Chapter 7 – The First Assignment
After signing the partnership contract, Yan Sanniang arranged a small house near Bu'er Shanzhuang (No Second Manor) for Gu Mo and Gu Chudong—furnished and free of charge, since it was her own property.
That night, the siblings moved in.
By the time Gu Mo woke the next morning, Gu Chudong had already returned with rice, oil, and other household goods. The timing was perfect—breakfast was ready.
This was the unspoken rhythm they had always shared.
Since she was seven, Gu Chudong had followed her brother across the jianghu. They’d traveled far and wide, and developed a clear division of bor—Gu Mo handled the money, Gu Chudong took care of everything else.
She knew his routine by heart. That precision saved them time—valuable time, since Gu Mo never scked off, splitting his life between earning coin and relentless training. That was how he’d reached the forty-eighth technique of the Xuanxu Bde on his own.
After breakfast, Gu Mo began tutoring his sister’s swordsmanship.
Gu Chudong was amazed—despite his blindness, he could still pick out even the tiniest fws in her form.
“If you were this good before,” she muttered, “I’d be a great hero by now!”
“Well, you’d have needed me to go blind a little earlier.”
“Okay never mind then.” She made a face. “I like you better sighted. But seriously, just judging by skill—you’re like a different person.”
“What about judging by character?”
“Hm... still you. Just the aura changed. You’ve got that enlightened master vibe now.”
Gu Mo chuckled. She wasn’t wrong.
He had indeed awakened a kind of ‘enlightenment.’
In the Buddhist sense, near-death comes with great fear, and rebirth brings confusion. He had endured disaster, awakened his past self, and reconnected with something older and deeper.
In martial terms, his realm had soared with the Jiuyang Divine Skill (Nine Yang Divine Skill). Though not yet at the level of a true grandmaster, he had surpassed what most warriors achieved in a lifetime. He hadn’t yet returned to simplicity—but he wasn’t far.
Still, realm didn’t equal raw power.
True strength was elusive and variable. Take Old Knife Lu, for example. A peerless fighter in his youth, now steeped in decades of experience. His martial realm may be towering, but he had still been frightened off by Gu Mo’s show of force.
That was the nature of combat—realm and power were not one and the same.
...
As Gu Mo coached his sister, he sensed footsteps outside. Even before hearing a voice, he could tell it was Yan Sanniang—and the silent swordsman, Ah Qi.
Knock knock knock.
Gu Chudong opened the door, and in they came.
“Master Gu,” Yan Sanniang smiled, “Are you pnning to rest a few more days, or ready to take on a task?”
“I’m always ready,” Gu Mo replied. “Got anything good?”
“Plenty.” She grinned. “But I have a special request. There’s one job I’d really like you to take. You see, my Bounty Pavilion just unched—I need a strong debut. And what better way than a high-profile success?”
“Let’s hear it.”
Gu Chudong poured tea and said casually, “Boss Yan, please don’t tell me it’s ‘go arrest the Demon Cult leader.’ We’re bounty hunters, not corpses.”
Yan Sanniang ughed. “Don’t worry, Chudong. I’m not crazy. I need your brother alive—he’s my golden goose. No way am I sending him after some untouchable devil king.”
Once tea was served, Yan Sanniang pulled out a stack of papers. “Have you heard of the Feima Gang (Flying Horse Gang)?”
“The marauders who roam the northern deserts?” Gu Mo asked.
“That’s them.”
Naturally, he knew. Back in his escort days, the Feima Gang was top of the danger list. Their raids were brutal, and survivors rare.
Most bandits wanted money and avoided unnecessary sughter. But not the Feima Gang.
They killed for sport.
They’d surround entire vilges, then compete over body counts. Women, children, elderly—no one was spared.
The court had tried many times to crush them, but their leader—Feilong (Flying Dragon)—always escaped. Others came and went, but he remained, the true spine of the gang.
“Well,” Yan Sanniang said, “they’ve shown up in Linjiang Prefecture.”
Gu Mo frowned. “After ten years in the north? Why now?”
“They pissed off the wrong man.” Yan Sanniang smirked. “A mysterious swordsman has emerged—people call him the Feijian Ke (Flying Swordsman), or just Nameless. Nobody knows his past, but he’s been hounding the gang relentlessly.
“Feilong fled south. In the st two weeks alone, they’ve massacred three vilges in our prefecture. The Six Doors has raised the bounty to a full thousand taels.”
“That’s enough to make every bounty hunter in the nd foam at the mouth,” Gu Mo said.
“Exactly.” Yan Sanniang sipped her tea. “And it gets better—private citizens and sects have added their own rewards. Total bounty’s now over three thousand taels.”
Gu Mo narrowed his eyes. “You have an edge?”
Yan Sanniang nodded. “Everyone thinks they’re in Pingze County, since the st attacks were there. But I’ve got reliable intel—Feilong’s actually moved to Zhushan County.”
“You want me to go?”
“I want you to make a name,” she said with a grin.
Just then, a mechanical voice echoed in Gu Mo’s mind:
[Target Detected – Bounty Criminal: Flying Dragon]
[Threat Level: Three Stars]
[Reward: Full-Level (Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms]
(End of Chapter)
