The Demon Slayer Martial Saint Begins with Insect Refining

Chapter 26: Insect Tracks
"I'm lucky enough to have achieved a minor breakthrough."

After Su Yan answered this, Xu Guan came forward to help.

His aura suddenly changed, his muscles tensed, and his slender claws grabbed towards Su Yan like eagle claws.

Su Yan's expression changed. He stood up, swung his arms, and gathered the strength in his palms. He immediately used the move of Old Ape Supporting the Mountain to defend.

One claw and one support collided together.

He immediately felt a huge force coming at him, and with the strength of his arms, he was defeated.

Once the stance was released, he took two steps back, and only then was the force released.

His arms were numb from the shock, but Xu Guan's eagle aura retracted and he laughed heartily: "As expected, you have made some progress in skin refining. Fang Hu Fang, Su Yan's capitation tax does not need to be collected anymore."

Fang Xueyun smiled and nodded, agreeing, "That's right. He's truly a heroic young man."

"Thank you, Captain Xu."

Su Yan didn't have to pay taxes, so he naturally returned to the crowd, but he was extremely confused.

"Xu Guan's move was just a test, he didn't really want to hurt me, but how could I, with my limited level of skin refining, be in his eyes? Why is that?"

While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a cry: "Master Hufang, our head of the household was injured while picking red mushrooms in the mountains the day before yesterday. He can only collect six coins of silver. Please, please give us a few days."

Su Yan's thoughts were interrupted by the crying sound. He looked over and found that the person crying was from Guo Yun's family.

The woman was so anxious that she burst into tears. The clerk said coldly, "According to the Dali law, those who do not pay the capitation tax must serve hard labor. If I forgive you, what about others? Wouldn't everyone be subject to the same fate?"

The clerk has seen this kind of situation where people are unable to pay taxes countless times, so naturally he will not show mercy.

The headman opened his mouth but could not utter a word. Not long after the summer tax, the Lin family would collect the mountain tax. In addition, the family needed to prepare money for living. Who could fill the hole for Guo Yun's family?
Summer tax paid? What about the mountain money?
It’s not that Guo Yun couldn’t raise the money right away, but that he was injured.

"I'll pay for the remaining four coins."

When Su Yan's voice came, everyone was shocked.

Yes, Yan'er hunted a tiger yesterday and had some money, but doesn't he want to practice martial arts?
Everyone looked at Su Yan as he came over and threw the one or two taels of silver that had just been left in his hand into the wooden box.

The clerk was stunned and ticked Guo Yun's name.

"Thank him now."

After he said that, Guo Yun's wife immediately knelt down and kowtowed, making loud knocks, until her forehead was covered with dirt.

The people around her, including Su Yan, helped her up: "Aunt, I've received help from Uncle Guo Yun before, there's no need for this."

"Thank you, Brother Yan. I will pay you back even if I have to sell everything I have."

Others may not know, but as Guo Yun’s wife, doesn’t she know?
It is true that Guo Yun helped Su Yan a little, but later Su Yan paid it back with several Danzhi nests and made a lot of money.

If Guo Yun had not been injured and his life had not been saved, and the family's money had not been used up, how could it have come to this?

Now Su Yan is still willing to help, which is a great favor.

After the incident with Guo Yun's family, every other household made preparations. Although they had to work hard to scrape together money, it was still considered paying taxes.

Fang Xueyun, together with the clerks and servants, packed the silver into boxes and prepared to transport it back to the yamen.

Xu Guan and other constables were also preparing to leave.

But before leaving, he suddenly said, "The body-tempering auxiliary skills of the inner sect of the Golden Ape Martial Arts School are quite good. If you have nowhere else to go after leaving the inner sect, why not come to the government office and try it?"

After saying that, Xu Guan strode away, leaving Su Yan stunned.

After Xu Guan and his companions left Yunqian Village and could no longer see the village entrance, one of the yamen runners finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Boss, Su Yan has only achieved a minor level of skin refining, and many of our brothers are also like him. Why is that?"

"Why?"

Xu Guan smiled and glanced at the yamen runner. He had more than a hundred yamen runners under his command, and there were forty or fifty of them listed in the roster, officially called constables. There were indeed quite a few warriors in the Skin Refining Realm.

However, it is different from Su Yan.

He just raised his eyebrows slightly: "You dare to fight a tiger with your minor skin refining skills?"

The bailiff was speechless.

"Can you enter the door in ten days, fight your way through the barriers and reach minor success?"

"How can it be?!"

The bailiff's eyes widened, but Xu Guan did not answer. He squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and leaped to the front of the team.

The yamen runners didn't know, but he had a more comprehensive understanding.

