Chapter 100: Chapter 98: Meat Lotus Treasure

Let me start by analyzing the provided Chinese text to understand the context, style, and content.

[Step 1: Contextual Analysis]

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese martial arts/cultivation (xianxia/wuxia) web novel.

Language style: Narrative fiction with dialogue, action scenes, and some descriptive passages.

Tone: Serious, sometimes intense, with elements of danger and suspense.

Plot keywords: pursuit, escape, martial arts, combat, mountain journey, monk, villain

Characters:

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, seems to be a martial artist with exceptional talent who has only been training for half a year but is very powerful.

- Yang Lian’Er (杨莲儿): Female character accompanying Wu Liangchen.

- Wu Mengchan (武梦婵): Female character accompanying Wu Liangchen.

- Aunt Fan (樊姨): Older female character, seems knowledgeable about martial arts.

- Xiao Rong (萧荣): Male character who was killed by Wu Liangchen.

- Wang Tianying (王天鹰): Male character who was forced to flee by Wu Liangchen, later captured and tortured by a monk.

- Unnamed monk: Male antagonist, appears to be a cruel character of high martial prowess (Fourth Realm/Minor Fourth Realm level).

Setting: The group is traveling through a pine forest toward Thousand Waterfall Mountain, escaping from pursuers.

Now I’ll translate the text while following all the guidelines provided:

[Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing]

Translating section by section...

The translation is complete. Let me do a final review to ensure all rules are followed:

1. All glossary terms are correctly used ✓

2. No Chinese characters or pinyin remain ✓

3. Line breaks preserved ✓

4. Logic checks for meta-textual elements (none needed in this passage) ✓

5. Natural, fluent English ✓

6. Inner monologues properly formatted with single quotes ✓

7. Dialogue properly formatted ✓

8. American English spelling ✓

[Step 3: Final Sanitization and Logic Pass]

I’ve verified that the translation is 100% in English with no Chinese characters or pinyin. All glossary terms are used correctly and consistently throughout. The translation flows naturally and maintains the original tone and meaning of the text.

Now I’ll present only the final translation:

Fortunately, Wu Liangchen returned before long, and only then did the three feel as if a weight had been lifted from their hearts.

Wu Liangchen merely smiled about it and said, "It was nothing. I just got some practice in and taught those people a lesson while I was at it."

"Now our pursuers won’t be able to catch up for a while, so tonight we can set off for Thousand Waterfall Mountain. Once we’re outside Dinghai City’s jurisdiction, we shouldn’t encounter any more dangers."

Hearing Wu Liangchen say this, Yang Lian’Er and Wu Mengchan didn’t think much of it, but Aunt Fan felt a jolt in her heart, though she didn’t show it outwardly.

When Yang Lian’Er and Wu Mengchan excitedly went to build a fire and cook, she moved closer to Wu Liangchen and lowered her voice.

"What happened?"

Wu Liangchen didn’t conceal anything and recounted how he had beheaded Xiao Rong and forced Wang Tianying to flee.

After hearing this, Aunt Fan was deeply shaken, looking at Wu Liangchen in disbelief.

If she hadn’t known Wu Liangchen’s character and heard the earlier shouts, she would have absolutely thought this was a joke.

After all, she knew Xiao Rong’s strength all too well—born into privilege, instructed by famous masters from a young age, and given resources without restraint.

That’s why he had achieved such success by his early thirties and was even expected to break through to the Fourth Realm.

Yet such a person, who could be called heaven’s favorite, had been beheaded with a single strike by Wu Liangchen, who had only been practicing martial arts for half a year.

Was this the gap between an ordinary genius and a top-tier genius? It was terrifying.

While Aunt Fan’s mind was in turmoil, Wu Liangchen wasn’t thinking so deeply and simply went to prepare the meal.

Now that the threat of pursuers had been resolved, they could use fire without worry.

After eating roasted meat for two days straight, delicious as it was, they had grown tired of it. So Wu Liangchen started thinking about making some meat porridge.

Without a pot, Wu Liangchen used an iron flask to collect snow from the tops of pine trees. After melting it, he threw in some dried meat, and added a pinch of salt before serving—a rare delicacy under the circumstances.

Wu Liangchen made four flasks of meat porridge, and everyone happily drank a flask each before resting briefly and then continuing their journey.

At this point, taking the main road would probably be safe, but from their current position, reaching the main road would require a significant detour. It would be more direct to cut through Thousand Waterfall Mountain.

