Night Raid on Li Mu

That night, unlike the usual bright moon hanging high in the sky,

was a night of dark moon and high winds.

Thick black clouds pressed down upon the heavens, barely letting a trace of light leak through.

After midnight, all things fell silent.

From an inconspicuous crack between the blue bricks of the Martial Academy's towering courtyard wall, a hand wrapped in coarse gray cloth silently emerged.

Immediately after, a figure almost completely blended into the night vaulted over like a nimble civet cat, landing steadily on the ground outside the wall.

Jiang Qinghe was shrouded from head to toe in a gray cloth cloak, his face covered by a ferocious Nuo opera mask—blue-faced, fanged, and glaring with rage.

His figure flashed, vanishing into the darkness.

Ever since he had sensed someone following him on his way back to the academy after purchasing medicinal pills Last Time, he had secretly investigated several times.

He had heard that the Red Leaf Wine Shop had been completely remodeled into a temporary branch hall of the Iron Saber Gang, with Li Mu stationed there for the time being.

He had stealthily investigated several times at night. With the Levitation Technique in motion, he easily evaded the Iron Saber Gang's lookouts outside the Martial Academy.

Even when he hid atop the branch hall's roof at night, Li Mu had failed to notice him.

Jiang Qinghe discovered that there were not many people in this branch hall at present—only Li Mu himself and seven or eight gang members.

A petty man like Li Mu was like a venomous snake, lurking in the shadows and constantly building up its poison.

The fact that he could endure for so long before ambushing and killing Tu Baichuan in one stroke showed just how sinister and ruthless he was.

There was only one way to deal with such people:

Strike first and gain the upper hand.

Otherwise, once he found the right opportunity, he would deliver a fatal blow—impossible to guard against.

Jiang Qinghe's thoughts raced, but his feet did not slow in the slightest.

Like a gust of wind in the night, he swiftly darted through the crisscrossing streets and alleys.

With every step, he crossed nearly two zhang forward, landing without a sound.

Under the effect of the Levitation Technique, his powerful leg strength was perfectly transformed into wind-like speed.

Before long, he reached West Street. The outline of the Red Leaf Wine Shop was faintly visible in the inky darkness ahead.

It had long since been remodeled beyond recognition. Had it not still stood in the same place, Jiang Qinghe would have found it almost impossible to recognize.

Rather than continuing down West Street's main road, he found the entrance to a small alley and turned into it.

After winding through several twists and turns, he silently approached the small rear gate of the wine shop's courtyard.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

He casually picked up two fist-sized stones with sharp, angular edges.

The muscles in Jiang Qinghe's arms instantly tightened. He hurled them with force, and the stones shot forth like arrows loosed from a bowstring.

At that moment, two Iron Saber Gang members guarding the back gate held curved sabers in their arms and leaned against the gateposts, half asleep.

The instant they heard the sound of something slicing through the air, their bodies had not yet had time to react.

The next second, the stones were already before them, smashing viciously into their heads.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Amid dull, muffled impacts, the two men's bodies shuddered violently.

Without even managing a groan, their eyes went vacant, and they collapsed limply to the ground.

Thick crimson blood gushed from beneath their heads, swiftly winding and spreading across the cold bluestone slabs.

Jiang Qinghe stepped around the two corpses and slipped through the gate.

The wine shop's former rear courtyard had been transformed into a small training ground.

In the corner where he had once chopped firewood stood a row of weapon racks and several large stone blocks.

His gaze swept over it all, and only the faintest, barely perceptible sigh rose in Jiang Qinghe's heart.

Then he tapped off the ground with his toes, swiftly crossed the rear courtyard, and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor leading to the main building.

Since cultivating the Levitation Technique to Minor Accomplishment, his steps had become so light they were almost soundless, impossible for anyone to detect.

Holding his breath and suppressing his heartbeat and aura to their lowest point, Jiang Qinghe crept outside the largest room on the eastern side.

The window paper had been freshly pasted, and a faint candlelight seeped from within.

He silently pressed himself against it. Beneath the mask, his eyes peered through a gap in the window lattice.

On the bed in the inner room, he could vaguely make out a lean, capable figure dressed in fitted clothes. It was Li Mu.

He lay there fully clothed, his chest rising and falling faintly with each breath.

"Boom—"

The surging blood and qi within Jiang Qinghe's body were roused to their peak in an instant.

Strength erupted from the soles of his feet. The floorboards beneath him seemed unable to bear such immense force and gave a faint crack.

The next instant, he shot forward like a cannonball, smashing through the window lattice.

"Crack! Crash—!"

Amid flying splinters, he lunged into the room like a tiger pouncing on prey, bringing with him a gale.

