Mountain Moving Stance, Cheng Han's Counterattack

Dawn was just breaking.

The Black Cat carried a woven vine net bag in its mouth and slipped silently into the house.

The bag was filled with bird eggs of all sizes, no fewer than ten in total.

Cheng Han's voice came from the bathroom. "Back?"

Through the Fragmented Imprint of Spirit Control, he had sensed the Sheriff entering the house.

The Black Cat hurried to the bathroom door, gently set down the net bag, and greeted its owner. "Meow~"

Cheng Han turned and glanced over, his brushing hand immediately pausing. "How did you get so many bird eggs?"

Just how much did this cat like raiding bird nests? Even while out working, it had still been thinking about it.

Unbelievable!

The Black Cat sat on the floor and meowed several times in a row. "Meow~ Meow meow~"

It was explaining itself: This Cat had merely raided a few bird nests along the way home. This Cat absolutely did not neglect its proper work.

Cheng Han spat out a mouthful of foam and advised, "I'll need to use flocks of birds for some things in the future, so try not to raid so many nests. Otherwise, you'll scare all the birds away."

The Black Cat flicked its tail.

Cheng Han added, "Return the net bag to its owner later, understand?"

The cat had not taken this thing with it when it left earlier. It had clearly been secretly borrowed from some household.

The Black Cat flicked its tail again.

Cheng Han looked at the eggs and said, "Forget it. Since you brought them back, I'll fry a few for you later."

The Black Cat wagged its tail happily. "Meow~"

There would be fragrant fried bird eggs again!

Its owner truly understood why This Cat raided bird nests!

This Cat had not taken a detour and searched the woods for so long in vain.

Cheng Han had just finished brushing his teeth and was about to head to the kitchen to make breakfast when the Black Cat suddenly bit onto his pant leg and gave it a gentle tug.

He paused, then asked, "Do you want to take me outside to see something?"

The Black Cat meowed and hurried toward the door.

Cheng Han pulled open the door and froze.

Beside the entrance was a pile of firewood that had appeared at some point. By estimation, it weighed no less than thirty pounds.

It was not much.

But it was not little, either.

Enough to provide warmth for several days.

The logs were irregularly shaped. They did not seem like something bought from a shop, but rather wood that had been chopped in the wilderness.

Cheng Han stared at the firewood and silently invoked, "Deduction."

An illusion appeared.

Two small figures, each carrying a bundle of firewood, struggled to reach the door. They set down the wood, then quietly left.

They were the little brother and sister next door.

There was no doubt about it.

That family was not foolish. They had already realized that the roasted meat came from next door, so they had sent firewood in return.

Cheng Han stroked the cat's head and smiled. "Do you remember what I said yesterday? 'We should always hold hope for human nature,' because there are always unexpected surprises."

The Black Cat seemed thoughtful.

After breakfast.

Cheng Han began to "review" the Black Cat's surveillance results.

The Sheriff lightly leaped onto the sofa and lay down, its entire body relaxed. "Meow~"

It was ready.

Cheng Han placed a hand over its forehead and activated the Fragmented Imprint of Spirit Control with his mind.

Man and cat both shuddered.

The fragmented imprint emitted a pale blue glow, transmitting part of the Black Cat's memories in an incredibly mystical manner.

Cheng Han immediately "saw" a series of scenes.

They were not continuous.

Instead, they came as scattered fragments.

The first scene: In the darkness of night.

A short middle-aged man slowly walked into the yard, picked up some firewood, then returned indoors.

It was Chen Zhengyang.

He walked far more slowly than ordinary people and frequently let out loud coughs, as though he were in extremely poor health.

Cheng Han vaguely felt that the man's posture as he walked carried an indescribable strangeness, yet he could not pinpoint what was wrong.

The second scene: Late at night.

The front door suddenly opened, and Chen Zhengyang strolled out. In a posture almost like sleepwalking, he wandered around the yard once.

"Cough! Cough!"

His coughs continued without pause, even more violent than during the day.

Chen Zhengyang stopped in a corner, spat forcefully, then returned to the house.

Cheng Han frowned.

At this hour, ordinary people had long since fallen asleep, yet this fellow had come out to wander around. Something was clearly wrong.

The third scene: The Black Cat seemed to have realized that Chen Zhengyang's behavior was highly suspicious. It changed its surveillance point and began watching the base of the wall, where he had spat.

After a while.

Something small seemed to begin wriggling at the foot of the wall. It slowly crawled to the wall's base, then climbed up the wall and onto its top.

Although the Black Cat's eyesight was far sharper than a human's, and it could see in the dark, the distance was too great for it to make out what the thing was.

Just then.

A black shadow swooped down, grabbed the small thing, and flew away.

It was clearly a nocturnal bird.

That concluded the surveillance.

After thinking for a moment, Cheng Han asked, "After Chen Zhengyang came out once in the middle of the night, did he stay inside the house the whole time?"

The Black Cat replied, "Meow~"

Meaning: Yes.

