The night was thick as ink, and the watch drums of Black Stone County had just sounded three times.
In the rear courtyard of the Black Tiger Gang's main headquarters, beside an inconspicuous dry well.
This was the last escape route Zhao Hei Hu had reserved for himself. It led directly to a mass grave thirty li outside the city and was usually a secret passage for smuggling scarce goods. But tonight, this path to life had become a gate of death.
"Pfft."
The two Black Tiger Gang members guarding the well did not even have time to groan before bloody holes appeared in their throats. Two curved blades silently withdrew, their edges not even stained with much blood.
Several shadows climbed out of the well. They wore soft wolf-hide armor, their faces painted in red and black patterns. Their eyes gleamed green in the night, like a pack of starving wolves.
The leader was lean and wiry, with a string of bone ornaments hanging from his waist and a pair of Water-Splitting Daggers in his hands. He took a deep breath, his nostrils twitching as though he had caught the scent of an enemy in the air.
"Zhao Hei Hu..."
He spoke the name under his breath, his Great Liang speech stiff and thick with killing intent.
He was a commander of a thousand men in the White Wolf Tribe, as well as one of its warriors. His name was Agula. His mid-stage Bone Forging Realm cultivation had made his bones hard as iron, and faint crackling sounds accompanied his movements.
Just two hours earlier, he had seen the corpses of his tribesmen at an outpost outside the city. They were scouts who had been brutally tortured to death, Black Tiger Gang iron pellets embedded in their bodies, with that returned batch of Crimson Blood Ginseng thrown beside them.
This was humiliation.
A trampling of the White Wolf Tribe's noble bloodline.
"Kill our way in."
Agula made a gesture. "Cut off Zhao Hei Hu's head and bring it back to feed the wolves."
Inside the Hall of Brotherhood, the lamps blazed brightly.
Zhao Hei Hu sat cross-legged in a tiger-skin chair, his bare upper body drenched in sweat. His eyes were tightly shut, his brows knotted together. His hands formed seals before his chest as he tried to guide the blood and qi within his body.
"Damn it... Why can't I suppress it?"
The Tanzhong Acupoint in his chest felt as though it were being pierced by needles, while an inexplicable heat ran wild through his meridians.
In truth, it was merely a psychological effect, compounded by the trace of hidden force Ji Ye had left in his acupoint using his "Minute" technique. But in Zhao Hei Hu's mind, it was irrefutable proof that the Corpse Poison had flared up.
"Gang Leader! Something's wrong!"
The doors were slammed open, and a blood-covered lieutenant staggered inside. "Someone has killed their way in! They came through the secret passage in the rear courty—"
Before he could finish, a cold gleam pierced through his chest from behind.
It was a Water-Splitting Dagger.
The lieutenant's eyes widened as his body crumpled limply to the ground, revealing the savage face behind him, smeared with paint.
"Agula?"
Zhao Hei Hu's eyes snapped open as he recognized the newcomer. This was the White Wolf Tribe leader responsible for dealing with him. The two had often drunk together and divided spoils.
"Brother, what is the meaning of this?" Zhao Hei Hu suppressed the discomfort in his body and rose to his feet, a flash of shock and anger crossing his eyes. "How has this Zhao offended the White Wolf Tribe, for you to storm my headquarters at night and kill my brothers?"
"How have you offended us?"
Agula pulled out the Water-Splitting Dagger, bringing a string of blood droplets with it. He sneered. "Zhao Hei Hu, you swallowed the goods, killed my tribesmen, and even stuffed iron pellets into their mouths. And now you pretend to know nothing?"
"What goods did I swallow? What killing?" Zhao Hei Hu looked utterly bewildered. "Wasn't that batch of Crimson Blood Ginseng seized by the authorities..."
"Shut up!"
Agula did not listen to a single word of explanation. He pushed off with his feet, becoming like a hunting leopard as he crossed three zhang in an instant.
"Give me your life!"
The Water-Splitting Daggers shrieked through the air, striking directly at Zhao Hei Hu's eyes.
The attack was swift as lightning and contained the piercing power unique to the Bone Forging Realm.
Zhao Hei Hu was greatly alarmed. Though he was at the Peak Skin Tempering Realm, his defenses were severely diminished before a Bone Forging Realm opponent.
"You go too far!"
Zhao Hei Hu was no soft target either. With an angry roar, he crossed his hands and sent two iron pellets whistling forward.
Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew in all directions.
The iron pellets were knocked away and deeply embedded in the wooden pillar beside them. Zhao Hei Hu used the force to retreat, but his wrists had been jolted numb.
"Bone Forging Realm..."
Zhao Hei Hu's heart sank. Under normal circumstances, with his hardened body techniques and his men at his side, he might not have feared the other party. But he was now "poisoned by Corpse Poison" and did not dare circulate his power at full force. Thirty percent of his strength was gone.
"Brothers! Grab your weapons! Someone's smashing our place!"
Zhao Hei Hu roared, snatching up the Ghost Head Saber beside him and charging forward despite himself.
The surrounding Black Tiger Gang members were startled by this sudden upheaval, but this was their own nest. Hearing their gang leader's command, they drew their blades and surrounded the intruders.
