’An expert!’

The hair on Kong Wen’s body stood on end as he instinctively rolled backward and to his right.

His years of living on a knife’s edge in the Slaughter Camp had honed his combat instincts far beyond those of an ordinary person. Though he couldn’t even get a clear look at the attacker, he had still made the right choice.

But Wang Ming and the Official weren’t so lucky.

They were cut down by the dark figure in almost the same instant.

’Such a fast sword!’

Kong Wen’s heart pounded with terror as he stared at his two companions, their eyes wide open in death.

Although Wang Ming and the Official were only Martial Artists at the Bone Forging Pass level, the clean, decisive way they were dispatched left him horrified.

He couldn’t even entertain the thought of fighting back.

Now, he had only one thought: run.

His opponent was far stronger than him. To fight back was to die.

This Celestial Heart Sect hideout was clearly not what it seemed. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a powerful expert guarding it.

"Fuck, what shitty luck."

Kong Wen cursed under his breath.

He never expected to run into a leviathan in a backwater place like Xiaohe Town.

The familiar sense of danger cleared his mind, sharpening his focus.

He had already crushed the black insect hidden in his sleeve.

The insect was called a Mother-Child Black Silkworm. They always came in pairs, and if one died, the other would sense it, even from hundreds of miles away.

Thus, many Jianghu People used the Mother-Child Black Silkworm as a signaling device.

And the other Mother-Child Black Silkworm was with Zhu Qiang.

He could only hope Zhu Qiang would get the signal and bring reinforcements quickly. Otherwise, he was a dead man.

Kong Wen cursed his fate silently.

He had spent a great deal of silver taels to get transferred to the Wei Camp. He’d been looking forward to a comfortable life with his wife for the rest of his days, but instead, he’d run into a crisis like this. He didn’t know whether to call it good fortune or bad.

The thought of his beautiful new bride made him run even faster.

But the person behind him was faster still.

He could already feel the rush of air at his back.

"Ngh..."

Kong Wen felt a chill on his back, followed by a wave of excruciating pain. It felt as if a metal object was churning his insides to pulp.

THUMP...

With a dull thud, Kong Wen collapsed, his eyes vacant.

In the end, the soldier didn’t get to die in his wife’s arms as he’d wished. He died on the street.

A man with a hawkish nose nudged Kong Wen’s corpse with the toe of his boot.

He was thoroughly dead.

"Just bad luck, I guess," he muttered.

Not all of the Celestial Heart Sect’s proselytizing sites were genuine. Unfortunately for the three men he’d just killed, they had stumbled upon a real one.

The world was full of unlucky souls who met an early end; these three were no exception.

Luck is a part of strength, after all.

The hawk-nosed man moved efficiently, dragging Kong Wen’s corpse to the gate of a small courtyard.

The courtyard gate was pushed open from within, and several pairs of hands reached out, dragging the three corpses inside.

More than ten people stood inside the small courtyard.

A middle-aged man with a calm, steady demeanor seemed to be their leader.

He took one look at Kong Wen’s corpse and his brow immediately furrowed.

"A Mother-Child Black Silkworm?"

His nostrils flared slightly. He bent down, searched Kong Wen’s body, and a small, crushed black insect fell from the man’s sleeve.

As seasoned veterans of the Jianghu, they all knew what a Mother-Child Black Silkworm was.

Since this one was dead, its counterpart would have already alerted someone.

The leader’s face turned cold. "Idiot!"

The hawk-nosed man’s legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees. He knew all too well how terrifying the man before him could be.

The leader’s methods could make a man wish he were dead.

Every missionary of the Celestial Heart Sect was a ruthless individual.

"We leave now!" the leader ordered sharply.

He had recognized Kong Wen’s and Wang Ming’s identities from their Tokens. Now that the Divine Mansion Army knew about this location, it was compromised.

The people in the courtyard moved with practiced coordination.

In just a dozen breaths, they had packed up everything important.

But just as they were about to leave—

a cloud of red mist enveloped the entire courtyard.

"Poison!" the leader roared, immediately taking out an Antitoxic Pill and stuffing it into his mouth.

But to his surprise, a sharp, acrid sensation caught in his throat, making him gasp. A chorus of violent coughing erupted across the courtyard.

Some of the weaker members collapsed, whimpering in agony. Their bodies twitched uncontrollably as yellow fluid pooled on the ground beneath them.

’This poison is potent!’

The leader was horrified.

He hadn’t expected the Antitoxic Pill to be useless. The attacker was clearly a master of poisons.

In the next instant, countless silver needles, fine as hairs, rained down on the courtyard like a sudden storm.

After the shower of needles passed, only a few people in the courtyard were left standing.

Suddenly!

A loud BANG came from the courtyard gate. Someone had kicked it open.

The leader moved like lightning. The strangely shaped saber at his waist was unsheathed in a flash, and his body shot toward the gate like a phantom.

But just as his saber was about to strike, his pupils contracted.

There was no one outside the gate!

In that split second, a bloodcurdling scream erupted behind him.

The leader clearly recognized the voice. It belonged to the hawk-nosed man who had killed Kong Wen and his companions.

He whirled around.

There was no one else left in the courtyard—only a young man, staring at him with an icy expression.

The leader’s expression turned grim.

He didn’t waste his breath asking "Who are you?"

Only one of them would be leaving the courtyard alive today. There was no need for questions.

The leader twisted on the balls of his feet.

He shot toward Bai Yuan, his body skimming just above the ground.

He was aiming for his legs!

’A vicious tactic.’

But Bai Yuan was faster. The black muzzle of a handgun emerged from his sleeve, already aimed at the man.

BANG!

The deafening crack of gunpowder filled the air.

A bloody hole appeared on the leader’s right shoulder—and that was only because he had managed to swerve away from a fatal blow.

If he hadn’t halted his attack at the last second, his injury would have been far worse.

’What in the hell is that thing?!’

The leader was horrified.

He hadn’t even seen how the young man attacked.

Bai Yuan gave him no time to think. The Blood Tiger Scimitar at his waist was already free of its sheath.

His master-level Tiger-Crane Form merged with the Blood Tiger Saber, empowering the slash to the point that the leader had no chance to resist.

The blade fell.

A thin red line, almost invisible to the naked eye, slowly appeared on the leader’s brow.

Then, his entire body split in two.

Bai Yuan bent down, frisked the leader’s body, and stuffed everything he found into his robes.

At the same time, Xiaoqing slithered out from his sleeve, disappearing into the man’s open, bleeding mouth.

In a matter of breaths, the man’s corpse rapidly shriveled, finally dissolving into a pool of bloody liquid.

No one would ever know a corpse had been here.

Bai Yuan nodded, satisfied.

’Xiaoqing is perfect for destroying the evidence.’

’Blood refining?’

’It’s nothing special!’