Cheng Han vigorously rubbed its head and praised it. "You did very well!"

The Black Cat happily narrowed its eyes.

Cheng Han smiled. "All right, you worked hard all night. Go get some rest now."

The Black Cat rubbed against its owner's hand and slipped back beneath the cabinet.

That was its cat bed.

Cheng Han pondered, "That phlegm Chen Zhengyang spat out must have contained supernatural power, which catalyzed some kind of creature. What exactly was he trying to do? And that bird that took the little thing away—was it a coincidence, or part of a planned arrangement?"

The entire matter reeked of Anomaly.

Recalling the image of the bird, Cheng Han silently invoked, "Deduce this bird's origins."

A chill spread across his scalp.

His spirit decreased by 0.4 points.

But there was no feedback at all.

Cheng Han shook his head and gave up on continuing the Deduction. "Whatever is around Chen Zhengyang is far from simple. The Eye of Omniscience is too low-level, and without an associated object, it truly is difficult to deduce anything."

He activated the Fragmented Imprint of Spirit Control, sensed an extremely obscure connection, and sent out a call.

Not long afterward.

A White Claw Crow flew in through the window and rubbed its head against Cheng Han's fingers.

As usual, Cheng Han first provided it with a "working meal," then transmitted some memories to it, assigning it to conduct surveillance during the day.

Compared to the Grey Spotted Finch from before, this bird had a slightly larger brain and was somewhat smarter, which was why he had summoned it.

"Caw! Caw!"

The White Claw Crow called a few times, flapped its wings, and flew away.

Cheng Han tidied up briefly, slung his schoolbag over his back, and headed out.

It was time for school!

As Cheng Han rode his bicycle toward the school gate, he spotted two Feathered Beasts standing by the roadside, crying "Ang! Ang!" without pause.

Beside the Feathered Beasts, a tall young man was speaking to a servant dressed in attendant's clothes.

Every student passing by detoured around the two of them.

Cheng Han recognized the former at once. He was Jing Jiuxiao, a prominent figure at Fifteen Middle School and the Class Monitor of Class One, Fifth Grade.

Only three students at the school rode Feathered Beasts to and from school, and he was one of them.

After arriving at school, a servant would take the Feathered Beasts back.

Before school let out, the servant would bring them back to pick him up.

In short, the typical style of a wealthy young master.

Cheng Han frowned, quietly muttering to himself.

He arrived at school at around this time almost every day, yet he had never encountered Jing Jiuxiao before. And today, of all days, he happened to run into him. That was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it?

Cheng Han glanced at the young man and immediately performed a Deduction.

An illusion slowly emerged.

A key phrase appeared within it—Fourth Battle Group.

Jing Jiuxiao happened to be a Reserve Warrior of the Fourth Battle Group.

In one scene, the man called someone a "traitor" in front of several people.

He clearly believed that, since Cheng Han was a student taught by Qiu Yuan, he had to sign with the Fourth Battle Group. Joining the Second Battle Group instead was an act of betrayal.

Honestly, this did not surprise Cheng Han.

With only two choices, one side was bound to be offended. There was nothing to be done about it; no one could take all the benefits for themselves.

A cold glint appeared in Cheng Han's eyes as he muttered disdainfully, "You can't compete with Yan Dongting, so you came specifically to target me? Do you really think I'm such an easy target?"

He jumped off his bicycle and pushed it toward the school gate.

A few breaths later.

"Ang! Ang!"

The Feathered Beasts' cries suddenly grew much louder.

For some reason, the two huge creatures suddenly began fighting each other.

The abrupt change stunned everyone.

Snap!

The reins tied to the wooden stake were yanked apart at once.

One Feathered Beast was bitten hard. In pain, it staggered backward several steps and, with incredible "coincidence," crashed toward Cheng Han nearby.

Its long tail instinctively swung high, lashing toward him like a whip.

This was undoubtedly a planned script.

Its sole purpose was to teach Cheng Han a lesson in front of the entire school!

"Hah!"

Cheng Han shouted.

Thanks to the Spirit Universe Imprint, his shout carried an overwhelming killing intent.

Everyone nearby, including the Feathered Beasts, was momentarily intimidated.

Cheng Han's eyes flashed as he immediately assumed a strange stance.

This was the seventh form of the Nine Elements Strengthening Body Technique, and one that very few students could master—the Mountain Moving Stance.

Within his Sea of Spirit, the Source Sense Imprint rapidly expanded before bursting into brilliant light. A surge of Source Energy poured into his body, and his arms swelled dramatically.

Cheng Han grabbed his bicycle and hurled it with all his might.

The thing weighed dozens of pounds. An ordinary student would need considerable effort just to lift it.

Yet in his hands, the bicycle was as light as a toy. It flew five or six meters in an instant, striking the Feathered Beast with perfect accuracy.

At the same time.

Cheng Han snorted inwardly.

Think I'm an easy target?

Today, I'll make you smash your head bloody!