Ambushed

Night fell.

Shen Mu finished his day of body tempering and walked into the bamboo shed to take a look at the Three-Tailed Demon Fox.

To Shen Mu's surprise, the creature had actually managed to pull through despite such severe injuries, and it was still fast asleep.

"Heh, they really do say the good die young while the wicked live for a thousand years. Since it didn't die, it seems my fox-fur shawl is off the table."

Shen Mu gave a playful smirk, then grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the river to wash away the sweat from his body.

This was his most relaxing moment of the day; the river flowed slowly beside him, washing away the fatigue accumulated from his daily tempering.

Once the sky was filled with stars, Shen Mu dressed himself and walked back toward his bamboo shed.

"Creeeak~"

The moment Shen Mu pushed the door open, a whistling gust of wind reached his ears, and an aura of cold slaughter made the hair on his body stand on end.

By the faint moonlight, Shen Mu saw the shadow of a blade slashing directly toward his neck.

Shen Mu's pupils contracted, and almost subconsciously, he side-stepped. The long blade grazed past his face by a hair's breadth, severing a lock of his hair that drifted to the ground.

"That was close!"

Cold sweat broke out on Shen Mu's forehead; had he been even a fraction of a second slower, that strike would have claimed his head.

"Oh?"

The attacker seemed surprised that Shen Mu had managed to dodge the sneak attack, letting out a sound of astonishment.

Shen Mu scrambled back a few paces and finally caught sight of his assailant.

Zhou Xuan!

"Brother Zhou, what is the meaning of this?"

Shen Mu's face turned grim as he spoke in a low voice.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Zhou Xuan sneered, "Little Brother Shen, at this point, are you still going to play dumb?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

Shen Mu frowned.

Despite his words, he couldn't help but glance at the Moon Embroidery resting nearby, which he had set down casually after his training.

The man had clearly intended to kill him. If not for the fact that he had mastered the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, which had heightened his perception of danger, that last strike would have ended his life.

Zhou Xuan chuckled coldly, "Little Brother Shen, you might be able to fool others, but you can't fool me. The Three-Tailed Demon Fox is in your hands, isn't it?"

"The Three-Tailed Demon Fox?"

Shen Mu was startled, and the truth dawned on him instantly.

Back at noon, Zhou Xuan must have realized he had hidden the beast.

Because there were too many people around at the time, he hadn't exposed the matter, intending instead to come here tonight and claim it all for himself...

Killing two birds with one stone: if he killed Shen Mu, the pelt of the Three-Tailed Demon Fox alone would fetch at least fifty taels of silver.

Combined with the seventy taels they had earned from capturing the Origin Cicada earlier, this trip would net him a windfall of at least one hundred and twenty taels.

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

Shen Mu's eyes were dark as he said slowly, "The Three-Tailed Demon Fox is truly not in my possession. If you don't believe me, feel free to go inside the shed and search for yourself."

"If the Three-Tailed Demon Fox isn't in the shed, let's just call tonight's incident a misunderstanding, how about that?"

"A misunderstanding?"

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

Judging by his earlier attempt to kill him, he wanted the fox pelt, and he also wanted the share of the silver Shen Mu had earned from the Origin Cicada!

A mere Guardian at the first level of Boiling Blood, holding such a massive fortune...

To be given a gift by heaven and not take it is to invite disaster!

Shen Mu's expression turned ugly, and he said in a deep voice, "Zhou Xuan, aren't you afraid that the higher-ups will find out if you attack me?"

"Find out?"

Zhou Xuan let out a wicked laugh, "The Emerald Cloud Valley is so vast, and there are so many Guardians. Who would know that I was the one who killed you?"

"Don't worry, Little Brother Shen. My blade is fast. If you obediently hand over the silver, I can guarantee you a painless death!"

A smile suddenly appeared on Shen Mu's face as he said coldly, "Zhou Xuan, you are only at the second level of Boiling Blood. What makes you think you can take me down?"

