The Immortal Clan begins with deductive intelligence.

After doing all this, Xu Changqing felt sore all over, and the exhaustion shot straight to the top of his head.

He took off his fish-skin suit, which reeked of fish, and threw it into a wooden basin, intending to wash it clean first thing in the morning before Jiang Rou woke up.

"Husband?"

Jiang Rou's drowsy voice came from inside the room.

Xu Changqing knew something was wrong, so he hooked the wooden basin containing the water basin with his toe and kicked it under the bed.

But then I thought, how could the stench of blood throughout the room be hidden from the person next to me?

"I'm not asleep."

He stopped what he was doing, turned around and walked to the bedside, reached out and tucked Jiang Rou's blanket in, and lowered his voice.

Did I wake you up?

Jiang Rou rubbed her sleepy eyes, her nostrils twitched slightly, and her brows furrowed instantly.

She propped herself up and, by the light of the snow streaming in through the window, immediately noticed her husband's undergarment, which he hadn't yet changed out of, stained with dark red blood.

My sleepiness vanished almost instantly.

"You're injured?!"

Ignoring the cold, Jiang Rou threw off the covers and got out of bed to check on Xu Changqing, frantically reaching out to touch his arms and legs.

"No injury, no injury, that's animal blood."

Xu Changqing quickly pressed down on her shoulders, tucked her back into the quilt, and wrapped the corner of the quilt tightly around her.

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't disturb the others."

Jiang Rou was wrapped up like a silkworm cocoon, with only her pale face and red-rimmed eyes showing.

"Are you hurt? Where did you get this? Did you go out and fight a monster in the middle of the night? Xu Changqing, are you out of your mind?!"

The excitement that Xu Changqing felt from finding a bargain was completely washed away by these few words of scolding, which were tinged with tears, leaving only a warm feeling in his chest.

He grabbed Jiang Rou's hand and rubbed it in his palm.

"If I didn't fight desperately, do you think I'm the kind of person who lacks common sense?"

Xu Changqing pointed to the cow leg on the ground and said in a relaxed tone, "I couldn't sleep tonight, so I went out to patrol the formation and happened to find this big guy who had frozen to death in the ice hole in the southwest. I picked it up for free."

"You...found it?"

Jiang Rou sniffed, her eyes still wet with tears, clearly not believing in this windfall.

"This Iron-Skinned Bull has thick hide and tough flesh; even a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator would have a hard time killing it. How could I possibly defeat it?"

Xu Changqing didn't want to dwell on this issue any longer; too much talk leads to mistakes, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Besides these two legs, I also peeled off a whole intact cowhide, a pair of cow horns, along with cow tendons and a demon core, all of which are in my storage bag."

Jiang Rou still felt it was unreal, but although she had no cultivation, she still had her eyesight.

The meat is firm, with a subtle shimmering light flowing between its grains, and the bone marrow at the cut surface is jade-colored.

It was indeed the meat of a late-stage Tier 1 demon beast, and it was very fresh.

Once the initial shock subsided, Jiang Rou, being the matriarch of the household, began to make plans.

"Those two legs are huge, the lean meat alone must weigh two hundred pounds. Cow horns and tendons are also highly sought-after items for weapon forging. Aren't we going to strike it rich this time?"

Jiang Rou took a deep breath, trying to calm her excited emotions.

"The money for the Qi-invigorating powder..."

Xu Changqing couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth when he saw her greedy look.

"That's enough. It's not only enough to cover the child's medicine, but there's still some left over."

Xu Changqing pulled Jiang Rou back into his arms and felt her body soften, clearly indicating that the heavy weight that had been pressing on her heart for so long had finally been lifted.

"Tomorrow morning, you need to process these two legs, cut them into small pieces, and don't let anyone else know what kind of monster they are. Just say they are miscellaneous meat that Uncle Dayou bought."

"As for the hide and the demon core, I have to go to the market myself."

Jiang Rou nodded, rested her head on Xu Changqing's shoulder, and let out a long sigh.

"As long as everyone's alright... Don't scare me like that again next time."

Xu Changqing gently patted her back, about to say a few tender words, when he heard Jiang Rou sniffle, her brows furrow slightly, and her head lift off his shoulder.

"My husband."

"Um?"

"The fishy and bloody smell on you is really too overpowering."

Jiang Rou moved back in disgust and pointed to the wooden basin under the bed.

"I should go wash up first, this smell is giving me a headache."

Xu Changqing lowered his head, sniffed himself, and chuckled awkwardly.

I was so focused on getting emotional that I forgot about this.

......

That night, Xu Changqing slept exceptionally soundly.

Jiang Rou, on the other hand, tossed and turned all night, guarding that pile of unexpected wealth.

Before dawn, I got up with dark circles under my eyes and started working in the kitchen.

Xu Changqing changed into a slightly worn, grayish-blue Taoist robe, and after getting ready, headed straight for the kitchen.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Rou paused in her actions and looked up.

Fine beads of sweat glistened on her forehead, and a few strands of hair clung to her temples, but her face glowed with a rosy hue, showing no trace of the terror of the previous night.

"This meat is way too tough; I had to use two 'Sharp Metal Talismans' to chop it all up."

Hearing footsteps, Jiang Rou straightened up, rubbed her sore lower back, and pointed to two large wooden basins next to her, which were already filled with palm-sized pieces of meat.

Xu Changqing walked over, picked up a piece of minced meat, and looked at it. It looked no different from ordinary monster meat.

"I'll go to the market now. You look after the house, and this meat..."

He pondered for a moment, his gaze falling on the pieces of meat.

"Don't rush to divide it up. Wait until I get back. If anyone asks, just say that Uncle Dayou bought it cheaply from the black market. Don't let it slip."

Jiang Rou wiped her hands and nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, I know what's important."

Just then, footsteps came from the courtyard gate.

Xu Dayou shrank in, his nostrils twitching violently, his eyes darting towards the kitchen.

"What a fragrant aroma of wild game! Chieftain, where did this game come from so early in the morning?"

"The snowstorm was so fierce last night, and I saw that everyone was having a hard time, so I had Rou'er take out the little bit of demon beast meat we had stored up and process it to help everyone recover."

"stock?"

Xu Dayou looked at Xu Changqing suspiciously, muttering to himself.

The warehouse's stock was long gone; even rats that went in would come out with tears in their eyes. Where would there be any monster meat left?

However, seeing Xu Changqing's calm expression that said "Don't ask me anything," Xu wisely kept quiet.

There are some things that the clan leader won't tell you, so you can't ask about them.

"Well, that's great, those kids are in for a treat."

Xu Dayou rubbed his hands together and changed the subject: "Clan leader, are you going out dressed like that?"

"Let's go to the market."

Xu Changqing tightened his belt and casually made up a lie: "The Spirit Testing Conference is coming soon. I'm going to see if I can find some cheap spiritual materials and also find out the specific rules of the 'Mountain Opening Ceremony'."

Upon hearing that it was serious business, Xu Dayou immediately dropped his joking demeanor and became serious.

"This road is difficult to travel, and it's chaotic outside. How about I take two skilled men with me and go with you?"

"No need, too many people would just be conspicuous."

Xu Changqing waved his hand.

"I carry a tribute token from the upper sect, so ordinary rogue cultivators wouldn't dare to touch me. Keep a close eye on things back home, especially those two... don't let them be idle."

Xu Dayou understood immediately and nodded emphatically: "Don't worry, those two are very well-behaved now. I made them go and chisel ice holes. They're not allowed to eat until each of them has chiseled fifty a day. They're so tired they're like dead dogs, they don't have time to cause trouble."