As Duncan's qi started getting purified slowly, the impurities in his body started being forced out by the dense spirit energy in the wine. Duncan's qi began to become more and more dense and refined as time passed.
The shaky foundation in his body stabilized as time passed. But, the dense spirit energy in the wine wasn't done yet. As Duncan slept, his cultivation also started to rise slowly and settled halfway to the fifth level.
Unbeknownst to Duncan, he gained a lot from consuming the spirit wine.
Meanwhile, Foodie Chen looked at Duncan, who was sleeping peacefully and snorted in dissatisfaction. While Duncan might not know the benefits he obtained from consuming the spirit wine, Foodie Chen was well aware of it.
When the injuries on Duncan's body started closing and the impurities in his qi were being forced out, it was very evident to Foodie Chen that this junior brother had taken advantage of him.
This arose some dissatisfaction in his heart. Furthermore, he couldn't stand the fact that someone actually took advantage of him when it came to food. That was something he wasn't truly able to digest.
So, as Duncan slept, Foodie Chen was preparing his own plan to get back at this junior brother. Initially, Foodie Chen was planning to beat up his junior brother black and blue once he woke up. But, before that, he wanted this junior brother to compensate him well for his stolen while.
Unfortunately, while going through Duncan's bag, Foodie Chen came across Duncan's sect token and was alarmed. After learning that this junior brother was a direct disciple, Foodie Chen didn't want to get entangled with him much.
Even if he was able to beat up this junior brother, he would not be a match for other direct disciples under the same master as this junior brother. He didn't fancy getting beaten up by others for beating up a junior.
Still, he wasn't reconciled in his heart to leave this matter as it is.
He wanted to teach a lesson to this junior brother that his food was untouchable. He didn't want this junior brother to get some ideas about stealing food from him every time he came across him.
So, he thought hard and came up with a plan.
As Duncan slept, Foodie Chen rolled him up in a sheet and carried him out of the sect. Normally, in ordinary sects, if someone was carrying someone and leaving the sect, the guards would stop and enquire about him.
As this was a demonic sect, people disposing of bodies were a pretty common sight. Moreover, the sect was situated in the midst of the Grasslands. Disposing bodies in the wilderness for beasts to feast upon was a pretty common tactic used by the disciples and servants as a whole.
So, the guards didn't even bat an eye when Foodie Chen exited the sect with Duncan's sleeping body. Foodie Chen traveled a little distance away from the sect into the surrounding wilderness. His speed was fast and he traveled for a few hours before coming to a stop nearby a bush.
"He he he… Junior Brother, this should teach you a good lesson. When you wake up and see where you are, you will know not to mess with my food," Foodie Chen chuckled evilly.
"Don't worry, there are only small demonic beasts around here. Nothing a direct disciple can't handle. It will take one day for you to return to the sect from here," Foodie Chen patted Duncan's head as if he was petting a dog.
Foodie Chen had his own measure. He knew that the region near the sect didn't have any beasts above Level 1. Any beasts above Level 1 would usually migrate away from the sect as outer disciples regularly hunted in this area to temper themselves.
The sect also took special care to kill off any beast above Level 1, so as not to have some demonic beast cause chaos in the vicinity of the sect. So, leaving this junior brother here wouldn't cause much of an issue.
This way, he would have his revenge and would also escape retaliation from other disciples of this junior brother's lineage. According to him, this was a good win-win situation.
Smiling evilly, Foodie Chen started to make his way back. Suddenly he stopped as if he was having second thoughts. He struggled for a bit, before heading back to the place where he had hidden Duncan's sleeping form.
"Junior brother, forgive me, I have been negligent," he said smarmily to Duncan's sleeping form and opened Duncan's bag.
Chuckling evilly, he took all the spirit stones in the bag and one bottle of Qi Gathering pills as well. Then, he paused for a few moments and took the other bottle as well.
"Junior brother, I will take this as compensation for my wine. You will only be burdened by this in this wilderness. But, don't worry, I will not wrong you. You can take this remaining pot of wine as my greeting gift," Foodie Chen chuckled at Duncan's sleeping form and once more left the place.
