At the same time—
Jiang Huihui darted through the forest, head lowered, following the faint trail of blood on fallen leaves. She traced it carefully until she came upon a corpse.
She hurried forward. The dead man was the very assassin who had earlier tried to kill Xu Mu.
But the condition of the corpse was horrifying. His right arm, along with the flesh of his shoulder and waist, had been ripped clean off. From the side, ribs were exposed. His eyes were wide open, filled with terror and despair.
Anyone else seeing this might have nightmares for weeks. Jiang Huihui, however, had seen plenty.
"Something's not right."
She noticed that the man's facial skin and neck didn't match.
Squatting down for a closer look, she realized he was wearing a human-skin mask. Pulling it off revealed a dark-faced man with two scars across his face.
"Could this be…"
She immediately took a photo and uploaded it to the Sanitation Bureau's internal network.
Moments later, a reply came back. Jiang Huihui's eyes hardened — "Death List No. 8: Black Hand."
According to the file, Black Hand had reached the mid-Gang Qi Realm five years ago.
For someone of that level to be killed so brutally — who could've done it?
Jiang Huihui promptly called the Bureau and reported her location.
At the Nangong Estate Peak
Nangong Ping now looked ten years older. He had once fancied himself the chess player, with the Xu family as mere pawns — but today he realized he had gravely underestimated them.
Who would've thought that wastrel Xu Mu would become a disciple of a sect? Sometimes, fate really was everything.
"Who is Nangong Ping?"
A woman's voice echoed into his ears.
Nangong Ping turned sharply toward several black-robed figures that had appeared.
"I am! Who are you people?"
He glared at them.
Zhang Que quietly withdrew, sitting back down at a nearby chair. Xu Mu and the others also returned to their seats. The crowd's attention turned to the robed newcomers.
Xu Mu's Divine Eye could pierce their robes. Seeing who was inside, he was shocked — it was Liang Yi from the Immortal Life Research Institute.
He didn't understand why she had come looking for Nangong Ping, so he decided to wait and watch.
"A year ago," Liang Yi asked flatly, "did a cleaner come to you to buy a plot of land?"
"Who are you? Why should I tell you anything?"
Nangong Ping's face darkened. He may have been humiliated earlier, but that was by sect disciples — this was different. As patriarch of a hidden clan, he still had his pride.
Liang Yi made a slight motion with her hand. From behind her stepped a towering black-robed man.
The man raised a hand to grab Nangong Ping.
Nangong Ping's eyes turned feral. He needed a battle — only that could restore his dignity. Otherwise, how could he ever face the world again?
He surged his inner Qi to its limits; faint light shone from every pore as he punched forward.
Boom!
The air exploded, and the ground beneath both men cracked.
Crack!
The force shredded the robe from the man's arm — and what Nangong Ping saw made his eyes widen in disbelief.
The limb wasn't covered in human skin at all — it was slick and scaled like that of a fish or serpent, riddled with visible pores.
Zzzt!
Suddenly, arcs of electricity burst from the arm, bright sparks dancing.
Nangong Ping stiffened as if struck by lightning.
Then the man's other hand clamped onto his face and slammed him into the ground.
The onlookers were speechless.
What was happening? Was this really the patriarch of a hidden clan?
Anyone passing by might have thought it was a gang of village brats bullying an old man!
Xu Shou's expression cooled. Xu Mu, meanwhile, remained calm — he knew plenty about the Immortal Life Research Institute from the original plotline.
They performed countless human experiments in pursuit of immortality, including implanting the cells of other organisms into people.
In their Disciplinary Division, the most common implant came from electric eels — giving recipients the ability to discharge electricity.
The success rate, however, was only about ten percent — one in ten survived.
"Answer my question, or I'll erase the Nangong family," Liang Yi said coldly.
Nangong Ping felt his Dao heart shatter. On the day of his grand birthday, the once-mighty patriarch of a hidden clan had been humiliated again and again.
Yet he could do nothing. What good would dying stubbornly do?
Only fools with nothing to lose chose that.
He still had a clan, wealth, and influence — he wouldn't throw it away.
"A year ago, yes — a cleaner came to buy a piece of land from me," Nangong Ping admitted quickly.
Over thirty years earlier, he had purchased a large mountain tract between Yang City and Jiang City, intending for the Nangong family to relocate there and dominate Jiang City rather than compete with the Dai family in Yang City.
But over the decades, Yang City's economy surpassed the provincial capital, so he dropped the idea and left the land unused.
A year ago, a "cleaner" had approached him, saying the government planned to build a highway there.
Thinking it useless anyway, Nangong Ping sold it cheaply as a favor.
"Where exactly?" Liang Yi asked.
"At the border between Jiang City and Yang City — three kilometers east of Lishu Village, in the mountains."
Though confused, Nangong Ping told the truth.
Liang Yi opened her phone, glanced at a map, then nodded. "We're done. Let's go."
The black-robed man released Nangong Ping and followed her away.
"Father! Are you alright?" Nangong Hua rushed over to help him up.
"I'm fine," Nangong Ping said with a strained smile. "A fine birthday this turned out to be — letting everyone see me as a joke."
Though seething inside, he still forced a grin. "Everyone, the banquet begins. I'll just go change my clothes first."
Xu Mu's eyes flashed with admiration. At least the old man has composure.
If he had lost his temper and dismissed the guests, people would've only looked down on him more.
Once Nangong Ping left, the surrounding businessmen surged toward Xu Shou like a tide.
They weren't fools. Xu Mu was now a sect disciple — who would dare cross the Xu family in the future?
Xu Shou had planned to chat with them, but noticed Zhang Que was gone.
He tapped Xu Ningbing's shoulder, asking her to handle the crowd, then went to follow Zhang Que.
Xu Mu quickly stepped in his way. He didn't want Xu Shou mingling with that notorious villain.
"My senior brother doesn't like talking to outsiders," Xu Mu lied. "You'd better not go."
"It's fine. I'll just exchange a few words," Xu Shou said, striding ahead.
Xu Mu immediately followed close behind — just in case.