Terror

"Clang!"

Behind Li ChunJun, the sword in First Disciple Zhang Li's hand fell to the ground with a soft clink.

The instinct to survive made him, like almost anyone whose throat had been pierced, desperately clutch both hands over the hole in his neck, as if he could stop the severed artery from gushing blood.

The terrifying scene made the Fourth Disciple's heart surge with uncontrollable fear.

If his terrified look moments ago, lying on the ground after being shot and apparently unable to fight back, had been an act—and if he hadn't crawled away because he wanted to draw Li ChunJun's attention and give First Disciple Zhang Li a chance to deliver the finishing blow—

then the terror in his eyes now was utterly genuine.

His fear flooded across his face like a raging river.

"No! No! Don't!"

He cried out in terror, his body wriggling involuntarily as he retreated. In that moment, he even forgot that his legs were uninjured and he could get up and run.

Li ChunJun strode forward without the slightest pause and finished him off with one sword stroke.

He spared him the agony of moving violently despite his gunshot wound.

Once he had made sure the man was lying "quietly," Li ChunJun followed the smell of blood and continued toward the inner hall.

Whether he killed Zhang Li or the Fourth Disciple, the whole thing took only seconds.

The Second Disciple hadn't gotten far, but he had summoned several junior disciples from the courtyard.

Compared to the few of them who had Internal Strengthening, these junior disciples and sisters were, at best, at the level of External Refinement.

Some of them weren't even as skilled as Li ChunJun, a newcomer who had been training for just one week.

The tearing sound of a sharp sword piercing flesh.

The cries of fear and panic.

The screams of the dying.

The desperate sounds of people fleeing as their minds broke...

Every sound rang in his ears, and soon echoed throughout Sword Tasting Hall.

The various sounds continued for a few minutes. The once-bustling Sword Tasting Hall soon fell silent.

"Killed a level 6 creature, experience +59!"

"Кilled a level 5 creature, experience +23!"

"Кilled a level 5 creature, experience +22!"

"Кilled a level 3 creature, experience +2!"

"Кilled a level 2 creature, experience +1!"

Life Level: 9 (149/900)

Li ChunJun turned back and emerged from the inner courtyard of Sword Tasting Hall.

He hadn't had time to shower in those few minutes, but he had changed his clothes.

His old clothes were soaked in blood. Going out in them would scare people.

He'd changed the sword in his hand, too.

The sharp sword he had been using was worth a million, but after one battle after another, it was no longer as keen and cold as before.

When he entered the inner courtyard, he happened to see a sharp sword on a weapon rack. It was of even better quality than the one in his hand, so he took it as "compensation for damage to his equipment."

He had killed people, taken revenge, and sought the simple justice he believed in, but he wasn't a bandit.

He didn't loot the place or set it on fire.

Taking only the sword and some cash he could use like tissues to wipe the blood off himself, he walked out of Sword Tasting Hall empty-handed.

And...

He closed the door behind him.

Then locked it from the outside.

Several people had died outside Sword Tasting Hall, drawing a crowd of onlookers.

But most passersby hurried away as soon as they saw the bodies.

Better to avoid trouble.

Some might not even bother calling the police.

If they did, wouldn't the Garrison Department drag them in for statements? What a hassle.

And they might even get shaken down by the victims' families—or the Garrison Department.

So those people...

They were dead, and that was that.

Li ChunJun walked to the road not far from the entrance to Sword Tasting Hall, acting as if nothing had happened.

He glanced at the several luxury cars parked outside.

He didn't have a driver's license and couldn't drive.

Otherwise, driving would probably have been easier.

He would have reached the Jin Family sooner, too.

But...

It was the tail end of the morning rush. Getting stuck in traffic would be a nuisance.

Just then, he spotted a motorcycle taxi passing by and waved it down.

The motorcycle stopped. They agreed on a fare, and soon it was heading toward Hengguang Garden.

The motorcycle driver was quite talkative.

He asked curiously, "There seemed to be a crowd gathered over there just now. What happened?"

"Someone died."

Li ChunJun answered truthfully.

"Someone died?"

The driver sounded surprised, but quickly spoke with the air of someone who'd seen it all. "Sword Tasting Hall has grown powerful over the years. No one dares mess with them now. More than ten years ago, though, people were said to die there every few days."

"Guangzhou City's top martial arts force didn't earn that title through a vote. They must have fought their way to it," Li ChunJun said.

"Isn't that the truth? Sword Tasting Hall might look like just a martial arts force, but its business interests are extensive. They get involved in anything to do with construction, demolition, or real estate."

As he spoke, the motorcycle driver seemed to remember something. "Six months ago, a company called Runhe Real Estate handled the demolition of the ancestral hall in Chen Family Village. Several elderly people lay down inside the hall, and then they just disappeared. No one saw them alive, and no bodies turned up. The man running that company was a disciple of Sword Tasting Hall."

Li ChunJun murmured, "Mm," and didn't ask why they hadn't called the police.

"A few years ago, an out-of-town businessman came to Guangzhou City to invest in an industrial park. But Sword Tasting Hall had its eye on the land, so they joined forces with the Garrison Department, the Public Security Department, and the local authorities to carry out a joint operation. They sent out hundreds of people and uprooted the whole industrial park. And now? It's a private estate. Tsk, tsk..."

The motorcycle driver was clearly a local. He knew all the details of these stories.

Li ChunJun listened quietly.

A month ago, he had been on campus.

The things he usually cared about were whose grades were good, who had come first, and what prizes they had won.

At most, he'd also wonder which girl in class was pretty, whether his favorite star had a new release, or whether the games he liked had been updated.

The adult world had seemed so far away.

Now...

He was an adult.

"You've said a lot of bad things about Sword Tasting Hall, sir. Aren't you afraid I might be one of their people?" Li ChunJun asked.

"Hahaha."

The question made the motorcycle driver laugh. "Sword Tasting Hall has grown to what it is today. I'm not just talking about the important people in it—even its members are all prominent figures in Guangzhou City. They all have their own cars. Why would any of them ride my motorcycle?"

"Maybe someone wants to feel what it's like to take a motorcycle out for a spin," Li ChunJun said.

"How could that be? Those powerful people are always trying to build up class barriers and keep people like us at the bottom of society out. They eat different food and drink different water from us. If they want to go for a ride, they're not going to take our motorcycles, are they?" The driver joked with a grin.

Li ChunJun nodded.

Sword Tasting Hall wasn't far from the Jin Family—only three or four kilometers.

As they neared Hengguang Garden, traffic was clearly getting jammed.

The motorcycle driver seemed to know what was going on. "I heard a relative of some big shot in this villa compound passed away. They're holding a funeral today, and there are too many guests. Apparently, they'll close the roads once the procession sets off..."

Li ChunJun understood. "It's Madam Jin Guangming of the Jin Family. Her son died."

"Ah? What... How did he die?" The driver sounded astonished.

"He was murdered."

Li ChunJun looked at the vehicles filling the road and the entrance to Hengguang Garden, now less than two hundred meters away. "This is far enough."

"Sure thing."

Li ChunJun got off, paid the fare, and continued on foot toward Hengguang Garden.

Repeated small amounts of experience aren't listed one by one.