Killing Intent

The night was as it had been, with the fine, persistent rain falling tirelessly.

In the cold night, within the woods.

The young man stood holding his sword, a corpse still impaled upon the blade.

This was Chu Qing's first kill, in this life or his previous one.

But perhaps because he had integrated the original owner's memories, Chu Qing felt not the slightest bit of discomfort.

He was just a little confused.

"Why didn't anything appear above this person's head?

"And the system didn't react at all?"

He opened the interface, but nothing seemed to have been triggered.

"Maybe I was mistaken."

With a flick of his wrist, the corpse slid off the sword.

When he had just activated the system and seen the thing above Bloody Spear's head, he'd thought that killing someone would always cause something to appear above their head.

Now, it seemed that wasn't the case.

Could the thing above Bloody Spear's head just be a way for the system to make its appearance?

It had nothing to do with him killing him.

As for the treasure chest... the novice gift pack?

He didn't dwell on this question for too long. Although he felt there was something he couldn't quite figure out, it wasn't important.

"But this way, it seems there's no need to run away anymore.

"Ah Fei's Fast Sword... The Fastest Sword Under Heaven!"

A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Chu Qing's mouth.

There had been five assassins. When they first met, he had killed one.

Of the remaining four, two were right in front of him.

One was hanging from a tree, the other had fallen into the mud.

Now there were only two left.

Instead of fleeing in a panic, it would be better to stay here and wait a little.

From the moment the original owner was ambushed by the Mirror of Sin, Chu Qing knew this was a life-and-death situation.

The Mirror of Sin did not tolerate betrayal; there had to be a winner and a loser, a matter of life and death, between them.

If he hadn't had this golden finger, even if he had transmigrated, he probably wouldn't have been able to survive their pursuit.

But now... things were different.

By eliminating these two assassins now, he could buy himself a little more time.

Thinking of this, Chu Qing returned to the base of the tree and began to meditate cross-legged.

His injuries hadn't improved because he had obtained Ah Fei's Fast Sword, so he still needed to recuperate.

The Chu family's inherited martial art was called the Ruoxu Scripture, which was actually from the Daoist Sect lineage.

One of their ancestors had once joined the Xuhuai Sect within the Daoist Sect and was a true disciple there.

Over the past three hundred years, the martial world had been turbulent. The Xuhuai Sect couldn't withstand the storm, and the sect was shattered, its disciples either killed or scattered. Among them was this ancestor of the Chu family.

Using the Ruoxu Scripture and his profound skills from the Xuhuai Sect, he established the foundation of the Chu family in Heavenly Dance City.

The Ruoxu Scripture naturally became the Chu family's inherited martial art.

Daoist martial arts were easy to learn but difficult to master. They emphasized balance, stability, and accumulating power over time.

Their greatest advantage was that there was little risk of qi deviation.

Chu Qing had begun cultivating this internal skill at the age of five and had been practicing for a full fourteen years now, yet he had only reached the third realm.

His internal energy wasn't particularly profound, but when used, his internal breath was light and ethereal like smoke, continuous and with strong staying power.

This was the characteristic of the Ruoxu Scripture. Its explosive power might be insufficient, but it was best suited for prolonged battles.

Chu Qing was able to endure the siege of these five Mirror of Sin assassins, break out of the encirclement, and even fight to the death with an expert whose martial arts were superior to his own, precisely by relying on this martial art.

At this moment, his internal energy rose from his dantian. His dantian was like a furnace, with wisps of green smoke curling up, following the meridians into his chest, soothing his injuries.

Time passed, and he didn't know how long it had been, when two figures suddenly appeared on either side of Chu Qing.

These two were also dressed in black and wore painted masks.

After appearing, they said nothing. The person on the left extended a hand and flicked it. With three buzzing sounds, three shuttle darts shot through the air, aimed directly at Chu Qing's cheek.

Immediately following the darts, a short dagger was hidden behind them, stabbing towards Chu Qing's neck.

The other person, with a flick of their hand, sent out a rope dart.

A rope dart was a soft weapon, a rope with a sharp, pointed dart head at the end.

When using this weapon, one needed to build momentum, using body movements to propel the rope dart forward before finally unleashing it. Not only was its power extraordinary, but it was also unpredictable and difficult to defend against.

However, this person's technique was exceptional. With a single flick, it subtly brought forth the sound of wind and thunder, striking with lightning speed.

Both individuals' attacks were lethal blows. If Chu Qing had been hit by either, he would have died on the spot.

In that instant, Chu Qing opened his eyes. His body soared into the air, and with a flick of the longsword in his hand, the three darts were instantly struck away. Following closely, the sword's edge advanced, and a tearing sound was heard.

As it advanced, it grazed past the dagger of the person on the left. Where the two weapons met, sparks flew.

The longsword and the dagger crossed paths. One pierced through a throat, while the other stopped just before a chest.

At the same time, the rope dart flew towards Chu Qing's back.

Chu Qing raised his hand and swatted away the dagger near his chest. With a step, he used his sword to press the assassin in front of him forward.

One step, two steps, three steps!

After three steps, he paused, turned back, and slashed. A clanging sound was heard.

The head of the rope dart was struck away by his sword.

This was because by this point, the rope dart had reached its limit... it couldn't reach him anymore.

The assassin behind him had been immersed in this art for many years and didn't care that the dart head had been struck away.

With just a tug of his hand, he had already brought it under control.

He was about to attack again, but the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of silver-white... Looking down again, a sword had appeared on his throat.

When?

The assassin's eyes were wide open, wanting to speak, but only a 'hoarse' sound came from his mouth. He couldn't articulate a single word.

Chu Qing flicked his hand and withdrew the sword. The assassin's body fell, splashing a little water.

Chu Qing's own body also swayed. He took a deep breath before steadying his steps:

"Done... If the Mirror of Sin hasn't sent anyone else to follow besides them, then I've temporarily gotten away."

After all, he was severely injured. The intense fight just now seemed easy, but it had actually consumed a great deal of his mental and physical energy.

His internal energy was also depleted. If there had been a few more people, he feared he would have been in real trouble.

But even at this point, he still acted methodically, searching the bodies of these few people one by one.

In the end, he found a few taels of碎银 (broken silver) and some banknotes. However, Chu Qing didn't plan to use the banknotes.

Many banknotes needed to be exchanged for silver at specific banks. If the original owner of the banknote had some connection with the bank and left some mark on it, using it rashly without it matching the record could very likely cause trouble.

In addition, there were some drugs of unknown purpose and a letter sealed with wax.

The letter didn't have a recipient written on it, so he didn't know who it was for. However, since it was sealed with wax, it was likely not simple.

"It's temporarily safe now, but these five people haven't returned to report tonight. More killers will definitely come after me later...

"It's already a dead end, so I don't mind offending them further."

Chu Qing shook his head slightly and casually opened the letter.

But the content was chaotic. This was a coded letter.

To get the real content, it needed to be read in a specific way.

Chu Qing had been involved with the Mirror of Sin for nearly a year, so he naturally knew their decryption method. He immediately followed the method and obtained a short line of text.

[Iron Palm of Deliverance Chu Yunfei, five thousand taels!]

Chu Qing raised an eyebrow. Chu Yunfei... wasn't that the original body's biological father?