Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming - Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Betrayal and Kin Slaying

The massive sales of the poison “Touch of Despair” had not only greatly pleased Zhou Jiasheng and Zhou Chun but also benefited Zhou Jiahui, who was extremely delighted as well.

Because the source of the mucus needed to be kept absolutely secret, and Zhou Jiahe, as the Peak Master of Baozhi Peak, was a more conspicuous target,

the task of frequently going to the underground river to capture the “Poison Thorn Catfish” and collect its mucus was handed over to her.

The “Poison Thorn Catfish” was the name Zhou Chun had given to that strange fish Demon Beast, which for the moment only those in the know were aware of.

And every time Zhou Jiahui went to collect the mucus, she was able to earn a good amount of family merit rewards.

How could she not hope for the “Touch of Despair” to continue selling well?

It was precisely because she deeply understood the importance of keeping secrets that Zhou Jiahui was extremely cautious every time she left the clan.

For example, when she and Zhou Chun first went to that underground river, they rode the Large-Horned Green Sheep raised by the clan.

But now, she had chosen to ride an ordinary horse instead.

The reason for doing so was naturally that the Large-Horned Green Sheep was too distinctive and could easily be tracked.

With the ordinary horse, she would abandon it halfway through the journey and find a new one to replace it.

After switching horses twice along the way, Zhou Jiahui deliberately made a detour to a large river before reaching the mountains where the underground river was located and submerged on a Spiral Water Turtle into the river. She swam underwater for dozens of miles before resurfacing.

Even so, after Zhou Jiahui emerged from the water, she did not dare to relax her vigilance but instead waved her large sleeves and released five fist-sized brown birds from inside.

She used ventriloquism to command the brown birds, who took cover in the treetops alongside but where she had passed, keeping watch behind her.

This was her last line of defense. If no anomalies were discovered after all that, she would head straight for the underground river.

However, what she did not expect was that less than ten miles after she had set off, one of the brown birds came flying toward her in sheer panic, chirping and screeching incessantly to warn her.

Someone was following her!!

Zhou Jiahui’s face changed, and she quickly reached to her waist to tap her Storage Pouch, pulling out a blue silk handkerchief and throwing it in front of her, then stepping onto it.

Mounting the Flying Artifact in midair, Zhou Jiahui quickly noticed an anomaly in a certain forest behind her and swiftly flew toward that spot.

Meanwhile, the tracker, now aware that his whereabouts had been exposed, also urgently ascended into the air, commandeering a silver long ruler to accelerate his escape.

Seeing his speed of flight, it was clear that he was much faster than Zhou Jiahui.

This indicated that regardless of his Cultivation Level or the Flying Artifact under his feet, both were stronger than Zhou Jiahui’s.

But with such Cultivation Level and such an artifact, why did he flee upon seeing her?

A flash of confusion crossed Zhou Jiahui’s mind, then, as if thinking of something, she rapidly grew pale and focused intensely on the figure’s silhouette.

After staring at that figure’s silhouette for a while and recalling the people she had been in contact with before leaving the clan, an image slowly began to overlap considerably with that silhouette.

And upon realizing the identity of that person, a surge of uncontrollable rage instantly filled her heart, prompting her to roar out loud on the spot.

“Zhou Zhengkang, you stop right there!!”

As if struck by a Body Immobilization Spell, the moment Zhou Jiahui’s voice fell, the figure that had been fleeing at high speed trembled, its velocity rapidly decreasing until it came to a halt in midair.

That figure made a turn in midair, presenting a front that wore a wolf-head mask to Zhou Jiahui’s eyes.

He then raised his hand to lift the mask, revealing an impressively stern face.

Looking at that all too familiar face, Zhou Jiahui’s rage burned even hotter.

“Zhou Zhengkang, are you still a descendant of the Zhou Family?” she bellowed in grief and anger, “Why have you been secretly following me? What on earth are you trying to do?”

But faced with her furious interrogation, Zhou Zhengkang merely looked at her expressionlessly and calmly said, “You already know why I followed you, Nineteenth Aunt, don’t you?”

He also sighed softly, “It’s just that old ginger is indeed hotter, I was so careful and yet could not deceive you after all!”

“Why? Why do this? The clan has been so good to you. Why would you betray your own family?”

Zhou Jiahui’s continued questioning was full of anger, but she still found it difficult to accept this cruel reality.

Her questioning seemed to hit a sore spot for Zhou Zhengkang.

His previously calm face suddenly twitched slightly, then he twisted his face in anger and bellowed at Zhou Jiahui, “I want to know why too! Why is it not permitted for me to simply wish to join the Green Lotus Temple? Don’t I even have the right to choose my own path? Why must I be trapped within the stagnant pond of the Zhou Family?”

“Just for that reason, you’d betray the clan?”

