Search

The search began on the second morning.

Li Jinshui was still in the midst of a dream when he was jolted awake by a violent kick to the door.

"Bang!"

The barracks door was kicked open, slamming hard against the wall as dust rained down in thick clouds.

Four or five soldiers clad in iron armor stormed in, led by a burly man in his thirties who wore an expression of repulsive arrogance.

"Get up! Search!"

Li Jinshui sat up and looked at them, saying nothing.

Monkey, startled by the commotion next door, ran over and stood at the doorway, his face pale.

The burly man swept his gaze across Li Jinshui's barracks, his eyes landing on the battered wooden chest in the corner—it held all of Li Jinshui's worldly possessions: a few changes of clothes, those few manuals on Body Forging, and the pouch containing fifty taels of silver.

"Is that yours?"

Li Jinshui nodded.

The burly man waved a hand: "Search!"

Two soldiers rushed over and kicked the chest over, scattering clothes across the floor. They crouched down, rummaging through them roughly and tossing garments everywhere.

The manuals were thrown onto the ground and trampled with muddy footprints.

The pouch of silver was unearthed; the burly man picked it up and weighed it in his hand, his eyes lighting up: "Fifty taels? You're just a soldier—where did you get this much silver?"

Li Jinshui looked at him, his tone calm: "Rewards for military merit, and a gift from the commander."

The burly man stared at him for a moment, then threw the silver back onto the floor, where the coins spilled out of the pouch and rolled everywhere.

"Keep searching!"

The two soldiers flipped the bed and trampled the bedding on the floor. They opened the empty cabinet in the corner, searched it anyway, and then ripped the door off its hinges and threw it aside.

Li Jinshui stood to the side, watching it all without a single expression on his face.

His fists clenched slightly, then relaxed.

Clenched, then relaxed.

Monkey stood at the door, trembling with rage but afraid to speak. Er Gou had arrived as well, squeezing into the doorway with reddened eyes.

The burly man paced around the barracks and spotted the military saber hanging on the wall—the one Li Jinshui had brought back from the battlefield, its edge notched and worn, waiting to be replaced.

He walked over, snatched the saber down, drew it to take a look, and tossed it onto the ground in disgust.

"A piece of scrap metal."

The saber hit the floor with a sharp clang.

Li Jinshui watched the blade, his eyes flickering slightly.

That blade had accompanied him as he killed over a hundred enemies, from his days of Body Forging to his current strength, from the ramparts of North-Rejecting City to the night raids.

Now, it was being tossed aside like a piece of scrap metal.

"That's enough." The burly man clapped his hands, preparing to leave.

Li Jinshui finally spoke.

"Sir."

The burly man turned around, looking at him with a provocative glint in his eyes: "What? Not convinced?"

Li Jinshui shook his head, his tone remaining perfectly calm: "No. I just wanted to ask: a search is a search, but was all that violence really necessary?"

The burly man froze for a second, then laughed.

It was a laugh filled with mockery and disdain.

"Violence?" He walked back, stood directly in front of Li Jinshui, and looked him up and down. "You, a mud-legged grunt from North-Rejecting City, dare to talk to me about violence?"

He leaned in close to Li Jinshui, lowering his voice, his breath reeking of halitosis:

"Listen, kid, I'm from the capital, and I serve Lady Yun. Do you even know who Lady Yun is? She is the top guest advisor under the Seventh Prince, a peak Pulse-Opening realm expert, and hails from a prestigious Yunzhou family. A mud-legged grunt like you couldn't even touch a hair on her finger in a hundred lifetimes."

He stepped back and patted Li Jinshui's face—the force was neither light nor heavy, but it was dripping with humiliation.

"Search violence? Who knows where you've hidden the evidence of your treason? If we don't tear this place apart, how are we supposed to find it?"

The soldiers nearby burst into loud laughter.

Li Jinshui stood there, motionless.

There was no expression on his face.

The burly man stared at him for a while, seemingly trying to elicit anger, humiliation, or fear.

But there was nothing.

That face was as calm as a stagnant pool.

The burly man felt a strange sense of unease, which was immediately replaced by a surge of indignant rage. He snorted coldly and waved his hand: "Let's go!"

A few soldiers followed him, swaggering out of the barracks.

Reaching the doorway, the burly man looked back once and spat on the ground.

"Bad luck!"

