The Smiling, Proud Wanderer: From the Moment He Picked Up Qu Feiyan

Ji Wushi's nickname was "Night Owl," which meant more than just that he had bright eyes at night.

He is an absolute expert when it comes to "night walking".

By the dim moonlight, he could see that the girl was slender and moved with great agility, clearly possessing considerable martial arts skills.

A little girl who knew martial arts was also sneaking around on this desolate riverbank in the dead of night...

Although I had never seen her in person, I had investigated before coming here. Elder Qu Yang's beloved granddaughter, Qu Feiyan, was also around thirteen or fourteen years old. Moreover, she had inherited her grandfather's martial arts skills from a young age and was particularly good at light footwork.

What a coincidence!

This person is most likely one of my targets on this trip!

Ji Wushi immediately devised a plan. He remained outwardly calm and continued walking slowly along the riverbank as if he hadn't noticed anything, but his mind was already racing.

But... why is she here too?

He discovered the Black Blood Needle nailed to a tree several miles downstream, and that's how he followed the clues all the way here.

Could it be that she is also looking for her missing grandfather?

As Ji Wushi casually searched through the bushes on both sides of the riverbank, he secretly pondered various possibilities in his mind.

Under no circumstances should she discover my true intentions. I must devise a foolproof plan that can both completely dispel the girl's suspicions and allow me to follow the clues to find Qu Yang's whereabouts.

He continued his search at a leisurely pace, and just as he was pondering this, the scene before him brought him an unexpected reward.

A short distance ahead, a woodland lay in ruins.

Several saplings were snapped in half, the breaks jagged and uneven, while many more trees lay fallen, branches and leaves scattered across the ground. The ground was covered with crisscrossing marks, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had taken place.

The chaotic scene immediately caught Ji Wushi's attention.

He walked slowly into the woods, and his bright eyes, shining in the moonlight, swept across the tree trunk and saw a clear fingerprint, deeply embedded in the wood, with a trace of charring at the edge.

"Although it's not the Black Blood Divine Needle, the method of channeling energy, with its blend of fierce power and subtlety, is undoubtedly a trace of Qu Yang's style!"

He was overjoyed. Looking around, he saw that the ground was covered with whip marks, as if it had been crushed by a giant python; the trees were covered with crisscrossing marks of swords and knives, some deep and some shallow, the scene was extremely chaotic.

Ji Wushi couldn't understand what had happened here, or why there were so many different weapon marks. It seemed that at least four or five people were involved in the fight.

But a brilliant idea had already popped into his head.

"Hahaha! What a bumper harvest! Grandpa's lucky today!"

Suddenly, Ji Wushi acted out of character and started shouting at the top of his lungs.

The voice was hoarse and unpleasant, immediately conveying the greed and joy of a petty, nouveau riche.

He darted to a tree where the whip tip was tangled, and in no time at all, he untied the long whip that had briefly saved Ma Bao's life. He then cracked it in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

Then he walked to another tree, gripped the hilt with both hands, and pulled the longsword stuck in the tree trunk with a "hey!" He squinted at the blade in the moonlight.

That's right, he's going to disguise himself as a "corpse snatcher"!

A kind of scavenger, living in the filth of the lowest rungs of society, making a living by profiting from the dead. Despised by everyone, yet omnipresent.

In the martial arts world, no one ever talks about them, but they exist silently and try to minimize the traces of their existence.

"Hey, there's another set of clothes here!" He made a new discovery, his eyes gleaming with greed, and he walked excitedly toward the blue robe that had been carelessly discarded on the riverbank not far away.

Qu Feiyan, who was hiding in the shadows and spying, suddenly felt a jolt in her heart: those were Brother An's clothes!

Ji Wushi strode forward, picked up the garment, and shook it open in the wind. He then clicked his tongue in disdain and said, "What a pity, it's all slashed by the sword. It's worthless now."

He shook his head dramatically, his face full of regret, but he still deftly folded the tattered robe and carefully put it into his bosom.

Even the smallest mosquito leg is still meat; this brand-new material, no matter how tattered, is not something a corpse scavenger would disdain.

Upon hearing this, Qu Feiyan's heart clenched tightly.

She had no idea that Shen An had simply cut open the clothes with his sword because he found it too troublesome to take them off.

To her, this meant only one thing—her brother An must have gone through an extremely dangerous battle, and might even have been seriously injured!

Ji Wushi then raised his head in a pretentious manner, scanning his surroundings with his sly eyes, as if searching for any other "spoils of war".

Qu Feiyan was startled and hurriedly shrank back behind the tree, holding her breath as her heart pounded.

Ji Wushi sighed and complained, "Alas, what a pity! We have all this stuff, but not a single corpse for me to touch, not even a single gold or silver ingot. What bad luck!"

You bastard! What more do you want?!

Upon hearing this, Qu Feiyan's almond-shaped eyes widened, her teeth clenched, and her fists clenched tightly. She wished she could rush out immediately and teach this greedy fellow a lesson.

Just then, Ji Wushi seemed to realize that there was no more profit to be made. He hummed an off-key tune, looking quite satisfied, slung his long sword over his shoulder, wrapped his whip around his waist, and turned to swagger away.

Qu Feiyan waited behind the tree for a while longer, making sure the person was really far away, before quietly coming out.

It turns out he was just a corpse hunter. I thought he was the Songshan master that Grandpa mentioned last night, the one who came to investigate Liu Zhengfeng.

She strode to the center of the ravaged battlefield and examined it closely. The whip marks on the ground were so deep that bone was visible; the messy sword and knife marks on the surrounding trees were even more shocking.

All of this spoke volumes about the ferocity of the battle that had just taken place. Her worry for Shen An deepened even further.

"Brother An's clothes... that person just now found them by the river." A flash of inspiration struck her, connecting all the clues.

"In other words, it's very likely that Brother An... jumped into the river!"

"If he jumped into the river to escape, he's most likely somewhere downstream right now!"

Once she understood this, Qu Feiyan didn't hesitate any longer. She gathered her strength and leaped off the riverbank, running wildly downstream.

The girl ran swiftly through the night, with only one thought in her mind—to find him!

Little did she know, Ji Wushi's figure quietly appeared behind her. He watched the girl's departing figure, a smug smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

He quietly attached it.