Xiong Bingnan, the head of the Xiong family, was a true son of Mu’erhe. He possessed the robust physique and thick hair that the people of Mu’erhe took such pride in; standing eight feet tall with a voice like a resonant bell, he looked like a towering tree rising from a field when standing among outsiders.
Yet at this moment, his head sat upon a low stool barely a foot high. The fine beard he had groomed so carefully in life was now a matted mess of splattered brain matter. His entire head resembled a winter melon that had been trampled into the dirt.
Zou Sifang found himself face-to-face with Xiong Bingnan’s head. The eyes had already begun to glaze over, staring at him with the dull vacancy of a dead fish.
“Master Zou.”
The same voice called to him again, this time tinged with a hint of impatience.
Zou Sifang forced himself not to look toward the source of the voice, preferring to keep his gaze fixed on the severed head before him.
“G-gentlemen, I am quite familiar with this place. There is... gold, silver, I have it all! And banknotes! They are from Xiaomeizhuang, with the flower-patterned paper and gold seals—absolutely no issues with them...”
Footsteps sounded, and the speaker drew a few paces closer.
“Master Zou, did you not come to discuss business? How can you be so rude as to not even look at your buyer’s face?”
Zou Sifang shook uncontrollably. Perhaps due to the lingering weakness from his recent illness, his legs gave way, and he slumped to the floor. Ignoring his pathetic state, he kept his eyes frantically cast downward.
“Gentlemen, I haven’t looked at any of your faces since I walked through that door. Whatever you wish to take, please, help yourselves! I have no complaints!”
A heavy silence followed his words, succeeded by several eerie cackles echoing from various corners of the room, sounding like the chattering of bats in a cave.
“A fine ‘no complaints’ indeed!” A powerful force surged forward as Zou Sifang’s head was yanked up by his hair, forcing him to meet the other’s gaze.
What met his eyes was a face with taut skin—utterly unremarkable. It was so plain that one could not remember a single feature or detail.
It wasn't just him; even the others in the room possessed such faces.
The hand on Zou Sifang’s head slowly loosened. The man turned casually and pointed at Xiong Bingnan’s head. “Master Zou, you should really discuss those words with Master Xiong before you say them, don’t you think?”
The others in the distance chimed in, occasionally plucking round, red beads from the medicine chests behind them and tossing them about like toys.
Seeing the *Lingqianxue*—each bead worth a thousand gold—being rolled around the floor like common marbles, Zou Sifang’s heart bled. Knowing he could not escape this calamity, he closed his eyes in resignation.
“What is it you truly want?”
“What do we want? To exchange goods for payment, naturally. If Master Zou hands over the item obediently, we shall return your life to you.”
Zou Sifang remained silent, his fingers still clutching the box in his hands with a death grip.
The man let out a cold laugh and reached out to snatch the box. Zou Sifang refused to let go, but with a sharp exert of force, the man sent the box flying. It tumbled across the floor, and a flash of verdant green spilled out.
The assailant’s eyes fell upon the object, seemingly evaluating it.
At that same moment, atop the tiled roof of the Xiong residence, several pairs of eyes were also fixed on that bright green object below.
Xiao Nanhui nudged the person beside her, mouthing the words: *Is that it?*
Hao Bai squinted, peering through the gaps between the tiles with great effort. “Mm... the color looks right...”
Xiao Nanhui grew anxious. *What do you mean the color looks right? Look closer!*
Hao Bai felt extremely aggrieved. *We are so far away, and it’s like looking through a keyhole. How am I supposed to see clearly?*
She held her breath, wanting to ask Zhonglijing on her other side, but he raised a finger to signal her to be silent.
A crisp sound echoed from within the room. Zou Sifang’s face was pressed into the dirt as the man in the center picked up the green jade seal.
“Master Zou, is the one you brought this time the real thing?”
Zou Sifang tried to swallow to calm himself, but he couldn't. It felt as though something was lodged in his throat, making it difficult to breathe.
“Is that such a difficult question to answer? Speak up, Master Zou.”
Zou Sifang had made up his mind; he gritted his teeth and said nothing.