*****
Duncan woke up feeling extremely fresh.
While he was awake, he didn't want to open his eyes yet. He was feeling kinda lazy at this time. He felt that deserved to laze around a bit after the hectic last week.
The last week had been a brutal experience for him. From hunger pangs to fighting for his life, it had been a very eventful week. He didn't want to go through that again anytime soon.
Just as he was feeling lazy and indolent, he felt the sun scorching his face. His eyes scrunched up and he revealed an irritated expression on his face. Duncan was still unaware of where he was. He didn't even know where he went to sleep.
Opening his eyes, Duncan was greeted with sunlight filtering through green leaves. The sunlight was harsh and it didn't look like the early morning sun. Duncan figured it was noon at the least.
As he slowly got his bearings, he found that he was sleeping under the bush. Duncan was a little embarrassed as he realized that he wasn't in his abode. Squinting his eyes hard against the sunlight, Duncan recalled what he was doing before going to sleep.
Slowly, memories started surfacing in his mind causing him to be a little dumbfounded. The last thing he remembered was being attacked in his back by that senior brother. Sheepishly, Duncan recalled how he had scammed wine from that senior brother.
"Yikes, looks like I need to pay back that senior brother," Duncan mumbled softly as he sat up. "Still, it was pretty decent of the senior brother to at least throw me into a bush to sleep instead of leaving me in the roads. Looks like the senior brother is a kind-hearted person, deep in his heart."
Duncan stretched a little and found his sword and bag near him.
"The senior brother was even kind enough to gather my stuff for him. I am really embarrassed to have scammed wine out of him. If I had asked him for some, I am sure he would have given it to me," Duncan mumbled shaking his head.
"Unfortunately, I lost myself the moment I smelled that wine. That was really some strong wine. I had slept for almost a day from the looks of it. Still, it was the best wine I have had till date. I must ask senior brother where I can get such wine the next time I see him," Duncan said rising up.
The moment Duncan took in his surroundings, his face froze. His mouth couldn't help but twitch as he looked at the tall trees all around him. Chancing a glance around, Duncan found that his surroundings didn't look like any area that belonged to the sect at all.
Duncan hurriedly checked his bag and found that all his pills and spirit stones were missing as well. Seeing that, Duncan's face couldn't help but turn black. There were only the three manuals, his sect token, and a half-pot of wine in there.
Duncan retrieved the three manuals and checked them. The moment they came out of the bag, the three manuals caught fire and turned to ashes before Duncan could react.
Duncan stood there dumbfounded with their ashes in his hands. For a moment, he panicked. While the loss of the other two booklets wasn't an issue, the booklet of <Slaughter Demon Sutra> was entirely something else.
Before he could lose composure, he breathed a sigh of relief as a line from the introductory manual came to his mind. Apparently, the sect had security measures against their manuals being leaked outside.
One of the measures was that the booklets would turn to ash the moment they were taken out of the sect. Until now, they had been in his storage bag, so they weren't affected. But the moment they were taken out, those manuals turned to ash. Duncan figured that his master must have put a similar restriction on the <Slaughter Demon Sutra> as well.
Luckily, he had already memorized the contents of the sutra. If not, he will be in big trouble if he asked for another copy from his master. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Duncan took out the sect token and pocketed it.
Looking at the wine pot in the bag, Duncan's gaze was a little complicated. He was both attracted to it and fearful of it. By now, he realized what had happened. That senior brother wasn't kind enough to leave him in a bush nearby. He had tossed him into a wilderness and stolen all the goods from him, leaving him with a sword, his sect token, and a half-finished pot of wine.
Black lines formed all over Duncan's face as he recalled how he had praised that senior brother just moments ago.
"Bastard, you could have at least given me a hint as to where I am!!!" Duncan bemoaned aggrievedly looking at his surroundings. "When I find my way back, I am going to teach you a lesson you wouldn't forget!"
*****
A/N: Hey folks!
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