Map Fragment

Qin Yang's expression was somewhat strange. He had only been testing, wondering if Big Dumb, already shattered into pieces like that, could still yield something...

He hadn't expected it to work. The white glow that came out wasn't a Skill Book, nor was it a physical object...

Instead...

It was three Map Fragments.

Three small fragments, as if randomly torn from a complete map. Now, the details on these fragments were imprinted with exceptional clarity in his mind.

But since they were three non-adjacent little pieces, it was impossible to tell what they depicted.

Yet suddenly, a flash of inspiration sparked through Qin Yang's mind, fleeting and vague, slipping away before he could grasp it.

He couldn't dwell on it. The group had already started moving from the front courtyard toward the back.

Just then, a Servant trailed in, muttering as if to himself.

"When collecting the corpses, check carefully for anything unusual. Whoever finds something useful gets triple the base reward and credit for the lead; the rest get double."

The Servant didn't enter, just hung back at a distance, watching as the group moved into the middle courtyard.

With that one remark from the Servant, Qin Yang's hazy inspiration sharpened into clarity.

But there was no time to ponder it now. What Qin Yang thought was: if Big Dumb had yielded Map Fragments, could the others have them too?

He joined the others in collecting the corpses. Aside from the minor thugs in front, most of these bodies were rarely intact. The slightly more complete ones had died with their heads severed. As the collection sped up and the corpses were pieced together, Qin Yang noticed clearly: the higher the status in the Three Mountains Gang, the worse the death...

Anyone with any standing had died without a complete corpse. Even the corpse collectors struggled to piece them together.

"Hey, you, the new one." Pockmarked Face, busy with his work, waved low at Qin Yang. "Don't you have any sense? Newcomers need to know the rules. I can see you're slow-tongued and won't change anytime soon, but at least keep your hands busy—you can manage that, right?"

"Huh?"

"What 'huh'? Come piece the bodies together. You expect me to do it alone?" Pockmarked Face scowled, glaring at Qin Yang.

Qin Yang nodded, said nothing, and walked over to start assembling the pile of severed limbs and remains.

He'd just been wondering how to find a chance to "pick up" something, and right when he was nodding off, Pockmarked Face handed him a pillow.

This corpse-piecing work was the toughest. Imagine guts and organs scattered everywhere, limbs drenched in blood—even the Corpse Collectors avoided touching it if they could. Besides, with a greener newbie around, not bullying him would be a waste of seniority...

Qin Yang worked in silence, piecing together. Pockmarked Face's eyes darted. "Kid, you keep at it. There should be more collected in the back. I'll go fetch them..."

"Sure, go ahead." Qin Yang nodded, and Pockmarked Face vanished in a flash, leaving him alone.

Let the guy slack off if he wanted. When Qin Yang first arrived last year, he'd done every dirty, exhausting job imaginable—even slept in the Mass Burial Ground for a few days...

More importantly, with an outsider around, it wasn't convenient to use his skill.

Once alone, Qin Yang discreetly activated his skill on the pile of corpses. White light spheres floated up again—this time, a full twelve of them. He crushed them all in one go.

Instantly, the fragmented map in his mind began to fill in automatically. Each of those light spheres contained at least three fragments, some even five. Altogether, over forty fragments surged forth, merging into a complete map, and the information within flooded into Qin Yang's mind.

In the blink of an eye, only five gaps remained on the whole map. He could roughly make out what it depicted.

The map was exquisitely detailed—mountains, rivers, and clusters of buildings marked with precision. The structures looked as if they'd been shrunk and stamped directly onto the map.

But after studying it, Qin Yang had no idea where this was. He was certain it wasn't near Green Forest City, because the most iconic landmark—the Three Mountains—was absent.

As he pondered, Pockmarked Face shuffled back from the rear.

"See, I told you there'd be more in the back. This one died even worse—his head's smashed into a dozen pieces..."

"Is this all the bodies?" Qin Yang asked casually.

"Yeah, that's all. The rest are inside searching for stuff, all hoping for that bounty. They should take a look at themselves—if the experts from Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce couldn't find anything, what chance do they have?" Pockmarked Face sneered, looking disgruntled...

From his expression, Qin Yang guessed he'd been kicked out by those inside to do the grunt work.

"How about this: you check the front, and I'll handle things here first..."

"Oh, not bad—you're learning some sense. Fine, you piece them together. I'll take a quick look up front." Pockmarked Face beamed, hopping up and heading forward.

Qin Yang activated his skill on the worst-shattered corpse before him. Sure enough, another white-glowing sphere appeared. He crushed it, and the missing part of the map in his mind filled in instantly.

Yet he still couldn't tell where it was.

But he could see that the things on this map were no ordinary matter. Especially those building clusters, shrunk and stamped onto it, clearly outclassed Green Forest City. The mountains, rivers, and undulating terrain gave a harmonious feel—the river's course looked like the trace of a talisman path...

It struck Qin Yang that there had long been rumors: true masters could move mountains, fill seas, shift mountain ranges, alter earth veins and water veins, and arrange everything on the land as they pleased. This map felt just like that.

And now, he finally caught that fleeting inspiration and understood.

This was what the disciples from Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce and Boundless Dao Academy were after.

The place the map pointed to definitely held treasures valuable enough, but for now, it was just a map—that's why the two groups hadn't fought yesterday.

With the real prize not yet in hand, no one would fight to the death. But the fact that they cared so much, torturing the Three Mountains Gang for answers, meant one thing.

They hadn't gotten the map yet.

An hour later...

Pockmarked Face trudged back with a long face, silently helping to piece together the bodies.

Before long...

"Hey, kid, look at this tattoo. Doesn't it look like a palace?" Pockmarked Face held up a calf, staring at the tattoo on it, lost in thought.

But as Qin Yang looked, his gaze suddenly sharpened...

The bastards from the Three Mountains Gang had tattooed the map onto their own bodies. No wonder the maps he'd opened were all fragments...

He looked again. On the other corpse, beneath a green dragon tattoo on its back, the dragon's claw clutched a mountain surrounded by a river. That mountain was also a map fragment...

Seeing this, Qin Yang's heart skipped a beat.

It was over. Those Three Mountains Gang bastards had doomed him. He'd known something would go wrong when he was half-coerced into coming here, but he never expected it to be this big.

Judging by how the Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce operated, this map was extremely important. And they were ruthless to the core. Now, everyone present who had seen these tattoos...

Afraid not a single one of them would live to spend the money they earned...

Ahem, forgot to mention—I received a backstage message yesterday saying the contract was signed. The signed status should change after the contract is mailed. Rest assured and keep collecting, everyone. Also, I'd like to ask for some recommendation tickets.