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

Inside the private room of Zuiyue Tower, the candlelight flickered.

Lady Yu pushed a thin parchment scroll to the center of the table. Her movements were slow, as if she were placing a fragile treasure on the table.

Zhou Yang's gaze fell on the parchment scroll. The mountain ranges were drawn on it with cinnabar, the lines hasty yet subtly structured. It was a map of Qixia Mountain.

"What you want," Lady Yu said, her voice tinged with post-mortem weariness, "is what the person who painted this picture is dead. Therefore, there is only one copy in the world."

Zhou Yang didn't go to get it immediately. He looked at Yu Niangzi.

"Our deal is done," he said.

This is a statement, not a question.

Lady Yu nodded, picked up the teacup in front of her, only to find that the tea had gone cold. She put the cup down and gently stroked the warm, smooth surface of the cup with her fingertips.

"It's cleared." She paused, as if remembering something, and added, "Lord Zhou, I advise you to be careful. The Xie family... this time it's no joke."

"How so?" Zhou Yang tapped his fingers lightly on the table, one tap after another, unhurriedly.

"They've hired a master," Yu Niangzi said in a low voice, "from the Western Regions. It's said he's skilled in poisons and even more adept at controlling corpses. The Xie family patriarch has really gone all out this time, wanting to completely replace the 'ancestor' in the ancestral hall."

Corpse control.

Zhou Yang stopped tapping his fingers on the table.

He hadn't forgotten the mass graves outside Yangzhou, the living dead corrupted by corpse poison. It seemed the Heavenly Principle Sect's methods were far more ruthless than he'd imagined. If they could extend their clutches to the Canal Gang, they could certainly cooperate with the Xie family.

"What's the master's name?"

"I don't know. He comes and goes without a trace, and no one has ever seen his true face. We've only heard that the Xie family calls him the 'Fire Worshipper.'" Lady Yu shook her head. "I only heard it from people on the salt road, so it's hard to tell if it's true or not. But it's absolutely true that the Xie family has been purchasing large quantities of kerosene and saltpeter recently."

The leader of the Zoroastrian cult.

Zhou Yang silently repeated the name in his mind. It sounded like a cover; his true identity was most likely inextricably linked to the Heavenly Principle Sect.

He reached out and tucked the sheepskin scroll into his robes. The sheepskin was cool to the touch and carried a musty, herbal scent.

"Thank you." Zhou Yang stood up. "I've received the information. If you need similar business in the future, you can come to me again."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and prepared to leave.

"Lord Zhou," Lady Yu suddenly called out to him.

Zhou Yang paused, but did not turn around.

"Qixia Mountain is a place that devours people. Even if you are a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, don't take your life too seriously." Her voice was very soft, like a piece of advice, or like a curse.

A slight smile appeared on Zhou Yang's lips.

"My life has always been very precious."

As soon as he finished speaking, he pushed open the door and disappeared outside. The noise outside rushed in, only to be quickly shut out behind him.

Zhao Liu was waiting downstairs. When he saw Zhou Yang come down, he quickly went to greet him.

"Sir, is the matter settled?"

"It's all taken care of." Zhou Yang said as he walked, taking out the bead from his pocket and playing with it in his hand. The bead gleamed with a warm luster under the lamplight. "Let's go, out of the city."

"Leave the city? Now?" Zhao Liu was taken aback. "It's already dark."

"It's easier to get things done after dark," Zhou Yang said casually. "The longer we stay in Yangzhou, the more trouble we'll cause. I don't want to get entangled with Commander Chen and his gang."

Upon hearing the mention of Commander Chen, Zhao Liu dared not utter another word. He simply felt that his master's ways were becoming increasingly incomprehensible to him. Like a fog, you never knew whether a cliff or a smooth road lay hidden behind it.

The two returned to the inn, retrieved their pre-prepared luggage, and without lingering, led their horses out of the city gate.

The city of Yangzhou, under the cover of night, was still brightly lit, like a beautiful woman who never sleeps. But Zhou Yang knew that beneath this gorgeous exterior, festering sores had long been growing.

He glanced back at the city wall, his eyes showing no trace of lingering affection.

"drive."

With a soft shout, the whip cracked. The two riders instantly became black dots and disappeared on the official road leading to the outskirts of the city.

Qixia Mountain is located 30 li north of Yangzhou City.

