Heaven's Silence

Chapter 72 – Night of Murder

Wen Chaoshen swatted down a black bee that shouldn't have appeared in this season. Just as he was about to inspect it, A Shui stopped him. She approached, picked up the bee's corpse from the ground, examined it closely, and said:

"It is indeed poisonous."

"I've never seen black bees or wasps before."

"This must have been specially bred by someone."

"It seems they've found a way to leave honey on me."

As A Shui spoke, she looked up at the night sky where light snow was falling, her gaze turning deep and contemplative.

In these translucent snowflakes, something else seemed to be hidden.

"Wen Chaoshen, give me the knife."

A Shui asked Wen Chaoshen for the hatchet. He took it from his waist and handed it to her. A Shui got up, fetched a bucket of water, and went to another corner of the courtyard to sharpen the knife on a whetstone stained with brown rust.

Zzz—

Zzz—

The sound of the blade grinding against the whetstone sent shivers down Wen Chaoshen's spine.

He seemed to smell the scent of blood in the snow, the scent of life fading away.

A Shui sharpened the knife slowly. Once the blade was no longer so dull, she poured two cups of Baodaozi over it and continued sharpening.

The aroma of the liquor spread, like invisible ripples in the snow, brewing an indescribable killing intent.

Wen Chaoshen stayed in the courtyard for a while, his body growing numb from the cold. He shook off the snow accumulating on him and tossed aside the firewood in his hand.

"Too bad, I can't help you."

"That night in the snow, I should have picked up a crossbow. Maybe then I could be of some use."

A Shui, still sharpening the knife, replied casually:

"For warriors at the Dragon Chant Realm and above, crossbow bolts aren't very useful. Bows and arrows can still be used... but you can't."

"The black bees are for tracking. Once the bees arrive, the people shouldn't be far behind."

"Wen Chaoshen, are you really not going next door to hide?"

"Don't blame me for not warning you. The people coming tonight are probably not simple, and I may not be able to protect you."

Wen Chaoshen shook his head.

"If I didn't know Mr. Lü, I would have left with this disaster. I'm not exactly a good person. When it comes to survival, my own life is definitely more important than a stranger's."

"But Mr. Lü saved my life. Even if I die here today, I can't bring trouble to him."

When their eyes met, A Shui saw the determination in Wen Chaoshen's eyes. She took a cloth strip and slowly wiped the strong liquor off the blade.

Looking at the cold gleam on the blade, she seemed finally satisfied and tossed the cloth to Wen Chaoshen:

"Go back to your room."

"Don't come out unless I call you."

He caught the cloth, picked up the clue slip he had thrown to A Shui earlier, and before entering the room, he turned his head to the drinking A Shui and said:

"Shouldn't you drink a little less?"

"Drink too much and you won't see clearly."

A Shui frowned at his words and said:

"One less person killed, one less drink taken."

"What do you know? Get inside quickly."

Wen Chaoshen shook his head slightly, pushed the door open, and entered, closing the door behind him.

Creak—

The moment the door closed completely, footsteps sounded almost simultaneously at the entrance of the courtyard. It was a tall young woman with a large patch of dark, poisonous scars on her face, wearing a black long dress, coldly staring at A Shui in the courtyard.

Click—

Another footstep, seemingly deliberate.

A Shui turned to see a dozen black figures standing on the eaves, their waists bearing either knives or swords, staring at her through the fierce wind and snow.

Rustle—

Outside the courtyard, more footsteps could be heard. A Shui's ears twitched slightly, and she spoke to the woman in front of her:

"That snowy night, it seems I didn't kill enough of you, and you dare to come again."

The scarred woman chuckled, her voice like wind chimes ringing in the snow:

"You can't kill all the people from Wangchuan. A hundred taels of gold is enough to drive people mad, and your head... is worth a hundred thousand taels."

"Everyone wants it."

"This time, we've brought quite a few experts. You shouldn't be disappointed."

