Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Entering the Mountain

The man in coarse clothes sized Han Yuan up and down before saying softly, "Follow me into the mountains."

Just like that, Han Yuan followed the man into Great Tiger Mountain.

The area retained its most primitive appearance. There weren’t even stone steps—it was a completely untamed, wild forest filled with towering, sky-blotting trees and wild beasts.

Deep within Great Tiger Mountain lay a valley.

Several vicious-looking, sloppily dressed men sat casually on the ground, sharpening their blades.

"Boss, when that fat sheep gets here, are we gonna kill him?"

one of the men asked with a grin.

"If this kid is really foolish enough to come alone, my conscience wouldn’t be clear unless I killed him."

"Thinking he can buy the Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt for just five hundred taels. In his dreams."

A burly man sneered viciously.

"Exactly. We lost a few brothers getting this Secret Manual out of a tomb."

"How are we supposed to make money if we don’t slaughter a few fat sheep?"

someone chimed in.

For a moment, all the vicious men wore strange, cruel smiles.

They were a group of Tomb Raiders from near Qingshui County.

They had stolen this Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt from a tomb and then spread the word in the Black Market to sell it.

They never truly intended to sell it; they just wanted to bait a few big, fat sheep.

「A short while later.」

Han Yuan walked in, following the coarse-clothed man.

The burly man and his gang walked toward Han Yuan.

But Han Yuan glanced back and saw two men had quietly appeared to block the valley entrance.

His expression remained unchanged as he faced them.

"What, you don’t even dare to show your true face?"

the burly man with the large saber on his back sneered.

"You told me to come alone, but you didn’t say I had to show my face."

"Besides, there’s no need for us to see each other."

Han Yuan said flatly.

"Fine."

"Take out the silver and let’s see it."

the large man said belligerently.

"And the Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt?"

"Shouldn’t you show it to me first?"

Han Yuan narrowed his eyes.

"You think you can buy it for five hundred taels?"

"That’s not enough... It’s eight hundred taels of silver at a minimum."

The burly man was demanding an exorbitant price, raising it on the spot.

"Didn’t we agree on five hundred taels of silver?"

Han Yuan frowned slightly.

"Who agreed with you?"

"My word is the rule here."

The burly man sneered contemptuously.

"I didn’t bring that much silver."

Han Yuan shook his head.

"Then how much did you bring?"

the burly man asked.

"Just this."

Han Yuan tossed the blue bundle he was carrying to the burly man.

A glint of greed flashed in the burly man’s eyes, and he instinctively reached out to catch it.

「In that instant.」

The sinews and bones in Han Yuan’s body suddenly exploded outwards, his muscles swelling as he unleashed a burst of Explosive Force.

His right hand fell upon his saber’s hilt, and he drew it in a vicious slash.

SCREEE~~

It sounded like the cry of a vicious bird of prey.

A chillingly sharp glint of blade light suddenly flashed out.

The strike was too fast!

The Flying Falcon Force, combined with the Sky-Breaking Divine Power, was terrifyingly fast!

The burly man only felt a chill run through his body before he lost consciousness.

PFFT!

His head flew into the air.

As blood was still gushing from the neck, Han Yuan erupted with terrifying Power again, charging toward the other vicious men.

The cold gleam of his blade mercilessly reaped two more lives, forcing another two men back.

The coarse-clothed man who had led Han Yuan there let out a low roar, and wielding a dagger, he lunged violently toward Han Yuan’s eyes.

BANG!

Han Yuan jerked up his left arm, his elbow shooting out like a cannonball.

Mountain-Bashing Hammer!

This was a killing move from the Mountain-Breaking Fist.

It was a technique Han Yuan had only comprehended after reaching Minor Success in his Cultivation of the Mountain-Breaking Fist.

BAM!

The terrifying impact of the elbow caved in the coarse-clothed man’s chest, sending his body flying like a broken doll.

At the same time, Han Yuan twisted his waist and turned, his long saber swinging around to slash behind him.

PFFT!

Two men who had tried to ambush him from behind were instantly forced back by the blade’s light.

Han Yuan grinned, his arms erupting with power. The blade’s light danced chaotically, like countless birds taking flight.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!!

The two men screamed as they were instantly swallowed by the blade’s light, dying a gruesome death on the spot.

The two remaining men were scared out of their wits by Han Yuan’s slaughter and tried to flee.

But Han Yuan wasn’t about to let them go. He chased after them, saber in hand, and quickly ended their lives.

DRIP... DROP...

Han Yuan wiped the blood from his blade and walked over to the burly man’s corpse.

Beside it lay the blue bundle.

A dozen or so broken stones fell out from inside it.

Just like these Tomb Raiders had harbored ill intentions.

Han Yuan had also never intended to pay. From the very beginning, his plan was to kill them and take their goods.

He quickly began to loot the burly man’s body.

Soon, he found an old, ancient-looking book.

_Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt_

Han Yuan eagerly began to flip through it.

After a quick skim, he knew this Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt was the real deal.

After stowing it away, he continued searching the bodies.

Looting all the corpses yielded over a hundred taels of silver.

Moreover, on one of the men, Han Yuan discovered a tool similar to a Luoyang Shovel.

’These guys are Tomb Raiders?!’

’Could it be that my Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt was also dug up from a tomb?’

Han Yuan guessed silently.

But he wasn’t particularly bothered by the thought.

All that mattered was that the Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt was a genuine Body Tempering Martial Arts manual.

Out here in the wilderness, there was no need to dispose of the bodies.

Han Yuan knew.

Soon, wild beasts would come and devour them completely.

It just so happened that this was the hour the sun began to set.

The sky turned a bloody red, and the light in the valley grew dim.

Strange, unsettling noises began to emerge.

After nightfall, the path down the mountain would be even harder to traverse.

Han Yuan quickly left the valley, following the path he came on back down the mountain.

「A while later.」

Han Yuan felt that something was wrong.

He now found himself in a dark and gloomy part of the forest.

The woods here were dense, damp, and dark.

Strange sounds would emerge from time to time.

A light mist coiled through the trees.

’I don’t think I passed through this dense forest on my way up the mountain.’

Han Yuan thought back to his journey up.

He had deliberately memorized the route.

Logically, he shouldn’t have gotten lost.

But the mountain forest was complex, and he wasn’t familiar with Great Tiger Mountain.

It seemed perfectly normal that he could have taken a wrong turn.

Han Yuan’s expression grew grim as he carefully searched for a way out of the dark woods.

The sun was now halfway set, and the sky was a dusky gray.

All he could see were dark, dense trees. Some of the shorter copses appeared and disappeared like phantoms, a frightening and unsettling sight.

「In the mountains.」

It grew colder and more sinister.

Han Yuan felt a chill as well.

His whole body felt uncomfortable, and his heart was unsettled.

’This place... why does it feel so ominous...’

Han Yuan did his best to remain calm.

He drew his long saber.

With his saber in hand, his heart would not fall into chaos.

RUSTLE RUSTLE.

Footsteps suddenly came from the woods behind Han Yuan.

Han Yuan whipped around.

He saw a man dressed as a Hunter, carrying a Hunting Bow on his back and a wild rabbit in his hand, walk out.

"Huh... what’s someone else doing here?"

"Brother, are you lost?"

Seeing Han Yuan’s unfamiliar face, the Hunter had a guess.

But when he saw the saber in his hand, his expression also became wary.

"Yes... this is my first time on Great Tiger Mountain."

"I couldn’t find my way out."

Han Yuan said softly.

Seeing that the Hunter seemed to have no ill intent, he sheathed his saber.