Chapter 9: Sever the Claws and Teeth

Skinny Monkey’s caution led him further and further from the mountain’s foot without him even realizing it.

Chasing after Mu Feng, he turned past a mountain ridge and suddenly found Mu Feng gone. Looking up, he saw only thick bamboo clusters as wide as bowls, with rolling hills stretching endlessly into the distance. Straining his ears, he heard only the rustling of the bamboo leaves and the howling wind—nothing else.

Mu Feng, who had been casually walking ahead just moments before, seemed to vanish into thin air.

Not good!

A sickening dread twisted in Skinny Monkey’s gut, his instincts screaming of danger. Just as he turned to flee, a tall figure emerged from the dense bamboo grove. That faint, unreadable smile on the stranger’s face—it had to be Mu Feng.

“What… what do you think you’re doing?”

Skinny Monkey’s unease made him tighten at the sight of Mu Feng’s odd smile.

For the first time, he realized that this frail-looking scholar—who once seemed blown over by a gentle breeze—stood unnervingly tall. Though empty-handed, Mu Feng gave off an aura of chilling authority.

“What else would I do in this desolate wilderness?”

Mu Feng’s face stayed expressionless as he stepped forward coldly. Skinny Monkey’s heart thudded; he instinctively retreated a pace. With Mu Feng’s next step, he retreated again. Pale-faced, he frantically scanned their surroundings, fear coiling inside him. It was as if the tables had turned—Mu Feng seemed like a Mortal Realm warrior, while he himself had become an untrained commoner.

“Young Master Mu Feng, I think this might be a misunderstanding.” After swallowing, the usually cunning Skinny Monkey forced himself to stay calm and offered a weak smile. “My grandmother is over eighty, and she suddenly fell gravely ill today. I came into the mountains to gather herbs. Who’d have thought I’d run into you?”

“Oh, what a dutiful grandson you are!”

Mu Feng nodded slightly, sparking a flicker of hope in Skinny Monkey—perhaps he could escape unharmed. But then Mu Feng’s tone abruptly changed, “If your grandmother is over eighty, your grandfather must be near ninety too. Does he suffer from palsy or brain paralysis? I have some herbs you can take. Honestly, having a grandson at their age is no easy feat. Need me to pass on any last words? Don’t hesitate to ask!”

Grandson?

Skinny Monkey’s face soured as Mu Feng emphasized the word “grandson” with a smirk. Even a fool would grasp the insult now.

His attempt at deceit had failed—he’d been seen through from the start!

“Mu Feng, I am Second Young Master Mu Qingyuan’s only advisor! What are you trying to do?”

Deception thwarted, Skinny Monkey turned harsh. “Disrespecting me is disrespecting the Second Young Master—it’s defying the authority of Mu Manor! Are you trying to revolt? Want a taste of the Punishment Elder’s Tiger Bone Whip?”

First, he tried to conceal, then deceive—and now, his last trick was to borrow authority from the tiger!

Years serving Second Young Master Mu Qingyuan had turned Skinny Monkey into a sly fox; this tactic had rarely failed him.

Sadly, he had met Mu Feng today.

Mu Feng smirked coldly, watching Skinny Monkey’s clumsy act with contempt and seeing right through his fear. “No one dares disrespect Mu Manor’s authority, rest assured. But out here in these wild mountains, with not even a ghost around, if I kill you, who would know? Even if someone suspected me, where’s the proof?”

“You—”

Panicking, Skinny Monkey spun around and bolted.

He’d expected, at worst, a heated quarrel or fight with Mu Feng. How could he know Mu Feng had murder in mind? He’d provoked the dragon’s fury!

Even a clay figure has its limits. Here in this desolate wilderness, if he were killed, not a trace would remain as evidence!

“You’re as good as dead. There’s no escape!”

Mu Feng gave a cold laugh. Suddenly, a slash blade appeared in his hand. Instead of chasing, he brought it down sharply. Cracking sharply, a vine before him was severed. Then, Skinny Monkey—who had barely taken a few steps—saw a thick bamboo pole, thick as a bowl, spring up from the dark ground. It shot toward him like a Crossbow Arrow with terrifying force.

A trap!

Screaming in alarm, Skinny Monkey instinctively dodged sideways, narrowly avoiding the bamboo. The next moment, as he readied for a desperate dash, a sharp gust of wind struck his back. He glanced back—a sharpened bamboo spear was right behind him, too close to evade.

Trap after trap, each move lethal!

Mu Feng had plotted meticulously. Once he decided to act, he laid down deadly traps. He wouldn’t move until he was ready to strike without giving the enemy a moment’s breath.

Ah…

A piercing shriek echoed far into the distance, startling a flock of birds into flight.

After his scream, Skinny Monkey ignored the wound, clutching his bleeding left shoulder as he fled wildly. His only thought was to put distance between himself and the ruthless Mu Feng. He wished he could leap straight out of the bamboo grove and hide inside Mu Manor.

A true expert reveals his skill in one move.

That sharpened bamboo had torn through his left shoulder, driven by a force so immense that even he, a warrior in the Early Mortal Realm, was outmatched. Terrified, his spirit broke; he nearly lost his will to live.

“Sneak into the mountains after me, and you think you can still run away?”

Mu Feng snatched up a bundle of sharpened bamboo poles, hoisted them on his shoulder, and raced forward. With every stride, he hurled one like a shooting star.

Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh…

The relentless bamboo spears terrorized the fleeing Skinny Monkey. A glance back at Mu Feng closing in made his heart hammer wildly. Darting left and right, he barely dodged three bamboo strikes before a sharp pain stabbed his right buttock—a bamboo spear had pierced down at an angle, nearly pinning him to the ground.

“Ah… I’ll fight you to the death!”

Maddened by agony and seeing no escape, Skinny Monkey whirled around and pulled out eighteen eerie tokens from his robes. He flung them down, and they scattered, planting into the earth, fluttering in the wind. Instantly, a chilling wind rose, and ghastly skulls formed on the tokens’ surfaces, accompanied by ghostly howls that seemed to summon all wandering spirits from miles around.

The Eighteen Yin Wind Tokens!

Skinny Monkey churned the Spiritual Power inside him wildly, desperate to trap the vicious Mu Feng in a formation and mount a last-ditch counterattack!

He had obtained these eighteen tokens years ago, after he and Mu Qingyuan ambushed and murdered a wandering monk. From his years of experience, he knew this was no ordinary treasure. Once unleashed, it wailed with spectral fury, its power immense. Yet each use drained an alarming amount of Spiritual Power, leaving him weakened for half a month—so he had never dared use it lightly.

Now, cornered and facing Mu Feng’s onslaught, he had no choice but to stake everything.