Chapter Sixty-Nine: Substitution of Plum for Peach

Rummaging through the corpse in a haphazard manner, he found nothing else except for a battered Sect Leader’s token of the Breaking Kill Sect. Hu San tucked it into his robe and finally turned his attention to the knife techniques carved upon the stone wall.

“As expected of a supreme master, this knife technique is anything but simple.”

Though Hu San possessed a solid foundation in the Parallel Line Blade, it was clear that fully grasping this technique would not be accomplished in a short time. At first glance, it appeared crude, but the more he studied it, the deeper its mysteries became. Combined with the explanations beneath, its subtleties were not easily unraveled.

He had already acquired the Fish Step and Bird Strike, but those were mere imitations, not intrinsic to him—he understood nothing of their principles, which felt far beyond his reach.

Yet the Ten Paths of Breaking Kill were different; they aligned perfectly with his current realm, promising to lay a profound foundation for his future growth.

With such a peerless skill, Hu San was overjoyed. Of all his gains from this venture, he deemed the Ten Paths of Breaking Kill the most valuable.

He studied the first through tenth moves for some time, then exhaled deeply, murmuring, “A treasure indeed. If fate allows, perhaps I could return you to the Southern Limin Kingdom someday, though only as ashes.”

“Enough; this knife technique is not something mastered in a day or two. I should go out and take a look. Now that the Chieftain is dead, I could impersonate his appearance and perhaps seize Wolfheart Fortress without bloodshed, annex it to my Wolf Fang Fortress. Only then could I depart in peace.”

Having made up his mind, Hu San stopped studying the wall, turned, and retraced his steps up the passage. By the time he emerged from the cave, daylight had already flooded the world—unbeknownst to him, an entire night had passed.

Hu San, disguised as the Chieftain, appeared and caused a commotion. Everyone knew that the Third Chieftain and Big Bend** had died at Wolf Fang Fortress at Hu San’s hands, and Hu San had openly pledged allegiance to Black Storehouse**.

Wolfheart Fortress had made no move, merely waiting for the Chieftain's reappearance.

Now, with the false Chieftain appearing, countless schemes began to stir in the hearts of many.

Whether it was the conquest of Wolf Fang Fortress or the vacant positions of the two chieftains in the fortress, plenty had their eyes set on them.

Hu San had barely warmed the throne in the main hall when he received successive requests for audience from his subordinates.

He had spent enough time here to know the leaders of Wolfheart Fortress somewhat; seeing the list, he quickly understood their intentions.

“So be it. I’ll acclimate to this position first, then gradually bring Wolfheart Fortress under my control.”

Hu San narrowed his eyes and simply ordered his guards to summon all the leaders to meet together and convene a council.

Here, the Chieftain’s affairs must be mentioned. Having discovered the Chieftain’s true identity, Hu San had no more doubts about his ways and was certain that the Chieftain had no trusted confidants in Wolfheart Fortress.

After all, as a monster who had yet to form his demon core and take human shape, how could he have human confidants? Even the Third Chieftain was merely a chess piece in his command of Wolfheart Fortress.

Hu San was absolutely certain that those who claimed to be the Chieftain’s confidants were merely self-aggrandizing; in truth, no one could get close to the Chieftain. This was the impression he had always left: mysterious—deeply mysterious.

This made things easier for Hu San. Once his strength was sufficient, he simply had to adopt the Chieftain’s indifferent, emotionless tone and mimic his voice, and there would be no risk of exposure.

Now that his power equaled that of eleven men and his internal energy had reached the sixth tier, mimicking another’s voice was trivial—he merely needed to control the muscles of his throat.

Of course, Hu San and the Chieftain did differ in height. Hu San was just over one meter sixty, while the Chieftain, when reduced in size for public appearances, likely stood at one meter seventy.

But as Hu San reasoned, the Chieftain was shrouded in black, his face masked in gold, with no skin exposed, and no one dared stare at him closely. Thus, minor differences in height were unnoticed.

Initially, some might find it odd, but after a few meetings, they would grow accustomed to this Chieftain. After all, he had been secluded for half a year, and few could recall his former appearance.

Soon, the eager leaders flooded in, each taking their accustomed position.

Hu San counted them—there were nearly twenty leaders in Wolfheart Fortress. On the left, the foremost was Ge Xiang, with purple hair and red eyes, a chain of iron at his waist. Hu San had seen him once; he was sharp and capable, his cultivation at the fourth tier, making him the strongest among the fortress’s leaders.

Previously, Ge Xiang had styled himself as the Chieftain’s confidant; now it was clear he was merely a tool for balancing the Third Chieftain.

