Chapter 52: Leaving the City (Part II)

At the west gate of the city.

Carrying a backpack and wearing a waist pouch, Lin Zheyu strolled leisurely toward the outskirts of the city.

Along the way, he sensed many gazes fixed upon him.

In an alleyway near the city gate.

An elderly man carrying a vegetable basket emerged from the alley.

His steps were unsteady, as if his right leg was somewhat inconvenient.

The old man did not see Lin Zheyu; as he walked, he stumbled and accidentally bumped into him.

"Ah, I am so sorry, so sorry!"

The old man apologized profusely.

His eyes were filled with panic and a hint of terror, as if he were worried Lin Zheyu would reprimand him.

"Old gentleman, are you alright?"

Lin Zheyu helped the old man up without any reproach.

"I am fine, I am fine. I am truly sorry just now; I accidentally bumped into you," the old man said apologetically.

"It's nothing. Just be more careful when you walk next time."

Lin Zheyu waved his hand, letting the old man leave.

Watching the old man depart, the corners of his mouth curled slightly into a meaningful smile.

"Interesting."

"They are quite well-prepared. It seems this has been long-planned," Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

Just now, the old man had feigned an accidental collision, and then, without leaving a trace, he had extended his right hand to grab the corner of Lin Zheyu's clothing, smearing an unfamiliar white powder onto it.

The scent of this powder was extremely faint; without careful scrutiny, it would be impossible to detect.

"An arrangement by Fatty Xing?"

"Is this their method of tracking?"

"In Songyi City, the only one known to be targeting me is that fellow, Fatty Xing."

Lin Zheyu pondered privately.

He caught a glimpse of the white mark on his clothing with his peripheral vision but did not remove it.

Regardless of whether it was Fatty Xing, as long as someone was targeting him, he would deal with them all at once.

The strength Lin Zheyu displayed was only at the Bone Forging Realm; he didn't believe anyone would send a Blood Qi Realm martial artist to assassinate him.

That would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—a complete waste of resources.

As long as the opponent wasn't in the Blood Qi Realm, he could easily slay them.

...

"The White Xin powder has been placed on the boy. Mission accomplished."

After walking over a hundred meters, the old man entered a fabric shop and spoke to a middle-aged man inside.

"Very good. You did well. Go down and receive your reward," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

He was holding a small animal in his arms that looked like a cross between a marten and a rat, covered in grey fur.

The man reached out and scratched the little creature under its jaw, causing it to let out tiny squeaks.

"Once tainted with White Xin powder, a faint scent will linger in every place he passes for one hour."

"No matter how fast his lightness skill is or how strong his concealment abilities are, he won't be able to escape now," the middle-aged man whispered.

The little creature in his hands was called a Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten, and its nose was incredibly sensitive.

They loved to eat a plant called White Xin Grass and were extremely sensitive to its scent.

Many people kept Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Martens for tracking purposes.

...

Outside the city, the refugees were no longer visible.

In the dead of winter, the world outside was frozen; refugees who had no way out had already turned into withered bones in the earth.

Lin Zheyu took out a map, identified the location of Lion Valley, and headed southwest.

Lion Valley was a valley located thirty miles away.

The valley was surrounded by towering mountains and steep ridges, with only a few remote paths for passage; those unfamiliar with the area would find it impossible to locate the entrance.

Inside Lion Valley, venomous insects and fierce beasts ran rampant, and powerful exotic creatures existed there.

Without a guide familiar with the environment, entering would be extremely perilous.

Many people who could not survive elsewhere had turned to banditry and gathered in Lion Valley.

For them, Lion Valley served as a natural barrier that could shield them from the encirclement of large armies.

"These villages and fields are all desolate."

"Better to be a dog in a peaceful era than a person in a chaotic one. Living in these times is too much suffering for ordinary people."

Along the way, many villages were already deserted.

The fields were overgrown with weeds, completely abandoned.

