"Boom—!"
A pillar of fire burst into the night sky, lighting up the dark mountain like dawn breaking through shadow.
Chen Sanshi hefted several sacks over his shoulder and sprinted down the mountain path.
This time, he had truly struck it rich.
Before leaving, he packed up everything of value he could find, even snatching a few medical texts from the apothecary's body before finishing him off to silence any witnesses.
Altogether, the haul was worth—he couldn't even begin to guess how much.
The only problem was the bodies—too many, too messy.
Worried that the arrow wounds might draw suspicion, Chen Sanshi piled all the corpses together in the courtyard and set them ablaze.
The fire roared, hot and wild, crackling through the night.
With this chaos, the martial halls would no longer dare to capture people for their vile experiments.
That, at least, could count as one good deed.
As he descended the slope, Chen Sanshi's mind replayed everything that had just happened.
Spiritual Grain can increase cultivation?
Could it be… the old emperor really did meet an immortal?
Was he truly practicing immortal arts?
If the immortal treasure is used with special fire to refine the Spiritual Grain, would that produce a cultivation-enhancing elixir?
He mulled over the theory as he ran.
Lamp oil and Spiritual Grain… combined, they make a strengthening medicine. That must be it.
Everything pointed in that direction.
With the matter settled—and Xiang Tingchun conveniently taking the blame—no one would ever suspect him.
He now had time to study the materials at his own pace.
Carrying three or four heavy sacks, Chen Sanshi moved swiftly through the darkness, leaving Tiger Head Mountain behind.
It was too risky to bring everything back to the barracks, so he first hid the loot inside his old house in Swallow-Edge Village, then took a long detour before returning to the Thousand-Household Division's military camp.
"Senior Sister Sun isn't here?"
The moment he entered, Chen Sanshi sensed something was off.
The guest room was empty.
He hurried to his own quarters. Only when he picked a strand of hair from the door crack and another from the window sill did he finally relax.
Before leaving for the mountain, he had taken a precaution—plucking a few strands from Lan jie'er's hair to use as markers.
It seemed he'd worried for nothing.
Sun Li hadn't been spying on him.
But where had she gone, in the middle of the night?
Most likely, she had discovered something about Medicine Valley and gone to investigate.
Good thing I got there first, he thought.
…
"Sis, it looks like someone's already been here!"
Sun Buqi stood atop the wall, eyes fixed on the blazing inferno within the courtyard, his voice calm and analytical.
"You don't say?"
Sun Li's tone was dry as she stared at the deep pit the culprit had dug to burn the bodies. "The bastard even took care to prevent a forest fire…"
"What a good man!"
Sun Buqi sighed dramatically.
The two siblings—one working in the open, the other in secret—had finally pieced together enough clues to learn that the martial hall disciples often went up the mountain at night.
They had decided to investigate that very evening.
By sheer chance, they had noticed the flames from afar—and when they rushed over, this was what they found.
"Put out the fire! Quick, put it out!"
"Over here! Bring water!"
Guards from nearby medicine gardens spotted the blaze and came running, shouting orders as they scrambled to contain the spread.
"Let's go," said Sun Li softly, watching the flames devour what was left. "We'll check the other medicine gardens another day."
…
The next morning.
When Chen Sanshi arrived at the military camp, he immediately noticed the buzz of conversation everywhere.
"Hey, did you hear?"
"Last night, a fire broke out on Second Mountain!"
"I saw it myself during patrol this morning—they carried down several charred bodies!"
"They say even the young master of the Tianyuan Martial Hall was burned to death!"
"How could a fire just happen out of nowhere?"
"Obviously, someone did it on purpose!"
"Who's got the guts to do this?!"
"..."
Chen Sanshi listened for a while as the camp buzzed with rumors, then headed straight to the training ground. He gathered his men for their daily drills.
A few of them were the same as before—lazy, half-hearted, and pretending to train while their minds were elsewhere.
"You're Zhao Jin from Li Village, right?"
Chen Sanshi walked up calmly, his tone light but firm.
"Yes! You know me, General Flag Officer?" the man asked in surprise.
"I do."
Chen Sanshi asked, "How's your training coming along?"
"It's fine, just… too tiring," Zhao Jin said with a grin. "More exhausting than farming."
"Then go back to farming."
Chen Sanshi's words hit like a hammer. "Xu Wencai, take him to collect his rations and pay for the past few days."
"Sir?!"
The order came so suddenly that not only Zhao Jin, but everyone around froze in shock.
