From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

At the end of the creek is a cliff face that has collapsed halfway, with piles of rubble reaching half a person's height.

Lin Yan stood in front of the pile of rubble, and his perception of the mountains suddenly intensified.

There is no space behind the cliff.

He climbed up the pile of rubble, cleared away a few large rocks, and revealed a hole the size of a washbasin.

It was pitch black inside the cave, and you couldn't see anything.

Lin Yan hesitated for a moment, then widened the opening and squeezed in sideways.

The cave was small, only about two zhang in size, and looked like a naturally formed stone chamber, with a layer of dry fine sand on the ground.

He took out a tinderbox and blew on it.

A flicker of firelight illuminated the scene inside the cave.

In the corner lay a broken earthenware jar, a rusted iron tool whose shape was no longer recognizable, and some scattered human bones.

Lin Yan walked over, squatted down, and carefully examined the human bones on the ground.

[Identifying Bones: Human bones, after being fired at high temperatures, become brittle and have no practical value.]

Burnt human bones.

Lin Yan frowned and put the bone down.

A few copper coins were poured out of the earthenware jar, so rusted that the characters were illegible, similar to the ones found in the cave last time. The ironware was a half-broken woodcutter's knife, so badly rusted that it crumbled at the slightest touch and couldn't be sold for anything.

Just as he was about to get up, he caught a glimpse of a narrow crevice at the very back of the cave wall.

The gap was so narrow that you had to turn sideways to squeeze in.

Lin Yan raised the tinderbox high and shone it into the crack.

Behind the crevice was another small stone chamber, even smaller than the one outside, about the size of a kang (a heated brick bed).

A skeleton lay on the ground.

It wasn't scattered bones, but a complete skeleton, curled up against the corner of the wall, its body wrapped in tattered pieces of cloth.

Lin Yan squatted down and looked closely.

This skeleton is different from the ones outside.

The bone surface has a light yellow layer, like it's coated with glaze, and it feels smooth and delicate to the touch.

[Bone Analysis: Human skeleton, adult male, with unusually dense bone structure, indicating extremely vigorous vital energy and blood during life, suggesting a martial artist, and the time of death approximately three to five years ago.]

Lin Yan's fingers paused.

Musha?

He examined the hand bones of the skeleton and found obvious wear marks on the bones at the base of the thumb and index finger joint of the right hand. It was not a fracture, but bone deformation caused by holding a certain weapon for a long time.

This person practices martial arts.

Moreover, judging from the density of his bones, he is at least a martial artist of a certain rank.

Lin Yan carefully examined the skeleton and found no obvious signs of external injury. The bones were intact, without any breaks or marks from being cut or chopped.

How did he die?

As he was thinking, he suddenly noticed something pressing down on the skeleton.

It was a palm-sized piece of leather, folded up, black in color, mixed in with tattered cloth, and could not be seen at all without careful observation.

Lin Yan carefully pulled out the leather and unfolded it.

There are words written on it.

The handwriting is very small and densely packed, written with charcoal. Some parts are blurred, but most of it is still legible.

He peered through the tinderbox, reading line by line.

"In the autumn of the thirty-first year of the Great Yan Wu Lie era, I was pursued for three days and, exhausted, hid in this cave."

"Those who pursued me were not bandits, but government officials. What I stole was not money, but items from the Crown Prince's palace."

"A single breathing technique and a token were enough to warrant a thousand-mile chase."

"The breathing technique is an incomplete text. I have studied it for three years and only grasped the basics. However, even this basic understanding has allowed me to leap from the first rank to the third rank."

"If I could obtain the complete version..."

The last few words are illegible; they're obscured by stains.

Lin Yan continued reading.

"My injuries are severe, and all five internal organs are damaged. I fear I will not survive tonight."

"If anyone comes after me and sees this, they may take the breathing technique and the token themselves, but I have only one request—"

"Send this item to Qingzhou City and give it to an old woman surnamed Zhou who sells tofu in Liuxiang, south of the city."

