Chapter 16: Change of Fortune

"Lead the way. If we can leave this forest safely, I promise I won't kill you."

Cang Cang Yin Yue flipped onto the mule, gesturing to Yu Changlu, whose arms hung limp, to walk ahead on the mountain path.

Yu Changlu offered no resistance, immediately shuffling forward with his arms swinging.

He knew he had no choice; under these circumstances, only submission could buy him time until the Alliance's masters arrived to rescue him.

So as long as Cang Cang Yin Yue didn't kill him, he'd do anything she asked.

Li Musheng watched it all, said nothing, slapped the mule's back, and let it follow slowly.

He had no need to confront Cang Cang Yin Yue's misunderstanding by punching her face, shattering the land into rubble, and making her wide Karaz eyes stare in awe at the true might of a Wu Gong peak.

Unnecessary. He had long passed the age of seeking dominance or proving himself.

All he wanted now was to wander the world, seeking the chance to transcend martial arts—and Shangyang City of Da Li was his first stop.

…

The long stretch that followed was quiet, with no more Yuxue Alliance members encountered, nor any traces of battle along the way.

Yet Yu Changlu's expression grew increasingly unnatural.

Ever since the bald giant sent the signal, he had rushed with his men to ambush the nearby mountain path.

But Mengshan and Yuan Mei were too formidable; despite losing several men, he failed to stop them—and they escaped.

And since he lacked lightness skills, he had no choice but to stay behind and guard the path.

Logically, by now, the Yuxue Alliance's masters should have seen the signal and arrived, just as he had.

Yet throughout this journey, he hadn't seen a single Yuxue Alliance master—or even a lowly recruit.

"Could it be that something's happened within the Alliance? That the Yinshan Gate and Yanjiu City crowd have attacked?"

Yu Changlu trudged along the uneven mountain path, frowning deeply in thought.

He didn't notice a blood-drenched hand suddenly shoot out from the waist-high weeds beside the path and clamp onto his ankle.

Instantly, Yu Changlu's eyelid twitched; though his tendons had been severed and his martial power reduced to less than one-tenth, he wasn't utterly panicked.

He stomped hard, shaking off the grasping hand, then sidestepped sharply, exploding power from a single leg to kick violently into the brush.

Boom!

With a muffled crack of snapping bones, a figure flew out from Yu Changlu's kick, tumbling through the air several times before rolling onto the mountain path.

At this point, Yu Changlu clearly saw the figure's face—and froze.

He realized the hand that grabbed him belonged to the bald giant.

Yu Changlu had just seen the man moments ago; the giant had been chasing Mengshan and the others—so why was he hiding in these weeds?

"What happened?"

Yu Changlu rushed forward with his swinging arms, but found the bald giant, after being kicked, was barely breathing—on the verge of death.

At that moment, Cang Cang Yin Yue spurred her horse forward, frowning as she scanned the dying man on the ground.

His condition was horrific: both eyes gouged out, blood streaming from all seven orifices, his skin a strange, unnatural bluish-black—clearly poisoned.

"Tell me—who did this to you?"

Yu Changlu leaned close, urgently questioning, but the bald giant could only struggle to open his mouth, then died without a word, legs stiffening.

"If you hadn't kicked him, he might have spoken a few words."

Cang Cang Yin Yue shook her head, her expression thoughtful:

"Judging by the martial style, he was wounded by a sinister claw technique. Doesn't look like their work—but then again, someone might have secretly mastered such a skill."

She had observed Mengshan and Yuan Mei's fighting styles before, so she knew them well.

Though the bald giant's condition didn't seem like their doing, she couldn't rule it out entirely.

Beside her, Li Musheng stared at the bald giant's corpse, lost in thought—but said nothing. He turned to Yu Changlu and smiled:

"Let's keep moving. If you encounter something like this again, remember to be gentler—leave your own men alive."

Hearing this, Yu Changlu's face flushed and paled in turns, but he dared not reply, merely abandoned the bald giant's body and continued along the path.

The road ahead made Yu Changlu's face grow darker and more terrified.

Every short stretch of the mountain path revealed several corpses.

Each corpse was gruesomely slain—eyes gouged, hearts torn out, all seven orifices bleeding, poisoned.

And without exception, all the dead were from the Yuxue Alliance; besides common disciples, several sect masters of Xiantian level had been killed.

"It must be those scum from Yinshan Gate—their martial arts are the most cruel and venomous!"

Yu Changlu's face darkened like a storm, fear slowly creeping in.

Given this situation, he realized the Alliance's reinforcements would never arrive.

Masters stronger than him died so pitifully—what chance did he, in his current state, have against Yinshan Gate? He'd die worse.

"Young master, Miss, you've seen the situation now. If we keep going, we'll surely meet those scum."

Yu Changlu suddenly stopped halfway, pleading desperately to Li Musheng and Cang Cang Yin Yue:

"Let's turn back now while we still can—I swear on my life, I'll get you both safely out of Chongzhou by another route."

At this, Cang Cang Yin Yue's expression also darkened; for the first time, doubt flickered in her eyes.

She had seen everything along the way.

And she saw deeper than Yu Changlu—clearer about what was truly wrong.

She realized these Yuxue Alliance dead were not killed by an enemy faction.

There was only one killer—throughout.

In Cang Cang Yin Yue's view, this killer was not only brutal, but his martial power was far stronger than hers.

More importantly, he was exceptionally skilled in poison techniques.

Whether facing Xiantian masters or common disciples, he always used poison—without exception.

Cang Yin Yue attempted to examine the poison on the corpse and discovered that this person was not only killing, but also cultivating a poison technique.

The later the victims were killed, the stronger the poison on their corpses became, which also indicated from the side that that person's poison technique was constantly growing stronger.

(End of this chapter)