Jie Jia

West Market, Qingshan County.

As the sun rose, the streets gradually filled with people.

After a quiet night, West Market began another noisy day.

Tianyi Hall, an antique shop.

Jie Jia, its owner with snow-white hair and beard, opened the doors on time.

He first carefully swept the already spotless floor.

Then he meticulously wiped down the gleaming display shelves.

Bent at the waist, he moved slowly but steadily.

He exuded an air of tranquility, in stark contrast to the bustling crowds outside.

Chirp chirp!

A streak of Black Light flashed past.

A fist-sized black bird had somehow landed on Jie Jia's shoulder.

Jie Jia seemed accustomed to it.

Ignoring the bird on his shoulder, he continued until he had wiped the last corner of the display shelf. Only then did he reach out, seize the black bird, remove the small bamboo tube from its ankle, and pull out the note inside.

It bore a string of meaningless numbers.

"Chen Mu, Chen Family Village, one hundred taels. A big job." Jie Jia remarked expressionlessly.

He lightly rubbed the paper between his thumb and forefinger.

With a puff of black ash, the note vanished.

A Gray-clad Youth entered the shop, respectfully nodded to Jie Jia, then obediently went behind the counter.

He took a brand-new gray cloth from his robes and laid it over a chair before carefully sitting down.

Jie Jia glanced at him, then walked out of Tianyi Hall without a word.

The Gray-clad Youth immediately let out a long breath.

"I wonder which unlucky bastard is lucky enough to be worth Elder Jie taking action personally." The Gray-clad Youth clicked his tongue in amazement.

His arm instinctively moved toward the counter, but it suddenly froze just before touching the surface.

"I heard Elder Jie is a clean freak. I... I'd better sit properly." Still shaken, the Gray-clad Youth hurriedly put his hand back on his knee.

Like someone being punished, he sat rigidly behind the counter.

He did his utmost not to touch so much as a table or chair in the place.

Elder Jie was one of Sole Crimson Tower's top assassins.

If he got killed for dirtying the counter, that would be far too unjust!

Chen Family Village Back Mountain.

A long snake with red scales dangled from a tree branch, stretching toward a bird's nest in the fork above.

Hiss... Pfft!

Its head suddenly exploded.

The next moment, a figure shot past beneath the tree.

Chen Mu raced through the mountains like a leopard.

From time to time, his hands flicked out small stones.

A palm-shaped leaf thirty meters away gained a hole with a pfft.

A centipede nineteen meters away was suddenly severed in two.

A wasp forty-three meters away abruptly shattered to pieces.

Twenty-three meters away, a wild rabbit was joyfully running when it leaped.

Pfft!

A stone suddenly appeared and violently pierced its skull.

"It really can be used for hunting!" Chen Mu appeared beside the rabbit and happily picked it up.

After discovering that the forest environment could improve the Body Tempering Technique, Chen Mu tried hunting with Flying Locust Stones.

"With this skill, I can finally ease the pressure of eating meat a little."

Meat prices were rising not only at Butcher Zheng's, but throughout Qingshan County.

Returning to the Hunter's Cabin, Chen Mu began awkwardly dressing the rabbit.

"I'll probably have plenty of chances to butcher game in the future. I might as well start practicing with this rabbit." Chen Mu thought happily.

In the forest above the Hunter's Cabin.

On a huge tree that took two people to encircle.

Jie Jia stood with his hands behind his back on a branch as thick as an arm, his waist bent.

Through a gap in the leaves, he quietly watched Chen Mu bustling about in the clearing below.

"Found him."

Jie Jia felt no ripple in his heart.

He had been an assassin all his life. Killing no longer stirred any emotion in him.

He was only somewhat puzzled.

Who had a frail scholar offended to make someone spend a hundred taels of silver on his life?

"Forget it. He's only a target."

"Should I make him fall to his death by accident, or have him mistakenly eat poisonous fruit?"

"Death by a venomous insect bite would be good too."

