Chapter 196: Die Already!

The next morning.

Chen Mu and Lu Ziyi packed lightly and set off again.

Before leaving, Chen Mu glanced at the inn's Shopkeeper and the other guests who had come to see them off, and said solemnly, "All of you, this place is no longer safe—best leave as soon as possible, to avoid Zhang family retaliation."

"Yes, yes."

The Shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, his face still pale with fear. "Thank you, young master, for the warning. I'll pack up today and close the inn, going to stay with relatives."

"If the young master hadn't mentioned it, I'd have forgotten."

"The Zhang family lost face big time—they won't let this go!"

"We're leaving right now."

"..."

The other guests suddenly realized, nodding in unison; after last night's life-or-death ordeal, none dared stay another moment.

Zhang Yongnian stepped forward with his daughter, bowing deeply once more. "Your grace, Master, I, Yongnian, will never forget your kindness! We're leaving this land at once, changing our names, never again to trouble you."

Chen Mu waved his hand, saying nothing more.

Amid the grateful gazes of all, Chen Mu and Lu Ziyi mounted their horses; the cold beauty followed suit. Hooves clattered as they departed from this place of turmoil.

The trio rode swiftly down the mountain path.

Suddenly...

【Body detected. Retrieve?】

"Yes!"

The card appeared in his hand. Chen Mu scanned his surroundings.

Soon, as the trio reached a secluded bend, Lu Ziyi's sharp eyes caught sight of something, and she let out a soft "Hm?"

There, in the ditch beside the path, lay Zhang Li's corpse—face ashen, multiple fatal wounds, blood long dried.

Chen Mu pulled the reins, studying the body and the chaotic traces around it. After a moment's thought, he said, "Zhang Li was stabbed from behind—ambushed. The footprints suggest it was his own men. Interesting."

The cold beauty glanced once, then fell silent, as if such betrayal and regicide were nothing surprising.

Lu Ziyi's lips curled slightly, a sardonic smile touching her face. "Their cultivation was stripped. Even if they returned to the Zhang family, they'd be useless. Their fate wouldn't be better than death. Better to kill Zhang Li—frame Nie Renqiu, drag the Zhang family into conflict with that 'Blood Shadow Knife Madman,' and slip away quietly under cover of chaos. Maybe even survive. A very clever plan."

Chen Mu said nothing in response, lightly nudging his horse's flank, speaking calmly.

"Let's go."

The trio pressed on without delay, spurring their horses forward.

Behind them, Zhang Li's cold corpse was soon left behind, swallowed by the winding mountain path.

About half a day after Chen Mu's trio departed, at dusk, hurried, chaotic hoofbeats shattered the mountain path's silence.

Dozens of tall horses surged forward like a storm, led by a middle-aged man with a sinister face and piercing eyes—Zhang Kaixin, a powerful figure of the Guangnan Zhang family, Zhang Li's father.

Zhang Li had been gone three days without returning. Zhang Kaixin had immediately led men to search for him, yet a quiet unease stirred in his chest.

Along the way, he found no sign of trouble.

Until, by chance, he glanced at the ditch beside the path—and saw Zhang Li's corpse. His pupils shrank sharply!

"Li'er!"

Zhang Kaixin leapt from his horse, stumbling forward to the body. After checking it, his face turned ashen, his body trembling, uncontainable killing intent radiating outward—horses around him neighed in panic.

"Who?! Who killed my son?! I, Zhang Kaixin, swear by heaven—I will tear you apart limb by limb, exterminate your entire clan!"

Zhang Kaixin roared to the sky, his voice shaking the forest.

The echo of his fury reverberated through the trees.

Long silence.

Zhang Kaixin forced down his rage, ordered his men to collect Zhang Li's body, and, burning with vengeance, headed straight for the inn halfway up the mountain.

