Ignoring Zheng Mingshan’s advice, Luo Ren retrieved equipment from his car and ventured into the foggy mountains. Zheng Mingshan didn’t stop him, simply folding his arms and leaning against the door as he watched him leave.

Cao Yanhua was torn. After an internal struggle, he ultimately sided with Zheng Mingshan. First, he too felt uneasy about entering complex terrain in pitch darkness and heavy fog. Second, he had never heard of Luo Ren having any “adversaries,” and privately felt that Brother Luo was overreacting.

What formidable adversary could match the combined strength of Little Master and Grand Master?

Zheng Mingshan casually sat on the doorstep. “Let’s see. Luo Ren will be back soon.”

Cao Yanhua said, “Not necessarily. My Brother Luo is a man of pride. If he goes in and comes back out, wouldn’t that be a slap to his face?”

Zheng Mingshan smiled. “Going in just to save face shows a lack of brains. If he comes back, I’d respect him for not being reckless.”

As he spoke, he pointed toward the distant mountain ridge. “Even tourism companies’ preliminary surveys failed. It’s easy to get lost going in during daylight, let alone at night with heavy fog and such low visibility. He’ll understand after walking a bit that I wasn’t just trying to fool him.”

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, Luo Ren returned. His temples were wet with the dense fog’s moisture, deep anxiety in his eyes, his brows almost furrowed into the shape of a river character.

He was now like an energy field—immense but extremely chaotic, impossible to touch, to handle, or to grasp, yet equally impossible to remain still.

Zheng Mingshan found it somewhat amusing, but felt slightly reassured by Luo Ren’s concern. He said, “Don’t worry, I know my Master.”

Luo Ren gave a cold laugh. “But I know Cheetah.”

He strode into the courtyard. Cao Yanhua hesitated, unsure whether to follow. Zheng Mingshan glanced sideways into the courtyard, thinking: needless busywork.

From now until the fog cleared enough to enter the mountains, Luo Ren would not sit still. He would check every room, the front and back of the courtyard, examine every possible trace, all while anxiously wishing he could break through the fog headfirst.

Why bother? Just a waste of energy.

Zheng Mingshan patted Cao Yanhua’s shoulder. “Little chubby, let’s go to sleep.”

Cao Yanhua didn’t move.

Zheng Mingshan looked at him. “What, you have an objection?”

“Senior Brother, do you think my Brother Luo is formidable?”

This question made Zheng Mingshan frown. “He’s decent. Why?”

“If you think Brother Luo is a person of substance, then an adversary who can make him so anxious he can’t calm down must also be no small figure. Senior Brother, don’t you think we should take this seriously?”

The little chubby made some sense. Zheng Mingshan thought for a moment, then gestured for Cao Yanhua to follow him to the back courtyard.

Luo Ren was standing in the corner of the courtyard wall, his flashlight pointing straight at the top of the wall.

Zheng Mingshan understood why Luo Ren was focused on this corner. Given the layout of the back courtyard, if someone came in via the rooftops, they would certainly be noticed by those inside. They couldn’t enter from the front courtyard either. The only possibility was the two surrounding walls, but one of them was by the triangular waterside pavilion.

So this wall was the only and most likely passage. However, the walls of old compounds were built very high to prevent theft, at least four to five meters. Could Luo Ren’s adversary be a martial arts expert skilled in gecko-wall-climbing techniques?

He asked Luo Ren, “Who is Cheetah?”

“A Filipino kidnapping gang’s mastermind. A woman. Skilled with firearms and combat. Of Chinese descent.”

Zheng Mingshan quickly sketched a rough picture in his mind. Such a prominent figure wouldn’t come to a small southwestern town to cause trouble, unless…

Unless there was an intricate, unresolvable relationship between this woman and Luo Ren.

Thinking of the rose in Mu Dai’s room, Zheng Mingshan felt an inexplicable aversion toward Luo Ren.

Mu Dai’s phone was still in her room, making it impossible to contact her. Of course, in a place where even instruments malfunctioned, communication could hardly be relied upon. Now, Luo Ren’s only hope was for the fog to dissipate quickly.

Perhaps Zheng Mingshan was right—even if Cheetah had come, she might not be able to harm Meihua Jiuniang and Mu Dai. But he just couldn’t feel at ease; without seeing Mu Dai with his own eyes, he couldn’t be reassured.

Finally enduring until sunrise, though there was only a bit of light and the fog hadn’t yet dispersed, Luo Ren and Zheng Mingshan set out together, leaving Cao Yanhua to watch the house in case Meihua Jiuniang and Mu Dai returned and found no one.

Rather than calling the surroundings of Misty Town mountains, it would be more accurate to describe them as valleys and gorges. The paths twisted and turned with many forks; one moment of inattention could lead to a dead end, forcing you to circle back. Sometimes after climbing a slope, there would suddenly be a steep descent—in terms of elevation, the ups and downs canceled each other out, as if you hadn’t climbed at all.

Worse yet, it was midsummer, when trees and shrubs grew wild. Sometimes the path would suddenly disappear, almost requiring you to push through the vegetation with your body.

Last night, did Mu Dai and Meihua Jiuniang enter the mountains? In the pitch-dark, how had they navigated?

The sun rose higher, and the dense fog thinned. Luo Ren grew restless. They had already encountered two dead ends, both times walking until suddenly faced with a mountain wall blocking the path, forcing them to turn back.

He quickened his pace when suddenly his foot caught on something.

Bending down to look, it appeared to be a concave, curved golf club. Made of some unknown material—lightweight but sturdy. Just as he was puzzled, Zheng Mingshan came over, his expression suddenly changing.

This was Meihua Jiuniang’s prosthetic limb.

But why was there only one? Where was the other? More importantly, where was she?

