Treasure Box

Zhang Kuang recoiled in horror, but the speed of the minor-success Eagle Claw Skill far surpassed his ability to react!

"Pshht!"

Five iron fingers, like red-hot branding irons, viciously gouged into Zhang Kuang's chest! His protective inner force was torn apart as easily as paper!

"Argh—!"

Zhang Kuang let out a shrill scream as searing pain swept through his entire body in an instant.

He could feel his heart clutched in the talons, his life force draining away at terrifying speed.

Lin Feng's gaze was ice-cold, without the slightest wavering.

He would show no mercy to this accomplice who had tried to kill him and might even have harmed his sister.

Blood poured from Zhang Kuang's nose and mouth, his eyes full of terror and disbelief as he struggled to utter one final threat.

"Y-you dare kill me... the Northern Garrison Command... won't let you go... Young Master Wang... will surely... tear you into ten thousand pieces..."

Successfully killed Zhang Kuang. Obtained 0.2 Slaughter Points.

The system notification rang out, cold and precise.

"Too much nonsense." Lin Feng abruptly clenched his five fingers and pulled, thoroughly snuffing out Zhang Kuang's life.

Zhang Kuang's corpse collapsed limply to the ground, the light fading from his eyes.

The other Imperial Brocade Guard standing watch had long since gone pale with fright, his legs shaking like a sieve.

He had watched Lin Feng use thunderous methods to kill the stronger Zhang Kuang, and his soul had nearly fled his body.

"Lieutenant Lin! M-mercy! Mercy!"

With a thud, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed like a pounding garlic.

"I didn't see anything! I swear I'll keep my mouth shut! Please show mercy and spare me! I still have children and elderly parents at home..."

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the Imperial Brocade Guard.

This man's desire to live was strong, and his performance was convincing as well.

Ordinarily, Lin Feng might have weighed his options.

But now, his sharp gaze caught sight of a patch of blue-black tattoo exposed on the man's neck beneath his collar, which had fallen open from terror and kowtowing—a ferocious tiger's head!

The mark of the Fierce Tiger Gang!

This gate guard of the Northern Garrison Command was actually a spy planted by a city gang?

If he let the man go, whether he reported him to the Northern Garrison Command or sent word to the Fierce Tiger Gang—or even Wang Teng—it would bring enormous trouble.

A hidden danger had to be removed.

Lin Feng did not hesitate in the slightest. His body flashed, and his right hand shot out like lightning, precisely gripping the man's throat.

The guard's pleading eyes instantly turned to despair and shock, as though he could not understand why Lin Feng was being so decisive.

"Crack."

After that crisp sound, the world fell quiet.

Successfully killed an Imperial Brocade Guard spy. Obtained 0.1 Slaughter Points!

Lin Feng swiftly searched both men.

He found ten copper coins on the spy, and forty copper coins along with a thin, worn-edged booklet on Zhang Kuang.

The booklet bore the words "Brute Ox Strength," and seemed to be a body-tempering martial art used to build one's foundation.

There was no time to examine it closely.

Lin Feng stuffed the copper coins and martial arts manual into his clothes, then warily surveyed his surroundings.

After confirming that no one had noticed, he immediately slipped into the Northern Garrison Command compound and hurried toward the humble little courtyard from his memories.

The courtyard was silent, its door left ajar.

Lin Feng's heart sank, and he shoved the door open.

"Xiaowan!"

The room was empty!

The tables and chairs were slightly disordered, while the bed where his sister Lin Wan usually sat was utterly vacant!

In that instant, Lin Feng felt as though he had fallen into an ice pit, his blood nearly freezing solid.

The scene of his adoptive father and mother's final moments rose before his eyes:

He had been an abandoned infant, picked up by his adoptive parents while they were returning from an Imperial Brocade Guard mission.

Though not related by blood, his adoptive parents had treated him as their own. Along with the sister they later had, Lin Wan, their family of four had not been wealthy, but it had been full of warmth.

