Chapter Thirteen: The Qin Family's Past

Page (1/3)

When I placed the talisman on Qin Qing, I had anticipated that as soon as I moved, someone would come looking for him. However, only after expelling the snake spirit attached to him and killing it with a single strike did I realize this snake was actually quite weak. It was probably sent as a messenger. As I glanced toward the door, an old man with a cigarette clenched between his lips strode in.

“Kid, you were too ruthless. How do you propose we settle this?” he said.

Mounted scouts never play by the rules or bother with pleasantries; their goal is to kill or incapacitate their opponent outright, leaving no chance to cry for help. Besides, I wasn’t here to make friends, so why should I be polite? I smiled and replied, “If I hadn’t acted, do you think we could have just shaken hands and made peace?”

The village chief’s face darkened. “If you don’t go up the mountain, we can call our feud off. If you’re ungrateful, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”

I laughed, “If you bring the person down, I won’t ascend. No room for negotiation.”

The chief sneered, then suddenly dropped to the ground and slithered like a snake, pressing his body close to the earth as he lunged toward my feet. I stepped back slightly, swung my right hand downward, and plunged the handle of the “Snowfall” dagger several inches into the soil, leaving only half the blade exposed upright.

The chief’s path was unchanged; his head would collide directly with the blade and be cleaved in two.

As I watched the soil around the chief being sent flying and his body charging toward the blade, he abruptly stopped, pressing himself against the dagger’s edge. I stepped forward and kicked down hard on the crown of his head.

The dull thud of my shoe against his skull was followed by a plume of white smoke that billowed out several meters before settling in the courtyard.

Amid the swirling smoke, a furious voice roared, “Kid, you’re vicious. If you’ve got the guts, come up the mountain. I’ll skin you alive.”

“Who skins whom isn’t so certain!” I sneered coldly. “I just happen to be short a snake-skin sheath. Your skin looks perfect.”

“You just wait!” The voice spat a final threat before dissolving into white smoke and slipping out through the door crack.

Qin Qing and I lifted the village chief and carried him inside. Only then did I notice the old man’s home was in utter disarray. Except for the Stove God and the God of Wealth statues, everything that could be broken lay shattered on the floor.

Page (2/3)

With a gentle kick, I flicked a long grey rat—over half a foot in length—from beneath the broken table. It seemed this rat was the intruder in the old man’s house.

The village chief we had placed on the kang (heated bed) woke up shortly after, clutching his head. “You really went too far,” he muttered.

Although possessed earlier, the chief could still remember what he saw; he knew I had thrown the dagger to the ground and kicked him on the head.

I smiled, “How else could I save you?”

“You were once an apprentice of the mounted scouts; you should know they never send their disciples to die. If I had done things differently, I’d have taken half your life,” he grumbled.

“Anyway, you’re no good person. Qin Qing, don’t get mixed up with him—he might sell you out. I'm leaving now!”

“Wait!” I reached out to stop him. “I haven’t finished asking. Where do you think you’re going?”

He froze. “What do you want?”

“I’m asking a few questions. After that, you can leave,” I said, my eyes flashing fiercely. “If you don’t cooperate, nobody will ever know you came here.”

The chief was visibly scared. “What are you going to do? Kill again?”

Without a word, I pressed the dagger against his shoulder and pushed downward. Startled, he sat back on the kang. “Don’t do anything reckless!”

I stared him down. “Where did Qin Yun go?”

He stammered, “That girl went up the mountain the night Qin Qing got married and never came back.”

“That night, many watched the Qin household closely, afraid something would happen and drag the village into trouble.”

“At first, I heard Qin Qing cursing inside, then saw him grab an axe and run up the mountain.”

“Villagers said once Qin Qing went up the mountain, he was done for—probably dead somewhere in the ravines. Some even suggested pooling money to handle his funeral rites, as a favor to the hometown.”

“While we were talking, someone saw Qin Yun come out as well. She was wearing bright red clothes, drifting up the mountain like a ghost.”

“No one dared follow or ask her; they just watched her leave.”

I frowned. The mountain spirits, though not necessarily all benevolent or champions of humanity, were trustworthy. If they promised Qin Qing a chance, they wouldn’t go back on their word.

Moreover, both Qin Qing and the old man had gone up the mountain. The old cat was likely toying with them—why would he have time to come back and take Qin Yun?

Could it be that Qin Yun went up the mountain on her own?

The chief, seeing my silence, continued, “People saw Qin Qing return that day. The next day after he left, a great immortal came down the mountain and stunned the villagers.”

“Many stared blankly as they went to help the Qin family renovate their house. In one night, they had the outside completely refurbished.”

“I’m the only one in the village who knows that Old Zhao moved in overnight to live in the Qin house. If you went inside now, it would look just as it did before.”

My heart stirred again. The mountain spirits’ renovation of the Qin house and the erasure of villagers’ memories—it was to hide something.

Were they afraid Qin Qing would bring reinforcements? Or were they wary of the old man’s martial brothers?

Qin Qing was not a practitioner of the mystical arts and wouldn’t know where to find real sorcerers. There was no reason for such elaborate cover-ups.

I turned to Qin Qing. “Give me your sister’s birth chart and a photo if you have one.”

Qin Qing showed me a photo on his phone. Qin Yun was very beautiful, but the picture revealed no unusual traits. Her birth chart also indicated no special fate.

The old cat claimed Qin Yun was extraordinary, yet I saw nothing of the sort.

I lightly scraped the blade’s flat edge against the chief’s neck. The man shuddered in fright.

“Has anything happened to the Qin family?” I asked.

The chief hurriedly said, “The old Qin family did have troubles. Ten years ago, Qin Yun suddenly fell ill with a high fever that wouldn’t subside.”

“The Qin couple was desperate and sought help from immortals to save her life.”

“Somehow, they managed to save Qin Yun, but the couple died mysteriously in her room.”

“The old Qin couple’s deaths were strange indeed.”

As he spoke, the chief’s face paled, as if recalling something dreadful.

Page (3/3)