Li Estate

Jiang Che stopped a passerby and asked for the location of Li Estate.

The man told him it was at the far western edge of the city; he would reach it after passing through a small grove.

Then he added that Li Estate's gates had remained closed recently. Only people occasionally went in or out, and no one knew what had happened.

Hearing this, Jiang Che faintly sensed that something was wrong.

On the road, he suddenly saw a man who looked like a constable standing before a notice board, saying something.

A crowd had gathered in front of it, pointing and discussing.

Jiang Che's heart stirred, and he squeezed into the crowd as well.

Only then did he realize it was a missing persons notice.

Looking closely, he discovered that at least a dozen people had disappeared from Hengsha City within the past month!

And they were all young, able-bodied adults.

"Something isn't right..."

Large-scale disappearances had occurred in both cities.

Coupled with the Green-Eyed Monster he had encountered before.

Jiang Che always felt that some sort of conspiracy was fermenting beneath the surface.

But he had too few clues in hand and no leads at all.

Shaking his head, Jiang Che continued on his way.

Before long, he arrived at that small grove.

Though it was broad daylight, Jiang Che felt an eerie chill seeping from within the woods.

However, as a Martial Artist, Jiang Che possessed some ability to protect himself.

On top of that, he had Omen, a talent skill that could foresee danger.

And he carried so many life-saving items on him.

Jiang Che felt that he probably would not encounter any danger.

So he stepped inside.

The woods were utterly silent, silent in a way that felt unnatural.

There were no birdsong and no insect cries.

Only the rustling of Jiang Che's footsteps on the thick carpet of leaves remained.

The woods were dense, their leaves blotting out the sky and making the place somewhat dim.

A gust of wind blew through.

Though it was summer, Jiang Che felt a faint chill run over him.

Without realizing it, Jiang Che began circulating his Qi-Blood, his muscles tensing.

He felt that something was off about this place.

Suddenly, he saw an abandoned well ahead.

He had intended to go around it.

But as if possessed, he wanted to see what lay beneath the well.

Once that thought arose, he could not suppress it no matter what he did.

The curiosity in his heart grew ever stronger.

So he cautiously walked over.

Unconsciously, his mind began conjuring all sorts of scenes.

As he neared the abandoned well, he felt his heart pounding violently.

As though it were about to leap out of his chest.

He slowly came to the edge of the well.

Taking a deep breath, he braced himself on the rim and slowly leaned out, lowering his head to look inside.

The well was deep and pitch-black.

By the faint light, Jiang Che could barely make out murky, greenish water.

And the moldy stench of rotting vegetation.

"Rustle..."

Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps behind him!

He spun around sharply, but saw nothing.

"What the hell..."

Jiang Che jumped in fright.

But Omen had not triggered.

"Was it an illusion?"

Jiang Che felt uneasy and uncertain.

Then he suddenly froze.

Why was he so curious about this well?

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed, so he hurriedly left.

He walked faster and faster, until he was nearly running.

When he finally emerged from the grove, Jiang Che let out a breath of relief.

The sun beat down on him, scorching hot.

Yet Jiang Che immediately no longer felt that same eerie dread.

He looked up and saw a rather imposing walled manor before him.

Its gates were painted vermilion, its bricks blue and tiles dark, with two stone lions standing at the entrance.

Bamboo grew along both sides, lush and verdant.

"This is Li Estate..."

Jiang Che's gaze flickered.

His parents had come here to work and vanished.

He took a deep breath, then walked over.

"Knock, knock."

Jiang Che knocked on the door.

After a while, the door opened a crack.

A servant in a short gray cloth jacket poked half his face out.

The man's complexion was somewhat pale, and his eyes carried an indescribable dullness and scrutiny as he stared fixedly at Jiang Che.

"Who are you looking for?"

His voice was hoarse, and his accent was strange. He did not sound like a local.

The servant's stare made Jiang Che's scalp prickle.

He felt that there was something strange about the man, yet he could not say exactly what.

He raised his head, wanting to look inside.

