The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3025 Collateral Consequences

Han Chengwen's decision to step forward and ask Qian Ying for honey was a bold move. After all, if he didn't ask, who knew if the honey would even be allocated?

Honey is a treasure that can enhance cultivation; who wouldn't want it? Any martial artist would definitely want it.

Perhaps if Han Chengwen didn't speak up, the honey that should have been allocated to Han Chengye would have been withheld by Qian Wantong or someone else. Now, in front of so many martial artists, demanding the honey was the best opportunity.

Even if this offends Qian Ying, it won't cause too much of a problem. As for whether Qian Ying will hold a grudge against him, Han Chengwen, that can wait until he gets the honey. Perhaps after he drinks the honey, his strength will break through to the Innate Realm, and then he won't have to worry about this or that anymore?
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Ding immediately stood up. His confusion vanished, and he stared intently at Qian Ying. There were seven bottles of honey! If he consumed them all, he might be able to advance to the tenth level of the Acquired Realm.

If he hadn't heard Han Chengwen asking for honey, he really wouldn't have thought of this.

Of course, even if the honey were to be returned, he would still have to share some with Ouyang Jun. After Ouyang Min's passing, the two of them were responsible for managing Ouyang's team, so the honey left behind by Ouyang Min naturally had to be divided equally between them.

Qian Ying's expression changed slightly, and she nodded, saying, "Okay, that's fine. Originally, I wanted to wait for the two of them to wake up so I could collect the honey myself, but now... Alright, I just arranged for Qian Wantong to help you handle the funeral arrangements for Han Chengye and Ouyang Min, and then I'll have Qian Wantong take the two of you to collect the honey."

"Manager Qian, give them seven bottles each. The honey we just used is on me and not included in the amount allocated to Han Chengye and Ouyang Min," Qian Ying said, turning to Qian Wantong.

Although that's what I said, I felt very uncomfortable inside.

Qian Ying really hadn't intended to covet Han Chengye and Ouyang Min's honey. Although there were about ten bottles in total, he currently had thirty or forty bottles, which was enough for him.

Furthermore, as the leader of the entire martial arts team, if he were to embezzle the belongings of the deceased martial artists, the team's morale would collapse, making them difficult to lead. They would rely on these martial artists for their efforts and lives; how could he possibly be greedy for honey?

However, Han Chengwen's words gave others the impression that the Qian family would covet the honey. Therefore, they genuinely harbored resentment towards Han Chengwen. "That damned guy, couldn't he have come to me or Manager Qian privately?"
After giving his instructions, Qian Ying left with a displeased expression. Zhou Zixing, on the other hand, didn't change much. After all, he wasn't in charge of the entire team, but merely Qian Ying's assistant. So he glanced at Han Chengwen, smirked, and turned to leave.

However, she had already made up her mind about Han Chengwen. She decided to stay away from this guy in the future, otherwise she might get dragged down by him at any time.

A useless teammate, a greedy guy.

The person was still lying there, their body barely cold, and they were already jumping out to ask for things. That's really short-sighted.

Based on Zhou Zixing's understanding of Qian Ying and his own deductions, even if Han Chengwen hadn't said anything, Qian Ying would have sent the honey over directly afterward instead of keeping it.

After all, their perspectives differed depending on their vantage point. Standing at the highest point, he and Qian Ying naturally focused on the bigger picture, acquiring more treasures within the valley, and ensuring their safe departure. These were their primary concerns.

However, a mere ten or so bottles of honey, though precious, wouldn't be of much interest to the two of them. After all, these were obvious items, plain for all to see, so Qian Ying would only confiscate them if he were completely foolish.

Alas, people's hearts have changed!
These two people have probably already been remembered by Qian Ying.

Given the current situation, the outcome of being targeted by Qian Ying, a master of innate talent, is something that those who understand the situation can surely predict.

Han Chengwen and Ouyang Ding, however, were not thinking about such things. They were both overjoyed, because if they could get more bottles of honey, their strength might be able to break through in a short time.

"Gentlemen, come with me to find a place to bury Han Chengye and Ouyang Min. Although we can't prepare a better funeral right now, we still need to do what's necessary. After all, they were both experts at the tenth level of the Acquired Realm, and leaders of your family teams, so let's give them a proper send-off." Qian Wantong felt a bit disgusted when he saw the two men's somewhat happy expressions.

He naturally knew why the two had such expressions, but neither of them were martial artists from his Qian family, so he couldn't really say anything.

Elder Qian Ying had given him instructions, which he had to do, so he could only pretend not to see them and urge the two of them to begin burying Han Chengye and Ouyang Min together.

After all, the two were at the tenth level of the Acquired Realm, and they were team leaders, and they also held some status in the Han and Ouyang families.

