Chapter 24: Assassination, Forced Killing, Rushing to the Courtyard

At the mouth of the mountain valley, Qin Anwu sat on a rock, holding dried meat in his left hand and a wine jug in his right. He peered through the gaps in the trees and leaves at the secluded old courtyard opposite him. He ate a mouthful of dried meat with a gulp of wine, occasionally taking a bite of a roasted sweet potato, enjoying a leisurely time.

As dusk approached, he finished a two-catty jug of wine. He put away the jug, shoved the dried meat into his mouth, and cautiously hunched over as he moved towards the opposite side. After almost half a day of observation, he had a clear understanding of the situation here.

The terrain here was a semi-oval arc. Qin Anwu's position was at one end of the opening, while the old courtyard was at the other. The straight-line distance was just over a mile, but to reach it, one would have to travel about five miles. The intelligence agency suspected that the old courtyard opposite was a contact point for that mysterious organization. He confirmed their suspicions were correct.

During his observation, several people entered and exited the courtyard, one of whom was Chen Qi, the middle-aged man. On the mountain behind the courtyard, there was a cave containing at least five Qi Refining Stage cultivators and twenty-one Spirit Nurturing Stage cultivators from the latter three realms. Around the cave were five hidden sentry posts, all manned by Eighth Realm cultivators. The people in the courtyard could see each of them. The closest post to Qin Anwu's position was only a mile away, located on a low cliff.

The task of this hidden sentry post was simple and tedious: to constantly monitor the entrance below the courtyard, preventing any surprise attacks. This entrance wasn't the only one being watched; there were three other posts as well.

"It's twenty miles from the main road, and the external terrain is even more complex, with mountain bandits garrisoned there. Even the provincial army wouldn't dare attack, so why would anyone come here?"

Though he grumbled internally, his sense of duty, coupled with the constant surveillance threat from the courtyard, kept him from leaving his post except for answering nature's call. He intermittently scanned the entrance. Suddenly, he saw a figure flash out in front of him, sword in hand, rushing towards him like lightning.

He froze, instinctively shifting his butt backward and letting out a roar. But the figure's speed was too fast. The command to retreat had just been issued, his throat had just vibrated, when the opponent's sword entered his mouth and continued forward. Instantaneously, he felt excruciating pain and his consciousness rapidly faded. Only one thought remained in his mind: "How did this person climb up so silently, and why is he so fast?" He never figured it out before falling into boundless darkness.

Qin Anwu quickly pulled out his Clumsy Sword, moved a rock for the man to lean against, and in a flash, chopped down three azalea trees, placing them in front of him as if he were admiring the flowers. Then he continued to hunch over and moved towards the back of the mountain.

There were two Eighth Realm cultivators on the back of the mountain; one looked towards this secluded valley, and the other looked towards the other side of the mountain. He repeated his earlier tactics, acting with swift violence. With one swing of his sword, he severed one head. A kick struck the other's head, sending him tumbling down the mountain, still alive. Ignoring the headless Eighth Realm cultivator, he chased after the one who had tumbled down the mountain.

When he caught up to the man, he found himself laughing and crying at the same time. His kick had actually cracked the man's head, disfiguring his facial features and causing blood to pour from his orifices. He had originally intended to extract some information from him, but he didn't expect his head to be so fragile.

"I haven't even cultivated to the extreme realm, and an Eighth Realm cultivator ended up like this. Is he too weak, or is my body too strong?" Facing such a situation for the first time, the "No-Self Immortal Emperor" was also confused.

He dragged the body back to the top of the mountain and immediately discovered the problem. All six large trees outside the courtyard were lit with red lanterns. The Qi Refining Stage middle-stage cultivator in the courtyard stood at the main gate, his eyes sweeping across the mountain valley. People also burst out from the cave entrance on the mountain. Very quickly, various bird calls echoed through the mountain valley.

"This surveillance really is... quite effective." He muttered in a low voice, dropped the body, and plunged into the mountain forest.

