What He Shouldn't Have Seen

"Writing? I'm good at that."

Zhao Han smiled easily. This was too simple—just as easy as chopping wood.

As he walked out of the four-man dormitory, he ran into Liang Feng.

Zhao Han cupped his fists. "Senior Brother Liang!"

"Little Zhao, let me ask you something. Have you seen Junior Brother Dong? Oh, right, to you he'd be Senior Brother Dong. He's the tenth disciple Master took in."

"No. I've only been here two days, so I don't know many people."

"I see. Then keep practicing the Mad Saber Nine Forms. I'll ask someone else."

After watching Liang Feng leave, Zhao Han went straight out the martial arts school's gates.

"What's that kid off to do this time?"

"His presence seems even stronger. Young people these days, pushing themselves to the brink just to outdo each other. Sigh, I'm too old for all that now."

Old Man Mi squinted at Zhao Han's retreating figure, once again sensing that there was something unusual about him.

"But as long as you're not competing with me for a Weird Artifact, you could be the greatest prodigy under heaven and I still wouldn't give you a second glance."

When Zhao Han arrived outside the abandoned house from last time, he spotted a piece of black wood lying on the ground, shaped like a ruler. It was a rare kind of wood, but he paid it no mind.

But as soon as he got close to it, he stopped.

There seemed to be movement inside the house—the sound of digging.

Zhao Han had once been a mine slave and had done plenty of digging. He recognized the sound at once.

"Dig! This locust tree can give rise to yin energy and nurture an unconscious Ghost Head. There's bound to be something good here."

It was the voice of the Yin Tong Cult's Hall Master.

The night before, they had captured a Lesser Ghost that could possess people and suck out their souls. They had also drugged some poor folk unconscious and taken the young people among them.

Following the yin energy connected to the Lesser Ghost, the five had come to this abandoned house and discovered the locust tree.

Locust trees were yin in nature and naturally had the ability to gather yin energy.

But to nurture a Ghost soul, there had to be something else as well. That was what they were really after.

"Hm? Something's wrong. Is someone outside?" Suddenly, the Hall Master frowned.

He had placed a piece of Yin Wood outside. It could interact with the Yin Wood Jade Pendant he wore.

When yang energy drew near, it would disperse some of the Yin Wood's yin energy. Once the yang energy moved away, the yin energy would return to normal.

If a ghost appeared, the yin energy would grow even stronger.

At the same time, his Yin Wood Jade Pendant would react.

When no one was around, the pendant felt cool and comfortable, with the effect of calming the mind and nourishing the spirit.

When someone was near, it would grow hot; when a ghost was near, it would turn ice-cold.

These were tools produced by the Yin Tong Cult for reconnaissance and exploration. Only Hall Masters were permitted to wear them.

"It should be a Martial Artist!" The Hall Master's eyes glinted as he considered whether to kill the person outside.

"Hall Master, I'll go kill him." One of the cultists volunteered.

He was at the Skin Refining Realm. Killing an ordinary person would be effortless.

If the other person was a Martial Artist, he was confident he could hold him off and let the Hall Master deal with him.

"Very well. If he's a Martial Artist too, don't get drawn into a fight. Hurry and—"

"Hm?"

The Hall Master suddenly noticed the yin energy returning to his pendant and the yang energy fading. It seemed the person had left.

But when he turned to look, he saw that the person hadn't gone anywhere. Instead, he was standing on the wall, holding a steel saber and wearing a Face Mask and Bamboo Hat, watching the five with interest.

Dressed like that, he was obviously a Martial Artist.

"Who are you, sir? The Yin Tong Cult is conducting business. Please don't interfere or get in our way."

"Otherwise, the Yin Tong Cult will dig up graves and turn over tombs if that's what it takes to dig out your underwear," the Hall Master threatened in a low voice.

The other four stopped digging and turned to watch Zhao Han warily.

"The Yin Tong Cult? Never heard of it."

"W-what? The Yin Tong Cult is famous throughout the land, and you've never heard of us?"

The Hall Master looked baffled. Someone had actually never heard of the Yin Tong Cult?

Even beggars had heard their name.

"Why would I need to know?"

Zhao Han looked at the corpse lying in the courtyard. He could just make out Dong Qiang's face.

It seemed Dong Qiang hadn't escaped his doomed fate after all. This group calling themselves the Yin Tong Cult had killed him.

What bad luck. He wondered whether they'd killed Yu Qiuyue too. She'd been conscious, so she should have left already and escaped being killed.

Half of the locust tree in the courtyard had been dug up.

A small wooden platform stood beside it, with a pitch-black child on top. It looked rather eerie.

"Heh. Whether you know who we are or not doesn't matter. But now that you've seen us at work, that's another story."

"What, you want to kill me? Then I'll wait right here. Come on!" Zhao Han declared brazenly.

In truth, he already had a pinch of Soft Muscle Powder in his hand, ready to throw it at any moment.

"Hmph. You skulking coward. I'll show you just how fearsome the Yin Tong Cult is."

"Attack!"

The Hall Master barked at the other four, sending them in first.

"Boy, you saw what you shouldn't have. Now die!"

"Let me show you the Yin Tong Cult's Ghost Cry Saber Technique!"

They rushed toward him, ready to leap up and surround him.

"Take this!"

Zhao Han casually tossed the Soft Muscle Powder in his hand. It hit them square in the face.

"Ah, damn it... Soft Muscle Powder!"

"You little brat, you drugged us!"

"Heh heh heh. We of the Yin Tong Cult fear poison least of all."

The four showed no sign of fear. Instead, they eagerly took porcelain bottles from their robes, poured out brown pellets the size of soybeans, and swallowed them.

"These are Antidote Pills. They can suppress all kinds of poison!"

A cultist explained with a sneer, expecting Zhao Han's trick to fail and his face to fill with panic.

But that wasn't what happened. His eyes only grew brighter.

"It seems the Yin Tong Cult has some pretty good stuff!"

Zhao Han's eyes lit up. This was good stuff. He had to get his hands on it.

"Four people at the Skin Refining Realm. Just right for testing out my recent breakthrough."

Zhao Han leaped down and brought his saber crashing down in a forceful Mount Hua cleave.

"Clang!"

The cultist he'd struck immediately raised his saber to meet the blow, but the tremendous force that followed bent his arm out of shape.

His steel saber dropped straight down. A line of blood appeared across the cultist's body, and his eyes widened as he died, unable to rest in peace.

Killing one man with a single strike was proof enough of Zhao Han's strength.

The Muscle Refining Realm!

"You're at the Muscle Refining Realm!" The Hall Master's pupils contracted. He couldn't believe that a random passerby would be an expert at the Muscle Refining Realm, on the same level as him.

"Is the Muscle Refining Realm really that rare? The Yin Tong Cult sure makes a fuss over nothing." Zhao Han tossed off the remark, then continued toward the other three.

"Mad Saber Three Stacks Wave, first wave!"

Zhao Han went straight for his killing move.

His first strike swept horizontally, like a surging wave crashing down, carrying an unstoppable force.

The cultist in its path was terrified. He swung his sword with all his might to block it, but it was futile.

The strike snapped the sword in his hands, then slashed across his abdomen. His intestines spilled out, and blood instantly covered the ground.

He fell to the ground and writhed in agony through the few dozen seconds he had left.

With two men dead, the Hall Master could no longer sit back. He drew the Soft Sword from his waist and strode forward to attack, his murderous presence fierce. He was clearly an expert among those at the Muscle Refining Realm.

"You're at the Muscle Refining Realm too? Perfect. I'll use you to sharpen my blade!"