I am dying of old age, and I have awakened to the character of longevity.

“Master, I’ve told you everything I know. Now that the Immortal Treasure is in your hands, please, master, spare my life.”

“I swear, I will absolutely not breathe a word of what happened today. Moreover, I didn’t even see your true face…”

Plum Blossom Freak still clung to a sliver of hope.

If he had seen Xie An’s true face, he would have known there was no chance of survival.

The problem was that Xie An had been masked from beginning to end.

This gave Plum Blossom Freak a glimmer of hope to live.

If not for this, he wouldn't have revealed so much crucial information earlier.

In Plum Blossom Freak's pleading gaze, Xie An's eyes gradually brightened, and he uttered words that crushed Plum Blossom Freak's hope: “Killing you is more useful to me.”

“The Immortal Treasure was lost right under Fang Baiyu’s nose; someone has to take the blame. Otherwise, Fang Baiyu will investigate and suppress bandits everywhere, which is troublesome… I just want to develop quietly.”

While muttering to himself, Xie An walked to Zhang Hengshui’s corpse, picked up Zhang Hengshui’s saber, and returned to Plum Blossom Freak’s side.

Hiss!

Plum Blossom Freak sensed the icy killing intent emanating from Xie An, his eyes widened abruptly, and his heart pounded as he understood Xie An’s plan:

What a vicious old thief!

Using Zhang Hengshui's saber to kill him, and then hiding Zhang Hengshui's corpse, pinning everything on Zhang Hengshui.

In this way, all the benefits would be taken by this old thief, and Zhang Hengshui would take the blame…

Damn it!

To think that I, Plum Blossom Freak, had been wise all my life, even Fang Baiyu was fooled by me, yet in the end, I was played by a masked old thief.

Plum Blossom Freak tried to struggle, but his limbs were pinned to the hard ground by the armor-piercing arrows, making it impossible to move. Utterly unwilling, knowing he couldn't escape death, he gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Xie An: “What… is your name!?”

“An unknown nobody.”

Xie An spat out four words, then raised his saber high, piercing Plum Blossom Freak’s chest little by little.

“Ah!!!”

Plum Blossom Freak let out a miserable scream.

At this moment, Xie An freed one hand, pulled out the arrow stuck in Plum Blossom Freak's body, and threw it on the ground. Plum Blossom Freak's hands, barely free, desperately gripped the blade, trying to push the broadsword out of his body.

But how could the seriously injured Plum Blossom Freak have Xie An's strength?

Puchi.

After a struggle, the blade pierced through Plum Blossom Freak's chest, killing him completely. He died with his hands still tightly gripping the blade, his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at Xie An, looking terrifying.

Looking at the two corpses lying on the ground, Xie An felt very comfortable.

“I’ve been practicing martial arts for almost a year, and killing a Plum Blossom Freak… still requires shooting a few arrows; still not strong enough.” Xie An sighed.

Although he said this, a happy smile was clearly revealed at the corner of his mouth.

The Plum Blossom Freak, who had Chen Manor and Fang Baiyu wrapped around his finger, was actually ended by Xie An.

This was already quite perverted!

This place wasn't too far from Chen Manor. Afterwards, Fang Baiyu could slightly expand the search area and find this place. After all, this was one of the main passages from Water Lantern Town to Great Yin Mountain, not difficult to find.

Xie An immediately searched Plum Blossom Freak's body.

He found forty taels of silver.

“Not much, but it’ll do for now.”

Then, Xie An began to carefully examine the scene:

First, armor-piercing arrows were scattered on the ground next to Plum Blossom Freak. These arrows were military-use armor-piercing arrows that could be bought on the market, not specially made.

Second, Zhang Hengshui's broadsword was inserted into Plum Blossom Freak's chest, and Plum Blossom Freak's hands gripped the blade tightly, creating the appearance of desperately refusing to let go.

Combining these two points, it created a scene where Zhang Hengshui ambushed Plum Blossom Freak with arrows, then rushed up to fight Plum Blossom Freak in a bloody battle. In the end, Plum Blossom Freak pulled out the arrows and fought Zhang Hengshui, but was defeated and died.

This was why Xie An slowly stabbed Plum Blossom Freak to death and pulled out the arrows to make Plum Blossom Freak desperately grip the blade.

This phenomenon is called cadaveric spasm, a special phenomenon of rigor mortis: occurring in the instant before death, the muscles contract strongly, quickly forming rigor mortis, fixing the corpse in its last posture before death.

If he killed Plum Blossom Freak and then faked the scene, he wouldn't be able to achieve cadaveric spasm.