A cold laugh rang out above him. “Do you think we have no way of dealing with you if you don't speak? Perhaps...” The man spoke as he slowly raised the object high. “Perhaps we don't actually want it, but want to destroy it instead?”
Before the words had fully landed, the man’s hand swept down, and the jade seal was about to be dashed against the floor.
In a flash, the sound of splintering wood erupted from the rafters. A figure plummeted straight down, lunging for the man’s back.
After a brief exchange of blows, the jade seal flew through the air, landing squarely atop Xiong Bingnan’s severed head.
Xiao Nanhui’s descent had been a bit hurried, and she nearly strained her back, but she didn't dare take her eyes off the object for a second.
She had kicked a hole through the roof of the Xiong residence, which clearly couldn't support the weight of the others now. With a loud *crash*, the roof collapsed entirely, bringing three more people down with it. Ding Weixiang shielded Zhonglijing with one hand while using the other to snag Hao Bai by the belt, preventing him from falling to his death.
Even so, Hao Bai landed hard on his backside, glaring at Xiao Nanhui with indignation.
Xiao Nanhui knew he was blaming her for being reckless, but in that situation, she couldn't afford to gamble. She signaled toward the jade seal; it was closest to Hao Bai.
However, before the white-clothed physician could move, the dozen or so opponents silently shifted their formation, surrounding Xiao Nanhui and her companions.
She hadn't been able to see clearly through the tiles, but now she realized that these people’s faces had been tampered with. Their features were fused with the surrounding skin, as if they had been corroded by something.
Was this some underworld organization? Or assassins raised by a noble house? And what was the reason for hiding their true faces?
Before she could think further, the enemy launched their attack.
What met them was not a rain of blades, but strands of fine wire like spider silk. These wires wove together into a net, tightening rapidly toward the center under the assassins' control.
Xiao Nanhui narrowly dodged one wave, but the wires immediately shifted and coiled from another direction. Instinctively, she drew the dagger at her waist and slashed at the nearest taut wire.
A piercing screech of metal on metal echoed in her ears, leaving them ringing.
the wire grazed her temple, and a lock of hair fell away instantly, tumbling to the floor alongside the snapped half of her dagger blade.
She finally understood how Xiong Bingnan’s head had ended up on that stool.
Even for martial arts techniques, the moves before her were exceptionally cruel and vicious. Furthermore, why had she never heard of such an extreme method before? Or was it that everyone who had seen this formation was already...
In the corner, a strange light flickered in Ding Weixiang’s eyes. He said nothing, his left hand merely gripping the hilt of his saber.
The silk net, capable of slicing through iron as if it were clay, tightened once more. This time, it aimed to envelop everyone, intending to shred everything within.
Ding Weixiang finally moved.
This was the first time Xiao Nanhui had seen the long saber at his waist leave its sheath.
To be precise, she only saw the motion of it being drawn; she didn't see the blade itself. She could only catch a passing shadow and the sound of those hard, slender wires being severed.
The sensation was so familiar—just like that night at the altar.
The man’s movements and his blade had become one, moving faster than the human eye could track.
Of course, speed was one thing, but the saber in his hand was another.
Judging by the break in her own dagger, the wires used by these assassins were made of a special material designed to counter cold weapons; the harder one struck them, the easier the blade would be snapped.
Yet Ding Weixiang’s saber was completely unaffected, and he himself clearly never worried about it.
This man’s martial background was even more profound and mysterious than she had imagined.
With the long wires severed, the assassins were momentarily surprised, but they dispersed in a silent, coordinated motion, shortening their wires to pick off the group one by one.
With Ding Weixiang’s level of martial skill, clearing the field was only a matter of time. However, he seemed to have no intention of leaving Zhonglijing’s side, only killing those who lunged at them and ignoring everything else.
Gradually, the assassins realized he was the most formidable opponent and stopped throwing themselves at that "hard nail." They turned instead to besiege Xiao Nanhui and Hao Bai. Hao Bai knew no martial arts and immediately became a liability.
As the situation grew dire, Xiao Nanhui cursed her haste; she hadn't had time to grab her own weapon and was now reduced to hand-to-hand combat.
She kicked one man away, as frantic as an ant on a hot griddle, and roared at the dazed physician: “What are you standing there for?! Hand me a weapon!”
