A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 41: Chapter 40: Hiring an Assassin

The wilderness was fraught with danger, but the Concealing Breath and Concealing Trace Technique made things much safer.

Lü Zhong used Concealing Breath and Traces the entire way, constantly scouting with his Qi Observation Skill. He encountered no danger on his journey and soon arrived near his destination.

It was a settlement that had been abandoned for many years, built beside a small river about ten feet wide. A circular wall with multiple breaches enclosed about a dozen simple houses, built of either thatch or solid wood and scattered about randomly.

Left unrepaired for a long time, the houses had become dilapidated, ready to collapse at any moment.

Outside the settlement lay nearly a hundred acres of fields overgrown with weeds, likely left behind by the Loose Cultivators who first settled here. Many grains still grew among the weeds, clearly hardy, drought-resistant varieties.

Perched in a crooked tree, Lü Zhong carefully observed the settlement.

Slowly, a map of the settlement began to form in his mind.

Just then, he made a discovery.

To the southeast of the settlement, a faint Spiritual Light emanated from a structure of three connected thatched huts.

’One... two... two people. Judging by the intensity of the Spiritual Light, they’re at the Qi Refining First Layer. They’re probably Wilderness Independent Cultivators. Perfect for some practice.’ The Spiritual Light in Lü Zhong’s eyes faded as an idea suddenly struck him: to practice what he had learned from the Experience Book.

Using the shadows of the buildings and relying on the stealth techniques taught in his Experience Book on Stealth, Lü Zhong avoided any potential lines of sight from the Wilderness Independent Cultivators and crept silently toward the three connected huts.

He saw this as a trial to sharpen his skills, and the two Wilderness Independent Cultivators inside were his whetstones.

Gradually, he got close enough to hear their conversation.

’They probably never imagined someone could sneak up right under their noses.’

He carefully avoided a noise trap made of bones and rocks—a common type used by Wilderness Independent Cultivators. When triggered, the sound served as an alarm.

Lü Zhong crept a few more steps forward until he was less than a hundred feet from the thatched hut. Peeking through a crack in the wall, he could see what was happening inside.

Just as his Qi Observation Skill had indicated, there were indeed two cultivators inside: a man and a woman. They were clearly in the afterglow of intimacy, their clothes scattered all over the floor.

The man was panting heavily, and the woman’s face was flushed.

Having apparently rested enough, the two began to get busy again.

Lü Zhong froze for a moment, surprised at the sight.

He stared straight ahead, motionless, as if captivated.

”You bitch! How dare you do this to me!”

Just then, a cry of shock and rage rang out.

The man shoved the woman away, only to find his face had inexplicably turned a dark, purplish-black. His body then went rigid, and moments later, black blood began to trickle from his mouth.

The woman, however, stood up with a giggle, a mocking look on her face. ”My dear Brother Cheng, you can go on and die in peace. It’s just that Rouniang wants to move into the Workshop Market. With the Spirit Stones on you, I can finally leave the wilderness and go live there.”

”You... bitch!” The man spat out the two words through gritted teeth just before he drew his last breath.

Ignoring the man’s curses, the woman, still grinning, walked to the wall, picked up a Small Yellow Crossbow, and fired three bolts into his head.

Witnessing the entire scene, Lü Zhong was once again reminded of the wickedness of the human heart.

’The old saying is true,’ he thought. ’Lust is a blade dangling over a man’s head.’

He remained perfectly still. ’Though the woman is a venomous viper, she hasn’t wronged me,’ he thought. ’No need to get involved and avenge the dead man.’

The woman then got dressed. She now looked like a modestly attractive young lady from a respectable family. Anyone who hadn’t just witnessed her vicious act would surely be deceived by her convincing disguise.

No wonder the dead man had fallen for her trap.

The woman swayed over to the man’s discarded clothes and quickly found a small pouch. She gave it a shake, and the crisp clinking of Spirit Stones sounded from within.

”Tch. Only three Spirit Stones.”

Apparently dissatisfied, the woman spat on the corpse.

She continued searching and found two Talismans in a hidden compartment of the clothing. A smile finally broke across her face. ”An Arrow Avoidance Talisman and a Golden Light Talisman... Hehe, now *this* is a real score!”

As she spoke, a figure materialized behind her.

The woman seemed to sense something, but before she could turn around, a powerful blow struck the back of her head.

THUD! Her body collapsed heavily to the floor.

Lü Zhong expressionlessly withdrew his hand, inwardly amazed at the effectiveness of his Breath Concealing Skill and Stealth Technique. He had managed to sneak up right behind her without being detected and knock her out with ease.

After a quick search, he found five Spirit Stones on her, along with three Cleaning Talismans.

’I might not be one for personal revenge, but I have no problem enacting justice.’

’I’ll gladly accept these as my reward.’

However, he couldn’t find the poison she had used on the man, even after searching all of her clothes and checking the hidden compartments.

’Strange, where did she hide the poison?’ Lü Zhong wondered.

He didn’t dwell on it. Glancing at the dead man’s clothes on the floor, he recalled that the woman hadn’t finished searching them. He began to inspect the remaining garments and soon found a wax-sealed letter.

The handwriting inside was crooked and difficult to decipher, making it a strain to read.

The contents revealed it to be an anonymous hit letter: someone had paid to have a Talisman Maker assassinated. This sort of work was routine for Wilderness Independent Cultivators, so finding it here wasn’t surprising.

But when he saw the target’s profile attached at the end, Lü Zhong froze.

”Hey, isn’t this me?”

He never would have imagined that he himself would be the target of an assassination.

The letter was anonymous, offering no further clues.

But on the back of the letter, a name was scrawled in charcoal.

It looked like the dead man had written it, and now it conveniently revealed the identity of the client.

”Lin Zhongze... I never would have thought it was you.”

Lü Zhong recalled the incident with the Demon Beast hide and suddenly understood the motive. Lin Zhongze probably couldn’t let go of his grudge; after all, he was an incredibly petty man.

After a moment, he rubbed his temples and glanced at the woman on the ground. The identity of the man she had killed was now clear: he was likely the assassin sent to kill him.

Assassination wasn’t like open combat. There were plenty of ways to kill someone of a higher cultivation level.

Even though the assassin was only at the Qi Refining First Layer, assassinating a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator was not difficult at all. There were far too many ways to accomplish it.

Since the man was an assassin, the woman must have been his accomplice.

’I thought she was just a venomous woman, but it turns out she was an assassin’s accomplice. It seems I can’t let you live...’ Lü Zhong thought, his face impassive.

A flash of Sword Light streaked past. The woman’s body shuddered, and her head rolled across the floor.