If he could fool Fang Baiyu, that would naturally be a good thing. If he couldn't fool Fang Baiyu, even if Fang Baiyu investigated, he wouldn't suspect him.

Confirming that he hadn't left any major flaws, Xie An carried Zhang Hengshui's corpse away.

Running wildly along the forest for ten miles, Xie An stopped next to a deserted stream.

“The battle at Chen Manor is still ongoing; I must dispose of the corpse and the Immortal Treasure as soon as possible and return. Otherwise, if Incense Master Wei discovers my absence on the scene, it will be difficult to explain.”

How to dispose of Zhang Hengshui's corpse was very important.

Bury it?

There was a risk of it being found.

It would be best to burn it. But to burn a corpse completely… was a major project. It would take time to find dry firewood, and he would have to wait for the fire to burn out completely; there definitely wouldn't be enough time.

Just then—

Awoo, awoo.

The sound of wild beasts roaring came.

Xie An looked back and saw pairs of green eyes appearing in the depths of the forest, watching Xie An intently.

Jackals and leopards.

If Xie An's qi and blood weren't so strong at this moment, acting as a deterrent to the beasts, these beasts would probably have rushed up to devour Xie An.

“That's right, this is already at the foot of Great Yin Mountain. There are many fierce beasts in the mountains, and it is said that there are also demons and evil spirits…” Xie An had a flash of inspiration, immediately stripped off Zhang Hengshui's clothes, and threw his naked corpse towards the jackals and leopards in the distance.

“Eat, eat, it's best to eat him clean, leaving not even a single hair.”

A group of beasts immediately rushed up to devour Zhang Hengshui's corpse.

Seeing Zhang Hengshui's corpse rapidly disintegrating and disappearing, Xie An breathed a sigh of relief.

He began to consider how to dispose of Zhang Hengshui's clothes and the red cloth box.

Burying it on the spot was also an option, but there was still a risk of it being found.

Although the probability of that was smaller than winning the lottery, Xie An still felt that it was best to do things steadily, and it would be best to make the wooden box disappear completely!

He didn't have a fire starter or flint on him.

In the end, he had no choice but to find a piece of dry willow wood, split it in half from the middle, and then use a broadsword to cut off a small tuft of wood shavings. He spread the wood shavings on the willow wood, then found a hard wooden stick and held it next to the wood shavings, rubbing the wooden stick back and forth vigorously with both hands.

This was the most primitive method of making fire by drilling wood, which required high skill and strength. It was difficult for ordinary people to do, but for Xie An, who could lift a thousand pounds with one arm, it was not a problem.

With vigorous rubbing, the wooden stick rotated rapidly on the willow wood, and smoke soon appeared. With a little more force, sparks appeared, and in no time, a flame “popped” out, igniting the wood shavings.

“Those wilderness survival streamers in my previous life often failed to make fire by drilling wood. If I went back to modern times and did wilderness live streaming, I'd definitely be the top streamer, and there would be no need for Bear Grylls.”

Xie An showed a satisfied smile and quickly added some dry firewood, waiting for the fire to gradually grow larger. Xie An then used his broadsword to smash the wooden box, and threw it into the fire along with Zhang Hengshui's clothes, which were burned to ashes in no time.

Xie An swept the charcoal ash into the stream with his feet.

With the stream rushing, truly not a trace was left behind.

Having completed all of this, Xie An glanced into the distance, seeing that Zhang Hengshui had already been eaten clean by the jackals and leopards.

Only then did he leave with peace of mind.

…

The battle in the ancestral hall courtyard of Chen Manor finally ended.

The blood-soaked Wei Dian lay on the ground, sighing with compassion.

After the previous tragic bloodbath, he had been stabbed more than a dozen times, his flesh was torn, and blood gushed out. If he hadn't been "cautious" enough, letting others charge ahead, he would have been a dead man by now.

Wei Dian looked at the scattered corpses around him, feeling a burst of fear in his heart.

All twelve powerful thieves had been killed. But White Feather Hall had also paid a heavy price; many deacons were killed, and incense masters had fallen.

Dead were dead, crippled were crippled.

Extremely tragic.

Wei Dian was very clear: all of this was just Fang Baiyu's private desire to obtain the Immortal Treasure.

They, as subordinates, were just using their own blood and lives… to pay for the hall master's desires.

Even with the incense masters and deacons being so miserable at this moment, the hall master Fang Baiyu did not come to comfort them, but went to the backyard.

In the backyard, Fang Baiyu saw the dead Chen Da.

Hiss!

Even a giant like Fang Baiyu couldn't help but frown at this moment.

Chen Da… was actually dead.

And the Immortal Treasure… had disappeared without a trace.