The sound of footsteps faded into the distance.

The barracks were in complete disarray.

Clothes were scattered everywhere, the bedding was trampled and filthy, the few manuals were covered in footprints, silver coins had rolled into every corner, and a military saber lay lonely in the shadows.

Monkey rushed in and knelt to pick up the silver, his eyes rimmed with red.

Er Gou also entered, picking up the clothes one by one and dusting them off.

Li Jinshui stood where he was, motionless.

After a long while, he bent down and picked up the military saber.

The notch on the blade remained; it was a mark left from killing the enemy. A dark red stain clung to the hilt—the blood of an enemy that had seeped into the wood, impossible to scrub away.

He wiped the blade gently with his sleeve, then hung it back on the wall.

Monkey looked up at him, his voice trembling: "Jinshui... why... why aren't you angry?"

Li Jinshui did not answer.

He simply walked to the bed, picked up the bedding, and remade it.

Then he sat down and pulled up his interface.

He stared at the numbers, staring for a long time.

From outside came the commotion of other barracks—shouts, weeping, and the sound of things being smashed.

The soldiers from the capital were searching every residence of the Personal Guard Battalion, their attitude just as brutal, just as arrogant.

Some who refused to submit were beaten.

Some who resisted were pinned to the ground.

Most, like him, remained silent.

Li Jinshui closed his interface, picked up the copy of the Evergreen Art stained with footprints, opened it, and read page by page.

Monkey and Er Gou stood to the side, not knowing what to say.

The barracks were very quiet, save for the rustling of turning pages.

The following days were strange and oppressive.

The soldiers from the capital took over the city defense, and the original garrison of North-Rejecting City was ordered to stay in their camp, forbidden from leaving. Every day, there was nothing to do but eat and sleep.

There was no movement from the Di People either.

After the siege that day, the Di Army had retreated to their camp and never emerged again. Scouts observed from afar, seeing only silence in the camp; occasionally a figure would move, but there were no signs of an attack.

Some said the Di commander Huyan Lie had been severely wounded by the Seventh Prince and his life hung in the balance.

Others said the Di People were also waiting—waiting for their experts to recover, waiting for a better opportunity.

Regardless, the battlefield had fallen into an eerie peace.

On the fourth day, news arrived—the Seventh Prince had awakened.

It was said that seventeen types of extremely precious medicinal herbs had been used, one of which came from the royal secret vault, one from the gift of a certain sect, and one was a family heirloom brought by Yun Ruoxi from Yun Province.

It was said the value of those herbs was enough to buy half of North-Rejecting City.

The first thing the Seventh Prince did after waking was to summon Yun Ruoxi.

No one knew what they had discussed, only that when Yun Ruoxi came out, her expression was even worse than before.

The atmosphere in the camp became even more stifling.

The soldiers from the capital looked at the North-Rejecting City garrison as if they were a group of suspects.

As for Li Jinshui, he sat in the barracks every day, practicing his cultivation, reading, and sleeping.

Occasionally, he would stand up, walk to the window, and look at the sky outside.

Monkey and Er Gou were worried about him at first, but seeing that he was acting normally, they gradually set their minds at ease.

Only Li Jinshui knew what he was thinking about during those days.

He was thinking about the military saber that had been thrown on the ground.

He was thinking about the arrogant, haughty face of that burly man when he had slapped him.

He was thinking about Yun Ruoxi's cold eyes and her words, "I have noted this."

He was thinking—

When would he be able to stand before those people and make them taste the feeling of being trampled underfoot?

On the evening of the seventh day, he stood by the window, watching the setting sun.

Monkey's voice came from behind him: "Jinshui, it's time to eat."

He did not turn his head.

"Tell me, how long do you think this peace will last?"

Monkey was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know... maybe a few days, maybe a dozen or so..."

Li Jinshui nodded.

That was enough.

With those dozen days, he could digest all those points and push his cultivation techniques up another level.

When the next great battle arrives—

He turned around, walked to the table, picked up the chipped bowl, and began to eat.

Outside the window, the setting sun dyed North-Rejecting City a deep, dark red.

In the distance, within the camp of the Di People, wisps of cooking smoke rose up, looking no different from any ordinary military encampment.

Yet everyone knew what lay hidden beneath that tranquility.

Just as everyone knew what lay hidden beneath Li Jinshui's calm face.