Unorthodox Wuxia: While Others Practice Martial Arts, I Cultivate Immortality - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Shifting the Blame (Part 1)

It turned out that these dozen seemingly well-bred youths were actually being protected in secret—by a formidable second-rank expert.

Because Yuan Zhao looked far too young, he hadn’t taken her seriously at all.

Who would have thought that the moment Yuan Zhao made a move, she would kill his young master outright?

In Yuan Zhao’s surprised gaze, a middle-aged man appeared atop the boulder. With a face full of grief, he held the body of the Jiang-named youth she had just killed, calling out repeatedly: “Young master, wake up! Please wake up! Don’t scare Uncle Cheng like this!”

But no matter how he called, it was futile. His young master had long since lost all signs of life.

Seeing that the situation was beyond saving, the middle-aged man—who called himself Uncle Cheng—snapped his head toward Yuan Zhao, speaking through clenched teeth: “You deserve to die! You truly deserve to die! Do you even know who you killed?”

Yuan Zhao responded with utter seriousness: “You’re asking me? He’s one of your people. How would I know?”

Uncle Cheng was so furious he could barely speak.

“Ignorant child! You’ve caused a catastrophe beyond measure and you don’t even know it. Hand over your life!”

With that, he drew a small axe from his waist and leapt down from the boulder.

The moment he attacked, Yuan Zhao slightly shifted her body, easily dodged, and grabbed the wrist holding the axe.

Crack!

The sound of bones shattering rang out. His wrist hung limp, and the axe fell from his grasp uncontrollably.

Yuan Zhao reached out, caught the axe in mid-air, and flicked it back with a reverse throw. The spinning axe flew out and sliced off one of his arms.

“AAAHHHH!!” Uncle Cheng screamed, clutching his severed arm.

He had never imagined that a girl who looked so delicate could be this terrifyingly strong.

As he staggered back, screaming, Yuan Zhao didn’t pursue. Instead, she turned and jumped onto the boulder, landing beside the Jiang youth’s corpse.

Uncle Cheng thought she intended to do something to the body and immediately shouted to the terrified youths: “Hurry! Stop her!”

The boys and girls were nearly scared to death, but after hearing his command, they forced themselves to charge.

In truth, Yuan Zhao had no intention of doing anything aside from retrieving her blade.

Facing their clumsy assault, she casually pulled the knife lodged in the corpse, then swept it horizontally. A gleam flickered—and in an instant, every one of the youths had their throat slit.

Seeing their bodies drop, Uncle Cheng’s eyes nearly burst with rage.

“How dare you?! How dare you! I’ll fight you to the death!”

He grabbed the fallen axe Yuan Zhao had thrown earlier and leapt shakily onto the boulder.

But with a light flick of her blade, Yuan Zhao sent the axe flying from his grasp. One more stroke, and Uncle Cheng followed the others into death, eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.

***

Staring at the dozen corpses, Yuan Zhao felt a trace of trouble.

These people had acted insanely arrogant, and their backgrounds seemed unusual. Would killing them cause complications?

Suddenly, an idea lit up in her mind.

She gathered all the corpses together and had Old Wolf use his claws to slash open all their vital points, creating deep, fatal gashes.

When done intentionally, the wounds caused by Old Wolf’s claws looked very similar to those inflicted by that deranged hook-clawed killer she had previously encountered.

Next, she gouged out all their eyes, then burned them clean with a burst of flame—replicating the killer’s signature methods.

To hide the knife wounds she had left, Yuan Zhao had Old Wolf summon the wolf pack.

On the grasslands, he had called upon the green prairie wolves.

At the foot of the snowy mountains, what answered was a pack of snow wolves—white fur with tinges of gray, far prettier than prairie wolves or even Old Wolf.

Under Old Wolf’s command, the wolves tore at the corpses, covering up all traces of her blade.

That maniac was highly skilled and notoriously flamboyant—he could not possibly be an obscure figure. Upon seeing the scene, anyone would surely assume he had committed the killings.

She wondered whether that maniac would appreciate the “gift” she had prepared for him! Thinking of this, Yuan Zhao couldn’t help but smile.

To make the scene even more convincing, Yuan Zhao didn’t touch any of their belongings. The maniac never took valuables—only eyes.

After dispersing the wolf pack, Yuan Zhao and Old Wolf stepped into the vast snowy ranges of Yulian Mountain.

Not long after they left, a group of riders arrived.

Upon seeing the blood and bodies, they rushed forward to inspect.

“Who could be so cruel?” one said, face grim.

“Look at their eyes,” another exclaimed.

“All gouged out…” a third murmured thoughtfully.

“And these wounds…” the second man continued examining.

“No doubt about it—this was done by Gu Aoxue. No one else would do something like this,” the first man said angrily.

They had already encountered several similar scenes on their journey.

Gu Aoxue—known in the martial world as Mad Dog—thrived on hunting experts.

He had once been the son of the Master of Yulin Manor, a minor but respectable force twenty years ago.

But one night, Yulin Manor was massacred by the Thousand Souls Sect, who wanted the family heirloom ranked 78th on the weapons list—the Golden-Shatter Hook Claws.

Yet even after digging up the entire manor grounds, they never found it.

The sole survivor, Gu Aoxue, concealed his identity and later infiltrated the Thousand Souls Sect.

After ten years of hiding, he exterminated the entire sect in one night—leaving not even a chicken behind—using none other than his family’s Golden-Shatter Hook Claws.

Thereafter, he descended into madness, killing martial experts for pleasure, earning the nickname “Mad Dog,” ranked 30th on the Heaven List of wanted criminals.

At this moment, one of the men picked up a jade pendant from the Jiang youth’s waist.

“Look!”

The group gathered around. The pendant bore intricate patterns with two carved characters: Tianlong.

“These people… are they from Tianlong Manor?”

“No doubt. This pendant can’t be faked.”

“That Gu Aoxue is getting crazier by the day—he even dares kill people from Tianlong Manor. Is he not afraid of Elder Tianlong coming for him?”

In the martial world, top-tier experts were few. Elder Tianlong was one of them. Because of his presence, Tianlong Manor ranked steadily within the top ten—no one provoked them lightly.

Out of goodwill, the group buried all the corpses.

Soon after, news spread from their lips: Gu Aoxue had killed the young master of Tianlong Manor.

Meanwhile, Gu Aoxue himself was hunting another target somewhere on Yulian Mountain. He had no idea he had been falsely accused—and that this fabricated charge would one day bring him immense trouble, nearly costing him his life.

***

Back to Yuan Zhao.

She and Old Wolf had already ventured deep into Yulian Mountain, following the simple map Doctor Hu had given them toward Grand Peak.

Suddenly, a cute snow fox darted across the snow nearby. Old Wolf immediately perked up and chased after it excitedly.

Moments later, he returned with the snow fox in his mouth.

The fox was pure white, fluffy like a snowball—adorable beyond words.

Yuan Zhao couldn’t bear to harm it and said to Old Wolf: “Alright, let it go. That little thing isn’t even enough to fill your teeth!”

“Woof-aaar~” Old Wolf grumbled, but lifted his head and tossed the snow fox gently into a pile of snow.