Two days later, their days off ended.
In the morning, Instructor Huang announced a somber piece of news in the lecture hall.
Zeng Yingcai, a disciple of their courtyard, had gone missing on the northern mountain the afternoon before last, and there had been no news of him since.
The disciples fell dead silent before letting out quiet gasps.
They basically knew what going missing on the northern mountain meant—being captured by bandits.
There was only a small probability that he had gotten lost or been eaten by wild beasts.
But combined with the recent rumors, the latter was highly unlikely.
The disciples discussed in hushed tones. Quite a few of them wore relieved expressions, boasting to those around them about how they had also almost gone up the northern mountain.
In the back row near the window, Zhuang Xun sighed with emotion.
Sigh, I already said it was dangerous, but you just wouldn't listen. Well, have fun mining then.
Afterward, Instructor Huang solemnly emphasized once more that they must not go up the mountain in the near future and should not believe any rumors about making a fortune there, before finally letting the disciples head to the martial arts field to train.
However, this incident had a significant impact on the disciples.
They were out of it during the entire morning of training, and as soon as Huang Wei left, they gathered to discuss the matter again.
Zhuang Xun treated it as a minor interlude, diligently honing his strength and only stopping as noon approached.
He first went to the bathhouse to rinse off, changed into a set of clean clothes, and then prepared to head to the dining hall.
However, the moment he stepped through the doors of the dining hall, he heard Zhang Tie's loud, clanging voice.
“Haha, damn right! You all should thank my brother Pingsheng. If he hadn't warned you, you would've all ended up trapped on the mountain.”
“Yes, yes. It's indeed thanks to Brother Yan's warning a few days ago. I still feel a wave of lingering fear just thinking about it... Sigh, it's a pity I couldn't convince Yingcai to stay back then.”
“Is he that brother who's been getting sturdier and sturdier lately? The news about bandits on the northern mountain came from him?”
“Who else could it be but my brother Pingsheng? Only he has the capability to get this kind of news. Since you all received a favor from my brother, shouldn't you show some appreciation?”
“Then I'll host a dinner tonight at the Wanfu Restaurant outside the martial academy. Brother Zhang, you must invite Brother Pingsheng over!”
“Don't worry, leave it to me!”
Damn it, that big mouth Zhang Tie, why did he have to bring me up out of nowhere... Zhuang Xun felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him from head to toe. Before that group of people could spot him, he quickly turned around and left.
Suddenly, he remembered that someone was suspected to be fishing behind this whole affair.
If the mastermind heard Zhang Tie and the others' conversation, would they target him because of it?
Ah, I'm overthinking things. How could the mastermind happen to hear this? And these words won't spread very far, unless the mastermind happens to be right here...
“Senior brothers, please excuse my intrusion, but who is this Yan Pingsheng you're talking about?”
“Oh, it's like this. A few days ago, I also gave up on the idea of going up the mountain after hearing someone talk about bandits. Today, hearing that a senior brother has gone missing on the mountain, I truly feel terrified in hindsight... So I came specifically to look for the person who spread this news, wanting to express my gratitude...”
Zhuang Xun halted his steps. He turned his head and looked at the youth who was asking Zhang Tie for information with a warm smile on his face, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He firmly memorized the youth's appearance and continued walking outside.
——Character Creation Panel——
[Creating Character 3...]
[Name: ]
[Age: 0–100 years old (To be selected)]
[Realm: One stone of strength / Eighth Rank (+)]
[Skeletal Structure: 50/100 (+)]
[Comprehension: 50/100 (+)]
[Charm: (To be customized)]
【Current Points: 33】
...
Late at night, everything was silent.
Behind the Sparse Bamboo Residence, in a deep bamboo forest, a youth held onto the bamboo stalks as he made his way through the dark.
He looked sneaky, glancing around from time to time. He walked until he reached a sparse clearing in the bamboo forest, stopping behind a large, moss-covered rock.
The moonlight was like salt, filtering through the bamboo leaves to cast mottled spots, adding a touch of brightness to the place.
