Treasure Map

Hunter Gao's home had a total of three rooms: the main hall, bedroom, and kitchen.

Zhang Yuan had served Hunter Gao for more than three years, and the places he knew best were the main hall and kitchen.

Hunter Gao had never allowed him into his bedroom alone.

Zhang Yuan had always suspected that the man was hiding some kind of secret, but he had never revealed the slightest clue.

Now, he could do whatever he pleased!

Yet after thoroughly searching the room, tapping the walls and floor with his Firewood Knife, rummaging through every chest and cabinet, and even prying up the bedboards—

He found only a wooden box containing money.

One Ten Taels Silver Note, three or four taels of loose silver, and several hundred copper coins—that was all he gained!

Zhang Yuan felt a little frustrated, so he searched Hunter Gao's corpse as well.

There was nothing on it either.

Forget it!

Disappointed, Zhang Yuan pieced the corpse back together and offered it up as a sacrifice.

Under the power of the Divine Nest, the body that had been severed into three sections swiftly decayed.

"Hmm?"

Zhang Yuan suddenly noticed something was wrong.

A large patch of skin on Hunter Gao's chest had not been affected at all!

When the sacrifice ended, a half-foot-square piece of human skin lay atop the blackened ashes, strikingly conspicuous.

Zhang Yuan bent down and grabbed it.

The human skin was tough in texture, and there was nothing unusual visible on its front.

But when he turned it over, a map was tattooed onto the back!

A Treasure Map?

Zhang Yuan's eyes immediately lit up.

The map tattooed on the human skin was drawn in great detail, complete with written annotations.

It depicted Thousand Peak Mountain!

Zhang Yuan could not help sinking into thought.

He remembered that Hunter Gao had settled in Chen Family Village five years ago.

At that time, Zhang Yuan had only just begun awakening the memories of his past life.

Hunter Gao had also been an outsider, with no relatives in the village. He had lived apart from everyone else and was exceptionally withdrawn.

Now that Zhang Yuan thought about it, the man had come from the Military Camp and claimed to have retired because of his injuries, yet he had not returned to his hometown to live out his remaining years.

Clearly, he had come for the treasure hidden within Thousand Peak Mountain!

The problem was that the depths of the mountains were haunted by Spirits, while Hunter Gao had lost the use of one leg. All he could do was clutch the Treasure Map and sigh at the mountain.

He had probably spent nearly all his savings over the past few years, which was why he agreed to Chen Yuanwai's invitation.

To become an instructor for the Chen Family's younger generation.

Then he had tried to use Zhang Yuan as a gift to curry favor with his newly accepted disciple.

And had ended up like this.

Was it fate? Was it destiny?

After scheming and calculating every last detail, he had merely made a wedding dress for another!

Woof! Woof!

Da Hu's barking from outside brought Zhang Yuan back to his senses.

He quickly tucked the Treasure Map into his clothes, picked up his Firewood Knife, and went outside to check.

The night was deep, and the wind and rain had yet to subside.

Zhang Yuan soothed the restless Da Hu, then carried a large pile of dry firewood from the kitchen and tossed it into the bedroom.

Next, he brought over a jar of oil and splashed it around every corner of the room.

Finally, he set it alight!

Hunter Gao's room bore far too many traces of battle, with blood splattered everywhere.

For the sake of safety, it was best to burn it all clean.

Watching the flames rise and swallow the entire bedroom,

Zhang Yuan patted the Big Yellow Dog on the head. "Da Hu, you're free."

He truly liked this mountain guard dog. After all, he had raised it with his own hands, and they shared a deep bond.

But taking Da Hu home now was clearly unsuitable.

With that, Zhang Yuan turned and left, swiftly disappearing into the wind and rain.

Da Hu followed him out of the courtyard, then stopped and looked back at the house engulfed in flames.

The mountain guard dog wagged its tail, a low whimper rumbling from its throat.

Braving the downpour, Zhang Yuan hurried all the way home and returned to his own room without alerting anyone.

He changed out of his soaked clothes.

Then he took the money box hidden beneath his bed and placed the banknote and silver he had taken that night inside.

Originally, Zhang Yuan had intended to store the Treasure Map there as well.

But upon reflection, he felt it was inappropriate.

The origins of this item were unknown. If someone discovered it by accident, it would surely bring a fatal disaster upon him!

He recalled Hunter Gao's method, so he took a rag and wiped the Human-Skin Treasure Map clean.

Then he tried pressing it against his chest.

What Zhang Yuan never expected was that, without any glue at all, the Treasure Map adhered tightly to his chest, and he felt no discomfort whatsoever.

It was as though it were part of his body.

Even more miraculous, after a moment, the surface of the Human-Skin Treasure Map began to change color and blend into the surrounding skin.

There was not the slightest flaw to be seen!

Startled, Zhang Yuan had to claw at it hard before he could tear it off.

After sticking it back on, it returned to its original state.

This was absolutely a treasure!

Zhang Yuan had never seen anything so miraculous before. He had not even heard of such a thing.

Had he not sacrificed Hunter Gao's corpse, he never would have obtained this strange Human-Skin Treasure Map.

This world was clearly far more extraordinary than Zhang Yuan had imagined!

But even though he had obtained the Treasure Map, Zhang Yuan, like Hunter Gao, did not dare venture deep into Thousand Peak Mountain in search of treasure.

He was merely the lowest-ranked martial artist who had just entered the Force stage. How could he possibly deal with the Spirits lurking in the depths of the mountains?

His previous encounter with the Crow Spirit had ended safely only because he had been lucky.

Zhang Yuan did not dare gamble on his luck again!

Thus, he could only keep the Treasure Map hidden on his body for the time being.

By then, the night had grown very late, and the wind and rain outside were gradually calming.

But Zhang Yuan did not feel sleepy in the slightest.

He opened the Divine Nest Panel.

To his surprise, sacrificing Hunter Gao's corpse had only earned him 1.5 points of Source Essence!

It was far less than what Sun Bodyguard had given him.

Hunter Gao had certainly been stronger than Sun Bodyguard.

Was it because Hunter Gao had been disabled, or because his body had been chopped into three pieces?

Zhang Yuan did not know the answer for now and could only wait to find it in the future.

After some thought, he invested all of his Source Essence into his second host—the Jade Mantis!

The evolution progress of his first host, the Black Giant Ant, was currently stuck at 18%, and all the Source Essence he had previously invested had already been exhausted.

But the fourfold strength boost granted by the level 2 Black Giant Ant was already more than enough for Zhang Yuan, who had just become a martial artist.

In fact, it was already the limit of what he could bear.

Therefore, upgrading the Jade Mantis was more reasonable.

What disappointed Zhang Yuan was that he had not found any manuals for fist techniques or blade techniques at Hunter Gao's home.

Hunter Gao had mastered powerful Martial Skills, yet he had never taught Zhang Yuan even a single move!

The next day, Zhang Yuan was awakened from his sleep by the sound of a bronze gong outside.

When the bronze gong rang, disaster had arrived.

The village had struck the gong once before, and the appearance of the Spirit-collision incident had briefly thrown everyone into panic.

Who would have thought that something would happen again after only a few days?

Zhang Yuan knew exactly what had happened. Without panicking, he got up and dressed.

Then he left with the other villagers and headed to Hunter Gao's home at the edge of Chen Family Village.

Only a patch of charred ruins remained of Hunter Gao's house, and many people had already gathered around it.

Among them were several members of Chen Yuanwai's household, as well as the Weasel-faced Advisor and the servants.

Their expressions were all extremely grim!