He had his own informant in the martial arts school, and it happened that Su Yan's martial arts school defeated Wei Kang.

There were also yamen runners in the Shanji market, and they knew when he would return to the Shanji and when he would fight the vicious tiger in the mountains.

These three things actually happened within three or four days, and Su Yan's progress from entry level to minor success also took place within these three or four days.

If a young man like this had the right resources, he would definitely reach the Muscle and Bone Realm, and perhaps even the Blood Moving Realm. If someone hadn't seen Su Yan in the Shanji Market that day, he would have thought that he had killed Niu Han as well.

Strange insects in the mountains came down and killed several people. This situation has not been seen in many years.

However, maybe it was Pang Tianfeng who did it.

On the other hand, after Xu Guan and the others left, each household went home to prepare for work tomorrow.

Those who need to go to the mountains should go to the mountains, and those who need to go to the fields should go to the fields.

But just as Su Yan was about to leave, Guo Yun's wife grabbed his sleeve and stuffed six coins of silver into his hand.

"Brother Yan, I only have six coins now. I'll find a way to pay you back when the head of the household gets better."

“No need to do that”

Su Yan stuffed the six coins back into the bag, but he was puzzled: "Didn't Uncle Guo Yun pick Danzhi? How could he be injured?"

Su Yan had seen Danzhi's nest before. It was located among old tree stumps, bushes and weeds, and was not a dangerous place.

If we only pick the Danzhi from these tree stumps and fallen trees, I think nothing unexpected will happen.

Guo Yun's wife said, "Somehow, when they were trying to pick Danzhi that day, they were burned by a fire-breathing insect. Not only him, but also several people who went into the mountains with him also injured their hands, but it was not serious."

Su Yan's eyes flickered: "Bugs?"

"Doctor Du said it might be an alien insect. If we hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid we would have lost our lives."

"Aunt, take me to see Uncle Guo Yun."

Guo Yun's wife didn't think much about it. She was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Brother Yan is thoughtful."

She led Su Yan to her home, where her son was drying the mountain products he had found in the yard.

"Aniang"

When the child saw his mother coming back, he cried out, and when he saw Su Yan, he immediately showed a look of fear.

"Call me brother Yan!"

"Brother Yan"

She took Su Yan into the house. Inside the simple room, there was a bamboo bed by the window. Guo Yun was lying on it, covered with a quilt, with his right arm exposed and wrapped in a layer of herbs.

At the junction of the herbal covering and the base of the arm, charred skin was faintly visible.

"A Xiu, that's Xia Shuiyan, Yan Ge'er"

Guo Yun was worried, but suddenly saw Su Yan coming and wanted to get up a little.

"Don't move."

Zheng Xiu immediately went over and supported him: "Brother Yan lent us a hand and lent us a tael of silver."

"Thank you, thank you Brother Yan."

Guo Yun was stunned and thanked him quickly. If he couldn't pay the tax in his current condition, he would be sentenced to death for hard labor. Even if he didn't go, Zheng Xiu would have a hard time going if she did.

"Uncle Guo Yun, let me take a look at your injuries."

Su Yan greeted and walked to Guo Yun's side.

"Brother Yan is a capable man, just take a look."

He stretched out his hand, but very reluctantly. Su Yan took a look and saw that one of his arms looked as if it had been burned, charred black and a little festering.

'Fire poison, not just ordinary flames.'

Su Yan's eyes moved slightly. He had been able to identify medicines for some time, and he had also controlled the Yinshui Centipede to search for countless poisonous creatures. As soon as he came into contact with them, he felt something was wrong.

"It really is the Zerg."

He put the arm back in place and took out ten taels of silver. "Auntie, this is a fire poison injury. I'm afraid these skin-healing herbs alone won't be very effective and will leave sequelae. Go to Baicaotang and buy some Qingzhao Powder, which can dispel the fire poison. Send some to the other families as well."

"How can this be possible?"

Ten taels of silver is not a small amount of money.

"If Second Uncle hadn't been injured, I'm afraid he would have been in trouble too. You all have prevented the disaster, so consider this as a thank you."

"A Xiu, if Brother Yan tells you to do so, just go."

Guo Yun suddenly spoke, and Zheng Xiu nodded: "Brother Yan, please sit down for a moment. I'll ask Brother Zheng to take me to the city."

Zheng Xiu left in a hurry, anxious to save her husband.

As soon as she left, Guo Yun said, "Guo Yun thanks Brother Yan for saving my life. That insect must be a strange insect. It might be helpful to Brother Yan. It's in the Danzhi nest at the junction of the mountains and the countryside."

(End of this chapter)