"Little Brother Shen, it seems you still don't understand the vast gap between the first and second levels of Boiling Blood."

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

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Xuan charged with his blade, unleashing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique in a downward slash toward Shen Mu.

Shen Mu shifted his body, narrowly avoiding the strike.

Zhou Xuan pressed the attack relentlessly, while Shen Mu retreated step by step, struggling to dodge the long blade swinging toward him.

"Wrapped in a horse hide!"

The opponent was only at the first level of Boiling Blood, yet had managed to entangle him for so long. Zhou Xuan finally lost his patience and unleashed a killing move from the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing rang through the quiet night, sending sparks flying.

However, to Zhou Xuan's surprise, his full-force strike was successfully blocked by Shen Mu, who had been fighting while retreating, as he raised Moon Embroidery to meet it.

"Ho... how is this possible?"

Zhou Xuan's eyes widened, his face filled with shock.

At the second level of Boiling Blood, his strike carried a force of five hundred jin, which was absolutely not something a guy at the first level of Boiling Blood could block.

This strike should have sent Moon Embroidery flying from Shen Mu's hand while simultaneously severing the opponent's head.

How could the opponent block this strike so easily?

"Could it be that you have already advanced to the second level of Boiling Blood? How is that possible?"

Zhou Xuan seemed to have thought of something, an expression of disbelief appearing on his face.

The reason he dared to act against Shen Mu, and even didn't bother to mask his identity, was because he was certain that Shen Mu was no match for him.

From the moment he appeared, this was meant to be a guaranteed kill against Shen Mu.

At the same time, the wealth in the other party's hands had stirred his greed, which was the reason for tonight's excursion.

He didn't care at all whether Shen Mu was hiding the Three-Tailed Demon Fox!

The fact that this guy had seventy taels of silver in his hands was enough to make him green with envy and even resort to robbery.

However, what he never expected was that Shen Mu had only been in Emerald Cloud Valley for a month, yet had already successfully advanced to the second level of Boiling Blood?

This undoubtedly subverted his understanding!

Advancing to the second level of Boiling Blood required digesting twenty jin of beast meat; did that mean he was digesting one jin of beast meat every day and a half?

How could this be?

"Zhou Xuan, I gave you a chance."

Now firmly gripping Moon Embroidery, a sharp killing intent suddenly appeared in Shen Mu's eyes.

The opponent intended to kill for money; if he had only been at the first level of Boiling Blood, he would likely have been decapitated just now.

But from this moment on, the roles of hunter and prey would be reversed.

Shen Mu lunged forward, Moon Embroidery dancing in his hand like a crescent silver hook as he slashed toward Zhou Xuan.

"This is?"

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

Watching the long saber wielded by Shen Mu, Zhou Xuan's pupils contracted, his face filled with shock.

He had once witnessed Hong Jingcheng perform the Army-Breaking Saber Technique; once the technique reached the entry level, the speed of the blade was like a crescent moon in motion.

It was rumored that if one could cultivate the Army-Breaking Saber Technique to perfection, the blade's momentum would form a full moon, with an offensive as fierce as a storm, until the invading enemy was cut down!

In his haste, Zhou Xuan drew his saber to block the first strike from Shen Mu.

But before he could even retract his blade, Shen Mu's second strike followed like a shadow.

"No!"

Zhou Xuan watched helplessly as the blade swept toward his throat, his body unable to make the corresponding evasive movement.

"Pfft~"

Moon Embroidery slashed across Zhou Xuan's neck, sending a head soaring into the air.

In the quiet night, Zhou Xuan's body collapsed powerlessly to the ground, blood spraying out wildly.

"Hiss~ Hiss~ Hiss~"

Shen Mu knelt on one knee, his face deathly pale, his breathing as loud as thunder.

"Being only at the second level of Boiling Blood and forcing the use of an entry-level Army-Breaking Saber Technique is still too much of a strain."

Looking at Zhou Xuan, whose head and body were now separated, Shen Mu muttered to himself.