Intent to Leave

"Feng Li really put his heart into this."

Shi Mu murmured to himself, running his hand over the purple longbow, his face filled with undisguised delight.

He looked down.

In the bundle, there was also a leather quiver containing a bundle of pale yellow arrows, their arrowheads forged from black iron and fletched with neat black feathers at the tail.

Shi Mu drew an arrow from the quiver, nocked it to the bow, and after gesturing a couple of times toward the window, he couldn't help but leave the room with the bow and quiver in hand.

For the entire day, Shi Mu stayed in the estate practicing with his newly acquired Purple Steel Bow.

He had learned archery at a martial arts school before, so it didn't take long for him to master the Purple Steel Bow to a considerable degree. In the eyes of the passing estate servants, even though he only drew the bow halfway, three or four out of ten arrows could already hit a target over fifty paces away—a truly impressive feat.

That evening.

In the estate's main hall.

"Brother Shi, you want to go to the Three Frontier Provinces and join the Military Martial Hall?" Zhong Xiu's eyes went wide as she asked in surprise.

"That's right. I plan to leave in a few days," Shi Mu said calmly.

"If Brother Shi leaves, what about me? What about this estate?" the young girl asked, dazed.

"I had Zhang Suo sell off the nearby farmland and the tavern in the city a couple of days ago. As for you, Miss Zhong, you have two choices. First, I can send you to Aunt Zhen. Even if the Wu family still harbors ill intentions toward you, they wouldn't dare offend the Jin family. Second, you can come with me for now. You once mentioned that although your Zhong family has few people left, your mother has a distant aunt in Clearwater City, Lulong Prefecture. That city is also not far from the frontier. I can escort you there to seek refuge," Shi Mu said with confidence.

"Brother Shi, can I stay by your side? If you go to a new place alone, you'll need someone to cook tea and tend to things," Zhong Xiu said, lowering her head after hearing his reply. After a long pause, she answered in a voice barely audible.

"Miss Zhong, the Three Frontier Provinces border the Barbarian Wasteland, and large barbarian tribes often invade. I didn't agree to Uncle Zhong's dying wish back then, but how could I take you to such a dangerous place? Besides, this time I'm going mainly to join the Frontier Army's Military Martial Hall and focus on training in martial arts. I likely won't be renting a separate place to live outside," Shi Mu said, shaking his head as if he couldn't detect the subtle affection in the young girl's words.

Hearing Shi Mu's reply, the girl's face paled. After a long moment, she lifted her head again and bit her lip before saying:

"If Brother Shi truly finds it inconvenient to have me by your side, then I'll go seek refuge with my relative."

"Good. Since you've decided, prepare for a few days, and we'll set out together then," Shi Mu said, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Just as Shi Mu was making preparations to leave Feng City in a few days, an unexpected incident early the next morning completely disrupted his plans.

"What did you say? Someone is riding horses and trampling our estate's fields? Who would be so bold?" Shi Mu frowned as he looked at Zhang Suo, who had rushed back in a panic.

"I don't recognize the others, but the leader is Young Master Tian from the Jin family's Fifth Master's household. I saw him once before, so I can't be mistaken. Young Master Shi, what do we do? Even though we've sold the fields to others, the transfer hasn't happened yet. If these fields are ruined beyond recognition, the buyers probably won't agree to the deal," Zhang Suo said, somewhat flustered.

"Young Master Tian, that would be Jin Tian. Fine, I'll go take a look." Shi Mu thought for a moment and quickly figured out who this "Young Master Tian" was, his gaze turning cold.

If it weren't for that Fifth Master of the Jin family persuading the Jin family patriarch to take the Spirit Qi Pill originally meant for him and give it to Jin Tian, he might not have been so determined to leave Feng City.

Though he was usually steady-tempered, hearing that the troublemaker was Jin Tian made his anger flare up like a spark.

Shi Mu immediately left the estate and headed straight for the nearby fields.

Before long, he arrived at the edge of a field and saw at a glance several richly dressed youths riding tall horses in the center of the field, chasing a colorful fox.

The fox was small but darted back and forth through the field with great agility. Despite the riders shouting and laughing as they gave chase, they couldn't catch it.

Shi Mu's face turned ashen as he looked at the young crops that had been trampled into ruin by the fox and the horses.

"Young Master Shi, is that Jin Tian?"

At that moment, Zhang Suo caught up, panting heavily, and pointed at a blue-robed youth with a flat nose among the group.

Shi Mu glanced coldly at the youth, then suddenly strode into the field.

Just then, the colorful fox made a sharp turn and charged straight toward Shi Mu, with the blue-robed youth leading the way.

Jin Tian and the others clearly saw Shi Mu too, but while the other youths hesitated slightly and slowed their horses, Jin Tian paid no attention and whipped his mount fiercely, charging straight at Shi Mu.

"Jin Tian, stop!"

"What are you doing?"

The youths behind were startled and shouted for him to stop, but Jin Tian acted as if he hadn't heard.

Shi Mu narrowed his eyes, then suddenly lifted his foot and kicked the passing fox with a "thump," sending it tumbling. He then shifted his shoulder, dodged the charging horse's head, and punched the horse's body hard.

A loud "boom" rang out.

The blue-robed youth and his horse were sent flying sideways over ten feet, crashing heavily to the ground together.

"Ah!"

The other youths behind cried out in alarm and hurried over.

"You bastard, you're asking for death!"

At that moment, the blue-robed youth shoved the horse's body off him and leaped up in a rage, seemingly unharmed. However, a faint golden light showed through the torn fabric on his chest.

"Scared me! Jin Tian's fine!"

"Is this Shi Mu, the nominal son of Seventh Aunt? He's got some strength!"

"I heard he was once called the number one Martial Disciple in Feng City, but he looks pretty ordinary."

"Hey, when did Jin Tian put on the Golden Silk Armor?"

"Exactly, that thing is Fifth Uncle's prized possession. Usually, we can't even touch it."

The youths behind, clearly also members of the Jin family, breathed sighs of relief seeing Jin Tian unharmed and began whispering among themselves as they reined in their horses.

"How dare you lay a hand on me? I'll kill you!"

Jin Tian, ignoring his companions' reactions, tore off his torn clothes in a frenzy, revealing a gleaming golden soft armor. With a "clang," he drew the long sword from his waist.

Hearing Jin Tian's words and seeing the cold gleam of the sword's blade, Shi Mu's eyes narrowed sharply.