Therefore, regardless of what Han Chengwen and Ouyang Ding thought, the funeral still had to be conducted according to certain standards. First, both of them needed to be placed in coffins, and second, representatives from both families had to accompany them on their final journey.

Therefore, Qian Wantong directed several martial artists from the Han and Ouyang families to begin felling trees and making coffins.

Since everyone involved was a martial artist, making coffins and such was relatively simple. Digging the graves was also completed quickly. The strength of martial artists was excellent for digging graves; in less than half an hour, two suitable graves were finished.

Finally, with Qian Wantong's coordination, most of the martial artists, except for Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing, attended the funeral.

Ouyang Nan looked terrible, and as she watched the coffin being gradually buried, she felt a deep emptiness in her heart.

My relationship with Ouyang Min wasn't very good to begin with, but actually facing his funeral, I felt a pang of sadness. After all, Ouyang Min was a member of the Ouyang family, and his death here was a loss for the family.

However, thinking of the Third Elder in the family, he sighed deeply. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if he died like this, at least he wouldn't bring more trouble to the family.

Standing next to Ouyang Nan, Chen Mo felt somewhat embarrassed upon seeing her expression. It seemed Ouyang Min's death had indeed had some impact; perhaps it was because they were all from the same family that this was the case.

Therefore, he couldn't reveal that he had secretly helped Han Chengye and Ouyang Min get killed off. He wouldn't even tell Ouyang Ruoxi; he would just pretend that nothing had happened.

Throughout the funeral, the martial artists, who were initially excited about receiving their share of honey, gradually became affected. Unexpectedly, two martial artists at the tenth level of the Acquired Realm died because of the task of collecting honey.

I don't know what dangers lie ahead. What if I die here too?

After the funeral, the martial artists got busy again, some carrying wood, others carrying snow water. All the martial artists began to work together to build defensive structures, but the atmosphere in the busy group was somewhat oppressive. There was no laughter or playfulness; everyone was working in silence.

"Elder Qian, something's not right right now," Zhou Zixing reminded Qian Ying, observing the busy scene of the many martial artists.

Qian Ying naturally noticed that the atmosphere in the team was a bit off, but it was really hard to say anything about this. She could only shake her head and say, "There's nothing we can do about this situation. The deaths of Han Chengye and Ouyang Min not only resulted in the loss of two post-natal level ten martial artists in the team, but also caused other slightly weaker martial artists to feel fear and uncertainty about the dangers ahead."

"Is there no solution?"

"No, we can only take it one step at a time. Even you and I don't know what lies ahead, let alone these weaker martial artists."

For a moment, the two fell silent, not saying a word for a long time.

Finally, Zhou Zixing broke the silence, saying, "Elder Qian, what should we do next? We don't even know what the lake area beyond the Red Bee area is like. If we go there now, we might suffer considerable losses if something goes wrong. Besides, what if those Red Bees track us down? Wouldn't we be caught in a pincer attack?"

Qian Ying had already thought of this, but because she was busy collecting honey and cultivating after returning, she didn't have time to discuss it. She had originally planned to discuss it, but then Han Chengye and Ouyang Min's matter came up, so it was delayed until now.

“What you said is exactly what I’ve been thinking about, but seeing that the morale of the team seems a bit low right now, I’m planning to let everyone rest tonight and discuss it again tomorrow night. This way, everyone’s morale can recover a bit. As for the area in front of the Red Bee, I’ve also decided that Ouyang Nan will lead the team tonight to scout it out,” Qian Ying said.

"Hmm? If we send Ouyang Nan to investigate, will this defensive structure hold up? If it wakes up the Crimson Bees, they might not be able to come back." Zhou Zixing wasn't concerned about Ouyang Nan and the others, but something behind him kept reminding him that his life was still in Chen Mo's hands.

What if Chen Mo doesn't come back? Wouldn't I be left to wait for death?

As for how strong Chen Mo really was, Zhou Zixing had no way of estimating. He figured Chen Mo was definitely stronger than him, but the sheer number of red bees made him believe that even with superior strength, he wouldn't be able to withstand their attacks.

He and Qian Ying were almost stung to death by the red bees earlier. If they hadn't been close to the bush passage, they definitely wouldn't have been able to escape.

Ouyang Nan had to travel several kilometers along the black soil region. Once he encountered the Red Bees, even with his high strength, he would not be able to withstand the relentless and frenzied attacks of the Red Bees.

“It’s alright. As long as they set off at night, travel along the middle of the black soil, and are careful, there shouldn’t be any major problems. Besides, we can only continue forward after we’ve scouted out the situation ahead,” Qian Ying said.

Actually, he had considered the possibility of the Red Bee being awakened, but it didn't really matter. If it were awakened, then it would be game over. He had always wanted to send Ouyang Nan and that guy named Li Mo to their deaths, so this was exactly what he wanted.

Therefore, Ouyang Nan's reconnaissance mission is necessary.