Alone in the Tiger's Den

The room was a complete mess.

For the past few days, Sun Chenyu had been in a terrible mood.

Ye Xiaofan was still alive and kicking, while Sun Jiu had gone out three days ago and never returned.

Creak.

The door suddenly swung open.

"Who the fuck has a death wish? Don't you know I'm in a bad mood? Get out!"

With nowhere to vent the rage filling his body, Sun Chenyu lay on the bed and cursed loudly.

Sun Wude's face was so gloomy it looked ready to drip water. With one slap, he sent Sun Chenyu flying into the wall.

The moment Sun Chenyu opened his mouth, blood mixed with teeth sprayed out. Clutching his swollen face, he looked at Sun Wude in confusion.

"Father."

"You still know I'm your father? How did I ever give birth to such a useless, idiotic piece of trash?"

Sun Wude threw Sun Jiu's head into Sun Chenyu's arms and berated him furiously for failing to live up to expectations.

When he saw Sun Jiu's head, its eyes still carrying the terror from before death, Sun Chenyu immediately understood that his secretly moving against Ye Xiaofan in defiance of his father's orders had been exposed.

Ignoring the pain in his body, he dropped to his knees on the bed, weeping bitterly.

"Father, I..."

"You needn't say another word. From now on, without my permission, you are not to take a single step out of this room. Otherwise, don't blame me for disregarding the bond between father and son. Hmph."

Leaving those words behind, Sun Wude turned and departed.

Fortunately, the Black Tiger Gang was a force he had cultivated in secret. Otherwise, if Ye Xiaofan had truly been assassinated, his own son would have ruined his plans.

When that happened, the Sun Family would lose a Qi Condensation stage expert.

The door shut, leaving only Sun Chenyu, his eyes bloodshot and chest heaving violently, along with Sun Jiu's wide-eyed head.

"Ye Xiaofan! Ah! If I don't kill you, I swear I'm not human!"

"Pfft!"

His fury attacked his heart, and Sun Chenyu spat out a mouthful of blood before passing out.

That night, At the Black Tiger Gang External Affairs Hall's base.

The council hall was brightly lit, as brilliant as day.

Wang Meng reclined halfway in his chair with his eyes closed, seemingly resting, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest.

One after another, burly Black Tiger Gang members entered the hall in a line, carrying chests. At the entrance, a fox-faced middle-aged man with a black mole at the corner of his mouth held paper and brush, opening each chest one by one for inspection.

When the chests were opened, they revealed ingot after ingot of gleaming silver.

After carefully checking and confirming the amount was correct, the man with the mole wrote down 1,000 taels in the ledger.

By then, more than a dozen chests had already been placed inside the hall.

Who knew how much time passed before no more men carrying chests entered the hall.

The man with the mole approached Wang Meng, concern faintly visible in his eyes.

"Hall Master."

"How is it?"

Wang Meng opened his eyes and leaned forward to look at the man with the mole, his tone somewhat hurried.

"Hall Master, this month's total income is only thirty-three thousand taels."

"How is it so little?"

Wang Meng frowned deeply and asked with obvious displeasure.

"Hall Master, lately the demon scourge outside the city has become increasingly frequent. There are far fewer merchant caravans coming and going, and the shops lack supplies, so..."

The man with the mole did not continue.

"Tap, tap, tap~"

The scar on Wang Meng's face twisted in a terrifying, savage manner as his fingers drummed urgently against the armrest.

Thirty percent had to be handed over to headquarters and fifty percent to the County Yamen, leaving the External Affairs Hall with only a little over six thousand taels. After distributing it among the underlings, there would be almost nothing left for him.

"From now on, raise the levies on the other shops by another twenty percent."

"B-But, Hall Master, with another twenty percent added, those shops will already be paying seventy percent. I'm afraid they won't agree."

"They won't agree? Hmph. What do you think the blades in our hands are for?"

Wang Meng sneered. Then, without waiting for the man with the mole to say anything else, he waved his hand and said, "Set aside the shares for headquarters and the City Lord's Manor. Put the rest into storage."

"Yes, Hall Master."

The man with the black mole opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing more. He turned around and began directing the others to divide the silver.

Beneath the night sky, a waning crescent moon drowsily hid behind dark clouds.

Ye Xiaofan slowly emerged from the darkness and looked up at the plaque above the gate—Black Tiger Gang External Affairs Hall.

"Who goes there? Unaffiliated people are not allowed near the gang's grounds. Leave at once."

Zhao Si, on watch tonight, saw a man in black with his arms folded around a treasured sword and a bamboo hat on his head. His sleepiness vanished at once, and he barked out the warning in a hostile tone.

"I'm looking for Wang Meng. Please announce me."