"In the mountains south of Qingshan County, there are twenty-three kinds of deadly venomous insects. A Silver-ring Snake leaves too large a wound, and a Copper Coin Spider is too slow. Neither would be likely to attack someone on its own."

"Mm. The Golden-winged Bee has a slender venomous stinger and potent venom. If I poison a silver needle and disguise it as a bee sting, it will be enough to pass for the real thing."

Whoosh!

A breeze passed through, and Jie Jia disappeared.

Only a leaf spiraled down through the air.

"Young man!"

Chen Mu, who was clumsily skinning and gutting the rabbit, turned his head.

An elderly man with a hunched back was walking over along the path.

His beard and hair were completely white yet meticulously groomed. His steps were slow but steady.

His clothes were clean and tidy. At a glance, he was clearly no hunter or farmer.

"Young man, could you spare me some clean water?" The old man stooped as he slowly approached the Hunter's Cabin along the path.

"Sir, at your age, why are you still climbing into the mountains?" Chen Mu asked doubtfully.

"Don't let my age fool you. I'm still strong as an ox," the old man retorted.

"I'm a doctor. I came into the mountains to gather herbs," the old man explained with a smile.

A doctor? Gathering herbs?

Why wasn't he carrying a herb basket?

Forget it. It was only a mouthful of water.

"Please wait." Chen Mu agreed, washing the blood from his hands.

He entered the Wooden Cabin, dried his hands, took down a waterskin, and came before Jie Jia.

"Sir, please." Chen Mu held out the bulging waterskin with both hands.

Jie Jia smiled as he watched Chen Mu approach. A flash of Silver Light flickered in his right hand behind his back.

He extended his right hand toward the waterskin.

Suddenly, a black shadow descended from the sky.

Chirp chirp!

A fist-sized black bird abruptly landed on Jie Jia's shoulder.

Jie Jia's eyes narrowed.

The Mysterious Bird was Sole Crimson Tower's messenger bird.

Its sudden arrival meant there had to be a change in the mission.

The Smile on his face vanished at once.

He reached out, removed the bamboo tube, and took out the note.

"The Employer is dead, and the mission has been canceled?"

Jie Jia glanced expressionlessly at Chen Mu. "You're very lucky."

Chen Mu looked at him in bewilderment. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Don't play dumb." Jie Jia stared at Chen Mu without expression. "You have Lime Powder hidden in your sleeve, don't you?"

"You misunderstand, sir. It's only a sachet." Chen Mu pulled a cloth pouch from his sleeve, his face utterly sincere.

"When this old man was using Lime Powder to kill people, you hadn't even been born yet." Jie Jia snorted coldly.

"You truly misunderstand, sir. If you don't believe me, I can open it and show you."

"If you dare open that pouch and scatter it on me, I'll kill you immediately!" Jie Jia coldly fixed his gaze on Chen Mu.

"Alas, your misunderstanding of me runs too deep. I truly am not such a sinister person." Chen Mu helplessly tucked the pouch back into his sleeve.

"You're lucky. The Employer who hired me to kill you is dead. I never take jobs that lose me money. You can rest easy now," Jie Jia said blandly.

Chen Mu looked at Jie Jia in astonishment. "Kill me? Sir, you really know how to joke. I'm merely an honest scholar. Why would anyone want to kill me?"

"Honest? What honest scholar carries Lime Powder around to ambush people?" Jie Jia said disdainfully.

As he spoke, he reached for Chen Mu's waterskin.

He had rushed all the way here, searched for his target, and prepared methods for assassination. He truly was a little thirsty.

"Forget it. People's prejudice is like a mountain—it can never be moved. No matter how I explain it, you won't believe me." Chen Mu dejectedly carried the waterskin back toward the Wooden Cabin.

Jie Jia grasped at empty air. "Hey... this stubborn scholar."

"Could I really have suspected him wrongly?"

"Was that smell really Lime Powder?"

"No!" Jie Jia's face darkened. "That little bastard didn't poison the water, did he?"

Prejudice like a mountain?

He sure put on a convincing act!