The iron law of the Great Xia Dynasty dictated that anyone sentenced to death would have the character for "Guilt" tattooed on their face.
The people before him were undoubtedly death row inmates from the Dynasty’s Celestial Prison.
But why did so many of them appear all at once?
"Crazy Cui, what are you trying to do?"
Staring at the members of the Violent Bear Mercenary Corps, Hann Yunyun, who stood behind Qin Lie, questioned him. A hint of anger mixed with wariness was visible in her expression.
"What am I trying to do? Someone paid for the lives of your Iron Wolf Mercenary Corps. However, you lot aren’t even worthy of me taking action myself," Crazy Cui laughed arrogantly. He turned to look at Qin Lie and the little girl beside him and continued, "I didn’t expect you all to actually find the Thousand Mechanism Bone-Cleansing Flower. But did you think finding this flower would be enough to cure Qin Xuance? You didn’t even ask me if I’d agree to let you leave the Qinglong Mountain Range alive!"
"Qin Xuance?"
Lin Huang froze, momentarily distracted.
He was extremely familiar with this name. In his previous life, he had known a guy named Qin Xuance.
Back then, the Celestial Secret Pavilion of the Azure Sky Continent created nine lists, categorizing the world’s Martial Souls, Arrays, beauties, assassins, and more. Among these nine lists, two were used to rank the strength of Martial Artists across the world:
The Unrivaled List!
The Legendary List!
There were four young men on the Unrivaled List who held the most promise to be the first to break through and enter the Legendary List. These four could all be considered outstanding talents of their time:
Dong Situ, whose real name was Situ Huang’s Tomb, had a mysterious origin that was unknown to everyone.
Xi Xuance had an unknown Martial Soul but was proficient in Yin Yang, Qimen, Feng Shui, Star Constellations, and Life Charts.
Nan Cangsheng, also known as Liu Cangsheng, was the Young Master of the Eastern Celestial Divine Sect. His Martial Soul was the Nine Heavens Sword River, and his high aptitude was simply astonishing.
Bei Linhuang, the Crossing the River Pawn, progressed Step by Step to Sainthood and was famous across the continent for his Godslaying One Slash.
Lin Huang had never met Situ Huang’s Tomb, and Liu Cangsheng was his destined enemy. As for Qin Xuance, the two of them had actually fooled around together for a year.
During that year, Qin Xuance had guided Lin Huang on how to utilize the mountains, rivers, dense forests, Feng Shui, and celestial phenomena. He taught him how to drive tigers to devour wolves, lure enemies deep into traps, escape by shedding his skin, and strike back against his foes.
Without Qin Xuance’s guidance, Lin Huang would absolutely never have been able to escape Liu Cangsheng’s hundreds of relentless pursuits.
Lin Huang did not know how high Qin Xuance’s Realm was, but very few could rival his strategic mind. The arrogance hidden beneath his gentle exterior was similarly unmatched. He once said, "I have single-handedly annihilated ten dynasties, and I shall cover the Celestial Path with one hand. Who can break the situations plotted by Qin Xuance? Those whom Qin Xuance wishes to kill all beg for a swift death!"
He thought, "It shouldn’t be the same person!"
Lin Huang shook his head. The Qin Xuance that Crazy Cui mentioned was likely not the person from his memory. After all, the chances of such a legendary figure originating from the Great Xia Dynasty were extremely slim.
At the very least, he had never known anyone named Qin Xuance in the Great Xia Dynasty.
"You guys are Prince Qin’s men, aren’t you!"
Qin Lie frowned. Even though Qin Xuance was merely the adopted son of the Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, he had helped him strategize over the years, steadily climbing to his current status. Prince Qin must have grown wary of his sworn brother and wanted to silence him permanently.
"Who does Prince Qin think he is? As if he could hire me!"
Crazy Cui smiled coldly, his tiger-like eyes quickly glancing over Lin Huang.
This fleeting look was easily caught by Lin Huang. After pondering for a moment, he spoke slowly, "Three years ago, a massive fire broke out in the Celestial Prison. It was said that everyone inside was burned into dried corpses. You all must be those dried corpses."
Qin Lie’s expression changed slightly. The Celestial Prison fire from three years ago had caused a massive uproar. The Emperor was furious, and a large group of officials were implicated, leading to their dismissal or execution.
