The force split into five groups in front of the ruins of West River Village.
Zhou Kui stood on a charred stone roller and unfolded a crumpled sheepskin map, tapping several spots with his finger. "Three hundred Di soldiers, carrying all the things they looted, won't move fast. They'll either flee west or burrow into these mountains—"
His finger jabbed at a swath of black markings on the map. "The Old Forest. The ravines are deep and the woods are thick in there. Hiding three hundred men would be like hiding three hundred rats."
He raised his head and swept his gaze over everyone. "Five to a squad. Split up and search the mountains. If you spot the enemy, signal us at once. Don't act rashly."
"Yes, sir!"
The troops began to disperse and regroup.
Li Jinshui stood where he was, watching people gather in groups of three or five. Er Gou and the other two gazed at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. He was just about to beckon them over—
"You."
A voice came from behind him.
Li Jinshui turned around.
Wang Tiezhu stood three paces away, watching him with an expressionless face.
"You're with my squad."
It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order.
The air around them seemed to freeze for a moment. Er Gou's expression changed; he opened his mouth as if to say something, but Li Jinshui stopped him with a look.
Li Jinshui looked at Wang Tiezhu, his expression unchanged.
"Fine."
Wang Tiezhu nodded and turned to leave.
Li Jinshui followed.
After walking a dozen or so paces, he glanced back at Er Gou. Er Gou stood where he was, his face full of worry and unease. Li Jinshui gave him a slight shake of the head, then turned around and continued after Wang Tiezhu.
There were five to a squad, and Wang Tiezhu was the leader.
Li Jinshui didn't know any of the other three squad members. They were all Wang Tiezhu's old subordinates, at the seventh or eighth level of Body Forging, and they looked at him like he was a walking piece of meat.
"Once we're in the mountains, we'll split into pairs and search separately." Wang Tiezhu walked at the front without looking back. "You—" He paused, as if savoring the words. "You'll be a squad of one."
The three old subordinates snickered.
Walking behind them, Li Jinshui couldn't see their faces, but their laughter pricked at his back like needles.
He said nothing.
He silently brought up his status panel and glanced at it:
[Techniques: Iron Shirt (Level 7, 20/40), Wolf Killing Seven Forms (Beginner, 48/50), Tiger Walk (Minor Mastery, 7/30)] [Realm: Body Forging, Seventh Level (Peak)]
Almost there.
The forest was deeper than he'd imagined.
Towering trees blotted out the sky. A thick carpet of fallen leaves softened his steps until they made no sound at all. Now and then, a bird cried out sharply, then silence swallowed it.
Li Jinshui walked alone along a slope.
Wang Tiezhu had assigned him to search the most remote route. The other three and Wang Tiezhu himself had split into pairs to search the safer valleys and gentler slopes.
He had no objections.
If anything, it suited him perfectly.
Only alone could he cut loose.
He crept forward with his body bent low, treading as lightly as he could. After reaching minor mastery in Tiger Walk, he could move over fallen leaves almost without a sound. His gaze combed through the trees, rocks, and ravines, missing no corner where someone might hide.
He had been walking for about the time it took to burn two incense sticks when he suddenly stopped.
Thirty paces ahead stood a massive boulder. The faintest murmur of voices came from behind it.
Di speech.
Li Jinshui slowly crouched, held his breath, and strained to listen.
Three voices—no, four. They were speaking Di, which he couldn't understand, but he'd heard that rough, gravelly cadence countless times on the battlefield. There was no mistaking it.
He slowly peered through a gap in the undergrowth—
Four Di soldiers were sitting in the lee of the boulder, eating. They had tough, dried meat and flatbreads looted from the village. One had a wineskin at his waist and tipped his head back to drink, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Four of them.
Their cultivation ranged from the fifth to the sixth level of Body Forging.
No one of ten-man-leader rank or higher.
Li Jinshui drew his head back and closed his eyes.
His heartbeat was steady. His breathing was steady.