"This is a debt I owe her for twenty years."

"If you would be so kind as to see me off, my spirit in heaven will be grateful..."

That's all.

The leather broke off here, and the rest of the leather was covered in burn marks.

Lin Yan turned the leather over, and there was nothing on the back.

He sat on the ground, holding the piece of leather, and didn't move for a long time.

Breathing exercises.

Token.

Items belonging to the Crown Prince's Palace.

The thirty-first year of the Wu Lie era, that was three years ago.

The current reign title of the Great Yan Dynasty is the thirty-fourth year of Wu Lie, and the current emperor is on the throne.

The Crown Prince's belongings were stolen. The authorities pursued the thief for three years, eventually leading him to this remote mountain village. The thief died, and the stolen items disappeared.

Then Manager Zhao arrived with his men, and they also lost some things.

Lin Yan touched his chest.

Those two brocade pouches are now hidden in the mountains, but he already knows what's inside.

One was empty, the other contained a token and fragments of the Breathing Manual.

The empty one was probably left behind by the deceased martial artist.

He chased after the monster for three years, and finally died in this cave. The item was taken away, passing through several hands before finally ending up with Steward Zhao.

Then Steward Zhao lost it again.

Lin Yan folded the leather and stuffed it into his pocket.

He looked at the skeleton and remained silent for a while.

"I can't deliver the things to you right now," he said softly, "but I promise you, once I'm able to get out of this place, I will definitely deliver them to you."

After saying this, he kowtowed in front of the skeleton, as if to repay the favor.

After emerging from the cave, Lin Yan wandered around the stream again, picking up a few pieces of strange bones that were still considered valuable.

Using the bone-identifying and mountain-observing methods together increased efficiency several times over. In less than two hours, the bamboo basket was nearly half full, and the items were all of good quality; it was estimated that they could be sold for around thirty coins.

He was squatting by the stream washing his hands when he suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him.

It wasn't just a rustling of wind or the slightest disturbance.

It's footsteps.

And it wasn't just one person.

Lin Yan's hand remained in the stream, motionless.

At this moment, the perception of "viewing the mountains" becomes exceptionally sharp.

Four people.

He crept in from the direction he came from, less than fifty paces away, hiding behind the bushes, thinking he was well concealed.

Lin Yan recognized one of the footsteps.

Wang Agou.

Lin Yan slowly stood up, shook the water off his hands, then bent down to pick up the bamboo basket and continued walking along the stream.

Footsteps followed from behind.

Lin Yan's lips twitched, but he didn't turn around, pretending not to know.

Wang Agou decided to follow this morning.

He had been keeping an eye on Lin Yan these past few days and noticed that the kid was acting a bit strange lately.

He used to come back empty-handed every few days, but now he carries a full basket of bones to town every day and can even buy meat and grain.

What right does a bone collector have?

Wang Agou squatted on the earthen slope above the cave dwelling, watching Lin Yan carry a bamboo basket and walk into the mountains, his eyes fierce as he spat out the straw in his mouth.

"Big brother, are you going to join or not?"

Skinny Monkey leaned closer and whispered to King Chong's dog.

"and."

Wang Agou stood up and said to Skinny Monkey, "Same old rules, find a secluded place, steal the goods, and then..."

He made a throat-slitting gesture.

Skinny Monkey chuckled twice, and his two henchmen showed similar expressions.

They've done this more than once.

If someone goes missing in a refugee community, nobody cares.

The government is already overwhelmed with cases involving farmers, so who would bother to care about someone of low social status like you?

The four followed Lin Yan at a distance, watching helplessly as he disappeared into a small hole.

"This kid really knows the place."

The skinny monkey curled his lip and said, "I've been to this ditch before, there's nothing in it."

"That's because you don't know how to look."

Wang Agou rolled his eyes at the skinny monkey and instructed, "Keep up, don't lose him."