Zhou Jiahui’s face, which was once filled with the color of grief and anger, gradually faded, revealing an expression of immense disappointment.

Looking at Zhou Zhengkang with a face full of disappointment, she couldn’t help but shake her head and sigh, “Far from it, you are nothing compared to Zhengchun!!”

She remembered how Zhou Chun had the ability to enter the Green Lotus Temple, yet still chose to stay with the Zhou Family to serve the clan.

At that moment, Zhou Jiahui found Zhou Zhengkang extremely disgusting, to the point of making her want to vomit!

Even now, she somewhat resented the Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi and the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde, not understanding how the always wise duo could have misjudged such a selfish person like Zhou Zhengkang!

Could this be the case where even the wise can sometimes fail to see the truth?

The sudden change in Zhou Jiahui’s expression and words also considerably furrowed Zhou Zhengkang’s brows.

Without delay, he frowned and coldly said, “Zhengchun? You mean that guy working as a clerkin the marketplace shop? What is he? He’s worthy of being compared to me?”

From his words, it was not difficult to see that even though Zhou Chun had made a name for himself in the family over the past few years, rising in status, he still was not seen as anything significant in Zhou Zhengkang’s eyes; from the bottom of his heart, he never treated Zhou Chun, a clan brother, as an important figure.

Or rather, he had never regarded any of his peers in the clan in his eyes!

But Zhou Jiahui, already beyond disgusted with him, did not hide her scorn as she coldly laughed in response, “I really shouldn’t have compared Zhengchun with you, because a creature like you, who betrays his own kind, doesn’t deserve it!!”

She practically shouted the words “betrays his own kind.”

And with Zhou Zhengkang’s pride, how could he accept such humiliation.

He immediately gave her an icy look and coldly said, “Enough! Shut your mouth!!”

How could Zhou Jiahui shut her mouth? Seeing him so furiously embarrassed, she felt an immense sense of satisfaction and couldn’t help but sneer incessantly, “What’s the matter? You dare to betray but can’t own up to it? No one’s allowed to speak of it?”

“You wretch, I told you to shut up!!”

Zhou Zhengkang roared, not even using the respectful term “Nineteenth Aunt” anymore.

And in the middle of his roaring, he had already reached for the storage pouch at his waist and summoned a red flying sword that shot towards Zhou Jiahui.

“You dare to raise your hand against me!”

With an exclamation, Zhou Jiahui hurriedly brought out a black turtle shell magic artifact to block the red flying sword, and then looked at Zhou Zhengkang with a face full of disbelief.

Zhou Zhengkang was seething with anger as he bellowed, “Old hag, I will kill you today!”

He seemed even angrier than Zhou Jiahui.

He repeatedly tapped his storage pouch, quickly summoning several magic artifacts, some for defense and others for attack.

And the wealthy Zhou Zhengkang, without any reluctance, started to launch talisman after talisman towards Zhou Jiahui, each one a high-grade first-level talisman.

It was only because Zhou Jiahui had lived several decades longer than him and had her own accumulation that she didn’t immediately fall to his fierce onslaught.

But facing his aggressive assault, Zhou Jiahui quickly found herself at a disadvantage, her situation forcing her to descend to the ground.

She thought that once she landed, she could summon her Spiral Water Turtle to regain some advantage.

But she had forgotten that Zhou Zhengkang also had Spirit Pets, and not just any, but two first-grade Redflame Wolves!

The result was that upon landing, her disadvantage became even more apparent, and she found herself with no chance to escape.

“Zhou Zhengkang, for your crimes of murdering your kin, you will sooner or later face retribution! The Clan Leader and others will definitely see through your vile ambitions and avenge me!”

In the woods, Zhou Jiahui gripped the sword piercing her heart tightly with both hands, blood spilling from the corners of her mouth as she stared deathly at Zhou Zhengkang’s face, issuing her final curse.

Then her head tilted, and she took her last breath, collapsing into a pool of blood.

Looking at the corpse of Zhou Jiahui, dead with eyes wide open, Zhou Zhengkang felt a mixture of fear and rage recalling her last words.

After a moment of his complexion changing unpredictably, he suddenly spat and cursed, “Bah! The old thief still tries to haunt me in death, well, don’t blame me then!”

He quickly gathered Zhou Jiahui’s belongings, then with a cold expression, he gave a command to the two Redflame Wolves.

In an instant, the two Redflame Wolves, with green gleams in their eyes, pounced on Zhou Jiahui’s corpse and started tearing and gnawing at it voraciously.

After he allowed the Redflame Wolves to finish off Zhou Jiahui’s corpse, leaving not even her clothes behind, Zhou Zhengkang carefully erased every trace from the ground.

In the end, he still wore a cold smile as he dug a small black insect resembling a mole cricket out from deep within the earth and burned it to ashes with fire!