A month of patrols and three skirmishes had taught him the most important thing: before making a move, he had to think through exactly how he would do it.
The four Di soldiers sat apart from one another. The two closest were less than three paces apart, and the farthest was seven or eight paces away. If he killed the nearest one first, the farthest would have plenty of time to get up and fight back.
He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the massive boulder.
The boulder spread out in a fan shape, like a natural stone wall. The four Di soldiers sat on the inside of the fan, their backs to the rock and their faces turned outward. They'd chosen their spot well—easy to defend and hard to attack. Anyone approaching from the front would be spotted thirty paces away.
But they'd overlooked one thing.
The top of the boulder was about twice a man's height above the ground. Vines and wild grass grew all over it, forming a natural screen.
Li Jinshui fixed his gaze on that spot, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
Two incense sticks later, he had silently climbed to the top of the boulder. He lay behind a patch of vines and looked down.
The four Di soldiers were close at hand. The farthest one was less than five paces away.
He slowly drew his military saber and gripped it tightly.
Then he moved.
Tiger Walk: Tiger Pounce!
He sprang off the boulder like a tiger pouncing on its prey. His saber flashed before he even hit the ground!
The farthest Di soldier didn't even have time to look up before the blade swept across his neck—Wolf Killing Seven Forms: Wolf Fang Bite!
One cut, two cuts, three cuts!
The triple strike was as fast as lightning. The first cut opened his throat, the second severed his neck, and the third cleaved his head clean off!
Blood gushed out. Before the corpse could fall, Li Jinshui twisted with the momentum and pounced on the second man!
"En—"
The second Di soldier had barely cried out when the blade plunged into his mouth and burst out through the back of his head!
Wolf Killing Seven Forms: Wolf Charge!
One strike, one kill!
The third Di soldier finally reacted. He howled and grabbed his saber, swinging it at Li Jinshui!
Li Jinshui didn't dodge. He drew back his saber, then slashed sideways—Wolf Killing Seven Forms: Wolf Tail Sweep!
The two blades collided, showering sparks! The Di soldier's saber was knocked from his hands, but Li Jinshui's blade kept going, slicing across his chest and belly. His guts spilled out in a slick heap!
The fourth Di soldier had already bolted seven or eight paces away, a piercing bone whistle shrilling from his mouth—
Li Jinshui raised his hand and hurled his military saber!
Wolf Killing Seven Forms: Wolf Devour!
The spinning blade caught up with the Di soldier from behind. With a wet thud, it punched through his chest!
The bone whistle cut off.
The Di soldier looked down at the blade jutting from his chest. A gush of blood welled from his mouth, and he pitched forward onto the ground.
It had taken no more than five breaths.
Four corpses lay on the ground, blood still gurgling from their wounds.
Li Jinshui stood where he was, panting hard, his chest heaving violently.
He wasn't tired. The murderous intent hadn't yet faded; it still rampaged through his body.
He walked over, pulled his military saber from the fourth Di soldier's back, wiped the blood clean on the corpse, then searched them one by one.
Four heads. Four battle credits.
And—
He fished a small leather pouch from one soldier's waist and opened it. Inside were three Blood Essence Stones, each the size of his thumb, their crimson color dark and dull.
Good stuff.
He tucked the Blood Essence Stones into his clothes, stood up, and looked around.
The forest was silent. Even the birds had stopped calling.
That bone whistle had sounded for only half a breath. It shouldn't have carried far.
Still, he didn't dare linger.
He turned and ran back the way he'd come.
He had been running for about the time it took to burn an incense stick when he suddenly stopped.
Shouts and cries of battle came from up ahead.
Some were in Di, others in Zhou.
Someone had run into the enemy.
Li Jinshui slowed down, hunched low, and crept closer under cover of the trees.
Thirty paces away, in a forest clearing, three Zhou Army soldiers were fighting five Di soldiers.
He knew the three Zhou soldiers. They were Wang Tiezhu's subordinates—the same three who had mocked him earlier.
