Ambushed

Night fell.

After finishing a day of body tempering, Shen Mu walked into the Bamboo Shed to check on the Three-Tailed Demon Fox.

To Shen Mu's surprise, despite suffering such severe injuries, it had actually pulled through. It was still fast asleep, snoring away.

"Heh, good people don't live long, but calamities last a thousand years. You survived even that. Looks like my fox-fur shoulder wrap is out of reach."

Shen Mu gave a teasing smile, then gathered a change of clothes and went to the river to wash the sweat from his body.

This was the most relaxing moment of his day. The river flowed gently past him, washing away the exhaustion from a day of body tempering.

By the time the sky was strewn with stars, Shen Mu had dressed again and was heading back toward his Bamboo Shed.

"Creak..."

Shen Mu had barely pushed the door open when a fierce gust of wind whistled past his ear. A murderous aura made every hair on his body stand on end.

By the faint moonlight, Shen Mu saw the shadow of a saber rushing toward his neck.

His pupils contracted. Almost instinctively, he twisted aside, and the long saber narrowly missed his face, cutting off a strand of hair that drifted to the ground.

"That was close!"

Cold sweat broke out on Shen Mu's forehead. If he had been even a moment slower, that blow would have taken his head.

"Hm?"

The other man seemed not to have expected Shen Mu to evade his surprise attack. He let out a startled sound.

Shen Mu had already darted several steps away. At last, he got a clear look at his attacker.

Zhou Xuan!

"Brother Zhou, what do you mean by this?"

Shen Mu's face was ashen as he spoke in a low voice.

"What do I mean?"

Zhou Xuan gave a cold, mocking laugh. "Brother Shen, at a time like this, you're still pretending not to understand?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

Shen Mu frowned.

Though he said that, his gaze drifted to Moon Embroidery, lying carelessly nearby—the spot where he had set it down after his body-tempering session.

His attacker had clearly intended to kill him just now. If Shen Mu hadn't mastered the Army-Breaking Saber Technique and become increasingly sensitive to danger, that blow would have taken his life.

Zhou Xuan sneered. "Brother Shen, you might fool everyone else, but you can't fool me. You've got the Three-Tailed Demon Fox, don't you?"

"The Three-Tailed Demon Fox?"

Shen Mu froze for a moment, then instantly understood.

At noon, Zhou Xuan had learned that he'd hidden the Three-Tailed Demon Fox.

But with so many people around, he hadn't exposed Shen Mu then. He'd been waiting to come here alone and take everything for himself...

Killing Shen Mu would also bring him a handsome profit: the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's pelt alone could fetch at least fifty taels of silver.

Add the seventy taels the others had earned from capturing the Origin Cicada, and this trip would net him at least one hundred and twenty taels.

"Brother Zhou, I don't know what you're talking about."

Shen Mu's eyes darkened as he spoke slowly. "The Three-Tailed Demon Fox isn't in my hands. If you don't believe me, go search the Bamboo Shed yourself."

"If you don't find it in there, we can just call tonight's business a misunderstanding. How about it?"

"A misunderstanding?"

Zhou Xuan shook his head and sneered. "Brother Shen, you still don't understand one thing. I didn't come here just for the Three-Tailed Demon Fox."

From his earlier attempt to kill Shen Mu, it was clear he wanted both the fox's pelt and Shen Mu's share of the money earned from capturing the Origin Cicada!

A Guardian with only First Stage Boiling Blood cultivation had such a fortune in his hands...

If Heaven gives you a gift and you don't take it, you'll only bring trouble upon yourself!

Shen Mu's expression darkened. "Zhou Xuan, aren't you afraid your superiors will find out you attacked me?"

"Find out?"

Zhou Xuan gave a wicked chuckle. "Emerald Cloud Valley is enormous, and there are so many Guardians. Who could know I killed you?"

"Don't worry, Brother Shen. My blade is quick. If you hand over the silver you have, I can promise you a painless death!"

A smile suddenly appeared on Shen Mu's face. He said coldly, "Zhou Xuan, you're only at Second Stage Boiling Blood. What makes you think you can take me?"

