If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

The stone chamber was very quiet.

The air was filled with the earthy and musty smells, mixed with the faint bitterness of herbs. A tiny oil lamp flickered in the corner, casting long, thin shadows that swayed gently on the rough stone wall.

Zhou Yang sat cross-legged on a straw mat.

His eyes were closed, his breathing steady and long. The frenzied fighting of the past few days, and the aftereffects of the forced outburst, were now like silt at the bottom of the water, being slowly stirred up by the new force within his body.

A warm current flowed through his meridians, carrying with it a fine, tingling sensation. It was his body being repaired and reshaped. Each tingling sensation made him feel a little stronger. In his dantian, the Corpse Emperor's True Qi, like a docile wild beast, lingered, accumulating power.

He enjoyed the process.

It's a sense of control. Controlling your own body, controlling the growth of your power. This adds a touch of challenging enjoyment compared to directly exchanging for a perfect state from the system.

Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened. The rain had stopped.

The small courtyard where he was healing was a secret outpost that Lu Chenzhou had placed in Anyang County. It was secluded and inconspicuous. The walls were high and covered in thorny vines. It was very safe.

At least, Zhou Yang always thought it was safe.

Thump. Thump.

Two soft sounds.

It wasn't a knocking sound. The sound was coming from the window. It was very soft, like someone scratching the wooden windowpane with their fingernails.

Zhou Yang's eyes remained closed. But his senses, like a net, instantly filled the entire room.

There was something standing outside the window.

It wasn't human. It didn't have the aura of a living person. There was only a cold, decaying smell, as if it had just crawled out of a coffin buried for over a decade.

His true energy condensed slightly in his meridians.

"Yes."

The third sound rang out. It was louder than the first two.

Zhou Yang slowly opened his eyes. There was no trace of sleepiness in his eyes, only a cold calm. He stood up from the straw mat, his movements so light that they didn't stir up a single breeze.

He walked toward the window.

He saw the thing through the hole in the paper window.

It was a crow.

It was entirely black, as black as a piece of charcoal that absorbed light. Its feathers gleamed with a metallic sheen in the dim light. It stood quietly on the windowsill, its head tilted, its eyes fixed intently on the room.

Those are not ordinary bird eyes.

It had no luster whatsoever, only pure, bottomless blackness. Like a black hole.

Zhou Yang's hand silently rested on the short knife at his waist.

He knew who had sent the crow. In the entire Anyang Prefecture, there was only one person who could make an inanimate object so sinister.

Blackwater Dharma King.

He thought that old man would send more experts to assassinate him, or simply go all out and level him and his house with a large force.

Unexpectedly, the other party used such an... ancient method.

Zhou Yang stared at the crow. The crow stared back at him. The man and the bird faced off, separated by a thin layer of paper.

Suddenly, a glint appeared in the crow's eyes.

That wasn't a reflection. It was a kind of eerie light emanating from within. Immediately afterward, a hoarse voice, with a metallic, scraping quality, came from the crow's eyes. It wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear, as if it were ringing directly in Zhou Yang's mind.

"Zhou Yang".

The voice carried a condescending, authoritative pressure, like a god whispering in the ear of a mortal.

"I have sent you an invitation."

The crow's beak didn't move. The sound still came from those eerie eyes.

Zhou Yang didn't speak. He just watched. He watched the crow, and the increasingly dark night behind it.

"Three days later," the voice continued, "West of the city, the Observatory. It's time for a final reckoning between us."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhou Yang's mouth.

Settle things off? That sounds so noble. All I want to do is lure him out, find a secluded spot, and kill him.

"Why are you going?" The hoarse voice seemed to carry a hint of amusement. "Because I know you're someone who cares about 'personal relationships'."

Zhou Yang's eyes suddenly turned icy cold.

"Qin Shuang".

The Blackwater Dharma King softly uttered the name.

"And those people you left behind in Anyang County. Your companions, your old subordinates... they all seem so fragile. Like paper, easily torn apart."

This is the real threat.

This was the kind of overt scheme he couldn't refuse.

Zhou Yang's breathing remained unchanged, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees instantly. The flame of the oil lamp flickered uneasily.

"If you come, they will live."

"If you don't come..."

The Blackwater Dharma King didn't finish his sentence. But those unspoken words were more chilling than any vicious curse.

The sound disappeared.

The eerie light in the crow's eyes vanished, replaced by lifeless, pitch-black eyes. It stood motionless on the windowsill, like a black sculpture.

It accomplished its mission of relaying the message.

Zhou Yang stared at it for a good dozen breaths.

Then, he raised his hand and pushed open the window.

A creak broke the silence of the room.

A damp night wind blew in, causing the lamplight to flicker. The crow didn't fly away, as if it already knew its fate.

Zhou Yang reached out and pinched the crow's neck with two fingers.

