"Who's there?!"
Qin Feng jolted upright.
He dashed out the door and caught a fleeting glimpse of a black shadow at the end of the road, vanishing into the dark.
"You dare come looking for me again?!"
He gathered his qi and sprinted forward at full speed.
But no matter how hard he pushed himself, he couldn't catch up.
"Lightness skill? You even know Lightness skill? Are you Chen Sanshi?!"
He forced himself to keep up, barely maintaining distance from the shadow ahead.
One chased, one fled—the two left Swallow-Edge Village, heading straight toward Tiger Head Mountain.
They ran all the way into the Second Mountain.
The dark figure flickered once more and disappeared into the dense forest.
With a metallic ring, Qin Feng unsheathed his sword, gripping it tightly as he crept into the woods.
The night sky was cloudless, with only a few stars scattered across the pale moonlight.
The white glow spilled over the land, shattered by the branches above, forming shifting patterns of light and shadow on the ground.
Every step Qin Feng took stirred faint rustles around him—it could have been startled insects, snakes, or beasts… or perhaps someone watching him from the dark.
He swung his sword furiously, slicing through tall grass and shrubs to clear his view. Still, the shadow was nowhere to be seen.
"Who are you?" he shouted. "Didn't you say you'd take me to see my brother? Where is he?!"
At last, that eerie voice floated through the darkness again.
"Your brother's head is right under your foot. You're practically stepping on it—still need me to point it out?"
"What?"
Qin Feng froze. He lowered his gaze—and his blood ran cold.
There, half-buried in the mud, was a pale white skull.
Around it lay scattered bones and tattered scraps of clothing.
The fabric bore the marks of teeth and claws—shredded by wild beasts.
That clothing…
It was Qin Xiong's.
He could never forget it.
"Brother!!!"
"Swish—"
Qin Feng's roar turned into a gasp. A chill pierced his chest.
A Wolf Fang Arrow had shot clean through his heart, bursting out the front of his chest.
With a heavy thud, he dropped to one knee. His sword sank into the dirt as he used it to keep himself upright, blood gushing from his mouth and nose like a fountain.
He no longer had the strength to move or fight back. His body trembled, his eyes empty, fixed on his brother's remains.
The cold moonlight spilled across the clearing, falling on two figures—one dead, one dying. Two brothers, finally together again.
"Damn," a voice muttered. "I've got a soft heart—I can't stand this scene. Since you brothers are so close, I'll just help you reunite properly."
From the shadows stepped Chen Sanshi.
He gathered his qi and blood, channeling it into his arm. His plum-blossom spear shot forward like lightning, piercing straight through Qin Feng's heart.
One clean strike—ending his life.
From beginning to end, Qin Feng never even saw who killed him.
That was the terror of ranged weapons.
If you couldn't dodge or endure it, you didn't even get the chance to fight back.
Clearly, tempering blood to mastery wasn't enough.
Chen Sanshi crouched beside the corpse, searching through the man's belongings.
He found 10 taels of silver.
"Well, richer than your brother, at least."
Aside from that, there was only a sword.
He hesitated, then left it.
It was a standard Tianyuan Martial Hall-issued blade—too distinctive to sell.
To ensure no one could tell the cause of death, he yanked out the Wolf Fang Arrow, grabbed the sword, and hacked at the body over a dozen times, until the wounds were so mangled they couldn't be identified.
"Finally done."
The hidden danger that had weighed on his mind was gone. Chen Sanshi felt a deep, steady satisfaction.
And the night's hunt had yielded more than just peace of mind—his Tracking and Hiding and Archery skills had improved as well.
[Skill: Archery (Minor Achievement)]
[Progress: 50/1000]
"Tracking and Hiding advanced!"
[Skill: Tracking and Hiding (Minor Achievement)]
[Progress: 0/1000]
[Effect: Night Vision; Extraordinary Insight; Moves as Light as a Swallow; Breath Concealment]
He had gained two new effects.
Though it was the dead of night, Chen Sanshi could now see as clearly as in broad daylight.
And as for Breath Concealment—the meaning was self-evident.
Combined, these abilities made him practically invisible—a shadow that could kill and vanish without a trace.
"Time to head back."
There was a major operation happening in the county tonight. If it spread beyond the city walls, it might become dangerous.
He didn't dare linger. Swift as wind, he retraced his path through the forest.
As he passed by Su Family Village, his instincts caught something—a faint movement in the woods nearby.
He immediately leapt up a tree and used his newly acquired Breath Concealment.
In an instant, he felt as though he'd merged with the tree itself. Even the birds perched on the branches didn't stir.
From below came the sound of unsteady footsteps, staggering through the brush. Every few steps came a loud crash, like a drunk man tripping and breaking through branches.
Finally, the figure entered his line of sight.
It wasn't a drunk at all—but a man, grievously wounded and barely standing.
