Whether they'd come with genuine intentions to suppress the mutiny or not, the men pouring out of the cave brandished their weapons the moment they spotted the crowd charging toward them.Catching sight of the armed newcomers, the men spilling from the cave—miners all, their faces etched with panic and confusion—grabbed whatever weapons they could lay hands on in response."Drop your weapons!" roared the men from outside, their cries quickly echoed by their companions in a menacing chorus."What do you think you're doing?!" thundered the miners emerging from the cave.As the two crowds parted, Shen Youkun stepped forward, pointing a furious finger at the men charging in from outside. "What the hell is the meaning of this? Have you all lost your minds?!"Though his cultivation had been stripped away, his defiance in the face of glinting blades remained undiminished—a testament to how little he thought of these local roughnecks. It was an arrogance bred from their constant deference, the same arrogance that had wilted in the face of Dong Jiuyuan's unyielding leader.At the sight of him, the weapons in the hands of the men from outside dipped in unison. Their leader stepped forward, astonishment written across his face. "Mr. Shen! You're unharmed?""What harm could have befallen me?!" Shen Youkun snapped, his anger boiling over. "You were supposed to guard the perimeter—what in the world are you doing charging in here?!" He'd counted on these men to cut off the fugitives' escape.As the two sides confronted each other, the truth of the matter quickly unraveled. Shen Youkun was beside himself with rage, screaming insults at the top of his lungs. "You bunch of bumbling idiots!"Convinced that the immediate danger had passed, Qi Ziru was carried forward. His unhurried voice cut through Shen Youkun's ranting, restoring a semblance of order. "Was it just one man who fled?"He needed to be certain. If a single man had dared to infiltrate their ranks, outwit them all, and make off with the treasure, then that man deserved his grudging respect."Yes, sir! Just one man!" came the immediate reply."That's all we saw—just one man!""Wait a minute! There was another one! A miner, lying unconscious not far from the entrance, gravely wounded—or so it seemed. It could have been a trick!""You're right! If the miners' mutiny was a sham, then that 'wounded' miner was probably part of the ruse too!"As the voices of confirmation and correction rang out, one of the guards who'd been posted at the cave mouth spoke up, adding his piece. "That miner—he was the tallest one there! Hard to miss! I remember him coming and going several times earlier!"At those words, Shen Youkun froze, his eyes widening in sudden realization. "The tall one… two men…"The memory of nearly colliding with a towering figure at the cave entrance flashed through his mind. With a sharp slap, he struck his own cheek, his face turning an even deeper shade of crimson with rage. "It's them! Uncle! It's—"Qi Ziru cut him off sharply, his voice brooking no argument. "Silence! First, seal off the cave entrance. Now!""But Uncle—I know who they are! It's—" Shen Youkun persisted, urgency dripping from every word."I said shut up!" Qi Ziru roared, his patience finally snapping."..." Shen Youkun fell silent instantly, cowed by his uncle's uncharacteristic fury. He could only clamp his mouth shut and obey.Under Qi Ziru's calm, decisive command, the men scattered, racing to seal off all exits from the mine.By the time the crowd poured out of the cave, dusk had fallen, painting the sky in hues of deep purple and orange. The fugitives were nowhere to be seen.Qi Ziru made no attempt to order a sprawling manhunt. Instead, he addressed the assembled crowd directly, his voice cold and logical. "Who can guarantee that the culprits didn't lay a false trail? That they're not still hiding somewhere inside the cave? Who can swear that they haven't slipped into our ranks, disguised among us?"A quick headcount revealed that five supervisors were missing.Yet Qi Ziru made no move to remove the masks of the remaining men to verify their identities.Some of the mercenaries hired for the job were notorious figures in their own right—men who'd agreed to work for Shen Youkun only on the condition that their true identities remain hidden from the rank and file. But that was not why Qi Ziru chose to leave the masks be.Nor did he order the hidden sentries posted around the mine to resume their positions. Only a small contingent was left to guard the cave entrance; the rest were drafted into the excavation team, tasked with digging up the remainder of the skeleton inside the mine at breakneck speed.He approved the two supervisors' earlier suggestion: there was no need to cart the excavated soil and rock out of the mine. It could simply be dumped into the nearest unused tunnels. Speed was of the essence.Once these arrangements were made, Qi Ziru hauled himself laboriously to his feet, waving off the sedan bearers who moved to assist him. He began to stroll slowly through the valley, with only Shen Youkun trailing in his wake.Shen Youkun cast nervous glances all around him. Now that he knew who their adversaries were, stepping outside the safety of their ranks filled him with a gnawing fear that the fugitives might leap