Without paying any more attention to the weeping thugs, the old madam made her way alone through the lavishly decorated courtyard to an unremarkable corner. Lifting a wooden panel, she descended a spiraling staircase into a hidden chamber.
Unlike the glittering luxury outside, the air here was thick with the stench of rot. The source of that stench was the "person" in the center of the room. Or rather, it could hardly be called a person anymore — the decaying body was covered in thick calluses, resembling a withered tree trunk from a distance.
"Mistress... the girl escaped today."
The madam, who had been so imperious and domineering before the thugs, now cowered like a guilty kitten before this decaying figure, trembling uncontrollably. From a distance, she even looked a bit like a golden ingot tossed on the floor.
"That girl...The one meant to be offered to you... the one with exceptionally strong innate spiritual energy..."
Boom!
A terrifying gust of force erupted, sending the old madam tumbling through the room like a kicked ingot. She rolled several times before crashing into a wall and finally stopping. Through the raging wind, bones could be seen piled under the bed where the decaying figure lay — all slender and delicate, clearly the remains of young girls.
"Just one more... just one more, and this old body will regain youth and grant you all immortality. At dawn tomorrow, you must go into the city and find the Governor. Tell him to mobilize everyone in Yu City (Yucheng) to search — even if they have to dig three feet into the ground, they must find her. Such an innately gifted girl is a rare treasure."
"Yes!!!"
"No... don't wait for dawn. Take my token now and find the Governor. Have him set out immediately to capture her before sunrise."
With that, the old monster tossed a token at the madam. She caught it hurriedly, not daring to delay for even a moment. She knew very well: disobeying the Master's orders meant certain death.
—
Dawn. The Mountains.
"Hu—"
As the first rays of sunlight pierced the sky, Su Min awoke from her meditation and let out a long breath.
"I've finally crossed that threshold... This Changchun Gong really suits my talents... though it's a little..."
Feeling the changes within her body, Su Min showed a rare, faint smile. The only downside was that the Changchun Gong wasn't the kind of martial art that offered quick boosts in power.
---[Name: Su Min]
[Cultivation: Early Body Refining (Mortal)]
[Innate Talent: Immortality (having infinite lifespan and not aging)]
[Divine Ability: Heavenly Dao Insight(Over time, comprehend techniques from the cosmos)]
[Technique: Changchun Gong (Fragmented)]
[Skill: Basic Sword Control – Three Forms]
[Life-bound Spirit Treasure: Flying Sword Embryo (Yellow-Grade, Low-Quality)]---
At her current level, she could easily wipe out the thugs she encountered the night before, even without help.
"Still... I've only just started refining my body, not even reaching the Innate Qi Cultivation stage. This doesn't really count as true cultivation yet — it's more like martial arts. Right now, the most important thing is to find a remote and quiet place to properly cultivate."
Despite her small achievement, Su Min remained clear-headed. She knew she needed to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible. However, her expression darkened a moment later.
"I can't remember any safe places around here, and this dynasty..."
Now that she finally had time to sort through her memories, Su Min's face grew grim. It seemed that in this dynasty, her very existence was... unwelcome. Her family had been exterminated — not that it mattered much since she had never even met them — but her real problem was her identity, which would make survival extremely difficult.
"I'll have to hide for a while... As the saying goes, once a person disappears, memories of them fade. Give it ten or twenty years, and no one will remember me."
After some thought, Su Min decided to vanish for a while. However, just as she made up her mind—
"There! The tracks lead that way! Looks like she went into that abandoned temple — hurry, catch her and there's a big reward!"
A burst of shouting startled her. Su Min immediately leapt up, springing into the trees, using the branches to vault deeper into the mountains, eventually hiding in a clump of bushes to observe. Soon after, several men in constable uniforms, armed with large blades, rushed into the spot where she had been resting, frantically searching around.
"Huh?"
Su Min frowned slightly in confusion. "Deploying constables just to catch me? This feels... off." Something was definitely wrong.
"I should check somewhere else."
Sensing that something wasn't right, Su Min chose not to reveal herself. Instead, she stealthily retraced her steps toward where she'd first come.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
With her Early Body Refinement, she could already move almost like a martial arts hero, scaling walls and leaping rooftops with ease — navigating these rugged mountains was nothing to her. Meanwhile, deep in a ravine at the base of the mountain, a group of people had gathered around examining a corpse.
"The wound is smooth and clean, as if carved by the finest blade. Are you sure it was that girl? To cause injuries like this would require considerable strength."
The Governor of Yu City frowned as he inspected the cross-section Niu Ma' corpses, looking deeply troubled. They were too neat.
"I saw it with my own eyes! That witch conjured a sword out of nowhere and, with just one swipe, Niu Ma boss was chopped into several pieces — he didn't even die immediately!"
"Governor, no need to hesitate. The girl must have fled into the mountains. Please mobilize the city's forces and seal off this mountain range. Search every inch if you must."
The madam, speaking bluntly and arrogantly, cut in. The scene was disturbingly strange — a mere brothel madam ordering the city's Governor around like a servant. Yet, shockingly, the Governor said nothing to oppose her, only furrowed his brow.
"Very well. Before His Majesty sent me here, he did grant me certain special authorities... I'll deploy five thousand troops to surround the mountains. That pampered little girl won't last long. I will just treat it as getting rid of harm for the people."
He turned to a middle-aged officer clad in armor and whispered a few instructions, which made the latter look a little surprised.
It was a bit too much to mobilize 5,000 troops just like that. But since the order was here, he couldn't say anything. He turned around, got on his horse, and went to the city to mobilize the troops.
When Su Min arrived at the ridge and looked down, she saw the Governor and the old madam conversing politely. Unfortunately, she was too far away to hear what they were saying.
"That's the Governor... talking so courteously to a brothel madam? Something is seriously wrong. It seems that the one targeting me is not an ordinary person."
After observing for a while, Su Min realized the situation was far more dangerous than she had first imagined.