Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

Just as the guests took their seats, some chatted animatedly, while others took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Shen Tu Rong and curry favor with him.

A group of bodyguards dressed in bodyguard uniforms carried four huge boxes and arrived at the gate of Shentu's mansion.

"We have been entrusted to come and present a birthday gift to Elder Chief Shen Tu!"

The lead镖师 (bodyguard/escort) put down the box at the door, cupped his hands, and loudly congratulated them.

"Oh? Who entrusted you with this? What kind of birthday gift is it?" the greeter asked in surprise.

Perhaps it was because these four large boxes were too special, with seals on them and escorted by bodyguards, that they immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

"I don't know who that person is. He was about seventy years old. He called himself a fisherman and said that the gift he was giving was called 'fat fish,' each weighing more than two hundred catties."

"The fisherman once said that this item was extraordinary and needed to be opened by the old gang leader Shen Tu himself."

The bodyguard answered awkwardly, admitting that he himself was a bit confused.

This morning, before dawn, an old man came to the security escort agency.

The old man claimed he wanted to present a gift to Shen Tu Rong on his 80th birthday and offered them a large sum of money to help escort it.

The wooden box was sealed with a tape, and it said it contained some kind of fat bream, so he didn't dare to open it to check.

As soon as the bodyguard finished speaking, all the guests and members of the Slaughter Gang were completely dumbfounded.

"Fat croaker? I've never heard of this kind of fish before."

"Each one weighs 200 pounds? Really?"

"I'm more curious why the person giving the gift doesn't dare to show their face, calling themselves a fisherman and using someone else to present the gift?"

All eyes immediately turned to them.

Shen Tu Rong also looked over, his eyes slightly narrowed, like a lion poised to pounce.

"Oh? What kind of birthday gift requires me to open it personally?"

The bodyguard broke out in a cold sweat, feeling immense pressure.

I wish I hadn't taken this order; the person offered way too much...

Shen Tu Rong slowly walked up to the four large wooden boxes. The boxes were sealed, and it was unknown what was inside.

Fat croaker?

Shen Tu Rong had lived most of his life and had never heard of him.

A bloody smell wafted from inside the wooden crate, but it wasn't as foul as fish...

Shen Tu Rong's eyelids twitched, a sense of foreboding washing over him. He gave an order to his men and said in a deep voice:

“Unboxing!”

Several gang members rushed forward, tore off the seal, and abruptly opened the wooden crate!

"Ah!!! This...this..."

Four obese human corpses lay stiffly in the wooden box, their mouths pierced by iron hooks, their faces contorted as if they had died with their eyes wide open.

The crowd around them screamed in terror and scattered.

"They're the missing gang leaders!"

"Another person has died in the slaughterhouse gang! Is there really a water ghost coming to claim their life?!"

The gruesome state of the corpse in the wooden box terrified the guests who had come to offer their birthday wishes, turning them pale with fright.

They fled in terror, as if their pants were wet with sweat, fearing they might be tainted by bad luck.

Shen Tu Rong's face was ashen, his eyes wide with rage as he glared at the镖局镖师 (bodyguard/escort agency) in front of him, and roared:

"How dare you!! Take him down!"

The bodyguards' expressions changed drastically, and they all cried out that they were innocent.

"Old Chief, we're innocent! We were just escorting goods for someone, we had no idea what was in this box!"

Unfortunately, the members of the slaughter gang did not listen to their explanation and directly captured the men, intending to deal with them.

But then a deep, weathered laugh echoed from outside the mansion, reaching the ears of everyone present.

"Hahaha, old gang leader Shentu, are you satisfied with this generous gift from me?"

Hearing the sound, everyone looked over and saw a path parting in the crowd.

An elderly man wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat was walking slowly towards them.

Facing Shen Tu Rong's murderous gaze, everyone retreated, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

The old man remained unhurried as he stepped into the Shentu mansion.

"You're the fisherman?"

Shen Tu Rong waved his hand, and a group of members of the Slaughter Gang immediately surrounded him.

