Chapter Five: Seizing Your Opportunity

Zhang Xiao turned around to look and saw a remarkably handsome young man. Yet the sinister smile on his face, along with the arrogance in his eyes that seemed to tolerate no one else, made his good looks appear particularly jarring.

With a sharp slap, Zhang Xiao struck the young man across the face, sending him flying. Before the youth could get up, Zhang Xiao set his foot firmly on him, pinning him so that no matter how hard he struggled, he could not break free.

“You have far too loose a tongue,” Zhang Xiao said coldly, and without giving the youth a chance to retort, he brought his alloy blade down, slashing across the young man’s neck.

Zhang Xiao did not consider himself a violent person, but this youth was different. His name was Bai Yunfei. After the world changed, Bai Yunfei rose to power with astonishing speed, and upon joining Mount Shu, he became one of its top experts.

Zhang Xiao himself had once been a disciple of Mount Shu, but only an outer disciple, never even qualifying to enter the true gates of the sect. He could only watch figures like Bai Yunfei from afar.

Had it been anyone else, Zhang Xiao would have let them off with a lesson. But Bai Yunfei was notorious for holding grudges—anyone who crossed him would surely face ruthless revenge, with no means too extreme for him.

Such a person, with such potential—how could Zhang Xiao possibly let him go easily?

“Kill! Murder! Someone's been killed!” Not only was old man Wang beside him left dumbfounded, but the two young men with Bai Yunfei were also struck dumb. Zhang Xiao kicked Bai Yunfei’s corpse aside, sending it flying.

Though Zhang Xiao didn’t know the two who’d come with Bai Yunfei, it was obvious they were his companions. Since he had already offended them, it was best to do so thoroughly.

He charged forward, alloy blade flashing, and before the two youths could recover from the shock of Bai Yunfei’s death, Zhang Xiao felled each of them with a single blow.

“Young Zhang! Y-y-you’ve killed someone!” Old man Wang stammered, pointing at him with a trembling finger.

Zhang Xiao sheathed the alloy blade and smiled, saying, “Don’t worry, Uncle Wang. After the world changed, unless someone dies of old age, anyone who dies can come back to life.”

“This! This!—” Old man Wang’s mind struggled to keep up, unable to comprehend how gentle Zhang Xiao could kill so casually.

Of course, Wang didn’t really believe Zhang Xiao’s words about resurrection. He wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t leave his lips.

Returning to his room, Zhang Xiao enjoyed a hot shower and a hearty meal. Then he produced a map he’d drawn before the world changed, marking all the places where monsters were known to appear.

The map had been sketched in the mountains before the transformation, the monster locations noted from memory. It wasn’t comprehensive, but it was sufficient. Now that he was level nine, there were no longer any suitable monsters nearby for him to level up on. Yet the higher-level monsters were difficult for him to handle. Even with his enhanced attributes and formidable strength, against monsters with even greater stats, his weapon was still lacking—an annoying predicament.

His original plan had been to keep leveling up by killing monsters of his own level or one level below. But today’s encounter with Bai Yunfei forced Zhang Xiao to change his plans. True damage level one! Even if he ran into a level ten monster, there was no guarantee he could break through its defenses.

Pondering fruitlessly, Zhang Xiao’s thoughts drifted to old man Wang. He wondered if, when those three boys resurrected, Wang would be so terrified he’d shout about seeing ghosts. He chuckled to himself.

Wait! Old man Wang—an idea flashed through Zhang Xiao’s mind. If his alloy blade was insufficient, surely there were other weapons in the village. Even a kitchen knife had true damage level two. Though the kitchen knife dealt more damage than his alloy blade, it wasn’t suitable for leveling—after all, it wasn’t meant for slaying monsters.

He could only hope that some villagers had machetes or similar weapons at home; if not, he’d have to make do with a kitchen knife.

The next morning, after breakfast, Zhang Xiao got up early, intending to visit old man Wang’s house. Although he was on good terms with most of the villagers, Wang was the one he knew best. Yet before Zhang Xiao could set out, old man Wang burst in, grabbing his hand excitedly.

“Young Zhang, they’re alive! They really came back!” Wang exclaimed.

Zhang Xiao was taken aback. “Uncle Wang, slow down. Who’s alive?”

Wang struggled to calm himself, his voice trembling. “The three you killed yesterday—they’re alive! Young Zhang, do you think they’re ghosts?”

Zhang Xiao laughed. “So they’re alive. Didn’t I tell you last night, Uncle Wang? After the world changed, unless someone’s time is truly up, death isn’t the end—they can be reborn.”

He then explained to Wang in detail the penalties for dying, until Wang finally seemed to understand, albeit still a bit muddled.

However, Zhang Xiao didn’t tell him that if the gap between two parties was too great, true death could still occur.

