Chapter 28: The Assassination

Ji Xun and Qu Qing walked one after the other, making their way deeper into the mountain forest under the moonlight.

The moonlight filtered through the hundred trees, casting the fallen leaves on the ground into a tapestry of light and shadow.

As they walked through the woods, Ji Xun quickly sensed something amiss.

There were only the calls of birds and the roars of beasts in the forest, but no sound of insects.

He had climbed the mountain with the black bear spirit many times, but this was the first time he had encountered such silence.

Even near places teeming with beasts and insects, the songs of insects would still be heard.

“Could it be...” As Ji Xun turned his head, he happened to glance at Qu Qing once more.

There was not the slightest hint of unease on Qu Qing’s face, as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual in the forest.

But that didn’t make sense, for Qu Qing had also grown up at the foot of the mountain.

As mischievous children, they had all climbed the mountain before, and naturally, he should know of the winter insects that dwelled there.

These insects chirped on even through the coldest winters.

Or had he simply forgotten? But that was even less likely.

At the eighth tier of the Profound Realm, whether cultivating essence, energy, or spirit, one’s memory far surpassed that of ordinary people.

“Perhaps this fellow possesses some cultivation method or bloodline that suppresses ordinary insects,” Ji Xun suddenly considered.

...

Ji Xun said, “This is the place. That’s the hive...”

Qu Qing glanced around. In an instant, his pair of black pupils split into several amber ones, resembling the compound eyes of some insect.

His gaze finally settled on the beehive beneath the towering ancient tree.

The beehive that Ji Xun had chopped down earlier had already been repaired, though the new section was slightly different in color.

“Good. You haven’t told anyone else about this hive, have you?”

“No, you’re the only one I’ve mentioned it to.” Ji Xun’s mouth curled into a sly grin, as if he’d already guessed what was about to happen.

“Then you can rest assured and go to—”

Qu Qing hadn’t finished speaking before Ji Xun struck first, driving his short blade straight toward Qu Qing’s abdomen.

The next moment, the clash of metal rang out.

Ji Xun slashed seven or eight times in quick succession, but every blow was blocked by some unknown hard object beneath Qu Qing’s black robe.

After parrying several strikes, a pair of insect wings sprouted from Qu Qing’s back. With a tap of his toes, he widened the distance between them.

Qu Qing’s black robe was slashed open, most of it falling away to the ground.

Beneath the robe, where his forearms should have been, there now grew a pair of green mantis forelimbs.

Seeing this, Ji Xun couldn’t help but feel a chill at the ruthlessness of the man before him.

His cultivation in the Art of Shifting Mysteries allowed him to discern the truth.

This was not the external manifestation of a half-demon bloodline, but rather the result of some secret technique that had grafted mantis limbs in place of his arms.

No wonder Qu Qing had always hidden his hands, and no wonder Ji Xun’s attacks had been so easily deflected.

A twisted grin spread across Qu Qing’s face, his eyes wild with mania.

“Who would have thought, truly, that a mere farmhand like you would reach the eighth tier of the Profound Realm, standing at the same level as me. I can’t imagine what sort of opportunity you must have stumbled upon.”

Ji Xun stood at ease, his posture full of apparent flaws, yet ready to strike at any moment.

“I didn’t expect you to actually replace your arms with those of a demon. Such a crude method, one that damages your very foundation—and you dare to use it.”

“What’s a pair of hands? Nothing worth fussing over. I’d rather ask you—my old man, you drowned him in the pond, didn’t you?”

So Qu Qing had found the bottom of the pond—this man had come prepared, and would not be easy to deal with.

“You say nothing, I’ll take that as confirmation. I should thank you, then. Well done—otherwise, sooner or later I’d have had to dirty my own hands.”

Patricide and kin-slaying, spoken as casually as if describing breakfast.

“All right, once I’ve captured you, I’ll see what secrets you’re hiding.”

The transparent wings on Qu Qing’s back gave a buzz, his figure darting forward. The mantis limbs swept down like twin blades, cleaving toward Ji Xun.

