Although it was on the outskirts, there were still plenty of wildcats and monkeys, and as for that bluebird...

Henry Carter was thinking this when the pain in his shoulder grew even more intense, as if it were splitting open. He moved his body, but suddenly fell down, almost too weak to get up.

No outstanding hunter would ever spend the night in such mountains.

Perhaps after only half a night’s sleep, some fierce beast or wild bird would gut you.

“Still can’t find it…”

Henry Carter let out a bitter sigh, his teeth almost aching from how hard he clenched them. At last, he forced himself up and walked back the way he had come.

When he reached the corpses of those young heroes, Henry Carter paused.

For ordinary people, corpses were still a serious taboo.

But since even these people had died by his own hand, what was there left to fear?

He stepped forward and picked up the sharp sword of the young man in yellow. He weighed it in his hand—it was a bit heavy—so he set it aside, then turned the body over and found several dozen taels of silver in the man’s chest.

One tael of silver was worth a hundred coins.

There were about thirty taels here, which equaled three thousand silver coins—a huge sum for Henry Carter.

But he felt little joy in his heart. Searching further in the man’s chest, he found a booklet.

Looking closely, he saw the title: “Guanliu Sword Technique.”

It was a martial arts manual.

Henry Carter suddenly gripped the manual tightly, a strange look in his eyes. He tucked the manual into his chest and moved on to search the others, turning each one over thoroughly.

Henry Carter counted: altogether, there were one hundred seventy taels of silver and four martial arts manuals.

The silver weighed heavily in his chest, but Henry Carter knew that the real treasure was these four martial arts manuals. These people were clearly not ordinary; they must have been renowned young heroes, and these four manuals were surely top-tier techniques in the martial world.

In the past, if he had come into such a fortune, even with his calm temperament, Henry Carter would probably have been so excited he couldn’t sleep for days. But thinking of how the bluebird was no longer by his side, and that his own hands were now stained with several lives, his heart was instead filled with sorrow and grief, without a trace of joy.

“Their clothes are also extremely valuable, and these swords must be top quality as well. But these things can’t be shown off in front of others, or they’ll definitely bring trouble.”

Henry Carter understood how to weigh his options. These clothes and swords were clearly not for him to keep. The silver was still usable, and the martial arts could be practiced in secret, the manuals hidden away. But the clothes and swords he couldn’t use himself—if he tried to sell them, it would surely draw attention.

He looked carefully, hid the swords under a tree, thought for a moment, and finally took just one sword, discarding the scabbard. Carrying the sword, he thought, “When I get back, I’ll wrap the hilt with a strip of rag. No one should be able to recognize this precious sword just by the blade.”

Just as Henry Carter was leaving, a faint voice sounded.

“So young, yet you kill for treasure—truly ruthless and merciless.”

It was an old voice.

For such an old voice to suddenly appear in the deep mountain forest, especially as dusk was falling, and with Henry Carter having just poisoned several people, his heart was uneasy. Hearing the voice, his whole body stiffened, a chill rising within him, and he thought in alarm, “Could it be some demon or ghost?”

A gust of wind swept by, and Henry Carter felt as if the splitting pain in his shoulder had eased considerably.

After the wind passed, an old Taoist appeared before Henry Carter.

The old man had white hair but a youthful face, his cheeks glowing with health. He was tall, dressed in Taoist robes, holding a horsetail whisk, exuding an air of immortality. Yet the way he looked at Henry Carter was extremely cold.

“Master…” Henry Carter at first thought this was his late teacher, but on closer look, this Taoist was taller than his own master and had an even more ethereal presence.

The old Taoist looked at him, then swept his gaze over the corpses, shook his head, and said, “You, young man, look gentle and ordinary, but in truth you are so ruthless and merciless. All this killing and revenge for a bluebird?”

There was clear reproach in his words.

Henry Carter was about to explain when he suddenly paused, then asked in surprise, “How do you know about my bluebird? Were you watching all along?”

“That’s right.” The old Taoist stroked his beard and said, “I’ve been watching you poison and kill.”

Henry Carter was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Then why didn’t you stop me from poisoning them?”

The old Taoist’s face reddened slightly, but since his face was already full and ruddy, it wasn’t very noticeable. He snorted, “I didn’t actually see how you poisoned them.”

Henry Carter asked, “So you just watched as they bullied me?”

The old Taoist was taken aback. “Well…”

Henry Carter grew angry and said, “If that’s the case, why are you here now to uphold justice? If I hadn’t poisoned them, I’d be the one dead—where were you then?”

The old Taoist was also quite annoyed and said, “You only have one life. If they wanted to kill you, you could have just let them! But by poisoning them, you took so many lives!”

“You…”

This old Taoist was completely unreasonable. Henry Carter took a deep breath and asked, “May I ask, venerable immortal, how old are you?”

“What?”