Lin Shu wandered the store calmly, his expression vacant, unthreatening. He picked out a few cheap herbs and ointments, letting time pass to avoid suspicion. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he stepped up to one of the many counters.
While the merchant calculated the total, Lin Shu asked quietly, "May I know where the bathroom is?"
The man glanced up, pointing toward a hallway deeper in the shop. "Just down there."
Lin Shu nodded and walked off.
Unbeknownst to him—or so the shopkeeper thought—a silent order was already relayed. A hidden guard, stationed in one of the alcoves, slipped into the shadows. He followed Lin Shu, instructed to check if the youth had stolen anything. The store's goods were all embedded with counter-inscription layers that rendered them immune to being stored in rings or pouches without being forcefully unbound. It was a common trick: steal the item, hide it somewhere, have someone else come later to break the inscriptions. The guard was there to catch such a thief in the act.
Lin Shu entered the bathroom. It was immaculate—clean tiles, quiet, scented faintly with some herbal fragrance. His expression hardened the moment the door closed.
Let's finish this.
Moving quickly, he retrieved the blisterbomb and slid it into a drawer beneath the wash basin. A perfect hiding place—just enough time to trigger devastation. He didn't hesitate. After flushing once to play the part, he stepped out of the bathroom. As his heel hit the ground—"One," he muttered silently.
The guard, watching him leave without incident, was still cautious. He slipped into the bathroom, scanning every corner. He searched around and after a few seconds he opened the drawer.
"What's this…?"
The moment he saw the beating metallic sphere, his face drained of color.
"WAIT—!"
He turned to flee.
Too late.
BOOM.
A deafening explosion rocked the building.
Just before the sound reached its peak, Lin Shu had already activated Ivory Monolith and Lightning Steps. Lightning surged over his limbs, a storm of energy clinging to the bone-white armor forming around his body. Thunderforge Physique responded with a surge of violent force—he could feel his strength overflowing.
"Two."
The ground cracked beneath him as he burst forward like a thunderclap. Shelves, counters, and people were torn apart as he crashed through the interior of the store. A man standing in his path was reduced to blood and broken limbs.
"Three."
Two guards rushed in, blades drawn, their auras weak.
"Thunderbolt Arc."
Two streaks of lightning crackled from Lin Shu's hands. The blasts tore through the guards like hot blades through snow. Their bodies crumpled, smoking and lifeless.
"Four."
He reached the front entrance. But even at this speed, he wouldn't make it in time. Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and jumped backwards, Ivory Monolith thickening into a grotesque, shell-like layer around him. He poured every shred of Qi into defense, locking his limbs, curling his body inward like a hardened beast—
"Five."
He braced for it.
And… nothing.
What?
A second later, he saw the flicker of red light—
BOOM.
—but from the opposite side of the store.
The explosion didn't come from his bomb.
It was Ren Hao's.
What?! Lin Shu had a moment to register it—a glint of Ren Hao's figure dashing past the flames and shattered windows, already fleeing into the streets. That damned weasel—he placed it too close to the exit!
The shockwave slammed into Lin Shu's side, throwing him across the wreckage like a ragdoll. Fire and force tore through walls, and even the buildings nearby shuddered under the pressure. Lin Shu's armor shattered mid-air. He smashed through the remains of a smaller store, the wooden beams collapsing as he crashed inside.
His back struck stone. Something cracked. His shirt was torn away, deep lacerations covered his torso, and his shoulder was dislocated, bone clearly visible. Even his jaw hung slightly open, the skin seared and flayed.
"Ahhh…"
He groaned, the sound ragged, primal. His vision blurred. Consciousness… slipping…
"Why… Why the hell did he put it that close to the door? Was that… intentional?"
Blood dripped from his lips. Smoke filled his lungs. His body screamed.
But Lin Shu clenched his teeth—what was left of them—and whispered:
"Burning… Vein… Art."
A glow spread through his body. His skin flushed red. Steam hissed from his wounds. The pain was replaced by heat. Power. His flesh began to stitch itself slowly. Not perfectly, but enough.
He downed a fistful of pills, too many at once, his throat burning as they scraped down.
"Should I… leave? Or pretend to be a victim?"
He staggered to his feet.
