Fu Nan-hua returned to his senses, his gaze sweeping the surroundings, not even neglecting the rooftops of the narrow lane. Yet, he perceived no anomalies. He inhaled deeply, neither advancing nor retreating. Once more, he instinctively reached for his ancestral jade pendant, only to find empty air. He hastily recited a fragmented passage of Daoist incantation, not a spell of power, but a method to calm his mind and gather his qi. If his heart was a small boat upon a lake, then this incantation served as its anchor.

He turned sideways, his back against a wall, and stepped sideways until he reached the fork in the alleyways. His muscles tensed, assuming a defensive posture, wary of any carelessness. He fixed his gaze on the narrow lane. There, within his sight, stood the straw-sandaled youth beside the blood-soaked body of Cai Jin-jian. The youth’s body was slightly hunched, maintaining a subtle offensive stance, equally fixated upon Fu Nan-hua. The two faced each other like tiger and wolf; one sought answers, the other survival, their motives distinct. This abruptly appearing youth’s target had likely only been Cai Jin-jian. The posture the youth instinctively displayed towards Fu Nan-hua’s appearance held more of an implication of “I will not offend you unless you offend me.”

Fu Nan-hua asked a redundant question, “Did you kill her?”

The youth remained silent, his hand still gripping the murder weapon: a shard of broken porcelain, slightly smaller than his palm, the portion exposing his fist exceedingly sharp. The youth’s hand was dripping with blood, whether from Cai Jin-jian or from the porcelain piercing his palm, it splattered onto the alleyway floor. After confirming that no one else was around, Fu Nan-hua felt both an absurd disbelief and a sense of relief. Finally, he cast his gaze upon Cai Jin-jian’s delicate form. Even in this wretched scene, her innate beauty and graceful figure remained undiminished. Her full bosom rose and fell slightly, crimson blood continuously flowing from her neck and mouth, her vitality nearing its end. However, her robust physique, repeatedly tempered by qi, would also cause her to bear a heavier and more prolonged pain than ordinary folk.

A faint smile appeared on Fu Nan-hua’s face, a smile edged with chilling severity. He inquired, “Why did you kill her? You had no grudges against this sister, so was it because she played a joke on you in Mud Bottle Lane that you had to kill her? When did this town become so lawless? Do you know that a life for a life, debts must be repaid, it’s the same everywhere.”

The youth was like a mute, unmoving and silent. Fu Nan-hua disregarded the youth’s thoughts and began to advance slowly, his steps firm.

He knew Cai Jin-jian was doomed. This was not the immortal-qi-laden Cloudglow Mountain, but a heavenly prison where magic was forbidden. Unless a terrestrial immortal or a golden-bodied arhat of supreme cultivation appeared, willing to sacrifice a great portion of their power to exchange for her life, could her soul be suppressed and she be revived. Sadly, Cai Jin-jian would never have such overwhelming fortune. The saint in this town, burdened with great responsibility, overlooked all living beings and would not favor one over another, only going with the natural flow.

On the path of cultivation, unexpected deaths on the broad highway or on the single-plank bridge in pursuit of a sliver of opportunity were bound to occur. Though not exceedingly common, they were by no means rare events.

If achieving immortality meant everything progressing smoothly, each step carefully calculated, free of disaster and harm, enjoying benefits without bearing risk, then the carefree immortals in the eyes of common folk would seem too insignificant.

Therefore, Fu Nan-hua had even prepared for a life-or-death struggle during this trip to the town. But to see a temporary ally, walking alongside him, killed in the blink of an eye by someone in this town, under the very eyes of a saint, was a first for the young master of Old Dragon City. No dazzling displays of magical treasure clashing, no earth-shattering immortal techniques, merely slaughtered by a low-born peasant? Fu Nan-hua was shocked and fundamentally unable to accept this absurd reality. If it were not for this town, even a distant glimpse of Cai Jin-jian of Cloudglow Mountain would be an unattainable dream for a small figure like this straw-sandaled youth, whose life was as worthless as weeds.

Fu Nan-hua’s expression grew solemn. He stated in a deep voice, “Although I was too late to save Immortal Cai, and cannot kill you to avenge her, I have witnessed your crime. If I do nothing, the reputation of Old Dragon City will be ruined. So, by reason and propriety, I must teach you a lesson. As for how Cloudglow Mountain handles this and brings justice to Immortal Cai, that is your affair.”

These high-sounding words from the young master of Old Dragon City were intended for the saint of this place, courteous words to avoid making his subsequent actions too unsightly, which might offend the saint. In the future, there was also the possibility that these words would be heard by the old patriarchs of Cloudglow Mountain. Fu Nan-hua was merely securing a display of his utmost effort for appearances. Otherwise, Fu Nan-hua, who already harbored the intent to kill Cai Jin-jian, truly wanted to reward the youth before him handsomely. The youth’s accidental, reckless actions had saved him a great deal of trouble and were truly a blessing.