A ninth-stage Spirit Nurturing cultivator had just crooked his left index finger to his mouth when he suddenly saw a shadow rushing towards him. He hastily let out a series of urgent bird calls. He heard his own bird calls, and he heard his own screams. He also saw his body moving further and further away from him, quickly falling into boundless darkness. In the end, only one thought remained: "This person is so fast."

Chen Qi raced through the mountains, hearing the urgent bird calls and constantly questioning in his mind: "Who invaded this place? Is it a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator?" Suddenly, he saw a figure rush towards him from the side. Before he could react, he felt a powerful collision, followed by another strong impact, emitting a heavy thud. In a moment of blurred vision, he saw a person walking towards him. He strained to see, and it was Qin Anwu.

"Indeed, his combat power is extremely strong. It was right to avoid battle in the provincial city, but in the end, I still died by his hand." He tried to open his mouth to speak but instead spat out a mouthful of blood, only making "ooh ooh ga ga" sounds.

Qin Anwu swept his sword, and a head flew off. Then, a storage ring appeared on the corpse's finger. Qin Anwu took off the storage ring and muttered, "You escaped in the provincial city, but in the end, I still got you. Why bother?" In the provincial city, he wanted both his storage ring and any information he possessed. Here, he didn't want his information, only the storage ring. The person in the courtyard should know more.

After the ninth-stage Spirit Nurturing cultivator issued the urgent bird calls, the bird calls in the mountain valley became even denser. Qin Anwu didn't know if this meant they were accelerating their communication, but he knew that since Chen Qi hadn't responded, many bird calls were approaching this area. However, he didn't care and continued towards the courtyard. Anyone who passed through the trees or thickets near him was instantly cut down by his sword. Along the way, he silenced a few more bird calls and gained another storage ring.

"It seems this organization's storage rings aren't available to every Qi Refining cultivator; only mid-stage cultivators have them. It's a shame, though, that neither of them had a magnet." He made this judgment after killing an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator and not seeing a storage ring. These storage rings weren't large, only three feet long, wide, and tall, unable to hold many wine jugs, so he would have to win by quantity. What annoyed him was that after killing this early-stage cultivator, no one else appeared around him, and there was no source of storage rings. They didn't make any noise; the birds had long since been scared away, and the entire valley was quiet.

As he walked, he heard the sound of rushing wind, and from his peripheral vision, a dark object shot towards him. It was an arrow! He swung his sword, and the arrow pierced through a tree, embedding itself into a two-foot-thick tree trunk ahead and to the right, with only the fletching visible. Tremendous force; this was a master archer. Then, he heard bird calls again, issued by the archer.

Qin Anwu was about to turn around and kill him but heard noisy bird calls coming from ahead. "They even know how to use sound to distract; very intelligent." After offering a compliment, he sped up and rushed towards the archer's position. An archer without an arrow quiver but still having arrows must have a storage ring.

The archer had just loosed another arrow and saw Qin Anwu pursuing him. He notched another arrow onto his bowstring, retreating and drawing his bow as he moved. Seeing this, Qin Anwu secretly shook his head. "This person still lacks experience." After a few blinks, he caught up to the archer. The archer's face was filled with despair; he could only attack with his bow. Qin Anwu snatched the bow with one hand and severed the archer's head with a sword. "At this level, two arrows weren't even effective. Not running means waiting for death."

"Oh wow, a ninth-stage Spirit Nurturing cultivator's storage ring is two feet bigger than theirs. Looks like he was highly valued. And there are about a hundred arrows; that's really great." This was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

He slung the Clumsy Sword on his back, claimed ownership of the storage ring, and picked up the bow to test it. "Not bad; it can withstand eighty percent of my strength." He put away the bow, took out a jug of wine, and walked towards the courtyard, drinking as he went. Soon, he saw the row of six red lanterns and about twenty people standing outside the courtyard.

"They're all here."