That's It, Then-we Fight!

While Yuan Zhen looked around, Li Xian was secretly sizing him up as well.

This old monk wasn't on the Cao Gang's bounty list.

But if Li Xian made a move against him, he was sure to reap an unexpected reward.

As someone of the same generation as the Abbot of White Dragon Temple, Yuan Zhen must know plenty of White Dragon Temple's martial arts Secret Manuals. Once Li Xian got his hands on him and tortured him, he could surely wring a great deal out of the monk.

The sinister and ruthless Yuan Zhen had no idea that an incomparably terrifying beast had already fixed its eyes on him.

Three days later, in Yangzhou City, at the Eight Immortals Restaurant.

A Cao Gang disciple who had come there for a meal was surrounded by several members of the Prefectural Army.

One of them glared at him ferociously. "You ate two bowls of noodles, yet you only want to pay for one?"

The Cao Gang disciple felt he'd been wronged. He said indignantly, "That's nonsense! Which of your eyes saw me eat two bowls?"

The soldier sneered. "You're the only one at this table, but there are two bowls on it. If you didn't eat them, who did?"

The Cao Gang disciple shouted, "The previous customer left them behind. The waiter hasn't had a chance to clear them yet."

The restaurant's waiter heard this and was just about to speak up, but another soldier glared at him. He immediately shrank back.

Seeing what was happening, the other customers realized something was wrong. They hurriedly got up, paid their bills, and left this place of trouble.

"Hey, don't go! You can be my witness. I really only ate one bowl!"

The Cao Gang disciple saw them leaving and immediately grabbed one man.

"It's got nothing to do with me! I didn't see anything!"

The passerby wouldn't dare get involved in something like this. He waved his hands repeatedly, broke free of the disciple's grasp, and ran off in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, the restaurant was completely empty. Even the owner and the waiter were hiding in a corner, afraid to come out.

Looking at the deserted restaurant, the Cao Gang disciple began to panic. The soldiers kept approaching with cold sneers, and he backed away in alarm.

"Don't you dare do anything! I'm with the Cao Gang!"

The soldiers sneered one after another.

"Heh..."

"So what if you're with the Cao Gang? You're exactly the ones we're after!"

"Get him!"

The soldiers swarmed him. Outnumbered, the Cao Gang disciple was tied up before he could last more than a few rounds.

"Just you wait! The Cao Gang won't let you get away with this!"

The disciple still struggled to the bitter end.

"Hahaha..."

The soldiers burst into laughter.

"It's not even certain the Cao Gang will still exist in Yangzhou City much longer."

"You're on death's doorstep and you don't even know it."

"The Cao Gang's days are numbered!"

The soldier dragged the disciple away, leaving him with a look of utter despair.

In the days that followed, more and more Cao Gang disciples were arrested and thrown in jail on all sorts of pretexts.

Some hot-tempered disciples tried to fight back, but the soldiers immediately swarmed them and cut them down on the spot.

This fanned the Cao Gang's fury. To avenge the disciple, his manager gathered his men and took to the streets, meeting the Prefectural Army head-on.

Unfortunately, the men were ambushed by White Dragon Temple experts and an archery squad, who slaughtered them to the last.

That day, the streets of Yangzhou City ran red with blood!

Thus began the conflict between the Cao Gang, the Prefectural Army, and White Dragon Temple.

To get their revenge, the Cao Gang summoned everyone at Hall Master rank or above to an emergency meeting.

Li Xian was among them.

Inside the Dragon Ship, Li Xian sat in an inconspicuous corner, watching everyone argue until their faces flushed red.

"This is too much! When has the Cao Gang ever put up with such humiliation? Let's summon every brother we have and fight them to the death!"

"That won't do. Yangzhou City is our home. Many of our brothers have families, with elderly parents and young children to care for. If they all die, who'll look after their widows and orphans?"

"Then what do you suggest?!"

"In my opinion, we should gather our experts and carry out a decapitation plan."

"Decapitation? Whose head are we taking?"

"Whoever's been making the biggest fuss and killing the most of our brothers!"

"Yuan Zhen of White Dragon Temple and the commander of the Prefectural Army have killed the most of our brothers."

"Then we start with them."

"But that bald monk Yuan Zhen from White Dragon Temple is very skilled."

"Then we kill the Prefectural Army first."

"Chen Zhongwu has plenty of experts around him. Killing him won't be easy."

"Idiot. Why not target someone weaker? Even when picking persimmons, you go for the soft ones."

"Oh. So which is the soft persimmon, the Prefectural Army or the monks of White Dragon Temple?"

"Hmph. We can't kill Chen Zhongwu or that old bald monk Yuan Zhen, but surely we can handle their underlings?"

"So who exactly are we targeting?"

Just then, acting Gang Leader Liang Haisheng pulled a sheet of paper from his robe.

"I have a list here. You can choose from it."

It turned out he'd come prepared. No wonder he'd called everyone to a meeting.

"Gang Leader Liang, do we really have to go this far? The Prefectural Army is no small matter. Fighting them would be like throwing an egg against a rock!"

One Hall Master spoke anxiously.

"The Prefectural Army wants to kill us, and now the monks of White Dragon Temple are joining in. Then we fight!"

Liang Haisheng said, "Everyone, I hope you understand: don't cling to false hopes anymore. This is a war. They mean to wipe us out completely. We have to fight for even the slimmest chance of survival. If we don't, we'll die without even a place to bury our bones!"

Li Xian nodded to himself.

Liang Haisheng didn't seem like a fool. He had a sharp eye.

That was that.

That night.

Two battalion commanders of the Prefectural Army in Yangzhou City were ambushed on their way home after drinking with their colleagues.

Their bodies were left on the busiest street in Yangzhou City. Eight characters had been written on them in blood:

"An eye for an eye, blood for blood!"

That wasn't all. A monk from White Dragon Temple had also been assassinated the previous night.

The monk's death had been gruesome.

His clothes had been stripped off, and he'd been hanged naked from the rafters of a brothel.

When Yuan Zhen arrived and saw the monk's body, he nearly fainted.

It hurt too much!

It would have been one thing if some other monk had died, but the dead man was his own son.

That's right.

The monk hanged in the brothel was the illegitimate son Yuan Zhen had secretly fathered during his wild youth. He had brought the boy back to White Dragon Temple and raised him there.

A white-haired father burying his son.

Who could understand that pain?

With bloodshot eyes, Yuan Zhen went before Chen Zhongwu and shouted himself hoarse.

"Lord Chen, please issue an order at once and send the entire Prefectural Army to wipe out the Cao Gang!"

Chen Zhongwu's face darkened. "Master Yuan Zhen, I've lost two brothers as well, so I understand how you feel. But it's not time for an all-out war yet."

Understand my ass! Let's see how you feel when you lose a son.

Yuan Zhen roared inwardly.