Two were at the seventh level of Body Forging, and one was at the eighth.
Of the five Di soldiers, two were at the sixth level and three at the seventh.
Outnumbered and outmatched, the three Zhou soldiers had been forced back against a tree, fighting desperately with their backs to one another. The veteran at the eighth level had already taken two cuts; blood covered half his body.
"Signal! Send the signal!" he rasped.
A young soldier desperately reached for the signal tube at his waist, but just as he pulled it out, a Di soldier's saber came slashing down. He screamed as the hand holding the tube flew away.
Li Jinshui crouched motionless in the undergrowth thirty paces away.
He watched the three Zhou soldiers struggle to fight back. He watched them fall, one by one—
Then he stood up, turned, and walked in the other direction.
Behind him, the screams continued.
He didn't look back.
Those men had mocked him. They looked at him like he was a walking piece of meat. They were the trusted men of his enemy.
Why should he save them?
He wasn't a saint.
He quickened his pace and unleashed Tiger Walk to its fullest. He slipped through the forest like a silent leopard.
He heard the sounds of battle in the distance, but those weren't the ones he was looking for.
There was only one person he wanted to find.
After running for a quarter of an hour, he stopped.
Ahead lay a valley, low-lying and ringed by steep slopes.
Fierce fighting came from the valley floor.
So did an extremely violent surge of qi and blood.
Peak ninth level of Body Forging.
Li Jinshui crouched low and crept down the hillside.
Thirty paces.
Twenty paces.
Ten paces.
He hid behind a boulder and peered out—
At the bottom of the valley, Wang Tiezhu was fighting two men at once!
Both were Di soldiers at the ninth level of Body Forging!
One wielded a saber, its strikes fierce and sharp; the other wielded a hammer, heavy as a mountain. They worked together seamlessly, the saber attacking high and the hammer low, crossing paths to force Wang Tiezhu backward step by step.
But Wang Tiezhu didn't retreat.
He was drenched in blood. A saber wound on his shoulder was deep enough to expose bone, and his left arm hung limply at his side, clearly broken.
Yet he kept fighting.
His saber strokes were broad and powerful, each one carrying the ruthless intent to take his enemy down with him. The two Di soldiers didn't dare press him too hard.
"Zhou dog!" The Di soldier with the saber sneered. "You've got a hard head, I'll give you that! But how long can you last with one hand?"
Wang Tiezhu didn't reply. He swung his saber, forcing the one with the hammer back, then staggered two steps until his back struck a tree.
He had nowhere left to retreat.
The two Di soldiers exchanged a glance and charged at the same time!
At that very moment, Li Jinshui saw what happened—
Wang Tiezhu suddenly sprang into action!
It seemed he'd poured every last bit of strength into it. He abruptly dropped low, dodging the incoming saber, while his right hand swept his blade upward from below!
The strike was unbelievably fast!
The blade cut into the saber-wielding Di soldier's belly and emerged through his back!
The Di soldier's eyes widened. Blood welled from his mouth, and he died without ever understanding where the strike had come from.
But Wang Tiezhu paid a price, too.
The Di soldier with the hammer brought it crashing down on his right shoulder!
Crack!
The sound of his shoulder blade breaking carried ten paces.
Wang Tiezhu grunted. His military saber flew from his hand, and the blow drove him to his knees.
But he didn't fall.
He suddenly drew a short blade from his waist with his left hand and, as the Di soldier pulled back his hammer, drove it viciously into his heart!
"Pfft!"
The short blade sank in to the hilt.
The Di warrior looked down at the knife handle in his chest. A rattling sound came from his throat, then he crashed to the ground.
Wang Tiezhu knelt between the two corpses, gasping in great, heaving breaths.
There wasn't an uninjured spot on his body. His right shoulder had caved in, his left arm was broken, and he'd taken two cuts across his chest and abdomen. Blood had soaked through his leather armor. He knelt there, each breath bringing up bloody froth from his throat.