The feathers felt slightly oily. His bones cracked slightly between his fingers. He applied a little more pressure.

"Click."

He snapped the crow's neck. The black bird's head drooped limply. Zhou Yang tossed it aside, and the inanimate object fell silently into the darkness outside the window.

He closed the window and sat back down on the straw mat.

The room returned to silence.

But Zhou Yang's heart was not at peace.

This was not a simple assassination attempt. It was a declaration of war. The Blackwater Dharma King was telling him in this way: From this day forward, I will set the rules. You can only follow my lead.

This was an open conspiracy. A trap he had no choice but to fall into.

He could disregard Qin Shuang's life or death. He could abandon everyone in Anyang County. He could even escape this dangerous place alone. All of this was in line with his consistent code of conduct.

but……

His mind flashed Qin Shuang's always cold face, the decisive action of her handing him the silver notes, and the way she defended him in front of Commander Chen.

He discovered that he couldn't do it.

The feeling was unfamiliar. It was like an invisible thread had grown in my heart, and at the other end of that thread was someone else. Touching it would cause a slight pain.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.

Is this what they call a weakness? He always thought he didn't have one. Now it seems he just hadn't met anyone who could make him willingly reveal his weakness.

Three days later. At the observatory.

He knew about the Observatory; it was an ancient site in Anyang County, located on a small hill west of the city. The area was very open, with almost no cover. It was a good place for a duel, and also an excellent location to lay a trap.

The Blackwater Dharma King must have made thorough preparations, waiting for him to come to his death.

The hunter had set a trap. He also needed to prepare a knife that could tear the hunter apart.

Zhou Yang stood up, walked to the stone door, and pushed it open.

Outside was a small courtyard, where Qin Shuang was standing under the eaves, gazing at the waning moon in the sky. Hearing the door open, she immediately turned around, a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

Did you hear that?

She had also sensed that chilling aura just now. It was the pressure of a powerful being at the Dharma King level; though it was fleeting, she had still managed to catch it.

Zhou Yang nodded, his expression unchanged. "The Blackwater Dharma King has issued me a challenge."

He briefly recounted what the crow had just told him.

Qin Shuang's face darkened. "This is an open conspiracy. He's forcing you."

"I know," Zhou Yang said, looking at her. "That's why I have to go."

Qin Shuang pursed her lips, offering no advice against him going. She knew Zhou Yang's temper and how devastating this threat would be to him. She simply asked, "What do you need?"

This is how they interact. No unnecessary chatter, just the most practical questions.

Zhou Yang smiled. In the moonlight, his smile appeared somewhat sinister.

Tell Lu Chenzhou. I need something.

He held up one finger.

"First, the blueprints of the West City Observatory. All the ones you can find. The more detailed the better. Including every alley and every detail of every building."

He then extended a second finger.

"Secondly, a batch of weapons. Some special ones, like crossbows coated with deadly poison, and gunpowder that can shatter stone slabs. No limit on quantity, as many as he has."

Qin Shuang nodded, making sure he remembered his request. "Anything else?"

"That's all." Zhou Yang paused, then added, "Tell him to deliver the items to the designated location once they're ready. He won't be shortchanged a single penny."

He never does a losing business. Even when he's preparing to risk everything, he makes sure the accounts are clear.

Qin Shuang gave him a deep look.

In the moonlight, the man before her still bore the pallor of illness, but his eyes burned with a flame unfamiliar to her. It was a mad, reckless determination.

He was no longer the Jinyiwei captain who only knew how to get things done with money.

He is transforming into something else. A more dangerous and more powerful being.

"Okay." Qin Shuang said only one word. She turned around, preparing to leave the courtyard to contact Lu Chenzhou.

"Qin Shuang." Zhou Yang suddenly called out to her.

Qin Shuang stopped and turned to look at him.

"Wait for me to come back," Zhou Yang said.

He spoke those five words very softly and calmly, as if he were stating something perfectly natural.

But Qin Shuang's heart trembled violently at those five words. She looked at Zhou Yang, at his eyes that shone frighteningly bright in the night, and nodded heavily.

"I'm waiting for you."

After saying that, she didn't linger. With a few leaps, her figure disappeared outside the courtyard wall.

Zhou Yang was left alone in the courtyard again.

He looked up at the waning moon in the night sky. The cold moonlight shone on his face, making him look like a lifeless stone statue.

Three days off.

That's enough for him to completely stabilize the power that has just surged.

That was enough for him to prepare a grand gift for the Blackwater Dharma King.

He opened his palm. The hand that had just crushed the crow's neck still had one or two black feathers and some sticky blood between its fingers.

The blood is black.

Zhou Yang stared at the blackness, his gaze gradually deepening.

Observatory.

He wanted to see whether it was observing the stars or witnessing Zhou Yang's doom.