The mountain path was rugged, and the further in you went, the more difficult it became. The moonlight was fragmented by the dense canopy of trees, casting dappled patterns on the ground.

Zhou Yang pulled on the reins and dismounted.

"Sir, why have we stopped?" Zhao Liu also got off the horse, leading it and looking around nervously. The nights in the mountains always gave him the creeps.

"Something's not right here," Zhou Yang said in a low voice.

He crouched down and picked up a small amount of soil from the ground. He could feel the fine granules under his fingers. It wasn't just plain soil; it was mixed with crushed dead leaves and a little ash.

He brought his nose closer and smelled a faint scent.

It wasn't the smell of rotting, withered leaves. It was the smell of leftover food, along with the odor of gunpowder and saltpeter.

People have been stationed here. And it wasn't just one group.

Zhou Yang stood up, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings like that of a hawk. Instead of heading straight up the mountain, he walked around its base.

The further he walked, the more his brows furrowed.

This seemingly quiet mountain forest is actually filled with unseen eyes and blades.

He discovered several well-camouflaged sentry posts. The sentries were hidden in the trees, wrapped in burlap that blended into the environment; when still, they were indistinguishable from tree stumps. Their breathing was extremely quiet, clearly indicating they were highly trained and ruthless individuals.

In another ravine, he saw traces of the camp. Several fires had been extinguished recently, and some leftover bones lay scattered nearby. Judging from the remaining fragments of clothing, the people were wearing the uniforms of Xie family guards.

But what alarmed him most was another area.

There was no fire, no sign of life. Only a few moved stones and deliberately bent branches. The trap markers were also strange symbols that Zhou Yang had never seen before.

He recognized the symbol.

He had seen the exact same one at the stronghold of the Heavenly Principle Sect. It was a communication symbol used exclusively by their Dharma King's personal guard.

The Xie family and the Heavenly Principles Sect.

These two groups actually set up a joint encirclement at the foot of Qixia Mountain.

Zhou Yang's heart sank. The Xie family wanted to invite a master to oversee things; it seemed this master was the Dharma King sent by the Heavenly Principle Sect. What they wanted to protect was probably not just the Xie family's ancestral hall.

The "ancestor" in the ancestral hall, plus a Dharma King from the Heavenly Principle Sect... this setup goes beyond simply handling family affairs.

Zhao Liu followed behind, barely daring to breathe. Although he couldn't discern the underlying mechanisms, Zhou Yang's increasingly cold and stern face spoke volumes. This place was dangerous.

"Sir, perhaps... we should go back first and discuss this further?" Zhao Liu suggested in a low voice, mustering his courage.

Zhou Yang glanced at him.

"Go back? Do you think we can even get out of this forest?"

Zhao Liu shuddered, his face turning deathly pale. He then realized that they might now be two insects caught in a web.

Zhou Yang ignored him and instead closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He knew that forcing his way in would be suicide. The Xie family and the Heavenly Principle Sect combined had at least a hundred skilled fighters. No matter how high his martial arts skills were, he couldn't possibly fight them all.

The only way is to sneak in silently.

To infiltrate this intricate web, his own eyesight and experience alone wouldn't be enough. He needed something... a cheat code.

[Burning life, deducing the optimal stealth route.]

A clear idea emerged in my mind.

"Burning away a day's lifespan."

He meditated in his heart.

Instantly, a slight, almost imperceptible chill spread from his heart, like a drop of ice ink falling into warm water, quickly flowing through his limbs and bones. He felt a slight depletion in both his physical strength and mental state.

But that feeling was fleeting.

Instead, there is an unprecedented clarity.

The whole world instantly changed in his perception.

The sounds of the wind, the falling leaves, the rustling of armor on patrol in the distance, and even... the subtle sounds of muscles contracting as a sentry adjusted his posture in a tree—all these clearly reached his ears.

The darkness before him was no longer pure darkness. The moonlight, the faint starlight, and even the fireflies reflected from insects transformed into countless points of light in his eyes. These points of light formed a three-dimensional, dynamic map.

The undulations of the mountains, the distribution of trees, the enemy's patrol routes, blind spots, sound cover... everything was quantified into data.

A crooked yet incredibly precise route slowly unfolded in his mind.

It wasn't a straight line. Sometimes it climbed giant rocks, sometimes it dived into streams, sometimes it crawled close to the ground, and sometimes it leaped through the air. Every step was calculated perfectly, flawlessly avoiding the sight of all the visible and hidden sentries, even using the sound of the wind and insects as cover.