"Eh? There are still people living there."

After traveling about five miles, Lin Zheyu finally saw signs of life.

It was a cluster of villages composed of large courtyard houses. The houses in the village were built like high, castle-like courtyards using a mixture of mud bricks and gravel.

The layout of these houses was extremely ingenious, making them perfect defensive strongholds during wartime.

"This must be the Ma Family Village that Xie Jiang mentioned!" Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

The entire population of Ma Family Village practiced martial arts, and the villagers made their living primarily through blacksmithing and hunting.

It was a powerful village; from eighty-year-old elders to babbling infants, everyone practiced martial arts.

Furthermore, Ma Family Village was extremely united and possessed many skilled fighters.

Lin Zheyu observed from a distance; several men were patrolling outside the village, though their clothes were somewhat worn and patched.

Although the village had survived, they were not living in luxury.

Outside Songyi City, there were many large surviving villages; Lin Zheyu had seen three on his way here.

He had even spotted experts of the Viscera Refining Realm among those patrolling.

Continuing forward.

Lin Zheyu did not take the main roads, choosing instead to stick to remote and difficult paths.

After traveling another two miles or so, he stopped in a remote, dense forest.

He stripped off the coat tainted with the mark, tossed it into a nearby bush, and then moved swiftly to hide in another patch of grass on the opposite side.

...

Outside Songyi City, a group of people galloped past on horseback.

After riding for three miles, they came to a halt.

The middle-aged man beside Xing Jinglong took out a Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten. The creature sniffed the air, squeaking and waving its claws, eager to rush out.

"Young Master, he is just ahead," the middle-aged man said.

"Chase!"

"I don't believe you can escape my grasp this time!" Xing Jinglong sneered.

This time, he had brought two Viscera Refining Realm experts, both of whom possessed remarkable lightness skills.

In addition to these two experts, he had also requested ten elite soldiers from Xing Penghai.

With such thorough preparation, he did not believe a mere Bone Forging Realm practitioner like Lin Zheyu could escape from him again.

*Clop, clop.*

*Clop, clop, clop.*

The sound of galloping hooves rang out, kicking up clouds of dust.

...

In the quiet mountain forest.

There were many wild, desolate mountains and ridges; as long as one stayed away from the main roads, it was difficult to encounter bandits.

Lin Zheyu crouched in the grass for nearly half an hour. The surroundings were silent, with only the occasional appearance of wild animals.

*Clop, clop.*

*Clop, clop, clop.*

The sound of galloping hooves approached from a distance.

Faintly, one could hear the neighing of horses from afar and the vibration caused by the thundering hooves.

"They're here!"

His expression shifted. He activated the Great Turtle Breath Technique to its full extent, causing his aura to drop repeatedly until it was almost imperceptible.

He leaped up, landing on a tree, and looked toward the approaching group.

The leader of that group was the man Lin Zheyu had seen several times: Xing Jinglong.

"It really is you!" Lin Zheyu thought.

He counted the numbers; there were twenty people in total.

Among them, ten were wearing the armor of the City Guard, the soldiers Xing Jinglong had mobilized from Xing Penghai.

The rest consisted of two Viscera Refining Realm experts, seven members of the Wuding Gang, and one Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten.

"The strength of the newcomers isn't very high; I can handle them," Lin Zheyu thought. He quietly concealed his presence, held his breath, and lowered his blood qi to the absolute minimum.

...

Xing Jinglong's group followed the Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten, charging into the dense forest.

*Squeak!*

The marten squeaked impatiently and rushed forward.

"Follow him!"

"Uncle Zhao, Qiao Quan, you two keep a close eye. That kid's lightness skill is good; don't let him slip away," Xing Jinglong whispered.

With a wave of his hand, the men behind him advanced rapidly in a flanking formation.

"Rest assured, Young Master. He is just a little kid in the Bone Forging Realm. No matter how skilled his lightness skill is, he cannot escape our hands," said an elderly man with a long face, appearing to be around fifty years old.

