32, Cut the Grass, Uproot the Root!

Old Master Zhang and the others were fighting harder and harder, their wounds increasing, and their fear growing.

They had initially seen that Li Mochou's swordplay lacked killing power and had even managed to force her into a flustered state with a desperate fighting style. But they hadn't expected her to adapt so quickly; after just a few moves, she had turned the situation around.

Now, they couldn't die and couldn't win, only being bled slowly, sword strike after sword strike, as if enduring the torture of lingchi.

Just as they were crying out in misery, they heard Zhang Yong's command. Old Master Zhang and the others felt as if they had received a great pardon. With gritted teeth, they howled and slashed wildly, temporarily forcing Li Mochou back, then scrambled back to Zhang Yong's side.

Zhang Yong called back Old Master Zhang and the others, forcing a smile onto his face, and bowed his hands to Li Mochou, Lu Chen, and Huang Rong:

"A misunderstanding! It was my recklessness that offended you three. I hope you three..."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Chen suddenly interjected:

"You want to reconcile?"

Zhang Yong forced a laugh:

"Since it's a misunderstanding, I naturally won't bother you three any further. Please..."

Bang!

Lu Chen drank the wine Huang Rong poured, slammed the empty cup heavily onto the table, interrupting Zhang Yong, then stood up with his Steel Sword, looked at Zhang Yong, and said softly:

"Just now you were spouting threats about killing me and kidnapping my sister. Now that you've seen blood, you say it's a misunderstanding? Too late!"

Lu Chen felt that when traveling the martial world, it's best not to easily make enemies. What if you do make an enemy? Then don't hold back; either don't do it at all, or see it through to the end.

Especially against a dark and evil gang like the Hanshui Gang, who dare to kill men and kidnap women in broad daylight by casually labeling them "Jin Dynasty spies." If you make an enemy of them, then cutting the grass by the roots, eliminating all enemies, and completely resolving the grudge is the correct approach.

This is called, it's better to resolve enmities than to make them.

With that, he flashed and darted towards Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong had been guarding against Lu Chen and, seeing him move, decisively ducked and rolled on the ground, unceremoniously doing a lazy donkey roll to hide among the crowd behind him, while simultaneously shouting urgently:

"Stop him!"

Although the Hanshui Gang members feared Lu Chen's martial arts, upon hearing Zhang Yong's command, they instinctively moved forward, swinging their blades at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen, carrying the Profound Iron Heavy Sword on his back, was slightly less agile in his movements and too lazy to maneuver. He directly drew his Steel Sword, unleashed a move from Falling Blossom Swordplay, and with a light tremor of his wrist, the sword tip hummed and vibrated, producing a flash of bright sword light.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

In the dense, rain-like sound of metal clashing, the seven or eight long blades that were simultaneously slashing at him were instantly swept away by the sword light.

Lu Chen moved with his sword, the sword like a coiling dragon, plunging into the crowd. Where the sword light flashed, blood splattered, and one after another, Hanshui Gang members clutched their throats and chests and fell to the ground. In the blink of an eye, the Hanshui Gang members blocking Zhang Yong's path had been scattered by his killing.

Zhang Yong had just gotten up from the ground when he saw Lu Chen, unstoppable, rapidly closing in amidst the flying blood. His pupils suddenly contracted sharply, and he called out, feigning fierceness while inwardly timid:

"Stop! The Hanshui Gang's First Boss's sister is Inspector Song's concubine! We are Inspector Song's people..."

Lu Chen couldn't help but laugh:

"Haven't you heard that heroes use martial arts to violate prohibitions? If I were afraid of officials, wouldn't all this martial arts training have been in vain?"

As he spoke, he casually thrust his sword, piercing Old Master Zhang through the heart.

Seeing that relying on official connections couldn't intimidate Lu Chen, Zhang Yong shouted again:

"My second brother, 'Black-Clothed Scholar' Shen Qingshi, is the nephew of Elder Peng of the Beggar Gang! Elder Peng is a Nine-Bag Elder of the Clean-Clothed Faction of the Beggar Gang, a position second only to the Beggar Gang Leader! Since you are a martial artist, do you dare not give face to the Beggar Gang, the number one gang in the world?"

Lu Chen sneered:

"If the Beggar Gang Leader knew about this, do you think he would clean house or stand up for you?"

As he spoke, the last Hanshui Gang member blocking the way between him and Zhang Yong was also killed with a single sword strike.

Zhang Yong, having no other option, hardened his heart, let out a sharp cry, took off the pair of Water-Parting Daggers from his waist, and sprang forward. Both daggers struck simultaneously, one attacking Lu Chen's chest and the other his lower abdomen.

This man's martial arts were barely decent; the ferocity and precision of his attack were comparable to Xue Wu's.

But with Lu Chen's swordplay today, this level of martial arts was no longer his match in a single exchange.

He casually deflected the Water-Parting Dagger aimed at his lower abdomen with a ding, and the sword body, using the force of the block, sprang upwards, deflecting the Water-Parting Dagger aimed at his chest.