"Kid Lin Huang, you have a good eye to actually recognize me!" Crazy Cui laughed sinisterly.
"So you are Crown Prince Lingyun’s men!"
Lin Huang’s tone grew cold. The culprit behind the Celestial Prison fire back then was never found, but Lin Beichen had explicitly told Lin Huang that it was a staged act directed by the Royal Family.
In that fire, dozens of officials from the Divine General’s Mansion were ousted, including an old General who had once established illustrious military merits.
"Since you’re so smart, why don’t you guess why I entered the mountains this time?" Crazy Cui sneered.
"First, to kill Qin Lie. Second, to kill me!" Lin Huang said calmly.
"Since you know, then hurry up and beg me for mercy!" Crazy Cui roared, letting out a burst of loud laughter. He was radiating a murderous aura, filled with brutality.
Back then, he had merely beaten an ordinary soldier to death and forcefully taken his young wife. As a result, within less than three hours, three thousand soldiers of the Profound Armor Army under the Divine General’s Mansion charged over. In just three swift assaults, they leveled his family compound to the ground, massacring all the able-bodied men in his household.
He was then thrown into the Celestial Prison, enduring endless torture day and night.
Later, during that massive fire, he was let out by Crown Prince Lingyun. However, he would have to live in the shadows for the rest of his life, obediently serving as Crown Prince Lingyun’s dog.
For this trip into the Qinglong Mountain Range, Crown Prince Lingyun had given him two tasks. Just as Lin Huang had said, the first was to kill Lin Huang, and the second was to kill Qin Lie to stop him from saving Qin Xuance.
"Beg for mercy? You underestimate the backbone of the Divine General’s Mansion way too much!"
Lin Huang cracked his knuckles. A Martial Artist at the Human Element Sixth Heaven was indeed troublesome, but that didn’t mean Lin Huang was afraid. Moreover, in the mountain jungles, he had never feared anyone.
Before his voice could even fade, Lin Huang shot forward, diving straight into the depths of the forest.
"Think you can escape?" Crazy Cui sneered as he watched Lin Huang’s retreating back. In the face of his Human Element Sixth Heaven cultivation, Lin Huang was nothing more than a prey for him to toy with. Immediately after, Crazy Cui led half of his men to chase after Lin Huang.
The other half remained in place, keeping a close eye on Qin Lie and the rest.
Once Lin Huang’s nerves tensed up, his entire demeanor changed completely. He darted through the forest like a pitch-black phantom, agile as the wind and elusive as a shadow.
He had been hunted by Liu Cangsheng for ten years. When it came to traversing forests, even if one looked across the entire Azure Sky Continent, few people were more familiar with them than him.
"Boss, this bastard runs really fast, just like a rabbit!" one of Crazy Cui’s subordinates commented.
"Playing a game of cat and mouse with me in the jungle? Truly childish," Crazy Cui scoffed. He had lived in the jungle for three years. How could a young master from Noble Families like Lin Huang possibly escape his grasp?
A short while later.
"Boss, we’re losing sight of Lin Huang. He’s like a ghost."
"With me around, he won’t be able to escape my line of sight!" Crazy Cui frowned, his expression turning gloomy.
Time passed.
"Boss, it’s already been half an hour, and we haven’t even caught a glimpse of Lin Huang’s shadow!"
"What the hell are you worried about? As long as he’s still in the Qinglong Mountain Range, I’ll be able to drag him out!" Crazy Cui roared furiously.
From the canopy of a tree above, Lin Huang looked down at Crazy Cui’s retreating back with a cold smile. Then, he turned and headed back toward the cliff from before.
"The boss and the others have been gone for half an hour. You don’t think something happened to them, do you?" by the cliff, a member of the Violent Bear Mercenary Corps voiced his concern.
"What could possibly happen? Can ten people not beat a single guy? Besides, that kid is only at the Human Element Second Heaven Realm. Even I could slap him to death with one palm!" another Mercenary laughed.
"This Iron Wolf Mercenary Corps is quite capable. They’re about to subdue the Thousand Mechanism Python after just half an hour."
"We can’t let them free their hands, or else the few of us won’t be able to keep them in check."
