145: Chapter 145 Blood-Soaked Lightning-Struck Wood

"It seems the scattered business here in Jiangzhou needs to slow down a bit."

Lin Ye placed the rubbing paper over the everlasting lamp and set it on fire, watching it turn to ashes.

Since Grandpa sent a letter in person to urge him, it meant that over at the Ten Thousand Mountains, there would soon be major movements.

The remnant disciples of the Yinshan Sect, the spies from the official The Ninth Bureau, and even those reclusive old monsters of the mystic arts circle had probably already set their sights on that piece of fat meat.

If he wanted to get a share of the pie in this upcoming storm, his current trump cards needed to be a bit tougher.

"Fatty!" Lin Ye shouted toward the backyard.

Fatty Wang immediately ran in while wiping his hands.

"Call Bai Yu. Tell him to massively acquire aged thunderstruck wood in the black market for me, along with top-grade cinnabar and century-old wild polygonatum. No matter how expensive it is, buy as much as there is."

Lin Ye tapped his fingers on the tabletop, a calculating glint flashing in his eyes like a capitalist plotting.

"In addition, take a trip to the off-road vehicle modification plant and give that george patton another comprehensive upgrade."

"Install an anti-corpse-toxin coating on the chassis, and replace all the glass with armor-piercing-proof grades. At most half a month, we are going on a long trip, and you are going this time too."

Hearing that they were going on a long trip, the flesh on Fatty Wang's face twitched.

"Alright, but are we going to feed mosquitoes in those deep mountains and old forests of the Miao Territory again?"

"This time it's not the periphery."

Lin Ye picked up his teacup and downed the remaining half cup of tea in one gulp.

"We are going to raid the lair of King Zhou."

After finishing giving instructions on the serious matters, Lin Ye stretched lazily.

The sky outside gradually grew dark, and the dim street lamps of Taiping Old Street lit up.

Leng Yue sat quietly beside him, feeding the last piece of apple into Lin Ye's mouth.

Afterwards, she pulled out a tissue and gently wiped away the fruit juice from the corner of Lin Ye's mouth.

"Husband, which piece of pajamas do you want to look at first tonight?"

She tilted her head slightly, her dark golden eyes shimmering with an unusual luster under the dim light.

The collar was slightly open, revealing a large patch of fair skin.

Her tone was calm, yet it exuded the ultimate enticement.

Looking at the top-grade Millennium Drought Demon in front of him who was naturally enchanting, Lin Ye was in a great mood.

"Only children make choices. Tonight, try them all."

...

The early morning of Taiping Old Street carried a lingering damp moisture.

The blackout curtains of the second-floor bedroom were drawn tightly, and the room was dim and quiet.

A trace of faint cold fragrance lingered in the air, along with the ambiguous lingering charm after last night's ultimate tenderness.

Lin Ye leaned against the dark gray leather headboard, his sturdy upper body exposed.

The Pure Yang True Qi within his body circulated along the extraordinary meridians, faintly emitting a subtle thunderous sound.

After last night's long harmonization of Yin and Yang, he could clearly feel that the foundation of his Pure Yang Dao Body had grown a circle larger than yesterday.

Cradled in his arms was a Millennium Drought Demon enough to make the hundreds of families in the mystic arts world terrified at the mere mention of her name.

Leng Yue was still sound asleep, her long silver hair cascading like a waterfall over Lin Ye's chest, bringing a wave of numb, icy-cool sensation.

Those dark golden eyes, usually filled with murderous intent and indifference, were tightly closed at this moment, and her long eyelashes cast faint shadows under her eyelids.

Her hands tightly wrapped around Lin Ye's waist, like a Persian cat protecting its food, and the corners of her mouth still wore a trace of a satisfied arc.

Lin Ye did not wake her up.

He carefully pulled out his arm, tucked the thin quilt over Leng Yue, and turned over to get out of bed.

After washing up and changing into a capable black casual outfit, Lin Ye pushed open the bedroom door and walked down the solid wood stairs into the lobby.

"Brother-in-law, good morning!"

As soon as he reached the first floor, Frost Star came over holding a frying pan taller than herself.

The little loli was wearing a set of pink overalls today, and her silver-blue twin tails were tied high.

Inside the frying pan lay two fried eggs that were burnt to a crisp and exuded a strong smell of preservatives.

"This is Frost Star's loving breakfast specially made for you with added sunken wood fragments and aged coffin fungus! It's great for nourishment, oh!"