Then, Lu Chen's entire forearm suddenly turned into an afterimage. The Steel Sword pierced out with a whoosh, as fast as a flash of light and shadow. With a thud, it deeply penetrated Zhang Yong's throat, the tip severing the cervical spine and emerging from the back of his neck.

Killing Zhang Yong with one sword strike, Lu Chen casually pulled out the long sword, sidestepped to avoid the spray of blood from his throat, and continued to kill the remaining Hanshui Gang members.

The remaining Hanshui Gang members, seeing that even their third boss had died under Lu Chen's sword in just one exchange, completely lost their will to fight. With a shout, they scattered and fled.

By the time Lu Chen killed the few Hanshui Gang members at the door, the twenty to thirty Hanshui Gang members who had been waiting outside had already dispersed like birds and beasts. The faster ones had already fled over a dozen zhang away.

Lu Chen was too lazy to chase these lackeys. He turned back into the inn and said to Huang Rong:

"We should eliminate evil completely. How about we go and kill the remaining bosses of the Hanshui Gang?"

"Okay!"

Huang Rong giggled, holding her Azure Adamantine Sword, and skipped lightly, avoiding the blood on the ground so as not to dirty her boots. She came to Lu Chen's side and then turned back to wave at Li Mochou:

"Sister Mochou, let's go together!"

Li Mochou looked at the corpses and blood everywhere, sniffing the pungent smell of blood. Her face was already a little pale, her heart was pounding non-stop, and she even felt a little nauseous.

Looking at Lu Chen, who had killed over a dozen people in one go but still had a calm and indifferent expression, she felt even more intimidated.

However, looking at Huang Rong, seeing that she was completely unfazed and chatting and laughing as usual, Li Mochou really didn't want to be looked down upon by this sister who was even younger than her. So, she forced down her nausea and put on a brave face:

"Alright! Let's go together and take down that Hanshui Gang that's been causing trouble and harming the people!"

Saying this, she put on her bamboo hat, slung her pack over her shoulder, carefully stepped around the corpses on the ground, and came over to Lu Chen and Huang Rong.

Huang Rong took out a few more banknotes and tossed them onto the counter, smiling at the innkeeper who was peeking out from the back door.

"Don't say we just kill and don't bury. Twenty strings of cash should be enough to collect the bodies and clean up. Anyway, you don't need to buy coffins, a simple straw mat for each person is enough. Don't worry, after we take down the Hanshui Gang, no one will come looking for trouble with you again. Oh, by the way, is the Hanshui Gang's main headquarters in town?"

The innkeeper said timidly:

"There's only a branch in town, usually overseen by Zhang Yong. The Hanshui Gang's main headquarters is about ten li upstream, in a riverside manor nestled against a mountain... Little Miss, you must, you must eliminate evil thoroughly, otherwise this little inn might be implicated..."

"Don't worry, we'll do what we say!"

Huang Rong giggled and nodded, then left the inn with Lu Chen and Li Mochou, heading towards the upstream direction of the Hanshui River.

When they first set off, Li Mochou was a little excited, feeling like she was doing something big. Taking down a wicked gang with just the three of them might even make them famous.

But after leaving the town, she gradually felt a bit apprehensive and said in a low voice:

"This Hanshui Gang... there are still two or three hundred people, right?"

Huang Rong nodded: "Yes!"

Li Mochou swallowed hard and said:

"Then there are only three of us, and we're just going to kill our way through openly like this. Is it a little... cough, I'm not scared, I just feel like it might be safer if we attacked in the middle of the night, around midnight?"

She entered the Ancient Tomb at the age of ten and stayed there for seven or eight years. Her night vision is extremely strong. Even seasoned experts might not have better vision than her at night, let alone ordinary gang members.

Therefore, she felt that if they attacked at night, with her night vision and Movement Technique, fighting two or three hundred people didn't seem impossible. But during the day, her advantage wasn't as obvious.

Or rather, their side's numbers were too small, a significant disadvantage.

"Sister Mochou, don't worry. Even if it's the official army, if they suffer two or three tenths or even one or two tenths casualties, they will immediately collapse, let alone this kind of Jianghu gang that only dares to harm ordinary people? As long as we kill the Hanshui Gang's bosses and the bravest of their skilled fighters, the remaining lackeys will scatter like birds and beasts. We don't need to have a bloody battle with two or three hundred people at all."

"Is, is that so?"

"Of course."

Huang Rong raised her hand and patted the Profound Iron Heavy Sword on Lu Chen's back, smiling:

"My Brother Lu Chen's sword, in the entire world today, not many people can withstand it. Even in a military formation, it's enough to break the formation and kill generals. With my Brother Lu Chen here, what is the Hanshui Gang to fear? Believe me, it's true!"

Lu Chen also smiled slightly at Li Mochou:

"Don't worry, my sword is very efficient at cutting people."

"...Hehe"

Li Mochou let out a dry laugh. She didn't know why, even though Lu Chen's smile was clean and gentle, when she thought of how calmly he had killed so many people just now, her scalp felt a little numb...

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