Martial Saint with Passives

One day, Jiang Che was sipping tea when he overheard the people at a nearby table discussing the Horse Bandits. He pricked up his ears and listened closely.

"Hey, have you heard? They say one of the Black Wind Mountain Bandit Leader Tuoba Lie’s adopted sons is dead, and now he’s hunting for the killer everywhere!" one of them suddenly said.

"Wasn’t his adopted son supposed to be incredibly skilled? How could he have been killed?" his companion asked, curious.

"Who knows? Maybe it was an old enemy. After all, they’re Horse Bandits. They’ve done more than their fair share of murdering and robbing!"

"Then it should be easy to find the killer, right? It’s hard to kill an expert like that without leaving a single trace!"

"They say the adopted son had gone to Moon Viewing Mountain before he died. He wasn’t found until the next day, and by then, his body had been devoured by a Black Beast—only a few scraps of cloth were left! Although there were signs of a fight, they couldn’t discern any particular Martial Arts style. All they know is that it was a Force Integration Martial Artist who uses a saber!" the man continued.

"A Force Integration Martial Artist who uses a saber? I remember we have two Force Integration Artists in Lin Yuan City who are saber-users. Could it have been one of them?"

"They suspected those two at first, but on the day of the incident, one of their younger sons was getting married, and the other attended the banquet! Numerous guests saw the two of them drinking all day. They never left the party at all!"

"So... could it be a Force Integration Swordsman from somewhere else?"

"I have no idea. In any case, Tuoba Lie has posted a bounty of one hundred thousand silver and sworn to find the killer!"

"One hundred thousand?!" his companion’s voice grew sharp.

"That money won’t be easy to claim! Forget about whether anyone even saw the mysterious Swordsman—even if they did, they wouldn’t dare report it! This is a Force Integration Swordsman we’re talking about, someone who even dared to kill Tuoba Lie’s adopted son. Offend him, and would you expect to keep your head on your shoulders?" the man said, shaking his head.

"That’s true."

After hearing all this, Jiang Che quietly left.

He was a little surprised to learn that Tuoba Lie was offering a bounty of one hundred thousand silver to find the killer.

Still, he was confident. ’Tuoba Lie will never find me.’

’Even if I went out and confessed to the murder, no one would likely believe me.’

’How could a mere Martial Artist who hasn’t even reached the Iron Skin Realm possibly kill an expert who was Half-Step into Force Integration?’

’Still, this is a good reminder. I should use my saber less for a while.’

’After all, carrying a two-hundred-pound saber on my back all day...’

’...is a bit too conspicuous.’

’Besides, I have no need for it as long as I don’t leave the city.’

...

...

...

「In a spacious courtyard in the East District.」

A square-faced, bearded man, dressed like a Hunter, was cleaning his weapon.

Suddenly, the courtyard gate opened, and a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes walked in.

"Brother-in-law! I have to tell you something!"

"Biaozi, you’re here! What’s up?" the square-faced man laughed.

These were the very Hunters Jiang Che had saved the other day.

The square-faced man’s name was Wang Jin, and the one he called Biaozi was his wife’s younger brother, Hu Biao.

"I just got some news! The man leading the group that captured us the other day... was Tuoba Lie’s adopted son!" said Hu Biao.

"What are you talking about?" Wang Jin asked.

Hu Biao quickly recounted the story of Tuoba Lie’s bounty and his adopted son’s murder on Moon Viewing Mountain.

"I can’t believe it! We have that mysterious Swordsman to thank, then. If not for him, we would’ve been taken away for sure!" Wang Jin sighed.

"Brother-in-law, don’t you think... there was something a little strange about the kid who saved us?" Hu Biao asked, lowering his voice.

Wang Jin froze. "What was strange about him?"

"Think about it, Brother-in-law. He said he’d been separated from his companions, but he didn’t seem nervous at all! And we didn’t see any other Hunting Teams on the path. If he’d really been hunting with a team all day as he claimed, shouldn’t we have run into them at least once? Also, that kid obviously hasn’t even reached the Iron Skin Realm, yet he was carrying such a huge saber. It looked like he couldn’t even wield the thing!" Hu Biao analyzed.

"You mean...?" Wang Jin’s expression began to change.

"The way I see it, the mysterious Swordsman who did the killing must be that kid’s accomplice! After the Swordsman finished him off, he gave the saber to the kid to bring back, then returned to the city by himself! There are plenty of Force Integration Martial Artists in the city; maybe one of them secretly learned a Saber Technique but just never made it public! Therefore, if we can just find which Force Integration Martial Artist left the city that day, we’ll have our killer!" Hu Biao grew more and more excited as he spoke.

Wang Jin shook his head. "And?"

"And? This is a lead on the killer!" Hu Biao said, stunned.

"Are you saying you want to go and report the benefactor who saved our lives?!" Wang Jin retorted, his eyes wide with disbelief.