I become stronger by sacrificing my lifespan, becoming invincible in the world.

Dead silence.

Only the wind howled in the canyon, carrying the stench of blood and brushing against people's faces.

Lin Chen knelt on one knee, the knife stuck in front of him, barely managing to stay upright.

My vision blurred, my ears were ringing, and every breath I took caused excruciating pain in my chest.

The weakness that comes with the end of one's lifespan is like an icy tide, rising from the depths of one's bones, threatening to completely overwhelm one.

It must not be tilted.

He gritted his teeth, his fingers gripping the knife handle tightly, his nails digging into his flesh, using the pain to maintain his last shred of consciousness.

Not far away, Grandpa Liu clutched his chest wound, staggered backward, and bumped into a rock before regaining his balance.

The ghost-headed broadsword fell to his feet, but he didn't bother to pick it up. He just stared intently at Lin Chen, his eyes filled with horror, resentment, and a hint of... greed.

"Impressive swordsmanship..." Old Liu coughed up blood, his voice hoarse. "Kid, your swordsmanship... are you selling it? Name your price, and I... cough... I'll guarantee your life!"

Lin Chen ignored him.

His gaze swept across the entire room.

The two men in black were still alive, but both were injured, and they were warily confronting the remnants of Zhou Yong's patrol battalion.

There were eight men left in the patrol battalion, all wounded, but their formation remained intact and they still held their knives firmly.

Fatty Wu had disappeared without a trace. Of his six trusted men, four were dead, and the remaining two huddled behind a carriage, trembling with fear.

The scouts... were almost all dead. Zhao Tiegu and Li the Cripple peeked out from behind the rocks, and after confirming it was safe, they quickly ran over and helped Lin Chen up on either side.

"How is it?" Zhao Tiegu's voice was tense.

"He won't die." Lin Chen shook his head, his gaze turning to the open black cloth carriage.

Inside the carriage, seven or eight people were helping each other out, their bodies trembling. The shackles on their hands and feet were not completely removed, making a clanging sound as they walked. The old man at the front was struggling to break the locks on his shackles with a small stone.

Lin Chen gestured for Zhao Tiegu to go and help.

Zhao Tiegu drew his short knife and cleaved the lock in a few strokes. The shackles came off, the old man breathed a sigh of relief, stretched his wrists, then turned and bowed deeply to Lin Chen.

"This old man, Shi Jian, thanks you for saving my life!"

Shi Jian.

They really are from the Shi family.

Lin Chen made up his mind. He forced himself to stand up and waved his hand, "This place is not safe to stay for long, let's leave first."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yong walked over with two border soldiers.

He glanced at Lin Chen, then at Master Liu on the ground, and finally his gaze fell on Shi Jian and the others, his expression shifting.

"Lin Chen," Zhou Yong began, his voice complex, "these people...were they arrested by Fatty Wu?"

"Yes." Lin Chen nodded. "Trafficking people to the demon race or black market mines. This job isn't about transporting military supplies at all."

Zhou Yong remained silent.

The border soldiers behind him all had grim expressions. They were all from the regular border army and might have seen the dark side of things, but seeing their comrades doing such things was still hard for them to accept.

"Where's Fatty Wu?" Zhou Yong asked.

"He escaped." A border soldier pointed deep into the canyon. "During the chaos just now, I saw him ride his horse that way."

"Should we pursue them or not?"

"We can't catch up." Zhou Yong shook his head, looking at Lin Chen. "Now... what do we do?"

He handed the decision over to Lin Chen.

This detail stirred something within Lin Chen. Zhou Yong had made his stance clear—he had chosen a side.

"Settle these people in first." Lin Chen pointed to Shi Jian and the others. "Check the other carriages and take anything useful. Give the wounded basic first aid. We'll leave in about an incense stick's time."

"Evacuate?" Zhao Tiegu asked. "Back to Ghost Cry Pass?"

"No." Lin Chen looked towards the other end of the canyon. "Go to Blackrock City."

