Old Ghost Head

Although he had looked over the map more than once, Shen Xiu still kept watch for danger as he traveled, observing the surrounding mountain forests and terrain and matching them one by one against the route imprinted in his mind.

Before long, Shen Xiu passed through a grove of trees.

The sky suddenly brightened, and not far ahead lay a bare, chaotic stone forest streaked with red and gray.

Entering the Stone Forest, Shen Xiu searched around the spot marked on the map. After pushing aside a heap of withered grass, he finally found a concealed hollow.

Within the hollow, a small, stunted tree stood alone in a crack between rocks draped with a few dead vines.

Green tinged with red.

A single crystal-clear fruit hung from its branch.

From its appearance alone, the fruit was no different from an ordinary wild fruit. The sole distinction was that several faint wisps of pale white mist seemed to coil around the green fruit.

It was truly mysterious beyond compare.

With a slight sniff, he could even catch a faint fragrance.

This was the Face-Preserving Fruit he had come for. As expected, it was vastly different from ordinary medicinal herbs.

It seemed not yet ripe, but it was clearly only one step from the threshold. Shen Xiu decided to find a place to wait.

Just then.

A faint sound of footsteps came from not far away in the Stone Forest.

Just as Shen Xiu turned around, a sturdy man with a shoulder strap across his back, a hard bow in hand, and a short blade at his waist entered his sight.

The moment they turned to face each other, they came face-to-face.

Shen Xiu was somewhat stunned, and somewhat surprised.

Crimson Blood Peak was a relatively remote place, rarely visited by anyone. He had not encountered a single person along the way here, yet he had unexpectedly run into someone now.

Judging from the man's attire, he was clearly not a herb gatherer from the Foot of the mountain, climbing mountains and fording rivers. He looked more like one of those hunters who scavenged for wild food.

Clearly, the other man was equally surprised. He had not expected to suddenly encounter another person on the mountain.

At that moment, the sturdy man also noticed the anomaly within the hollow. Seeing the fruit that was plainly far from ordinary, a strange gleam instantly appeared in his eyes.

"Not bad, little brother. You actually managed to find such a spiritual herb."

Old Ghost Head lowered his voice, inwardly finding it unbelievable as well.

He had seen this medicinal fruit before. A medicine farmer in town had sold one for several hundred taels of silver, enough to send his son to a martial arts school in Taixi City some time ago.

If he had the help of this spiritual fruit, perhaps his own son could too.

What a pity. He had been one move short in the game; someone had gotten there first.

Old Ghost Head's gaze swept over Shen Xiu.

"You're a medicine farmer from the Foot of the mountain, aren't you, kid? Your luck is really good. With a spiritual herb like this, you probably won't have to worry about food and clothes for a whole year. Ah, this old man's luck is no good. I can only go take a look farther ahead..."

Old Ghost Head shook his head and sighed. Then he turned around helplessly and headed away, seemingly intending to search elsewhere.

Shen Xiu merely held the blade in his hand and calmly watched his back. "I'm not a medicine farmer from nearby. I'm a disciple of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School in Taixi City."

The other man seemed to have taken him for a medicine farmer from the Foot of the mountain. Shen Xiu explained himself not merely to refute him.

After all, he had heard a little about the cruelty at the Foot of the mountain. When two people struggling to survive encountered one another before a precious spiritual herb, it was not necessarily a good thing.

By mentioning that he was a disciple of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School, Shen Xiu was taking precautions before they were needed, warning the herb gatherer not to harbor any other intentions.

He was not afraid of trouble. He simply found trouble bothersome.

The more things there were, the worse it was. He only wanted to gather a herb.

The Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School possessed one of the foremost strengths in Taixi City. Anyone would give it some measure of respect.

But he was not sure whether it would still be of use in this remote Yang Family Town, especially amid these deserted mountains. Still, something was better than nothing.

Hearing Shen Xiu's voice, Old Ghost Head's figure paused slightly. Yet he stopped for only a moment before continuing onward.

Who knew whether he had heard him or not.

Though his words seemed to have worked, Shen Xiu still did not let down his guard.

Sure enough, just as Old Ghost Head vanished into the Stone Forest and was about to disappear from sight, he suddenly turned around.

A hard bow in his hand.

An arrow was nocked with perfect timing.

It shot out in an instant!