Lu Zaian laughed heartily, his expression remaining calm, and nodded, saying:

"It's the old man."

Seeing this, Shen Tu Rong wondered what the old man was relying on to dare to openly provoke him. He quickly decided to have his men test him.

"Charge him! Take him down! A thousand taels of gold, and he'll be promoted to big boss!"

"Yes!!"

"Kill him! Kill this old bastard!"

Upon hearing the reward, the members of the Slaughter Gang were as if they had been injected with chicken blood. They roared and pounced on Lu Zaian like wild dogs pouncing on their prey!

Lu Zaian's expression turned cold. He took off his bamboo hat and infused it with magic power. A ring of tiny serrations condensed on the edge of the hat, which he then casually tossed forward!

“Swish, swish, swish!!”

The straw hat spun and danced, leaving afterimages, like a blood-soaked flying guillotine...

In the blink of an eye, the butchers surrounding Lu Zaian fell down like wheat being harvested, leaving only gushing streams of blood from their necks!

The hat spun around and flew back into Lu Zaian's hand, with blood still dripping from the edge of the hat.

The world suddenly became quiet.

next moment,

"Aaaaaah! A ghost! What kind of sorcery is this?!"

A scream suddenly rang out!

These pampered guests had never seen such a bloody killing scene before, and they actually believed the rumor was true—that a water ghost had come to claim the lives of the slaughter gang.

Chaos erupted in the courtyard as guests scrambled to get out of the doors.

As they ran out, some accidentally stepped on the still-bleeding corpses, which terrified them so much that their legs gave way and they collapsed to the ground.

Even so, they had to dig their way out by scratching the ground with their hands.

Cultivating connections is important, but one's own life is even more crucial...

Shen Tu Xiong and Shen Tu Rong were also startled. They didn't even see the fisherman's movements before all the gang members fell down.

"I come!"

Shen Tu Xiong refused to believe in evil spirits and took two butcher knives that were as thick as door panels from his subordinates.

Crimson stains solidified on the blades. These two butcher knives had been used by Shen Tu Xiong for many years, drinking countless mouths of blood, from livestock to humans.

"Hiss, that's Shen Tu Xiong's boning knife! The fisherman is definitely going to die now!"

"I heard that when Shen Tu Xiong was fighting the Blackwater Gang for territory, he personally took action. With two boning knives flying up and down, he dismembered and pulled out the tendons of more than ten people. Their deaths were gruesome!"

The guests and gang members who had not yet escaped whispered among themselves, now believing that Lu Zaian was surely dead.

Shen Tu Xiong carried two boning knives. His two-meter-tall figure was indeed as strong as a bear. He was more than twice as tall as Lu Zai'an's hunched figure, and he looked very imposing.

"Take this! Die!"

Shen Tu Xiong's face was contorted with rage as he brandished two boning knives the size of door panels and slammed them down on Lu Zai'an's face!

If those two stabs had landed, Lu Zaian would probably have been turned into three pieces of minced meat!

"A fat pig, all you do is squeal and yell because you have a little brute strength?!"

Lu Zaian was already a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining, so he was naturally not afraid of the brute force of this mortal.

Lu Zaian threw off his straw hat, waved his left hand, and a bright blue water sword flew out from under his thick raincoat, aiming straight for Shen Tu Xiong's neck!

"Bah!"

Shen Tu Xiong was so frightened that he didn't even see where the fisherman had pulled out his weapon.

In his haste, he had no choice but to use the two boning knives as shields to block the water sword.

"Clang!"

The boning knife, forged from solid iron, shattered instantly!

Shen Tu Xiong's tiger's mouth was also torn open, and blood gushed out instantly, but he managed to block the attack.

"Oh? You do have some skill. How about this?"

Lu Zaian waved his hand again, and three water swords flew out instantly, forming a triangular shape to seal off Shen Tu Xiong's body!

Shen Tu Xiong knew he was no match for the fisherman before him; this fisherman was no longer human!

He suddenly fell backward with a loud shout.

"Father, save me!"