"Black Rock City?" Zhou Yong frowned. "That place... might not be safe. Fatty Wu might have already sent someone to warn us."

"That's precisely why we have to go," Lin Chen said slowly. "We need to bring this matter to the attention of the Blackrock City garrison commander. With witnesses and evidence, Scarface Wang and Fatty Wu won't be able to escape."

Zhou Yong's eyes lit up.

He understood Lin Chen's meaning—rather than returning to Ghost Cry Pass and facing Wang Scarface's forces turning against him, it would be better to go directly to Black Rock City and make a big scene.

The garrison commander of Black Rock City is no lower in rank than Liu Zhenshan, and since he is not under the command of Ghost Cry Pass, he is more likely to handle matters impartially.

"Okay!" Zhou Yong nodded emphatically and turned to make the arrangements.

With Zhao Tiegu's help, Lin Chen walked to a rock and sat down.

Li the Cripple went to help bandage the wounded, while Shi Jian led the other villagers to help gather the supplies scattered on the ground.

"My benefactor," Shi Jian walked over and bowed again.

"I am a blacksmith from the Shi family in the Northern Territory. Half a month ago, Fatty Wu led a group to raid our village, capturing all the able-bodied men and craftsmen, saying that they were to be used as military slaves. We were imprisoned in the Ghost Cry Dungeon for a few days, and then we were stuffed into this cart to be transported to Blackrock City... supposedly to be sold to the demons of the Gray Wolf Tribe."

Gray Wolf Division.

Lin Chen remembered the domino in his arms.

What Han Li snatched from the inside man was the token of the Gray Wolf tribe's priest. It seems that Scarface Wang and Fatty Wu had long been in cahoots with the demon race.

"Your Shi family..." Lin Chen asked, "are you famous for forging?"

"Yes." Shi Jian's face showed bitterness. "It's an ancestral craft: blacksmithing, armor making, and weapon forging. It's precisely because of this craft that we've brought trouble upon ourselves. The demon race needs craftsmen to forge weapons and armor, and on the black market... people like us can fetch high prices."

Lin Chen nodded.

At this moment, Zhou Yong returned.

"I've checked." His face was grim. "Of the four carriages, three were carrying legitimate military equipment and medicine. But the quantity... doesn't match the records. At least 30% is missing. The remaining 10% was probably already resold by Scarface Wang and Fatty Wu."

"What about the last one?" Lin Chen asked.

"It's empty." Zhou Yong pointed to the black cloth carriage. "Besides these people, we found some other things in the hidden compartments of the carriage."

He handed me a small cloth bag.

Lin Chen opened it.

Inside were several secret letters, a thin ledger, and several dominoes of different styles—marked not only the Gray Wolf Tribe, but also the Nightmare Tribe and the Iron Claw Tribe.

The letters were secret correspondence between Fatty Wu and Scarface Wang, using coded language, but the general meaning was understandable: the agreed time, place, and price of the transaction, as well as how the spoils would be divided.

The ledgers were even more detailed, recording every transaction they made in the past six months involving human trafficking and the resale of military supplies. The amounts involved were enormous and shocking.

Ironclad evidence.

"These things..." Zhou Yong's voice was dry, "are enough to kill Wang Scarface."

"And take Fatty Wu's life too." Lin Chen put the cloth bag away. "And that Master Liu as well."

He looked into the distance.

Old Liu was still leaning against the rock, panting heavily, blood still seeping from his chest wound. Two men in black stood guard beside him, but dared not make a move.

"How did he handle it?" Zhou Yong asked.

Lin Chen remained silent for a moment.

"Take him with you," he said. "He probably knows more than what's in the ledgers."

Zhou Yong understood and waved for the two border soldiers to pass.

The men in black tried to stop them, but the patrol battalion's arrows were already aimed at them. After a brief standoff, the men in black slowly lowered their weapons and were disarmed and bound.

Master Liu did not resist.

He simply stared at Lin Chen, a strange light flickering in his single eye.