“Uncle Wang, does anyone in the village have suitable weapons—like swords or knives?” Zhang Xiao asked once Wang had calmed down. This was vital to his future plans.

“Swords or knives? There used to be some in the village, but the village committee collected them all. I haven’t heard of anyone keeping one. Wait, wait!” Wang suddenly remembered something, but couldn’t recall it at once. He pulled out his pipe and smoked a bowl while Zhang Xiao waited.

As he finished, Wang said, “I remember now, Li Gou Dan might have one. His grandfather was a veteran from the old Red Army, and left behind a ghost-head saber from the war against the Japanese.”

Zhang Xiao was elated. If he could get that weapon, his plans could proceed without hindrance. “Where does Li Gou Dan live?” he asked urgently.

Wang, who had lived many years, understood Zhang Xiao’s excitement and shook his head. “Young Zhang, Li Gou Dan is famous for being stingy. If you want to borrow his saber, it won’t be easy.”

Zhang Xiao felt a headache coming on, but resolved to go anyway. Things, however, rarely go as expected.

When Wang led Zhang Xiao to Li Gou Dan’s house, Li Gou Dan tossed the ghost-head saber to Zhang Xiao without a second thought. According to Wang, Li Gou Dan was supposed to be extremely stingy—so why was he suddenly so generous?

The answer was clear the moment Zhang Xiao took the saber in hand.

Resentful Ghost-head Saber: High-strength damage. Requirement: Level 8. Once used for executions during the Qing Dynasty, imbued with deep resentment. Whoever wields it will be shrouded by this resentment.

Unbelievable! Zhang Xiao’s heart trembled as he looked at the saber. High-strength damage! The highest of any weapon available before level fifteen, with a requirement of only level eight—a true miracle!

Yet for all its power, the curse of resentment made it little better than trash. According to Li Gou Dan, ever since the world changed, his family had known no peace because of this saber. If it weren’t for resurrection, his whole family might have perished by now. Li Gou Dan had tried throwing it away but didn’t dare touch it. The last time he picked it up, the resentment nearly drove him mad; if his mother hadn’t knocked him out at the critical moment, he would have chopped off his own head.

Hearing this, old man Wang’s face grew grave. “Young Zhang, this thing is so evil. Best not to use it.”

Though Zhang Xiao felt a chill in his heart, the lure of high-strength damage was too great to resist. With power like this, he could cut down those giant scythe vipers with a single stroke.

Besides, wasn’t the saber sitting safely in his hand? It wasn’t as terrifying as Li Gou Dan claimed. Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xiao said, “Don’t worry. I’m high level, my attributes are strong. This bit of resentment can’t hurt me.”

As he gripped the saber’s hilt, a cold energy shot up his arm, making him shiver.

Seeing Zhang Xiao holding the saber without incident, Wang began to suspect Li Gou Dan might have exaggerated, and stopped urging him to give it up.

With the weapon in hand, Zhang Xiao bid Wang farewell and made his way toward the mountains. He’d originally planned to wait until he reached level ten before venturing deep into the forest, but with the Ghost-head Saber, things were different. High-strength damage meant that even level fifteen monsters were now within his reach.

Killing monsters above your level gave extra experience. The deeper Zhang Xiao ventured, the higher the monsters’ levels grew. “This is the place,” he murmured.

A narrow path led into a secluded valley, known among the locals as Tiger Gorge. Inside dwelled the level thirteen Savage Mountain Tiger, whose experience yield was higher than even level fourteen monsters, as it surpassed them in every way. Fortunately, these tigers did not appear in groups—otherwise, they would be much harder to handle.

Zhang Xiao, however, chose this spot not just for the experience. With the Ghost-head Saber in hand, he could have hunted level fifteen Storm Bears alone. The real reason was Bai Yunfei. Before his own rebirth, Bai Yunfei had been a top disciple of the Mount Shu Sword School, and rumor had it he found some treasure in Tiger Gorge that made him so formidable.

The rumor had come from Bai Yunfei’s lover at the time, so its truth was uncertain. If Zhang Xiao hadn’t seen Bai Yunfei last night, he wouldn’t have remembered it.

But seeing that Bai Yunfei had indeed appeared in the village, perhaps there really was some treasure in Tiger Gorge. Since he had already made an enemy, he might as well go all the way and claim the prize for himself.

A sly grin crept across Zhang Xiao’s face, as lecherous as that of an old scoundrel luring little girls.

Beginner weapons had damage ratings: primary, secondary, and then true damage from levels one to nine, with the highest being high-strength damage.

Spiritual weapons were divided by the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—each with primary, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Magical treasures were ranked from first to ninth grade, depending on the user's magical power—first grade being the lowest, ninth grade the highest.

(The above data does not count toward word count.)