His adoptive parents had both been skilled Imperial Brocade Guards, yet they had died together three years ago during an apparently ordinary mission. Their deaths had been suspicious.

Before dying, they had tightly gripped his hands. Their only final words were, "Feng'er... take care of... Xiaowan... she... is entrusted to you..."

It was precisely because of this connection.

Even though Lin Feng had not yet stepped into the realm of martial artists at the time, he had still been exceptionally admitted into the Northern Garrison Command, receiving a meager salary that barely supported himself and his sister.

But now... his sister was gone!

If anything had happened to Xiaowan, how could he face his adoptive parents in the underworld?!

Towering rage and self-blame nearly drowned him.

Wang Teng! Leader Zhao! Zhang Kuang! You deserve to die!

Lin Feng forced himself to calm down, his blazing gaze sweeping over every corner of the room.

Suddenly, he noticed a faint, unusual sound coming from beneath the bed.

He immediately bent down and lifted the tattered bedsheet hanging to the floor.

Under the bed, a small figure was curled up in the corner—it was his sister, Lin Wan!

Her eyes were tightly closed, her breathing even, as though she were asleep. Her face was frighteningly pale.

Lin Feng let out a long breath, the tension in his nerves instantly easing as overwhelming relief surged into his heart.

He carefully carried his sister out and gently laid her on the bed.

Looking at his sister's sleeping form, Lin Feng recalled Leader Zhao's words before his death: "...that sister of yours... I'm afraid she won't wait for you to return..."

Thinking back on it now, that had not merely been a threat. It had been meant to provoke him and hasten the effects of the Essence Dissipation Powder.

The Northern Garrison Command was where the Imperial Brocade Guard were stationed. Even the Wang Family patriarch would not dare cause trouble here, much less some insignificant young master of the Wang Family.

Upon discovering that his sister was unharmed, Lin Feng's suspended heart finally settled by more than half.

After the fierce battle and hurried journey, hunger gnawed at his stomach, and he prepared to light a fire and cook in the kitchen.

Just as he moved an old rice jar in the corner and prepared to scoop out some rice, his gaze sharpened.

The color of the wooden board at the bottom of the rice jar, near the wall, seemed slightly different from the surrounding boards.

He reached out and tapped it, hearing a hollow echo.

There was a hidden compartment!

Lin Feng carefully pried up the wooden board, revealing a hidden compartment roughly a foot square.

Inside the compartment lay a Treasure Box in perfect stillness.

This Treasure Box was anything but ordinary!

It was not made of wood, but forged entirely from some kind of dark metal, ice-cold to the touch.

The box was carved with intricate, ancient cloud patterns, its edges set with several dark gemstones that had long lost their luster but possessed peculiar shapes.

There was no keyhole on the lid, only a vague depression resembling a palm print.

The entire box radiated a luxurious aura utterly out of place with his adoptive parents' impoverished life.

His adoptive parents had actually hidden such a treasure?

They had never mentioned it!

What was inside? A martial arts manual? Clues to a divine weapon? Or something connected to the secret behind their deaths all those years ago?

Lin Feng's heartbeat quickened involuntarily. He extended his hand and slowly stroked the icy lid, focusing especially on the palm-print depression.

The newly born inner force within his body seemed drawn by something, stirring faintly.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and tried to push or pry open the lid, but the Treasure Box did not move in the slightest, sealed tight without even the slightest gap.

When his palm accidentally covered the palm-print depression, that faint strand of inner force within him began circulating on its own, subtly gathering toward his palm.

There was a reaction!

Lin Feng tried again, slowly channeling his inner force into the palm print.

The box trembled almost imperceptibly, and the dark gemstones seemed to flash with an extremely faint halo.

But then it fell silent again, and the lid did not open.

Was his inner force insufficient? Or did it require some special method?

After pondering for a moment, Lin Feng finally came up with a way to open the Treasure Box.