A sound.
Behind him.
He turned.
It was an old woman—wrinkled, trembling, her mouth agape. The shopkeeper, likely a servant with the lack of cultivation radiating from her. Her eyes fixed on his bleeding, scorched body, the unnatural red of his skin, the exposed jaw, the smoldering air around him. She looked as if she'd seen a demon.
She couldn't move.
She was just a simple servant.
She'd never seen death up close, not like this. And she had no training, no instincts to help her survive this moment. Only fear.
Lin Shu's eyes went cold.
No thoughts. No hesitation.
His arm lifted, and from the back of his gauntlet, a bone blade snapped out with a soft click. A quick flash of silver.
Her throat split open.
Not a scream, not even a gasp. Just silence.
She dropped to the floor.
Lin Shu stood still.
"She saw my face. She would've talked."
He didn't feel anything.
Not sorrow. Not guilt.
Only the pain of his wounds.
He turned, limped forward, and vanished into the flames.
Earlier—before the chaos erupted.
Ren Hao moved through the aisles with practiced ease, fingers casually grazing over jars, scrolls, and small talismans. His expression was unreadable, just another ordinary customer on a peaceful day. He picked up a few cheap items, enough to make it seem like he was here to browse, not destroy.
I just need Lin Shu to come out running… the moment I see him, I activate and throw the bomb. That way, we leave together. Fast. Clean.
He had it all planned.
Then, his calm expression cracked.
A figure stepped out from a door on the second floor. Tall—too tall. Thin, his black robes swaying as he walked like a drifting shadow. His long hair fell across his shoulders like strands of ink, and his eyes—those deep green, venom-colored eyes—locked onto the shop below.
Ren Hao froze.
His heartbeat spiked.
Jun Fen.
An instructor of the Stone Path Hall.
What the hell is he doing here…?!
A chill ran down his spine. Instructor Jun Fen was the very reason Ren Hao had refused a personal disciple contract with the higher instructors. Cold, manipulative, obsessed with breaking down his students' wills to remake them in his twisted image. Ren Hao hated him with every fiber of his being.
That's when Lin Shu burst from the bathroom.
Lightning surged around his body, thunder cracking beneath his feet. Bone-white armor spread across his limbs like a growing plague. Lin Shu didn't hesitate. He charged forward, cutting through the shop like a blade, eyes locked on the exit.
Ren Hao saw his chance.
A slow, sinister smile curled across his lips.
He reached into his pouch, pulled out the blisterbomb, and triggered it without hesitation. In one smooth motion, he slid the sphere beneath the counter along with the random items he had gathered and turned away, walking toward the door.
Boom in five seconds. Lin Shu should be right behind me. If he's fast enough, he lives. If not...
Not my problem.
He stepped out just as the shopkeeper raised an eyebrow, glancing down toward the counter. The man's thoughts turned rapidly:
"Why did he walk out without buying anything? Did he hide an item? But the inscription alarm didn't trigger. That means... he didn't take anything. Then why is he running—"
BOOM.
The thought was never completed.
The explosion tore through the shop from beneath the very counter. It annihilated everything within the first instant: counters, customers, shelves, guards—and the shopkeeper himself. A moment before it detonated, a flash of white armor had formed in the distance. That was the last thing the man saw.
Back on the rooftops, Ren Hao crouched, watching the chaos unfold.
His eyes narrowed as he squinted toward the smoke and wreckage.
"…Wasn't that a bit too fast…?"
He checked the time mentally. "That was at most two, maybe three seconds. The bomb must've been faulty."
"A cold sweat broke down his back. His eyes widened just slightly as a realization settled in: If I had been the one to take the bathroom spot…"
He shook the thought away.
"No. I got out first. I was near the door. Lin Shu had to fight guards and get through the crowd. He was meant to take damage. And even if he died… he was just… insurance."
He allowed himself to breathe again.
Still, a part of him knew the truth: he got lucky.
Had the roles been reversed, he'd be the one blown apart beneath the rubble.
From where he sat, high above the city streets, smoke rising in plumes beneath the setting sun, Ren Hao watched the flames consume the store. The cries, the shouts, the panic—it was all noise.
He smiled faintly.
Then disappeared into the shadows.