May I seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, and live a long and prosperous life.

Half a month later, news came that a monster tide had occurred in Crimson Wind Valley, and three expedition teams had been completely wiped out, with no trace of their remains.

After hearing the news when Li Heng went to the market, he sat in the teahouse for a long time.

It seems that Cui Bolao and Feng Yan are likely in grave danger.

In the evening, Li Heng returned to his cave dwelling and erected a new grave next to the tombs of Su Changsheng and Meng Ji.

Since there were no remains of their bodies, Li Heng only erected cenotaphs.

The wooden plaque is inscribed with the words "Tomb of our late friends Cui Bolao and Feng Yan".

"Su Changsheng did not live long, Meng Ji did not have good fortune either, and Cui Bolao and Feng Yan, the couple, were truly separated. Alas, it is all fate's cruel joke!" Li Heng sighed.

The three tombs stood quietly on the flat ground in front of the cave. As the sun set, Li Heng stood before the tombs, his shadow stretched long by the sunlight, and he remained silent for a long time.

In recent years, he has seen off three groups of neighbors: Su Changsheng, Meng Ji, and Cui Bolao and Feng Yan.

Li Heng sighed, "The path of cultivation is inherently a path against the heavens, and only a few can ultimately reach the end."

Afterwards, Li Heng took out a pot of wine, sprinkled some in front of the three tombs, and finally took a sip himself.

The liquor was very spicy; it burned all the way down my throat to my stomach.

But Li Heng stood firm in the cold wind; the strong liquor could warm his body, but it could not warm his heart.

His old friends gradually passed away, and Li Heng could only witness their passing.

After a long silence, before leaving, he bowed towards the three graves and said, "May my dear friends have a safe journey."

......

Two more years of peace passed.

That day, Li Heng was diligently cultivating in his cave when the cave's restrictions were triggered.

He put away the jade slip, straightened his robes, and went out of the cave. He saw that it was an acquaintance.

The leader was a burly man with a Qi Refining Level 4 cultivation, followed by two henchmen.

The newcomer was Yan Bao from the Black Fiend Gang, who had been collecting protection money in this area for eight years.

"Old Li, it's time to pay this year." Yan Bao casually stretched out his hand, not being polite to Li Heng.

Because the two of them are already very familiar with each other.

Over the years, Li Heng has become the "Old Li" in Yan Bao's eyes, which makes Li Heng both laugh and cry.

Li Heng took out sixty spirit stones from his pocket and threw them over: "It was prepared long ago."

Yan Bao weighed it in his hand, then curled his lip and said, "Old Li, the location of your cave is a bit poor, but it's big enough. It'll be worth seventy spirit stones next year."

"Fellow Daoist Yan, why are you raising prices again? My old bones can't earn spirit stones fast enough to keep up with the rate at which you're raising prices."

"Old Li, this is a rule from above. They say if you don't pay, you have to leave the outer layer of Chixia Mountain or do three years of free menial work for the Black Fiend Gang. I have no choice but to accept this." Yan Bao bowed to Li Heng and then left with his followers.

Li Heng closed the door, the smile fading from his face. Seventy spirit stones were nothing to him, but being exploited like this by the Black Fiend Gang was still unpleasant, though he couldn't be bothered to argue.

Yan Bao, along with the three major gangs, was destined to be a fleeting figure in Li Heng's long life.

Sure enough, in just two short years, Yan Bao never appeared in front of Li Heng again.

Rumors circulated that during a gang conflict with the Blood Slaughter Sect, his skull was shattered by a single palm strike from his enemy, resulting in a gruesome death from which no remains were found.

The man who came to take over collecting money from Yan Bao was a skinny man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks. His surname was Hou, and he was the fourth child in his family, hence the name Hou Si. He was at the late stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining. He spoke in a somewhat sarcastic tone and had a slightly lewd demeanor.

"Old Li, right? Yan Bao is dead. I'm Hou Si from the Black Fiend Gang. From now on, I'll be responsible for collecting the protection fees every year."

Hou Si glanced sideways at Li Heng's cave dwelling and asked, "How much did Yan Bao charge you before?"

