Chapter 323: 316 Blood Silkworm_1
In this cruel world, womanly compassion has no place, let alone the right to survive.
After slaughtering more than three hundred people from the He Family, young and old, he also seized all their land deeds, house deeds, even including some assets within the city.
However, this didn’t mean he could just take possession of the He Family’s land and property.
Because the deeds had names on them and transaction details.
Without transferring the ownership, the assets still belonged to the He Family.
Were these land deeds and house deeds of any use?
Naturally, they were useful.
As long as he controlled an heir from the He Family, then he could legally transfer all these properties and lands to himself.
If his Divine Skills were a bit more formidable, he could even pawn them directly at a black market pawnshop.
However, that would be incredibly disadvantageous.
Because the market price of one mu of good farmland was eleven taels of silver, and at most, pawnshops would give two or three taels.
At this moment, Qin Niu had captured the second brother among the seven sons of the He Family to use as a puppet.
Six of the He Family’s seven sons lived in the countryside, only the third brother lived in the city, narrowly escaping disaster.
The fourth of the He Family had already been slaughtered by Qin Niu.
The remaining eldest brother, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh brother of the He Family all fell victim to his poisonous hand. It was unclear whether it was a family trait or something else, but each of the seven brothers was more cowardly than the last.
Every single one of them loved life and feared death.
At this moment, the second brother of the He Family acted like a servant, meekly leading Qin Niu into the ancestral hall of the He Family.
And he even opened the secret chamber’s door.
This mechanism door was concealed behind a shadow wall in the ancestral hall, very hidden. Moreover, it was rigged with a mechanism. If not for the second brother leading the way and opening the mechanism, it would have been very difficult for Qin Niu to enter.
In order to survive, this fellow was willing to do anything.
“Do the innate realm experts of your He Family typically cultivate here?”
Qin Niu’s gaze swept over the room, noticing that the secret chamber was elegantly arranged, with a Luminous Pearl embedded in the ceiling, brightening the interior as if it were daylight.
There were only three meditation mats inside, indicating that typically only three people meditated in silence there.
“Yes, our He Family’s ancestors and others would meditate here in silence. There’s also an innate realm expert who is not surnamed He; he doesn’t cultivate here regularly.”
The second brother of the He Family did not dare to conceal anything.
“Is Uncle Qiong not surnamed He?”
Qin Niu inquired.
“Correct, he was originally a family slave of our He Family. He has great talent and through cultivation, eventually broke through to the innate realm.”
“Where does your He Family store cultivation resources? Like elixirs, medicinal herbs, equipment, and such?”
“The better medicinal herbs are all planted behind the ancestral hall; none of the herbs are particularly old. As for equipment, everyone usually wears it or keeps it for themselves. The best item is a Spirit Serpent Sword, which even an average acquired realm expert can use to bring out its Sword Qi.
It should have always been in the hands of our He Family’s ancestor.”
The second brother of the He Family knew quite a lot.
“Very good, you are very honest. Now that the eldest brother of the He Family is dead, you are the eldest. As long as you obey, I will support you to become the new head of the He Family.”
Qin Niu was somewhat satisfied with this man’s performance.
The second brother of the He Family was already forty-seven or forty-eight years old, with a wife and children living in the city, who temporarily managed to escape disaster.
But his concubine was directly slaughtered by Qin Niu with a single stroke.
How laughable it was that when the second brother of the He Family was holding his concubine in his arms asleep, he was so frightened upon discovering Qin Niu barging in with a bloodied sword that he repeatedly kowtowed, and even actively offered his concubine to Qin Niu for his pleasure.
But Qin Niu was not interested in that sort of enjoyment, and without any mercy, he killed the well-bodied, fair-skinned concubine.
It was truly extreme.
To witness his concubine die so miserably, yet the second brother of the He Family showed scarcely any grief or anger. He merely kept kowtowing, begging Qin Niu for his life.
Later, under this man’s leadership, Qin Niu killed many more of the He Family.
One really has to wonder what he was thinking.
Any man with a semblance of backbone couldn’t possibly commit such acts.
“He Xin expresses his gratitude to Master Qin for your heavenly grace, from now on, I, the second elder of the He Family, am your servant, Master Qin. Should you point east, I dare not go west.”
The second elder knelt down with his forehead touching the ground.
This man was truly born to be a servant.
“Haha, very good! Rise! As long as you obey, not only will I help you become the head of the He Family, but I will also help you eliminate all those in the He Family who dare to oppose you.”
Qin Niu began to search for treasures in the secret chamber.
He only found six boxes of gold, silver, and jewels, and did not find any other treasures.
Logically, there should have been Cultivation Techniques or something of the sort.
Qin Niu had already searched the bodies of the He Family’s ancestor and another strong individual from the Innate Realm but had not found any Cultivation Techniques or martial skills.
The Cultivation Techniques were either taken by the remaining Innate Realm individual of the He Family or hidden somewhere else.
“Where is your He Family’s Cultivation Technique practiced?”
“It is all passed down verbally and by heart from our elders; I have never seen the actual manuscript.”
The second elder answered.
“Is this the only secret chamber of the He Family?”
“There are some small private chambers built by our clansmen, but this is the only large secret chamber of our family.”
“Okay.”
Qin Niu nodded and started tapping around to examine the secret chamber.
He didn’t find anything.
The incense burner on the desk caught Qin Niu’s attention.
Worshipping ancestors is generally done in the ancestral hall outside the chamber, there is no need for another burner inside the chamber.
This incense burner was not used for scenting incense because it was quite large in diameter, over half a foot.
A typical burner used for scenting incense is usually only the size of a palm.
Such a large burner is commonly used in temples for offering incense and also by wealthy families for worship.
Qin Niu tried to pick up the incense burner.
To his surprise, it was integrated with the desk, immovable.
There must be a trick to it.
He tried to rotate it, and this time it moved.
Afterward, there was a click, and a secret door on the wall behind the desk automatically opened.
This secret door was made of thick black iron and was covered on the outside with bricks.
No wonder, even with tapping, no hollow sound suggesting a cavity was detected.
The secret door was not large, and the space inside was tiny, barely a foot square.
Everything could be seen at a glance.
An ancient scroll came into view, and there was also a small box, resembling a shrine, made entirely of cold jade. Its exterior had a crystal cover, allowing one to see a dark red cocoon inside.
The cocoon was only slightly thicker than a thumb.
But it was over four inches long.
Many insects can spin cocoons, including silkworms, all hairy caterpillars, adult Phoenix Eye butterflies, and so on. They all cocoon themselves at their third stage of growth.
Just to one day emerge as butterflies.
“Which Insect Master of your He Family raised this insect?”
Qin Niu watched for any changes in the second elder’s expression.
The second elder showed a look of surprise when he saw the cocoon.
The man either truly lacked knowledge or his acting was impeccable.
“I’ve only heard that our He Family fortuitously acquired a Blood Silkworm, which is said to possess the bloodline of an ancestral silkworm. The silk it spins can be used to weave Blood Armor. This kind of secret is not known to me or to my several brothers, only our He Family ancestor knew.”
The second elder revealed a secret of the He Family.
The ancestral silkworm probably refers to the first silkworm raised by the mythical sericulture pioneer Leizu, also known as Leizu’s original silkworm.