Chương 16: Murder requires a woodcutter's knife.

On this day, the wind in Matongli Village seemed a bit colder than usual.

Sun Laosan's back pain was indeed greatly relieved after Chen Mo's prescription of herbal medicine.

He led Sun Er, who had been pointing his finger at Chen Mo and cursing him yesterday, and carrying a basket of eggs, to block the entrance to Chen Mo's courtyard, thanking him profusely.

Chen Mo remained as shy and gentle as ever, and unable to refuse, he accepted only two eggs.

He dealt with the villagers, but his gaze subtly swept towards the direction of the inn on the west side of the village.

That prying gaze has disappeared today.

But Chen Mo knew that the venomous snake had simply retreated back into its hole, licking its wounds, waiting for its more deadly fangs to be delivered.

"Two days... no, now there's only one and a half days left."

After seeing off the Sun family father and son, Chen Mo closed the courtyard gate, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.

He neither meditated nor read books.

He walked to the corner of the yard and pulled out the wood-chopping knife that he had used for more than ten years from the pile of firewood.

The blade was covered with nicks and chips from chopping wood, and the body was covered with rust.

Chen Mo took a whetstone, scooped up a ladle of water, and sat down on a small stool in the courtyard to begin sharpening his knife.

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

The harsh scraping sound was particularly clear in the quiet courtyard.

He grinded very slowly and steadily.

From the handle to the tip, every inch was meticulously polished. He wasn't sharpening a knife; he was caressing a work of art.

As he moved, a barely perceptible wisp of pale golden spiritual energy overflowed from his fingertips and silently seeped into the blade.

"Gengjin Sword Qi Technique" Extremely strong and sharp, invincible.

Chen Mo did not practice sword techniques; he simply used his unparalleled sharp spiritual power to temper this ordinary iron weapon again and again.

The rust was worn away, revealing the dark steel underneath.

The nick was smoothed out, and the blade gleamed with a chilling light in the sunlight.

This is no longer a wood-chopping knife.

This is a murder weapon prepared solely for killing.

"call."

Chen Mo exhaled a breath of stale air and placed the wood-chopping knife aside.

With a thought, the phantom of an ancient-looking small bell appeared in his soul.

【Chaos Qian Yuan Bell】.

He silently felt the weight and stability emanating from this top-grade magic weapon, and the last ripples in his heart completely subsided.

He was already quite confident in killing someone at the eighth or tenth level of Qi Refining.

His maxed-out [Aura Concealment] skill made him virtually invincible.

In addition, there is the sharpness of the "Gengjin Sword Qi Technique" and the absolute defense of the "Chaos Qian Yuan Bell".

This was a hunt with no suspense.

But Chen Mo's belief in the "survival of the fittest" was not about luck. It was about using the strength of a lion to hunt a rabbit to crush an ant.

What he wanted was absolute certainty.

The night is getting darker.

The inn west of the village, the west wing.

Zhao Wu's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently out the window.

After being publicly "diagnosed" by that village doctor yesterday as having suffered from a loss of spirit, his fear had reached its peak.

How can a mortal see through the damage to a cultivator's foundation?

You're kidding me!

That kid is definitely an old monster disguised as a mortal, or a prodigy possessing extraordinary treasures!

Shame and fear, like two venomous snakes, gnawed at his heart.

He dared not use his divine sense to investigate any further, fearing that the other party would notice. He could only use his naked eyes to monitor, like a mortal.

But now, he doesn't even dare to monitor anymore.

He was afraid, afraid that the "village doctor" with the gentle smile would suddenly appear at his window and smile at him.

"Soon, the [Shadow Revealing Talisman] will arrive tomorrow..."

Zhao Wu muttered to himself, trying to bolster his courage, "Once the talisman arrives, no matter what kind of demon or monster you are, you'll all have to reveal your true form!"

Just then!

A faint yet clearly discernible fluctuation of spiritual energy flashed by from the direction of the back mountain of the village.