"Brother Shen, you still don't understand how wide the gap is between First and Second Stage Boiling Blood."

Zhou Xuan shook his head. "But that doesn't matter. You'll find out soon enough."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Xuan charged forward, wielding his saber and striking at Shen Mu with the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.

Shen Mu twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Zhou Xuan pressed forward relentlessly, and Shen Mu retreated step by step, struggling to dodge the long saber whipping through the air.

"Horse Skin Shroud!"

The other man was only at First Stage Boiling Blood, yet he had kept Zhou Xuan tied up in a fight for so long. At last, Zhou Xuan lost patience and unleashed one of the Army-Breaking Saber Technique's deadly moves.

"Clang!"

The clash of metal rang out through the quiet night, sparks scattering.

But to Zhou Xuan's surprise, Shen Mu, who had been fighting while retreating, raised Moon Embroidery and blocked his full-force blow.

"H-how is that possible?"

Zhou Xuan's eyes widened in shock.

At Second Stage Boiling Blood, he could put five hundred pounds of force behind that strike. There was no way someone at First Stage Boiling Blood could block it.

That strike should have knocked Moon Embroidery from Shen Mu's hands and then carried on to cleave off his head.

How could he have blocked it so easily?

"Have you already reached Second Stage Boiling Blood? How is that possible?"

Zhou Xuan seemed to realize something, his face filled with disbelief.

He had dared to attack Shen Mu—and hadn't even bothered to disguise himself—because he was certain Shen Mu was no match for him.

From the moment he appeared, this had been a calculated attempt to kill Shen Mu.

The wealth Shen Mu possessed had also stirred his greed, which was why he had come tonight.

Whether Shen Mu had hidden the Three-Tailed Demon Fox or not, Zhou Xuan didn't care!

The seventy taels of silver in Shen Mu's hands were already enough to make him green with envy and willing to rob him.

But he had never imagined that Shen Mu, who had only arrived at Emerald Cloud Valley a month ago, would already have reached Second Stage Boiling Blood.

It completely upended everything he knew!

Reaching Second Stage Boiling Blood required digesting twenty catties of beast meat. Did that mean Shen Mu could digest one catty every day and a half?

How was that possible?

"Zhou Xuan, I gave you a chance."

Now that he finally had Moon Embroidery in hand, a fierce killing intent flared in Shen Mu's eyes.

His opponent had tried to rob and kill him. If Shen Mu had truly been at First Stage Boiling Blood, he would already have been beheaded.

But now, the roles of hunter and prey were about to be reversed.

Shen Mu exploded forward. Moon Embroidery flashed in his hand like a crescent moon-shaped silver hook, sweeping toward Zhou Xuan.

"What's this?"

"You've mastered the Army-Breaking Saber Technique?!"

Watching Shen Mu swing his saber, Zhou Xuan's pupils contracted, his face filled with shock.

He had once seen Hong Jingcheng use the Army-Breaking Saber Technique with his own eyes. Once mastered, its blade flashed with the speed of a crescent moon in motion.

It was said that if someone perfected the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, the force of their blade could form a full moon. Their attacks would come like a storm, relentlessly cutting down every enemy who dared approach!

In a panic, Zhou Xuan raised his saber and blocked Shen Mu's first strike.

But before he could even draw his saber back, Shen Mu's second strike followed like a shadow.

"No!"

Zhou Xuan watched helplessly as the blade swept toward his throat, but his body could not move fast enough to dodge.

"Pfft!"

Moon Embroidery sliced through Zhou Xuan's neck, sending his head flying skyward.

In the quiet of the night, Zhou Xuan's body sank helplessly to its knees as blood gushed out in a torrent.

"Haah... haah... haah..."

Shen Mu dropped to one knee, his face deathly pale, breathing like a bellows.

"Even at Second Stage Boiling Blood, forcing myself to use a merely mastered Army-Breaking Saber Technique is still too much."

Looking at Zhou Xuan's headless body, Shen Mu murmured to himself.