Chapter Thirteen: Consecutive Killings

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Zhou."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhong finally breathed a sigh of relief and offered a respectful gesture. Zhou Changwang returned the courtesy, saying, "No need to be so formal."

...

After agreeing with Xu Zhong to help him get rid of the pests in a little while, Zhou Changwang looked at Old Xu, who stood eagerly to the side, and teased, "I don't remember you being such a helpful person, Old Xu. Tell me, did you get some benefit from this?"

"Oh, Changwang, you wrong me..." Old Xu hastily denied it.

"If you didn't get anything out of it, would you have brought him here yourself and even gone out of your way to speak on his behalf?" Zhou Changwang let out a cold laugh.

"Well, I did get a little something, but not much. He promised me that if the spiritual pests were dealt with, he'd pay me three low-grade spirit stones as a referral fee." Old Xu gave an awkward chuckle. Seeing that he couldn't hide it from Zhou Changwang, he decided to come clean. Still, he explained earnestly, "He didn't want to come to you at first. It took all my persuasive skills to drag him here. Otherwise, would you have had the chance at such a good job? And those three low-grade spirit stones aren't so easy to come by either. You have to clear all the spiritual pests from his fields first. If you can't manage it, I won't get a thing."

Zhou Changwang nodded in agreement. After all, his cultivation was there for all to see. Even if he had mastered the Geng Metal Finger technique, he wasn't the only one among the spirit farmers to do so. If it hadn't been for Old Xu's persuasion, Xu Zhong might not have sought him out. Of course, his lower fee was also a factor. Going to the Spirit Herb Hall would cost at least thirty low-grade spirit stones, and other pest removal experts wouldn't come cheap either. Hiring Zhou Changwang, on the other hand, would only cost about ten stones. Naturally, Xu Zhong knew which choice to make.

"So you'd better do your best and get rid of the pests in his spiritual fields as soon as possible. Once word gets out, more people will come to you, willing to spend spirit stones for your services. You could say that everything I'm doing is for your own good," Old Xu said with a grin, his face thick with self-satisfaction as he relaxed upon seeing Zhou Changwang's nod.

"Then I must thank you," Zhou Changwang chuckled, not taking offense.

...

"There are far more pests in this spiritual field than I expected," Zhou Changwang couldn't help but remark as he stood at the edge of Xu Zhong's fields.

Even without searching thoroughly, just standing on the boundary he had already spotted more than one spiritual pest ravaging the spirit grain. Further in, at the heart of the field, large patches of grain had withered, clearly the worst-hit area.

And this was only the first acre. The remaining four, though the pests were distributed differently, were unlikely to be any better.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be so worried," Xu Zhong replied with a bitter smile.

"Don't worry. With Changwang here, the pests in your field will be cleared out in no time," Old Xu declared grandly from behind.

Zhou Changwang shot him a sidelong glance, not feeling quite so confident. Nevertheless, he stayed silent, steadied his breath, and began to focus his spiritual power to cast a spell. Since he had agreed to deal with the pests, he intended to do the job well.

His first target was a spiritual locust. It was not far from the edge of the field, seemingly having just fed, and was now resting quietly on a blade of spirit grain.

Zhou Changwang gathered his spiritual power, shaping the runic structure.

One breath, two, three...

After five breaths.

Geng Metal Finger +1.

A flash of golden light streaked by, and the spiritual locust's head turned to ash.

"So quick, and it was even the most troublesome spiritual locust!" Xu Zhong exclaimed in shock behind him.

He knew all too well how hard it was to remove spiritual locusts. The last spirit farmer he hired had found five, but only managed to deal with two; the other three escaped as the spell was about to take effect.

But Zhou Changwang? From spotting the locust to casting his spell, the pest didn't even sense danger before being struck dead. It was both skillful and precise—far superior to the previous spirit farmer.

Xu Zhong finally relaxed. Perhaps this time, he really could resolve his crisis.

"Changwang's Geng Metal Finger is getting more formidable. The locust didn't even get a chance to damage the spirit grain before it died," Old Xu said in admiration.

Both men were awed by Zhou Changwang's pest-removal technique.

"First one," Zhou Changwang said, unaffected, his gaze sharp as he searched the area. Soon he spotted another—this time, a Green Carapace Beetle.

This pest was even easier to deal with. From two yards away, he dispatched it with a single finger.

Then came the Black Octagon, the Burrowing Zen, another spirit locust...

...

Each spiritual pest he spotted was dispatched with a single, well-prepared strike. The two men behind him moved from shock to numb amazement, but their excitement did not diminish.

"The tenth one," Zhou Changwang said, slipping the corpse of another Green Carapace Beetle into his sack before glancing at Xu Zhong.

Xu Zhong, as if prepared, took out a low-grade spirit stone and handed it to Zhou Changwang. "Brother Zhou, your pest-removal skills are truly admirable. Here is the spirit stone I promised you—please accept it."

"Thank you," Zhou Changwang replied, taking the stone, confirming its weight was over a hundred grams, and stowing it away. Without pause, he continued his work.

He soon reached the center of the field, the disaster area where the grain leaves were all withered.

"There are even more pests here. I can see four or five at a glance, all close together," Zhou Changwang thought, growing more cautious.

Spiritual pests had territorial instincts. Normally, you'd rarely see two within several yards of each other. Yet here there were four or five, all within a single yard. It was odd, and troublesome, too. If he attacked one, the others might be startled and escape.

So he repositioned himself, retreating to two yards away before striking again.

One breath, two, three...

After five breaths, the spell took shape.

A Burrowing Zen went rigid and fell from the spirit grain.

Zhou Changwang immediately looked to the other pests. Fortunately, they hadn't noticed. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, ignored the corpse, and shifted position again to cast another spell from a safe distance.

Once, twice, three times...

Repeatedly, using the same method.

He managed to take down all five pests, one after another.