The Evil Wolf Attacks

The Evil Wolf Attacks

Finding a comfortable position on the bed, Lin Le closed his eyes and began to gather his thoughts.

The best way to gather one's thoughts was to visualize something. What Lin Le visualized was a sky full of dark clouds, black as ink.

Very soon, Lin Le's mind held nothing but those clouds that blanketed the heavens. The first step of soul cultivation—entering meditation—was complete.

Lin Le continued relaxing his body and mind. Suddenly, rumbling thunder sounded amid the clouds, once every second, like a beating heart.

No, that was a heartbeat!

A stray thought abruptly rose in Lin Le's mind, waking him from meditation.

His originally faint breathing became heavy. Lin Le pressed a hand to his chest and thought, My talent in the path of the Heavenly Gate is actually quite good. I entered meditation on my first try.

According to the Thunderfire Soul Refining Diagram, ordinary people could not enter meditation without several years of arduous cultivation.

Lin Le glanced at the sky. Seeing that it was still early, he continued cultivating the Thunderfire Soul Refining Diagram.

Meditation was divided into four minor realms: Initial Zen, Second Zen, Third Zen, and Fourth Zen. He only counted as being at Initial Zen now. Once thunder sounded and his mind remained unmoved, he would have entered Second Zen.

An hour passed before Lin Le finally ended his last meditation session. Mentally exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Lin Le stood beneath the sun, using the Tongbei Fist stance to circulate his blood and qi. Meanwhile, the yang qi absorbed into his body by his Yang Spiritual Root continuously fused with and was absorbed by his blood and qi.

There was no longer any need to visit the White Ape Martial Arts School. After all, there was nothing there that could teach him any further.

He trained like this for the entire day, then continued visualizing the Thunderfire Soul Refining Diagram at night.

Lin Le lived this way for three days. On the fourth day, he frowned and headed out to a residence.

"Senior Brother Hou left?" Lin Le looked at the man before him in surprise.

The man nodded. "He left three or four days ago. He was in quite a hurry, as though something urgent had come up."

"I see." Lin Le nodded and cupped his fists. "Many thanks."

"You're welcome." The man nodded.

Lin Le turned and left, his brows deeply furrowed. He had not expected Hou Guang to slip away. Was it because of Song Shanhai?

Well, that made sense. After hearing such a scandal, it was not too surprising that someone with his cautious nature would flee the county seat.

It did make things troublesome for Lin Le, though. He touched his flat coin pouch. He did not have much money left now.

Fortunately, he was already a martial artist who had cultivated blood and qi. Finding work would not be difficult.

But compared with working diligently for pay, Lin Le preferred another road: killing people and robbing them of their wealth!

And settling some accounts while he was at it!

Lin Le looked at the yamen in the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly. When Wang Hu had targeted him, it had been inseparable from the petty clerk who had handled his Travel Permit!

But compared to a gang like Wang Hu's, that petty clerk at least had the yamen at his back. Lin Le would need to act more carefully.

Lin Le returned home, only to see several burly men guarding his doorway.

Seeing him return, the men squatting on the ground rose and closed in around him.

"The Evil Wolf Gang?" Lin Le asked.

"First thing out of your mouth is that? Looks like Wang Hu's death really had something to do with you." A crew-cut man stepped out from behind them and looked calmly at Lin Le.

Lin Le chuckled. "So what? Do you dare kill me in the street?"

The crew-cut man nodded slightly. "You've got guts. I indeed wouldn't dare kill you in the street. But what if I reported you to the yamen for murder?"

Lin Le extended a hand. "Go ahead. The yamen is right there. Go report me."

The crew-cut man narrowed his eyes slightly, unable to tell whether Lin Le truly had confidence or was merely putting up a bluff.

Then he suddenly broke into a smile. "Little brother, I knew nothing at all about what Wang Hu did. Now, he tried to act improperly toward you and died by your hand. He got what he deserved. How about this? I'll give you fifty taels, and we'll let this matter pass. From now on, we'll keep to our own waters and never trespass into each other's river."

