Unexpected

To them, a lone young hunter venturing into the mountains, appearing timid and carrying a bag of game, was nothing more than a fat sheep delivered to their doorstep.

"Brother," the square-faced youth stepped forward, a smile plastered on his face as he cupped his fists. "I am Liu Kui, a disciple of the Gale Wind Martial Hall, and these two are my junior brothers. May I ask your name?"

Chen Jianghe turned slowly, his face perfectly assuming a look of nervous trepidation. He returned the salute, his voice lowered to sound cowardly: "I, I am Chen Er, just a gatherer of herbs... Do you gentlemen have any instructions for me?"

Chen Jianghe spoke while "frantically" clutching his bag: "This, this is just a dead musk deer I found earlier... I, I only cut off a little meat..."

"Found it?" The tall, thin man licked his cracked lips, a greedy glint flashing in his eyes. "You've got good luck, brother. But this Black Wind Ridge is now the territory of the Green Dragon Gang. If you're caught poaching, you'll lose your hands."

He paused, his tone turning cold: "How about this? You split the meat with us, and we'll pretend we didn't see anything. How's that?"

Chen Jianghe "hesitated" for a moment, then gritted his teeth, took off his bag, and held it out with both hands: "If, if you gentlemen want it, take, take it all... I only ask that you spare me..."

He kept his head bowed, his body trembling slightly, looking as if he had been scared out of his wits.

A look of disdain flashed in Liu Kui's eyes as he reached out to take it.

The moment his fingers were about to touch the bag—

Chen Jianghe moved.

His "trembling" hands suddenly steadied. He flicked his right hand, and the bag flew out—not toward the square-faced youth, but smashing into the tall, thin man on the right!

The tall, thin man instinctively reached out to catch it.

In that very instant, Chen Jianghe's left hand pulled a pouch of lime powder from his robes. With a flick of his thumb, the pouch burst open, and the grayish-white powder, mixed with Bone-Corroding Powder, erupted like a cloud of smoke, showering the three men directly in the face!

None of the three had expected this "timid hunter" to dare launch a surprise attack.

The distance was too close, and the powder came too fast.

"Ah—!"

The screams rang out almost simultaneously.

The lime blinded their eyes, and the Bone-Corroding Powder seared their skin.

Liu Kui reacted the fastest, closing his eyes and retreating rapidly while swinging his blade wildly to defend himself.

The short, stocky man, however, let out a roar and, ignoring everything else, slashed fiercely at the spot where Chen Jianghe had just been standing!

The blade cut through empty air.

The moment he had thrown the lime, Chen Jianghe had already slid to the side, circling to the left of the stocky man.

The Butchery Blade left its sheath.

The blade flashed like snow, sliding into the gap between the third and fourth ribs on the stocky man's left side, thrusting diagonally upward to pierce his heart and lungs.

He twisted the blade and pulled it out.

Blood gushed like a fountain.

The stocky man shuddered, his eyes widening in disbelief as he looked at the bloody hole in his chest. He opened his mouth, but only a mouthful of foul blood spilled out before he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The tall, thin man had just caught the bag when the lime blinded him. As he clutched his face and wailed, he heard a sound of wind behind him and hurriedly swung his blade backward.

But Chen Jianghe had already crouched down, his fist encased in brass knuckles, and delivered a straight Crushing Fist into the back of the tall, thin man's knee!

"Crack!"

The kneecap shattered.

The tall, thin man screamed and fell to his knees.

Chen Jianghe rose, his blade flashing as it sank into the back of the man's neck, severing the tendons.

The wailing stopped abruptly.

By now, Liu Kui had managed to force open his lime-scorched eyes. His vision was blurred, but he could vaguely see his two junior brothers on the ground, and the "hunter" standing there with a blade, his eyes as cold as frost.

"You!" Liu Kui was shocked and furious as he lunged forward with his blade.

After all, he was a formal disciple of the Gale Wind Martial Hall with Bright Strength cultivation; his desperate counterattack was quite fierce.

Chen Jianghe, however, did not meet him head-on.

He tapped his toes and drifted back like a ghost, his left hand flicking out once more—

A second handful of lime powder!

Liu Kui, already on guard, hurriedly closed his eyes and turned his head, yet the powder still caught his cheek, stinging like fire.

