The sunset glow lit up the sky.
From the treetop of the old tree at the village entrance came the calls of birds returning to their nests.
A young farmer stood at his front door, gazing at the distant mountains, his expression unreadable.
The locals called that mountain Yanghu Zi.
"Hey, could I trouble you for a drink of water?"
A traveler passing by stopped to ask.
The farmer looked him up and down, judging from the dusty, road-worn look about him that it probably wasn't an act.
Xu Ling nodded. "Don't mention it, brother. I'll go inside and get you a ladle of water."
"Thank you so much."
Yan Tiangong cupped his hands in gratitude. Before he'd even lowered them, he couldn't hold back a laugh.
Xu Ling stopped what he was doing, ready to wait until the other man had finished laughing.
"All right, buddy, can we drop the act?"
Yan Tiangong composed himself, then added, "You look nothing like a local. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't even dealt with the local's corpse inside the house, have you?"
He rubbed his nose and clicked his tongue in amazement. "I can still smell a bit of blood."
Having his identity as a deathmatch participant exposed didn't bother Xu Ling.
He leisurely rolled his wrists. "Couldn't you just pretend you didn't recognize me? Now you've gone and made me kill you."
Yan Tiangong showed no sign of feeling threatened. He simply asked, "The Node's location hasn't shifted much all this time. What does that mean?"
Xu Ling, dressed as a farmer, didn't answer.
Yan Tiangong didn't keep him in suspense, and explained of his own accord. "The answer's obvious. This time, the Node fell into the hands of a real tough guy. He seems pretty confident, and clearly plans