"Raise the price. How about sixty-six taels? It sounds more pleasing," Lin Le said, folding his arms across his chest.

The crew-cut man narrowed his eyes. After several breaths of silence, he nodded. "Fine. Someone, give this young hero sixty-six taels of silver."

One of the men handed Lin Le six silver notes and six small silver ingots. Lin Le accepted them right in front of the crew-cut man.

"Then our business is settled." Lin Le put away the money. "If there's nothing else, you can leave. I still need to take my noon nap."

"Fine." The crew-cut man left with his subordinates.

Watching the crew-cut man leave, Lin Le lowered his head and smiled, his smile brimming with icy killing intent.

He had known these underworld scum would not speak of harmony being precious.

Lin Le turned around and went to the blacksmith's shop. He spent ten taels on a fine long spear, then another ten taels on an inner armor vest, which he put on.

With what remained, Lin Le went to an apothecary and bought a ten-year blood ginseng worth thirty-six taels. He ate it mouthful by mouthful right inside the shop, so startling the apothecary's assistant that his eyes nearly popped out.

Finally, he left the city.

After he left the city, one of the two little tails following him immediately went to report the news.

Upon reaching a small grove, Lin Le sprang up a tree in one bound and sat quietly atop a thick branch, waiting.

After a while, around twenty or thirty people approached him. The one leading them was the crew-cut man from earlier.

"You came, Gang Leader Zhao." Lin Le swept his gaze over the thugs pressing toward him. "What does this mean? Didn't you say our matter had been settled?"

Zhao Lang, leader of the Evil Wolf Gang, narrowed his eyes at Lin Le. "Where are your helpers?"

Lin Le shrugged. "It's just me."

"Is that so?" Zhao Lang nodded faintly. Without another word, he waved his hand. "Kill him!"

"Yes!" The gang members roared in unison, brandishing cleavers and wooden clubs as they charged at Lin Le.

Seeing this, Lin Le let out a furious roar. "Ah!"

His voice was like thunder, seeming to echo through the woods. This was a technique of the White Ape Shoulder-Hunching Fist, one that struck first with sound and shattered the enemy's courage.

At that roar, all the gang members were startled, as though some demon ape that had gained sentience were roaring directly beside their ears.

Zhao Lang's pupils also contracted. The White Ape Martial Arts School's qi-shouting method—this kid had actually learned even that? A trace of wariness rose in his heart.

Whoosh!

The wind howled. One gang member had only just recovered from the startling shout when a spearhead rapidly expanded in his vision.

Psh!

The sharp spearhead pierced straight through the gang member's throat.

Lin Le yanked it free and swept it aside. Another gang member beside him, who had yet to react, also had his throat cut open by the spear tip.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and the air began to fill with the stench of blood.

That vicious scene made the gang members, who had only just recovered from the qi-shout, freeze once more.

But while they froze, Lin Le did not. Stepping with ape-like footwork, he continued charging into the gang members.

In only a few breaths, five or six gang members had already died.

There was a saying that ancient armies would collapse once their casualty rate exceeded ten percent. Though it was somewhat empty and exaggerated, it still held a measure of truth.

Applied to these gang members, who were nothing but thugs without faith or conviction, the deaths of two or three men would already be enough to make them afraid to advance. Now that four or five had died outright, they had completely lost the will to press forward.

But even if they had lost their nerve and no longer dared to kill Lin Le, Lin Le still intended to kill them. After all, his Spiritual Root still needed their contributions.

Before Lin Le could kill the next one, however, a great saber had already chopped down at him.

Zhao Lang had made his move. He could also see that if Lin Le were allowed to continue killing, the gang members would surely scatter and flee.

Lin Le swept his spear, blocking the great saber. Then, borrowing the recoil, he accelerated toward a gang member.

Psh! Another gang member had his throat pierced by Lin Le.

"You're courting death!" Zhao Lang roared in fury.