Qing She

So-called "tempura" was a dish made by coating ingredients in batter and deep-frying them. It usually used seafood such as prawns and octopus, or vegetables like eggplant, asparagus, and even cherry blossoms. Of course, there were also some unusual varieties made with insects like grasshoppers and locusts.

Bai Cangshu was currently eating ordinary prawn tempura.

Crunch, crunch.

Japanese cuisine had always been light, not quite to Bai Cangshu's taste. Still, this tempura was much better than the oden and takoyaki Tang Badan had sent over before.

You have consumed 10 special dishes in this world and completed Milestone: Gourmet.

Gourmet—When consuming any ingredient, you can gain a random buff. The effect of the buff is related to the ingredient and cooking method.

You have unlocked subsequent milestones: Orthodox Gourmet, Heretical Gourmet.

Orthodox Gourmet: Consume over 100 legendary dishes across different worlds.

Heretical Gourmet: Consume over 50 dark dishes across different worlds.

Bai Cangshu wiped his mouth, then stuffed the dessert pudding beside him straight into his mouth. This sweet dessert was quite good no matter which country made it.

You have consumed a dish and gained the buff: Keen Perception—Your senses are slightly enhanced.

The buff's effect was not particularly obvious, but Bai Cangshu was not surprised. Pudding was something found everywhere and nothing rare. If he could eat the dragon meat of King Piccolo's offspring, perhaps the effect would be far more noticeable.

To Bai Cangshu, milestones were like achievements in video games. Completing them earned special rewards, and they seemed to have potential for further advancement.

In that case, he really ought to pursue more things like this in mission worlds.

Ring~

The old-fashioned telephone in the inn lobby rang. Bai Cangshu did not answer it, merely rising and heading toward the mountain road.

At this time, there was no one else at the mountaintop inn besides Bai Cangshu. The call was a signal agreed upon by Tang Badan and Bai Cangshu.

After killing that Bladesman that day, Bai Cangshu had returned to town and given Tang Badan a sum of money, telling him to send him a signal whenever someone made the return trip.

To be safe, he had even given the driver Fat Bo some money. He could tell that Fat Bo was very afraid of him.

This was far easier than that Bladesman who had stood watch on the mountain road even in the rain.

Heh. Though he could not take money out of this world's space, there were plenty of Plot Characters in this world who needed it.

Bai Cangshu swung the curved blade in his hand, tied a red cloth over his face, and headed for the mountain road.

"Two more..."

Over the past few days, aside from having Tang Badan continuously send him various special dishes, Bai Cangshu had ambushed and killed three people on the mountain road. Tang Badan had also said that two people had been killed by their targets during their missions, resulting in failure.

In other words, of the original eight people, including himself, only two remained alive.

One was the middle-aged man carrying a double-barreled shotgun, while the other was the woman who had snatched the envelope first.

Tang Badan had specifically warned Bai Cangshu that the woman was no simple opponent. She had once been a somewhat renowned assassin in the underworld, known as Qing She.

With his face covered, Bai Cangshu held a curved blade in his right hand. He had not used up the dual-wielding weapon proficiency, because he was uncertain what kind of proficiency Mercenary Tao would teach him. He decided to save it for now.

This outfit was one of Bai Cangshu's old tricks. Visibility was poor on the misty mountain road, and people who saw his appearance usually only remained wary of the blade, only to be shot down by Bai Cangshu a moment later.

Bai Cangshu was not someone with a particular obsession with close combat. Or rather, when he was not in a Berserk State, Bai Cangshu was actually very rational.

As he pondered, Bai Cangshu reached the narrow entrance to the mountain road. He had deliberately chosen a stretch without guardrails that overlooked the sea.

Sure enough, a figure was walking up the fog-shrouded path in the distance.

Judging by his build, it should be the middle-aged man carrying the shotgun.

Bai Cangshu's heart stirred, and he too moved forward through the mist.

When they had fought over the envelope that day, Bai Cangshu had noticed that although the other man wielded the double-barreled shotgun like a club, his hands always remained around the grip.

In other words, the man was extremely confident in his shooting. The slightest anomaly, even in chaotic close-quarters combat, and he would still rely on gunfire to deal with his enemy. Therefore, against a genuine marksman like this, Bai Cangshu did not think he should engage in a long-range shootout with a revolver.

"Welcome back. Master Mercenary Tao sent me to greet you."

Bai Cangshu spouted this baseless nonsense while letting the curved blade in his right hand hang at his side.

The man carrying the shotgun did not respond and kept walking forward, the double-barreled shotgun still slung across his back.

Bai Cangshu frowned. Could the other party really be that foolishly innocent? Did he actually believe such nonsense at a time like this and let down his guard completely?

Suddenly, Bai Cangshu halted. Light flashed in his left hand, and the silver Revolver: Knocking on Misfortune's Door appeared directly in his grasp.

He raised it and fired.

Bang!

The shot struck the other man directly in the head. It must have triggered Knocking on Misfortune's Door's special effect.

There was a great deal of moisture in the air on the mountain road during the day. Even as the man fell, his figure remained somewhat blurred. Bai Cangshu narrowed his eyes, then suddenly ducked down.

Bang!

As the middle-aged man's corpse fell, a figure that had been hiding behind him finally appeared. No—the shotgun man Bai Cangshu had seen had been a corpse from the very beginning, which was why he had not received a kill notification.

This woman had been holding the corpse up from behind and carrying it up the mountain!

Bai Cangshu vaguely saw the double-barreled shotgun being pulled free from the corpse and raised. He instantly lowered his body and charged forward. On a mountain road like this, facing a long-barreled shotgun, the risk of running backward was far greater than rushing in.

By the time Bai Cangshu heard the gunshot, he had already burst forward. Even the white smoke rising before the woman seemed to move in slow motion. His pupils dilated as he gripped the curved blade upright and slashed sideways with all his strength.

Buzz!

There was no technique to it at all. Bai Cangshu's muscles bulged as he relied entirely on an explosive force of over six hundred jin to drive the curved blade to a terrifying speed.

The long-haired woman's pupils constricted. Her waist bent backward, and she released the shotgun with both hands, watching the steel blade slice through the air before instantly cutting through the neck of the middle-aged man's still-warm body.

Splurt!

A head flew straight into the air, blood spraying upward like a fountain.

Clang!

Bai Cangshu had used too much force. After severing the neck, the blade's momentum did not stop, and it struck the mountain rock directly. The blade snapped at once.

Madman!

The female assassin known as Qing She cursed inwardly. That slash had left even her shaken. Had she been even a fraction slower, her entire head would likely have been split open.

She had noticed early on that Mercenary Tao's so-called trial was actually meant to make them kill one another. So after completing her mission, she had stayed hidden outside town instead of going up the mountain.

After seeing three people return one after another without any further news, she secretly followed the middle-aged gunman returning today up the mountain. Taking advantage of the fog, she had assassinated him and used his corpse as cover. She had not expected Bai Cangshu to be not only alert, but also a madman with absolutely no psychological burden when it came to killing.

Qing She shoved hard, sending the headless corpse lunging at Bai Cangshu. The woman followed close behind it, her feet never leaving the ground as she closed in with a footwork that made her seem to glide across the earth. Two glints of cold light flashed at her fingertips.