"See? I told you you’re a trouble magnet. People die wherever you go..."

"..."

Chen Yan was speechless. ’It wasn’t always like this for me.’

’How could I possibly be blamed for this bizarre situation?’

Just as he was wondering if he should actually do some self-reflection, he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up to see Zhou Qingmei.

She had also heard the commotion and had been ordered by Zuo Qingshuang to investigate.

After greeting Zhai Xing and Lan Yue and learning what had happened, she came over to Fang Shuwen.

"Have you found anything?"

Fang Shuwen thought for a moment before replying:

"I wouldn’t call it a discovery... I just have a feeling that this whole thing is a bit strange."

"What do you mean?"

Chen Yan couldn’t help but look at Fang Shuwen.

So far, everyone had been focused on the killer’s whereabouts, what kind of Martial Arts was used, and the safety of the person who had been abducted.

But Fang Shuwen called it strange... Chen Yan couldn’t immediately see what was so strange about it.

"If, as you said, the killers are the Sang Mountain Seven Face, then..."

Before he could finish, he suddenly heard frantic footsteps approaching.

Looking up, they saw Chen Yan’s little salt-and-pepper donkey charging head-first right at him.

Fang Shuwen pulled Zhou Qingmei aside, and they instantly vacated the spot.

By the time Chen Yan heard the noise and turned around, it was too late... The donkey slammed into him, sending him flying into the air. He landed draped over its back, face askew, and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Only Chen Yan’s furious voice echoed back:

"You beast! I only took one of your carrots! Was it necessary to be so rough?

"Come... Today, you and I will fight to the death!!"

Zhou Qingmei stared, dumbfounded.

"What was that thing that just flew by?"

"...Chen Yan’s mount."

Fang Shuwen clicked his tongue.

"It’s fine. He and his mount roughhouse like this every day. He’s not going to die."

Zhou Qingmei heard how full of life Chen Yan’s voice sounded and figured Fang Shuwen wasn’t exaggerating. He probably wouldn’t die.

So she asked:

"So, you were saying..."

Fang Shuwen collected his thoughts and then continued:

"I just feel that the Sang Mountain Seven Face’s target must be Xu Shuxin."

"In that case, they definitely didn’t come here to kill people."

"Instead, they should be trying to sneak in by any means possible... to find Xu Shuxin’s whereabouts."

"They should also be doing everything they can to avoid alerting the enemy."

"But right now, this spot is on the outskirts of Yuqing Pavilion, far from the core buildings and far from the guest rooms."

"The Sang Mountain Seven Face are quite notorious. If they truly intended to hide, they shouldn’t have been discovered out here, even if they couldn’t sneak all the way to the guest rooms."

"This situation gives me the feeling that they had no intention of sneaking in at all. They were simply here... to kill."

"Or rather... a provocation!"

Zhou Qingmei nodded upon hearing this.

"The Sang Mountain Seven Face may have some renown, but they’re nothing compared to Yuqing Pavilion."

"This action is indeed strange... For them, doing this serves no purpose other than to raise Yuqing Pavilion’s guard and draw our animosity."

"Could it be that their brazen attack has another purpose?"

Fang Shuwen said softly:

"That will depend on whether we can catch them."

Zhai Xing and Lan Yue were still issuing orders: search for the enemy’s tracks while having the sect’s experts tighten defenses, so as to avoid falling for a ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain.

Because of this, the entirety of Yuqing Pavilion was lit up by torches, as bright as day.

Under these circumstances, if the plan was to use the murders to draw Yuqing Pavilion’s attention and then sneak in to abduct Xu Shuxin... that was now completely impossible.

However, to prevent any accidents, Fang Shuwen decided to go check on Xu Shuxin anyway.

Zhou Qingmei didn’t go back to report to Zuo Qingshuang, but followed behind Fang Shuwen instead.

As it turned out, Xu Shuxin was safe and sound. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

After being woken from his sleep by Fang Shuwen, he had a confused look on his face, so Fang Shuwen told him to go back to sleep.

Lan Yue had clearly put a lot of thought into his accommodations; the surrounding defenses were tight. It was expected that even if the remaining four members of the Sang Mountain Seven Face attacked together, they wouldn’t gain the slightest advantage.

But this just made the whole affair even more bizarre.

Just then, a red light suddenly flared on the horizon.

Fang Shuwen’s eyes narrowed slightly. He exchanged a look with Zhou Qingmei, and without a second thought, she grabbed his hand, activated her Lightweight Technique, and leaped into the air.

This was a rapport they had developed previously.

Back when Fang Shuwen didn’t know the Lightweight Technique, he would lend his Inner Strength to Zhou Qingmei and borrow her skill to travel quickly.

But Fang Shuwen was no longer the novice he once was. Before Zhou Qingmei could even exert her strength, he was pulling her along, heading straight for the flare.

Zhou Qingmei was slightly taken aback, and a small pang of disappointment suddenly struck her heart.

But seeing that Fang Shuwen was still holding her hand, that little bit of disappointment vanished without a trace.

The defensive formations within Yuqing Pavilion did not change because of the flare.

Meanwhile, the Yuqing Pavilion disciples who were outside searching for the enemy all began to converge on the flare’s location.

「Meanwhile, at a certain location on Qingyang Mountain, a battle was nearing its end.」

The bodies of four Yuqing Pavilion disciples were scattered on the ground, while the remaining two fought for their lives.

Across from them was a group of bizarrely-shaped people. They were all adorned with bone ornaments—bracelets, necklaces—and the weapons they wielded were also crafted from polished bone.

This group possessed extraordinary Martial Arts and fought with a reckless disregard for their own lives. Even when injured, they seemed to feel nothing, their attacks only growing more vicious and cruel.

Of the original group of six from Yuqing Pavilion, the two survivors found it increasingly difficult to resist, barely managing to hold on.

Away from the main fight, a withered old man wearing a bone mask stood atop a large boulder.