Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 89 The Death of Huang Sheng

Half a day later, Huang Sheng emerged, his face deathly pale. Zhou Ye and Wu Jun exchanged bewildered glances; their attempt to break through to the Ming Jin realm had clearly failed.

Before the two could even offer their words of comfort, Huang Sheng proactively smiled and said, "Ah Ye, Ah Jun, it's alright. I was just careless and made a mistake by accident."

"Oh, oh." For a moment, Zhou Ye and Wu Jun didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry! Once I've recovered, I'll definitely be able to break through next time. I'm sure I can do it. I still want to buy my uncle a big house, and my younger siblings will get lots of new clothes and delicious food..."

"..."

Even after returning home, Zhou Ye continued to sigh.

The path of martial arts is arduous; even a genius like Huang Sheng failed to break through the barriers? Just consider the Ming Jin barrier, which is enough to eliminate more than 90% of martial artists who have entered the Jin realm.

Why--!

Putting everything else aside, improving one's own abilities is the most important thing!

And so, a month and a half passed.

During this period, Zhou Ye had sold all the remaining salted fish and meat. Indeed, the price rose again, and he eventually received more than 2800 taels.

However, as a large number of refugees flowed into the county town, the city's security deteriorated.

Back at his home in the outer city, Zhou Ye dared not leave any valuables behind. He feared that when he went out, a few petty thieves might sneak in and ransack the entire house.

Therefore, the most valuable items had already been moved to a small home in the mountains. They weren't hidden in rooms, but buried in a spot at the foot of a steep cliff. The rest were all moved to the home at the dock, where at least the canal gangs were still maintaining order.

In addition, the gang wars in the county town have become increasingly fierce. In particular, the Flower Snake Gang near my home is said to be suffering repeated defeats at the hands of the Black-Clad Gang.

Faced with defeat, the Flower Snake Gang dropped all pretense and suddenly became frenzied. Recently, they came to collect protection money twice, each time demanding more than the last.

Then there's the suppression of the rebellion by the Chixuan Army. I heard the army has already pacified several mountain strongholds, killing and capturing a large number of bandits. Therefore, the chaos in the surrounding counties has improved somewhat. However, the army's constant sweeping makes life even harder for the common people in those counties, leading to an even greater influx of refugees to the county seat…

That being said, none of this has anything to do with Zhou Ye.

At this moment, Zhou Ye was sitting behind a desk, with several thick stacks of manuscripts piled up in front of him.

Faced with these manuscripts, Zhou Ye finally smiled.

It was truly a difficult task. The Mirage Realm Free and Easy Technique has finally been completely deciphered. This includes not only the original five-volume set but also the cultivation insights of over twenty masters from various dynasties. If nothing unexpected happens, I will switch to cultivating this Mirage Realm Free and Easy Technique in the future.

Actually, there's no need to overthink this. If you had to choose between a first-rate and a third-rate martial arts technique, surely no one would make the wrong choice?

But just then, there was a knock on the door. Actually, very few people knew the address of the dockworker's house; only a handful.

As soon as the door opened, it was indeed Wu Jun.

"Ah Ye, Ah Sheng is about to break through his cultivation barrier again. Shall we go to the martial arts gym together?"

"Alright! Let's go then." Zhou Ye tidied up and went out with Wu Jun. "Jun, how did Ah Sheng eat the monster meat I specially brought last time?"

"I heard it's quite good. I even asked the young master for a few doses of the medicine..."

"By the way, Ah Jun. Why is Ah Sheng in such a hurry? Shouldn't he have a few more months to recuperate?"

"I don't know if you've heard, but Yuan Zhen has already broken through to the Ming Jin stage. He only took ten months, so Ah Sheng has been holding back a lot of anger; he's been competing with him."

"No, didn't Yuan Zhen already transfer to the inner city martial arts school? He's not even one of our people anymore, so why are you still arguing with him? What is Ah Sheng thinking?"

"Isn't it just that he's not convinced? Master Du used to treat him like a treasure. Then two other genius disciples appeared, and he wasn't even included? Actually, I think there could have been three genius disciples, and maybe Ah Sheng wouldn't be so stubborn then. Sigh!"

"..."

Chatting all the way, the two quickly arrived at the martial arts school. Upon arrival, they found Huang Sheng already practicing the Small Wind and Thunder Stance...

So Zhou Ye and Wu Jun didn't dare to disturb them in the slightest, and they waited silently in the distance.

I don't know how much time passed. Then I saw that Huang Sheng was already emitting white steam from his head, and his movements began to speed up, so he must have officially begun to break through the barrier.

But just then, a loud "poof" was heard, and Huang Sheng spat out a mouthful of blood. He collapsed to the ground as if his soul had been ripped from his body…

"Ah Sheng, what's wrong? Wake up!"

"I...I'm fine..."

"Don't speak. You're still spitting blood—!"

"..."

Before long, even Du Keyuan and Han Guang were alerted. A group of people moved Huang Sheng to a room and found him a bed to lie down on.

After giving Huang Sheng some medicine, Du Keyuan began to examine his body. Unexpectedly, her expression grew increasingly grim: "Huang Sheng, how did you train like this? How did you ruin your body like this?"

At this moment, Huang Sheng still held a sliver of hope: "Master Du...?"

"Hmm... Just focus on recuperating! You don't need to practice martial arts for the next few months."

"Master Du?"

Seeing Huang Sheng struggling to get up, Han Guang quickly stopped him and also helped check Huang Sheng's body.

"Hmm? Junior Brother Huang, you've damaged your foundation. You won't be able to practice martial arts anymore?"

"puff--!"

Everyone at the martial arts school knows that Third Senior Brother Han Guang is straightforward and doesn't lie easily. But that's precisely why the truth is all the more hurtful!

The atmosphere became very somber. Zhou Ye finally understood: Huang Sheng must have relied on his talent to constantly push himself beyond his limits in training. Coupled with a long period of lack of nutrition, he had ultimately destroyed his foundation.

Once Huang Sheng had recovered a little, Zhou Ye had Wu Jun call a carriage, and the two of them took him back to his uncle's house.

Although Huang Sheng's uncle was only middle-aged, he looked quite old. Seeing Huang Sheng suddenly lying down and coming home, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Sheng? What happened to Sheng? Ah Ye, Ah Jun, what's wrong with him?!"

"Uh...uh..."

Before the two could even manage a few words of explanation, Huang Sheng suddenly sat up in bed, hugged his uncle, and burst into tears: "Uncle! I can do it! I can do it! I still wanted to buy you a big house! I wanted to buy delicious food for my younger siblings—! How could this happen? I really can do it—!"

In the end, Zhou Ye left Uncle Huang Sheng's house with mixed feelings. He only secretly slipped two silver ingots to Uncle Huang Sheng as he left.

However, just three days later...

Wu Jun suddenly came to the door again. His lips trembled and tears streamed down his face: "Ah Sheng is dead. He jumped into the river and committed suicide last night."

"???"