Behind Ge Xiang stood a burly man named Haizhou, wielding a pair of steel gauntlets. Skilled in martial arts, his internal energy reached the third tier, and he was Ge Xiang’s right-hand man, second among the leaders.

As for Hu San’s old acquaintance, the scar-faced leader, he now stood fifth on the left. With his internal energy achieved, his ranking had greatly improved; Hu San recalled he was previously at the bottom.

The right row of leaders were not native to Wolfheart Fortress but were warriors who had surrendered during its southern and northern campaigns over the years.

Foremost among them was Wolf Old Eagle, with blood-red hair and a ghost-headed saber at his waist—not another but Iron Wing, the Second Chieftain of Black Bear Fortress, now a leader in Wolfheart Fortress, his cultivation on par with Ge Xiang, both at the fourth tier.

Next was Hu San’s familiar acquaintance, Chi Zhen. It was thanks to him that Hu San had found Black Bear’s hideout. Chi Zhen was no weaker, at the third-tier peak, second among the newly recruited leaders.

Further back were several former Black Bear Fortress warriors, followed by fighters from other minor strongholds. Altogether, there were nineteen, forming the fortress’s elite force.

“Greetings, Chieftain,”

All bowed with hands clasped, kneeling on one knee.

“Rise. While I was away, were there any major events?”

Having long governed Wolf Fang Fortress—where, aside from the top masters, its strength perhaps exceeded Wolfheart Fortress—Hu San was well-practiced in playing the Chieftain’s role, showing no awkwardness.

“Reporting, Chieftain, during your seclusion, the kingdom trials concluded. Hu San, leader of Wolf Fang Fortress, led his band to destroy the backing of Tianya Fortress, Mons**, wiping out five thousand elite guerrillas. Then, he schemed against Big Bend**.”

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After luring Big Bend** to Wolf Fang Fortress, Hu San placed giant drums around the mountain, ordering the soldiers to beat them. Amid the reverberations, somehow, the entire mountain collapsed, burying the five thousand elite guerrillas beneath it.

In this battle, the Third Chieftain was among Big Bend**’s ranks; rumor has it he survived, only to be slain by Hu San amid the ruins.

Later, Hu San openly led Wolf Fang Fortress in revolt, breaking from Wolfheart Fortress and pledging allegiance to Black Bear Fortress and the Black Storehouse Kingdom, establishing a new Wolf Fang Fortress nearby, threatening our fortress’s security. Chieftain, please decide.”

Ge Xiang stepped forward and recounted all that had transpired.

Hu San was silent for a while, as if pondering the intricacies, then finally spoke in a dull tone, “I understand. Anything else of importance?”

At this moment, Iron Wing, foremost on the right, stepped forward and bowed, “Reporting, Chieftain, during the trials, though no formal ** attacked the fortress, our surrounding units suffered heavy losses. Added to the fierce beast tide this year, which briefly threatened an assault, calculations show we lost eighteen battalions.”

“But since Big Bend** was annihilated, no one came to claim the elite soldiers. Overall, we still have four thousand usable troops, enough to face Hu San.”

Hu San nodded, indicating he understood, then asked in a deep voice, “Your views on dealing with Hu San?”

“Hu San ambushed Big Bend**, killed the Third Chieftain, broke from our fortress—he is ambitious and must be punished, lest he become a grave threat to Wolfheart Fortress.”

Iron Wing was first to declare, for Hu San had pledged loyalty to Black Storehouse Kingdom, Iron Wing’s old masters; any suspicion from the Chieftain would be most unwelcome.

“I support Iron Wing’s opinion. Hu San must be struck down, or else what of our fortress’s prestige? I request to lead a thousand as vanguard to attack Wolf Fang Fortress.”

Ge Xiang quickly followed suit.

With these two speaking, the hall erupted as the leaders all voiced their opinions, as if they wished to annihilate Hu San’s ancestors eighteen generations deep.

Witnessing this, Hu San broke into a cold sweat inwardly; he knew he was unpopular, but hadn’t expected such intense hatred.

Yet now was not the time for Wolfheart Fortress to stir up trouble for Wolf Fang Fortress. Hu San waved his hand to quiet the clamor and spoke, “Hu San managed to destroy two regular guerrilla armies in succession; his strength cannot be underestimated. Each kingdom’s guerrilla general should possess internal energy at the sixth tier.”

“Once may be luck, twice is strength. Now is the prime season to strike at Spring Grass; we must not let Hu San distract us from greater matters.”

The leaders exchanged glances. Hu San instructed, “Leave Hu San’s case aside for now. He ambushed Big Bend**, and the Big Bend Kingdom will not let him go easily. We need only wait.”