A chaotic battle erupted.
The Hall of Brotherhood instantly became an asura battlefield.
Agula had brought only six men, but every one of them was an elite of the White Wolf Tribe, nimble and ruthless with curved blades. Though the Black Tiger Gang had greater numbers, they could not spread out in such a confined space and were instead beaten back step by step.
Agula in particular moved with his pair of Water-Splitting Daggers as though no one stood in his way.
"Pfft!"
A Red Stick of the Black Tiger Gang had just rushed forward when his throat was pierced.
"Zhao Hei Hu! Die!"
Stepping on a corpse, Agula pounced toward Zhao Hei Hu once more.
Zhao Hei Hu could only fend him off miserably. Every time he circulated his qi, a stabbing pain tore through his chest, slowing his movements by several degrees.
Riiip—
The Water-Splitting Dagger slashed across his chest, leaving a wound so deep that bone could be seen through the "iron skin" he had always been proud of.
Blood gushed forth.
"Ahhh!!"
Zhao Hei Hu screamed and staggered backward, crashing through the screen behind him.
It was over.
Despair filled Zhao Hei Hu's heart. Was he truly going to die at the hands of this barbarian today?
Just then.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The roof of the Hall of Brotherhood suddenly shattered, and tiles flew everywhere.
More than a dozen thick crossbow bolts descended from above, carrying terrifying momentum as they slammed viciously into the battle.
But this rain of arrows did not distinguish friend from foe.
Two bolts sent the barbarian warriors sprawling, while three nailed Black Tiger Gang members to death.
Another grazed past Agula's scalp, severing a strand of his braided hair.
"Who?!"
Agula was greatly startled and looked up.
At the breach in the roof stood a row of constables dressed in dark uniforms, holding Divine Arm Crossbows that made martial artists tremble at the mere mention of them.
In the middle, a young man in a blue robe crouched on a roof beam. He held a pear in his hand and took a bite, producing a crisp crunch.
"By Great Liang law, those who gather to fight shall receive eighty strokes."
Ji Ye swallowed the pear flesh and looked down at the two blood-smeared men below, a gentle smile curving his lips.
"Those who kill with weapons shall be executed immediately."
"Those who collude with the enemy and betray the nation shall have nine generations of their kin exterminated."
"You two have gathered quite the set of charges tonight."
When Zhao Hei Hu saw Ji Ye, it was as though he had seen a savior. He shouted, "Mr. Ji! Save me! This barbarian has gone mad!"
Agula's expression changed.
Divine Arm Crossbows!
These were standard equipment of Great Liang's border army. How could they be in the hands of county constables?
"Retreat!"
Agula was decisive. The mission had failed, the other side had laid an ambush, and continuing to fight would mean walking straight into death.
He feinted, forcing Zhao Hei Hu back, then turned and ran toward the secret passage in the rear courtyard.
"You've come all this way. Why the hurry?"
Ji Ye took a handful of melon seeds from his robes and scattered them casually.
"Wang Meng, seal the doors."
"Yes!"
Wang Meng, who had long been lying in ambush outside, gave a loud shout.
Boom!
The four great doors of the Hall of Brotherhood were smashed open at once by massive logs.
Several hundred fully armed Local Militia—actually the idle men of Black Stone County whom Ji Ye had just recruited, along with some constables—held torches and spears as they surrounded the entire hall so tightly that not even water could leak through.
The firelight illuminated Agula's savage face.
He looked at the spears pointed at him, then at the scholar on the roof beam wearing a mocking expression.
"Southerners... Cunning!"
Agula roared, a flash of resolve passing through his eyes.
Since he could not escape, he would drag someone down with him!
Instead of charging toward the doors, he spun around and pounced once more at the heavily wounded Zhao Hei Hu.
"Die!!"
For this attack, he burned all the blood and qi in his body. A layer of sinister red light glowed over the Water-Splitting Daggers.
Zhao Hei Hu was at the moment when his old strength had been exhausted and new strength had yet to arise. Seeing that fatal attack, his pupils contracted sharply. He could only let out a despairing howl.
"Ji Ye! You set me up!!!"
"Pfft!"
The Water-Splitting Dagger pierced Zhao Hei Hu's heart.
The tyrant who had dominated Black Stone County for ten years stiffened for a moment, then slowly crumpled, the light in his eyes swiftly fading away.
Until death, he believed he had lost because he had been "poisoned."
"Excellent skill."
From the roof beam, Ji Ye clapped and tossed aside the pear core in his hand.
"Gang Leader Zhao colluded with the enemy and betrayed his country, only to be silenced by the Barbarians. This script is perfect."
He stood and looked down at Agula, who was surrounded on all sides.
"As for you..."
Ji Ye took a Wild Goose Feather Saber from Wang Meng's hand, then lightly leaped down from the roof beam, landing without a sound.
"You have just the right bones for me to test my blade."
"Everyone, stand back."
Ji Ye flicked his saber in a flourish and walked toward the Barbarian expert of the Bone Forging Realm.
"This round, I'll handle personally."
Before you continue