Lu Zheng Was an Old Fox

"Fourth Brother, look back. Is anyone secretly tailing us?"

"..."

"No. Not a single shadow in sight, and no movement either."

"Good. Looks like that guy really didn't have any killing intent."

"Hehe, he's a greenhorn!"

"He's probably lived in peace for too long. He looked pretty decisive when he made his move, but he didn't dare kill anyone at all."

"Damn it, he looked like a pretty boy. He was so timid during the day—who would've thought he was actually an expert!"

"What rotten luck. The tendons in my hands and feet are all severed. Even if we ask Old You to help, I'll probably need to recover for a year and a half."

"Stop complaining. Luckily, he was a greenhorn and got bluffed by our words. Otherwise, he could've silently finished us off. I've still got corpse-dissolving powder on me."

Third Brother shuddered violently.

"First Brother, what do we do now?"

"Of course, we leave the city overnight."

"Good thing we sent the goods out ahead of time. Otherwise, carrying them, we couldn't have gotten over the wall."

At Lu Zheng's home, he calmed Uncle Li and Aunt Liu, who had come out to investigate after hearing the commotion, reassured them, and sent them back to rest. Then he returned to his bedroom and decisively crossed back into the modern world, changing into a black ERKE tracksuit and a pair of black Anta sneakers.

When he crossed back again, he drew a short blade with a backhand motion.

He had confiscated it when he broke Fourth Brother's wrist. This was precisely why.

Taking out a Qi Seeking Talisman, he formed hand seals. Very soon, a large mass of aura gathered, carrying traces of chill.

He folded the paper talisman and gripped it in his palm. Holding the blade in a reverse grip, Lu Zheng leaped straight out of the courtyard and sped away close to the walls.

By the time Lu Zheng caught up to within a short distance behind the four men, they had reached a blind spot along the county city wall.

Compared with the city walls modern people imagined from film and television—ten meters high and broad enough for horses to gallop across—

ordinary ancient county towns actually only had simple earthen walls. Five meters was already the limit, and they only needed to be wide enough for three people to walk abreast.

The Great Jing Dynasty was naturally no exception. Tonglin County was no great city or strategic stronghold; a few meters of earthen wall could not stop these four brothers.

First Brother and Second Brother supported the other two. They flung up a grappling hook, then scrambled up the wall in a few steps and flipped over it.

The area outside the city was relatively open, so Lu Zheng waited a moment before springing over. As he neared the wall, he suddenly accelerated, stepped onto the rampart in several strides, and swept over it.

After descending the wall, he saw several vague figures ahead just as they disappeared into the woods outside the city.

With a faint smile, Lu Zheng followed silently, guided by the Qi Seeking Talisman in his hand.

"We're here."

"Let's rest a little—ugh, it hurts!"

"Damn it, that pretty boy has to pay the price!"

"First Brother, aren't you brothers-in-law with the Second Hall Master? If we ask the Second Hall Master to act, wouldn't that pretty boy be caught as easily as reaching into a bag?"

"Damn it, are you stupid? Are you blind? Didn't you see how beautiful that woman was? If the Second Hall Master takes her for himself, will we have any good days left?"

"Uh, this..."

"Do we need the Second Hall Master to deal with some novice? Today, we just happened to face him head-on, so there were plenty of methods we didn't have time to use."

Second Brother said darkly, "After some time, I'll get some poison from Old You and send him on his way at night!"

"Hehe, exactly, exactly. We were fools too, only thinking about venting our anger."

"Once he's dead, we'll come again when we have the time. Hehe..."

"Hmph. Then we'll use the corpse-dissolving powder. There are more than ten people in those two households—I'll make every last one of them vanish without a trace!"

As Second Brother spoke, he took a small bottle from his robes and tossed it up and down in his hand, as though Lu Zheng had already been dealt with.

"Enough. Dig up the goods. After we walk a little farther, stay as close to the official road as possible. Watch out for poisonous insects in the woods, and don't let wildcats sneak up on you."

"After dawn, I'll rent a carriage at the post station and head to Li Family Town to settle down first."

First Brother and Second Brother got up and went to a large tree nearby. After fumbling around for a moment, they pushed aside the bushes beneath it and pulled two large bundles from a hollow in the tree.

"Let's go."

First Brother said it, and he and Second Brother each slung one bundle over one side, while supporting the man with severed leg tendons on the other side.

First Brother supported Fourth Brother in front, while Second Brother held up Third Brother behind them.

The next moment...

Whoosh!

A flash of blade light swept through the air, and Second Brother and Third Brother's heads shot skyward.

Hearing the wind behind him, First Brother instantly shoved Fourth Brother behind himself, then sprang toward the depths of the woods.

Lu Zheng forcibly suppressed the discomfort in his body and swung again with a forward grip.

Slash!

The patterned-steel Embroidered Spring Blade, empowered by Martial Blood Qi, was incomparably sharp. It severed Fourth Brother's outstretched arm outright, then continued without losing momentum, its edge skimming across his neck and cutting more than halfway through it.

Lu Zheng sidestepped the spurting blood, sprang forward, and darted into the woods.

In the woods at night, moonlight was blocked by the canopy. Though it was not yet so dark that one could not see their own hand before their face, one still could not see beyond seven paces.

First Brother had fled ahead of time. As he ran, he casually picked up stones and threw them in every direction.

After Lu Zheng finished Fourth Brother with one strike and sprang into the woods, the forest had already become utterly still and silent.

Lu Zheng smiled faintly as another Qi Seeking Talisman appeared in his hand.

Inside a tree hollow, First Brother crouched and hid, making his breathing as light as possible. He did not even dare look outside, afraid Lu Zheng might sense his gaze.

"Damn it, what greenhorn? We were fooled by that pretty boy. He's practically an old fox who's lived for decades!" First Brother cursed inwardly.

From beginning to end, they had fallen into Lu Zheng's calculations.

"He never intended to let us live. He simply didn't want to kill us in the city and stir up trouble with the authorities."

"Later, when we revealed our backing, it suited him perfectly. He made us think he was afraid, let us leave without worry, then quietly followed us so we wouldn't die in his home."

"The moment he acted, he crippled Third Brother and Fourth Brother's hands and feet, but left Second Brother and me untouched. That way, we could leave the city, yet had to support each other and become burdens to one another."

"He just didn't know about the corpse-dissolving powder. Otherwise, he would've probably killed us in the city."

"No, that's not right. He wouldn't have. Damn it, he even left that woman with the impression that he had a kind heart."

"Just you wait. Once I get back, I'll report this to the Hall Master and make your life worse than dea—"

Slash!

The long blade pierced directly through the tree trunk and stabbed right into his neck.

"Ghk... ghk..."

Slash!

The long blade withdrew. First Brother raised a hand to clutch his neck as his body crumpled to the ground, all the strength in him seeming to be drawn away by that blade.

The next moment, a pinch of powder was scattered into the tree hollow, landing directly in the blood flowing from First Brother's neck.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

A cloud of smoke spread out. In mere moments, First Brother vanished from this world...