Kill!

Lu Jie, the casino steward, hurried along, wanting only to reach Yihong Courtesan House as quickly as possible.

He soon arrived at a narrow alley. Once he passed through it, he would be not far from Yihong Courtesan House.

Lu Jie patted the money in his robes, already beginning to imagine the delights of the night ahead.

The moonlight was bright, illuminating the road with perfect clarity.

Suddenly, Lu Jie felt the road beneath his feet darken abruptly as a black shadow appeared.

That shadow even seemed to grow larger and larger!

Lu Jie instinctively retreated, and a flash of saber light suddenly appeared before him, slashing straight down with terrifying speed!

The hair over his forehead was severed cleanly and drifted to the ground.

Cold sweat broke out all over Lu Jie's back.

If not for his wealth of experience and swift evasion, that long saber might have split the bridge of his nose!

Fang Chen said nothing. He swept his long saber upward in a bizarre motion.

Then he slashed viciously at Lu Jie!

Lu Jie drew the saber at his waist and smashed it against Fang Chen's long saber!

"Clang!"

The ear-piercing ring of clashing metal exploded through the alley!

Lu Jie felt a force far beyond his own surge through the blade. His arm shook violently, and his saber nearly flew from his hand!

He grunted and staggered backward from the impact.

"Damn it! How can he be so strong?"

What Lu Jie did not know was that Fang Chen had trained two Martial Arts techniques to minor mastery, allowing his body to receive two separate boosts to its strength.

So even though Fang Chen had only broken through recently, he was still far stronger than Lu Jie!

Fang Chen wasted no words, giving Lu Jie no chance to catch his breath!

His wrist twisted strangely, and the long saber slid down along Lu Jie's blade as though it were a living creature.

The tip stabbed like a venomous snake straight toward Lu Jie's lower abdomen!

The change in technique was viciously angled and its trajectory erratic, completely defying common sense!

Lu Jie's pupils shrank violently, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

He desperately twisted his body while knocking his saber downward to block.

"Slash—"

The saber tip scraped across the clothing at his waist, carrying away a strip of fabric and drawing a line of blood!

A searing pain spread through him.

Before Lu Jie could recover from the shock, Fang Chen's third slash had already arrived!

This time, it came from above, crashing down with a howling wind!

Its force was even heavier than the first slash!

Lu Jie hastily raised his saber to block it head-on.

"Clang—crack!"

A deafening boom was followed by an ear-piercing fracture!

Lu Jie's saber could not withstand the layered force and bizarre energy. It snapped in two!

The broken blade flew into the air, reflecting the cold moonlight.

Fang Chen secretly rejoiced.

Force acted upon both sides. Fortunately, Zhou Hai had helped him replace his weapon with a treasured saber; otherwise, his own saber would have broken too.

Lu Jie stumbled backward repeatedly. His clothes split open across his chest, leaving a bright red line of blood.

He cried out in alarm, "Why does this saber technique look so familiar? Was it you who killed Zhao San?!"

Fang Chen's heart tightened.

The other party and Zhao San were both active around Shiping Alley. Could it be that he was responsible for investigating Zhao San's death?

Then I definitely can't let him live!

Fang Chen stamped his foot and closed the distance in an instant!

The long saber borrowed momentum from his charge, its trajectory suddenly becoming impossible to predict.

As though carried by an invisible wind, it was no longer a straightforward thrust. Instead, it followed a bizarre arc that made one's scalp crawl.

The tip trembled lightly, giving off a faint yet piercing hiss as it tore through the air.

Like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue, it shot straight toward Lu Jie's throat!

The saber technique seemed slow, but its chaotic trajectory and treacherous angles made it impossible to predict!

Lu Jie instinctively tried to block with his broken saber, but he could not capture the drifting path of the blade tip at all!

He could only watch helplessly as that streak of cold light flashed strangely beneath the moonlight.

"Pfft!"

The saber tip pierced Lu Jie's throat with unerring precision!

A faint stream of air poured in along the blade, making a short, strange "hrrk" sound issue from his throat.

Blood gushed out along the blade!

Lu Jie's body shuddered violently. His eyes filled with overwhelming terror and disbelief.

He glared fixedly at Fang Chen as though he wanted to say something, but only blood foam spilled from the corners of his mouth.

The broken saber in his hand clattered to the ground, and his body went limp and crumpled after it.

The silver in his robes rolled out, stained a glaring crimson.

Fang Chen flicked his wrist and withdrew the long saber, bringing out a string of blood droplets.

Without thinking further, Fang Chen quickly searched his body.

He soon found two silver notes, one worth one hundred taels and the other three hundred taels.

There were also more than ten taels in loose silver.

"Damn, he was carrying this much silver on him alone. Who knows how many people he cheated?"

Fang Chen held an administrative post with the Three Rivers Gang and earned only twenty taels a month.

No matter how long he saved, it would have been impossible for him to possess as much as Lu Jie!

Lu Jie ran a casino. He had certainly embezzled quite a lot.

Fang Chen did not think about it any further.

He hid in the shadows and quickly departed.

The next day,

Lu Jie's corpse was discovered.

When the Green Robe Gang learned of it, they could not help feeling suspicious.

As for the murderer, the most likely culprit was someone from the Three Rivers Gang!

But the Three Rivers Gang had been fairly restrained recently, and the two gangs had temporarily ceased fighting.

The Three Rivers Gang should not have suddenly killed one of its stewards!

A steward was already considered an important position within a gang.

Above it were only hall masters and the gang leader.

So the Green Robe Gang did not brush the matter aside. They directly sent a hall master to find the real murderer.

But Lu Jie had run a casino and had clearly and secretly offended who knew how many people. For the moment, they truly had no leads.

That hall master, however, had no intention of giving up.

He instructed the gang members under him:

"Hmph, they truly don't have the Green Robe Gang in their eyes. They killed a steward just like that. Investigate this thoroughly. Do not be perfunctory!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The gang members answered respectfully.

Inside the martial arts school,

Zhou Hai said to Fang Chen with a lingering look of fear, "That Green Robe Gang fellow this morning must have gone mad. He went to Yihong Courtesan House asking all sorts of questions, saying they were looking for some murderer."

"I thought the Green Robe Gang and the Three Rivers Gang had already fallen out completely, and that their whole group was coming to kill me!"

"It scared me so badly that I jumped straight out of Miss Shishi's bed and fled through the window."

Fang Chen said with a smile, "Didn't you say yesterday that you were giving up women?"

Zhou Hai coughed twice.

"Well... one must balance work and pleasure. How about I take senior brother to Yihong Courtesan House another day? Maybe you'll become so engrossed that you won't want to leave either!"

Fang Chen shook his head and pretended not to care as he asked, "Who is leading the investigation into the murderer? Is he very strong?"

Zhou Hai thought for a moment before replying, "It seems to be a hall master in the Green Robe Gang named Shen Tian."

"He was only promoted recently. He's rather protective of his own people, so he probably won't let Lu Jie's death go."

"As for his strength, he only entered the Sinew and Bone Realm recently. He was promoted immediately after breaking through."

Fang Chen nodded and said with a smile, "You should visit Yihong Courtesan House less often from now on. If Shen Tian really runs into you, he might actually kill you."

Hearing this, Zhou Hai felt a pang of guilt and nodded.

"Senior brother is right. I'd better focus on practicing martial arts."

Fang Chen kept talking on the surface, but his mind was constantly turning things over.

They shouldn't be able to trace this back to me for the time being.

No matter what, I have to break through to the Sinew and Bone Realm as soon as possible. Then I'll strike first and kill Shen Tian too!

Otherwise, both my family and I will be in danger!