Ten miles outside Mu City lies the towering Lonely Wolf Mountain, with cliffs a thousand feet high, and dense forests covering the heights.
At the foot of Lonely Wolf Mountain flows the Celestial Yu Grand Canal. The Grand Canal runs past Mu City, stretching off into the distance.
As the saying goes, those who live by the mountain feed off the mountain, those by the water feed off the water.
Many in Mu City make their living from the canal.
More than half an hour later, Lin Chang'sheng led Tie Yang and Li San along a narrow path. They didn't encounter a single soul along the way, and the three of them reached the base of Lonely Wolf Mountain. Ahead was a sandy beach by the Grand Canal, behind them towered thick forests atop lofty slopes.
"Kid, how much farther?"
"I'm warning you, don't try any tricks, or you'll die a horrible death!"
Tie Yang sized up Lin Chang'sheng, his brows tightly furrowed.
This Lin Chang'sheng looked scrawny, like a scholar— even if he had ill intentions, he couldn't possibly be his match. Yet, they'd come all this way and still hadn't seen the silver. His impatience grew, and unease prickled in his chest.
"Brother Yang, don't worry. How would I dare trick you? It's just up ahead, in the crevice under that cliff."
Lin Chang'sheng pointed forward as he spoke to Tie Yang.
He remembered there was a large crack under that cliff, a place his former self frequented. With the roaring rush of river water nearby, even if he killed Tie Yang there, no scream could reach the sky.
"You'd better not dare!"
Tie Yang, hearing Lin Chang'sheng's assurance, had greed flicker in his eyes, his steps growing lighter. Li San smiled as well.
In no time.
The three of them arrived at the base of the cliff. One side was sheer rock face, the other the Grand Canal— hardley anyone ever came here.
On the stone wall, dozens of yards long, there was a crack about half a yard wide and a yard deep, shrouded in vines.
"Brother Yang, look, it's buried right inside there."
Lin Chang'sheng pointed at the crack and spoke to Tie Yang.
"You go in and bring it out for me!"
Greed shimmered in Tie Yang's eyes as he ordered Lin Chang'sheng.
What if there was something fishy inside that crevice?
Even though Lin Chang'sheng looked harmless, Tie Yang's guard wasn't down!
"Alright!"
Lin Chang'sheng nodded, then suddenly pointed to the crack. "Brother Yang, someone's coming over there!"
At his words, Tie Yang and Li San instinctively turned to look.
"Bang!"
A vicious gleam flashed in Lin Chang'sheng's eyes. His palms moved like blades, slashing toward their shoulders!
Crack! Crack!
"Ah! You—!"
Caught off guard, both Tie Yang and Li San had their shoulders shattered by the Iron Sand Palm, screamed in agony, and fell to the ground. They looked at Lin Chang'sheng in shock and terror!
"You want my silver? Then I want your life!"
Lin Chang'sheng's gaze was deadly, as he wielded the Great Perfection Iron Sand Palm, and struck Li San's Baihui acupoint at the top of his head!
"Thud!"
Li San couldn't dodge. His skull cracked apart, blood burst from his nose and mouth, his eyes wide open as he collapsed with a crash— dead, unable to rest in peace!
"Chang'sheng, have mercy! Spare me, please!"
"I was wrong! I have 3 taels of silver at home, I'll give it all to you— just spare this dog's life!"
Watching Lin Chang'sheng crush Li San's skull barehanded, Tie Yang's soul almost fled from his body. Terror-stricken, he tried to stagger up and flee, but his legs turned to jelly and he fell, hurriedly begging for his life.
At this moment—
Tie Yang was so regretful he could die all over again.
He'd never expected that Lin Chang'sheng, who looked about as dangerous as a housecat, would turn out to be so vicious!
"Too late."
Lin Chang'sheng looked at Tie Yang and shook his head. "Maybe in a few days, folks on East Street will hear you both slipped and drowned."
With that, he slammed his palm onto Tie Yang's head. With a sickening crunch, Tie Yang's skull caved in, eyes wide in death, lifeless forever.
"Fucking paupers, only 233 copper coins between the two of you!"
Lin Chang'sheng searched both their bodies, kicked their corpses into the rolling Grand Canal, cleaned up the bloodstains, and turned to leave.
He didn't retrace his steps, but instead looped into the mountains, circling wide before heading back to Mu City.
He still wasn't strong enough— he couldn't let the Cyan Snake Gang catch wind of this.
Half an hour later—
Lin Chang'sheng arrived at another mountain trail leading to Mu City from Lonely Wolf Mountain.
Suddenly—
From the opposite path, a middle-aged man in gray clothes stumbled forward. He carried a long saber and a bag, his breath weak and unsteady.
