"Xiang Yang, what are you trying to do? I'm telling you, don't you dare mess around. We're men of the Giant Bear Gang. If you dare hurt us, the two gang leaders will never let you off."
Zhao Shan, covered in blood, watched Xiang Yang approach step by step. His whole body shuddered, and even the wounds on his body seemed less painful. Struggling to sit up, he glared fiercely at Xiang Yang, trying to scare him off.
Beside him lay Li Qian, who had knocked out several teeth in his fall. Seeing Xiang Yang come over, he tried to join Zhao Shan in threatening him, but his missing teeth made his words whistle through the gaps, and even he could not understand what he was saying.
"Don't worry. I just want to ask what you came to Black Mountain for. I remember that although your Giant Bear Gang bullies men and tyrannizes women, you haven't fallen so low as to take to the mountains and become bandits."
With a ripping sound, Xiang Yang casually tore open Li Qian's clothes, then used a brown strip of cloth to wipe the blood still dripping from his Thick-backed Saber. As he spoke, he gestured with the blade, its tip aimed at Li Qian's throat. Li Qian's face turned deathly pale. He sat frozen on the ground, not daring to move.
Seeing this, Zhao Shan felt his heart go cold and his liver tremble. Xiang Da Niu had managed to kill two men and wound more than a dozen others, including Hu Qiang, while surrounded by mountain bandits. He was a formidable man. And this boy was a ruthless one too—so young, yet already able to knock down two strong, full-grown men like them.
"Hmph. Of course we don't need to stoop so low as becoming bandits. The two gang leaders merely had business for us on Black Mountain. You may be skilled, brat, but I refuse to believe you're stronger than Black Wind Mountain Stronghold. Let us go if you know what's good for you. Otherwise, if you delay the great matter of Boss Hu of Black Wind Mountain Stronghold, even dying a hundred times won't be enough."
Zhao Shan thought he was invoking a great god to save his life, never realizing he was lifting a stone only to smash his own foot. At those words, Xiang Yang's eyes widened, filled with scrutiny and delight.
During his trip to Black Wind Mountain Stronghold, he had learned that Hu Qiang was seriously injured. Of his skills, at most one part in ten remained. The tiger had become a sick cat; this was the best time to strike. But Hu Qiang was inside the stronghold, protected by many bandits, and Xiang Yang had found no opportunity. He could only leave in frustration. Now that he heard Hu Qiang was making another move and was entangled with Xiong Da and Xiong Er, his interest was piqued.
"I remember your surname is Zhao, isn't it? Back then, in the bustling market, you harassed a widow from a poor household who could only make a living by selling wontons. My father caught you and taught you a harsh lesson."
Xiang Yang stepped around Li Qian and walked up to Zhao Shan. With one kick, he sent the steel saber by Zhao Shan's side flying more than ten meters away. Then he crouched and seized Zhao Shan by the hair. His grip was so strong that Zhao Shan let out a howl, tears spilling from the pain. Even the saber wounds on his body did not hurt as badly as this.
"Easy, easy, Lord Xiang. Everything can be discussed. Whatever you want to know, this lowly one will tell you all he knows without holding anything back. Your honored father is highly skilled in martial arts, and Lord Xiang is truly a tiger's son, no dog of a son. I yield, I yield."
Yet Xiang Yang frowned at those words. Xiang Da Niu was highly skilled in martial arts? What was that about? Wasn't the matter of his father knowing saber techniques known only to Magistrate Li and the dozen or so constables who worked with him? But then he considered that Xiang Da Niu had served as a constable in Anyuan for more than ten years. He must have revealed a move or two, intentionally or otherwise, and it was hardly surprising that others had noticed.
But that made the murderer who had secretly joined forces with Hu Qiang to harm Xiang Da Niu much harder to find. At the very least, he could no longer use knowledge of Xiang Da Niu's martial prowess as a clue to track down the culprit.
"Cut the nonsense. What connection does Hu Qiang have with your Giant Bear Gang? Speak, quickly."
Thinking of this, Xiang Yang's mood soured and his face darkened. Cold light shot in all directions from his phoenix eyes. Combined with the skill he had just displayed in crushing the two of them, it terrified Zhao Shan so badly that he hurriedly explained every detail of why he had come up the mountain, afraid Xiang Yang would grow impatient and cut him down.
