Human Skin Mask

Night had fallen.

Mo Chen continued sneaking into the front courtyard to learn martial arts.

Little Five followed behind him as well.

But the moment the two arrived at the front courtyard, a booming voice gave them both a fright.

"Stay alert tonight!"

"According to word from the yamen, that thief was badly wounded while being pursued by Constable Xu and may still be hiding in the city. If he gets into the Lu Residence, none of us will escape blame!"

"Yes!!!"

A unified roar rose up.

It sounded like there were at least a dozen men, perhaps even including the estate guards' commander, Wu Baoyin.

"So many people?"

Little Five's face changed, and fear rose in his heart.

Mo Chen's gaze flickered. "Looks like we can't learn anything tonight. I didn't expect that thief to still be in the city..."

"Come on, let's go back and sleep."

Mo Chen turned and left, and Little Five immediately followed.

But once they reached the Chore Servant Courtyard, Mo Chen turned toward the latrine. "Little Five, my stomach feels a little off. Go back and sleep first."

"Alright!" Little Five agreed in a fluster, hurrying back into the room, terrified that the estate guards would see him and mistake him for the murderous thief.

Only after seeing Little Five enter the room did Mo Chen pause, then immediately run toward the millstone in the front courtyard.

Just moments ago,

an item's faint yellow information glow had appeared in the tool shed behind the millstone.

[Human Skin Mask]

[Rank: First Tier]

[Made by a disguise master using specially gathered adhesive material; it could almost pass for the real thing and alter one's appearance.]

[Wear Requirement: None.]

[Attribute: Disguise, Speed Bonus 120%.]

Mo Chen moved silently along the wall, staring at the tool shed behind the millstone, his heart pounding like a drum.

"This first-tier Human Skin Mask must belong to that thief. He's hiding inside!"

According to what the estate guards' commander had said earlier,

the thief had been severely wounded by Constable Xu and could not have fled far.

Hiding quietly within the Lu Residence was indeed a good choice.

Arriving outside the tool shed, every muscle in Mo Chen's body tensed. A black firewood knife suddenly appeared in his right hand, and his gaze turned sharp.

"If a man wants to stand firm, there must be ruthlessness in his eyes!"

"Success or failure rests on tonight!"

He was going to gamble!

Gamble that the thief inside was seriously wounded and could no longer withstand a killing move!

He was also gambling that the thief was not very strong, and that under such severe injuries, he would be unable to unleash a killing move against him.

The glow of the boots was just behind the door.

Mo Chen gritted his teeth, kicked the door open with all his strength, and swung the Black Iron Firewood Knife with every ounce of power in his body.

"Who?!" A terrified shout suddenly came from within the tool shed.

A black-clad figure on the ground abruptly sprang up and darted to the side.

Yet the instant he took a step, he let out a muffled groan and dropped to one knee.

At that moment,

"Kill!"

Mo Chen roared, his body exploding forward as he gripped the knife with both hands and chopped downward.

In his hands, the Black Iron Firewood Knife was like a soul-locking blade from the Underworld Court. Catching the black-clad man unprepared, it struck the side of his neck with crushing weight and terrifying speed.

Critical Hit!

The sound of cracking bone rang out as tremendous force descended.

"Ah!" The black-clad man screamed in agony. In the next instant, his vision turned upside down, and his head rolled to the ground.

He looked at Mo Chen, dressed in a servant's uniform, with disbelief and confusion in his eyes, unable to rest even in death.

Seemingly, even until his death, he had failed to understand

how a mere chore servant had discovered him, or why he could erupt with such astonishing strength...

"Hu—ha—"

"Hu—ha—"

Mo Chen gasped for breath, his entire body trembling, his heart hammering violently.

His eyes remained fixed on the black-clad corpse, its head separated from its body.

They were filled with terror.

"One strike kill!"

"I actually triggered the Black Iron Firewood Knife's critical hit?!"

He had not expected his luck to be so good. On his very first time killing someone, he had landed a critical hit with one slash and chopped off the other man's head.

This was his first time killing. In the past, he would never have dared imagine such a horrifying, bloody scene.

A fierce discomfort and suffocating heaviness filled Mo Chen's heart.

"Killing someone really doesn't feel good!"

But he knew even better that the thief before him was a genuine murderer.

A desperado who had killed two people—if Mo Chen had failed to kill him in one blow, then he himself would have died.

"Over here!"

"Quick!"

At that moment, shouts suddenly came from afar outside. Mo Chen's expression tightened, and he had no time to think.

He hurriedly grabbed the black-clad man's cloth bundle, tore off his mask, and swiftly left.

"This way, the sound came from this way!"

The shouts drew closer. Some people rushed over, while others climbed over the walls.

In just a short while, the outside of the tool shed was surrounded by Lu Residence guards carrying sabers and clubs.

"Someone's here!"

"Damn! It's a dead man!"

"A dead man?!"

Wu Baoyin, the estate guards' commander, strode over with a saber in hand. The moment he saw the black-clad corpse, his face changed.

After crouching down and carefully examining the body, turbulent waves surged through his heart.

"It's that thief! He actually died in the Lu Residence?"

By this evening, wanted notices had already been posted throughout the city.

Though the black-clad man's appearance differed from the one on the wanted notice, the injuries on his body were exactly as described: a severe abdominal wound and a blade wound to the thigh.

Looking at the gruesome scene of the black-clad man's severed corpse, Wu Baoyin was deeply shocked. His own neck felt chilly, as if cold winds were brushing against it.

"Who killed him right under my nose?"

At a glance, he could tell that the black-clad man had died from a single slash.

The severed surface of the corpse's neck was extremely smooth, with almost no sign of hesitation or resistance.

"An expert! This person is definitely an expert. I heard this thief had already reached the Sinew Tempering Realm. Ordinary people would have a hard time killing him!"

As someone who had also reached the Sinew Tempering Realm, Wu Baoyin understood the strength of Sinew Tempering martial artists better than anyone.

At this stage, besides the unified force of Flesh Tempering and the drum-tough skin of Skin Tempering, one also possessed the speed of the great tendons throughout the body shooting forth like bowstrings.

An ordinary person could never sever his neck with one stroke.

But when he saw the black-clad man's head lying off to the side, Wu Baoyin's eyes were filled with horror.

"With this level of strength, it was definitely the work of a Bone Tempering Realm martial artist!"

Within Yunyi County, Wu Baoyin knew of only two experts above the Bone Tempering Realm. One was Constable Xu, Xu Huang, and the other was the residence's Second Young Master.

Yet as far as he knew, the Second Young Master had not been in the residence these past few days. So who could have done this?

"Could Constable Xu have pursued him all the way into the Lu Residence?"

Wu Baoyin secretly guessed, his heart filled with uncertainty.

He looked around, trying to find even the slightest trace of that person, but after searching all around, he found nothing.

"Commander, how should we deal with this corpse?"

A deputy commander stepped forward and asked solemnly.

Wu Baoyin glanced at the black-clad man's corpse and said with lingering fear, "Notify the master first. After informing the master, we'll decide whether to report this to the authorities."

"Yes!" The deputy commander clasped his hands in acknowledgment and hurried away.

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