Eight years as a mercenary transformed him from a naive youth to a robust man.
Despite the unbearable ordeal in Dan Demon Tomb that cost him his right arm, Feng Buhui did not fall into despair after returning to the small town. He gave all his Gold Coins from retiring to his mother and took over the family’s blacksmith shop left by his father.
His right hand was gone, but his left hand was still capable; within a month, Feng Buhui learned how to wield a hammer with his left hand, forging hoes, plow tools, and hunters’ bows and arrows for the villagers.
Whenever hunters came to retrieve their bows, Feng Buhui would pause in a daze, and afterward, when back home, he would sit in front of his bed, take out the crossbow modified for him by Yue Jinghua, and caress it for a good while.
That day, like usual, he was crafting a plow for spring farming.
Old Li, a neighbor working as a constable in town, walked over, "Buhui, you have a letter."
In small towns like Fenglinwan, there was no post station, so all the mails were sent to the government office in the city.
Feng Buhui was curious about who sent him the letter.
After leaving the Rebellion Mercenary Group, he had not told anyone his whereabouts, except for Yue Jinghua and Ni Huo.
After reading the letter, Feng Buhui’s heart skipped a beat, and a foreboding feeling enveloped him.
He immediately stopped his work, notified Old Li with a word, and headed home.
He had only taken a few steps when he saw his little brother bounding over happily, smiling when he saw him: "Brother Buhui, there’s a visitor at home, a red-haired big brother is looking for you."
Red hair? Could it be Ni Qianjun returning? Feng Buhui felt somewhat reassured as he hurried home.
Upon entering his small courtyard, he saw a tall and burly figure, with a head of red hair flaring like flames.
The man turned around, and Feng Buhui gasped, "Captain!"
"Buhui, how come you don’t recognize your captain after leaving Ni Huo? I haven’t seen you for many days, and happened to pass by Fenglinwan, heard you were from this town, so I came to visit. This place is nice, with clear mountains and rivers, it’s a good place," the person turned out to be Ni Huo, the captain of the Rebellion Mercenary Group.
While talking, Ni Huo took the tea his mother handed him.
Knowing that the captain of a famous mercenary group on the continent had personally visited the small town, all the townspeople, children, and adults alike, gathered around.
Feng Buhui never expected the captain to visit personally and recalled the letter brought by Yue Jinghua; he already guessed the captain’s intention.
"Captain, did you come because of the Devil Crystal matter?" Feng Buhui knew Ni Huo; he would not visit a useless old subordinate personally, especially since he had defied him on Fire Dragon Sail for Master Yue’s sake.
"Hehe, indeed, I came for the crystal matter, not to hide from you, just a few days ago, several of our brothers met with accidents, all related to the crystal. I heard from Qian Jun that the crystals were obtained by you from someone else, tell me, who gave you these crystals?" Ni Huo laughed heartily, then glanced around inside and outside the house with a slight frown.
Feng Buhui’s heart clenched.
He was silent, stood up, and went inside the house. He took out an Iron Box and said softly, "Captain, indeed, I was the one who distributed those crystals. As for who gave them to me," he looked outside as if making a difficult decision, "there are too many people here, it’s not a good place to talk, let’s go outside."
Ni Huo, unconcerned, also stood up and followed Feng Buhui out of the house.
Before they left, Feng Buhui’s little brother called out from behind, "Brother Buhui, mom says come home early for dinner, we’re having your favorite saltwater chicken tonight."
"Eh," Feng Buhui replied without looking back, and continued walking forward with Ni Huo.
The two walked in silence, not speaking again until they reached the woods outside the town of Fenglinwan.
Chi Huo finally spoke, stopping Feng Buhui, "Buhui, if we keep walking we’ll end up in the mountains, there’s nobody around here now. You should tell me, where did you obtain the Devil Crystals?"
"Alright, I’ll tell you now," Feng Buhui’s voice was somewhat obscure. He suddenly turned around, his crossbow already cocked in his hand, aimed at Ni Huo.
His left hand, unused to the crossbow, trembled slightly. But soon, he calmed down. A breeze blew through the forest, and Feng Buhui used the Yue Jinghua-modified crossbow comfortably with his left hand.
Seeing Feng Buhui suddenly turn against him, Ni Huo was not very surprised; he smiled and asked, "Buhui, what are you doing?"
"Stop pretending, you are not the captain," Feng Buhui shifted his feet, finding the best shooting position, "I never mentioned my hometown to the captain. Qian Jun couldn’t have told you about the Devil Crystals given by me."
In fact, to protect Yue Jinghua, before going out for trials, Ni Qianjun had repeatedly insisted to Feng Buhui that they maintain a consistent story, even in front of the captain, that the crystals had been retrieved by Qian Jun.
Moreover, the captain he knew, though strict, would never speak cheerily of other mercenaries’ deaths.
"Hehe, it seems the Rebellion Mercenary Group still has some reputation. You are the fastest among these mercenaries to discern my identity; the others, even until their dying moments, thought they were killed by their comrades," a terrifying dry laugh echoed, the man, looking almost identical to Ni Huo, his figure dramatically changing, his clothing bursting open.