Zhou Yang suddenly opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, it seemed as if countless data were flowing rapidly.

He glanced back at Zhao Liu, who was already terrified.

"Wait for me here. No matter what noise you hear, don't make a sound or move. If I haven't returned by dawn, you'll ride back to Yangzhou yourself and go find... find Lord Qin Shuang."

Mentioning Qin Shuang felt like grasping at a lifeline for Zhao Liu. He nodded vigorously, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

Zhou Yang said no more.

He lowered his body, and his entire being blended into the darkness like a ghost.

His movements were exactly the same as the route he had deduced in his mind.

His first step was to step onto a thick patch of moss three steps to his left, where the ground was softest and would not make a sound.

A sentry's gaze swept across the treetops, lingering for three seconds. During those three seconds, Zhou Yang remained motionless, his aura completely concealed, blending seamlessly into the nearby bush.

The sentry looked away.

Zhou Yang moved.

He darted away silently, like a raccoon dog, and landed in the shadows. A night breeze blew by, rustling the leaves, perfectly masking the almost imperceptible sound of his clothes rustling as he landed.

Ahead, two guards from the Xie family were patrolling with lanterns in hand.

Zhou Yang didn't avoid the issue; instead, he chose a bolder approach.

He saw a thick horizontal branch overhead, about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) above the ground. He lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his body rose into the air without making a sound. He lightly touched the tree trunk with his fingertips, using the momentum to flip himself onto the horizontal branch.

The whole process was smooth and natural, like a leaf being swept up by the wind.

Two guards carrying lanterns strolled leisurely under the tree. They chatted and complained about the mosquitoes in the mountains, completely unaware that someone was lying on top of them.

Zhou Yang held his breath and lay horizontally on the tree branch until their footsteps and voices completely faded away.

He then took action again.

He was like a snake treading on a knife's edge, cautiously and precisely navigating through each blockade.

On one occasion, he even brushed past a black-clad member of the Tianli Sect.

The person was hiding behind a patch of ferns, completely unaware of their presence. If Zhou Yang hadn't burned his lifespan to gain extraordinary perception, he wouldn't have been able to detect them even if he had walked right up to them.

Zhou Yang stopped three steps away from him.

The man in black had already placed his hand on the hilt of his knife. Clearly, he had also sensed something was amiss.

Both of them were waiting.

Wait for the opponent to reveal a weakness first.

Zhou Yang's heartbeat was as steady as a stagnant pool. He knew that the other party was using a feint to force him to show himself.

He didn't move.

His gaze fell on a night cicada flapping its wings to the right of the man in black.

It's now!

The moment the cicada flapped its wings and made a sound, Zhou Yang moved!

He lightly ground his feet, his body sliding out at an extremely tricky angle, skimming the ground. Throughout the entire process, his body remained out of the black-clad man's peripheral vision, while the chirping of cicadas served as his best cover.

When he stopped at another safe location, the man in black remained in a wary posture, seemingly wondering if he had misheard.

A cold smile crept across Zhou Yang's lips.

He knew he had already won.

Relying on this "path of the gods" that he earned with his lifespan, he is gradually approaching the heart of Qixia Mountain.

The elaborate trap set by the Xie family and the Heavenly Principles Sect became riddled with loopholes in his eyes.

He crossed the last blockade line, and suddenly the view opened up before him.

A winding stone staircase leads into the thick fog at the mountaintop. At the end of the staircase, the outline of a cluster of flying eaves and brackets can be vaguely seen.

That place should be the mountainside of Qixia Mountain, where the Xie Family Ancestral Hall is located.

Zhou Yang leaned against an ancient tree and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. He had been holding that breath for a long time.

He glanced back at the way he had come. Those sentries, both visible and hidden, remained completely unaware.

He silently tore a hole in the entire encirclement.

He succeeded.

He raised his hand to wipe away non-existent sweat from his forehead, then turned his gaze back to the stone steps leading to the mountaintop.

The night was deeper.

The wind on the mountain grew stronger, swirling with mist and bringing with it a faint, indescribable, strange smell.

Chapter 441 **[Fragments in the Cave, a Glimmer of Light]** (Closed Loop 1 - Outbreak Phase, Closed Loop 3 - Outbreak Phase)