Chapter 55: The Corpse Refining Sect's Ancestral Graveyard, Immortal Treasure!

Xie An didn't say anything out loud, but deep down, he knew it was impossible.

Previously, Xie An had crossed paths with the chamber pot peddler twice. The fellow hadn't practiced martial arts and was likely just a junior servant from a wealthy household. He must have stolen some antiques from his masters to sell, and because he couldn't tell their true value, Xie An had managed to pick up a bargain.

It was just that Zhang Lin didn't know the peddler, and with the distance between them, he couldn't sense the lad's aura. Moreover, the youth had walked right behind the bearded hunter, leading Zhang Lin to mistakenly guess that the lad might be the Plum Blossom Fiend.

The two of them pressed on through the dense forest, following the figures for another two or three miles. Up ahead, a fork in the path appeared. The bearded hunter seemed to sense he was being tracked and deliberately stopped at the intersection. As the masked peddler caught up, the hunter glared at him with ferocious hostility, tightening his grip on his bow and arrow in a heavily guarded posture.

Terrified, the peddler cowered and hurriedly scurried down the left-hand path.

Only then did the bearded hunter lower his bow and turn toward the right-hand path.

"They've actually split up! What should we do now?" Zhang Lin wore a troubled expression.

Xie An glanced at the sky. "In another hour, it will be completely dawn. I'll follow the lad. You track the hunter."

Zhang Lin was taken aback. "Old brother, that peddler might really be trouble. It's dangerous for you to go..."

He desperately wanted to suggest that he should be the one to follow the peddler, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to say it. After all, deep in his heart, he truly believed the peddler might be the Plum Blossom Fiend in disguise; otherwise, he wouldn't have trailed the bearded hunter for such a long distance.

Xie An turned his head to look at Zhang Lin and gave his shoulder a heavy pat. "Elder Tang and incense master Wei have entrusted me with a great responsibility, putting me in charge of the Blood Ridge Black Market. It is my duty to do my utmost. For the sake of the black market, a little danger is nothing."

With those words, Xie An strode into the left-hand path without looking back.

Watching the receding figure of his "old brother," Zhang Lin instantly felt that the back looked remarkably heroic and towering. By contrast... it made him feel utterly insignificant, widening the perceived gap between himself and his "old brother" even further.

While the other man was working earnestly and striving for a promising future, he himself had only wanted to lay low and coast along...

"Sigh, it probably won't be long before old brother is promoted. I must get on his good graces properly. No more petty tricks."

Plagued by a strong sense of inadequacy, Zhang Lin went off to trail the bearded hunter.

It was just simple tracking, after all. The moment he discovered anyone launching an attack on the hunter, Zhang Lin only needed to fire a signal arrow. It wasn't overly dangerous. Yet, after following the bearded hunter through more than ten miles of mountain paths all the way to Water Lantern Town, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

With no other choice, he had to give up and return empty-handed. In his heart, however, he became even more convinced that the peddler must have been the Plum Blossom Fiend in disguise, and he broke out in a cold sweat for Xie An.

Upon returning to the black market courtyard, Zhang Lin spotted Lin Yun among the people there. "Steward Lin, did you find anything on your end?"

Lin Yun shook his head. "Nothing."

Zhang Lin then recounted how Xie An had volunteered to trail the chamber pot peddler, concluding with: "For the sake of our Blood Ridge Black Market, old brother disregarded his own safety and personal gains. I, Zhang Lin, am simply no match for him."

Hearing this, Lin Yun was greatly astonished and held Xie An in extremely high regard. "As expected of someone personally handpicked by Elder Tang; he truly is a man of great talent. When Incense Master Wei returns, I will report this to him personally."

Listening from the side, Zhang Lin realized that his "old brother" was likely about to receive a promotion. Meanwhile, he would remain stuck right where he was, and a heavy wave of inferiority washed over him.

Yet he also understood that he could no longer scheme against his "old brother." Doing so would only work against his own interests.

Instead, building a solid relationship with this old brother was clearly the right path forward.

...

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the twilight, Xie An had been tailing the chamber pot peddler all the way.

Xie An certainly wouldn't tell Zhang Lin that trailing the peddler was actually the safest course of action.

The reason Xie An did this was purely to ensure safety.

If he had continued following the bearded hunter and genuinely run into the Plum Blossom Fiend... that would have been perilous indeed.

Following the peddler now was wonderful; not only did it demonstrate a steward's courage and sense of responsibility, but if Zhang Lin was a friend worth having, he would surely report Xie An's decision and words to Lin Yun.

In turn, this would make both Lin Yun and Incense Master Wei look at him in a new light, paving the way for a future promotion.

Come to think of it, Zhang Lin's erroneous suspicion had done him a massive favor.

More importantly, following the peddler allowed Xie An to casually check where those antique items came from in the first place...

Right, that bearded hunter and the plump medicine peddler were also privately selling items from the exact same batch as the chamber pot youth. Could it be that... these things were all connected?