Ji Xun’s feet remained planted; he simply shifted his body, deftly dodging the twin strikes.

Qu Qing’s blades came again, demonic energy coiling around his forelimbs, forming blade-like auras that extended their reach.

The sudden lengthening of the blades left Ji Xun no time to evade—two wounds instantly appeared across his chest.

A tingling numbness radiated from the cuts.

The blades were poisoned.

Ji Xun immediately used the Demon-Refining Gourd to draw out the demonic poison, but this time the toxin seemed particularly virulent—the extraction was slow.

At the same time, he employed the Twin Forms of Tiger and Crane, fighting and retreating.

His boxing shifted between hardness and softness, and even against those mantis limbs, he was not at a disadvantage.

Qu Qing’s cultivation seemed to follow the path of the Profound Vital Breath, his flesh somewhat weaker, but suffused with demonic energy.

“You’re no match for me, accept your fate. If I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll spare your life—or even recommend you to my sect.”

“Oh? Such generosity?” Ji Xun retorted, and suddenly a stone appeared in his hand.

With a flick of his wrist, the stone shot out, striking the beehive in the tree.

Hundreds of golden-armored bees, startled, swarmed from the hive and flew at the two men.

Seeing that the swarm was much smaller than before, Ji Xun realized the hive had already split. He wondered which queen had emerged victorious.

But faced with the oncoming tide of bees, Qu Qing was already thinking of escape.

He tried to beat his wings and flee, but Ji Xun landed a punch, pinning him down.

Qu Qing snarled in rage, “You fool—are you really going to drag us both down together?”

“Both down? I think not.”

Ji Xun raised his fingers to his lips, demonic energy swirling out as he whistled sharply, making Qu Qing’s ears ring with pain.

With each whistle, a thunderous noise drew nearer—a massive black bear, nearly a ton in weight, charged into the fray.

It was none other than the black bear spirit, who had awakened early from hibernation and ascended to the eighth tier.

Even the old tree hollow could barely contain its girth anymore—this winter had been bountiful indeed. With its advancement, the black bear spirit had finally awakened its innate divine power.

The enormous bear grappled with Qu Qing, while the golden-armored bees swept down in droves.

Seeing this, Ji Xun immediately used the Crane-Form Escape Technique and vanished into the distance.

As the bees closed in, the black bear spirit’s demonic energy seemed to merge with the very earth beneath its feet.

A thick suit of demonic armor formed over its body.

This was the bear spirit’s innate divine ability—no mention of it could be found in any text.

Ji Xun named this technique “Armor of the Earth’s Might.”

Earth’s Might—meaning “the power of the land.”

The black bear spirit melded with the earth, drawing upon the veins of the land to withstand the venomous stings of the golden-armored bees.

Meanwhile, Qu Qing’s twin blades danced in a frenzy, able only to fend off most of the bees.

“You little wretch—you’ve made me pay such a price!”

Qu Qing’s gaze was venomous as he looked ahead, then spat a mouthful of blood. The blood seemed to be drawn away by something unseen, vanishing into the air.

Ji Xun saw it all clearly—there appeared to be a kind of insect nest suspended in the air, draining Qu Qing’s vital blood.

The nest floated in the air, and Ji Xun’s attention never left it.

In the next instant, the golden-armored bees ceased attacking Qu Qing and all turned toward Ji Xun.

Qu Qing was left in shock. “You—you saw something just now, didn’t you?”

Ji Xun nimbly dodged the swarm, his demonic energy shaping his form into that of a crane demon, pecking the bees out of the air one by one.

These bees’ golden armor was incredibly tough, able even to mend itself when cracked, and when they swarmed together, their combined demonic aura made them even harder to break.

Seeing Ji Xun remain silent, Qu Qing spoke again.

“You saw—you definitely saw it. I’ll ask you one question, and you must answer truthfully.”

“What comes after ‘the odd remains, the even changes’?”