That somewhat kindly face from before now revealed biting chill beneath the shadows, brimming with murderous intent.

"Heh heh!"

"This old bastard!"

Even though Shen Xiu had been on guard, his heart still jolted.

Even after the sturdy man had revealed that he was a disciple of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School, he still struck with lethal intent.

Wealth moved men's hearts. It seemed that Taixi City, fifty or sixty li away, and the prestige of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School were still too insignificant.

Fortunately, he had kept watch on the herb-gathering man's every move. The instant the man turned around, Shen Xiu immediately dodged aside.

He avoided the vital point, but the sharp arrow grazed above his arm, tearing open a burning wound. Shen Xiu's expression did not change as he stared coldly at the man opposite him.

Without saying a word, he raised his blade and charged straight forward.

After the first arrow missed, Old Ghost Head felt only slight regret. Seeing Shen Xiu's movement yet remaining calm, he decisively drew another arrow from the quiver on his back and swiftly nocked and fired.

The arrow's force was like a rainbow!

This arrow came with fierce momentum. The other party had nowhere to evade.

Watching the killing arrow fly forth, a sinister smile curled across Old Ghost Head's lips, as if he could already see his prey collapsing dead the next moment.

He had witnessed such scenes many times.

Youngsters who had caught infant Spirit Foxes, old men who had gathered Red Spirit Fruits, and country brats who had brought money into town, saying they wanted to buy medicine for their fathers.

Too many, too many...

The smile on his face suddenly froze the next moment.

For the arrow missed again. The young man casually flicked the blade in his hand, and a cold flash of light slashed out.

It struck that arrow almost eerily, splitting it apart as it dropped to the ground in an instant.

That kid's blade technique was this formidable?

Old Ghost Head stared at the scene in dumbfounded disbelief.

What he had used was his specialty. His archery ranked among the best in the towns at the Foot of the mountain. Forget people—even the fastest-flying Fire Bats in the mountains could be struck by a single arrow from him.

The previous arrow had only scraped a little skin from his opponent, while this one had not even touched a hair.

What the hell was this?

Could the other party really be a disciple of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School? Was he even a Martial Artist who had entered a realm?

At that thought, Old Ghost Head's face turned black in a flash.

There was naturally nothing wrong with Old Ghost Head's archery. The only problem was Shen Xiu himself.

The strength of a Second Realm Martial Artist, whether in physical constitution or speed, utterly crushed ordinary people.

Old Ghost Head's archery was second to none in town, and his speed in nocking and firing arrows was very fast. But to Shen Xiu, it was merely rather fast.

He had been unable to evade the first arrow in time.

By the second arrow, he had already adapted.

Against an ordinary person's archery, a Second Realm Martial Artist was simply this unreasonable.

Yet Old Ghost Head across from him had no way of knowing any of this. Shen Xiu seized the moment of his opponent's daze, accelerated once more, and swept forward radiating the murderous aura of a Fierce Beast.

Old Ghost Head broke out in a cold sweat and abruptly came to his senses. He had no time now to consider whether the other party was a Martial Artist who had entered a realm. The grudge had already been forged; next, only life and death could be decided.

There was not the slightest hesitation in his eyes. With vicious ruthlessness, he loosed another arrow in the blink of an eye, sending it straight at the other man's head.

"You little bastard, you're really tired of living!"

He refused to believe that the other party could still be this fast.

This arrow had been fired in haste, so it naturally lacked accuracy. Coupled with Shen Xiu's prior preparation, he easily avoided it with a slight sidestep.

The scene Old Ghost Head had imagined did not appear.

Old Ghost Head's face turned even uglier. At this moment, regret began to seep into him. But Shen Xiu had already closed in, baring a mouthful of white teeth as the cold light of the short blade in his hand ran rampant.

With a sweep and a lift through the air.

A slender crescent moon fell into the mortal world.

Old Ghost Head saw a sliver of moonlight, exceedingly thin, seemingly carrying a bloody gleam.

In a daze, he blinked.

He felt as though a mosquito had bitten his neck. He instinctively reached up to touch it, and the world spun around him. His hand did not touch his neck, but caught something instead?

He suddenly realized that it was his own head.

Old Ghost Head's body abruptly turned cold.

His final fading consciousness gave him no time for regret. His last and only thought was that damn He Lao Jiu had set him up.