They stopped advancing and began a systematic search. As Luo Ren circled a mountainside, his heart suddenly jolted.

He saw Meihua Jiuniang, her back to him, sitting against a rock.

So peaceful, so silent. For some reason, Luo Ren had an ominous premonition.

He tentatively called out softly, “Master?”

Zheng Mingshan came toward the sound.

Seeing Meihua Jiuniang’s back, his face instantly turned ashen white. After freezing for a moment, he strode around to face Meihua Jiuniang and called out, “Master!”

Luo Ren saw Zheng Mingshan kneel down.

His mind buzzed, and he stiffly shuffled around to the front as well.

Meihua Jiuniang was dead.

She sat upright, not fallen, with a smile on her face, as if laughing heartily. There were multiple knife wounds on her body. The fatal one was at her throat, almost deep to the bone. Fresh blood had soaked her clothes, but fortunately, it hadn’t pooled around her.

Meihua Jiuniang, this legendary figure from years past, had at least not perished in a messy, blood-drenched state.

Luo Ren stepped back, his mind blank, hearing himself murmur, “Where’s Mu Dai?”

He looked around frantically. Meihua Jiuniang was dead, but where was Mu Dai? Where had his girl gone? Last night, there had been a struggle here. Mu Dai wouldn’t have sat by watching her master be killed. Where was Mu Dai?

His phone rang. He answered mechanically.

It was Shen Gun, his tone excited. “Little Radish, do you know? I had Wanwan help me check, and that Guansi Pailou is actually…”

Luo Ren interrupted harshly, “I don’t have time now. Send it to me, or we’ll talk later.”

He hung up.

Zheng Mingshan turned to look at him.

This senior disciple of Meihua Jiuniang, Mu Dai’s senior brother, was no longer the ordinary man who hunched over peanuts with small glasses of wine. His gaze was as sharp as a knife, his hunched back tensed and ready, like a beast about to pounce at any moment.

The phone kept ringing.

Luo Ren suddenly became furious. He answered, shouting angrily, “I said, I don’t have…”

He suddenly stopped.

On the other end of the phone was an unusually calm, silent atmosphere, yet permeated with an eerie current.

This wasn’t Shen Gun.

Zheng Mingshan slowly stood up beside Meihua Jiuniang.

Finally, a voice came through the receiver. This voice seemed to traverse a thousand mountains and rivers, countless years, carrying a bewitching hoarseness and feminine allure. It was the deepest nightmare in his nightmare, one he had never forgotten.

“Luo.”

Luo Ren felt all his blood rush to his skull. “Where’s Mu Dai?”

“Long time no see.”

“Where’s Mu Dai?”

“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. Won’t you catch up with an old friend? Are you only concerned about your little beauty?”

Luo Ren roared, “Where’s Mu Dai?”

“She’s fine, just crying and shouting, and cursing. But don’t worry, I’m patient. I won’t kill her with one stroke—if I killed her, there’d be nothing left to play with.”

Luo Ren gritted his teeth. “Did you kill Meihua Jiuniang?”

“That death-seeking old woman?” She chuckled lightly. “She was so old, she didn’t have many days left anyway.”

“What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Her voice dropped to the whisper of a lover. “Luo, have you heard the saying that a beautiful woman dies twice in her lifetime—once when her beauty fades, and again when she truly dies.”

“Luo, I lost an eye. You’ve already killed me once.”

She giggled.

“Seeing your little beauty so pretty makes me jealous.”

Luo Ren gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force. “What exactly do you want?”

“I don’t even know what I want. Or perhaps, when we meet, I’ll know.”

“Where do we meet?”

“Your home would be nice.”

Home? Which home?

She continued, “That antique-styled place with a transparent view. Diagonally across from your friend’s bar. Luo, since returning to China, you’ve made many boring yet strange friends. Why would anyone keep a chicken?”

She laughed loudly, a laugh that finally revealed its viciousness and malice.

“You should hurry back, because I don’t like your little beauty. Her eyes are very pretty, but my eye—all that’s left is a dark hole.”

Luo Ren’s chest heaved heavily. He tried hard to control the trembling in his voice, not wanting Cheetah to detect any emotional fluctuation.

He said, “Let me hear Mu Dai’s voice.”

“Luo, you are the last person in this world who has the right to make demands of me.”

Luo Ren remained silent.

“The doctor said my eye socket can no longer accept an eye transplant. But I still want to try.”

She hung up.

The fog had dispersed. Bright sunlight shone on him, on Zheng Mingshan, and the now silent Meihua Jiuniang.

But Luo Ren felt no warmth, only cold, ice-cold.

He raised his head and looked at Zheng Mingshan.

Luo Ren forced a smile, his lips trembling slightly. “Cheetah has kidnapped Mu Dai. Mu Dai is in danger. I need to get back as soon as possible…”

Before he could finish, Zheng Mingshan suddenly threw a fierce punch. At a tricky angle, a heavy blow struck his jaw.

Luo Ren saw it coming but didn’t want to dodge. The massive impact force traveled from his chin to his brain. In the chaos, his body fell heavily to the ground. In his daze, it was as if he had returned to the Philippines, to the underground fighting ring. From the audience seats, countless people frantically shouted, “Kill him! Kill him!”

He heard Zheng Mingshan curse, “Bastard.”

Luo Ren struggled a bit, clutching his jaw as he got up from the ground.

Zheng Mingshan no longer looked at him. He went to pick up Meihua Jiuniang. As he passed by Luo Ren, his tone was as hard as iron, burning like molten lava.

He said, “You go back first. I’ll take care of Master’s arrangements, then I’ll come find you soon.”

Luo Ren gave a sound of acknowledgment.

“She’s called Cheetah, right? I’ll turn her into a dead hunting dog.”