His name was Zhao Wude, but he never practiced "martial ethics."

Relying on his superior lightness skills, he never engaged in frontal combat, specializing instead in lightness skills, hidden weapons, and poisons.

"Young Master Xing, this matter is enough for Old Zhao to handle alone. Why bother calling me as well?" Qiao Quan followed beside Xing Jinglong as leisurely as if he were strolling through a market.

He appeared unhurried, yet his speed remained consistent with Xing Jinglong's, providing covert protection.

"This kid is slippery; he has escaped us several times."

"This time, I brought two seniors specifically to prevent him from escaping again," Xing Jinglong said.

Both Zhao Wude and Qiao Quan were subordinates of his father and had served the Xing family for many years.

The Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten was extremely fast, darting through the forest.

If the middle-aged man had not occasionally called out to make it stop and wait, Xing Jinglong and the others would have lost the trail.

"Young Master, be careful. This location is remote. It's strange that Lin Zheyu ran here; there might be an ambush!" an old soldier behind Xing Jinglong warned.

As members of the City Guard, they frequently went out to fight bandits, possessing great strength and experience.

"Don't worry, there is only one person's trail here."

"What kind of waves can a little kid in the Bone Forging Realm stir up?" Zhao Wude said, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the forest environment.

He had been observing since they entered the forest.

Having wandered the martial world for decades, his experience was vast, and he quickly noticed that there were only traces of a single person walking the path.

This was a desolate area; no matter how much the opponent tried to conceal themselves, they would still leave traces.

"Young Master, he is just ahead."

The Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten returned to the middle-aged man, squeaking and pointing toward the bushes ahead.

"Young Master, wait a moment. I will go ahead and check," Zhao Wude said.

He specialized in hidden weapons and poisons and was extremely knowledgeable about them; he wanted to scout the area to see if there were any traps or ambushes.

"Soldiers, form a formation and be ready," Qiao Quan ordered.

He gripped his short blade, scanned the surroundings, and grew inwardly cautious.

Although he did not believe a Bone Forging Realm martial artist could cause much trouble, as a veteran, he knew the principle that even a lion must exert its full strength when hunting a rabbit.

Zhao Wude stepped into the bushes with a cautious expression.

As a specialist in poisons, he knew many types, even those capable of toppling Blood Qi Realm martial artists. He did not underestimate the opponent simply because they were a Bone Forging Realm youth.

Carefully parting the weeds, he found a piece of clothing on the ground that carried the scent of the White Xin powder.

Aside from the clothing, nothing else seemed out of place.

He sniffed the air but detected no scent of toxins or anesthetic powder.

The target's trail ended here.

There was no scent of blood, nor any signs of combat.

"Something is wrong!"

A sudden sense of alarm surged in Zhao Wude's heart; his extraordinary intuition, honed by surviving death multiple times, warned him of danger.

Without thinking, his leg muscles bulged, and he retreated explosively.

But it was too late.

From behind a nearby tree trunk, a figure lunged out. With a whistling wind, a whip-like kick came hurtling toward him.

"Not good!"

Startled, Zhao Wude threw the poison powder he had prepared toward the attacker.

But the newcomer was too fast—terrifyingly fast.

Before the poison powder could even be released, the opponent's whip-kick struck his head.

A terrifying force surged; Zhao Wude's head rang with a loud buzz, his brain was shaken into mush, his vision blurred, and blood sprayed from his nose.

*Boom!*

Zhao Wude was sent flying, crashing into a tree with a series of cracking sounds as multiple bones in his body shattered.

"Old Zhao!"

"Damn it, form the formation!" Qiao Quan shouted loudly.

Everything had happened too quickly, so fast that he hadn't even been able to react.

The moment the shout went out, the ten elite soldiers, who were already prepared, rapidly formed a miniature military formation.