With this thought, a growing sense of suspicion gnawed at Xie An.

The peddler walked forward vigilantly all the way, without anything unusual happening—aside from crouching down under an ancient pagoda tree midway to take a dump.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle.*

The wind brushing through the forest rustled the leaves.

When they passed a mountain col, the peddler stopped to drink water beside a stream while cautiously scanning his surroundings.

Hiding behind a camphor tree, Xie An stared fixedly ahead.

Suddenly, a tingling numbness rushed through Xie An's scalp, and he vaguely sensed a powerful murderous intent closing in.

*Huh?*

Why hadn't he been able to sense murderous intent earlier?

Could it be that his perception of *qi* had improved after advancing his Five-Animal Frolics to the visceral-refining stage?

Xie An didn't have time to dwell on it. He quickly suppressed the deeply unsettling killing aura, concealed his body, and poked half his head out to look. Sure enough, he saw a masked man slowly emerging from further down the stream.

He was nearly six feet tall, with a broad saber slung across his back and a bright crimson plum blossom pinned to his chest. His emerald-green eyes were as cruel and vicious as a wolf's.

*Good grief...*

*Is this the Plum Blossom Fiend?!*

Xie An's hair stood on end. He had thought he was choosing the safest path, only to run straight into the Plum Blossom Fiend!

At that very moment, the masked brute spoke:

"You must be one of those junior servants trading the antiques from the Chen estate. No wonder we didn't find the immortal treasure when we raided the Chen residence last time! Turns out it was stolen by little servants like you!"

Startled by the sudden voice, the peddler grabbed his bundle and bolted.

"Little thief, nowhere to run!"

Roaring angrily, the masked man covered the distance in a few leaps, kicked the youth to the ground, and pressed his foot heavily onto the lad's head. "For the sake of raiding the Chen estate, our Great Yin Mountain lost dozens of brothers, and we even had a massive clash with the White Feather Hall. How could we let an immortal treasure from the Chen estate fall into the hands of a petty thief like you? Hand over the treasure!"

Panicking, the peddler stammered, "I... I don't know anything about an immortal treasure. I just stole some unwanted antiques from the estate to sell. I really don't know..."

"Bullshit!"

The masked brute bellowed, "I searched the entire Chen estate back then with my men and couldn't find the immortal treasure. Yet you servants in the estate constantly steal antiques to sell outside. If it wasn't you, who else could it be? Hand over the treasure, and I might spare your life."

"Sir, I really don't know... All the stuff is right here, look..." The peddler strained to hand over his bundle.

Without lifting his foot, the masked man bent down, grabbed the bundle, and dumped its contents onto the ground. Most of them were everyday antiques like bronze mirrors, hairpins, chamber pots, and oil lamps.

Aside from those, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Instantly, the masked man drew the broad saber from his back with a backhand motion and pressed the blade against the peddler's neck. "Have you ever seen a red square box?"

"No, I swear to the heavens! But I know the Second Master of the estate has also been stealing antiques from the house to sell. His operations are much larger than mine; maybe he knows."

"Chen the Second?"

"Yes, exactly him. I've told you everything I know, please spare my life, great hero!"

"I hope you aren't lying to me. Your Chen estate never does anything decent—leaving aside grave-robbing from generation to generation, you even dug up the ancestral tombs that my Corpse-Refining Hall had been searching for all this time. None of you are any good, so how could I let you live?"

With a cold snort, the masked brute swung his blade and severed the youth's head in a single stroke.

Afterward, he shoved the items back into the bundle and hoisted it away.

"Chen the Second! You better wait for me. Your entire Chen estate is finished, how dare you dig up my Corpse-Refining Hall's ancestral graves—ahhhh..."

Long after he had walked far away, the masked man was still angrily muttering Chen the Second's name, presumably heading off to settle scores with him.

After a long while, as daylight fully broke, Xie An finally stepped out from behind the large tree with cautious steps.

"Never would I have imagined that the chamber pot peddler was a junior servant of the Chen estate. Previously, Wei Dian was severely injured by the Plum Blossom Fiend precisely because he went to help the Chen estate fight off the Great Yin Mountain bandits..."

"Who could have guessed that the Chen estate's ancestors were professional grave-robbers? They even dug up the long-lost ancestral tombs of the Corpse-Refining Hall and dug out an immortal treasure?"

"If that's the case, the Plum Blossom Fiend intercepting black market merchants wasn't meant to suppress the black market at all, but rather to hunt for the immortal treasure..."

Muttering to himself, Xie An patted the dead peddler's body and managed to scavenge two taels of silver in total.

Better than nothing.

Just as he was about to leave, Xie An suddenly realized something. "An immortal treasure... The peddler took a dump by the road just a moment ago. Could it be..."

At this thought, Xie An sprinted back toward the ancient pagoda tree where the peddler had relieved himself.