A Shui picked up some pebbles from the ground and held them in her hand.

"My head, have you figured out how to divide it?"

The scarred woman smiled slightly:

"First come, first served."

With that, she raised her hand, and the pale snowflakes falling from the sky suddenly turned pitch black. These dense little black dots seemed to emerge from the crystalline snowflakes, quickly forming a black sphere, then pounced fiercely toward A Shui!

These black dots were all poisonous bees.

Each one carried deadly venom, and when they gathered into a swarm, they seemed to possess formidable power, easily penetrating the protective aura of a martial artist.

The many men in black standing not far away watched this scene, their eyes instinctively filled with caution.

They knew better than anyone the terror of these poisonous bees.

This scarred woman ranked thirty-third in the Wangchuan's Lin character list, known as the Black Bee Queen. Few knew her past, but among the rising experts in the Martial World this year, she was one of the best. Her terrifying poison skills were unknown in origin, and those unlucky enough to be assassinated by her died in extremely miserable ways.

The most frightening thing was that the poisonous bees she cultivated were not only excellent at tracking but also completely obeyed her commands, posing a deadly threat even to experts at the Dragon Chant Realm, making them nearly impossible to defend against in battle!

It was said that at least three Dragon Chant Realm experts in the Martial World had been stung to death by the poisonous bees without even seeing the Black Bee Queen, dying with blood flowing from their seven orifices, their internal organs nearly dissolved.

Seeing the swarm of black bees attacking, A Shui raised her knife, and a terrifying blade aura burst forth, creating a ripple in the void as it slashed toward the dark swarm!

However, the swarm was more difficult to deal with than expected. They split apart at the moment the blade aura struck, using their innate sensitivity to air vibrations to dodge the deadly slash!

"Bee swarms are the least afraid of blades and swords. I've heard you're a very skilled expert, but tonight, with just a hatchet, it seems you can't get past the bee swarm."

"If I can get this hundred thousand taels of gold without lifting a finger, it would make me feel like the money came too easily."

The Black Bee Queen's face broke into a light smile, her arms crossed as she leaned against the courtyard wall, leisurely watching A Shui.

A Shui remained expressionless, her left hand gently rubbing something.

"You raise bees, then raise bees. Learn martial arts, then learn martial arts. Wanting both makes you neither here nor there. When you really meet an expert, you won't even have a chance to escape."

A Shui's words made the smile on the Black Bee Queen's face gradually turn cold. She raised her hand, her fingers moving slightly, and the black bees seemed to go mad, attacking A Shui.

But just as they approached, A Shui did not choose to draw her knife to repel them. Instead, she raised her left hand and scattered a large cloud of gray dust!

These were the stones she had picked up from the ground, crushed into powder by her.

As the lime dust scattered, what was originally harmless dust became the world's most terrifying hidden weapon, dense and overwhelming, dissolving the deadly black bee swarm in an instant!

When the dust settled, the ground was covered with the corpses of black bees.

Not a single one was left.

Seeing this, the contempt on the Black Bee Queen's face first turned to shock, then gradually, from her pallor, a flush of anger emerged.

Each of these poisonous bees contained her painstaking effort, years of cultivation, and they were wiped out with a handful of lime?

"Today, I will kill you!"

She roared, drawing an Emei thorn from her waist, her figure suddenly ghost-like as she advanced, covering ten steps in what seemed like an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the Emei thorn was already at A Shui's throat.

Puff!

A seemingly ordinary slash swept past.

No one knew where the blade came from, nor where it went.

Amidst the sound of the wind blowing the snow, the Black Bee Queen only saw her headless body fall to the ground.

Then the world spun, and darkness descended.

In the pale courtyard, the first splash of red bloomed that night.

A Shui flicked the blood off the hatchet and took a step into the courtyard, her calm voice carried far by the wind:

"She said quite a few experts came tonight. Are you coming one by one, or all at once?"