But he was still alive.
He had fought two opponents of the same level and killed them both.
Li Jinshui crouched behind a boulder ten paces away, not moving an inch.
He watched Wang Tiezhu, who hadn't noticed him.
All he had to do was wait a little longer, until Wang Tiezhu let down his guard, until his defenses had completely fallen away—
He slowly drew his military saber.
The blade made no sound, its edge glinting coldly.
He rose and stepped out from behind the boulder.
His footsteps were light and slow as he approached, one step at a time.
Ten paces.
Eight.
Five.
Wang Tiezhu suddenly turned around!
Li Jinshui stopped short.
Their eyes met.
Wang Tiezhu's gaze first showed surprise, then eased as he recognized the newcomer.
"It's... you?" His voice was hoarse and ragged, like air leaking from a broken bellows. "Why... why are you... here?"
Li Jinshui looked at him, his face expressionless.
"I heard fighting and came to take a look," he said.
Wang Tiezhu stared at him, at that blank face, as if trying to read something there.
But he couldn't see a thing.
That face was too calm, like a pool of dead water. There was no hatred, no fear, not even concern.
Only calm.
"Come... give me a hand." Wang Tiezhu struggled to reach out with his left hand. "Help me up... I... I can't hold on..."
Li Jinshui stepped closer.
Then another step.
He reached Wang Tiezhu and extended a hand to support his left arm.
Using that support, Wang Tiezhu struggled to his feet.
"Good... good lad..." He bared his teeth, stained with blood. "I... I misjudged you... You're... you're a real man..."
Li Jinshui said nothing.
Supporting Wang Tiezhu, he slowly turned around.
"Let's... go back..." Wang Tiezhu panted. "When we get back... I'll put in a commendation for you..."
His back was turned to Li Jinshui.
Completely exposed.
Utterly defenseless.
Li Jinshui suddenly let go of his left arm.
His right hand drove the military saber forward like a venomous snake striking from its den—
Wolf Killing Seven Forms: Wolf Charge!
The blade pierced Wang Tiezhu's back and burst through his chest!
Wang Tiezhu's whole body stiffened.
He looked down at the tip of the blade protruding from his chest. Blood still dripped from it—his own blood.
"You... you..." A rattling sound came from his throat, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't get a single word out.
Li Jinshui stood behind him, gripping the hilt and not moving.
Wang Tiezhu tried to turn around, to look at that face.
But he had no strength left.
He fell to his knees, then toppled onto his back.
As he fell, he finally saw Li Jinshui's face.
At last, there was an expression on it.
Not hatred. Not triumph. Not cruelty.
Only calm.
Like a winter lake, its depths hidden beneath the surface.
"You... killed my younger brother..." Wang Tiezhu's lips moved, his voice as faint as a falling leaf.
Li Jinshui crouched and looked down at him.
"Yes."
One word.
Wang Tiezhu's eyes widened.
He tried to speak, but all that surged up from his throat was blood.
Li Jinshui looked at him and spoke softly, as if saying it to himself:
"You and your brother both liked to laugh too much."
Wang Tiezhu's eyes slowly lost focus.
The last thing reflected in his pupils was Li Jinshui's calm face.
[Killed Wang Tiezhu, Centurion of the Third Battalion (Body Forging, peak of the ninth layer), points +15] [Current points: 24]
Li Jinshui got to his feet and didn't spare the corpse another glance.
He put away his military saber and began to clean up the battlefield.
He dragged Wang Tiezhu's corpse beside the two Di warriors and arranged them as if they had fought to the death together. He placed the saber back in Wang Tiezhu's hand and disguised the wounds, too. On a battlefield, blades had no eyes. Who could say whether he'd died at the hands of the Di People—or someone else?
When he was done, he stood among the three corpses and opened the panel:
[Points: 24]
He drew a deep breath.
"Put it all into Iron Shirt."
