Liu Bin

Seventy li outside Heyuan County, Shizhuang Village.

This was a sparsely populated hamlet, nestled against the mountains and bordering the water, with a pleasant landscape.

Inside an unremarkable, secluded courtyard, a tall, middle-aged farmer halfheartedly turned over hay to dry on his threshing floor.

This simple-looking farmer occasionally glanced toward Heyuan City, a faint smile on his face.

"Less than a year now, and it'll be twenty full years. The crime I committed back then will exceed the Heyuan Temple's statute of limitations... As long as I seize this sliver of hope, I can change my appearance and enter the city..."

The simple farmer muttered to himself, recalling the murders from years past, a flicker of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

"Can't blame me... can't blame me... It was the He Family who pushed me too far, forced me to wipe out their entire household!! If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being too ruthless, leaving me no way out!!"

Just then, a young girl of five or six ran out of the room, shouting:

"Daddy, Daddy, look, look, what I made."

The ruthlessness on the simple farmer's face vanished in an instant. When he turned around, he already wore a kindly expression, though the gloom in his eyes was hard to erase.

"Lan'er, what did you make? Haha, a grasshopper out of straw? Come here, let Daddy give you a kiss."

The farmer scooped up the adorable girl, his face beaming with a smile.

"Daddy, that tickles." The girl giggled, seeming a little shy.

Shen Zhui hid in a tree outside the courtyard, watching this heartwarming scene between father and daughter, a mix of emotions stirring within him.

"Liu Bin, the wanted culprit of the massacre nineteen years ago... Who would've thought he'd be hiding in this remote mountain village seventy li away, married with a child..."

If not for the system never being wrong, and the sin manifesting above Liu Bin's head, Shen Zhui would never have connected the demon who slaughtered seventy-plus members of a family with the simple man before him.

"Liu Bin must have just returned here recently. The hundred-li range is the limit of the once-every-few-years sacrificial scan. He's probably planning to change his appearance and re-enter the city to live."

Taking a deep breath, Shen Zhui jumped down from the tree and slowly approached the courtyard fence.

"Daddy, Daddy, there's a big brother coming over there."

"Hm?" Liu Bin, immersed in happiness, jolted in alarm and turned to look.

A constable's iron ruler, a county office waist token, a Law Enforcement Edict...

Liu Bin's heart went cold, his face paling.

But seeing that Shen Zhui made no further move, only standing outside the fence, even making a playful gesture toward his daughter, Liu Bin's tension eased slightly.

He set his daughter down and patted her head. "Lan'er, go inside. Daddy has business with this big brother. Don't come out, understand?"

"Mm! Lan'er understands!" The girl answered timidly, then quickly went into the room.

Liu Bin gently stepped out of the yard, closed the wooden gate, and looked at Shen Zhui.

Shen Zhui seemed completely unguarded, letting the man approach him.

Only when Liu Bin was twenty meters away did Shen Zhui speak: "Liu Bin."

Hearing Shen Zhui call out his true identity in one breath, the last shred of hope in Liu Bin's heart vanished.

He stopped, his expression complex. After a long pause, he clasped his hands and bowed. "Thank you, sir, for showing mercy to my daughter and not acting here."

"Sir, please." Liu Bin made a gesture, then turned and led the way.

Shen Zhui said nothing, keeping a steady twenty-meter distance as he followed.

When they reached a secluded forest, far from any sign of human habitation, Liu Bin stopped.

Shen Zhui stopped as well.

"This place is quiet and remote. I often come here to practice my blade. What does sir think?"

"The Azure Dragon Turns Its Lair passes through, the White Tiger Enters the Firmament—layered peaks and winding waters surround it. It's not a bad spot for a Wind and Water Array. If buried here, one's descendants would surely be blessed."

Shen Zhui smiled, as if making small talk with Liu Bin, but his words carried hidden meaning.

This might be the grave Liu Bin had chosen for himself—or perhaps it was Shen Zhui's.

"Sir has good eyes!" Liu Bin no longer resembled the farmer from before; a sharp, fierce aura radiated from him.

"You only needed to hide for one more year to have a chance to live. Changing your appearance and entering the city to start over wasn't impossible. Why risk approaching the county town?" Shen Zhui was puzzled.

