The One Behind It All

The three blades Zhang Ping had just looked at had each been more expensive than the last.

The Nine-Ring Ghost Axe Blade cost 500,000 Pearl City Coins!

The Ghost Sickle cost 600,000.

The final "Cold Maiden" cost 2,000,000.

The gap between rich and poor in Mingzhu City was enormous, and Zhang Ping had no idea how much Awakened earned.

But based on what he had investigated over the past few days, an ordinary farmer in Mingzhu City earned roughly 3,000 Pearl City Coins a year. In other words, to buy "Cold Maiden," they would have to go without food or drink for more than 666 years.

So expensive.

Zhang Ping sighed softly to himself. He had known supernatural equipment would not be cheap, but he had not expected it to be this expensive.

"Grandpa, do you have any cheaper weapons here?" Zhang Ping wandered around for another lap and found that even the cheapest weapons cost tens of thousands of Pearl City Coins. He then walked over to the old man and asked quietly.

The old man took a puff from his pipe. About a minute and a half later, he finally looked at Zhang Ping and slowly asked, "What did you say?"

"Grandpa, I was asking whether you have any cheaper weapons here?" Zhang Ping had no choice but to repeat himself.

The old man looked at Zhang Ping, his reactions seeming half a beat slow. After quite a while, he answered with something completely unrelated. "My son is waiting for me to eat."

"..."

Zhang Ping was speechless.

No wonder all the previous customers had left empty-handed.

At that moment, a burly middle-aged man hurried into the store from outside.

He looked to be over thirty. He wore tattered camouflage clothing and had an inverted-triangle build, his arms thicker than Zhang Ping's thighs. A rough, black greatsword was strapped to his back. One look was enough to tell that he was a seasoned veteran adventurer.

"Sorry, this shop isn't selling anything for the time being." He set the weapon on his back in a corner, then walked up to Zhang Ping and spoke.

When the old man saw the middle-aged man, he shouted unhappily, "Stinky Qiang, where did you take Dashan to fool around this time? Where's Dashan?"

"Uncle Liu, why did you open the store again? Didn't I tell you to wait at home? I'll find Dashan soon." The man nicknamed Stinky Qiang gave a bitter smile.

The old man struck Stinky Qiang on the head with his long-stemmed pipe and said resentfully, "All you know is how to fool around all day. Hurry up and tell Dashan to come home for dinner."

"Okay, Uncle Liu. I'll tell Dashan to come home for dinner later. Let's close the shop and go upstairs first," Stinky Qiang agreed repeatedly.

The old man struck Stinky Qiang on the head again with his pipe and said unhappily, "I'm staying here. What if an old customer comes by and can't find me?"

"Fine, fine, fine. We'll stay here. We won't go anywhere." Stinky Qiang smiled bitterly.

He was an experienced adventurer with a four-man team under his command. Over the past decade or so, he had saved up quite a bit, and even if he did not take on missions for several months, it would not affect his livelihood.

But his teammates all lived paycheck to paycheck. Once they stopped taking missions and lost their income, even getting by would become a problem.

Yet Uncle Liu was his closest relative. The two were as close as father and son!

Since his good brother Dashan had gone missing, Uncle Liu's mental state had worsened day by day. He was often dazed and confused. Stinky Qiang truly could not rest easy leaving Uncle Liu here alone.

At that moment, he noticed Zhang Ping preparing to leave. His eyes suddenly lit up as an idea surfaced in his mind.

Students and working adults differed greatly in temperament.

Anyone who could enter one of the three major organizations would definitely not come here to buy weapons, and those who had decided to become farmers would not come either. So was this student planning to become an adventurer?

"Little brother, wait." After thinking for a moment, he called out to Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping turned around and saw Stinky Qiang approaching. "What is it?"

"Let's talk." Stinky Qiang smiled ingratiatingly.

Zhang Ping hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Stinky Qiang did not seem to harbor any ill intent, he nodded in agreement.

The two walked outside the store. Stinky Qiang instinctively took out a cigarette and offered one to Zhang Ping, but Zhang Ping waved his hand to show that he did not smoke.

