Wrapping Up

This was the first time Shen Mu had killed a man, yet he felt no psychological discomfort whatsoever.

Shen Mu was very clear that if not for the Martial Dao Tree accelerating his cultivation, the one lying dead on the ground right now would be him.

After resting for a full incense stick's time, Shen Mu finally recovered a sliver of his strength.

He walked forward to find Zhou Xuan still staring with wide, angry eyes, his face frozen in an expression of utter disbelief.

Since Zhou Xuan dared to move against me, it was primarily out of greed for the silver in my possession; he certainly wouldn't have told anyone else about this.

Now that Zhou Xuan is dead, if I report this to Hong Jingcheng, he will inevitably realize that I possess Boiling Blood Second Stage cultivation, which would be disadvantageous to me...

When Hong Jingcheng gathered the guards for discussions previously, they met at Zhou Xuan's Bamboo Shed, which suggests that the relationship between Hong Jingcheng and Zhou Xuan is likely not simple.

Considering all these factors, I cannot inform Hong Jingcheng of this matter.

The best approach is to make it appear as though Zhou Xuan has gone missing by accident. As long as his body is never found, the authorities will only have a fifty-percent chance of guessing he is dead!

Even if they are certain Zhou Xuan is dead, they won't suspect me.

Because in the eyes of outsiders, I only have Boiling Blood First Stage cultivation; it would be impossible for me to kill Zhou Xuan.

This is an information gap. Even if they send someone to investigate, they will absolutely never suspect me...

Shen Mu's thoughts raced as he considered how to tie up the loose ends.

As for the blood outside his Bamboo Shed, in an era without DNA testing, a few buckets of water would be enough to wash the stains away completely.

The difficult part was disposing of Zhou Xuan's body.

There were two current options: bury it in the Origin Mulberry Field, or throw it into the nearby river and let the current carry it away.

It was currently the season for the Origin Mulberry Fruit to ripen, and Shen Mu knew he didn't have the time to dig a hole deep enough to bury a corpse.

Thinking this, Shen Mu made his decision.

He first searched Zhou Xuan's body carefully, finding a money pouch and a jade bottle.

Shen Mu weighed the pouch; it contained roughly fifty taels of silver.

He then uncorked the jade bottle and tilted it, letting four scarlet, thumb-sized pills fall into his palm.

"Could these be Blood Qi Pills?"

Shen Mu's heart skipped a beat.

Blood Qi Pills were one way for those in the Body Tempering stage to increase their blood qi.

A single Blood Qi Pill was worth five taels of silver and could provide roughly the same amount of blood qi as a catty of beast meat.

The difference between the pills and beast meat was that once a Blood Qi Pill was consumed, it would convert into nourishing blood qi within a single day, whereas beast meat required several days to digest.

With four Blood Qi Pills in total, that was worth twenty taels of silver.

"It truly is as the saying goes: a horse cannot grow fat without wild grass, and a man cannot get rich without a windfall."

Shen Mu sighed, stuffed the Blood Qi Pills back into the jade bottle, and tucked it into his robes.

This trip had been a case of the opponent trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice; not only had he lost his life, but he had also contributed seventy taels of silver.

After searching him one last time to ensure there were no other valuables, he hoisted Zhou Xuan's body and head and headed toward the nearby river.

He tied several stones to the corpse and sank it into the river, then made several trips back and forth to fetch water from the riverbank to scrub away all the bloodstains on the ground outside the Bamboo Shed.

Once finished, Shen Mu took his oil lamp and checked several times to ensure no traces of blood remained, only then feeling at ease.

It was nearly dawn by now. Shen Mu sat on his Bamboo Shed, gazing at the stars in the night sky with a complex expression.

From the moment he decided to walk the path of martial arts, he understood it would be accompanied by blood and storms, yet he hadn't expected his first kill to happen under such circumstances.

Just because his cultivation was weak, the other party had harbored infinite malice.

Perhaps under this very night sky, similar situations were playing out in different places.

But how many could actually turn the tables and kill their aggressor?

At the same time, this lesson served as a reminder to Shen Mu: when the stakes were high enough, someone who was laughing and chatting with you during the day could turn into a vengeful ghost coming for your life at night.

Even if there was no prior grudge or conflict, as long as killing you yielded enough profit, the other party would still raise their butcher's knife against you.

In his past life, there were laws to provide restraint, but in this world, the law of the jungle was displayed in its most vivid form.

Even the imperial court offered minimal restraint to martial artists...