Liu Bin sighed. "My late wife died in childbirth. Living deep in the mountains, the cold invaded her body, leaving my daughter congenitally weak and sickly. The mountain forest is damp and chilly, sparsely populated, with no good medicine to treat her. I had no other choice."

Shen Zhui sighed inwardly. Liu Bin truly doted on his daughter.

Just as Shen Zhui was lost in thought, Liu Bin suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud. "Liu knows he has committed an unforgivable crime, beyond redemption. But my daughter is frail and ill. Liu is willing to offer his neck for the blade—please, sir, take care of my daughter!"

"Ah... Get up first." Shen Zhui sighed and stepped forward to help Liu Bin up.

Right then—

"Shwish~" Liu Bin pulled a short blade from beneath a bamboo clump and slashed it toward Shen Zhui's abdomen!

The blade had been hidden under fallen leaves, impossible to detect—far too sudden!

"Pfft!" Blood trickled from the corner of Shen Zhui's mouth as he staggered backward.

"Haha, the authorities really have no one left, sending a green youth like you here."

"You want to kill me? Dream on!"

Liu Bin grinned savagely, short blade in hand, charging forward with heavy strides. He swung down at Shen Zhui's head in a single, straight chop.

Shua~

The blade cut through empty air. Looking again, Shen Zhui had sidestepped, drawn the iron ruler from his waist, and stood ten meters away.

"Such fast footwork! How is that possible?" Liu Bin's heart jolted. Shen Zhui's speed was almost on par with his own.

Shen Zhui released his hand from his abdomen. His torn clothes revealed the Silver Scale Soft Armor beneath, marked by a shallow blade scar.

"Die!" Seizing the moment of Liu Bin's shock, Shen Zhui pulled out his iron ruler and swiftly closed in.

"Dream on!" Liu Bin's eyes turned vicious. Unafraid, he met the charge with his blade.

Clang clang clang~

The clash of metal rang out as short blade and iron ruler sparked, each impact sending tremendous force through both their wrists.

Shen Zhui wielded twin iron rulers. The iron ruler, originally a trident spike, resembled a sword but had two side prongs to trap an opponent's weapon, giving it an edge against blades.

The Ruler Technique "Nine Layers of Iron Ruler" could be used one-handed.

Or with both rulers—forward grip or reverse grip, one for attack, one for defense.

"Twin rulers? And his strength matches mine?" Liu Bin was startled as his short blade got caught.

The difference between single and twin rulers was vast.

Twin rulers multiplied both offense and defense several times over. They were balanced, flexible, and deadly.

Of course, they were far harder to master. But anyone wielding twin rulers was undoubtedly a top-tier enforcer!

"Ha!" Liu Bin didn't retreat when his blade was trapped. Instead, he pushed forward, channeling vital energy from his body into the blade, trying to drive the tip past the ruler and pierce Shen Zhui's head.

But in that instant, light flickered on Shen Zhui's iron ruler as two layers of Essence of Vital Energy stacked in a flash.

Under the contest of strength, Liu Bin's short blade not only failed to advance but was forced back toward him!

Left with no choice, Liu Bin withdrew his blade. But Shen Zhui's iron ruler followed like a serpent, turning defense into offense.

"Break, break, break!" Liu Bin roared like a madman, slashing wildly. His blade traced hazy arcs, each strike aimed at Shen Zhui.

Shen Zhui moved with measured steps, his twin rulers weaving an impenetrable defense. No matter how Liu Bin attacked, he couldn't breach the pair of irons.

In ten breaths, Liu Bin had struck over thirty times. Though he'd suppressed Shen Zhui at first, he gradually lost the initiative and found himself being pushed back!

"How?!"

Liu Bin's heart pounded.

The more he fought, the more alarmed he became.

"His twin rulers are airtight. Every ten moves, seven produce phantom images—this is the realm of Ruler Technique Mastery... How is that possible? How old is he?!"

Liu Bin had trained his blade technique for decades and still hadn't reached Mastery.

He'd only achieved Minor Accomplishment, where the weapon moved like an extension of the arm.

Because a weapon was an external object. To train a heavy one until it felt like part of the body—how hard was that?

Yet this youth had reached Mastery. His strikes carried a faint Momentum. Though Liu Bin was higher in rank and slightly stronger, he was still being suppressed!

