The treehouse wasn't spacious, yet it was packed with things — a glance revealed a thoroughly cluttered interior.
On the floor at the center lay a thick, dark-yellow carpet.
Against the wall stood a wood-burning iron stove, with a copper kettle sitting on top. Black ash filled the stove, and a small pile of unburnt dry firewood sat beside it.
Though it was summer, the mountain nights were still cold and damp. The iron stove was small, but once lit, it could keep the entire treehouse warm.
The treehouse had two windows. Two or three hemp ropes were looped along the outer edge of one window, stretched across the interior, and fixed to the outer edge of the other window.
Draped over the ropes hung several tattered clothes, patched and obviously adult-sized, still slightly damp and not fully dried yet.
The lingering light of the setting sun streamed through the windows, casting its glow across the treehouse.
The interior was dim. In the corners, the handles of iron axes and hunting knives were wrapped in beast hide. Dark red bloodstains still stained the blades.
On another wall, a sheet of bamboo paper was pinned up, with a dagger driven straight through its center.
Drawn on the bamboo paper was the face of a young man — unmistakably Fang Yuan.
All of this made it abundantly clear that, sometime recently, someone had come to this secluded little treehouse and taken up hidden residence. The purpose of that person was obvious: it was Fang Yuan, whose face was depicted on the paper.
The dagger stuck into the portrait expressed that person's murderous intent in the most vivid way possible.
Such a scene was enough to make the man himself — Fang Yuan — react.
"What does this person want? Why target me? No, perhaps not me, but Fang Zheng." Thoughts churned violently in Fang Yuan's mind.
Fang Zheng possessed Grade A Aptitude — the only Grade A genius the Guye Clan had produced in three years, the clan's hope. If he could be properly cultivated, he would become the next generation's banner-bearer for the family.
But cultivation required a process.
During that process, there were natural disasters — and even more dangerously, human machinations.
Setting natural disasters aside, the key issue was human interference. Everyone knew that Qing Mao Mountain was home to more than just Guye Stockade — there were also Bai Family Stronghold and Bear Family Stronghold. These two powers would never be willing to sit idly by while the traditional hegemon, the Guye Clan, successfully nurtured a Grade A genius.
Therefore, sending assassins for covert killings was a common occurrence.
In this world, geniuses were rare, and those who could grow up unscathed were even rarer.
Grade A Aptitude Gu Masters were not nonexistent. Three years ago, the Guye Clan had produced one. In even earlier eras, they had appeared repeatedly as well.
But across all three major strongholds on Qing Mao Mountain, over all those years combined, only one Grade A genius had ever been successfully cultivated — Bai Ningbing of the Bai Family Stronghold, who was now at the Third Transformation realm.
That single phenomenon alone was enough to say a great deal.
"Is this person from Bai Family Stronghold or Bear Family Stronghold? Are they moving to eliminate Gu Yue Fang Zheng already?" Fang Yuan furrowed his brow, staring at the portrait on the wooden wall.
"But why does Wang Laohan's Beast Skin Map have this treehouse marked on it? Could Wang Laohan be a hidden agent developed by another faction? No — this person is targeting me!"
A sharp glint flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes.
In that moment, a flood of memories came back to him.
The first time: by the trap, he had overheard the conversation between those four young hunters — One hunter said, "Brother Wang Er, if you ask me, you're turning nineteen this year. You're old enough to take a wife and have some kids."
But Wang Er had replied, "Hmph, a real man doesn't chase after petty pleasures like that! One day, I'm going to leave this Qing Mao Mountain and venture out into the world, see everything there is to see — only then will I have lived up to being a man!"
The second time: after Fang Yuan had made his move, Wang Er's abnormal composure. He had drawn his bow and aimed an arrow straight at Fang Yuan, while the other three were already begging for mercy.
The third time: during Fang Yuan's interrogation.
"I'm asking you — does anyone else live in Wang Laohan's household?"
One hunter had answered, "Old Hunter Wang used to have a wife, but she was killed by wolves that broke into the village more than ten years ago. Before she died, she gave the old man two sons and one daughter. But his eldest son, Wang Da, died on the mountain during a hunt three years ago. There's nobody left in the Wang family."
"Wait — I just remembered! Wang Laohan actually still had a daughter-in-law, Wang Da's wife. But after Wang Da disappeared, she died of grief. That year, the stockade even sent down a chastity arch for her. Though I heard that, in truth, Wang Da's wife wanted to remarry, and Wang Laohan forced her to death. Sir, you killing that old man was ridding the area of a tyrant — a great service to the common folk!"
Another quickly chimed in, "Exactly, exactly. In fact, sir, we've long found that old Wang insufferable. Hmph, what's so special about him? He just happens to be better at hunting than us. We're all ordinary people, yet he acts like he's something special, moving out of the village to live here all by himself. As younger folks, when we wanted to ask him for advice sometimes, he'd drive us straight away and forbid us from coming near the treehouse!"
Wang Laohan's family moving out of the village, living in isolation…
His eldest son, Wang Er, dying on the mountain during a hunt three years ago…