"Huu~"

Shen Mu let out a long, heavy breath. Sleepiness washed over him, and he drifted into a deep slumber.

Over the next few days, Shen Mu continued as usual, practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique by day while observing for any signs of movement following Zhou Xuan's death.

To Shen Mu's surprise, Zhou Xuan's disappearance did not cause a single ripple.

It wasn't until five days later that Hong Jingcheng finally came knocking.

"Brother Hong, why are you here?"

Shen Mu stopped practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique and asked with a smile.

Hong Jingcheng got straight to the point: "Little Brother Shen, have you seen Zhou Xuan these past few days?"

"Zhou Xuan?"

Shen Mu furrowed his brows, pondered for a moment, and said, "I did see him about five or six days ago. He was with a group of people searching all over Emerald Cloud Valley for a Three-Tailed Demon Fox..."

Hong Jingcheng already knew everything he had just said from questioning others, so he continued to ask, "Besides seeing Zhou Xuan five or six days ago, have you seen him at any other time?"

"That would be a no."

Shen Mu shook his head and then asked, "By the way, what happened to Brother Zhou?"

Hong Jingcheng's expression turned grim. "Zhou Xuan has gone missing."

"Missing?"

Shen Mu widened his eyes and blurted out, "What happened? How could a grown man just vanish into thin air for no reason? Is it possible he went home?"

Shen Mu felt he deserved a perfect score for his acting just now; even a top-tier actor couldn't have done better.

"I went to his home to look, but he wasn't there either."

Hong Jingcheng shook his head.

Even Wei Bo, who was responsible for monitoring the people entering and leaving the valley, stated that he had not seen Zhou Xuan leave Emerald Cloud Valley over the past few days.

Could a grown man really just evaporate from Emerald Cloud Valley for no reason?

Hong Jingcheng already had his suspicions; he feared that Zhou Xuan had met with an accident.

But Emerald Cloud Valley was only so large; even if Zhou Xuan had died, how had the perpetrator disposed of the body?

Hong Jingcheng couldn't help but cast a deep, searching look at Shen Mu, attempting to find a single clue in his expression.

What outsiders didn't know was that Zhou Xuan was his cousin, the only son of his aunt.

After they had split the silver from capturing the Origin Cicada, Zhou Xuan had secretly suggested to him that they should strike from the shadows and rob Shen Mu of the silver in his possession.

Having just earned nearly a thousand taels of silver, Hong Jingcheng naturally looked down on Shen Mu's meager share and had even warned Zhou Xuan not to do such a thing.

If the silver in Shen Mu's hands were stolen and the matter became public, the other guards would inevitably become suspicious of him.

After all, the only people who knew Shen Mu had that money were him and his subordinates.

Therefore, the person who made the move would certainly be among them.

If Shen Mu had worked so hard only to end up with nothing, would he be driven by rage to leak the secret of the Origin Cicada to the higher-ups of the Firewood Gang?

Once they knew that the Origin Cicada could serve as a resource for the cultivation of ranked martial artists, the higher-ups would surely take notice, and how would he be able to skim off the top in the future?

Hong Jingcheng would naturally never do such a thing as draining the pond to catch the fish, especially since he had already earned enough.

Could Zhou Xuan's disappearance be related to Shen Mu?

But as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he looked at the expression of shock and confusion on Shen Mu's face and couldn't help but shake his head.

Zhou Xuan possessed the cultivation of the second stage of Boiling Blood, and his Army-Breaking Saber Technique was on the verge of reaching the introductory level.

Dealing with Shen Mu, who was only at the first stage of Boiling Blood, should have been as easy as turning over his hand.

"I'll go ask the others. You continue your cultivation."

After Hong Jingcheng finished speaking, he followed the footpath toward the Bamboo Shed where the next guard was stationed.

Watching Hong Jingcheng's rapidly receding back, Shen Mu's gaze became obscure and difficult to read.

From the way Hong Jingcheng had scrutinized him just now, he could infer that Hong Jingcheng likely knew Zhou Xuan had harbored designs against him.

It was only the vast disparity in their apparent cultivation levels that made it impossible for Hong Jingcheng to believe that he had killed Zhou Xuan.

"Hong Jingcheng possesses the cultivation of the seventh stage of Boiling Blood. As my own cultivation rises in the future, he might very well revisit his suspicions regarding Zhou Xuan's disappearance."

"In this world, there is no need for evidence; a mere suspicion is enough for him to make a move."

Shen Mu withdrew his gaze and once again threw himself into the practice of the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.