Chapter 116
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Birth of a New Talent (1)
‘That’s the one!’
Four Thousand Four spotted the middle-aged man at a glance.
An aura of untouchable dignity emanated from him. It was the overwhelming pressure only someone accustomed to wielding power could possess.
No, it wasn’t mere intuition that made him zero in on the man.
He couldn’t put it into words. Four Thousand Four himself didn’t know why he was so certain it was that guy.
The man was just one of the villagers.
Originally, the target Four Thousand Four had been watching for was someone coming from outside the village. Someone who entered Three Valleys, met with Iron Ball Gramps, then slipped away again… that was the Heavenly Annihilation Division’s messenger.
But this man had come from inside the village.
He hadn’t seen him enter, only watched him leave. So, without a doubt, the man was a villager.
Why did he suddenly think a villager was his target? Why was he so convinced that this unrelated stranger was heading to the Heavenly Annihilation Division’s headquarters? He had no connection to Vanguard whatsoever.
From where he stood, Iron Ball Gramps’s house wasn’t even visible. He had no idea what had transpired there. He certainly hadn’t witnessed Iron Ball Gramps bowing to the man.
All he’d seen was the man walking out of the village.
And from that alone, he was certain. That guy was definitely on his way to the Heavenly Annihilation Division’s main base.
Whoosh!
Four Thousand Four slipped out from the burrow where he’d been hiding.
An hour later, Iron Ball Gramps stood before the very burrow where Four Thousand Four had concealed himself.
As Four Thousand Four departed the mountain, he’d left plenty of traces behind. He’d brushed against rocks and touched trees.
They weren’t intentional actions, but they had disturbed the markers.
By tracing the disturbed markers backward, they’d pinpointed the starting point—the burrow.
“Who could it be?”
The woodcutter standing beside Iron Ball Gramps muttered.
This area was the woodcutter’s territory. He climbed and descended the mountain several times a day. Yet he’d never noticed this burrow before.
It meant Four Thousand Four had sealed the entrance perfectly.
The woodcutter had passed right by it without hearing even a breath—that was how stealthy his hiding spot had been.
“What do you think?”
Vanguard, who had followed quietly, asked Fox.
“This is strange.”
Fox tilted his head.
“What’s so strange about it?”
“It feels off. Digging a burrow implies planning to stay for a long time…”
“...?”
“Look at this. It’s not really dug out like a proper shelter—just enough to squeeze a body in. Staying here would be uncomfortable, right? Especially with search parties passing right by…”
“So, he draped himself in a concealment cloth.”
“No, there’s no trace of that. He didn’t use a cloth… he covered himself with fallen leaves and piled snow on top.”
“A pro, then?”
Jaja asked.
“That’s the confusing part. His actions seem professional, but a real pro would’ve come prepared… Even without preparations, no expert would camouflage like this. Try lying here yourself. After an hour, your body would freeze solid. Doesn’t feel like pro work.”
Fox couldn’t give a firm answer.
No one had imagined someone might be watching Three Valleys. In other words, their base had been exposed to an outsider’s eyes.
“This place has grown on me.”
Iron Ball Gramps gazed at the mountain village as he spoke.
Eyes watching Three Valleys… such eyes had to be treated as hostile. They didn’t know who had dug the burrow, but even if it turned out to be someone from the Heavenly Annihilation Division, they’d still be the enemy.
A place exposed to someone’s gaze could no longer serve as a secret base.
‘The Three Valleys mountain village shuts down as of this moment.’
Iron Ball Gramps turned to the woodcutter.
“Tell everyone to pack up and leave.”
“Understood. And… thank you for everything.”
The woodcutter performed a cupped-fist salute.
Once Three Valleys disbanded, the villagers would scatter to the winds.
They had contingency plans, each assigned destinations. They wouldn’t travel together but disperse in all directions, families excepted.
They might reunite at the next site. Or this could be farewell forever.
The cupped-fist salute carried the weight of parting.
“Stay safe, wherever you go.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’ll linger here a bit… have everyone else leave. Prolonged goodbyes aren’t good.”
“Understood.”
The woodcutter offered another cupped-fist salute, then swiftly vanished.
“What about us?”
Vanguard asked.
“You’re coming with me. Tch… To think it’d end like this. Just the other day, even crying kids would quiet down at the mention of Vanguard.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What do you have to apologize to me for? This is about your life on the line.”
Iron Ball Gramps looked toward the village.
The villagers were hurriedly departing, yet they paused to bow toward the mountain where he stood.
Iron Ball Gramps had lost none of their respect.
The routine report dragged on at length.
All current events in the martial world were summarized, with key matters delivered in person. Trivial ones unworthy of verbal report were handled via documents.
“There’s a man called Four Thousand Four.”
The report on Four Thousand Four began.
Until now, updates on him had only come in writing. But this time, it was verbal.
“Little Hive’s Second couldn’t clean up Four Thousand Four and took a hit. Current damages: Seven Willow Valley collapsed, Three Valleys shut down. Two ribs wiped out, seventeen more on standby.”