"Kill, kill, kill!!"

Liu Bin went berserk.

He'd barely found a chance to live—how could he let it slip?

Shen Zhui said nothing. His twin rulers spun into a wall of shadows, steadily widening the gap between them.

Rip~!

Shen Zhui's iron ruler slashed across Liu Bin's waist, drawing blood.

"Damn it! Can't drag this out!" The pain jolted Liu Bin from his frenzy.

For the first sixty strikes, he'd relied on his rank and strength to suppress his opponent. But after sixty, he'd taken a wound. If this continued, he'd fall to Shen Zhui!

"Die!" Faint light gathered on Liu Bin's short blade as he erupted with all the Essence of Vital Energy in his body.

Each strand of Essence of Vital Energy was hard-won, the very core of one's vitality. If he exhausted it without killing his enemy, he'd collapse, helpless.

Even if he won, recovery would take long months. Unless absolutely certain, no one would waste Essence of Vital Energy in battle.

Having wandered the world for over a decade, Liu Bin knew the secret of Shen Zhui's "Blood Burn" technique. In terms of quality, Shen Zhui's Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm Essence of Vital Energy might not match his own cultivation method.

But in quantity, he was far outmatched!

Still, he had no choice. Dragging it out meant death.

He had to gamble.

No matter how exquisite the Ruler Technique, he'd crush it with raw force—Power Breaking Law!

Shen Zhui's heart tightened. He knew Liu Bin was going all out.

One must understand that no matter how exquisite a saber technique is, if the gap in strength between two parties is too great—for instance, a Postnatal Third Stage against a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm—it's all for nothing!

But if Liu Bin could burst forth with the Essence of Vital Energy, so could Shen Zhui!

"Ha!"

With a low growl, he raised his left arm in a block, and the Essence of Vital Energy within him surged outward.

A full sixteen strands of Essence of Vital Energy erupted!

His strength doubled, and the iron ruler in his right hand shot forward with sudden speed, aiming straight for the opponent's head!

"Shua shua~"

A flash of blade and ruler passed by.

"Pfft~" Shen Zhui spat blood and flew backward.

As for Liu Bin, an iron ruler was lodged in his chest. His face was deathly pale as he staggered back a few steps, forced to support himself with his saber blade just to barely stay standing.

"Thank goodness for this Silver Scale Soft Armor. That strike only shook me up; it didn't cut through the armor."

Shen Zhui touched his abdomen. Beneath his clothes, a massive gash had appeared on the Silver Scale Soft Armor.

He was both shocked and frightened. A full-powered strike from a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist, coupled with an eruption of Essence of Vital Energy, was truly terrifying.

In the final instant, he had barely managed to block, yet the opponent still broke through his defense and slashed across his body. Without the Silver Scale Soft Armor, he would likely be dead or gravely wounded.

But as it stood, he was only shaken, while the opponent had been pierced through the organs.

"Young master, young as you are, your saber technique has already reached great mastery. I... have no right to complain about losing..." Liu Bin finally lost the strength to stand, collapsing to the ground and coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

Shen Zhui stood up, looking at Liu Bin with an icy gaze.

The Divine Law follows the principles of heaven's way. He had thought that for a case of Liu Bin's level—if he had evaded capture for twenty years without committing another crime—there might be a sliver of a chance for redemption.

Because for cases that occurred outside the city, the Divine Law, whether concerning the matter or the person, typically only traced back twenty years.

Of course, the case would still be downgraded and left on file, to be handled by 'men.'

But that would make things much easier for the other party. After disguising themselves and changing their name, even swaggering into the city, they would be hard to detect.

He had originally thought there might be hidden circumstances, but now it seemed that was far from the truth. Recalling the young girl, he stared coldly at Liu Bin: "It was all fake?"

Liu Bin grinned savagely: "Of course it was fake. I just bought that girl to play a part, to lower the guard of anyone coming to catch me. But I didn't expect that I fooled you, yet failed to kill you."

Shen Zhui nodded.

"I understand. Now you can die."

"Pfft~" He pulled out the iron ruler, blood splattering everywhere, and Liu Bin breathed his last, with no more signs of life.

New book, please recommend, please bookmark!