"Little brother, you should be graduating soon, right?" Stinky Qiang came to his senses, tucked the cigarette behind his ear, and continued.

Zhang Ping nodded. "Soon."

"What do you think of being a blacksmith?" Stinky Qiang asked cautiously.

Zhang Ping thought of the somewhat senile old man and immediately understood Stinky Qiang's intentions. He replied along the same lines, "Better than being a farmer."

"Yes, yes, yes. Better than being a farmer," Stinky Qiang immediately agreed.

It was not that they looked down on farmers.

Rather, farmers in Mingzhu City were completely different from the farmers of Zhang Ping's previous life.

Although Zhang Ping had often joked with Su Jingyao about farming, farmers did not merely farm. During the off-season, they had many additional tasks to complete.

For example, Mingzhu City had no sewers, nor did it dare to have any.

Therefore, people's daily waste, household garbage, and so on all had to be handled by specialized farmers.

Road repairs, patching city walls, raising livestock and poultry, and other work all required farmers to assist the Awakened.

In Zhang Ping's view, Mingzhu City's farmers were more like farmers in a real-time strategy game. Other than fighting, they had to do everything.

"Big brother, you mean..." Zhang Ping looked at Iron Soul, then turned an inquisitive gaze toward Stinky Qiang.

Seeing that Zhang Ping understood what he meant, Stinky Qiang said frankly, "I won't hide it from you. That's my uncle, an uncle closer to me than my own father. His son, my brother Dashan, went missing some time ago. Uncle Liu's a little muddled now, so I want to find someone to look after him and help watch the store.

"Of course, whenever I have time, I'll come over and teach you a thing or two about blacksmithing. I can't promise much else, but I can at least guarantee you'll become a qualified blacksmith. What do you think? Consider it?"

"Food and lodging included?" Zhang Ping asked after some thought.

Stinky Qiang answered, "Not only are food and lodging included, you'll also get a salary of 100 a month!"

"I'll think about it some more and give you an answer tomorrow. Is that okay?" Zhang Ping was tempted, but he also had concerns.

Could the missing Dashan have been eaten by a Heavenly Fox?

At school, because "Luo Shiyu" only ate girls and the other Heavenly Fox disguised as a teacher was rarely encountered, boys were actually safer on campus than outside it.

The main reason he was tempted was Luo Shiyu's morning room inspections.

They had left him feeling deeply unsafe in the dormitory.

"Sure, think it over carefully. Oh, you came to the store because you wanted a weapon that suited you, right? Consider this a gift between friends. The atmosphere in the city has been a little off lately, so watch yourself." As Stinky Qiang spoke, he stuffed a dagger into Zhang Ping's hand before turning and leaving.

After saying goodbye to Stinky Qiang, Zhang Ping left Iron Soul.

As he walked, he considered whether to accept the offer, and his gaze naturally fell on the dagger.

The blade was sheathed in a fish-skin scabbard. Unable to resist, he drew it and discovered that it was made from the same material as "Cold Maiden." The blade was snowy white and translucent, faintly radiating a chill.

What a gift.

Should he... accept?

The school was fairly safe, but that was hard to say now.

Zhang Ping did not want to entrust his life to the chaotic mind of a beast. What if Luo Shiyu suddenly got a strange idea and decided to change up her diet?

At that moment, Zhang Ping decided that he would agree to Stinky Qiang's offer tomorrow.

On the way back, Zhang Ping could not put the dagger down. Since it was made of the same material as the Cold Maiden Slim Blade and looked like a piece separated from it, Zhang Ping simply named the dagger "Beauty's Tear."

Unfortunately, Pearl Ability Academy did not teach students how to use daggers. Their weapons classes only covered sabers, swords, and bows; other weapons were outside the curriculum.

Fortunately, some saber techniques could also be used with a dagger.

As he walked back, he imagined himself fighting with Beauty's Tear. When he passed a park, he suddenly spotted a Heavenly Fox cub about one meter tall sitting on a swing!

[Appraisal successful]

[Mutated Beast: Heavenly Fox]

[Race: Mutated Fox]

[Potential: ????]

