Chapter 30: After a Great Harvest, How Could the Destruction Decrease

After stripping the two martial artists of all their belongings, Wang Teng turned to leave.

He had been out for some time; if he didn't head back soon, Xu Jie and the others would likely come looking for him directly.

If they saw the scene here...

Wait!

Wang Teng couldn't help but frown.

He had taken everything from the two martial artists. If someone came to investigate, wouldn't it be easy to trace it back to him?

Destroy the evidence?

It seemed that was his only option.

Wang Teng placed the two corpses into a deep pit and activated the fire-element primal force within his body. A tiny flame flickered from his fingertip.

"You two dug this pit yourselves; it's only fitting that you use it now."

"Cremation is quite popular in modern society—it's environmentally friendly and doesn't waste land. Now, how does that poem go... right, 'Turning into spring mud to better protect the flowers!'"

"Being able to contribute to this forest even after death... it couldn't be more wonderful."

Wang Teng muttered a few words, then looked at the martial artist who had previously tried to kill him, speaking with a complex expression.

"Even though you tried to kill me, I didn't die, and I accidentally killed you instead. Consider those lighters and cigarettes as mental compensation. I'm giving you a free cremation now; after all, I am a good person."

With a flick of his index finger, the flame flew out and landed on the corpses.

Ignition!

The flames roared.

Using primal force as fuel, the fire burned exceptionally fiercely.

In a short while, the two corpses had turned into ash, leaving nothing behind.

Without the bodies, no one would know exactly what had happened here tonight. Even if someone eventually traced Wang Teng's presence to this area, they certainly wouldn't be able to find out what he had taken.

Perfect!

"Time to head back!"

"But why were these two fighting in the middle of the night? Is it really that much fun?"

Wang Teng was somewhat puzzled. He scanned his surroundings but found nothing. He shook his head, thinking he might be overthinking it.

He decided to return.

He took a step forward, but then pulled back.

Looking at the large tree that the fire-element martial artist had been leaning against, Wang Teng felt something was off.

He walked to the base of the tree and looked up.

However, the leaves obscured his view, making it impossible to see anything clearly. He gave a light leap to reach the branches and scanned the area.

"Hmm?"

His gaze suddenly froze.

A backpack!

Wang Teng jumped over, snatched the backpack from the branch, and unzipped it. Inside, it was stuffed with weeds, and nestled among the weeds was an... egg!

"Could they have been fighting over this egg?" Wang Teng wondered, rubbing his chin.

But since there were no witnesses left to prove it, thinking about it further was meaningless. The egg belonged to him now.

...

"Wang Teng has been gone for over half an hour. Why isn't he back yet?"

Having waited too long, the wealthy and influential heirs had grown impatient and were showing signs of dissatisfaction.

"We didn't ask you to wait. If you want to leave, just go. Stop whining here," Xu Jie said with a frown.

"You can't put it that way. We're waiting because we're worried about Wang Teng. But from his perspective, making so many of us wait for him is a bit much. If he can't find his way, he should have just come back early instead of trying to be stubborn," Li Rongcheng said.

"Exactly. 'High-level Martial Apprentice'? I bet he just gave himself that title," a young man said disdainfully.

Just as others were about to chime in, a voice suddenly drifted out from the woods.

"I don't recall ever saying I was a high-level Martial Apprentice. So, where did this talk of 'self-appointment' come from?"

The young man's face instantly stiffened.

Wang Teng gave him a faint glance, then smiled at the group.

"I'm truly sorry for making everyone wait so long. I suddenly realized I'm a bit directionally challenged; I accidentally got lost just now."

"..." The crowd was speechless.

A directionally challenged person who dares to enter the woods alone at night?

And he was "investigating"? Investigating what, exactly!

"Young Master Li, if you keep talking behind people's backs, you might end up becoming a gossip monger yourself!" Wang Teng looked at Li Rongcheng again, speaking with a half-smile.

Li Rongcheng felt a bit guilty under his gaze and huffed, turning his face away.

Zhou Baijun didn't quite believe Wang Teng's nonsense. She walked over and asked, "Young Master Wang, did you find anything?"

"No. I circled around the area a few times and finally found my way back, but I didn't find anything," Wang Teng said, shaking his head.

Zhou Baijun gave him a meaningful look and said, "In that case, let's head back. It's getting late."

Naturally, no one objected.

The group went to the villa to get their cars and bid each other farewell.

It is worth mentioning that the person who caught the most prey was Li Rongcheng.

Because Wang Teng had left early, Li Rongcheng had taken the lead.

He actually did receive a so-called "mysterious gift"—a life-sized doll that Zhou Baijun had brought back from abroad.

A female one!

Li Rongcheng's expression at the time was simply indescribable.

...

Wang Teng and Xu Jie's cars drove into Donghai City one after the other.

At a red light, Xu Jie rolled down his window and shouted to Wang Teng, "Brother Wang, we're heading back first. I'll leave Xiao Wei to you to take home."

"Go ahead. Send me a WeChat when you get home," Wang Teng waved.

The two parted ways at the intersection.

Wang Teng drove Bai Wei to her home, which was located in a villa district called Jinhua.

Donghai City had many wealthy residents, so there were naturally many similar villa districts.

Standing at the entrance of a villa, Bai Wei stood on her tiptoes and waved. "Brother Wang, hurry home. Be safe on the road!"

"I'm off then. Get some sleep early; staying up too late makes you age faster," Wang Teng smiled and drove away.

"You're the one who's going to age," Bai Wei pouted.

...

Wang Teng was driving fast. At this moment, he only wanted to get home as soon as possible to inventory and study tonight's haul.

The backpack containing the mysterious egg, the fire-element martial artist's battle sword, and the other miscellaneous items had all been hidden in the car's trunk in advance.

Earlier, Wang Teng had first returned to the villa at top speed to hide everything before circling back to meet Zhou Baijun and the others.

Otherwise, the sudden appearance of these items would have been impossible to explain.

Fortunately, the wound inflicted by the fire-element martial artist during his breakthrough had completely healed; otherwise, that would have been another inexplicable problem.

He had changed out of his bloodstained, torn clothes and put on something of a similar color. Combined with the darkness, no one noticed he had changed.

In his haste, this was all he could manage.

Some of his excuses were flimsy; Zhou Baijun had likely sensed something, but since there was no evidence, her suspicions could only remain mere speculation.

As he drove, Wang Teng replayed his recent maneuvers in his head. Once he was certain there were no major issues, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

An egg!

He felt like he was acting like a thief!

He shook his head.

With few cars on the road at night, Wang Teng rested his left elbow on the window and propped up his head, driving with one hand like a seasoned driver.

As the car passed a commercial street, his peripheral vision caught the bustling streetscape outside.

It was past ten, yet the street was still crowded.

People were laughing and playing.

Boys and girls held hands, staying out late.

How wonderful!

"The life of an ordinary person is actually quite nice!" Wang Teng thought, when suddenly, a familiar figure appeared in his gaze.