Chapter 65: Brushing Shoulders with the Grim Reaper

In the middle of the night, while sleeping soundly, a loud "thud" echoed through the courtyard.

Chen Guanlou jolted awake, grabbed the broadsword from beside his bed, took down the bundle from the rafters, and only then carefully opened the door to step out of the bedroom.

"Who's there?"

He barked in a low voice, but no one responded.

By the dim moonlight, he saw a lump in the courtyard that looked like a person.

He walked forward slowly. "Who is skulking about in the middle of the night?"

He demanded an answer while remaining cautiously on guard.

He poked the person on the ground with his scabbard; there was no movement. Could they be dead?

To prevent a feigned death, he used his scabbard to flip the person over. Huh, it was an acquaintance—the swordsman from the martial arts guild. He lay on the ground, stained with blood, unconscious.

Confirming the person wasn't dead yet, he moved them under the eaves.

Just as he stood up, he lunged toward the wall, barely dodging a hidden weapon that glinted with an eerie light.

Poison!

The hidden weapon was poisoned!

This was aimed at killing him.

In a single exchange, his broadsword was out of its sheath. The familiar ghost-head mask—people from the Ghost Domain Sect.

A Third-Rank martial artist!

Two rounds, three rounds...

The "Ascension Record" blade techniques were etched into his heart; the blade's edge was as dense as a woven net, and medicinal powder scattered along with it.

Thud!

The Ghost Domain Sect Third-Rank martial artist lay flat on the ground.

This was the first official use of the top-tier anesthetic formula the flower-plucking thief had gifted him. The effect was stunningly excellent. If the flower-plucking thief had a spirit in heaven and saw his anesthetic being put to good use, he would surely feel comforted and could drink Meng Po's soup without any lingering regrets, hoping for a good rebirth in the next life.

He poked the opponent's kidney with the tip of his blade, but there was no reaction. They were truly out cold.

After confirming it was safe, Chen Guanlou boldly stepped forward and plunged his blade directly into the opponent's heart, twisting it. Only after confirming the opponent was thoroughly dead did he reach out to remove the mask.

A plain, unremarkable face—the kind you'd forget the moment you saw it in a crowd, drawing no attention.

Never seen it! A total stranger!

Search the body!

A dozen or so taels of loose silver, and aside from that, just a sharp sword and a poisoned hidden weapon.

This was his first serious time killing someone, yet Chen Guanlou felt no discomfort, no nausea, no urge to vomit. Perhaps it was because he had spent so long in the Heavenly Prison; he was quite accustomed to the smell of blood.

Silently, he took a shovel and hoe from behind the back wall, dug a pit along the wall's base, and made it deep enough. He tossed the thoroughly dead Ghost Domain Sect Third-Rank martial artist into the pit.

He only took the silver.

The mask, the sharp sword, and the poisoned hidden weapon were all tossed into the pit along with the corpse. He filled it in, stomped the soil flat, and made it look as much like the surrounding area as possible. Still uneasy, he placed a pile of straw on top, followed by a bamboo chicken coop for cover.

Tomorrow, he would plant a peach tree there; it would surely grow lush and vibrant.

After finishing all this, he sat upright in his chair, gently wiping his broadsword with a soft cotton cloth. The broadsword, custom-made by the old blacksmith, was sharp, handy, and easy to use. He hadn't given the broadsword a name, but he truly treated it like a treasure, practicing his blade techniques every single day.

If it weren't so eye-catching, he would have wanted to carry this broadsword to work every day.

His movements as he wiped the blade were gentle, as tender as if he were caressing a woman's body, missing no detail.

Only then did he begin to savor the feeling of crossing blades with a Third-Rank martial artist. It was profound, exciting, and stimulating; he wanted to do it again.

Under the sharp sword of a Third-Rank martial artist, he had actually lasted five rounds.

Moreover, he was certain that the claim that Duan Tianlin had the strength of a Third-Rank martial artist was exaggerated.

