Awakening

Old Man Xiang wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Now that his wife was awake, he could return to work at the prison.

However, Old Man Xiang seemed even stranger to his colleagues today.

After finishing his shift, Old Man Xiang bought two live fish and a live hen at the market and hurried home.

He didn't know what to do.

Life still had to go on.

He could only hope for a miracle, perhaps one day he would meet the Immortal Master again and be able to cure his son.

Remembering the Venerable Soul Banner in his hand, Old Man Xiang decided to trade it for a glimmer of hope.

This was the treasure of that Demonic Cultivator.

It had also provided them with a lot of protection on the way back, powerful and eerie.

If he offered it to the Immortal Master, he should be able to persuade the Immortal Master to treat his son.

This was the best plan he had come up with after a whole day of thinking.

Just as he was about to go home and tell his wife and son the good news.

He opened the door.

He walked into the inner hall.

What he saw made him stand rooted to the spot.

The live fish and chicken slipped from his hands and fell to the ground.

His son, paralyzed in bed, and his wife, who was caring for him, were lifeless.

He rushed over immediately.

Looking at the rat poison scattered on the ground and his wife and son foaming at the mouth.

He collapsed to his knees in despair.

"Ah!"

He cried out in pain.

It was like the roar of a wounded beast.

After an unknown amount of time, Old Man Xiang got up.

He was still old, his body more hunched, but he seemed to have woken up.

The fire in his eyes burned anew.

Tu Shan Jun used to think Old Man Xiang lived too suppressed a life, but now Old Man Xiang was very much like someone else.

Li Qing Feng.

Hatred could awaken a person.

Especially someone who had nothing left.

He was like a lonely ghost lingering in this world, only for revenge.

He sharpened his knife, tucked his dagger into his belt, and brought poison and sleeping powder.

He took the Venerable Soul Banner.

Old Man Xiang, wrapped in a black robe, headed to the market.

Liang Capital at night was like a landscape painting in ink.

It was also like a beautiful maiden in her boudoir, drawing her eyebrows, painting her fan, and dressing up.

The lights were bright, and pleasure boats drifted on the small ice river.

The music was melodious.

Old Man Xiang hurried along and knocked on the small door where he had arrived that morning.

Shorty was a little surprised. He used to see Old Man Xiang only once every ten days or half a month, but why was he coming around more often lately?

"I want to see Old Ghost."

Old Man Xiang's voice was hoarse, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes.

Shorty didn't stop him. Old Ghost had already returned from his shift by this time. "Lord Xiang, please come in."

There weren't many people in the courtyard.

Not many people knew about this courtyard either.

After a while, the gloomy Old Ghost walked out.

"I want to know where my son went a few days ago."

Old Man Xiang's remaining arm was constantly resting on his waist knife.

Old Ghost didn't say much, but took out a piece of silk cloth and handed it to Old Man Xiang. "Lord Xiang, this is the list of people who injured your son. As for the person behind it, I couldn't find them."

With a look of regret, he said that in the end, he was just a rat in the underground of Liang Capital.

Although he could be considered a small rat king in his own territory, he would still die if he encountered a cat.

And those wearing the skin of government officials were the cats.

High officials and noble lords were even more formidable tigers than cats.

Filthy creatures like them, living in the gutters, couldn't afford to provoke them.

Providing Old Man Xiang with this support was already a huge risk.

No one knew if the noble lords above would be angered by this matter, leading to their complete destruction.

Old Man Xiang grabbed the silk scroll, his voice cold: "From now on, our favor is repaid."

"Neither of us owes anything."

As his voice fell, he turned and left.

Shorty frowned, angrily protesting, "What an ungrateful old stubborn man! Boss, you took such a big risk to help him find the person, and he still acts like that."

Old Ghost's expression was complex. He shook his head and said, "Lord Xiang doesn't want to implicate us."

