Chapter 24: The Vampiric Vine’s Menace!
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

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When Cao Kun’s group had been stuck on the mountain, the only thing they had with them to munch on were dry rations and biscuits. As soon as Bei Feng brought out hot, delicious food, the trio completely lost all semblance of human beings, barely avoiding swallowing their own tongues as they gorged on the food.

‘Who exactly is this guy?!’ They all wondered.

Happy times pass by very quickly indeed. Cao Kun’s group was politely ‘re-accommodated’ out of the mansion almost immediately after they were finished with their meal.

As he walked along the dry mud path, Cao Kun had a very conflicted expression on his face. When he had first met Bei Feng, he didn’t have a good impression of him. However, in the blink of an eye, he’d been thoroughly conquered by the latter’s cooking.

Cao Kun gave the mansion which was slowly decreasing in his sight one last look, heaved a heavy sigh and continued on his way.

As for Bei Feng, he was silently clearing the table and dishes. Although it was but a simple task, he still did it conscientiously and meticulously.

‘Huh? Why are there so many dead rats here?’

Bei Feng paused his footsteps as he passed by the Banyan tree, his eyes firmly fixed on the ground ahead in the vicinity of the Vampiric Vine.

A whole group of seven, eight dead rats was piled up together, each shriveled up and left with only skin and bones.

‘These rats were not here yesterday…’

Bei Feng was very certain about that. However, their appearance seemed as though they had already been dead for a very long time!

It was very mysterious. Bei Feng carefully scrutinized the Vampiric Vine. If there was anything that differed from yesterday, that would be that the Vampiric Vine, which seemed to be half-dead yesterday, was actually looking a lot healthier today! It had regained its red hue, even to the point where it looked like blood was about to ooze out of it!

‘Did the Vampiric Vine do this?’

Bei Feng hurriedly caught a cicada, broke off its wings and placed it in front of the Vampiric Vine. [1]

This matter had to be properly investigated! Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully at night.

A minute passed; the poor cicada had regained its movements, groaning and struggling about in front of the Vampiric Vine.

Three minutes went by, and the wingless cicada was still exerting itself on the same spot, a look of desperation apparent in its eyes.

“Looks like I’ve been too paranoid… pfft, hahahaha!”

Bei Feng was unable to stifle his laughter as he thought of how ludicrous this entire situation was. However, just as his laughter spread out across the garden, the Vampiric Vine suddenly moved!

Countless hollow roots shot out of the ground like lightning and pierced the cicada’s body. In the blink of an eye, the cicada’s stomach was visibly shrunken flat! [2]

Finished with its snack, the Vampiric Vine proceeded to wave its branches livelily in the air in a happy and contented manner!

Bei Feng narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Vampiric Vine with some apprehension. Then, he rapidly reached for the cicada with his hand, picked it up from the floor and weighed it on his palm.

‘All its flesh had been sucked clean, and the only thing left is an empty shell; it’s just like those rats!’

Bei Feng pulled the cicada’s shell apart and found that it was completely empty, and not even a little residue was left! His heart was suddenly filled with dread.

‘What would have happened if it had done this to me last night when I was asleep?’

Bei Feng felt a chill run down his back. A sudden impulse to destroy the Vampiric Vine arose in his heart!

Dashing to the kitchen immediately, Bei Feng retrieved a bundle of hay and scattered it around the Vampiric Vine. Then, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit it in preparation to set the hay and the Vampiric Vine on fire.

However, in that moment, Bei Feng began to hesitate. The hand holding the lighter wavered in the air had yet to drop.

Bei Feng was undergoing a mental struggle in his head. A voice said, “burn it! Kill it with fire!”

Another voice said, “Don’t burn it! Just a single Blood Origin Fruit was already so beneficial, what if you had an entire cartload of them?”

After struggling for a long time, Bei Feng finally steeled his resolve, ‘listen to the second voice! That’s a lifetime supply of Blood Origin Fruits in front of your eyes!’

Although Bei Feng had never tasted those hundred-year-old ginsengs, he was certain that the Blood Origin Fruit had much better nourishing effects than the centuries-old ginsengs!

Still, the menace of the Vampiric Vine was not something a ginseng could compare to. Although it was preying on rats and cicadas right now, who knew whether the Vampiric Vine likes human blood or not? And even if it didn’t want it right now, who could guarantee that it wouldn’t change its mind one day?[3]

After facing that dilemma for a long time, Bei Feng eventually decided to spare the Vampiric Vine. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

‘As long as the Vampiric Vine remains properly fed everyday, there should be no danger, right?’ Bei Feng’s eyes lit up as he thought of an excellent solution. ‘Hmm… I’m not even sure whether I’m right or not, though.’

Bei Feng slowly extinguished the fire on the lighter, and decisively turned around and left. He had to go. He was worried that he would not be able to ignore his misgivings and impulsively set the Vampiric Vine on fire.