Frost Star's heterochromatic pupils were filled with expectation, and the corners of her mouth were shiny—it was unclear whether it was saliva or mousse cream that hadn't been wiped clean last night.

Looking at that bioweapon whose appearance alone could shorten one's life by ten years, Lin Ye took it without changing his expression.

"It smells so good. However, I need to practice asceticism this morning, so you should keep this highly nourishing thing for yourself to grow taller."

Lin Ye casually rubbed Frost Star's head and stuffed the frying pan back into her hands.

Having received a compliment, Frost Star immediately beamed with joy, holding the frying pan and running to the corner of the sofa to enjoy her exclusive underworld delicacy.

On the other side of the sofa.

Ayugu had two huge dark circles under her eyes, slumped listlessly against the cushion as if life had lost its meaning.

"I carried Fatty Wang in ranked matches last night, and when he played Cheng Yinjin, he followed behind the support the whole time asking for heals. My Miao Territory Saintess mental cultivation method was almost driven to deviation by him in anger."

Ayugu dropped her phone, picked up the plain boiled water on the table, and downed it in one gulp.

Fatty Wang was holding an abacus in front of the tea table, knocking it so loudly that it shook the heavens. Hearing this, he raised his head unhappily.

"Great-aunt, that was a tactical retreat of mine. Besides, I got up super early today to do serious business."

Lin Ye walked over to the golden Phoebe zhennan tea table and sat down, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

"How is the acquisition of supplies going?"

Mentioning serious business, Fatty Wang put away his abacus and his expression turned serious.

"Shopkeeper, the situation doesn't look right."

The fatty lowered his voice and leaned closer.

"Yesterday afternoon, you told me to contact Bai Yu and have him massively acquire century-old thunderstruck wood and top-grade cinnabar. Funds were not a problem."

"However, starting from twelve o'clock last night, Bai Yu's phone has constantly been unreachable, prompting that he is out of the service area."

Lin Ye frowned slightly.

Although this kid Bai Yu was a combat zero, his brain was exceptionally good. He knew the twists and turns in the Ghost Market better than anyone else.

"Lost contact? When was the last time he sent a message?"

"One o'clock in the morning." Fatty Wang tapped open his phone screen and pulled up a screenshot.

That was a voice message sent by Bai Yu.

Lin Ye tapped to play it.

The static was very loud, accompanied by heavy panting and hurried footsteps.

Bai Yu's voice sounded terrified in the wind.

"The goods are obtained... but this wood... is a bit abnormal, let me investigate further..."

The voice message abruptly stopped.

Lin Ye's gaze turned cold.

The underground Ghost Market of Jiangzhou had always been a gray zone where those shady tomb raiders, corpse drivers, and evil cultivators traded stolen goods.

Although such a place was a mixed bag of people, it had its own set of ironclad rules maintained for decades, and very few people dared to openly blockade the Ghost Market.

"Can his messaging location be tracked?" Lin Ye asked.

"Can't find it. The Ghost Market is in a magnetic field blind spot of the underground air-raid shelter, and even the satellites in the sky cannot scan that location." Fatty Wang shook his head.

Just as the two of them were discussing countermeasures,

on the quiet street outside the Funeral Shop, a harsh screech of brakes suddenly came.

A black Santana with a severely deformed front end crashed heavily into the stone lion outside the door of the Funeral Shop in an out-of-control posture.

The front hood popped open, emitting billowing white smoke.

The driver's door was kicked open by someone.

A blood-soaked figure with a torn suit tumbled out of the car, scrambling and rolling as they rushed toward the glass door of the Funeral Shop.

The newcomer was none other than Bai Yu, who had lost contact for a whole night.

Now his sleeves were completely shattered, and layers of cyan-black tree bark textures had grown on the skin of his two arms!

Those tree bark textures spread all the way up along his wrists, and were already close to his elbows.

In the gaps of the tree bark, dark red blood kept oozing out, exuding an extremely chilling wood-sha malicious aura.

In Bai Yu's arms, he tightly clutched a long strip-shaped object wrapped in yellow cloth.

"Thud!"

Bai Yu rushed into the lobby, his physical strength exhausted, and directly fell heavily at Lin Ye's feet.

He coughed up a large mouthful of black blood and tightly hugged Lin Ye's thigh.

"They are all dead... The stall owners in the Ghost Market were all sucked into mummies by this thing!"