The moment the formation was established, the spirits of the ten soldiers merged into one, and a special energy surged from their bodies, condensing onto Qiao Quan.

This energy entered his body, replacing the function of blood qi and becoming a backup energy source for his physique.

Qiao Quan's aura rose rapidly, quickly breaking through the threshold of the Blood Qi Realm, though he only barely reached it.

Lin Zheyu glanced at Qiao Quan, grinned, and charged toward the dying Zhao Wude.

With a *pfft* sound, a silver-white blade light flashed, and Zhao Wude's head slid from his neck.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

"Young Master, run! I'll hold him back!"

"This guy is very strong; he might have reached the Blood Qi Realm!" Qiao Quan roared.

The man before them, whose face was covered, possessed terrifying strength; even with the enhancement of the military formation, he was not confident he could deal with him.

*Squeak!*

At that moment, the Wind-Chasing Grey-Haired Marten rushed out from the bushes and into the middle-aged man's arms.

The marten squeaked incessantly, waving its claws at Lin Zheyu.

"Young Master, this man is Lin Zheyu!" the middle-aged man cried out.

"Lin Zheyu!"

"How is this possible? He is only in the Bone Forging Realm. How could he kill Uncle Zhao?"

Xing Jinglong was shocked, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Everything had happened so fast; in the blink of an eye before he could react, Zhao Wude was dead.

He had been killed in a single strike by the Lin Zheyu before him.

Zhao Wude was at the peak of the Viscera Refining Realm, only a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the Blood Qi Realm.

"He could even find me?"

"Is there some lingering aura on my body?"

Lin Zheyu was surprised. Since he had been discovered, there was no point in continuing to hide.

The twenty people chasing him were not particularly strong; he could deal with them easily.

These few who had seen his face would all die today!

"Young Master Xing, what a coincidence to see you here," Lin Zheyu said, pulling down his face mask and looking at Xing Jinglong with a half-smile.

The blade in his hand reflected a terrifying, cold light.

"It really is you!"

"How can this be? You are only in the Bone Forging Realm. No matter how much of a genius you are, how long have you been practicing? How can you have such strength!"

Xing Jinglong looked at the familiar face before him in disbelief.

"Young Master, run!"

"Quick, get on your horse and go back! As long as you reach Songyi City, you'll be safe!"

Qiao Quan maintained a cautious guard against Lin Zheyu, and seeing Xing Jinglong frozen in place, he shouted loudly.

But Xing Jinglong remained unmoved, staring blankly at Lin Zheyu, somewhat dazed.

The Blood Qi Realm... this guy is in the Blood Qi Realm!

"The military formation is indeed miraculous!"

Lin Zheyu looked at Qiao Quan, feeling the Blood Qi Realm strength emanating from the man, and couldn't help but praise it.

From the beginning, he had been watching Qiao Quan and the ten soldiers behind him.

If he had wanted to, he could have finished him off before Qiao Quan even reacted.

But Lin Zheyu hadn't.

He wanted to see exactly how powerful a military formation could be.

Senior Brother Han Mo had told him before that if he were given a squad of a hundred elite soldiers, he could easily crush Blood Qi Realm martial artists; even against a Marrow Refining Realm expert, he would dare to charge in and fight.

But that was with a hundred elite soldiers.

The formation before him, composed of only ten elite soldiers, could only deal with martial artists below the Blood Qi Realm; against a true Blood Qi Realm expert, it would be insufficient.

"So that's how it is."

"By using the military formation to merge the spirits of the soldiers into one, this spirit combines with the killing intent of the soldiers to condense into a special energy."

"This energy uses the formation as a medium to pour into the body of the leading officer, replacing the role of blood qi and effectively granting the officer the strength of the Blood Qi Realm."

"Remarkable, truly remarkable."

The more Lin Zheyu watched, the more amazed he became.

However, he still could not discern exactly how the military formation merged the soldiers' spirits and killing intent into a single, specialized energy.