Revenge

Lu Chen's hands moved swiftly.

Wang Hu departed without pain.

He left him some dignity.

[With the host's intervention, Wang Hu's fate has changed]

[Wang Hu has died. Fate Value +270]

[Total: 882]

He took a key from Wang Hu, went out the back of the main hall, and made his way to the Green Bamboo Gang's storeroom.

Lu Chen unlocked the storeroom door and went inside.

The storeroom was small, with only a few chests and a bookshelf.

Lu Chen went to the bookshelf first.

It was filled with cultivation methods that Wang Hu and the Green Bamboo Gang had collected over the years. They were badly incomplete; even the best could only be cultivated to the Organ Refining stage.

It was the Rolling Stone Fist.

The others could only be cultivated to the Iron Bone Realm at most. There were saber, sword, and spear techniques, as well as a relatively rare Archery Cultivation Method that could only be cultivated to the Copper Skin Realm.

There weren't even any accompanying medicinal formulas.

Lu Chen didn't mind in the slightest. He simply found a sack and stuffed all the books on the shelf into it.

Next came the valuables.

His main targets were silver notes, followed by gold bars, silver ingots, and jewelry.

The sack was nearly too full to hold everything.

"I'm satisfied. Time to go home!"

Lu Chen hefted the sack. It was quite heavy.

If he hadn't advanced to the Blood Exchange Realm, giving him three or four thousand jin of strength, he might not even have been able to carry it.

With his spoils in tow, Lu Chen slipped out through the Green Bamboo Gang's back gate.

Long after he had gone, the middle-aged man he had sent flying finally dared to enter the main hall, moving with the utmost caution.

The middle-aged man was startled to see Wang Hu sitting upright in the seat of honor and hurried over.

Wang Hu was already dead. His throat had been cut open, and blood covered the floor.

A sorrowful look appeared on the middle-aged man's face. Then he remembered something and hurriedly searched Wang Hu's body.

"It's gone? Could it be..."

He immediately turned and went to the storeroom, his face twitching.

"Just as I thought!"

He went inside and found that the valuables had been cleaned out.

He sighed.

The Green Bamboo Gang was finished.

He was only a minor leader. Gang Leader Wang Hu was dead, the Gang Leader's younger brother Wang Bao had also met with trouble, and Hall Master Chen Biao had been surrounded and killed during the earlier melee.

The only remaining Hall Master, Pan Chen, had left Shahu County yesterday to inspect a mine more than ten li away. He still hadn't returned.

The enormous Green Bamboo Gang had collapsed overnight.

The middle-aged man was at a loss as to where they should go from here.

The night was long. Lu Chen had had such an eventful evening, yet it was still dark.

After putting everything in his room, Lu Chen thought it over and decided not to take any more risks today.

After all, he had initially thought he was already the strongest person in Shahu County. As long as he didn't stubbornly go after the County Magistrate, he ought to be able to swagger wherever he pleased.

But the information he had learned today was too shocking. He was no longer among the strongest; several people were stronger than him, and he no longer dared to take risks.

"Sleep, sleep. The Black Pole Gang isn't something I can deal with as I am now."

He closed his eyes.

He opened them again.

Wang Hu's words kept echoing in his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he remembered them. He couldn't sleep at all.

Fuck!

"They should still have quite a few abducted children there. If you save them, perhaps you can earn me a little good karma too..."

"Quite a few abducted children..."

Lu Chen tried to force himself to sleep.

"This isn't something I can deal with right now. I'm only at Blood Exchange myself. A little over ten days ago, I was just an ordinary beast of burden!"

"They're so strong, and they're right next to the County Yamen. That Registrar is even at the Marrow Washing Realm. I can't beat them!"

Lu Chen made excuses for himself.

But he failed to convince himself.

"Fuck, I forgot there's someone else!"

Lu Chen sat up in bed.

Li Feng! Li Ziren's second son!

Fuck, he beat the original owner of this body to death, and when I went to the brothel tonight, he even cursed me out?

I've reached Blood Exchange, and I still have to let some spoiled second-generation brat curse me out?

How does that make any sense in this world?

Cripple him!

Fuck!

I can't beat the others, but can't I beat him?

The more Lu Chen thought about it, the angrier he got. He pulled on a set of black clothes, fully equipped himself, and returned to the Jade Pavilion, climbing back up where he had jumped down before.

Xiao Taohong was sleeping soundly.

The brothel was much quieter now.

Many people had already gone to sleep, though quite a few were still drinking.

He recalled where he had encountered Li Feng earlier. It seemed to have been near the stairs.

"Li Feng obviously wouldn't go to an Earth-Class Room. He must have gone to a Heaven-Class Room. The Heaven-Class Rooms are all on the third floor, so he must have come down from upstairs. I'll go look up there!"

There were only four Heaven-Class Rooms in all. Excluding Wang Bao's and Li Mantun's, that left two.

Lu Chen looked through the window toward the corridor. There were still people there, and if he went out, he clearly wouldn't be able to avoid them all.

After thinking it over in the room, he turned his gaze to the window.

"I'll climb up one more floor, to the third floor!"

Lu Chen covered his face and climbed up from the window.

