Blood River

Xie Qianji took a few steps back, gritted his teeth, and said, "Cross the Dark River, and you'll reach The Other Shore."

Su Changhe smiled faintly. "Beyond The Other Shore, there will no longer be endless night—there should be light."

Xie Qianji fell silent. He picked up Xie Fanhua's corpse and left without another glance back. Su Changhe looked down at Xie Fanhua's severed head on the ground. The final expression on that face was one of shock and unwillingness. He bent slightly, staring into the still-open eyes. "What a pity. Among the Xie Family's current generation, few are interesting. You barely counted as one. If you hadn’t been such a sickly ghost, I would’ve truly liked to fight you properly."

"You killed Xie Fanhua. Old Master Xie Ba won’t let you off," a hoarse, low voice suddenly spoke from nearby. Su Changhe stiffened, whirling around, his dagger spinning deftly in his hand as he assumed a defensive stance.

A man clad in silver robes sat on the eaves of a nearby roof—the same man Su Changhe had encountered on his way back to the inn that day.

"After this, who in the Dark River will spare anyone?" Su Changhe sneered. "Perhaps, in the future, only one of the so-called three families will remain."

The silver-robed man shook his head. "The Dark River has endured for centuries. Do you think this kind of internal slaughter has only happened once? I’ve read the records in the archives. Almost every three generations, there’s been an uprising. Yet the structure of the Dark River has never changed. The Dark River is an organization, but it’s also a microcosm of the world. Some will always win, some will compromise, and some… will be sacrificed."

Su Changhe twirled the small dagger between his fingers. "Are you implying I’ll be the one sacrificed?"

"Why did Su Jinhui hand command over to you? Even if your skills are decent, you’re still a Nameless One—an outsider," the silver-robed man murmured.

"Is this where you try to recruit me? Mu Family’s head, Mu Zi Zhe!" Su Changhe finally spoke the other’s name aloud. Years ago, both he and Su Muyu had nearly lost their lives to this very man, Mu Zi Zhe.

Mu Zi Zhe turned his head, revealing a pale, bloodless face. "You dare speak my name."

"If the sword is already drawn, why hide its edge? You became the youngest head in the Mu Family’s history. Don’t you want to be the youngest Head in the Dark River’s history?" Su Changhe deliberately emphasized his words.

"You’re good. That’s why I said I should’ve killed you back then. Someone like you is nothing but a scourge to everyone." Mu Zi Zhe stood, his sleeves fluttering lightly. "You’re mistaken. I didn’t come to recruit you. I came to kill you. From the moment I first saw you, I wanted you dead."

Su Changhe licked his lips. "I thought I’d given Uncle Zhe the tough job while I just went through the motions at the Spider Nest. Never imagined I’d end up facing a family head instead. Miscalculations, miscalculations—should’ve swapped paths with Uncle Zhe."In the secret passage, Su Muyu and Bai Hehuai arrived at a library. It seemed this passage also served as a refuge when necessary, as the library stored some dry rations and clean water, along with a few books covered in dust. The titles on the covers had all been erased without exception. Having stayed awake all night and gone through a fierce battle, Su Muyu drank some water upon entering the library and then spoke apologetically, "If we return to the Spider Nest through the exit, we’ll likely encounter people from the three families along the way. Miracle Healer, please allow me to rest here for a short while."

Bai Hehuai naturally agreed, nodding, "Rest then. If you don’t have the strength to fight later, I’ll be the one in trouble."

"Thank you, Miracle Healer." Su Muyu sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and within moments, soft snores could be heard.

"He falls asleep fast enough," Bai Hehuai chuckled, standing up to examine the library. She took out the ancient books from the shelves one by one, flipping through them. To her surprise, they contained neither martial arts secrets nor Dark River mysteries, but rather miscellaneous tales and fictional stories. She skimmed a few pages casually but was drawn to a short story in one of the books. She wondered if this secret room, serving as a refuge, had stocked such novels to help pass the time for those hiding here. Was Dark River really such a humane organization? Looking at Su Muyu, who was sitting cross-legged, asleep and covered in wounds, Bai Hehuai shook her head—it didn’t seem like it at all.

Still, the story was quite captivating. Finally having a moment of leisure, Bai Hehuai sat on the floor and began reading. The tale was set during the founding of Beili, when the founding emperor, Xiao Yi, was still leading troops in battle. It was said he had a group of shadow assassins tasked with missions like eliminating enemy commanders. Among them was one who could completely vanish into the night, appearing like a ghost to kill before dissipating like smoke...

"How fantastical," Bai Hehuai murmured, thoroughly enjoying the story. There were countless legends about Emperor Xiao Yi of Beili, but none had ever mentioned these shadow assassins. After all, battles were won through strategy and armies—relying on a handful of assassins to turn the tide was pure fantasy. Bai Hehuai naturally didn’t believe the story’s content but found it entertaining. Just as she was about to read the next one, Su Muyu suddenly opened his eyes.

"Miracle Healer, let’s move," Su Muyu said, his voice noticeably less weary.

Bai Hehuai was taken aback. "What? You’ve barely slept. Do all Dark River people disregard their lives like this?"

Su Muyu stood up. "In the Mu Family of Dark River, there was once a senior named Mu Zhaoyang. He created a martial art focused on sleep, called the Slumbering Breath Technique. We sleep only two hours a day, and the rest of the time, we take short naps of fifteen or thirty minutes to regain energy."

Bai Hehuai blinked. "As someone trained in medicine, I have to say—this defies medical science. No matter how impressive your senior Mu made this Slumbering Breath Technique sound, it’s simply not medically sound.""Perhaps so, but for us Dark River People, this sleep technique is quite effective. After all, we're always racing against time." Su Muyu let out a light sigh before walking forward, "It's just hard on the Miracle Healer."

Seeing Su Muyu already moving ahead, Bai Hehuai glanced at the novel in her hand. After hesitating briefly, she finally blew off the dust and tucked it into her robe. It was just some miscellaneous book anyway, not worth much... taken was taken.

Su Muyu didn't notice Bai Hehuai's action, nor did he pay any attention to the books on the shelf missing their covers. With his energy restored, he strode forward briskly—for every moment he delayed, the chance of The Head succumbing to the poison grew greater.