outer sect's inn was notoriously expensive, and there were hardly any guests. The innkeeper often asked outer sect disciples to help attract customers, offering a small commission in spirit stones for each guest they brought.
Gu Feng had Bao Xiaoli mention his name not out of any real influence but to earn the few dozen low-grade spirit stones as commission.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Gu!" Bao Xiaoli took off her own storage ring, took out a set of clothes, and handed the rest to Gu Feng.
"You don't have any spirit stones. How will you pay for the room?" Gu Feng asked curiously as they parted.
"I'll use the hairpin on my head as collateral. It should be fine."
Bao Xiaoli smiled faintly, draped the robe over Bao Shaoqiong, then carried her toward the outer sect's inn.
Gu Feng shrugged with a smile and returned to his courtyard.
He began his cultivation—
TL/N: New Series "ImmortalRefiner" released. Read first 50 chapters FREE on Patreon.
(End of the Chapter)
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