Never in his dreams had he imagined that he, a dignified Blood Exchange Realm martial artist, would spend his days launching sneak attacks, sneaking through doors and picking locks, or climbing walls, without doing a single thing openly and honorably.

"I'm doing this for safety too. The means don't matter; achieving my goal is what matters most!"

Lu Chen comforted himself as he gripped the windowsill, his body suspended in midair. He heaved himself up, his arms easily pulling him high enough for his head to clear the sill, and looked inside.

He only dared to do this because there was no sound from the room, so its occupants were most likely asleep.

The room was a mess, with clothes scattered here and there. Three naked bodies lay intertwined on the bed.

They were all asleep.

Lu Chen took a close look at the cleft... no, Feng.

It was Li Feng!

Was his luck really that good?

Lu Chen felt that the heavens were helping him!

The window was only pushed to, not shut tight, leaving a gap for air.

That gave Lu Chen his chance.

He quietly pushed the window open and slipped inside in a flash.

A peculiar smell filled the room.

Without changing expression, Lu Chen walked to the bedside.

"You brat, with a woman in each arm, you've had your fill of pleasure!"

Lu Chen had all of his predecessor's memories. Although they didn't affect him, he still hated Li Feng.

"I can't let you die so easily, brat. I have to get some value out of you!"

He looked at the other two, stepped forward, and pressed the backs of their heads, making sure they wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Then he grabbed Li Feng by the neck and roughly yanked him out of the two women's embrace.

Li Feng had been fast asleep, but with such a violent hand gripping his neck, he couldn't breathe, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

He jolted awake, his face flushing red. Trying to struggle, he gripped Lu Chen's hand with both of his own and tried to pry his fingers apart.

Lu Chen's fingers were like steel and didn't budge. He lifted Li Feng into the air, watched his legs kick wildly, and shook his head.

No matter how formidable someone was, they would still die if killed.

No matter their status, whether they were rich or poor.

"You... it's you!"

Li Feng recognized Lu Chen by his eyes.

He remembered those stubborn, hate-filled eyes!

But why was it him?!

How dare he?!

He wanted to shout, but he couldn't make a sound beyond a faint, pained moan from his throat.

Li Feng slowly began to suffocate. His legs grew weaker and weaker, and his grip on Lu Chen's hand gradually slackened.

Lu Chen watched the blood vessels gradually burst in Li Feng's eyes, but felt no pleasure in revenge.

Because his predecessor really was dead.

And he had merely transmigrated here.

"Let... me go! Do you know... who I am?"

Lu Chen glanced at Li Feng, punched him in the back of the head, and knocked him unconscious. Carrying the completely naked Li Feng, he leaped straight out the window, landing with a muffled bang.

Then he carried the man swiftly toward the County Yamen, avoiding night patrols several times along the way.

"The Constables' Barracks across from the County Yamen. This is the place!"

Once Lu Chen arrived, he hid the man in a corner and began searching for an entrance.

According to Wang Hu, the Black Pole Gang was underground, so there had to be an exit aboveground, and it had to be concealed.

Lu Chen's gaze settled on the sewer.

There was a drain by the roadside.

Beside it stood an ordinary, inconspicuous three-courtyard residence. Its entrance wasn't on the main street, but in an alley, making it well hidden.

Lu Chen went to the residence's entrance and examined it closely.

The bluestone slabs at the doorway had been worn smooth underfoot, as had the threshold. People clearly came and went often.

This should be the place. It matches the details Wang Hu gave me!

This time he didn't climb straight over the wall. Instead, he acted cautiously, returning to Li Feng and covering his mouth. He picked up a nearby stone and struck him awake with it.

"Awake? Don't worry, I won't kill you! But to keep you from shouting, I'm going to confiscate your tongue for the time being! Oh, and I'll have to knock you out again in a moment. I'm just letting you know so you can prepare yourself."

Li Feng's eyes widened, filled with terror.

What did he mean? What did he mean by confiscating it for the time being?

Once it was confiscated, could it be given back?

He struggled frantically, kicking his hairy legs and making muffled cries.

Lu Chen promptly knocked him unconscious again, raising a large lump on the back of his head.

Lu Chen wasn't afraid of beating him to death. If he died, he died.

He had never intended to let him live anyway.

Lu Chen took out his dagger, pried open Li Feng's teeth, and, finding it somewhat disgusting, roughly pulled out his tongue before bringing the blade down.

The single tongue was split into two.

"Mmph!"

The intense pain woke Li Feng again.

"You've come out ahead. Ordinary people only have one tongue, but you have two!"

Lu Chen muttered to himself. After a moment's thought, he chopped off both of Li Feng's hands as well.

Unable to speak or write, he would be less of a risk now.

After that, he smeared blood all over Li Feng's face and sprinkled some dirt on it, leaving him unrecognizable and fearsome.

Li Feng trembled all over in pain, his face pale and blood pouring from his mouth.

Lu Chen paid that no mind. He gripped Li Feng by the neck with one hand, found another stone, weighed it in his hand, and hurled it at the door inside the courtyard.

"Bang!"

The sound of the stone striking the wooden door was piercing in the quiet night.

Before long, there seemed to be some movement in the courtyard.

Lu Chen looked at Li Feng, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Then, under Li Feng's venomous gaze, he flung him into the courtyard.

"Off you go!"