The havoc Four Thousand Four had wrought was surprisingly severe.
“Current status: Little Hive’s Lord has set out personally to hunt Four Thousand Four.”
“The Lord himself?”
Hearing the Heavenly Annihilation Division executive’s voice was rarer than plucking stars from the sky. Yet it emerged now.
“Yes. It seems the Lord has already located Four Thousand Four.”
“That figures. If the Lord’s on the move. But… wasn’t the one who toppled Seven Willow Valley and killed Little Hive’s Second called Shadowless Ghost?”
“Shadowless Ghost is Four Thousand Four. That’s the Lord’s judgment.”
“Reason?”
“Blood Demon’s Legacy lives.”
“Hmph!”
A heavy grunt escaped.
“Four Thousand Four… Four Thousand Four…”
The deep voice muttered the name while rifling through stacks of documents.
“If you seek Green Death…”
“Green Death? What’s his connection to Four Thousand Four?”
“His disciple.”
“What…!”
The deep voice shot back in disbelief.
“You’re saying he’s Green Death’s disciple right now?!”
The tone carried clear rebuke.
The reporter dared not speak. The executive’s words brimmed with killing intent.
“We’d already subdued Green Death, so we didn’t pay much mind… Besides, we judged Four Thousand Four as barely an entry-level Killer Principle practitioner, so we sent him to the Nineteen Hells…”
Bam!
The executive slammed his fist on the table.
“Green Death had a disciple… Haha! Hahaha! Green Death landed a solid hit on us. Not some cuckoo chick dumped in another’s nest, but damn it! Haha!”
The executive laughed in fury.
This report marked the first he’d heard of Green Death having a disciple.
His subordinates must have known earlier but reported it poorly. They’d seen Four Thousand Four as merely a murderer trailing Green Death.
4004.
Assigning him the moniker Four Thousand Four instead of Four Shadows wasn’t because of his kill count. It signaled caution precisely because he was Green Death’s disciple.
Still, his men hadn’t entirely missed the mark. To them, Four Thousand Four’s skills weren’t impressive.
As mentioned, he was barely at Killer Principle entry level. So they’d reported in writing, not verbally.
The documents on Four Thousand Four existed; the executive simply hadn’t read them.
Who had time to pore over the adult-height stacks piling up daily? A quick skim was all.
“Keep this from Green Death.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Don’t let on that you’ve reported Four Thousand Four to me. Act like I know nothing of him. Got it?”
“Understood.”
“From now on, report everything on Four Thousand Four, no matter how trivial. No—dig up every detail from his drag to the Nineteen Hells until now.”
“Yes, sir!”
The subordinate saluted sharply and withdrew.
Green Death!
The Central Plains’ supreme killer.
Since the world’s birth, since the earth’s formation, no one had slain as many as Green Death.
He killed martial artists and civilians alike. Anyone human—regardless of gender, age, or status. If they crossed his path, they died.
Yet Green Death hadn’t killed a single soul.
A contradiction? One moment claiming countless murders, the next none.
In truth, Green Death had slain hundreds, thousands.
But it was all circumstantial. No hard evidence, no witnesses. Pure suspicion.
Officially, Green Death’s kill count was zero.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division had poured immense resources into capturing him—not empty words; the costs alone could’ve built a fortress.
They’d gone to such lengths to uncover his evidence-erasure methods.
How did he erase traces so flawlessly?
How had so many murders stayed hidden? Why did no one know?
Green Death’s concealment techniques were unparalleled.
Now, in the Martial Camp, he taught aspiring assassins the basics of murder cover-ups. Only the fundamentals—things any instructor could share, Green Death or not.
Even that much cooperation came from leveraging Four Thousand Four.
Threaten to kill Four Thousand Four to move Green Death; threaten Green Death to control Four Thousand Four. They used each as leverage against the other.
The executive reviewed all collected documents.
- Put him in the Nineteen Hells. For life.
Green Death’s words upon capture, regarding Four Thousand Four.
No other requests. No matter how he searched the files, nothing else.
That’s why his subordinates had dismissed Four Thousand Four.
The executive also read the Warden of the Nineteen Hells’ report.
The Warden had resisted releasing the world’s deadliest killer, Four Thousand Four, but ‘Vanguard fought to take him…’
“Heh heh heh! Green Death got us good. My head’s ringing. What a blow! Heh heh heh!”
The executive chuckled.
Green Death had waited for Four Thousand Four to grow on his own.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division didn’t grasp Killer Principle. They thought the version Green Death provided was authentic—a grave mistake.
Shadowless Ghost was indeed Four Thousand Four.
When he emerged from the Nineteen Hells, Four Thousand Four could barely handle a Death Squad role.
No wonder… his nape had itched ever since hearing Seventeen Ribs assassinated a merchant traveler. Just a merchant? Hadn’t they claimed the Zhuge family head too? Bluff or not.
“If this punk’s Shadowless Ghost, he’s on Green Death’s old level… Even the Lord can’t rest easy. Heh heh heh! This’ll be a show. The Lord versus Shadowless Ghost!”
The executive narrowed his eyes, grinning.