Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 36 Doubt

It was mid-June, the weather was hot and dry, and the cicadas were chirping incessantly in the woods.

When you have something on your mind, the chirping of cicadas can be quite bothersome.

Zhou Mu stood at the entrance of the Wang Family Martial Arts School for a long time, blowing his whistle and shouting, but there was no response.

Master Wang watched from behind, shaking his head inwardly.

He thought to himself, "He's just a young man with no experience, and he's all talk and no action. This young master of the Zhou family is still too young and all he does is boast!"
Just then, Chief Wang arrived with his men from the Snake Gang to join the Wang Family Martial Arts School.

Wang Zhi stepped forward and said, "Young Master Mu, shall we go into the mountains to search for the wolf demon's whereabouts?"

Zhou Mu frowned, as if he was thinking about something.

Just as Wang Zhi was about to speak again, Zhou Mu suddenly strode away in one direction.

Wang Zhi and Chief Wang looked at each other, puzzled, but still said hello and followed.

The group followed Zhou Mu toward the Zhao family's residence.

About a kilometer away from the Zhao family's house, we saw a lot of villagers chattering and watching something.

Zhou Mu walked over and saw that a large area of ​​cornfields had been destroyed, and there were many scorched marks.

"How...did this happen?"

A disciple of the Wang Family Martial Arts School exclaimed in surprise, "Such a large scale doesn't seem to be man-made."

The owners of the fertile fields were all slumped on the ground, weeping and wailing. With all their grain destroyed, how were they supposed to survive?

Nobody paid them any attention; everyone was discussing what was going on.

"It must have been damaged in a battle with demonic beasts."

Chief Wang squinted, meaning that at least two demonic beasts had fought here last night.

Interesting, when did so many monsters appear in Wuzhen?
"Could it be Young Master Mu's mount, the same demonic beast that devoured Wang Lei before?"

Seeing Zhou Mu's solemn expression, Wang Zhi couldn't help but speculate.

But if that's the case, who wins?

Where is the wolf demon?
There were no monster corpses or severed limbs in this field.

Did the two monsters fight and then run away together?

At this moment, Master Zhao and his steward, Old Huang, were also watching the spectacle from the crowd, finding it quite strange.

Wang Zhi asked the others, "Did any of you hear anything last night?"

The nearby villagers all shook their heads.

A child of about ten years old said that he did hear dogs barking, but it's perfectly normal for dogs to bark at night.

Almost every household in Wuzhen keeps a dog. Sometimes, when one dog barks, all the other dogs around it will bark in response.

Master Zhao chimed in, "Yes, my dog ​​often barks for no reason."

Wang Zhi glanced at him but ignored him.

Zhou Mu jumped directly into the cornfield to examine up close where the corn stalks had broken and where they had been scorched by fire.

He saw many broken corn stalks with very neat cross-sections, which he recognized as having been cut off by the wolf demon with its claws.

But how did these charred areas come about?
Zhou Mu pondered: the wolf demon's opponent could use fire-attribute magic; was the opponent a demon beast or a cultivator?
"Hey, could these charred corn stalks be the work of Fairy Su's Azure Flame Spirit Rabbit?"

Wang Zhi exclaimed, "All the evidence points to Fairy Su's Azure Flame Spirit Rabbit!"

Yesterday, many people saw that the Azure Flame Rabbit could unleash bursts of flame. Last night, it must have been that rabbit that fought the wolf demon here.

"Yes, that's right," Wang Zhi nodded, feeling that his analysis made perfect sense.

"Squeak!"

Suddenly, there was a strange noise behind him, and Wang Zhi turned around abruptly.

But then Su Xianzi appeared here at some unknown time. On her shoulder, the Azure Flame Rabbit angrily hurled a ball of azure flames at Wang Zhi.

By the time Wang Zhi realized what was happening, it was too late to dodge, and the ball of flame struck him squarely.

As he retreated, he quickly tore off his clothes. He was physically strong and had thick skin; only his upper body was burned red by the flames.

"Internal strength transforms into physical force!"

someone exclaimed.

In fact, the flames unleashed by the Azure Flame Rabbit are quite powerful. If an internal energy martial artist were to be hit by this, they would either die or be severely injured.

Just now, Master Wang had used his internal energy to protect his body, and as a martial artist at the Opening Meridian Realm, his physical body was extremely strong. Even after withstanding this attack, his skin was only burned red.

"Fairy Su, what is the meaning of this?"

Wang Zhi glared at Su Qing and the Azure Flame Rabbit. Standing beside Su Qing were Chief Kong and a group of experts from the Green Bamboo Gang, instantly creating a standoff with the Wang Family Martial Arts School of the Roaring Serpent Gang.

