The crackling of burning leaves faded, and smoke drifted slowly through the forest.
Tiger Wang leaned on his blade, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood.
A charred wound on his right shoulder was deep enough to see the bone, and his left leg was twisted unnaturally below the knee.
Chen Ye and Zhao Xun lay motionless on the ground, eyes wide open, already dead.
Lin Zhou stood at the edge of the clearing, looking at Old Man Wu, who was slumped on the ground trembling. He said softly:
"Old Wu, I've left one of them alive for you."
Old Man Wu didn't seem to hear him; his eyes were fixed on the corpses of Chen Ye and Zhao Xun, his lips quivering.
After a long time, he stiffly turned his head to look at the heavily injured Tiger Wang, his cloudy old eyes bloodshot.
"My son..." His voice was so raspy it was out of tune, "Big Ox... where is he?"
Tiger Wang coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam and slid down against the tree trunk behind him.
The intense pain made his face pale, but he actually grinned, a twisted and crazed smile:
"Your son? That simpleton... I just threw him in the mountain hollow over there. Maybe... he hasn't been carried off by wild beasts yet."
"Animal!" Old Man Wu suddenly scrambled up from the ground, stumbling toward Tiger Wang, his withered palms tightly grabbing his collar.
"Why! He was so honest... he never offended you! You people... you..."
He choked up, tears streaming down his face, but he couldn't curse any more viciously, his whole body just shaking.
Tiger Wang let him grab him, the mockery on his face deepening:
"Why? You old thing, you've lived so long and you still ask such a stupid question?"
He suddenly raised his voice: "I was tested to have Four Spiritual Roots at five years old, only to be tossed out of the mountain gates by those Sect recruiters like trash! They said, 'Waste Aptitude, no hope for Foundation Establishment in this life'! My parents spent all our wealth to send me to the market square, hoping I'd make something of myself... and what happened?"
He spat out some bloody phlegm:
"I'm forty-two this year! I've been stuck at the Peak of the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining for eight years! Eight years! Do you know how I've lived these eight years?"
"Mining for others and having my Spirit Stones withheld; going into the mountains to gather herbs and almost being bitten to death by Yao Beasts; I finally saved up some Spirit Stones to buy a Barrier-Breaking Pill, only to find it was a fake from the black market!"
"Those Sect disciples, those Family young masters—they're born with Cultivation Techniques, Medicinal Pills, and guidance from masters! What do we have?"
Tiger Wang's eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse.
"We only have these worthless lives! If we aren't ruthless, if we aren't poisonous, if we don't trample others down, we deserve to be trampled into the mud!"
Old Man Wu's grip on his collar unconsciously loosened.
Tiger Wang stared at him and continued, his tone carrying a sort of reckless frankness:
"You think we wanted to do this killing and looting from the start? The first time... was seven years ago. An injured Fifth Layer Qi Refining Loose Cultivator, carrying many good things, collapsed outside the shack I rented. I saved him. When he woke up, he tried to kill me to silence me..."
He sneered: "I killed him instead. I took his Storage Pouch, and there were more Spirit Stones inside than I'd saved in ten years. That's when I understood—what 'Righteous Path' bullshit, what 'being kind to others'? At the bottom of this cultivation world, it's all nonsense! Might makes right, and ruthlessness is the only logic!"
"Then it became a habit."
Tiger Wang's tone calmed down, carrying a strange numbness.
"Find some greenhorns, make up a story about hunting monsters or finding treasure, and lure them into the mountains. The obedient ones, I'd squeeze dry and then dispose of; the disobedient ones, I'd finish off directly. Occasionally, I'd actually kill a few low-tier Yao Beasts and sell the Materials to maintain my reputation as a 'hunter'."
Lin Zhou listened quietly without interrupting.
Tiger Wang's words crudely ripped open a cruel corner of the Loose Cultivator world.
Resources were scarce, the path forward was cut off; when hope is crushed time and again, the human heart easily slides into the abyss.
This wasn't an excuse for evil, but it was the soil where evil grew and spread.
Old Man Wu let go, stepped back twice, and slumped to the ground.
The anger on his face gradually faded, replaced by a deep exhaustion and sorrow.
He looked at Tiger Wang, his son's killer, who now seemed more like a poor wretch driven mad by this world and choosing to become a demon.
"So... you specifically pick on Loose Cultivators weaker than yourselves?" Old Man Wu's voice was very low.
"Otherwise?"
Tiger Wang scoffed.
"Rob Sect or Family disciples? Do I have a death wish? Think I've lived too long? Only Loose Cultivators like us, rolling in the mud, are the easiest to handle. You die, you rot in the mountains, and no one investigates. So many people disappear from the market square every day—who cares?"
He paused, looked at Lin Zhou, and suddenly asked:
"Kid, your methods aren't ordinary. Which Family did you come from to gain experience? Or are you a Sect sleeper agent?"
Lin Zhou shook his head: "Neither. I have Five Spiritual Roots, some Comprehension Ability for Cultivation Techniques. I'm a Loose Cultivator."
Tiger Wang froze, then laughed loudly until he coughed blood:
"Hahaha... Good, good! A Loose Cultivator... even among Loose Cultivators, a freak like you can appear! I didn't lose in vain today!"
