I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Jiang Zuo was an old hand at looting corpses. In just a few moments, he had stripped both bodies of their belongings.

Between the two of them, they had seven to eight thousand silver taels, three Magical Artifacts, a few Talismans of unknown effect, and two storage pouches.

Among the three Magical Artifacts was a Flying Magical Artifact, specifically for travel.

However, Jiang Zuo tossed the Talismans and Magical Artifacts back onto the corpses.

He couldn’t use the Talismans, and he had no need for the Magical Artifacts. Besides, he didn’t know if they were marked, so it was better just to get rid of them.

The Flying Magical Artifact seemed like it could be useful in the future, but Jiang Zuo was planning on raising an avian Pet Beast to acquire a flight-related talent anyway.

So, the item was basically dispensable to him.

It wasn’t worth the risk of being tracked by Cultivators for something so minor.

The only things that interested Jiang Zuo were the two storage pouches.

"Xiaoqing, come here!"

Jiang Zuo called out to a small shadow in the nearby darkness.

When he had turned back to face the two men, Jiang Zuo had already secretly released Xiaoqing.

If necessary, Xiaoqing would have joined the battle and gone for a one-hit kill.

Xiaoqing’s Cultivation might not have even reached the Perfection of the Qi Cultivation Stage, but it had told Jiang Zuo that its Magic was very powerful.

Jiang Zuo didn’t doubt this in the slightest.

The two storage pouches didn’t look like high-grade items; they were probably worse than the one he used.

They both required Spiritual Power to open. Jiang Zuo couldn’t use Spiritual Power, but he had Xiaoqing.

Xiaoqing crawled over and touched the storage pouches with its paw, and they opened one after the other.

’Let’s see... one has over five hundred Spirit Stones, the other has over six hundred! They should all be low-grade Spirit Stones, but even so, this seems like a fortune!’

There was nothing else in the storage pouches, only low-grade Spirit Stones.

Jiang Zuo did a quick count and was rather surprised.

He never would have guessed these two shabby-looking Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators were carrying so many Spirit Stones.

This was great. Jiang Zuo had instantly obtained over a thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. He had gathered enough Spirit Stones to upgrade the Pet Beast Spirit Garden without even having to go to the Cultivation World.

Now all he needed was to earn enough Beast Taming Reputation, and he could upgrade the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

Jiang Zuo’s intuition was correct. Several hundred low-grade Spirit Stones was a considerable sum for a Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Stage.

However, this didn’t mean the two were rich.

Taking on missions in the Mortal Territory, while not dangerous, was a thoroughly miserable job.

If they followed the usual procedures of the Cultivation Realm, they would have had to pay a considerable amount in expenses out of pocket before even completing the mission.

In the Mortal Territory, if one just stayed in one place and didn’t use Spiritual Power in daily life, they wouldn’t need many Spirit Stones to keep their Cultivation from declining over the course of a year.

But if they used Spiritual Power frequently, the rate of Spirit Stone consumption would be very high.

Moreover, missions in the Mortal Territory inevitably required using large amounts of Spiritual Power for travel. Otherwise, if they moved about like mortals, heaven only knew when they would ever complete a single mission.

Therefore, to entice people into willingly taking on these missions, the Worldwide Bank would advance a sum of Spirit Stones.

If the mission was completed successfully, whatever was left of this sum would be given to the mission-taker as a reward.

If they failed to complete it, the Worldwide Bank would have someone calculate their approximate consumption based on their activities in the Mortal Territory and have the remainder returned.

Zhu Laoqi and Zhu Shaoqing had, in fact, just completed a mission. After receiving their reward, they had immediately taken another advance from the Worldwide Bank, which was why they had so many Spirit Stones on them.

With their deaths, Jiang Zuo had stumbled upon a great windfall.

He took the Spirit Stones but didn’t intend to keep the two storage pouches, tossing them back onto the bodies.

Then, Jiang Zuo hauled a large amount of firewood over from a nearby roadside home and threw the two bodies, along with the Talismans, Magical Artifacts, and storage pouches, into the bonfire.

In the dark of night, the flames soared into the sky.

But none of the surrounding people dared to approach; having been startled awake, they only watched secretly from afar.

Jiang Zuo recalled Xiaoqing and walked over to Wen Shulin and his wife.

"Y-You’re Zhao?"

Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying hadn’t run far before the battle ended.

Seeing this, they hesitated for a moment and stopped in their tracks.

After deactivating his muscle form, Jiang Zuo returned to his normal appearance.

Compared to over twenty years ago, Jiang Zuo’s build was a size larger, but his appearance hadn’t aged much.

Looking at Jiang Zuo in the moonlight, Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying barely dared to believe it was him.

"It’s me. Do you two have any valuables at home you need to retrieve? We can’t stay here. I’m taking you with me."

Jiang Zuo nodded.

They hadn’t seen each other in over twenty years and had much to say, but now wasn’t the time for reminiscing.

"We should still have over two thousand taels of silver hidden at home..."

Zhuang Ruying said with some hesitation.

When they had first left Lizhou, they’d had much more than that.

But after being targeted by Zhu Laoqi and his partner, they had quickly spent most of their money.

Now, after having spent more than half a year in jail, they had no idea if their hidden money had already been taken.

"If there’s nothing else of exceptional value, then don’t bother going back to look. I’ve already been to your house. It’s been practically torn to pieces. The hidden money is most likely gone."

"Come with me. We can talk as we go."