But when he arrived, he found the inn's gate tightly shut, the front deserted—empty of all people.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Kaixin, enraged, smashed the hitching stone at the inn's entrance with one palm—stones shattered and flew.

He roared his order: "Search everywhere! Even if you dig down three feet, find every person who stayed here last night!"

"Yes!"

Zhang family men scattered immediately, like hunting hounds scouring the surrounding woods for traces.

But the guests had been gone half a day—finding them wouldn't be easy.

Only on the third afternoon did a subordinate rush to report: they'd found the inn's Shopkeeper in Wulong Fucheng, the capital of Guangyang Prefecture.

The trouble was—the Shopkeeper had taken refuge with his brother-in-law, a Judicial Commissioner in the Guangyang Prefectural Office, and now lived inside the Commissioner's residence.

Zhang Kaixin's face darkened as he arrived outside the Commissioner's mansion with a few men.

Though furious, he dared not act violently against a relative of an imperial court official within Wulong Fucheng.

Helpless, he prepared lavish gifts, bowed low, and offered a large sum of "compensation"—only then was he granted an audience with the terrified Shopkeeper.

Under the Commissioner's cold gaze, Zhang Kaixin forced a smile and asked softly, "Ye Shopkeeper, who was it that intervened that night? Who killed my son Zhang Li? Tell me the truth."

"Say it." The Commissioner glanced at the Shopkeeper.

"Cough, cough~"

With his relative's backing and the compensation paid, the Shopkeeper felt slightly reassured. Recalling that night, he still trembled inwardly. He cleared his throat twice and said, "A young master named Nie Renqiu intervened, driving off Master Zhang... er, Zhang Li and his men. But when Zhang Li left the inn, his cultivation was stripped, yet he was alive and well!"

"Then how did he die out there? Who killed him?"

As he spoke, the Shopkeeper widened his eyes, full of shock and doubt.

"Nie Renqiu? Zhang Li was alive when he left the inn?"

Hearing this, Zhang Kaixin froze for a moment, then connected the dots—the wounds on Zhang Li's corpse, the missing men—and instantly understood. His expression shifted wildly.

After a moment of silence, he was just about to clasp his fists and take his leave.

The tongpan, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, now spoke slowly, his tone carrying a note of warning. "Steward Zhang, this Nie Renchou—if this official remembers correctly, his sobriquet is 'Blood Shadow Blade Madman,' a demonic prodigy who was on the Hidden Dragon Ranking. Although he dropped off in the most recent New Issue/Phase, that should be because he exceeded the age limit."

"This Nie Renchou is bloodthirsty and brutal, and behind him stands the Xuemo Sect. Without solid evidence, your esteemed clan would still be better off… being cautious."

"A member of the Xuemo Sect? 'Blood Shadow Blade Madman' Nie Renchou?!"

Zhang Kaixin was struck as if by lightning, dumbfounded on the spot, his mouth hanging wide open, unable to squeeze out a single word for the longest time.

The fury in his chest and his thoughts of revenge, as if doused from head to toe by a basin of ice water, were instantly snuffed out, leaving only a bone-piercing chill and an incredulous terror.

A prodigy of the Hidden Dragon, a member of the Mo Sect!

What manner of existence is the Xuemo Sect?

For such a power to pinch their Zhang clan of Guangnan to death would probably take no more effort than pinching an ant to death!

Still thinking of avenging this grudge?

That's practically seeking death!

Although the one who struck might have been impersonating Nie Renchou…

But Zhang Kaixin, having now calmed down, did not dare to gamble!

Knowing full well that Zhang Li came from the Zhang clan of Guangnan, he still struck and crippled Zhang Li and the others.

It showed the other party was not afraid in the slightest!

Even if this person is not Nie Renchou himself, he is still an existence on the same level as Nie Renchou—at the very least, not afraid of Nie Renchou making trouble for him!

Zhang Kaixin's thoughts churned, his heart a sheet of icy cold, and in the end, it dissolved into a single helpless sigh…