After that, he threw the matter of the Vampiric Vine into the back of his mind and posted a few messages on WeChat to accept reservations for the day.

In an instant, over 200 deposits flooded into Bei Feng’s account, causing him to open his mouth in shock.

‘How come there’re so many requests for reservation this time?’

Bei Feng scrolled up and checked the chat history. It turned out that Wang Jun had previously heavily praised the food in the group chat after his initial tasting session, recommending it to everyone else!

He had even uploaded the picture of Wang Jian arriving by helicopter for lunch, kicking up a huge commotion in the chat group.

Even a tycoon like Wang Jian came on a private helicopter to eat the food there! In addition, Wang Jian praised the food to the sky. As a result, everyone was impatient to check it out for themselves.

Bei Feng didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry at the way the situation had developed. These people really had a lot of faith in big shots. They felt that if the richest man in Qingcheng was willing to take a private helicopter for a meal, it really had to be exceptional!

‘Since the business is so good, how about receiving a few more tables of customers per day?’

As soon as that thought appeared in his mind, Bei Feng immediately shot it down. He already felt that he did not have enough time to do much else with just four tables of guests a day.

Right now, he was living alone and only had himself to support. It was enough as long as he had sufficient money to spend. In contrast, Bei Feng held much more interest toward cultivation!

The feeling of having his body broken down bit by bit and then reconstructed, stronger and better, was really intoxicating. He had already become obsessed with it.

After choosing a few people at random and accepting their deposits, Bei Feng no longer bothered with the chat and left for the village.

Right now, it was not even 9 a.m. and the weather was still relatively cool. Quite a number of people could be seen walking about the streets.

There were many hawkers displaying their goods in the open-air market. Pedestrians would often stop to take a look at the hawkers’ wares and haggle over the prices.

Soon, Bei Feng reached the leftover market. The vegetables and other products here were all leftovers that nobody picked.

“Boss, do you have any pig’s blood left?”

Bei Feng went to the nearest butcher’s store and asked.

The butcher was a middle-aged man in a sleeveless singlet, an oily apron tied around his waist. Bei Feng did not recognize him, so this butcher was likely from a neighbouring village.

“There is some left, how much do you want?” The butcher, Liu Hui, replied cordially.

“Just give me the fresh blood, I don’t need the blood curd, thank you!”

Bei Feng saw the butcher retrieve some pig’s blood curd which was soaking in a basin with water and hurriedly stopped him, shaking his head.

“Fresh blood? Hmm, there’s none left for today. If you can come back tomorrow, I’ll leave some for you,” Liu Hui was a little surprised. Although he didn’t know what Bei Feng needed fresh pig’s blood for, there was no reason for him to reject a business.

“Sure, please put it in a tub for me. I’ll buy as much as you have. Here’s the deposit,” Bei Feng placed 200 yuan on the counter and said.

“No problem! Heh, the pigs are all raised domestically by me. They had never been fed those factory-produced pig feed. Their blood are definitely delicious and organic!”

Liu Hui’s eyes lit up as he laughed merrily and hurriedly grabbed the money with his greasy hands, dropping it into the money basket placed nearby.

Bei Feng could only smile lightly at this. How many pigs did this boss keep at home? So many that he couldn’t finish selling them despite opening shop everyday?

Since he was not buying it to eat it himself, Bei Feng did not see the need to be too picky. After settling on the time he’d come to take the blood with the other party, Bei Feng left empty-handed.

“Boss! The owner of that old mansion is back!”

Within a certain tall building, a man bowed respectfully and reported.

“Mn. Good. Send someone to talk to him, and try to convince him to sell the old mansion to us,”

Wei Hui sucked on an expensive cigar and said lightly.

“Boss, why do we need to wait for so long? We could have just torn that old mansion down two years ago and then throw a few hundred thousand yuan to the kid and that would be it,” the man asked in confusion.

“Such matters are not things that you are qualified to ask about. You just need to properly handle the tasks that are given to you!” Wei Hui’s face fell as he said in a chilly voice.

“Yes, Boss!” The man felt a shiver in his heart and hurriedly nodded his head.

[1] TL/N: The cicada clan is facing a huge crisis. Its population is diminishing too rapidly! Isn’t there a group like People for the Ethical Treatment of Cicadas (PETC)? Who’s going to stand up for the rights of the cicadas?! ED/N: I’ve seen some racist stuff in CN, but it’s my first time seeing CICADAS being discriminated against. Did they cause the author some sleepless nights/mornings? Also, PETC almost looks like some abbreviation for pesticide, haha.

[2] ED/N: Yes, you didn’t misread

[3] ED/N: Dude, it was you who tossed the poor cicada bastard to its death. Quite some thick skin there.