The youth scanned his surroundings once more, then placed two fingers in his mouth and blew a clear, melodious whistle.
A few breaths later, the sound of fluttering wings came from the sky.
A gyrfalcon flew out from the bamboo leaves, landing on the youth's outstretched arm.
The youth removed the note tied to the gyrfalcon's leg, squatted behind the rock, and unfolded it to read by the moonlight.
Written on it was: My son, the headcount for this month is insufficient, and the lords above are somewhat dissatisfied. Get more people to go up the mountain as soon as possible.
The youth took out a charcoal pen from his breast pocket and, using the green stone as a desk, wrote:
Father, currently, the instructors of all the courtyards have issued warnings. It is too difficult to lure more people up the mountain. I can only say I will do my best.
He thought of that sturdily built, ordinary-looking youth and grit his teeth slightly as he wrote:
My plan was ruined by someone. That fellow is named Yan Pingsheng, and he is truly detestable. Father, please investigate his background. If he is from an ordinary family, I will find an opportunity to lure him out, and then you can have someone abduct him to temporarily fill the vacancy in the mine.
After writing, the youth tied the note back onto the gyrfalcon's leg, watched it fly into the sky, and quickly turned to leave.
However, just as the gyrfalcon was about to fly out of the bamboo forest, with a swoosh, an arrow shot from a bow pierced its chest.
The gyrfalcon immediately stopped fluttering, falling headfirst straight onto the muddy ground.
From the shadows behind the bamboo, a man dressed as a down-and-out bladesman walked out.
He wore a bamboo hat, its brim pressed extremely low, revealing only a thin cheek, a high-bridged nose, and a faint stubble on his chin.
The Debt-Lending Bladesman—Zhuang Xun's black-glove clone.
Usually, when doing dirty and exhausting work, Zhuang Xun would temporarily create him.
Having become suspicious of that youth at noon, Zhuang Xun did not leave anything to chance. He immediately gave up half a day of Bai Yujing's cultivation and split off a portion of his mind specifically to tail him. He hadn't expected... that he would actually discover a problem.
He squatted down, retrieved the arrow and the note from the gyrfalcon, and as he stood up, he lifted his boot and ground the bird into the dirt.
After reading the note, he took out a fire striker from his breast pocket to light it on fire. Then, he drew his bow and notched an arrow, aiming at the black dot a thousand meters away.
Your handwriting is quite nice, but unfortunately... it can only serve as your suicide note.
Goodbye~ stranger who wanted to ask me out to play before we even met.
The flames licked upward along the paper, the falling firelight illuminating the young man's smiling yet cold-blooded eyes.
With the bowstring drawn and ready to release, he closed one eye.
Whoosh—!
The world suddenly fell dead silent.
The bamboo forest in his vision rapidly receded, and the black dot-like figure expanded swiftly, its movements becoming slower and slower.
Spiritual Sight—an ability Zhuang Xun had comprehended when Bai Yujing became a martial artist.
This ability would be automatically comprehended by practitioners of the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method when they reached the Middle Three Ranks, but it was not exclusive to them. Rather, it was a martial arts technique that anyone could learn and master—unifying the five senses with the mind to maximize the efficiency of human perception, thereby achieving miraculous effects.
Swoosh!
Zhuang Xun released the bowstring.
With the archery skills honed over two years as a hunter, combined with the assistance of Spiritual Sight, even at a distance of a thousand meters, this arrow directly pierced the youth's heart.
The youth's body lurched, and he fell forward under his own momentum, rolling down a gentle slope and crashing into a bamboo stalk.
Blood spread out beneath him, soaking into the soil.
Zhuang Xun notched another arrow.
Swoosh!
This arrow pierced right through the youth's forehead. His head wobbled, and his eyes bulged wide.
He died with his eyes wide open.
Zhuang Xun put away his bow. After confirming that the note had burned to ashes, he mixed the residue into the soil, clapped his hands, and ran toward the youth.
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