Ye Xiaofan spoke politely, but ignored Zhao Si's rebuke and continued walking toward the External Affairs Hall.

"Stop. The Hall Master is not receiving visitors tonight."

Zhao Si exchanged glances with the other guards. They all drew their long sabers and aimed them at Ye Xiaofan, ready to chop him to death in a flurry of blades if he dared take another step forward.

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Ye Xiaofan said nothing and simply kept walking forward.

A breeze swept past, lifting a corner of his black veil and revealing a savage green-faced, fang-toothed evil ghost mask.

"You—"

Zhao Si jumped in fright.

The next moment, A sword cry exploded beside his ear. His neck turned cold, his pupils rapidly dilating, still reflecting a flash of sword light.

Before the others could react, they saw their leader's neck spraying blood as he crashed to the ground.

"Not good, someone's been killed..."

Lai San was the first to react. His shrill cry was especially piercing in the night.

The cry stopped abruptly.

"Y-you..."

The remaining four trembled from head to toe. The sabers in their hands fell to the ground. They wanted to flee, but their legs felt as heavy as a thousand catties.

They were merely ordinary people. How could they ever have seen such a sight? Their courage had long since shattered.

Ye Xiaofan did not let them remain terrified for long. He had come tonight to kill.

The commotion quickly drew dozens of patrolling Black Tiger Gang members.

When they saw the six bodies lying in pools of blood at the entrance, fury immediately blazed in their eyes. "Get him! Kill him!"

Ye Xiaofan did not dare let his guard down. As he unleashed the Wind God Steps, he moved like a fresh breeze weaving through long sabers and short swords.

Sword Drawing Technique—when the sword left its sheath, blood would surely be seen.

At once, roars and screams echoed through the night.

One Black Tiger Gang member after another fell to the ground. They all shared one trait: every one of them clutched his throat, eyes bulging wide.

"Bold bastard!"

A furious roar suddenly came charging over.

A middle-aged man with a pointed monkey-like face and a large black mole at the corner of his mouth charged forward like a raging bull, raising his long saber high as he viciously chopped down at Ye Xiaofan.

The blade wind tore through the air.

"The Deputy Hall Master! The Deputy Hall Master is here!"

At the sight of the man with the black mole, the many Black Tiger Gang members wore smiles of relief at having survived a calamity.

They were truly afraid. In the short span of a dozen or so breaths, eight or nine of their brothers had already fallen in pools of blood.

"Deputy Hall Master, kill this thief and avenge our dead brothers!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

The crowd shielded the man with the black mole before them, their faces fervent as though they could already see Ye Xiaofan being cleaved in two.

Ye Xiaofan neither dodged nor evaded. His long sword left its sheath.

Sparks flew in all directions.

The black-moled man's expression changed wildly. It felt as though he had struck refined iron or a massive boulder. His arm went numb, the web between his thumb and forefinger split open, and the long saber in his hand nearly flew away. Thrown back by the terrifying force of the impact, he staggered back again and again.

Beneath the savage evil ghost mask, Ye Xiaofan's lips curled faintly. With a twist of his wrist, it was as though he had sucked in the other man's saber. Then he stepped forward, instantly closing the distance between them.

"No—"

Terror filled the black-moled man's eyes as he frantically circulated his blood and qi, trying to break free from Ye Xiaofan.

But it was all in vain. The long saber in his hand would not obey him and could not break away from Ye Xiaofan's treasured sword.

Ye Xiaofan flicked his wrist again, directly knocking aside the black-moled man's long saber. With a sweep of his arm, he cut across the black-moled man's neck.

Heads flew sideways, blood gushing like springs.

The longsword slid back into its sheath.

"Deputy Hall Master, kill—"

The many Black Tiger Gang members who had retreated behind the mole-faced man seemed to have their throats clutched shut, their cries cutting off abruptly.

Faces flushed red, they stared in disbelief at Ye Xiaofan, standing proudly in the center like a verdant pine.

The mole-faced man's head rolled to a stop before them, his bulging eyes still retaining the boundless terror from before his death.

"Gulp~"

Everyone swallowed in unison.

"Run!"

No one knew who shouted first, but the next moment, everyone turned and fled.

How could Ye Xiaofan let them go? With one step, he silently caught up to the last man.

"Clang!"

The sound of Death drawing from its sheath scared the courage out of them.

One, two, three...

Like a sickle mowing grass.

"Stop!"

At some point, Ye Xiaofan had chased the Black Tiger Gang members to the square outside the External Affairs Hall's council hall.

Watching brother after brother fall, Wang Meng's heart bled. His fury erupted like a volcano, and the scar slanting across his face looked incomparably savage and terrifying.

The next moment, His longsaber left its sheath, blood and qi surging as a crimson saber light descended toward Ye Xiaofan's head like Mount Tai bearing down.