"This matter is very complicated. The noble lords' game is affecting others. The noble lord behind Lord Xiang has fallen. Even if they surrender their power, they will still be purged."

"Poor Brother Wen, he'll be lying in bed for the rest of his life."

Speaking of this, the sinister Old Ghost had a face full of resentment, then quickly returned to normal.

He had seen too many of these things.

Growing up in the gutters, he had witnessed countless bloody storms and schemes.

Now, he was just getting closer to them.

Shorty seemed to still want to find a point to support his view, and then said, "Boss, even if we give him the list, Old Man Xiang won't dare to act."

"He's old."

The simple phrase "He's old" seemed to convey all the past affection and spirit.

Old Ghost didn't refute.

Indeed.

Xiang Hu was old after all.

He was no longer the Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Officer he was in the past, a top expert among the twenty-four Yamen.

A hero in decline, nothing more.

Old Man Xiang was hunched over.

Even if his strength had declined, he was still a Second-Rate Expert, with abundant Internal Qi.

He had practiced his Family Cultivation Method for forty or fifty years.

His Combat Techniques were like extensions of his arms.

He had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; Demons and Goblins couldn't take his life.

Killing was just returning to his old profession.

"Wild Dog Gang."

The bustling gambling den.

Dim yellow light.

Gamblers with bloodshot eyes shouted loudly about the numbers they had bet on, their pounding on the tables echoing.

Heads crowded together, shoulders pressed against shoulders.

From time to time, people would loudly borrow money.

There were also desperate gamblers thrown out by the fierce guards of the gambling den.

In the back room of the casino, a man with a scar across his face was vigorously toiling, covered in sweat.

Just as he was ready, he suddenly felt a slight chill on his neck.

He was instantly terrified and went completely limp.

Just as he was about to shout, a sharp Dagger was pressed directly against his neck, and blood flowed down from the wound.

Looking at the woman beneath him, she had already fainted.

"Good man, spare my life."

"Spare my life."

"I didn't defile a respectable woman. This is a back door to an alley outside Yi Hong Tower."

The scarred man raised his hands and quickly explained.

He was afraid it was some chivalrous hero who had heard about his bullying and had come looking for him.

With just one glance, he knew he was no match.

The person behind him was definitely a master.

They had knocked out the woman without him noticing, and then placed a dagger at his throat, forcing him to crane his neck and making it impossible for him to move.

If he were to be decapitated by a vigilante because of some rumors, he would truly die with regret.

"Wild Dog Gang, Chen Quan."

"One of the Wild Dog Gang's deputy leaders." The voice was old but strong and resonant, full of vigor.

It even sounded strangely familiar.

But Chen Quan couldn't for the life of him remember where he had heard it before.

"I'm here to ask you one thing. Answer well, and you live."

"Answer poorly, and you'll wish you were dead."

As a hereditary Hundred-Household Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he naturally possessed interrogation methods rarely seen by ordinary people.

Sometimes, evidence wasn't even needed; suspicion alone was enough to force a confession.

Since he couldn't take them back to the prison, he would interrogate them on the spot before killing them to obtain information.

He had countless ways to make Chen Quan talk.

"Please ask, great hero," Chen Quan quickly replied.

"Who ordered you to cripple Xiang Wen?"

Hearing Old Man Xiang's question, Chen Quan's pupils suddenly constricted. His chestnut-colored eyes were filled with terror, and he opened his mouth to shout, "You are—!"

Crack.

Old Man Xiang twisted his thumb, and Chen Quan's jaw was dislocated.

With his thumb pressed against the lower jaw.

Chen Quan was horrified to find that he couldn't make any sound at all.

Deaf-mutes could still make muffled sounds, but he was like someone who couldn't speak, not even a whisper.

Tu Shan Jun couldn't help but exclaim, "Excellent technique."

There were indeed commendable aspects even in the mundane world.

They couldn't cultivate, but they had honed combat techniques to the extreme, with no less mastery over the human body's meridians and acupoints.