Jin jokingly asked: "He must have committed some seriously heinous crimes to get this kind of bounty!"

The men laughed as the one next to him pat his shoulder and stated jokingly as well: "That's the thing! He did nothing!"

The men cheered. Jin was slightly puzzled though. Whether him or someone else, this kind of bounty wasn't given out for just anyone. He wondered aloud: "But then, how come?!"

One of the men teased him: "Have you been living under a rock, my friend?"

Another added: "It's been the craze for the past few years, you know!"

Finally, there was one who answered: "Ah! His crime is to own some good stuff while being too weak!"

Another added dreamily: "Right... three pinnacle 6th grade items...What I'd do to get my hands on those~"

One of his friends nudged him and joked: "Would you s*ck for one?"

Everyone laughed. They asked for another round of Frones to be served and continued to loudly and merrily enjoy themselves. Jin was no fool. He did not need any more clues. Someone with his name, three grade 6 items and with a bounty appearing closely after the events of The Peak? There was no need to be a scholar to link it all.

He was the wanted man.

He felt relieved that he took so many preventive measures from the start. It turned out that the situation was even worse than he expected. It was not just Cao Lei and maybe Hae-Hyuk after him, it was the fucking goddamn world.

He spent the rest of the night with that group since leaving after inquiring about 'himself' might have seemed slightly suspicious. After everyone left, Jin included, the tavern closed.

Once back alone in his room, Jin did not waste any more time and jumped out from the window, leaving at dawn without sleep. With his constitution, missing a night would not matter.

He needed to keep it low key. Even more than he had done until now. For one thing, he could not keep himself in such an outfit. The bandages were attracting too much attention. Same with the beard and hair.

As he reached a small river after running for a few hours, he looked at his reflection. He took out his new iron sword for the first time. It was not to kill but to trim a beard. And trimming he did. He cut it straight so that it only went down to his neck. He probably should have done that earlier... He also cut a lot of his hair. He kept it long but only around shoulder-length. It was still hiding his face a bit and it was less conspicuous.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He planned to use the abnormal hairy state to redirect people's attention but this was not enough. He had to attract no attention at all... With this corrupted side, it would not be easy though.

As he started to run once more, he pondered about his options. Wearing a bulky armor was an option. But if he did, he would attract a lot of attention too. People would likely have him take out his helmet to identify him at every city gate...

In the end, the best solution was probably to find gauntlets and a bandana to tie over his eye. For his neck, maybe a scarf could do the trick if it was tied well-enough.

He decided to go with this.

At the next city, he bought iron gauntlets, a silver bandana, a silver scarf and an iron-colored battle robe. Now, he looked a bit less out of place though it still was not the best. The scarf with this heat and the bandana over the eye were just... But then again, it was better than showing off his corrupted side.

He did his best and after only two more months, he reached the coastal cultivator city of Mirhanwen. It towered over the cliffside of the ocean. From every house, one had a view of the horizon. There were many gigantic villas and towering towers, all decorated mightily in one way or another to represent the taste of its owner.

Jin walked around the street without anyone glancing at him. His attire was less conspicuous now that he was in the midst of cultivators. What could be considered freaky to mortals was fashion to cultivators. An eye-patch? That guy must be deceiving people to attack him on that side of his body! A seemingly empty sleeve? A trick to confuse the opponent! There were all kinds of weird and he was able to be ignored in here. Of course, there were more risks but at the same time, he attracted less gazes.

After walking around a block, he found himself face to face with a wall filled with posters of wanted men. A few of them were of him. He tore one from the wall and gazed at the drawing. Certainly, it was well-made. However, it showed a young adult. Right now, he looked like a middle-aged man, even close to a senior. It would quite a stretch to link them both...

He threw the poster within his spatial ring and moved forward.

He reached an inn and sat at the counter of the tavern area. He asked for a pint of Frone and focused his ears on the surrounding discussions. Few cultivators actually disguised their voices or spoke through spiritual message here. Many were wanderers if not all. They did not care that much about being listened to. Heck, some might be hoping to be listened to. To wandering cultivators, taverns were a great pace to make new acquaintances. Sometimes, it turned into exchanges of pointers that could benefit them greatly.

As he was gently sipping on his drink, a man approached him and sat next to him. He whispered without turning his head: "I know who you are"

Jin paused. He did not turn his face but asked back coldly: "Who?"

The man grinned as he stated: "Someone looking for a great deal!"

Jin sighed in relief. It was just a merchant...