"Then how about I go give this big snake a hand?"
The mercenaries chatted brazenly, clearly not taking Qin Lie and his group seriously at all.
As for Qin Lie, he was only at the Human Element Fifth Heaven. No matter how formidable he was, he couldn’t defeat dozens of people.
Soon after, a large man from the Violent Bear Mercenary Corps stepped forward. He walked toward the Iron Wolf Mercenary Corps and the Thousand Mechanism Python with a vicious, bloodthirsty grin on his face.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past the large man’s eyes.
THUD!
Everyone looked up, only to see the large man suddenly pitch forward and collapse onto the ground. Blood seeped from his neck, and his eyes were wide open. His face still bore that malevolent smile.
"Who is it? Get the hell out here!" a Mercenary instantly shouted, scanning their surroundings vigilantly.
It wasn’t just him; all the members of the Violent Bear Mercenary Corps were now on edge, like frightened birds. They couldn’t believe that a Martial Artist at the Human Element Third Heaven had been instantly killed just like that.
The group turned around, only to see Lin Huang wiping the blood off his dagger. His cold, terrifying gaze was like that of a vicious wolf patrolling its prey.
In the next moment, Qin Lie snapped out of his daze and immediately made his move!
Following that, the Iron Wolf Mercenary Corps fully subdued the Thousand Mechanism Python and turned their attention to dealing with the Violent Bear Mercenary Corps.
As for Lin Huang, he once again concealed his presence. His Realm was too low; if he engaged in a head-on clash, he definitely wouldn’t be a match for them. Fortunately, he just so happened to be proficient in assassinations.
Within a mere quarter hour, three more Martial Artists had fallen to Lin Huang’s dagger.
"Let’s go!"
In the middle of the battlefield, the Violent Bear Mercenary Corps entangled with the group for a while longer. After having seven of their men killed, their expressions finally changed. Gritting their teeth, they immediately retreated.
Afterward, Lin Huang plucked the Thousand Mechanism Bone-Cleansing Flowers and handed two of them over to Qin Lie.
"Thank you, Brother Lin!" Qin Lie let out a hearty laugh. "It’s truly hard to imagine that you are the Young Master of the Divine General’s Mansion."
Lin Huang’s reputation in the Imperial City had always been poor. Constantly exposed to such rumors, everyone naturally formed their own preconceived notions. Seeing Lin Huang act like this today, Qin Lie realized how different he was from what he had imagined and couldn’t help but laugh at himself in a self-deprecating manner.
"Wildman Brother, so you really are that big tortoise of the Divine General’s Mansion that Brother Ce was talking about..." the little girl, Qin Lingxuan, spoke with naive innocence from the side.
Qin Lie’s expression froze.
Lin Huang patted the little girl’s head and smiled warmly. "Little Ling’er, now that you’ve got what you need, hurry up and go save him!"
"Mhm!"
The little girl nodded earnestly. She then suddenly jumped up and kissed Lin Huang on the cheek. Smacking her lips, she said with a look of utter disgust, "Wildman Brother, you need to take a bath!"
Lin Huang was speechless.
Qin Lie was speechless.
"Then we will take our leave." Qin Lie cupped his fists. "Brother Lin, please be careful. That Violent Bear Mercenary Corps definitely won’t let this go easily."
Qin Lie then pulled Lin Huang aside and whispered, "Brother Lin, we didn’t come into the mountains entirely unprepared this time. In a col ten miles away from here, we buried enough explosives to level a small mountain to the ground!"
"Thank you. Let’s hope I don’t have to use them!"
Lin Huang smiled. Suddenly, he felt quite curious about this Qin Xuance. He thought, "He instructed Qin Lie to use a Compass to find the Thousand Mechanism Bone-Cleansing Flower, use a Realgar Needle-Piercing Net to deal with the Thousand Mechanism Python, and bury explosives in the col to prevent future troubles... He clearly made ample preparations."
He wondered, "Could it really be that guy? No, it definitely isn’t!"
After Qin Lie and his group left, dragging the Thousand Mechanism Python with them, Lin Huang let out a long sigh of relief. Looking at the Thousand Mechanism Bone-Cleansing Flower in his hands, a smile crept onto his lips.
"Minor Achievement Realm..."