[Lifespan: 53]

[Rank: Beginner Mutated Beast]

[Level: 3]

[Talents]

[Cognitive Distortion: You possess a field that distorts the cognition of living beings and can alter a target's perception.]

[Conventionality Reversal: When performing actions that defy common sense, you can overturn the target's common sense, forcibly preventing them from noticing any abnormalities.]

This was a rather weak cub.

Zhang Ping slowly stepped forward, his heart growing restless.

Evidence!

This Heavenly Fox was the best possible evidence.

If he killed this Heavenly Fox and delivered its Corpse to the Investigation Team, perhaps things would take a turn.

The Investigation Team was different from the Patrol Team. The Patrol Team had thirteen squads, but every squad leader directly answered to the Patrol Team's chief commander.

The Investigation Team, however, centered around its captains. Many Investigation Teams did not even remain in Mingzhu City year-round, so there were certainly some teams that had not been infiltrated by the Heavenly Foxes.

Once the Investigation Team obtained a Heavenly Fox's Corpse, they would surely immediately deduce Mingzhu City's current situation. Mingzhu City might yet be saved.

"Let's do it!"

The more Zhang Ping thought about it, the more tempted he became.

He truly could no longer endure girls being murdered in the cafeteria every few days, nor could he endure seeing Heavenly Foxes eating people even while walking down the streets.

Especially when he had to pretend he saw nothing.

He turned back, one hand resting on the dagger's hilt.

In truth, there was another reason he had decided to act: he had just obtained Beauty's Tear. Without it in hand, he might not have been able to muster the courage to act.

This was what they meant by carrying a sharp weapon and giving rise to murderous intent.

But just as he reached a corner of the park, a hand pressed down on his shoulder. Before he could fight back, a woman's voice sounded beside his ear. "Don't move."

He felt a wave of coldness coming from behind him.

Ice spikes!

The other party was an Awakened with ice-element control.

Zhang Ping's restless heart swiftly calmed down. First, the other party was not a Heavenly Fox. Second, he did not sense any killing intent. If she was the Heavenly Fox cub's bodyguard, her emotions were not quite right.

"Don't turn around. Don't speak. Take this and leave." After speaking calmly, the woman slipped a note into Zhang Ping's hand.

Suddenly, the chill behind him vanished.

He did not turn around to look. Instead, he pretended to have dropped something, searched for a while, then left decisively.

"That woman's Level is probably far higher than mine, or she couldn't possibly have discovered me," he guessed as he walked.

It was nighttime. With the Nightwalker talent and the Assassination Ring's ability, there were very few people who could detect him. For that woman to lock onto him so precisely, she had to be much stronger than him.

Of course, it was also possible that she had a teammate with some kind of ability to see through concealment who had tipped her off.

Either way, the other party had most likely noticed the Heavenly Fox infiltration.

Could she, or her group, be the ones hiring killers to hunt beasts?

Zhang Ping muttered to himself. He did not hurry to read the note she had left him. Once he returned to the dormitory, he simply went to rest.

The next day.

Four in the morning.

Zhang Ping opened his eyes, got out of bed, quietly entered the bathroom, and sat on the closed toilet lid.

He took the note out of his pocket and slowly unfolded it.

The note read: "23, martial training, southern moon."

Zhang Ping frowned. A moment later, he had some idea of what it meant. It was currently the nineteenth, and the twenty-third was four days away.

In other words, did she mean they should meet at a place called "martial training" in five days?

But that raised another question. What kind of place was martial training?

Zhang Ping racked his brains until his head gradually began to ache.

He understood that this code was probably meant to guard against the Heavenly Foxes.

If he fell into the Heavenly Foxes' hands, the information on the note would at least not implicate the other party.

If he considered it from that perspective, then martial training had to refer to somewhere the Heavenly Foxes could not understand.

Heavenly Foxes were intelligent. They knew how to think and could even put on an act, but Mutated Beasts were still Mutated Beasts. Their way of thinking was definitely different.

The problem was that Zhang Ping had not been in this world for very long. Even though he had inherited the original owner's memories, he still could not figure out what "martial training" and "southern moon" meant.