But the bandits of Eagle Beak Cliff were different. Theirs was a family business, passed down for three generations. It was said that the previous bandit leader had even reached the Blood Exchange Realm.
The mountaintop.
An Eagle circled a few times above the cliff before letting out a sharp cry and flying toward the stockade.
Eagle Beak Cliff, inside the stockade.
Hearing the urgent ringing of a bell, the gray-templed Old Village Chief’s expression changed drastically.
He shot up from his grand armchair, his gaze piercing through the open wooden window toward the mountain ridge.
The Eagle’s warning was never wrong. Someone was trespassing on the mountain, and they had hostile intentions.
"Father!"
A man in his early thirties pushed the door open and entered. It was his only son, the current Young Village Chief of Eagle Beak Stockade.
"Did someone trespass on the mountain?"
"Yes."
"Then should we ring the bell?"
"Don’t be hasty. Come with me."
The Old Village Chief shook his head and led his son toward the back. The entire main hall was built against the mountain wall. He took his son to the rear courtyard, pressed a few spots on the cliff face, and a hidden stone door soon appeared.
"Go inside first."
"Alright."
After watching his son enter the stone passage, the Old Village Chief closed the door and turned back toward the front hall.
Over the years, it wasn’t that no one had come up the mountain—even Blood Exchange Realm powerhouses had tried. But the stockade had always stood firm. This was not only because he had placed many hidden lookouts at the foot of the mountain, but more importantly, because he had trained an Eagle.
The Eagle’s vision was sharp. It circled high in the sky, and since there was an extremely wide stretch of the mountain path with no tree cover, the Eagle would spot any stranger and sound the alarm.
When that happened, he would arrange for his men to use ropes to descend from the other side of the cliff directly into the river. They would then dive underwater and let the current carry them several miles away. After the intruder left, they would return to Eagle Beak Cliff.
This time, the lookouts hadn’t sent a signal, which meant they must have been eliminated. And anyone capable of silently eliminating the lookouts he had placed was very likely a Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse.
’Although I am also a Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse, my Qi Blood is already in decline,’ he thought. ’For someone to dare storm the mountain, they must be confident in their own strength.’
’As for why I didn’t ring the bell immediately, it’s to allow this Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse to save some face.’
’If the intruder comes up and doesn’t manage to kill a single person, they would lose face. In their anger, they might just decide to lay siege to the stockade indefinitely.’
’By leaving behind a few slower subordinates, it won’t be a wasted trip for them, and they won’t stick around.’
’A Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse doesn’t have that much time to waste.’
As for those who couldn’t escape in time, that was their fate.
He had no shortage of underlings who had undergone the first or second time of Skin Smoothing.
"Ring the bell!"
DONG!
At the top of the cliff, a bell tolled, echoing across the mountain. Hearing it, none of the bandits showed any sign of panic.
"Who’s coming up the mountain this time?"
"Haha, what good is strength? By the time they reach the top, we’ll already be in the river below. They’re doomed to come up empty-handed."
"The Old Village Chief is brilliant for training a beast like that Eagle. So what if it’s a Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse? Can they be faster than the Eagle’s warning?"
The bandits were all smiling, some even sneering mockingly.
This wasn’t the first time they had encountered such a situation. Sometimes it was a Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse hired by a merchant caravan they had robbed; other times it was a passing Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse who considered themselves righteous.
But after all these years, they had always remained safe, all thanks to the early warning from the Eagle trained by the Old Village Chief.
"Perfect. I’ll head down the mountain and find a county town to have some fun for a while."
"Old Zhao, you really didn’t know how to treat that girl last time."
"Treat her how? I paid for her! I can do whatever the hell I want."
"Haha, you’d better tone it down this time you go down the mountain. If you kill someone again, we’ll have to find another place to hide."
"What’s there to be afraid of? Even a Blood Exchange Realm powerhouse can’t touch us..."
The bandit’s voice stopped abruptly.
A flash of sword light shot in from the direction of the ridge, as fast and silent as a falling star. He looked down and saw a bloody hole in his chest, blood gushing out. Before he could even make a sound, his body crumpled to the ground.
"Someone’s here!"
Another bandit had just shouted those two words when the sword light reached him.
His throat was slit, and his voice sprayed out along with his blood.
The remaining bandits finally reacted. Some drew their blades, some ran for the cliff’s edge, and some were so weak-kneed they collapsed right where they stood.
But it was useless.
The sword light weaved through the mountain wind, its trajectory too fast to follow.
One by one, the bandits fell. Some had just finished tying their ropes, some had just taken a single step, and some hadn’t even had time to draw their blades.
In just a few breaths, there were no living people left standing at the cliff’s edge.
Lin Yan sheathed his sword, walked to the edge of the cliff, and glanced down at the ropes tied to the rocks.
The other ends of the ropes dangled down the cliff, disappearing into the mist over the river’s surface.
’Someone has already gone down,’ he realized.
A glint flashed in Lin Yan’s eyes. Without any hesitation, he grabbed a rope and descended the cliff, as fast as a falcon swooping for its prey.
’So what if they’re underwater?’
’Back when I was hunting Yang Xuan on the East River, I could sense him through the currents even when he was hiding dozens of feet underwater. These bandits haven’t even reached the Blood Exchange Realm.’
A quarter of an hour later, Lin Yan returned to the clifftop, the hem of his clothes slightly damp.
’The Old Village Chief and the Young Village Chief are nowhere to be found. Did they escape beforehand, or did they not go down the cliff?’
Carrying the Abyssal Sword, Lin Yan didn’t rush to search the bodies. The two most important people in the entire stockade were missing.
’If they had gone down the mountain, the trusted subordinate I just interrogated—a Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing bandit—would surely have known.’

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