Iron Rod

Chen Luo searched the room once more. Only after confirming nothing had been missed did he vault over the wall and jump out.

He definitely would not use the door.

In a place that had just gone through such upheaval, walking out through the main entrance was the easiest way to get ambushed.

After leaving his master Crippled Ma's home, Chen Luo turned toward West Street. He remembered Crippled Ma telling him that his junior sister apprentice, He Min, lived there. Unlike Chen Luo, He Min's family was involved with a gang, and her father was even one of its upper ranks. That was precisely why He Min had been able to learn martial arts from childhood and enter Crippled Ma's school.

After passing the mouth of the alley, the road clearly became broader.

The streets were much cleaner as well. The ramshackle thatched cottages and low tile-roofed houses had given way to luxurious private estates. The people living here were clearly Qingya County's distinguished class. He Min's father was a Sha Lake Gang higher-up, so his living conditions naturally could not be poor.

Logically, after the bandit soldiers entered the city, a wealthy district like this should have been among the hardest-hit areas. Yet strangely, it had suffered less damage than the poor district. There were signs of fire, but the houses had basically not collapsed, nor were corpses laid out before anyone's doors. Aside from every gate being tightly shut, it looked almost no different from before.

That sight gave Chen Luo a few suspicions.

It should be close.

After confirming his bearings, Chen Luo put more force into his feet and leaped to the corner in a single bound.

He Min's home was at the very end.

But the moment he rounded the corner, his figure abruptly stopped. Standing there, he glanced toward it.

Two groups were fighting at the He Family's main entrance. One was made up of Imperial Court soldiers sent to "suppress rebellion," while the other wore dockworkers' clothes and were clearly Sha Lake Gang experts. The two sides were locked in a fierce battle. More than a dozen people had fallen along the road, with casualties on both sides.

"Why are these two groups fighting?"

Chen Luo pondered, unsure for the moment whether he should go over. Based on his earlier guess, the people of West Street were very likely colluding with Qingya County's government soldiers.

"Black Tiger Digging Heart!"

Just as Chen Luo was about to observe further, an angry roar rang out, followed by an explosive boom like thunder bursting from a fist. Looking over, he saw Crippled Ma unleash the killing move of the Black Tiger Fist. With one punch, he became like a ferocious tiger. The explosive force of his fist crashed into the soldier closest to him.

There was a crisp crack, and the soldier's chest caved in on the spot as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The force of the punch sent him flying sideways. He smashed through seven or eight people before finally stopping.

That scene instantly drew everyone's attention.

After throwing that punch, heat steamed from Crippled Ma's entire body. The blood inside him was like lead and mercury, actually producing the sound of running water. This was because Crippled Ma had been crippled; if it had been before his legs were ruined, he could even have manifested Blood-Qi Wolf Smoke.

Now, this was the utmost he could manage.

"You've got some nerve!"

A captain in armor from the Imperial Court side grabbed his great saber and flashed toward Crippled Ma, slashing down at him.

His timing was exquisite. Crippled Ma had just exhausted his old strength, while his new strength had yet to arise. Seeing the blade cleaving toward him, he instinctively tried to dodge, but the killing move had consumed too much. His body could not keep up with his reaction, and he was about to be beheaded.

"Master Ma!"

The Sha Lake Gang experts fighting desperately in the crowd went pale at the sight. Other Sha Lake Gang members wanted to rush over and help, but the Imperial Court men gave them no chance, using every ounce of their strength to hold them back.

That sight filled everyone present with despair.

If an expert like Crippled Ma died, then every one of them here would be doomed. Not a single person would escape.

Clang!!

An iron rod swept across, arriving after yet striking first, and blocked the fatal slash.

When the great saber collided with the iron rod, the immense force numbed the Imperial Court expert's arms and split the web between his thumb and forefinger. Raising his hand, he saw that even his wrist had been injured, blood dripping down from it.

"Who?!"

The Imperial Court expert roared instinctively.

But before his voice had fully faded, the iron rod changed direction and whipped straight toward his face without a single word of nonsense.

"Courting death!!"

The Imperial Court expert flew into a rage. He had no time to see who had attacked him. In an instant, he gathered all the Internal Qi inside his body. His Mid-stage of the Second Realm Internal Qi converged upon his weapon, and with the added might of a heavy weapon, he hacked at the iron rod head-on.

That slash carried tremendous force. If an expert of the same realm encountered it, they would absolutely be defeated by his equipment advantage. This was also the most commonly used saber technique in the army.

Vicious and ruthless, a fight to the death!

Clang!!!

Another explosive crash rang out. The great saber was bent from the blow, sparks scattering everywhere. The expected sight of it being cut in two did not appear. Instead, the force from the iron rod transmitted through it.

Everyone heard a muffled sound, followed by the sound of bones shattering.

The Imperial Court expert's forehead burst like smashed tofu pudding, blood mixed with brain matter splattering everywhere. His body was swept away and slammed into the stone wall behind him, gouging out a great pit. His torso sank into it, while his legs twitched twice outside.

He was dead.

Hiss!!!

That brutal and vicious scene terrified everyone.

The armored expert was no insignificant lackey. Since the battle began, several Sha Lake Gang Hall Masters had died at his hands. Even Crippled Ma was no match for him in a direct confrontation. Yet such a fierce man had been beaten to death face-to-face with an iron rod.

The entire process had taken only a few blinks of an eye. It had been a complete crushing, like a father beating his son.

"Master Ma, are you all right?"

Chen Luo emerged from the nearby alley. He had come to save people in the first place, so naturally he could not watch Crippled Ma die before his eyes.

He had picked up the iron rod from a dead soldier earlier. Once infused with Internal Qi, it was not something an Imperial Court expert of the Internal Training Realm could cut apart.

"You reached Bone Forging?!"

Crippled Ma dropped onto the ground, staring at Chen Luo as he emerged from the alley mouth.

All the words filling his stomach finally became this one shocked question.

A Bone Forging expert!

"I only broke through yesterday." Chen Luo grinned.

As expected of the master who had imparted martial arts to him—his eye was sharp.

Hearing his confirmation, everyone nearby was stunned. The Imperial Court men in particular had already begun retreating.

A Bone Forging Realm expert was enough to rewrite the course of battle!

They had never imagined that a remote little place like Qingya County could produce an expert of this level. If you truly had such strength, why not make a name for yourself in the provincial capital? Compared to the Imperial Court's terror, the Sha Lake Gang members were overwhelmed with surprise and delight.

They had thought they were at the end of the road, only for willow trees and bright flowers to reveal another village.

With this man helping them, the Sha Lake Gang's calamity today was as good as over.

"Run!!"

No one knew who shouted it from within the crowd.

In an instant, the Imperial Court soldiers scattered like birds and beasts. They even threw away their weapons as they fled in all directions. This ragged formation was no different from marauders; they could only bully the old, weak, women, and children.

"I'll take care of it."

Chen Luo lifted the iron rod in his hand and flashed after them.

Since they had already started killing, naturally he would leave none alive.

These soldiers were no good people either. No one knew how many ordinary Qingya County civilians they had killed, and every one of their hands was stained with blood. There might even be people among them whom he knew, people like Auntie Wang. Thinking of those people's miserable fates, Chen Luo swung the iron rod in his hand even faster.