Chapter 022
Chapter 22: The Hunter
“So my earlier guess was right,” Li Mu Sheng said, not seeming surprised.
“The General Wu An’s household secretly searches for the lost Seventh Prince. These two deliberately revealed fake identities, allowing themselves to be discovered and taken by General Wu An’s men to Shang Yang City.”
Cang Yin Yue spoke as her gaze drifted briefly to the ugly woman lying on the ground.
At that moment, the woman finally withdrew her eyes from the corpse of the scholar. Frightened, she hurriedly said:
“The matter of Great Li’s Seventh Prince is known throughout the entire Martial World. My junior brother and I just thought to test our luck, hoping we might sneak through. If we succeeded, wealth and glory would have been ours forever.”
Hearing this, Li Mu Sheng nodded in sudden realization.
“Indeed, the best hunters often appear as prey.”
Cang Yin Yue’s eyes flickered, and she abruptly asked:
“You seemed to know early on that the scholar had issues. How did you find out?”
Li Mu Sheng rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“The scholar’s disguise wasn’t very good. Whether climbing the steep mountain paths or being chased by the Bloodbath Alliance, he pretended to be exhausted, but he managed with ease.”
“Not only was he completely uninjured, but after a full day of trouble, he seemed perfectly fine. That was very strange.”
“Of course, when this senior sister of his was being pursued by the Bloodbath Alliance, perhaps out of worry for her, he accidentally revealed a trace of his true strength. That confirmed my suspicion.”
Cang Yin Yue nodded thoughtfully.
After hearing Li Mu Sheng’s words, the ugly woman’s head suddenly drooped, and she murmured softly:
“I knew my junior brother couldn’t have been heartless toward me. We grew up together as childhood sweethearts. He even said once, when we were small, that he would marry me.”
“If I hadn’t disfigured myself while cultivating poison techniques and felt unworthy of him, we might have been married already…”
Her gaze drifted to the mangled corpse of the scholar, and suddenly she began to laugh bitterly.
“My junior brother also said, when he became the Seventh Prince, he’d have the Imperial Palace’s best royal physician heal my face and restore my beauty…”
At this point, she fell silent for a moment.
Then, tears streaming down her face, she slowly lifted her head, glaring coldly at Li Mu Sheng and hissed fiercely:
“You killed my junior brother! I know I won’t survive tonight, but even if I die, I’ll make you pay the price!”
As she spoke, she bit down sharply on something hidden in her mouth, suddenly letting out a wicked laugh:
“Master will avenge us!”
Visible to the naked eye, her face began corroding from within, rapidly dissolving and spreading across her body.
In mere moments, the woman’s flesh and bones melted entirely into black water and dark smoke, releasing an extremely pungent stench that drifted up into the sky, dispersing into the forest.
Seeing this, Cang Yin Yue’s expression grew grim as she said:
“She did this to send out a special signal flare. She’s alerting the Formless Elder.”
Li Mu Sheng waved his hand and frowned slightly.
“It smells terrible. Let’s hurry along.”
Cang Yin Yue turned sharply toward him:
“You’re not worried at all?”
Li Mu Sheng glanced once at the scholar’s corpse, then lightly leaped onto his pack mule, chuckling softly.
“My disciple forgot to give me something, so her master traveled all this way to deliver it personally. At least she’s considerate.”
Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue stared at Li Mu Sheng quietly for a long moment, her delicate brows knitting together unconsciously.
“You were able to kill this scholar, meaning you must possess strength at least in the Martial Grandmaster realm. Though I know I shouldn’t pry too much into your affairs…”
“I believe you must have had some extraordinary encounter—a tremendous opportunity that countless Martial World practitioners would desperately fight for. Otherwise, at such a young age, you wouldn’t possess such astonishing skill, nor wield such a rare martial art capable of sealing acupoints from a distance.”
A complicated expression flickered in her eyes as she continued:
“Still, let me advise you. Until the prince’s identity is confirmed, don’t reveal your true power unless absolutely necessary.”
“The Imperial Capital is far more complicated than you can imagine. Until the dust settles, anything can happen, and your life could be lost at any moment.”
“Also, once we reach Shang Yang City, trust no one easily—not even me.”
Hearing her words, Li Mu Sheng’s curiosity was piqued.
“Why?”
“No reason. I’ve said enough. Just remember my words tonight, for I won’t repeat them.”
With that, Cang Yin Yue turned and walked into the valley, personally cutting off the heads of the three heavily wounded experts from the Bloodbath Alliance.
There was no doubt these three were also on the imperial elimination list.
Afterward, Cang Yin Yue glanced briefly at Meng Shan and Yuan Mei but ultimately chose not to harm them. She returned swiftly to the mountain path, gracefully leaping onto her mule.
“Let’s go,” she called calmly and led the way forward.
Li Mu Sheng shrugged casually. Although she had spoken a great deal, he didn’t take it too seriously.
He gently patted his mule, moving onto the moonlit mountain path. Under the moon’s silver glow, the woods appeared tranquil and beautiful, a stark contrast to the valley filled with gruesome corpses behind them.
It felt as though they were stepping into another world.
…
Two days passed without further trouble, and Li Mu Sheng and Cang Yin Yue entered Jing Province smoothly.
Upon entering Jing Province, Li Mu Sheng immediately noticed a difference compared to other provinces in Great Li.
Here, cities were orderly, and farms and marketplaces flourished. While there were many warriors and martial artists on the roads, he saw no fights or bloodshed.
It seemed the Martial World here had changed its nature; even when martial artists encountered government constables, they behaved respectfully.
They even encountered a group of government soldiers heading to eliminate mountain bandits, with several Martial World heroes willingly joining to offer aid.
“Miss Cang, Jing Province looks quite pleasant. Is Shang Yang City, directly beneath the emperor’s feet, really as dreadful as you described?”
Since that night, Li Mu Sheng had repeatedly tried talking with Cang Yin Yue, but she remained distant, lost in her own thoughts.
Li Mu Sheng guessed her attitude changed mostly because he had slain the scholar and exposed a fraction of his true ability.
Though he didn’t care much about her earlier warnings, he had noticed the shift in how she regarded him as the Seventh Prince.
[This young lady must be hiding something from me.]
Li Mu Sheng thoughtfully watched Cang Yin Yue’s retreating figure.
Just then, she suddenly turned around.
“Jing Province is indeed peaceful. If you were an ordinary person, you could live here quietly your entire life.”
“Sadly, you are not ordinary. Besides, do tigers and snakes easily show their claws and fangs?”
“When they do, it is to devour their prey. And within Shang Yang City, too many hidden tigers and venomous snakes await.”