The Third-Rank martial artist just now was far stronger than Duan Tianlin. Far beyond him.

Perhaps it was because Duan Tianlin's limbs were bound by iron chains, preventing him from unleashing his full strength, which led to the exaggeration.

Did five rounds mean he could already challenge a Second-Rank martial artist?

He looked at the swordsman on the wooden couch—a ready-made Second-Rank martial artist who had been chased until his eyes were red with rage and had actually run to his home to hide from disaster. If he hadn't been vigilant enough, often imagining scenes of being ambushed in his daily life, keeping the anesthetic within reach, and reacting quickly enough, tonight would have been his funeral.

That he could escape alive from the hands of a Third-Rank martial artist had to be attributed largely to luck; his strength had a little to do with it, but only a little.

If he had failed in even one of those links, he would be dead.

For instance, if he hadn't kept the anesthetic on his person, or if he had lacked even a bit of vigilance...

Thinking about it now, he felt a deep sense of lingering fear.

Tonight, he had brushed shoulders with the Grim Reaper.

Even with the Longevity Dao Fruit, if his head were gone, not even that could save him.

The swordsman had a tenacious life force and woke up around noon.

As soon as he woke, he saw Chen Guanlou sitting in a chair, holding a book and reading.

"So it was Chen Tou who saved me. Many thanks!"

Chen Guanlou put down the book and stared at the other man.

He had considered whether to slaughter the swordsman; he had already dug the pit, and burying one was the same as burying two.

In the end, he decided to spare the swordsman's life. Last night, the man had been completely unconscious; even when he poked him with a knife, there was no reaction. Clearly, he didn't know what had happened afterward. He himself was in no danger of being exposed.

"You're awake! Now that you're awake, leave. This isn't a sanctuary; don't come back next time."

"Last night..." The swordsman was a bit puzzled and hesitant. "I've caused you trouble. Nothing happened, did it?"

"In the middle of the night, a person suddenly falls into my courtyard—that is the biggest thing that could happen."

The swordsman looked uncharacteristically embarrassed.

This time, Chen Guanlou finally saw the man's appearance clearly. He was quite young; why bother dressing up like a weathered uncle? Dressing so old all the time wouldn't attract any young ladies.

The swordsman struggled to sit up from the wooden couch, gasping in pain.

Chen Guanlou had only cleaned his wounds and applied some hemostatic medicine; he hadn't bothered with anything else.

Now that he moved, the wounds burst open, bleeding again.

The swordsman gritted his teeth against the sharp pain. "Many thanks for your help, Chen Tou. I will surely repay you in the future. My surname is Qi."

It was the first time the two had exchanged names.

Chen Guanlou cupped his hands in a formal greeting and poured the man a cup of hot water.

With the hot water down his throat, the swordsman surnamed Qi seemed to come back to life, a bit of color returning to his face.

"I will leave now."

"The carriage should be here. I'll see you out. I called a carriage for you; just tell the driver where you want to go," Chen Guanlou explained.

He didn't ask why the man had run to his house, why he had brought danger with him, or what kind of grudge he had with the Ghost Domain Sect.

Like a heartless robot, he maintained a cold attitude throughout, finally sending the swordsman out of his house and shaking off this heavy burden.

Sitting in the carriage and gasping in pain, the swordsman could only offer a bitter smile. Last night, he had indeed been desperate; at the moment of life and death, he had actually chosen the Chen residence instead of a safer, more certain place. Thank heavens the Ghost Domain Sect's killing star hadn't caught up. Otherwise, he would have truly implicated Chen Guanlou and died an unjust death.

He secretly made up his mind: once his wounds healed and he finished the business at hand, if he were still alive, he would definitely repay Chen Guanlou's life-saving grace.

It was just that the man surnamed Chen had been very rough and impatient with his life-saving, applying medicine but refusing to bandage his wounds. ===== CHAPTER 66 =====