The man was covered in blood, his knuckles freakishly large, with a gaping wound on his chest exposing bone. His face was blackened, dark blood trickling from the wound and soaking his clothes, leaving a trail of drops. When the man saw Lin Chang'sheng, hope flickered in his eyes.
"What the—?"
Lin Chang'sheng narrowed his eyes, slowly backing away. Then he turned and walked off.
Judging by that man's state, he was definitely being hunted— Lin Chang'sheng didn't want a thing to do with that mess.
"Young brother, don't...don't go. My name's Gao Yang— I've been poisoned by Ling Ziyu of Heaven-Drilling Falcon... I'm done for... Could you help me send word to the Gao Family Manor...?"
"Please..."
The man in gray stumbled to the ground, looking at Lin Chang'sheng's back, his words slurring. Black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
His gray bag and long saber tumbled into the grass.
Hearing his words, Lin Chang'sheng only sped up.
"Help me deliver word, the silver in the bag is yours..."
As Lin Chang'sheng ran, he could still faintly hear the man's broken voice trailing after him.
"Bag? Silver?"
After running more than half a mile, Lin Chang'sheng paused, thinking for a moment. Then, cautiously, he crept back and hid among the trees some distance away. He saw the man sprawled motionless. Looked like he was dead.
"Better wait an hour just in case. If no one comes, I'll grab the bag then!"
Lin Chang'sheng thought to himself.
After an hour, that Gao Yang should really be dead as a doornail.
Even if someone was after Gao Yang, hiding this far away, he'd be safe.
Lin Chang'sheng waited a full hour.
No pursuers showed up, so he carefully crept forward. The gray-robed man was lying on his side, the blood at his lips already coagulated. Lin Chang'sheng finally relaxed a little.
He found a tree branch over a yard long and used it to hook the gray-robed man's bag closer.
Then—
He carefully used the stick to pry it open.
"Whoa! So much silver!"
"Wait— Moonlight Breathing Technique?!"
Lin Chang'sheng's heart jolted, his eyes lighting up at the contents of the bag.
Inside were piles of silver, two changes of clothing, and a yellowed, dog-eared register with five big words: Moonlight Breathing Technique. There was also a jet-black medallion— neither wood nor iron— carved with the image of a white cloud.
"Never thought taking the long way around would pay off this big! That hour was worth it— fuck yeah!"
Lin Chang'sheng was overjoyed.
He'd been worried about not having a cultivation technique, then one just landed in his lap!
Wary of poison, he stripped off his outer robe and carefully wrapped the silver, secret manual, and medallion in it.
Then, using the long saber, he quickly dug a pit nearby, buried the man's corpse and empty bag, and made a makeshift tomb mound.
He even rolled a big stone to place in front of it as a gravestone.
"Brother, since I've taken your silver, I'll keep my word. If I ever get the chance and strength to visit Cyan Yang City, I'll deliver your message to Gao Family Manor!"
Lin Chang'sheng looked at Gao Yang's grave, said these words, picked up his things, and quickly went down the mountain.
Gao Family Manor.
Lin Chang'sheng actually knew the place— over two hundred miles from Mu City, located in Cyan Yang City.
Half an hour after Lin Chang'sheng left, a gaunt, pale-faced man in blue, carrying a sword, followed the trail of blood there and stopped before the mound.
"The blood ends here. Someone buried Gao Yang?"
The blue-robed man's eyes flashed. He drew his sword, quickly dug open the grave, fished out Gao Yang's corpse, and rifled through it, even searching the bag, like he was after something specific.
"Damn it! Someone already took that item? Who?"
Finding nothing, the man scowled darkly, kicked Gao Yang's corpse aside, and muttered, "Whoever buried Gao Yang can't have gone far!"
......
Lin Chang'sheng returned home and stashed away the silver, secret manual, and medallion.
Lying on his bed, scenes of killing Tie Yang kept replaying in his mind, leaving him rattled and unsettled.
He thought it through carefully, found no major flaws, and, after calming down, finally took out the silver and the Moonlight Breathing Technique manual.
He didn't dare touch them directly.
Gao Yang had died horribly of poison— what if this stuff was contaminated?
No way was he about to risk it.
"This really is a huge score— thirty-two taels of silver!"
"Still, can't spend it yet. Gotta hide it someplace safe first!"
Lin Chang'sheng carefully counted the silver, then quickly dug a hole in his room, buried all thirty-two taels, tamped down the earth, and put the rice jar on top.
Take each lesson to heart— if he suddenly started spending big, someone would definitely start sniffing around.
You have to understand—
Even just entering the martial arts school caught Tie Yang's attention. If not for his Iron Sand Palm reaching Great Perfection, there really would have been rumors tomorrow of him drowning!
Only with strength does one have nothing to fear!