Ten Steps, One Kill; a Thousand Miles, No Trace Left Behind

To Su Haoran, a hundred-zhang cliff was nothing more than a matter of moments.

He silently climbed over the cliff. Before him stood a wooden house built against the mountainside, brilliantly lit and especially conspicuous among the dim wooden houses nearby.

One of the rooms was still lit, with bursts of alcohol fumes and slurred curses drifting out.

Su Haoran's ears twitched, and he caught the contents of the curses.

"...You little bastard... Don't let me run into you again..."

It was the black-clad man who had infiltrated the Scripture Repository that night—the Ghost Shadow Leopard Cat!

Killing intent flashed through Su Haoran's eyes as he silently slipped beneath the window of that wooden house.

Inside, Ghost Shadow Leopard Cat was drinking alone. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Last night's failure was a humiliation beyond all humiliation to him.

His drunken eyes blurred, and he seemed to see the figure he hated down to the bone appear before him.

"You little bastard... You dare show yourself again... Watch me... tear you..."

Before he could finish, an icy voice rang clearly beside his ear.

"You said... that the next time you saw me, you would kill me without fail?"

Ghost Shadow Leopard Cat jolted all over and abruptly looked up. A black figure had appeared before him at some unknown time, quietly watching him.

"A... a dream?" Ghost Shadow Leopard Cat shook his head. The liquor had gone to his head, and for a moment, he could not tell reality from illusion.

"No. I came to claim your life."

Su Haoran's voice was like ice from the Nine Netherworlds.

The instant his words fell, he moved!

Ghost Shadow Leopard Cat only saw a blur before his eyes as an irresistible, terrifying force arrived before him!

His prized movement technique had no time to unfold at all!

His eyes widened in terror. He wanted to call for help, but only managed to let out a short, strangled "Urk."

Crack!

Su Haoran's palm clamped around his throat like iron pincers and squeezed fiercely!

The Third Boss of Crimson Hair Stronghold, famed for his uncanny movement and vicious footwork, could not even throw a single move before being killed on the spot!

Su Haoran casually tossed the corpse to the floor, swiftly searched the room, and found a bundle filled with gold and silver, along with several sheets and booklets of paper. He unceremoniously tucked them into his clothes.

Just as he was about to leave, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Third Brother! Third Brother! Did something happen?"

Third Brother?

It was either Second Boss Liao Fan or the First Boss of Crimson Hair Stronghold!

Su Haoran's gaze turned cold. Not only did he not leave, he instead flashed behind the door to hide.

Creak—

Liao Fan pushed the door open, several trusted lackeys following behind him.

At a glance, he saw Ghost Shadow Leopard Cat lying on the ground with his throat bone shattered. His pupils suddenly contracted!

"Who?!" he roared sharply, as a chilling aura burst forth in an instant.

What answered him was a heavy fist whistling in from behind the door!

Liao Fan was, after all, an expert close to the Bone Forging Realm. His reaction was extremely fast, and at the critical moment, he crossed his arms before his chest and forcibly received the punch!

Bang!

With a dull boom, Liao Fan felt as though his arms had been struck head-on by a siege ram. Agonizing pain shot through him, and he was blasted back seven or eight steps before barely managing to steady himself!

He stared in horror at Su Haoran emerging from behind the door, his face full of disbelief!

"Who are you?! How could you possibly be here?!"

"I am... the one killing you!" Su Haoran answered succinctly.

"Kill him!" Liao Fan was both shocked and enraged. He could not understand how Su Haoran had infiltrated the place, but he knew this man absolutely could not be allowed to leave alive today!

Several lackeys charged forward with howls.

Su Haoran did not even spare them a glance. His body flickered, fists and feet striking together. Amid several dull cracks of breaking bones, terror appeared on the faces of those lackeys,

and in the blink of an eye, Su Haoran used the cramped terrain of the wooden house to slaughter them all!

"Good, good, good... Boy! You truly have some skill!" Liao Fan's expression grew grave. He glanced at the hundred-zhang cliff only a wall away from Su Haoran, took a deep breath, and his hands turned black as ink. "These Bone Corroding Hands of mine have crippled countless experts. Today, I'll use you to sacrifice to this technique!"

His body pounced like a ghost, both claws tearing through the air as they lunged straight for Su Haoran's chest!

Su Haoran sneered. Rather than dodging, he thrust out his chest and met the attack head-on!

At the same time, he struck out with one palm, as though he had not even seen those ink-black claws!

Iron Cloth Shirt, Perfection!

Screech!

Liao Fan's poisonous claws, capable of corroding gold and iron, struck Su Haoran's chest, yet only scraped out a shower of dazzling sparks and produced a teeth-grating sound of friction!

They did not even leave a single pale mark!

"What?!" Liao Fan was instantly scared out of his wits!

His proud claw technique could not break through the other man's defense?!

He wanted to retreat, but it was already too late!

Su Haoran grabbed his wrist. No matter how he struggled, it was as though an iron hoop had locked him in place, leaving him unable to move.

"Your hands are too soft."

Su Haoran looked at him and slowly raised his other fist.

"No—!"

For the first time, true fear appeared in Liao Fan's eyes.

Boom!

Arhat Fist came crashing down upon his head!

The Second Boss of Crimson Hair Stronghold, Liao Fan the "Shadow Hand," who had run rampant through the Qingyun Mountain Range for many years, died then and there!

"You brat! How dare you!"

Just then, an earthshaking roar came from the direction of the Brotherhood Hall. A violent, peerless aura swept over like a mountain flood!

First Boss Xiong Ba had finally arrived!

Su Haoran felt that powerful force far surpassing the Skin Tempering Realm. The pressure was immense, and he knew it belonged to an expert of the Bone Forging Realm.

He did not linger to fight. Seizing the spoils, he sprang through the window and unfolded the Soaring Dragon Startling Swan Art, racing toward the cliff from which he had come!

"Where do you think you're going!"

Xiong Ba's figure was as swift as a galloping horse. With a few leaps, he had already charged into the courtyard. Seeing the corpses of his two brothers on the ground, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He let out a beastlike roar and madly pursued Su Haoran in the direction he had fled!

However, Su Haoran's movement technique was simply too fast. He moved through the complex terrain like a fish in water, reaching the cliffside after only a few flickers.

He looked back at the burly figure ragingly chasing after him and sneered.

Then he leapt forward, vanishing into the vast night.

Ten steps, one kill; a thousand miles, no trace left behind.

When all was done, he brushed off his sleeves and left, hiding both body and name!

"Aah—!"

Xiong Ba chased to the cliff's edge. Staring into the bottomless darkness below, he tried to rush downward, but the cliff ultimately forced him back.

At a depth of a hundred zhang, even a Bone Forging Realm expert would be reduced to a puddle of flesh upon falling!

He could only let out a roar of helpless fury!