In that moment, Chen Jianghe had already breached his center, his right-hand blade striking like a viper toward his throat.

Liu Kui listened for the wind to locate him and swung his blade to parry.

"Clang!"

The blades collided.

Chen Jianghe flicked his wrist, unleashing his Dark Strength, which traveled along the blade and pierced straight into his opponent's arm.

Liu Kui felt a sinister, supple force drill into his tendons; his entire right arm went numb, and he nearly dropped his blade.

Terrified, he pulled back, desperate to retreat.

Chen Jianghe would never allow him to leave.

Five Elements Fist—Cannon Fist!

His left fist blasted out like a cannon, striking Liu Kui squarely in the chest.

The Dark Strength penetrated his body, shattering his heart and lungs.

Liu Kui let out a muffled groan, spat a mouthful of blood, and staggered backward.

His eyes widened, staring fixedly at Chen Jianghe as he hissed, "You... you are actually... Dark Strength... and you even used poison... des, despicable..."

Chen Jianghe stepped forward in pursuit, the blade flashing once more.

This time, Liu Kui no longer had the strength to parry.

The blade pierced in from his jaw, transfixing his brain.

His eyes bulged, fixed on Chen Jianghe, as a strange "he-he" rattling sound escaped his throat before he slowly collapsed to the ground.

Chen Jianghe's expression remained unchanged.

In this world, if you do not kill others, they will kill you. Since the other party had already revealed their murderous intent and acted upon it, they were enemies of life and death.

He did not delay any longer and began to skillfully clean up the scene.

He first dragged the three corpses to one spot, quickly searching them for all valuables—a total of over twenty taels of silver, a few bottles of common medicinal salves, and three identity tokens from the Gale Wind Martial Hall.

Chen Jianghe pocketed the silver and medicine, then tossed the wooden tokens, useless clutter, and the three corpses into a mountain stream ahead.

Watching the three bodies bob and weave in the rapid current and whirlpools, they were soon swallowed by the murky waves and vanished without a trace.

Chen Jianghe stood by the stream and whispered to himself, "The outer perimeter is no longer safe."

When even official disciples of a martial hall began to waylay passersby for a few mouthfuls of meat, the order on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge had collapsed to such a degree.

To stay any longer would not only make hunting increasingly difficult, but would also invite frequent encounters with such robberies, adding unnecessary risk.

He hesitated no longer, turned around, and hurried back to the hidden stone cave.

There were still plenty of air-dried meat strips left inside; he quickly packed them, wrapped them tightly in oilcloth, and stuffed them into his pack.

Finally, he carefully inspected the cave, erasing all traces of his habitation.

Everything ready, he crouched in the shadows at the cave entrance, waiting quietly.

Based on his observations over the past few days, the Green Dragon Guard patrol had a brief shift-change gap between the hours of the Tiger and the Rabbit, lasting about half a quarter of an hour.

That was the best time to descend the mountain.

The sky grew dark, and the mountain forest fell into silence.

Chen Jianghe closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, adjusting his state to its peak.

He slipped silently out of the cave and, following the map and the small paths he had scouted, moved swiftly and soundlessly toward the foot of the mountain.

Everything went smoothly. It seemed that once he passed through the dense forest ahead, he would reach the relatively safe low-hill region.

The moment he was about to step out of the forest edge, an extremely subtle yet sharp aura instantly locked onto him.

Every hair on Chen Jianghe's body stood on end, and his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

He turned around slowly.

In the clearing among the trees, a figure stood, though he had no idea when the man had arrived.

The man was about thirty years old with a cold, rigid face.

He wore a high-quality black martial outfit covered by light armor, with a long, unsheathed blade at his waist; the blade was dull, faintly shimmering with a blood-red light.

Chen Jianghe's heart sank.

He recognized this attire—this was a minor leader among the Green Dragon Guard, an elite with at least Dark Strength cultivation.

The man in black swept his gaze over Chen Jianghe, pausing for a moment on his bulging pack and the Butchery Blade at his waist, before speaking slowly in a low voice:

"Descending the mountain at this hour?" He paused, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger. "State your name, which martial hall or gang you belong to, and what business you have in the mountains?"