Jiang Zuo nodded and led the two of them out of the small town.

Zhuang Ruying’s expression flickered when she heard her home had been dismantled.

But she quickly composed herself.

’Money is just a worldly possession; what’s lost can be earned again. It’s a blessing just to have survived this ordeal.’

’Back then, she had been so young, yet she had led the Zhuang Family to rise from the ashes. Earning enough money to support her small family now? Zhuang Ruying was confident she could do it.’

Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying, holding their child, silently walked behind Jiang Zuo.

They hadn’t seen him in over twenty years, and upon reuniting, they had so much they wanted to say.

But under the circumstances, they were at a loss for words.

This continued until they followed Jiang Zuo to the town gate.

The gate was shut tight; the city guards had gotten word long ago and fled.

Just as Wen Shulin and his wife were wondering how they would get out, Jiang Zuo threw a punch, and with a tremendous CRASH, half the gate went flying.

"Zhao, who on earth are you?"

Seeing this, Zhuang Ruying could no longer hold back her question.

’How could such a powerful person have lived by the Li River for over twenty years?’

’Back then, she’d had a vague feeling that Zhao wasn’t an ordinary person, but she had never imagined he would be this absurd.’

She and Wen Shulin had only caught a glimpse of Jiang Zuo’s battle with Zhu Laoqi and his partner just now.

Jiang Zuo’s appearance, like a god of war, had utterly stunned them.

"Me? I suppose you could call me a seeker of the Way."

Jiang Zuo understood that what Zhuang Ruying really wanted to ask about was his background.

But there wasn’t much to say about his background. Telling them would bring no benefit and only cause trouble for the people he still knew back in Red Fox Town.

"I killed the people who came looking for me this time," Jiang Zuo added. "However, I imagine more will come pursuing me in the future. Many people saw me rescue you, so they will certainly make you targets in their search."

"Regardless of what you two are thinking or why you came to this place, you’ll have to go somewhere completely unfamiliar and start a new life."

"Zhao, can we go to the place where you live?"

Wen Shulin couldn’t help but ask.

He and Zhuang Ruying had suffered a great deal over the past year and a half.

He didn’t want to go through that again.

"I have no fixed residence. I only saved you this time because I happened to be passing through and saw the wanted poster. But you two don’t need to worry too much. I will take you to a completely unfamiliar place and guarantee no one will be able to follow!"

Jiang Zuo said reassuringly, speaking from ample experience.

Just as Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying were wondering how Jiang Zuo could guarantee no one would follow, he grabbed one in each hand, lifted them up like children, and sat them on his shoulders, one on the left and one on the right.

Then, Jiang Zuo broke into a sprint, dashing into the remote mountains and untamed wilds.

At first, the two were a bit unsettled and held on tightly, worried that their child might fall.

Later, when they realized the ride was surprisingly stable, they gradually relaxed.

Jiang Zuo ran like this all through the night. He only stopped in the morning when Wen Shulin’s child, who was a little over three years old, woke up. Then, he took various items from his storage pouch, started a fire, and made breakfast.

Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying were amazed to see Jiang Zuo conjure a large pile of things out of thin air, but they didn’t ask any questions.

Jiang Zuo, for his part, wasn’t afraid of them knowing. He took the initiative to tell them that the two men from the previous night were Cultivators and shared some details about the Cultivation Realm.

He also mentioned these things to remind them to be cautious, even when they started their new lives in a new place.

Hearing about the Cultivation Realm, both Wen Shulin and his wife couldn’t help but be captivated by the thought of it.

After breakfast, the couple gradually rediscovered the familiar feeling of their time by the Li River and were no longer so reserved.

The difference was that while Jiang Zuo had barely changed, they now looked middle-aged, almost as old as he appeared.

When Jiang Zuo learned that they had given up everything and left Lizhou for the sake of a promise made over twenty years ago, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration.

Jiang Zuo had never experienced true love and probably never would.

But that didn’t stop him from appreciating the idea of it.

After breakfast, they resumed their journey. The three-year-old sat perched high up, squealing with delight as he watched the trees rush past.

Jiang Zuo had a blanket in his storage pouch, which he let Wen Shulin and his family use when they rested at night. As for himself, he could simply sit like a monk in meditation to sleep and recover his energy.

In this manner, Jiang Zuo carried the three of them as he ran nonstop through desolate mountains and untrodden wilds for over a month.

One day, Jiang Zuo brought the three of them to a stop atop a high mountain peak. As they gazed into the distance, they could see a boundless, azure sea stretching out before them.

"We’ve been heading east this whole time. Could this be the legendary East Sea?"

Wen Shulin stared in awe at the vast expanse of the ocean.

In the distance, he could faintly make out scattered fishing boats on the surface, along with plenty of seagulls circling overhead.

"I heard it snows here in the winter, and that it gets very cold."

Zhuang Ruying was both expectant and worried.

Lizhou was like spring all year round, with no harsh weather.

Zhuang Ruying had never seen snow, but through her business dealings, she had met people from all over and had heard many stories about it.

She had long been looking forward to seeing snow for herself.

’The seaside, huh? This seems pretty good.’

Jiang Zuo hadn’t expected to run all the way to the East Sea. He recalled the Sea Turtle Shell, an Obsession Relic he possessed, which required him to observe the changing of the four seasons by the sea.

This meant it was the perfect opportunity to fulfill its obsession and obtain the Beast Pattern.