Although Thousand Waterfall Mountain was remote, it had paths and villages where they could obtain supplies.

Besides, Xiao Rong might be dead, but who could say whether other, more powerful figures might appear?

So it was better to be cautious.

The group moved quickly through the pine forest, and within less than an hour, the shadowy outlines of mountains appeared ahead.

Everyone’s spirits lifted, and they immediately quickened their pace toward the mountains.

Finally, the group left the pine forest and entered Thousand Waterfall Mountain.

As the name suggested, Thousand Waterfall Mountain was known for its numerous waterfalls.

However, due to the current cold weather, these waterfalls were frozen, looking like white silk veils from a distance—quite a beautiful sight.

The first stretch of the journey was rugged and difficult to traverse, as few people entered Thousand Waterfall Mountain from the pine forest side, but the further they went, the easier the path became.

Soon, they came upon a small trail.

This appeared to be a path created by mountain woodcutters, winding its way to the other side of the mountain.

"About ten miles ahead, there’s a small village where we can rest for a while and take a break."

Wu Liangchen had memorized the map, and after confirming their current location, he quickly drew this conclusion.

Yang Lian’Er’s spirits lifted. "What are we waiting for? Let’s hurry!"

At this point, she wanted nothing more than a basin of hot water to wash her feet.

After two days of continuous travel, her socks were now stuck to her feet, making walking extremely uncomfortable.

Just as the four of them were mustering their strength to rush toward the small village ten miles away, back in the pine forest, a figure suddenly appeared at the spot where Wu Liangchen had beheaded Xiao Rong.

With a sturdy build and a lotus flower tattooed on his face, it was the same monk who had appeared on the main road earlier.

Now, he looked down at the frozen corpses on the ground, his expression suddenly becoming extremely excited.

Then he reached behind him and pulled forward the barely conscious Wang Tianying.

At this point, Wang Tianying had none of his previous imposing manner. His body was as limp as mud, hanging like a tattered sack in the monk’s grasp. Even his once-proud arms now drooped lifelessly, without any strength to support themselves.

"Benefactor Wang, is this the last place you saw Wu Liangchen?" the monk asked.

Wang Tianying struggled to open his eyes, glanced at the ground, and then spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s.

"Yes!"

In his current state, he couldn’t even nod, as the monk had crushed every joint in his body.

So now he was completely crippled, with even suicide becoming an unattainable luxury.

"Very good. Let’s see what surprise this brings me."

With that, the monk slung Wang Tianying onto his back and began searching the area.

Soon, he found Xiao Rong’s corpse.

This figure, who had been considered a prominent talent even in the Capital, now lay with his head separated from his body in the snow, without even someone to collect his remains.

Due to the severe cold, his facial features had become somewhat distorted, making it look as if he were sneering—quite eerie in the darkness of the desolate forest.

But the monk paid no attention to this. He simply picked up the head and examined it carefully from all angles, paying particular attention to the wound on the neck.

"The blade strike was fierce and decisive. This Wu Liangchen’s swordsmanship is impressive."

As he spoke, he brought his nose close to the head and sniffed carefully, his eyes gleaming as if he had found a fascinating new toy.

Wang Tianying, tied to the large stone on the monk’s back, felt only despair at the sight.

He had only one thought now: to see this monk die and satisfy his hatred.

But he also knew this was almost impossible.

On the main road, he hadn’t lasted three moves before becoming the monk’s plaything, after which he had endured inhuman torture.

This monk was at least a Minor Fourth Realm Martial Artist who had crossed the blood transformation threshold.

The key thing was that the monk’s psychology was extremely twisted—he had crushed Wang Tianying’s bones one by one.

Throughout the process, whether Wang Tianying cursed or begged for mercy, the monk’s face maintained that same expression of someone who had found an interesting new toy.

By now, Wang Tianying no longer cared about his own life; he just wanted to see the monk die.

So now he had even put aside their grievances and started praying for Wu Liangchen.

’Please, you must hang on!’

Just then, as if bored with his toy, the monk casually tossed Xiao Rong’s head down and stepped on it.

With a splat, the head was crushed to pieces, brain matter splattering everywhere.

Then the monk looked into the distance, licked his lips, and muttered:

"I never expected that on this trip down the mountain, besides the Meat Lotus Treasure, I would encounter so many interesting things. It truly hasn’t been a wasted journey."

As he spoke, he pressed his palms together, took one step forward, instantly appearing dozens of feet away, and began running at great speed.