Chapter 172: 172, Rules of the wilderness! (Fourth update, requesting monthly votes)

As Luo Ran had anticipated, those who coveted the black medicine in Ren Xiao Shi's possession would not simply give up because of Lu Yuan's intervention.

The effects of the black medicine had gradually spread within the Barrier, with people streaming in daily to seek it at the shop. If it were merely the original efficacy of the black medicine, it might not have driven people to such madness, but its ability to cure infertility was nothing short of miraculous.

Though Wang Fu Gui had never acknowledged this effect, most visitors now came specifically for this purpose.

Whether due to the lingering impact of past calamities, the number of infertile humans had grown increasingly, and this was the market for the black medicine.

While the market of a single Barrier might be relatively small, many medium-sized companies within the Barrier had long possessed the capability to sell the medicine to other Barriers. At the very least, Li's control over a dozen Barriers posed no problem.

If one mastered the formula of this black medicine, their pharmaceutical company would control an endless source of wealth.

Who would refuse more money?

Early that morning, Ren Xiao Shi went to school to continue his exams, while Wang Fu Gui, seeing that it was not yet the weekly medicine-selling time, ventured out to inspect the bicycle market outside, as Ren Xiao Shi had instructed him to purchase a bicycle.

After all, the master had spoken, and the shopkeeper must be diligent.

Xiao Yu Jie also informed Chen Wu Di to look after the shop before going out to buy vegetables, intending to stew some bone soup for Ren Xiao Shi and the others that evening, as there were many family members in need of growing taller, and she had to ensure the nutrition from her cooking kept up.

However, in the morning, several people in large red uniforms suddenly arrived at the shop, where they found Chen Wu Di lounging with his legs crossed: "Who is Wang Fu Gui?"

Chen Wu Di glanced at them: "What do you want with him?"

"We are from the Barrier Law Office. I am Chen Bohan. Someone has accused Wang Fu Gui of unfair commercial competition, and we are here to deliver a court summons," the man in the red uniform said.

Chen Wu Di was taken aback: "What does unfair commercial competition mean?"

"You'll find out in our court," Chen Bohan of the Law Office glanced at Chen Wu Di: "You're not Wang Fu Gui, are you? A proxy signature is acceptable, but this 'court summons' must be signed by a direct blood relative. Are you his direct blood relative?"

"I am," Chen Wu Di replied.

"Oh, then sign here," Chen Bohan handed Chen Wu Di a pen: "What is your relationship to the defendant?"

Chen Wu Di said, "I am his elder martial brother, Chen Wu Di."

Chen Bohan: "???"

As he spoke, Chen Bohan snatched the summons back: "What nonsense is this? An elder martial brother is not a direct blood relative. What are you up to here?"

Chen Wu Di was not pleased: "What did I do? The four of us are like a family. How is that not a direct blood relative?"

The Law Office's Chen Bohan was flustered for a long time before explaining: "Direct blood relatives are not defined that way. Wang Da Long is Wang Fu Gui's direct blood relative, not you."

Chen Wu Di thought for a long time and became even more confused: "What difference does it make? Wang Da Long is our third martial brother. If the third martial brother is a direct blood relative, how is the elder martial brother not?"

Chen Bohan: "???"

What a mess!

This left Chen Bohan so exasperated that he turned and left, feeling that he and Chen Wu Di could not possibly explain things clearly.

That evening, upon learning of the incident, Ren Xiao Shi furrowed his brow. In that moment, he suddenly felt somewhat out of place in this bustling Barrier.

When they first entered the Barrier, the people on the tram had all gotten off because they were refugees.

When they first entered the school, the parents of students had wanted him to transfer due to his status as a refugee.

Now, their shop had just begun to thrive, and those in power within the Barrier sought to use the Barrier's rules to force them to hand over the black medicine formula, threatening imprisonment and ruin otherwise.

Once, Ren Xiao Shi had yearned for the Barrier, but now, like Yan Liu Yuan, he wished to leave.

The longer he lived within the Barrier, the more Ren Xiao Shi felt that life here was not as free as the wilderness.

Sometimes, Ren Xiao Shi wondered if he could establish a home of his own.

No, he did not yet have such capability.

But Ren Xiao Shi had never been a coward. Since he understood nothing of the Barrier's rules, he would use his own rules to solve the problem.

Ren Xiao Shi told Wang Fu Gui, "If another summons comes, accept it first. Go to the Law Office and see what's going on. Find out who is behind this. The rest, I will handle."

"Will there be any problems?" Wang Fu Gui asked worriedly.

"No," Ren Xiao Shi smiled. Hadn't Luo Ran said that the Li Consortium was too preoccupied to bother with such minor matters?

At this moment, in the eyes of the wealthy, Wang Fu Gui and Ren Xiao Shi were merely a group of refugees who had just entered the Barrier. Though they had Lu Yuan and Luo Ran's protection, this was Li's territory!

But what they did not know was that the perpetrator of the tragic annihilation of the Ling Chen Squad the previous night was the owner of this very shop.

By now, the annihilation of the Ling Chen Squad had already caused a stir among the upper echelons of the Consortium. The on-site investigation revealed that only two individuals had fought against Ling Chen at the time, one of whom was capable of facing Ling Chen's three-person team alone.

Ling Chen was already quite famous, and now there was a transcendent being who had crushed his squad. The key was that no one knew who this person was.

At this moment, the devil whisperer Li Shen Ta sat in a small shop eating noodles with the departed one, while nearby people discussed the events of the previous night.

The Order Office had not kept the matter secret, so news spread rapidly. Previously, transcendent beings had seemed somewhat distant to ordinary people, but after that night, they felt much closer.

A middle-aged man at a neighboring table drinking wine mysteriously said, "They say no one knows who did it. The culprit hasn't even been found."

"How cruel, to kill so many people at once," someone sighed.

"You don't understand. The Huo Zhi Company isn't any good either," the middle-aged man sneered. "A friend of mine told me that the explosion case from a while back was their doing."

At this moment, Li Shen Ta smiled and said to the girl, "It should be that Ren Xiao Shi."

"You know it's him? How?" the departed one blinked curiously.

"There are only so many transcendent beings in the Barrier. If it's not him, then who else could it be?" Li Shen Ta's smile was radiant, and others would never guess that he was the devil whisperer who made the major Consortiums uneasy. He continued, "See, I told you he's impressive."

"Because you can't hypnotize him?" the departed one asked curiously.

"No, no, I haven't tried to hypnotize him," Li Shen Ta laughed. "It's because my intuition tells me that if I hypnotize him, the one who falls asleep might be me. Of course, it's just intuition."

"Should I kill him?" the departed one asked with a naive tone, seemingly without any sense of good or evil, the words of murderous intent contrasting sharply with her adorable face.

Li Shen Ta shook his head. "Why kill him? Have you forgotten? We just became friends with him."

"Oh right," the departed one nodded. "We're friends now."

"Besides, you might not even be able to defeat him," Li Shen Ta sighed.

...

This chapter is a 5000-vote add-on.