out at him at any moment.When they were well away from the others, Qi Ziru came to a halt. He shot his nephew a sidelong glance before turning his gaze to the darkening sky. "There's no need for anxiety. They've gotten what they came for. Right now, they're too busy running for their lives to bother with us."Shen Youkun felt a measure of relief wash over him at those words. He glanced back at the cave entrance, turning his uncle's words over in his mind. If Qi Ziru was so certain the fugitives had escaped, why had he insisted that they might still be inside the cave and ordered the entrance sealed?Qi Ziru's voice cut through his confused thoughts. "Was it the Master of Dong Jiuyuan who paid us a visit?"Shen Youkun straightened up, a surge of recognition coursing through him. "Yes! It was definitely 'Sichun' and 'Wujinliang'! Thanks to the guard's reminder, I finally remembered—I crossed paths with Wu Jinliang at the cave entrance earlier! I was so preoccupied with finding you that I completely forgot about it!"Qi Ziru let out a low, impressed whistle. "So it truly was them! Two men. Two men had the audacity to sneak into a camp this size, brazenly meddle in our affairs, and even had the gall to bring that towering giant of theirs along—all without a care in the world for being discovered. What extraordinary audacity! To toy with us so effortlessly, and to steal the treasure as easily as plucking a pear from a tree—they are remarkable individuals, indeed!"No wonder you were willing to bleed yourself dry to drive them away rather than confront them head-on. You must have learned firsthand how formidable they are. Yet you chose not to mention this to me beforehand. If I had known we were dealing with adversaries of such cunning and skill, I would never have let you handle this matter so carelessly. I would never have allowed them to succeed so easily!"Shen Youkun mumbled a defensive reply, his voice tinged with guilt. "I suspected it was them earlier, back in the mine. I tried to tell you, but you shouted me down before I could get the words out."The unspoken accusation hung heavy in the air: You wouldn't let me speak when I wanted to, and now you blame me for not speaking up. How am I supposed to win with you?Qi Ziru, who had been striving to maintain his composure despite his frailty, finally lost his temper, his face twisting with anger. "Fool! Have you not said enough already? With the careless words you've uttered today, any attentive listener could easily deduce the identities of the men who stole the treasure!"Until we have them in our grasp, we must ensure that no one outside our circle learns who they are. The hunt for them must remain strictly within our own ranks. Otherwise, neither you nor I will be able to explain this debacle to the family. Do you want to invite every other power in this exile land to come sniffing after the treasure? Not a single man who heard your words today is to leave this valley alive!"Shen Youkun fell silent, choking back his protests. At long last, he realized the gravity of his mistake—he'd let his tongue run wild, and now the consequences would be blood.His guilt prompted him to change the subject, his voice anxious. "Uncle, that man is as cunning as a fox. Now that he's escaped with the treasure, catching him again will be next to impossible."Qi Ziru shot him a scathing look before turning away, folding his hands behind his back as he stared out at the distant mountains. His voice, when it came, was calm and confident. "Barring any unforeseen accidents, he will not escape."Shen Youkun stared at him, stunned. "No escape?"He wasn't sure if his uncle meant the fugitives would be caught immediately, or eventually. But judging by Qi Ziru's serene demeanor, it seemed he was referring to the former. A glimmer of understanding dawned in Shen Youkun's mind, and he found himself scanning the surrounding landscape.Qi Ziru let out a dry chuckle. "Do you truly believe that I would entrust the family's most vital mission entirely to you? While you were busy recruiting these local thugs, I took the liberty of contacting a more… reliable contingent of men and arranging for them to be on standby nearby. You were my first choice, but I always have a backup plan in case things go awry."When I received word that you'd finally located the target and came to join you, I took the time to survey the surrounding terrain personally. I had my men lay ambushes along every likely escape route. I gave them a simple order: anyone attempting to leave this area without my explicit permission is to be eliminated on sight!"Shen Youkun nodded slowly, understanding the logic behind the plan—it was a precaution to prevent any stragglers from slipping away. But doubts still lingered in his mind. "How many men did you deploy, Uncle? This area is vast, with countless possible escape routes."Qi Ziru replied, unperturbed. "He is running for his life, fleeing a manhunt. In the short term, he will be desperate to put as much distance between himself and us as possible. He will stick to the easiest, most obvious escape routes. The chances of him walking straight into one of my ambushes are very high."Shen Youkun's worries persisted. "Uncle, that man is not just cunning—he's also one of the most formidable fighters in