Both palms struck out together, aimed straight at the person on the bed.

The howling palm wind snuffed out the candle beside the bed, plunging the room into darkness.

Almost at the same instant, Li Mu on the bed abruptly opened his eyes.

Years spent licking blood from the edge of a blade had kept him on high alert even in sleep. His body's perception of danger had even Surpassed his consciousness.

Before his eyes stood a person wearing a cloak and a Nuo opera mask.

"Who?"

Li Mu's sharp cry carried a trace of shock and fury.

The answer was a pair of iron palms that raised a piercing shriek through the air.

The palm wind was like blades, already upon him!

In his haste, Li Mu snatched up the curved saber he always kept by his pillow and held it horizontally before himself.

"Clang!"

The blade shook violently. Immense force traveled up his arm bones, and Li Mu felt a searing pain as though the web between his thumb and forefinger had burst apart.

The wooden bed instantly shattered into pieces, and he fell beneath it along with his saber.

"Major Accomplishment in Muscle Tendon Strengthening!"

Li Mu was horrified.

Although his opponent had struck first and caught him off guard, leaving him unable to exert his full strength,

in a single exchange, one palm had nearly knocked the saber from his hand.

Such incomparably domineering palm force could only belong to an expert at Major Accomplishment in Muscle Tendon Strengthening.

A sweetness rose in his throat, and the stench of blood rushed into his mouth.

Li Mu forcibly suppressed his churning blood and qi. Borrowing the rebound from his block, he rolled into a corner, then sprang to his feet like a carp flipping over.

A vicious gleam burst from his eyes. His desire to live overwhelmed his fear. Using the momentum of rising, the curved saber in his hand drew a ruthless Cold Glint, accompanied by a shrill tearing of the air as it hacked viciously toward the masked man's neck.

This strike contained all he had learned in his life—fast, ruthless, and incomparably tricky!

Just as Li Mu's saber light rose, Jiang Qinghe's second palm followed like a shadow, striking later yet arriving first!

This palm came from a tricky angle, its edge like a blade as it sliced straight at Li Mu's saber-wielding wrist.

"Pfft!"

The forces collided, and the rebounding impact made the blood and qi in Li Mu's chest boil.

He could no longer suppress it. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Li Mu's eyes nearly split apart as he roared:

"Rock Crushing Palm? You're from Wanping Martial Academy!"

He had clearly recognized the style of that fierce and domineering palm technique.

But before his words had faded, the heavy pressure of Jiang Qinghe's third palm descended upon him.

"Crack—"

With a crisp snap, Li Mu's right forearm bent sharply at a grotesque angle.

A piercing pain stabbed through him. He gave a muffled groan, his hand went limp, and the curved saber clanged to the floor.

Li Mu looked at the figure Before One's Eyes, shrouded in a gray cloth cloak.

Though he could no longer identify the face, that height of around 1.7 meters

did not match a Single Person among the Major Accomplishment in Muscle Tendon Strengthening martial artists from Wanping Martial Academy he knew of.

Who was it?

Jiang Qinghe? A flash of realization struck Li Mu's mind.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

In Such a Short time, for an ordinary menial servant to transform into someone possessing such martial power—it simply overturned everything he knew.

Just as Li Mu's mind went blank,

Jiang Qinghe's fourth palm Followed One After Another, striking straight for his chest without giving him the slightest chance to catch his breath.

Li Mu exhausted all his strength just to barely twist his body to the side.

"Bang!"

He failed to fully evade the heavy palm force, and it struck solidly against his right shoulder.

That vast force smashed him flying like a torn sack.

With a thunderous crash, he slammed hard into the rear wall.

Li Mu's body slid helplessly down the wall, collapsing facedown on the ground.

"Puh—"

Another mouthful of blood sprayed out. All color drained from Li Mu's face, leaving it pale as paper.

His lips trembled. His body struggled, his Fingers clawing at the ground as he tried to rise.

Jiang Qinghe's fifth palm descended, its shadow swallowing him.

The fluctuating palm wind faintly lifted a gap in the Nuo opera mask.

Li Mu lay on the ground, looking up.

From that angle, through the gap and by the dim light, he vaguely saw a young face.

It seemed to overlap with a figure from some scene in his memories.

"Bang!"

The palm force crashed heavily onto his barely arched back. With a crack, his spine snapped.

"So it really... was you. I... hate this!"

Li Mu's pupils abruptly dilated, and the last light in his eyes went out.

His entire body collapsed completely. After his limbs instinctively twisted and struggled a few times, he fell utterly silent.

The other five or six gang members who came upon hearing the sounds all fell to the ground within a few breaths, becoming corpses at Jiang Qinghe's hands.

Everything returned to silence once more.