"Sixty spirit stones."

"Sixty dollars?"

Hou Si chuckled, "Hehe, prices have gone up now, it'll cost eighty spirit stones."

Li Heng didn't refute, silently counted out eighty spirit stones, and tossed them to Hou Si. Hou Si caught them and weighed them in his hand, muttering as he walked away, "These places are inhabited by poor bastards."

Six months later, Li Heng heard from the streets that Hou Si had also died.

It is said that Hou Si was caught cheating at a gambling den in the market and was beaten to death with sticks in an alley. His death was extremely gruesome.

The woman who took over Hou Si's job was a female cultivator in her fifties, of average appearance, with a late-stage fourth level of Qi Refining cultivation, who called herself Hong Gu.

She was more polite, but she immediately made outrageous demands, raising the protection fee to ninety spirit stones, which left Li Heng with a bad impression of her.

"Fellow Daoist Li, please forgive me. The gang's expenses have been high lately, and this is the price set by the higher-ups." Hong Gu always spoke with a professional, fake smile.

After paying, Li Heng casually asked, "Does Fairy Hong know Hou Si?"

"Hou Si?"

Hong Gu's smile faded slightly as she said, "Don't mention that short-lived bastard. He was morally corrupt, a cheat, and deserved to die. There was also Yan Bao, who died in a gang fight. They were all unlucky people. Sigh, our line of work has some bad luck."

She accepted the spirit stones and left in a hurry, seemingly unwilling to talk to Li Heng any further.

Hong Gu worked for over a year before dying; she was only slightly better off than Hou Si.

I heard that during one of his last outings, he was ambushed and killed, losing both his money and his life; sadly, his remains were never found.

Upon hearing this news, Li Heng shook his head. This Hong Gu only lasted a little longer than Hou Si; they were both short-lived.

"Yan Bao has been in the business longer, and his attitude is better than Hong Gu and Hou San's. At least he's not as greedy. Although they are all accomplices of the Black Fiend Gang, they are just small fry. They have no choice in the matter, and all their sins come from the Black Fiend Gang," Li Heng sighed.

The brothers surnamed Wang took over from Hong Gu to collect protection money; both were at the late stage of the third level of Qi Refining. The younger brother stuttered, while the older brother was more tactful.

This made Li Heng sigh that the quality of the Black Fiend Gang disciples who came to collect protection money was getting worse and worse. These days, anyone would dare to come and collect protection money.

"Senior Li," the stuttering younger brother said with difficulty, "we...we're here to collect...protection fees."

The older brother chimed in, "Fellow Daoist Li, we're new here. As for what happened with Hong Gu, well, let's not talk about it. Let's stick to the old rules: ninety spirit stones, paid annually."

Li Heng looked at the two brothers and suddenly asked, "Do you know Yan Bao and Hou Siyao?"

The older brother was taken aback, then smiled bitterly, "I've heard of them. They're all exes, but it seems none of them ended well, not even the hardworking Hong Gu. Sigh, we brothers are just trying to make a living, so please don't make fun of us, Fellow Daoist Li."

Li Heng nodded, handed over the spirit stones, and the two brothers left, expressing their gratitude profusely.

Back in his cave, Li Heng couldn't help but chuckle. Three successive Black Fiend Gang disciples who had collected protection money had died in three different ways. The only thing these three had in common was that they had all asked Li Heng for protection money.

He was still the same "Old Li, the fourth level of Qi Refining" that he deliberately disguised himself as, only with whiter temples and a more hunched back.

In the future, there will be many more such passersby on the road to immortality.

Over the years, no cultivators have come to rent the cave dwelling next to his.

Li Heng guessed that it was most likely because the previous three cave dwelling owners had all met tragic ends.

Two years ago, Li Heng saw a Black Fiend Gang disciple accompanying a young cultivator to inspect the cave dwelling, only to find three overgrown mounds of earth in front of it.

Upon hearing that these three mounds were the graves of the previous cave dwelling owners, the young cultivator cursed his bad luck and hurriedly ran away, even abandoning his cave dwelling deposit.