His laughter died down, and a strange expression appeared on his face, like relief mixed with self-mockery:
"In our line of work, we knew this day would come. If I wasn't killed by you, I'd be killed by someone else, or... one day I'd kick a steel plate and die without a whole corpse. I just didn't expect to die at the hands of... one of my own kind."
He looked at Old Man Wu, his tone flattening:
"old thing, if you're going to kill or torture me, make it quick. I'm the one who killed your son."
Old Man Wu shuddered and closed his eyes.
After a long time, he opened them; there were no more tears, only a deathly gray stillness.
He tremblingly picked up the magic sword Zhao Xun had dropped and walked toward Tiger Wang.
Tiger Wang closed his eyes and straightened his back, not begging for mercy.
The sound of the magic sword piercing his chest wasn't loud.
Tiger Wang's body jerked violently, a gurgling sound coming from his throat. His head slowly slumped down, and he was gone.
Old Man Wu let go, leaving the magic sword in Tiger Wang's chest.
He backed away a few steps, looking at the three corpses, then toward the deep, dark mountains where his only son lay.
His hunched figure looked exceptionally desolate in the twilight.
Lin Zhou didn't rush him, just waited quietly.
After an unknown amount of time, Old Man Wu slowly turned around.
There was no joy or sorrow on his face, only a numbness from seeing through the ways of the world.
He walked up to Lin Zhou and bowed deeply.
"Young Brother Lin, I cannot thank you enough." His voice was raspy.
"Though I couldn't save Big Ox, to kill my enemy with my own hands and comfort his soul in heaven... I am eternally grateful."
Lin Zhou stepped aside to avoid the full bow and supported him:
"My condolences, Old Wu. I also had my own selfish motives in this matter; I don't deserve such a grand gesture."
Old Man Wu shook his head and took out that dull-colored beast-skin Jade Slip from his robe, handing it to Lin Zhou with both hands.
"This is my Family's heirloom, the Spirit Refining Canon."
He stroked the edge of the Jade Slip, a flash of complexity in his eyes.
"Our ancestors once produced a brilliant individual. It's said he obtained an ancient Incomplete Manual by chance and, combining it with his own insights, created this method. Unfortunately, his descendants were unworthy, with cluttered Spiritual Roots and lacking Comprehension Ability, so it gradually became a dead object kept at the bottom of a chest."
"I've only cultivated the basics in my entire life, with no further progress."
He looked at Lin Zhou, his gaze clear:
"This method isn't an ordinary, shallow technique for cultivating Divine Sense. Its core lies in 'refining'—like forging iron with fire, tempering it a thousand times to remove impurities and condense the essence of the Divine Soul. It can multiply Divine Sense several times over. If cultivated to a high level, it's said Divine Sense can become as solid as substance, turning into a means of attack and defense. It can also enhance Comprehension Ability, allow one to perceive the minute, and have miraculous effects on breaking through a Bottleneck."
Lin Zhou took the Jade Slip and said solemnly:
"Thank you for your trust, Old Wu. This item is precious; I will not fail your trust."
Old Man Wu waved his hand, a weary smile appearing on his face:
"Precious? In my hands, it's just a dead object. In yours, perhaps it can shine again."
He paused, looking at the sinking twilight in the sky, his voice drifting, "I've cultivated for over sixty years and wasted my life until now, only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining. I've seen too many people and too many things. There are those with extraordinary talent who die young, those who are diligent and steady but die stuck at a Bottleneck, and those like Tiger Wang who go astray and meet a bad end."
"This path of cultivation," he sighed softly.
"Aptitude, Opportunity, Heart-Nature, resources, luck... none can be missing. Sometimes, going fast isn't as good as going steady; having ruthless methods isn't as good as having a sharp eye."
He looked at Lin Zhou, his gaze profound.
"Young Brother Lin, you have secrets. I won't ask, nor do I want to know. I only hope... you don't let this world drive your heart mad like Tiger Wang. And don't be like me, mediocre for a lifetime, ending up with nothing."
These words were subtle, but they were filled with the insights and kindness of an old Loose Cultivator from the bottom of society.
Lin Zhou cupped his hands solemnly:
"Your wise words, Junior shall keep them in mind."
Old Man Wu nodded and said no more.
He took one last look at the corpses of Tiger Wang and the other two, then toward where his son was buried. With a hunched back, he slowly walked back the way they came.
The setting sun stretched his shadow very long, lonely and forlorn.
Lin Zhou watched him disappear into the woods until his back was completely gone.
He withdrew his gaze, looked at the Jade Slip in his hand, and then scanned the three corpses on the ground.
He put away the Jade Slip without checking it immediately.
He tallied the items in the Storage Pouches.
In Tiger Wang's Storage Pouch, there were over two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, several bottles of low-tier Medicinal Pills, some sundries, and several low-tier Magical Artifacts stained with different auras that clearly didn't belong to them. The other two's Storage Pouches were much more meager.
Lin Zhou separately stored the Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and the Magical Artifacts of unknown origin, then burned the other sundries along with the three corpses.
Only when everything had turned to ash did Lin Zhou turn and walk toward the market square, stepping into the deepening night, leaving alone.