As Fu Nan-hua advanced, he said, “The way you killed suggests that the instantaneous explosive power of your body is no less, if not greater, than that of ordinary young men. This is quite rare. If it were not for this incident, given the opportunity to join the military, daring to kill and fight, with some lucky coincidences, you might gain the favor of some military grandee or martial general from a battlefield family, who would bestow upon you a technique for body tempering. If you diligently trained your body, in twenty or thirty years, you might create a new world for yourself.”

As Fu Nan-hua walked forward, the youth began to retreat slowly, facing the high-crowned, large-sleeved young master of Old Dragon City.

The slender Fu Nan-hua walked in the alley, handsome and refined, possessing a natural air of wealth and refinement.

Fu Nan-hua extended a hand, palm down, and held it at his waist, smiling, “What a pity. Your fate is not good, otherwise, according to my words, you would have the opportunity to achieve such great things… which is impossible.”

Fu Nan-hua was amused by his own joke, his smile deepening as he stepped forward. His foot suddenly hung half a foot above the ground. “My apologies, it’s *this* high, actually.”

Fu Nan-hua found it difficult not to be happy.

After entering the town, the transaction with the Mud Bottle Lane youth, Song Ji-xin, had yielded profits far exceeding expectations.

Then, Cai Jin-jian, who was highly likely to be an obstacle to his great path, had died suddenly before him. He could not only keep his hands clean and free from blood, but he could also freely obtain the two bags of gold and copper coins on her person and perhaps even find one or two secret treasures of Cloudglow Mountain. Even if they were not treasures of the mountain, they would certainly be of high quality. He did not believe that Cai Jin-jian would not have any talismans for protection on her person. For example, Fu Nan-hua, besides the Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant that was merely a smokescreen, also carried two small items of excellent quality and high rank, almost considered treasures from Old Dragon City’s vault.

Therefore, among unorthodox cultivators, a popular saying circulated: “Burying the dead brings good fortune.”

Fu Nan-hua passed Cai Jin-jian’s corpse without even a glance.

Instead, the faint smell of blood put him in a state of inexplicable excitement.

Advancing and retreating, the two remained ten paces apart.

Fu Nan-hua only needed to ensure that the youth could not escape the alley. If he wanted to catch a youth who had grown up here, it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, especially with the still-warm corpse of the beauty behind him serving as a warning. Once the youth was given enough breathing room, “surprises” might land on his head.

Fu Nan-hua seemed to be playing cat and mouse, but he was actually adjusting his physical rhythm. After all, since he officially stepped onto the path of cultivation at the age of nine, he had never had a chance to rely purely on close combat to determine victory or defeat.

Of course, he did not need to fight the youth to the death, as that would be a losing proposition, amounting to two obtainable opportunities in vain, including Cai Jin-jian. But it was imperative to ensure that this unexpected youth would lie obediently in bed in the near future, leaving him no possibility of causing trouble.

Fu Nan-hua suddenly asked with a smile, “By the way, what’s your name?”

The youth, whose hands continued to drip with blood, gave an irrelevant answer. His dark face was full of the resilience of the wild grasses of his homeland. “You and she probably don’t realize this, but my eyesight is very good. So when she was chatting with me in Mud Bottle Lane, the way you looked at her was exactly the same as the way you look at me now.”

Fu Nan-hua was stunned, and his respect for the youth grew. He chuckled, “Interesting, very interesting indeed.”

Fu Nan-hua’s words and actions seemed light and casual, but he was always paying attention to the youth’s left hand, which continued to drip blood.

This indicated that the youth’s grip had never loosened, something an ordinary person would not have been able to endure against that bone-piercing pain.

Fu Nan-hua now felt that his earlier offhand remark, “What a pity,” was indeed a true assessment.

Fu Nan-hua felt that the time was right and asked one last question of interest. “You killed her with such decisiveness, someone must have tipped you off. I’m not curious about their identity, but I can’t understand how a child who grew up here could so quickly overcome that hurdle in his heart and kill with such… a clear conscience, do you understand what I mean? You should know that even I, after killing for the first time, trembled once the initial excitement wore off and recited the calming mantra for a long time before I felt better. You, on the other hand, are calm, as if you are eating and drinking, which is unreasonable…”

The previously expressionless youth suddenly revealed a look of shock and fear, his gaze staring directly behind Fu Nan-hua, as if the tall woman who had died had come back to life.

Cautious Fu Nan-hua instinctively turned his head. When his neck was halfway around, his heart shook violently.

When he turned back, due to the difference in height, the youth was gone from Fu Nan-hua’s straight and low line of sight!

In the nick of time!

It turned out that, after showing that expression and countenance, the straw-sandaled youth had, in a split second, unhesitatingly begun a burst of speed, and after three steps, his left foot suddenly exerted force, and he soared up. Finally, with his right foot on the wall of the alley, he had swiftly bounced and turned. The youth raised his left hand high towards the high-crowned man.

The youth truly resembled an eagle hunting a snake.