Dawn

"What's wrong? Is there something strange about this head, or what? Why can't you tear your eyes away?"

Wu Shuo glanced at Chu Mu, who was silently looking down, and casually teased him.

Chu Mu gave an awkward smile and raised the head in his hand. "Your subordinate was thinking about the scene of fighting that rebel just now. I got a little lost in thought."

"Heh..."

Wu Shuo chuckled lightly without exposing him. He glanced at the head in Chu Mu's hand, his face full of approval. "Cut four more heads, and we'll have to change the way we address you."

"Pure luck, pure luck. How could I dare hope for more?"

"Hahahaha! You little rascal, you're as sly as a monkey!"

Wu Shuo laughed heartily and waved his hand. Without saying anything more, he called out to the several Patrol Inspectors accompanying him and left.

Chu Mu silently watched Wu Shuo and the others depart. After a moment, he looked at the severed head in his hand.

Selling it was obviously impossible.

Even if he really tried to sell it, there was no guarantee Li Gang would accept it—but he would definitely offend Wu Shuo completely.

He wasn't stupid enough to do something so laborious and thankless.

But then, Chu Mu couldn't help feeling a toothache of sorts. He had originally wanted to establish some merit, raise his authority and status, and gain access to real skill.

Now he had the merit, and he had obtained real skill as well, but... he had also been dragged into this whole mess.

What was clear at present was that... regardless of whether he wanted it or not, Wu Shuo's gift of that real skill meant that, to some extent, Wu Shuo had obviously already regarded him as one of his own.

And his immediate superior... Li Gang and Wu Shuo were clearly at daggers drawn!

What a toothache!

The corner of Chu Mu's mouth twitched involuntarily. This really was a case of being in the martial world and having no control over one's own fate.

"Mu Ge'er, Squad Leader Wu is a pretty good man."

Hearing Xu Yuan say this, Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

"After I joined the Patrol Inspectorate, Squad Leader Wu has always looked after me. He's quite amiable toward everyone else, too."

"When I went to the Wind and Moon Tower with Squad Leader Wu before, I heard quite a few people talk about our Squad Leader. They all said he was too arrogant, relying on his martial arts and looking down on everyone..."

Chu Mu pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I understand. Don't tell anyone else that."

Xu Yuan acknowledged him and said no more, silently following at Chu Mu's side.

The two of them worked together to clean up the mess in the Dense Forest. Then, with the help of several Patrol Inspectors who had returned, they busied themselves for quite a while before barely managing to put the area in order.

Before they had time to rest, the order to continue advancing rang out through the Dense Forest.

The group trudged through the snow that had piled up in the mountains, moving forward cautiously under the torchlight.

No one knew whether there would be another attack.

Once an attack appeared, even if they could ultimately withstand it—or even counterkill their attackers—there would always be some people serving as cannon fodder, dying in these remote mountain woods.

A squad of more than a dozen people had, by now, been reduced to only a few stragglers.

Li Gang was still nowhere to be seen. After enduring several attacks, with Li Gang absent, Chu Mu had unquestionably become the backbone of this battered squad.

Chu Mu seemed not to have realized this—or perhaps... he had realized it, but was unwilling to shoulder the responsibility.

After all, strictly speaking, he could barely protect himself. Where would he have the ability to look after others?

Name: Chu Mu.

Skill: Basic Blade Technique (Initial Understanding) 205/500

Spirit Radiance Value: 29.6%

Chu Mu stared at the Light Screen Panel in his vision. Seeing the blade-technique proficiency soar once again, he wasn't particularly surprised.

This fierce clash with the Black-Clothed Man had far surpassed his previous battle with Shaonian in intensity, danger, and twists and turns.

Even at the end, under "Spirit Radiance Blessing" and with many factors pulling him in different directions, he had been driven back step by step, struggling to hold his ground.

This real battle had clearly involved far more experience—and had been fought far more thoroughly!

Coupled with "Spirit Radiance Blessing," such gains were entirely normal.

The Light Screen Panel faded away. Chu Mu weighed the long saber in his hand, his gaze shifting before finally settling on the saber once more.

The blade was spotless and gleaming like new. If he hadn't experienced it himself, it would have been hard to imagine that, after enduring such an intense battle, this saber could remain completely unharmed.

Such forging craftsmanship... such extraordinary skill...

Chu Mu's eyes flickered, but his thoughts once again drifted back to that small courtyard in Qili Village.

Who was the great personage who had taught the villagers of Qili Village martial arts? What was the purpose behind it? And... was that person still in Qili Village?

Many doubts surged into Chu Mu's mind. He looked once more toward the shadowy Dense Forest in the distance, but ultimately withdrew his thoughts back into the depths of his heart.

The closer they drew to the villagers of Qili Village, the fiercer the resistance they would inevitably face. No one would simply sit and await death.

The road ahead would be dangerous.

And reality was just as Chu Mu had expected. Not long after the group set out again, they faced another attack.

This time, however, Chu Mu's squad only heard the noise. The attackers had clearly chosen not to target their squad.

The disturbance came suddenly and ended just as quickly. No one knew what the outcome had been before shouts ordering them to set off rang out again.

During the journey that followed, scattered sneak attacks practically never ceased.

These scattered attacks seemed to reveal that the attackers were powerless.

After all, nearly every previous attack had erupted everywhere at once, from all directions, leaving everyone in a state of alarm.

These successive sneak attacks, by contrast, seemed more like madness born of despair, like moths throwing themselves into a flame.

Chu Mu wasn't certain whether his guess was correct, but as these scattered sneak attacks appeared, the entire Patrol Inspectorate force clearly increased its pace under one order after another.

For the vast majority of the Patrol Inspectors, this was almost the most agonizing and longest night of their lives. It passed amid exhaustion and bloodshed.

Dawn... had finally come! Even Chu Mu, who already possessed some ability to protect himself, felt as though he had escaped from death's door when he sensed the light filtering through the Dense Forest.

"It's dawn!"

"It's finally daytime!"

Several Patrol Inspectors could barely conceal their excitement, chattering and shouting over one another.

Chu Mu swept his gaze around the surrounding Dense Forest. The sky was still somewhat dim, but under the light, the forest was at last no longer shrouded in utter darkness.

The widening of their field of vision brought with it an indescribable sense of security.

"There!"

"There are people on that mountain over there!"

"It's that group of rebels!"

At that moment, the sudden shouts instantly made the already clamorous Dense Forest even noisier.

Chu Mu instinctively looked toward the direction of the voices. Only then did he notice that they had already reached a place near the mountaintop.

The shouts just now had clearly come from the summit.

Chu Mu quickened his pace. Before long, he had reached the mountaintop. Looking out, he saw ranges of mountains stretching endlessly, covered in thick white snow.

And the traces of the villagers from Qili Village mentioned in the shouts... were equally obvious.