Wu Heng stared blankly at the masked man only inches away, his vision swimming.
This was not the first time they had met.
But from beginning to end, Wu Heng had never taken Su Mu seriously. Or rather, he had never taken anyone from the Li Family Blacksmith Shop seriously. The weak were meant to be ants.
In his final moments, Wu Heng remembered their first meeting, which traced back to Sun Li's death.
Wu Heng's eyes widened. He stared at the masked man in disbelief as the boy who had helped Zhou Shan to his feet in his memory merged completely with the figure before him.
"So it was you... You're Su..."
Wu Heng came to his senses and blurted out a name, but before he could finish, the long saber plunged into his heart twisted sharply. A burst of force followed, churning his organs to pieces as blood poured from his mouth and nose.
The Black Tiger Gang's second-in-command lowered his eyes to the saber embedded in his heart. His face was etched with deep regret and unwillingness.
Who could have imagined that he, Wu Heng, would die at the hands of a young punk from a blacksmith shop? He had never dreamed that such a small shop could hide someone so well.
A youth in the Bone Forging Realm!
Shhk!
The youth's wrist snapped back, yanking out the saber. Blood sprayed five paces, and Wu Heng's corpse pitched forward with a crash, as if kneeling at the youth's feet. After killing Wu Heng, Su Mu turned to look at the two remaining Black Tiger Gang members.
Every Black Tiger Gang member here had to die tonight.
"Hall Master Wu... is dead just like that?"
The two gang members were utterly shaken. They had watched Wu Heng die with their own eyes. What fighting spirit could they possibly have left? When they finally emerged from their unprecedented terror, only one thought remained.
"Run... Run!"
One of them cried out, but a muffled groan followed the very next instant. Su Mu took a single step, covering several yards, then swung his saber.
A flash of blood.
The Black Tiger Gang member didn't even have time to scream. His body spasmed, then toppled into a pool of blood.
"Ah!"
The last man on the scene let out a wild, terrified shriek and turned to flee. Su Mu caught up with Startled Sparrow Steps and brought his saber down. A head went flying.
With that, every Black Tiger Gang member in Wu Heng's residence, Wu Heng included, had been wiped out. Su Mu casually wiped the blood from his blade on a corpse, then clink—slid the saber into its sheath.
"Search the place quickly, then leave."
Su Mu swiftly searched the four corpses. His brow furrowed when he found only twenty or thirty taels in loose silver. He strode into the study.
Hmm?
Su Mu's nose twitched. With his keen senses, he caught the sweet scent of medicinal herbs as soon as he entered the study. Following the fragrance, he soon found an open sandalwood box in a cabinet. Inside lay a box of ointment and several small porcelain bottles.
"I'll take these first."
Anything Wu Heng kept in a cabinet was bound to be valuable. Su Mu tucked the sandalwood box into his robe, then found a few more good things in the study's other cabinets.
A small stack of Silver Notes in varying denominations, totaling around two hundred taels, and a martial arts manual with dog-eared pages.
"Gale Fist?"
Su Mu's eyes lit up. This was most likely the very technique Wu Heng had used earlier. In their fight, Wu Heng's punches had given Su Mu some trouble. It was a fine technique.
Su Mu searched the rest of the place, but couldn't find the Thirty Refinements Long Saber. He didn't dwell on it. If he could forge one Thirty Refinements Weapon, he could forge another.
Besides, just as the shopkeeper, Li Tie, had thought, Thirty Refinements was not the limit of Su Mu's forging skill. He had simply been constrained by the materials available.
"Time to go."
Su Mu gave the four corpses one last glance, making sure none of them still drew breath, then strode away.
Late that night, the authorities of Qingshui Town finally arrived. A crowd of constables carrying torches entered Wu Heng's residence. Following the stench of blood to the inner courtyard, one of them paled.
"Wu Heng... is dead?"
The head constable was startled. He hurried over to examine the body, and his heart sank even further.
"Wu Heng died from a sharp weapon through the chest. Judging by the wound, it was a long saber. His organs were shattered... His right arm was broken, and the wrist of his left arm was crushed..."