But the man completely blocked his view. Jiang Che could not see anything, only sense that there were others inside.

"It's like this," Jiang Che suppressed the strange feeling in his heart.

"I'm here to ask about someone. A month and a half ago, a carpenter couple came from Abyss-Facing City to work at your estate. They were around forty.

"The man's surname was Jiang, and the woman's surname was Li. They still have not returned home. Do you know anything about their situation?"

"Carpenters?" The servant narrowed his eyes. "I think there were some. Come in and talk."

Then he pulled the door open a little wider.

Jiang Che was just about to look inside when Omen activated!

Jiang Che instantly sensed a powerful threat!

His expression changed. Without another word, he turned and ran!

The servant froze.

He had only just begun circulating his Qi-Blood. Once he lured Jiang Che inside, he would kill him in an instant.

Yet he had never expected Jiang Che's instincts to be so sharp!

"Who was that just now?" someone inside asked.

The voice was low and did not speak the official language of Great Chu.

"I don't know. Some brat who had just broken through Qi-Blood, asking about the missing carpenters," the servant respectfully answered in the same language.

"Carpenters? Hurry and chase him! We cannot let him escape! If we ruin the master's great plan, you and I will both be skinned alive and have our tendons pulled out!" the person said urgently.

"Yes!" A vicious light immediately flashed through the servant's eyes as he swiftly gave chase.

His figure flashed like lightning, so fast that only an afterimage could be seen, and vanished in an instant.

Jiang Che returned to the small grove from before.

He ran at full speed, shock filling his heart.

That sense of danger from before had been even stronger than when he encountered the Black Beast!

At the very least, it was a Stone Skin Realm expert!

A Stone Skin Realm Martial Artist was nowhere near as easy to deal with as a Stone Skin Realm Black Beast.

Black Beasts only knew how to use brute force; they had no intelligence.

But Martial Artists were different!

Suddenly, Jiang Che's Omen triggered again!

The danger was coming from behind!

He decisively entered Flow State.

In an instant, Jiang Che sensed the sound of wind tearing behind him as the person rapidly closed in!

The speed was so fast that he had never encountered anything like it!

He suspected even his master, Luo Kun, was only this fast!

"This man is an expert in lightness skills!"

As the intense danger closed in, Jiang Che's heart instead slowly calmed.

He continually calculated the distance between them and his opponent's position.

"Now!"

Sensing a perfect opportunity.

Jiang Che abruptly grabbed the quicklime at his waist and flung it behind him.

The servant was about to seize Jiang Che when a handful of lime came flying straight at his face.

Caught completely off guard, his eyes took the full blast!

"Ah! My eyes!!!"

The quicklime entered his eyes and immediately began to burn fiercely. The servant screamed in agony.

He hurriedly rubbed his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he could see a figure ahead.

With a roar, he circulated his Qi-Blood and threw a vicious punch.

The punch carried a sharp howl of air splitting apart.

Even if Jiang Che dodged with all his strength, he could hardly escape it.

In the end, the blow struck his back near his shoulder blade.

Bang!

Jiang Che felt as though he had been hit by a carriage and was sent flying at once.

However, because he wore soft armor and had used the force-dispersing movements of the Layered Cloud Fist while in Flow State.

The punch had not landed too heavily.

He only felt pain in the muscles and bones of his back; his internal organs had not been injured.

But the servant screamed, "My hand!"

His knuckles were densely studded with countless tiny bloody holes!

Though Stone Skin Realm skin was hard as rock.

When one struck full-force against refined steel spikes, even the hardest stone would be pierced through!

After rolling across the ground once, Jiang Che decisively sprang up and fled.

"Such tremendous punching force—it is definitely the Stone Skin Realm!"

Jiang Che's heart tightened.

This was the strongest opponent he had encountered so far!

"Damn little bastard!!!"

The servant had been outwitted by Jiang Che time and again, and rage instantly exploded within him.

Enduring the searing pain, he circulated his Qi-Blood with all his strength and lunged after him again!