Killing Intent

The night was as it had always been, a fine drizzle falling tirelessly.

Within the cold night, inside the woods.

The young man stood with sword in hand, a corpse still hanging from its blade.

In both his past life and this one, this was Chu Qing's first time killing someone.

Yet perhaps because he had absorbed the original owner's memories, Chu Qing did not feel the slightest bit unusual.

He was merely puzzled.

"Why hadn't anything appeared above this person's head?

"Why hadn't the system reacted at all?"

He opened the interface, but nothing had been triggered there either.

"Perhaps I'd been thinking about it wrong."

With a flick of his hand, he flung the corpse from the sword.

When the system had activated earlier and he saw the thing above Blood Spear's head, he had thought that as long as he killed someone, something would appear above their head.

Now, it seemed that was not the case.

Could the thing above Blood Spear's head merely have been one way for the system to make its entrance?

It had nothing whatsoever to do with him killing Blood Spear.

As for treasure chests... beginner gift packs?

He did not dwell on the matter for long. Though some things still did not add up, they were not important.

"Then there seems to be no need to run.

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

A faint smile curled across Chu Qing's lips.

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

Of the four remaining, two were right before him.

One hung from a tree, while the other had fallen into the mud.

Now, only two remained.

Rather than flee in disgrace, he might as well stay here and wait awhile.

Ever since the original owner had been ambushed by Mirror of Sin, Chu Qing had known this was a fight to the death.

Mirror of Sin did not permit betrayal. Between them, one side was bound to live while the other died.

Without this cheat, even if he had transmigrated, he likely would not have survived their pursuit.

But now... things were naturally different.

As long as he uprooted these two assassins, he could buy himself a little more time.

With that thought, Chu Qing returned beneath the tree and began meditating cross-legged.

His injuries had not improved in the slightest just because he had obtained Ah Fei's Fast Sword, so he still needed to regulate his breathing.

The Chu Family's inherited supreme art was called the Ruoxu Scripture. In truth, it originated from the Daoist Sect.

One of their ancestors had once entered the Daoist Sect's Xuhuai Sect and become an inner disciple there.

For the past three hundred years, the martial world had been battered by gales of blood and rain. Xuhuai Sect had failed to weather that storm; the sect shattered, its disciples either died or scattered, and among them was this ancestor of the Chu Family.

Relying on the Ruoxu Scripture and his full set of Xuhuai Sect arts, he established the Chu Family's foundation in Heavenly Dance City.

The Ruoxu Scripture thus naturally became the Chu Family's inherited supreme art.

Daoist martial arts were easy to learn but difficult to master, emphasizing upright balance, peace and harmony, and the accumulation of strength before its eventual eruption.

Their greatest advantage was that there was rarely any danger of qi deviation.

Chu Qing had begun cultivating this internal art at the age of five. Fourteen full years had passed, yet he had only reached the third realm.

His internal energy could not be called profound, but once employed, it was thin as smoke, ceaseless and unending, with tremendous staying power.

That was the nature of the Ruoxu Scripture. Its explosive force might be lacking, but it was most suited to prolonged battles.

The reason Chu Qing had endured until now beneath the siege of five Mirror of Sin assassins—and even broken free of their encirclement and fought one opponent stronger than himself to the death—was precisely this supreme art.

At this moment, internal energy rose from his dantian. His dantian was like a furnace, wisps of green smoke curling upward, traveling through his meridians into the Towering Gates to soothe his injuries.

Time slipped away. Who knew how long had passed when two figures suddenly appeared on either side of Chu Qing.

These two also wore black, their faces hidden behind painted masks.

The instant they appeared, they said not a word. The man on the left flicked his hand, and with three buzzing sounds, three shuttle darts tore through the air at Chu Qing's cheek.

Close behind them, a short dagger concealed in his right hand followed the darts, stabbing toward Chu Qing's neck.

The other man flung out a rope dart.

A rope dart was a flexible weapon, a darthead fixed to the end of a rope, sharp and pointed.

To wield such a weapon required building momentum, using the body's movements to set the rope dart into motion before finally whipping it out. Not only was its power extraordinary, it was also elusive and difficult to guard against.

But this man's technique was exceptional. With one flick, he faintly stirred the sound of wind and thunder, striking with the speed of lightning too swift to cover one's ears.

Both men had attacked with killing moves. If Chu Qing took even one of them, he would die on the spot.

At that very instant, Chu Qing opened his eyes. His body rose into the air with the motion, and with a sweep of his longsword, he knocked away all three darts in a flash. Then his sword point drove forward, accompanied by a ripping hiss.

As it advanced, it brushed past the dagger of the man on the left. The weapons met, spraying sparks.

Sword and dagger crossed. One pierced a throat; the other stopped just short of a chest.

At the same time, the rope dart hurtled toward Chu Qing's back.

Chu Qing raised a hand and slapped aside the dagger before his chest. With a tap of his foot, he pressed the assassin before him forward with his sword.

One step, two steps, three steps!

After three steps, his foot came down sharply. He turned and slashed, and with a clang—

The darthead of the rope dart was cut away by his sword.

Because by then, the rope dart had reached the end of its length... it could no longer reach him.

The assassin behind him had immersed himself in this art for many years, and did not care that the darthead had been knocked aside.

With only a tug of his hand, he had already regained control of it.

Just as he was about to strike again, the corner of his eye caught a streak of silver-white... when he lowered his gaze, a sword was already resting against his throat.

When?

The assassin's eyes bulged round. He wanted to speak, but only hoarse, rasping sounds escaped his mouth; he could not utter a single word clearly.

Chu Qing flicked his hand and drew the sword. The assassin's corpse fell, splashing up several sprays of water.

Chu Qing's own body swayed as well. He took a deep breath before steadying himself.

"Done... If Mirror of Sin hadn't sent anyone else to follow behind them, then I've temporarily shaken them off."

He was gravely wounded, after all. That brief battle had looked easy, but in truth it had drained him greatly.

His internal energy was also running dry. If there had been a few more enemies, he truly would have been in trouble.

Yet even now, he remained methodical. He searched each of the corpses one by one.

In the end, he found a few taels of loose silver and several banknotes. However, Chu Qing did not intend to use the banknotes.

Many banknotes had to be exchanged for silver at designated banks. If their original owners had some connection to those banks and left markings on them, using them rashly when the goods did not match the bill could very easily bring trouble.

Besides that, there were several medicines of unknown use, as well as a letter sealed with wax.

There was no recipient written on the letter, so he did not know whom it was intended for. Yet since it had been sealed with wax, it was surely no simple matter.

"I'm safe for the moment, but if these five fail to return and report tonight, more assassins will inevitably come after me...

"It's already an unsolvable deadlock, so it hardly matters if I offend them a little more."

Chu Qing shook his head slightly and casually tore open the letter.

But its contents were chaotic and disjointed. This was a coded letter.

To obtain its true contents, it had to be read in a particular way.

Chu Qing had spent nearly a year within Mirror of Sin, so he naturally knew how to decipher it. He immediately followed the method and obtained one short line.

Iron Palm of Deliverance Chu Yunfei, five thousand taels!

Chu Qing raised a brow. Chu Yunfei... wasn't that the original owner's father?