this exile land. If your ambush parties are too small, they may not be able to stop him."Given the sheer size of the area, he found it hard to believe his uncle could have posted enough men to cover every possible route without attracting unwanted attention. Such a large-scale deployment would have been impossible to conceal in the exile land."He will not escape," Qi Ziru repeated, his voice cold and certain, brimming with quiet confidence. "Unless he somehow manages to slip through my net by pure luck, he will be caught. Even if he were a cultivator of the High Martial Realm, he would not stand a chance against my men once they've set their sights on him!"Shen Youkun's small eyes blinked repeatedly behind his fleshy cheeks as the full implication of his uncle's words sank in. Qi Ziru had laid an elaborate trap, a safety net so thorough that escape was all but impossible. A surge of excitement coursed through him, and he found himself grinding his teeth in anticipation of the moment when Shi Chun would finally be in his clutches.Qi Ziru paid his nephew's reaction no mind. He lowered his gaze, pacing back and forth slowly as he muttered to himself, lost in thought. "Just what is that shimmering purple nebula? Does the family know its true nature, or are they in the dark? They must be unaware. Otherwise, they would have certainly briefed me on something so important before sending me here…"His mind was already turning to damage control. If, by some stroke of misfortune, the Master of Dong Jiuyuan managed to slip away, should he conceal the loss from the family? After all, he intended to silence everyone who knew the truth about what had happened here today.Self-preservation is a powerful motivator. He feared that this debacle would incur the family's displeasure, potentially derailing his own plans and forcing him to leave the exile land prematurely. The object the family had tasked him with finding was already in his possession—he had no desire to court further trouble.For all his outward confidence in front of his nephew, the ease with which the Master of Dong Jiuyuan had outmaneuvered them left a lingering sense of unease in his mind. Deep down, he was not as certain as he appeared…Meanwhile, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, having fled to a secluded spot in the mountains, heaved aside a large boulder to reveal a hidden cache beneath. Like all men of standing in the exile land, they always traveled with a change of clothes—after all, they were the proud representatives of Dong Jiuyuan.From the cache, they also retrieved two weapons: a pair of swords, one large and one small.The "small" sword was not small at all—it was a standard-sized saber, its blade encased in a scabbard wrapped tightly in cloth. It only seemed diminutive when compared to its companion.The large sword was a colossus, its blade bare of any scabbard, forged from a pitch-black metal. It measured nearly half a zhang in length and a full foot in width, its spine as thick as a man's fist—a weapon of monstrous size and weight. Yet Wu Jinliang lifted it effortlessly with one hand, slinging it over his broad shoulder as if it were no heavier than a twig.The sword had no grand lineage or legendary origin. Wu Jinliang had forged it himself, at the shop of a local blacksmith. The smith, eager for business, had told him to use as much metal as he liked at no extra cost. Ever the opportunist, Wu Jinliang had taken him at his word, piling on the raw materials to create a blade of unparalleled heft and durability. He'd discovered that such a massive weapon held unique advantages in combat, and over time, it had become his weapon of choice.In more civilized company, when Shi Chun wished to maintain an air of refinement, Wu Jinliang would carry his saber for him as well. But now, in a fight for their lives, there was no need for such niceties.After replacing the boulder and concealing their cache once more, the two men slung their swords and bundles over their shoulders and resumed their flight without delay.They stuck strictly to the valleys and lowlands, avoiding the high ground where they might be spotted by lookouts. Only occasionally, when they wanted to check for pursuers, would they climb a nearby hill to scan the road behind them.They repeated this pattern—running, climbing, checking—several times. Then, just as Shi Chun was about to duck back into a valley after a quick glance over his shoulder, he suddenly raised a hand, clamping it down firmly on Wu Jinliang's shoulder. Both men skidded to a halt, crouching low on the mountainside.Wu Jinliang opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but before the words could leave his lips, Shi Chun's voice cut through the air, sharp with alarm as he scanned their surroundings. "Something's not right."Without another word, he dropped to his stomach, crawling to the crest of the hill to lie prone and observe the path they'd taken.Wu Jinliang crept over to join him, finally voicing the question burning on his lips. "What is it? What's wrong?"Shi Chun's voice was grim, his eyes never leaving the distant horizon behind them. "It's too quiet. We've come this far, and not a single pursuer has appeared. Do you really think they'd just let us walk away like this? It doesn't make sense."