The fluctuations were clumsy, like a novice who had just begun to draw in Qi, awkwardly trying to circulate spiritual power.

Zhao Wu's pupils suddenly contracted!

It's him!

It must be him!

That kid was cultivating! He finally couldn't resist and gave himself away!

This idea spread like wildfire in an instant.

To go or not to go?

Reason told him that he should wait for tomorrow's talisman.

But the fear and the desire to make a name for oneself were clamoring wildly within them.

If we could gather evidence beforehand, that would be a great achievement! It might even make up for the mistakes in this mission!

"A complete novice who has just mastered Qi cultivation..."

A glint of greed and ruthlessness flashed in Zhao Wu's eyes.

He couldn't wait any longer!

He silently pushed open the back window, his figure darting out like a cat, disappearing into the night in a few leaps, heading straight for the back mountain.

Behind the mountain, a secluded grove of trees.

This is where Chen Mo usually practices his sword energy.

Zhao Wu concealed his aura and slipped into the forest like a ghost. Following the memory of the spiritual energy fluctuations he had just witnessed, he arrived at a clearing.

The open space was deserted.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows.

"Huh? Where is everyone?"

Zhao Wu frowned, his divine sense carefully scanning his surroundings.

No.

There was nothing there.

Could it be that I'm imagining things?

Just as he hesitated, a shadow slowly emerged from behind a large tree behind him.

The footsteps were very light.

Zhao Wu suddenly turned around.

Under the moonlight, Chen Mo held a wood-chopping knife and quietly watched him.

His face had lost its daytime gentleness, replaced by indifference.

"you……"

Zhao Wu was both shocked and furious, and his spiritual power erupted instantly! The pressure of the eighth level of Qi Refining swept out without reservation!

"You are no ordinary person! Die!"

He flicked his finger, and a sharp gust of wind, accompanied by a whooshing sound, pierced straight towards Chen Mo's brow.

However, Chen Mo's figure only flickered slightly before disappearing from the spot like a ghost.

The wind struck the air, leaving a deep little hole in the ground.

"How is that possible?!"

Zhao Wu was terrified.

His attack missed?

The next moment, a sharp aura that chilled him to the bone shone from the side.

That wasn't the brilliance of magic, but a pure, refined sharpness.

Chen Mo appeared to his left, his wood-chopping knife bringing down on his head with the simplest and most unpretentious wood-chopping motion!

There are no fancy moves, only extreme speed and extremely concentrated power.

"not good!"

Zhao Wu was terrified and hastily produced a small blue shield, holding it in front of him.

Click!

A crisp sound.

That shield, a low-grade magic weapon, was as fragile as tofu in front of the woodcutter's knife.

The blade didn't pause for a moment, piercing right through.

The terror in Zhao Wu's eyes froze.

He looked down at the line of blood that had slashed diagonally from his left shoulder down to his right waist and abdomen.

"Refining... Qi... Level 10..."

He made a hoarse sound in his throat, his eyes filled with endless regret and resentment.

He's not a newbie.

He's a monster.

thump.

Zhao Wu's body was cut in two diagonally and fell into a pool of blood.

Chen Mo flicked the blood off the knife without expression.

He walked to the body, squatted down, and began to feel around skillfully.

A storage bag.

Chen Mo probed inside with his divine sense and found dozens of low-grade spirit stones, several bottles of pills, and a black iron token.

Just then, the token suddenly vibrated and emitted a faint light.

[Ding! Fluctuations detected in a second-tier communication artifact!] A system notification sounded in my mind.

Immediately afterwards, a cold, authoritative, and emotionless male voice emanated from the token, echoing through the deathly silent forest.

"Zhao Wu, the [Shadow Revealing Talisman] has been sent out by flying boat and will arrive by noon tomorrow."

"Has the target's identity been confirmed?"

"answer."

Chen Mo stood beside Zhao Wu's warm body, holding the still-glowing token in his hand.

The wind rustled through the treetops.

Like the devil's whisper.