The head constable's expression was grave, but there was also a trace of doubt. Whoever had broken into Wu Heng's residence that night had faced Wu Heng and several Black Tiger Gang elites, yet had handled them with ease. First, he had broken both of Wu Heng's arms; only then had he killed him with a long saber.
With the looks of terror on the Black Tiger Gang elites' faces, the head constable could already picture Wu Heng and the others being slaughtered.
The culprit who struck that night was far stronger than Wu Heng!
Even the head constable was shaken by this conclusion.
Wu Heng was the Black Tiger Gang's second-in-command, a famous figure in Qingshui Town. What kind of strength would it take to torture a Hidden Force Martial Artist to death?
"An Eighth Rank Bone Forging Martial Artist... Was it Zhao Xuan, or someone they'd provoked who shouldn't have been provoked?"
That night, word soon reached Zhao Xuan, leader of the Black Tiger Gang. One of his men recounted everything he had heard.
"They say there was a tiger's roar at the time..."
At the mention of the tiger's roar, Zhao Xuan's expression changed dramatically. "Wait. You said someone heard a tiger's roar?"
"Yes, Chief."
Zhao Xuan's expression shifted repeatedly. At last, he dismissed his subordinate. "I understand. You may leave."
The candlelight flickered in the room, illuminating Zhao Xuan's shifting expression. More than twenty years ago, Zhao Xuan and Wu Heng had been expelled from the Clear Wind Gang after joining forces to kill a monk from Vajra Temple. They had then come to Qingshui Town, changed their names, and founded the Black Tiger Gang.
Thanks to their ties to the Clear Wind Gang, the two had secretly connected with a certain big shot in Qingyun County. Within just a few years, they had become the largest gang ruling Qingshui Town.
Over the years, Zhao Xuan had used the money he extorted and seized by force to rise to the Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm. But more than half a year ago, the Tiger Subduing Fist manual had mysteriously vanished from his residence, and the suspected traitor behind the theft was still nowhere to be found.
"Was it someone from Vajra Temple?"
"No, if it really were someone from Vajra Temple... With those bald donkeys' vengeful nature, they would have come for me tonight too..."
"Who exactly killed Wu Heng?"
Zhao Xuan did not sleep a wink that night.
The rooster crowed, and the world turned white. The next morning, a youth in a bamboo hat and straw rain cape walked through the rain-slick streets.
"Have you heard? Wu Heng from the Black Tiger Gang was killed last night."
"He was really killed? That's wonderful news! I wonder which wandering hero upheld justice!"
"They say a tiger roared in Wu Heng's residence last night. Half of Qingshui Town heard it. It shook the heavens and earth... Could it be that Wu Heng did so much evil that the Mountain Lord manifested and killed him?"
The area around Qingyun County was full of towering mountains, and old legends of the Mountain Lord had been passed down among the people.
Su Mu walked along, his hands and feet cold and his face slightly pale. His Gu Poison had flared up in the rainy weather, though for now he had managed to suppress it with his force and blood qi. All around him, people were chattering wildly.
The Black Tiger Gang had long done evil and thrown its weight around in the Qingshui Town area. The people had nursed grievances for years, so everyone cheered Wu Heng's death. Some even embellished the story, and the talk of the Mountain Lord revealing himself left Su Mu wearing a strange expression.
A rumor repeated three times becomes the truth. If Su Mu hadn't been the only one who knew what had really happened last night, he might have believed it too.
Before Su Mu even reached the blacksmith shop, he could hear Zhou Shan and the other masters enthusiastically discussing the news from nearly half a mile away. When Li Xiaohu saw Su Mu arrive, he animatedly retold the hearsay about the "Mountain Lord revealing himself" right to Su Mu's face.
"Good! The Mountain Lord should have manifested long ago to rid the people of evil!"
As Su Mu listened, his brow suddenly furrowed. A steady, purposeful set of footsteps was approaching the shop.
Sure enough, a blacksmith hurried into the back courtyard, looking alarmed. He swallowed and interrupted everyone's conversation in a trembling voice.
"Something's wrong! Zhao Xuan, the Black Tiger Gang's leader, is here... He's outside asking to see our shopkeeper."
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