The darkness before dawn.
Before daybreak, a ship docked at the southern pier of Gushan Market. Many black-clad men silently infiltrated the Shen Family Chamber of Commerce and slaughtered everyone inside. No outsiders were alerted, nor was any great fire raised. They moved soundlessly, like ghosts.
In the accounting room, two black-clad men pried open the door and entered, spotting the corpse on the floor.
"Damn...! Find the ledgers, quickly!"
They no longer cared about concealing their tracks and hurriedly rummaged through everything. Papers flew everywhere, scattering across the floor. Drenched in sweat, they found the Maohe Chamber of Commerce ledger and rapidly flipped through it. They hoped whoever had infiltrated the Shen Family Chamber of Commerce had come for some other reason—revenge or money, anything, so long as it was not for that one matter. Yet what they feared came true. When one black-clad man found the ledger from the year before last and turned to a certain page, he discovered it had been torn out. Furious, he smashed the table with a blow!
"Someone beat us to it! Damn it! That fat man from the Maohe Chamber of Commerce must not have been killed...!"
Just then, another black-clad man entered from outside.
"My lord, the Maohe Chamber of Commerce has been dealt with cleanly."
The leading black-clad man beat his chest and stamped his feet. This made it even harder to trace who had arrived first and torn away the record. He regretted acting too swiftly and decisively. Now, all they could do was hope the other party had not yet left Gushan Market.
The black-clad men who had failed their mission hurried outside the main gate and reported the situation to a white-haired young man.
"That person must still be in Gushan Market! Search!"
The earlier black-clad