"Good timing," Chen Sanshi said evenly. "I actually have something to say to all of you."
He knew he couldn't let things slide anymore.
Drawing in a deep breath, he projected his voice across the training yard. "I know why most of you joined me in the army. Because, like you, I was born in the countryside outside Poyang County. You thought I'd take care of my own."
He nodded slightly. "You're right. I will take care of you.
"In this camp, I can promise one thing with absolute certainty—not a single grain of rice or copper coin will ever be stolen from you.
"Those with talent, I'll personally teach the art of martial cultivation."
His tone hardened. "But! You'd better understand something. This is the army, not a street performance troupe. Before long, some of you will die. And I mean really die."
"If you don't train properly now, when the day comes and you step onto the battlefield, you won't just get yourselves killed—you'll drag your brothers down with you."
"So let me make it clear now. From today on, if anyone dares slack off or go through the motions like Zhao Jin here, they can take their pay and go back home to till the fields."
"I won't allow parasites under my command."
"Do you understand me?"
The field fell completely silent. Not a single sound—just the faint whistle of the morning wind.
The lazy ones from before lowered their heads, faces flushed with shame.
Finally, after a long moment, voices erupted in unison.
"Understood!"
Chen Sanshi's expression softened slightly. He could see the sincerity in their eyes this time. Most of them weren't bad men—they just weren't used to the military life yet.
They had all enlisted after discussing it together in their villages.
If anyone got sent home now, it wouldn't just be embarrassing—it'd be a public disgrace.
Chen Sanshi sighed inwardly.
He knew this was necessary. Someone had to be made an example of, or else there'd always be those who mistook his easygoing nature for weakness and would continue breaking discipline.
Zhao Jin, for instance, had been lazy from the very first day. Worse, he often encouraged others to sneak off home whenever they pleased.
Keeping someone like that would only poison the group.
"Continue!"
Chen Sanshi's order rang out sharp and cold.
The soldiers snapped to attention, returning to their stance practice. Everyone gritted their teeth and endured the pain, not one daring to slack off again.
Just then, the wealthy young master from the day before appeared at the far end of the field, walking straight toward them.
Right on schedule.
…
At the Tianyuan Martial Hall, the courtyard—once lush with greenery—was now filled with burnt corpses.
The bodies were blackened and stiff, like charred sticks of wood, barely recognizable as human.
"Which one… which one is my son!"
The Hall Master, Liang Shengzhi, eyes bloodshot, nearly lost control of his voice. "Who did this? Who dared?!"
He had four children—but only one son.
Now, that son's body was gone—nothing left but ash.
Two other hall masters stood nearby, grim-faced.
"It seems our operation's been exposed," said Pan Quan, his voice trembling. "But what I don't understand is—why hasn't anyone come for us yet?"
Whoever discovered the scene should have raised hell by now.
And recently, so many people had been investigating.
"My son!!!"
Liang Shengzhi's roar of anguish echoed through the hall as he knelt beside the corpses, desperately trying to tell which one was his child. His grief drowned out everything else.
Pan Quan turned toward another man. "Uncle Zhao, what do you think? Who could have done this?"
The Zhao Hall Master, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke in a low, steady tone. "If I'm not mistaken, Liang's son and that old servant were both at the tempering bone realm, correct?"
He glanced at the others. "Add to that seven or eight core disciples guarding the medicine garden—and not one of them made it out alive."
"That means the attacker's cultivation is extraordinary. Killing tempering bone cultivators was like slaughtering chickens to him."
"Now tell me—within Poyang County, who has that kind of power?"
"Xiang Tingchun!"
Pan Quan's eyes widened as realization struck. "It must be him! He must have discovered the secret, infiltrated Medicine Valley, and decided to keep the immortal treasure for himself!"
"Exactly."
Zhao Hall Master's tone was certain. "Otherwise, why hasn't anyone questioned us yet? If it's Xiang Tingchun, it makes perfect sense. The immortal treasure's in his hands—why would he expose it?"
"That bastard Xiang is truly venomous!"
Pan Quan cursed, his voice trembling with fury. "Destroying the Song family wasn't enough—now, as a tempering organs expert with leverage over us all, he's slowly bleeding us dry, ready to consume everything we have left!"
"Xiang Tingchun!"
Liang Shengzhi's roar shook the courtyard. "You and I are sworn enemies now! Even if I become a ghost, I'll drag you to hell with me!!!"