Hao Bai flinched as if finally snapping out of his trance and looked around frantically. The Xiong family used to hire men to guard their territory, and the wall he was leaning against was hung with various axes, halberds, hooks, and spears. There were many styles, but they were all covered in dust, looking as though they were usually just for show.
“W-what weapon do you use?”
Xiao Nanhui was at her wit's end. “Anything!”
Disoriented, Hao Bai grabbed the nearest thing without looking and hurled it toward Xiao Nanhui with all his might.
There was a massive *thud*.
Xiao Nanhui looked at the pair of Eight-Sided Lotus Hammers on the floor, her eyelid twitching. She had no choice but to pick them up, swinging them in a wide arc to meet the flying wires.
The hammers had great destructive power, but they were incredibly heavy. It was a struggle just to lift them, let alone use them against agile assassins.
She was panting after only two swings. The enemies pressed their advantage, so she simply bent low and used the massive hammers like "rollers," specifically targeting the opponents' feet.
Each strike left a crater in the floor. One assassin failed to dodge in time and had his foot crushed; he collapsed with a scream, and in the next instant, Ding Weixiang’s blade swept past like the wind, opening a red line across the man’s throat.
Xiao Nanhui felt she had finally found the trick to this weapon. She joined the fray, coordinating with Ding Weixiang by herding the enemies toward his blade. The remaining assassins were instantly suppressed.
Hao Bai, left to one side, turned his head and locked eyes with Zou Sifang. After a brief standoff, Zou Sifang suddenly scrambled up, grabbed the green jade seal from atop Xiong Bingnan’s head, and bolted out the door while Xiao Nanhui and Ding Weixiang were occupied.
Hao Bai was stunned. Paralyzed by fear, he could only shout urgently: “Zou Sifang is running away with the item!”
Xiao Nanhui whipped her head around. Ignoring the danger behind her, she hurled one of the heavy hammers to knock back an assassin before sprinting out the door in pursuit.
In the corner, the man who had been watching coldly the entire time closed his eyes, looking somewhat weary. For a moment, it seemed he intended to stay exactly where he was and wait for the battle—whose outcome was already decided—to end.
But in the end, he moved.
Ding Weixiang’s blade grew faster and faster. By the time he cut down the last man and turned around, both Zhonglijing and Xiao Nanhui had vanished.
His heart skipped a beat, and his hand slipped, the blade shearing off half of the dead assassin’s head.
That person... that person absolutely cannot come to harm.
At the main gate, Bolao was leaning against the carriage, picking her teeth.
It wasn't that she hadn't heard the commotion inside, but she was still sulking over Xiao Nanhui leaving her to watch the carriage and was determined not to go in and help. She was pondering how to win back some face later when the double wooden doors of the Xiong residence were kicked open with a *bang*, and a disheveled figure rushed out.
It was none other than Zou Sifang.
Bolao spat out the straw in her mouth and slowly stood up, adopting a domineering stance on the carriage beam.
Zou Sifang glanced at the carriage by the gate, gritted his teeth, and turned to run toward the backyard of the Xiong residence.
The backyard was unlike that of a normal home. There wasn't a single blade of grass or a flower; instead, there were mountains of wild deer carcasses. The Xiong family’s herb gatherers would drag the deer they hadn't had time to process back here from the marsh to be cleaned later.
Bleached bones and antlers buried the ground, and scraps of rotting fur were everywhere.
But Zou Sifang had no time to care. Driven by the will to survive, his increasingly useless legs seemed to have found a second wind as he scrambled away at top speed.
Xiao Nanhui hadn't expected this man, who had been half-dead just days ago, to run so fast. But what she expected even less was that after rushing out of the backyard, Zou Sifang plunged headlong into a reed marsh that stood taller than a person.
Her footsteps faltered for a moment.
She knew what lay within those reed marshes. But the item was still in Zou Sifang’s hands.
Taking a deep breath, she too dashed into the endless sea of reeds. In that same instant, she thought she heard someone behind her urgently calling her name.
But Zou Sifang’s figure was already about to disappear. She had no time to look back and plunged deep into the swamp.
***