The man was short, his clothes in tatters, his entire body soaked in blood. He had more than a dozen knife wounds—some so deep his bones were visible, his organs faintly pulsing beneath torn flesh.
For someone that injured to still be walking was nothing short of a miracle.
"Where'd he come from?"
Chen Sanshi studied the man carefully. His ears were pierced with metal studs, and his beard was braided—a look completely unlike the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty.
"A barbarian?"
"That assassin?"
"Didn't Thousand-Household Xiang Tingchun personally lead the hunt tonight—with more than 300 soldiers and hundreds of disciples from the martial halls? How the hell did he slip out alive?"
Chen Sanshi didn't move recklessly. He stayed hidden and watched in silence.
"Cough… cough… cough…"
The barbarian staggered and coughed up clots of black blood. After a few more unsteady steps, he collapsed into the weeds. He tried to crawl forward several times but kept falling flat. He was clearly at his limit, barely clinging to life.
Then, Chen saw him start digging—using both hands, slick with blood—to scrape at the dirt beneath a stone.
It took a long, painful effort, but eventually, he dug a small pit.
Next, trembling, he pulled out a small box from his robe and buried it in the ground with the last of his strength.
"Hiding something?"
Chen Sanshi's eyes narrowed, his attention sharpened.
"Cough… cough…"
After covering the box, the barbarian grabbed handfuls of grass and branches, clumsily concealing the disturbed soil.
By now, he was barely breathing—his chest rising but no longer falling—yet he still dragged himself forward, crawling away from the spot.
He made it only about ten meters before his body stiffened, then went still forever.
Chen Sanshi waited in the tree for about ten minutes, making sure the man was completely dead. Only then did he drop to the ground, spear in hand, and dig open the small pit.
"What's this?"
He brushed away the dirt and picked up the small, palm-sized box, turning it over in his hands.
Something that a dying man used his last breath to bury had to be valuable.
But one question nagged him.
If this barbarian was an assassin on a mission—why would he be carrying something so precious with him?
Or could it be… that stealing this object was his real mission?
"No… something's off."
Chen Sanshi shook his head.
If the man had come to steal something, why had he stayed in Poyang County after killing the magistrate—and even gone on to murder the head of the Yunhe Martial Hall?
And besides… what treasure could a small county like Poyang possibly hold?
It couldn't be intelligence either.
If it were, the value of that information was gone the moment chaos broke out. So why bother hiding it?
Everything about this situation was strange.
Neither the yamen nor the martial halls had ever mentioned searching for any item. They were only supposed to be hunting the assassin.
"Over here!"
"Hurry!"
"…!"
Suddenly, voices and footsteps echoed in the distance—fast, steady, trained. The pursuers were coming.
Chen Sanshi immediately covered the hole again, pressing a rock over it, and leapt back into the tree. He couldn't risk being seen outside the garrison at night.
The group that arrived wasn't from the county yamen or the garrison.
They were from a martial hall—three people total.
A middle-aged man led the way, followed by two young disciples.
Judging by their attire, they were from Zhao's Martial Hall.
The leader was none other than Hall Master Zhao Ben.
"Master, there's only one body," one disciple said. "And he's already dead!"
They quickly gathered around the barbarian's corpse.
Zhao Ben's face hardened as he knelt and searched the body. "Where's the item?!"
"Search for it!"
"Yes, Master!"
The two disciples drew their swords and began combing the surrounding area.
Of course, they found nothing.
"Master, there's nothing here," one finally said. "Maybe someone else got to it first."
"Damn it! We were so close!"
Zhao Ben's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. After a long pause, he forced his anger down. "You didn't let anything slip tonight, did you?"
"Rest assured, Master," the disciple replied. "Aside from the heads of the three martial halls, only a handful of personal disciples and Thousand-Household Xiang know the truth—that we're searching for the Immortal Treasure."
"All the other disciples and soldiers think it's just an assassin hunt."
"Good."
Zhao Ben nodded grimly. "This matter concerns the next hundred years of our sect's future. If word leaks, the consequences will be catastrophic!"
"Remember—if anyone outside learns even half a word of this, kill them. No witnesses, no mercy."
He stood and motioned to his disciples. "Let's head back. Take the barbarian's body with us. Dissect it—there's a chance the treasure's still inside him."
"Yes, Master!"
They hoisted the corpse and disappeared into the forest.
Chen Sanshi remained silent, hidden high in the tree, processing everything he'd just heard.
Immortal Treasure?
They're searching for an Immortal Treasure?
And Thousand-Household Xiang Tingchun is in on it too?
And anyone who finds out… must die?
So domineering…
He weighed the small box in his palm, his expression calm but his mind racing.
"In that case," he muttered under his breath, "there's no way I can let anyone know I found this thing."
He grinned slightly.
"Guess that means…"
"This treasure's mine."