"Kid," he suddenly laughed, a sinister smile, "you think...you've won?"

Lin Chen ignored him.

"You killed my men, stole my goods, and injured me..." Master Liu coughed. "Someone will settle this score with you."

"Who?" Lin Chen asked.

"You'll find out," Old Liu chuckled softly. "You'll find out when you die."

Two border soldiers lifted him up and tied him up with ropes.

Just as he passed by Lin Chen, Master Liu suddenly lowered his voice and said in a volume that only the two of them could hear:

"You... have a certain smell. It's a bit like those monsters from the 'Shadow Guards'."

Shadow Guard?

Lin Chen was startled.

That was the most mysterious and terrifying branch of the Imperial Guard, directly under the Emperor, specializing in handling shady matters. In his previous life, as the Seventh Prince, he had only heard of it, never seen it.

How would Master Liu know about the Shadow Guard?

How could he possibly feel... that he smelled like a shadow guard?

Is it because of the divine jade's devouring ability? Or is it because of something else?

Lin Chen stared at Master Liu, wanting to ask more questions, but Master Liu had already shut his mouth, letting the border soldiers drag him away.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn quickly passed.

All the supplies that could be taken were loaded onto the vehicle, and the wounded were given basic first aid.

The dead border soldiers and scouts were hastily buried by the roadside. The corpses of the sandstorm bandits were left to rot in the wilderness.

The convoy resumed its journey.

This time, however, the guards were replaced by eight border soldiers from the patrol battalion, plus Lin Chen and two others. There were four carriages—the black cloth carriage was too conspicuous and was abandoned in the canyon.

Shi Jian and the other common people squeezed into the second carriage.

Although their shackles were removed, the long-term imprisonment and torture had left most of them numb. Only Shi Jian remained lucid, glancing at Lin Chen's direction from time to time.

Lin Chen rode on horseback, following at the end of the caravan.

Zhao Tiegu and Li Quezi stood on either side of him, protecting him.

"What about what Master Liu said..." Zhao Tiegu asked in a low voice, "Do you believe him?"

"I'm half-believing, half-doubting," Lin Chen said, "but he definitely knows something."

"Shadow Guards..." Li the Cripple shuddered. "Those guys are ruthless killers. How did Scarface Wang and Fatty Wu get involved with them?"

Lin Chen did not answer.

He didn't know either.

But his intuition told him that things weren't that simple. For a mere border army officer like Wang Scarface to dare engage in such a large-scale human trafficking operation, there must be someone backing him up.

I initially thought it was that "Black Bird" from the capital, but now a Shadow Guard has appeared...

The waters of Ghost Cry Pass were deeper than he had imagined.

Just then, Zhou Yong's voice came from ahead:

"The canyon exit is just ahead! Once you're out of the canyon, walk another twenty miles, and you'll reach Blackrock City!"

Lin Chen looked up.

At the end of the canyon, the first rays of dawn appeared.

Finally, I'm leaving this awful place.

But he wasn't at ease.

The account book in his arms felt heavy, Liu Ye's words echoed in his ears, and there was that lingering feeling of weakness within him...

He needs to recover.

It requires... lifespan.

Lin Chen's gaze fell on Master Liu, who was tied up and held in the middle of the group.

The day after tomorrow, seven layers.

He exuded a bloody and menacing aura.

If I could devour him...

Once the idea popped into my head, it grew wildly like weeds.

But Lin Chen forcefully suppressed it.

Now is not the time.

There were too many people around, and the timing wasn't right. Besides, the strange "smell" emanating from Master Liu made him uneasy.

hold on.

Once we arrive in Blackrock City, once we settle down, we'll wait for... an opportunity when no one is around.

The convoy drove out of the canyon.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

The wasteland stretched out in the twilight, and in the distance, the outline of an abandoned village appeared faintly.

The wind grew colder.

Lin Chen tugged at his collar and spurred his horse to follow.

Behind them, the canyon resembled a closed mouth, swallowing the bloodshed and carnage into darkness.