[20 points consumed, Iron Shirt proficiency +20] [Iron Shirt proficiency full] [Breakthrough: seventh layer → eighth layer]
Boom—
The force of energy he'd been holding back inside finally broke through the last barrier!
A torrent of heat surged through his limbs and bones, washing over every bone and every inch of sinew. A dark golden glow blazed across his skin, then slowly faded after a full seven breaths.
The numb itch around the old wound on his right arm vanished in an instant, and the gash across the web of his thumb healed at a visible pace.
Strength.
An even more violent strength surged through his body.
[Current realm: Body Forging, eighth layer]
He'd done it.
Li Jinshui clenched his fist, feeling strength nearly half again as great as before.
Body Forging, eighth layer.
Only one layer remained before the ninth.
And one more step toward that person—
He raised his head and looked toward the way he had come.
It was time to go back and save the others.
He turned and sprinted back the way he had come.
He unleashed Tiger Walk to its full extent, moving as fast as the wind.
If Wang Tiezhu's three subordinates had managed to hold out until now—
The corner of his mouth lifted.
Those three had been laughing at him just moments ago.
But now they were proof of his contribution.
Witnesses to his "valiant killing of the enemy."
The perfect cover to clear himself of suspicion.
A quarter of an hour later, he found the clearing in the woods.
Of the three Zhou Army soldiers, two were still alive.
The veteran at the eighth level of Body Forging was covered in blood and slumped against a tree, barely breathing. The young one had lost his left arm and bound the wound tightly with strips of cloth. His face was as white as paper.
Of the five Di soldiers, three remained.
The three Di soldiers were searching the corpses for valuables, unaware that anyone was approaching.
Li Jinshui didn't hesitate.
He charged straight out of the bushes—Tiger Walk: Tiger Pounce!
His blade flashed, and a Di soldier's head hit the ground!
[Killed a Northern Di soldier, points +1]
The remaining two Di soldiers spun around with shouts, one raising his saber and the other thrusting with his spear.
Li Jinshui pressed forward instead of retreating, unleashing the Wolf Killing Seven Forms with all his might!
Wolf Fang Bite! Three swift slashes, fast as lightning. The first knocked aside the incoming spear, the second severed the hand holding it, and the third opened the man's throat!
Wolf Tail Sweep! His blade swept across and clashed with the Di warrior's curved saber, showering sparks. The next instant, it spun back and cut into the man's ribs from another angle!
The two bodies hit the ground almost at the same time.
[Points +2] [Current points: 7]
Li Jinshui sheathed his saber and turned to face the two Zhou Army soldiers.
The young man's eyes were wide, his lips trembling as he tried to say something.
Li Jinshui walked over, crouched down, and checked the veteran's injuries.
"Don't talk," he said. "Can you walk?"
The veteran nodded with difficulty.
"Then let's go."
He helped the veteran up and said to the young man, "Stay close."
The three of them staggered toward the edge of the forest.
Behind them lay corpses scattered across the ground.
Halfway there, Li Jinshui suddenly stopped.
He took the three Blood Essence Stones from his robes and handed one each to the veteran and the young man.
"Keep it in your mouth. It'll keep you alive."
The veteran took the Blood Essence Stone and looked at him, his gaze tangled as a knot.
"You... you're in Chief Wang's squad..."
Li Jinshui nodded.
"Where's Chief Wang?"
Without changing expression, Li Jinshui replied, "I didn't find him. I heard something happening over here, so I came straight over."
The veteran stared at him for a long time.
At last, he lowered his head and put the Blood Essence Stone in his mouth.
"Thanks."
Li Jinshui said nothing and continued helping them along.
On the way out of the mountains, he opened the panel and glanced at it:
[Techniques: Iron Shirt (eighth layer, 0/45), Wolf Killing Seven Forms (novice, 48/50), Tiger Walk (minor mastery, 9/30)] [Points: 7]
He would save the remaining points for Iron Shirt. After all, his realm was the most important thing.
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