Though Li Qian's words leaked through his teeth, he nodded along from time to time, proving that Zhao Shan had not omitted anything or lied. It was his way of currying favor with Xiang Yang.
According to the two of them, the Giant Bear Gang's two leaders truly were close to Hu Qiang. The three were sworn brothers and had known one another even before Hu Qiang took to the mountains. After Hu Qiang became a bandit, they did not openly keep in touch, but privately, they continued to associate in secret.
In particular, whenever the Giant Bear Gang had an enemy it could not handle, it would secretly ask Hu Qiang and the men of Black Wind Mountain Stronghold to kill them. Over the past few years, quite a few formidable figures of the underworld had died that way, while the Giant Bear Gang had grown stronger by the day into what it was now.
And that was not all. Hu Qiang was greedy for wealth and lustful for women. To curry favor with him, Xiong Da and Xiong Er often sent him silver and offered up beautiful women for Hu Qiang's pleasure.
Life on the mountain stronghold was harsh, and Hu Qiang was not the sole ruler there. He did not dare run wild on the mountain, so he often disguised himself and entered Anyuan County under Xiong Da and Xiong Er's arrangements, seeking pleasure in the flower streets and willow lanes within Giant Bear Gang territory. Each time, he would indulge himself for an entire day and night, leaving at least five frail women ravaged beyond recognition.
By the end, Zhao Shan and Li Qian's eyes were both filled with envy. A real man who reached such heights—what more could he ask for?
But Xiang Yang's heart was churning like stormy seas. Had Xiang Da Niu been killed for opposing them after they joined forces with Hu Qiang to eliminate their enemies?
The Giant Bear Gang had always been overbearing and tyrannical in Anyuan, preying on the weak. Xiang Da Niu was kind and simple-hearted, often standing up for justice and helping the helpless. Just as with Zhao Shan's case, it would have been easy for him to obstruct the Giant Bear Gang. That made it entirely plausible that they had killed him.
As he thought this, a terrifying cold gleam appeared in Xiang Yang's eyes. Zhao Shan and Li Qian shrank together at the sight. They knew that look too well. It was the look a butcher had before slaughtering a pig, the look Xiong Da and Xiong Er had before killing someone. It was killing intent.
"Stay calm. The truth has not been uncovered yet; I can't act rashly. Still, this is a direction worth investigating. According to these two, Hu Qiang is injured this time and finds recuperating in the stronghold unbearable. He wants to recover at the Giant Bear Gang in Anyuan County. This is a heaven-sent opportunity. I can use it to get rid of Hu Qiang first, then force the mastermind behind it all to talk. By then, I should be able to find out whether Xiong Da and Xiong Er are involved."
Xiang Yang let out a long breath and calmed the agitation in his heart. Then he looked at the two men before him, somewhat hesitant.
These two had already met Hu Qiang and delivered the message. Their deaths would not affect Hu Qiang's descent from the mountain. More importantly, they had recognized him. If he let them return to the county town, and Xiong Da and Xiong Er learned everything that had happened at the foot of the mountain, they would certainly not spare him.
But asking him to kill someone made him feel awkward for the moment. At heart, he was still mostly the sort of homebody from Earth who would dawdle for ages even to kill a chicken, much less a person.
"I can't be softhearted like a woman. This concerns my life. I have no other choice. Even if I don't want to kill, I have to."
Survival or death—this was a choice that needed no choosing. And between killing others and being killed, there was even less need to choose. Besides, having come to this world with aspirations for the martial world, dreaming of roaming the land with a sword and a horse, bloodshed was unavoidable.
While Xiang Yang hesitated, Zhao Shan and Li Qian were both worldly men. They saw that Xiang Yang had murderous intent. Exchanging a glance, they lunged at him at the same time, their eyes filled with the madness of a fight to the death. Before death, they had to gamble everything.
But Xiang Yang smiled at the sight of the two rushing him. Now, there was no need to choose.
A crimson-stained flash of saber light swept past. His wrist and right arm exerted force together—how could two wounded, unarmed men possibly be his match?
With one slash, blood fountains burst from both their throats. They collapsed in midair, struggling to clutch their necks, their eyes fixed on Xiang Yang with venomous hatred. Even in death, the two looked strikingly alike.
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