“Master Wang, my spirit rabbit just wants to prove to you that its flames are completely different from the flames in the cornfield.”

Su Qing said calmly.

Kong Shen chimed in, "That's right, you surnamed Wang, you can throw dirty water on Fairy Su's spirit pet at will, so what if you get burned?"

The two sides were on the verge of war, looking like they could start fighting at any moment.

Zhou Mu came up from the field and said, "Indeed, it's not the same kind of flame."

It can be ruled out that Su Qing and the Azure Flame Rabbit were behind it.

Judging from the expressions of Su Qing and the Green Bamboo Gang after they arrived, they were clearly unaware of the battle that had taken place here the previous night.

The question Zhou Mu was most concerned about right now was where his wolf demon mount had gone.
He activated his Beast Taming Technique and could not sense the wolf demon's presence at all.

What does this mean?
In fact, Zhou Mu knew very well that he just didn't want to believe it, and he hadn't seen the wolf demon's bones or fur.

"Come with me."

Zhou Mu ignored Su Qing and the Green Bamboo Gang members and walked straight towards the Zhao residence.

Arriving at the Zhao residence, Zhou Mu saw that nothing had happened the night before; some were sweeping, some were tending the fire, and some were washing clothes. Zhou Mu felt a chill in his heart.

Master Zhao squeezed through the crowd of onlookers and hurriedly said, "Young Master Zhou, this matter has nothing to do with our Zhao family!"

Master Zhao and Zhao Qian came out of the mansion and greeted Zhou Mu, Wang Zhi and the others politely, asking what had happened.
Su Qing and the Green Bamboo Gang also arrived, watching silently from the sidelines, curious about what Zhou Mu was planning to do.

Zhou Mu remained silent and barged into the Zhao residence, looking around everywhere.

The Zhao family members dared not speak out against their anger.

In the backyard, Zhou Mu saw a lame yellow dog and three fighting roosters that looked alike.

"Wow wow wow wow!"

The big yellow dog barked at Zhou Mu, baring its teeth and displaying a fierce and valiant demeanor—showing the normal reaction a dog should have when seeing a stranger.

Zhou Mu was furious and really wanted to slap the dog to death, but he held back because there were too many people around.

Finding nothing amiss, Zhou Mu turned around and said to Master Zhao with a forced smile:
"Master Zhao, what have you thought about my previous suggestion?"

Master Zhao wasn't stupid. In front of so many people, he naturally didn't dare to mention the ancestral elixir. He simply shook his head and sincerely said that he hadn't found what Young Master Zhou wanted.

Zhou Mu snorted coldly, turned and left.

Su Qing and the Green Bamboo Gang did not linger in front of the Zhao residence for long, and turned back to check the signs of fighting in the fields.

"Chief Kong, investigate Zhou Mu's purpose in coming to Wuzhen this time."

Su Qing spoke.

She found it strange that Zhou Mu would personally come to Wuzhen. If it were a power struggle in Wuzhen, the interests in this territory were not significant, so why would it be worth Zhou Mu personally coming to oversee things?

There must be something fishy about this matter.

She only arrived in Wuzhen yesterday and doesn't know anything about the place.

Kong Shen said, "Don't worry, Fairy Su, I will definitely send someone to find out as soon as possible!"

……

Zhao Mansion, backyard.

Ji Cheng and Da Huang both breathed a sigh of relief.

Based on the damage to the fields, Zhou Mu had roughly deduced what had happened in the previous night's battle.

He wanted to see what exactly was protecting the Zhao family.

When Zhou Mu was staring at him just now, Ji Cheng wished that his "weakling" title hadn't been shattered yet.

Fortunately, Zhou Mu looked around but didn't find anything. He only glanced at Ji Cheng once before looking away.

Ji Cheng speculated that as long as the demon beast was willing to conceal itself and tightly suppress its aura without revealing a trace of demonic energy, even a martial artist at the Opening Meridian Realm would find it difficult to recognize its demonic beast identity.

Of course, this requires a high level of intelligence, and most low-level demonic beasts cannot perfectly conceal their identities.

Just now, Da Huang actually dared to bark fiercely at Zhou Mu. The intelligence behind this acting far surpasses that of 99% of low-level demon beasts.

This also dispelled any doubt Zhou Mu had about the lame yellow dog.

At this moment, Da Huang smiled sheepishly at Ji Cheng.

Of course, the naiveté was just a facade; Ji Cheng could read the smugness and arrogance in Da Huang's smile.

It was as if he was saying to Ji Cheng, "How about it? Isn't your brother Dog awesome? Look, I dare to bite that Zhou kid!"

(End of this chapter)