After the knock—three short, then two long—Lu Chen opened the door. Standing outside was none other than Chen Wanli, the leader of the Black Water Gang.
The warlord who usually called the winds and summoned the rain in Nujiang County showed not a trace of his usual domineering air. Instead, his face bore an unmistakable weariness and gravity. He wore plain clothes and had brought no attendants, simply standing quietly at the door and watching Lu Chen with a complicated look.
"Help Leader."
Lu Chen stepped aside and made a calm gesture inviting him in, as though he had expected Chen Wanli's late-night visit.
Chen Wanli nodded and walked into the small courtyard. His gaze swept over the old locust tree swaying faintly in the night breeze at the corner of the yard, then shifted to Lu Chen's room, where a dim light glowed. He let out a soft sigh.
"Lu Chen, your courtyard is certainly peaceful."
"Peaceful is good. It's suitable for practicing martial arts." Lu Chen closed the courtyard gate and poured Chen Wanli a cup of cold tea. "Help Leader, you came alone in the middle of the night. I doubt you came to praise how peaceful my courtyard is?"
Chen Wanli took the cup but didn't drink. He merely held it, feeling the chill through its walls. He fell silent for a moment, seeming to weigh his words.
"Lu Chen, you're a smart man. You should know what's happening outside."
Chen Wanli raised his head and looked straight at Lu Chen. "The Ye Family's Wanted Notices have been plastered in every corner of Canglan Prefecture. A hundred thousand taels of silver, plus the status of a Ye Family Guest Elder... That price is enough to turn brothers against each other and fathers and sons into enemies."
Lu Chen sat opposite him, gently rubbing the hilt of his Hundred Refinements Steel Saber. A faintly mocking smile tugged at his lips. "So, Help Leader, did you come to take my head?"
"If I wanted your head, I wouldn't have come alone."
Chen Wanli shook his head with a bitter smile. "Lu Chen, I, Chen Wanli, may not be a good man, but I wouldn't sell out a friend for glory. I was the one who raised you up. You helped the Black Water Gang wipe out the Red Fish Gang, and you killed the Water Ghost King, bringing peace to Nujiang County. I remember that merit, and so do the brothers of the Black Water Gang."
At that, Chen Wanli's voice suddenly dropped, laced with deep helplessness. "But having a good memory isn't always a good thing."
"This afternoon, the Li Family sent someone to deliver a message."
"The Li Family?" Lu Chen raised an eyebrow.
"The Li Family of Canglan Prefecture, a behemoth on par with the Ye Family." Chen Wanli drew a deep breath. "They haven't issued a Wanted Notice themselves, but their meaning is clear. If the Black Water Gang hands you over—or even just gives them your whereabouts and helps them capture you—the Li Family is willing to protect the Black Water Gang. They might even make us their representative in Nujiang County."
Lu Chen's expression didn't change in the slightest. He merely asked, "What do the brothers in the gang say?"
"What do you think?"
Chen Wanli gave a self-mocking laugh. "You never know what's in a man's heart. Facing a behemoth like the Li Family, on top of the Ye Family's enormous bounty, the gang's been in an uproar for some time. Aside from a few thickheaded fools like Zhao Tieshan, who keep clamoring to live or die with you, the other hall leaders and incense masters... Heh, every one of them has greed in their eyes."
"They don't dare say it to my face, but I see what they're doing behind my back. Some are quietly contacting the Li Family. Some are secretly watching your courtyard. Some have even suggested that, for the sake of the thousands of brothers and their families, sacrificing you would be... an unfortunate necessity."
The room fell into complete silence.
Only the wind outside continued to howl.
Lu Chen looked at the Help Leader, who had once recognized his talent and raised him up, but felt not the slightest stir in his heart. He had seen through this world long ago.
In the face of absolute self-interest and the pressure to survive, so-called brotherhood in the martial world was no more than a fragile sheet of paper, easily pierced with a single finger.
Perhaps Chen Wanli had come to speak to him today out of some lingering bond, but more likely he was weighing the pros and cons. After all, nobody could guarantee they could defeat Lu Chen now. If they failed, the Black Water Gang would face his furious revenge.
"Since you've laid everything out, Help Leader, I won't beat around the bush either."
Lu Chen set down his teacup, his voice cold as ice. "Did you come here hoping I'd leave on my own? Or do you want me to surrender so the Black Water Gang can trade me for a brighter future?"
Chen Wanli's body stiffened slightly. As he looked into Lu Chen's dark eyes, which seemed able to see straight through a man, an inexplicable chill rose in his heart.
This young man had grown too fast. So fast that even he, the Help Leader, felt a trace of fear.
"Lu Chen, I won't lie to you."
Chen Wanli sighed and slowly rose to his feet. "I'm the Help Leader of the Black Water Gang. Thousands of brothers depend on me to feed them, and thousands of families need supporting. I can't drag the entire Black Water Gang into the grave with the Ye and Li Families for the sake of one man."
"But I also can't bring myself to personally send a brother to the executioner's block."
Chen Wanli pulled a heavy bundle from inside his robe and placed it on the table.
"There are a thousand taels in gold notes here, along with a map of the neighboring prefecture. The Li Family's experts will arrive first thing tomorrow morning, and the Ye Family's people are already on their way. While the encirclement hasn't closed yet, you... should go."
"Go as far as you can, and never return to Nujiang County."
After saying this, Chen Wanli seemed to age ten years in an instant. He turned away, unable to look Lu Chen in the eye, and headed for the door.
This was the limit of what he could do.
He was helping neither side, giving money and seeing Lu Chen off. That preserved their brotherhood in the martial world and kept the gang safe. At least, that was what he thought.
But just as his hand was about to touch the door latch,
Lu Chen's calm, almost indifferent voice came from behind him.
"Help Leader."
Chen Wanli stopped.
"Do you think the Li and Ye Families will leave the Black Water Gang alone if I go?"
Chen Wanli shuddered and whipped around. "What do you mean?"
Lu Chen remained seated, not even changing his posture.
"A common man is innocent, but his treasures make him guilty."
Lu Chen spoke coolly. "What they want isn't just my head. They want what I have on me, too. If I run and they can't find me, who do you think they'll make pay? If the Black Water Gang can't hand me over or produce what they want, do you think those lofty great clans will reason with you?"
Chen Wanli's face turned deathly pale.
That was right.
The great clans had always acted with overbearing impunity. When they couldn't find the person they were after, they often vented their anger on those connected to him. As Lu Chen's "hideout," the Black Water Gang would never escape their wrath!
"Then... what can we do?" Chen Wanli's voice trembled. "Do we really have to fight them? They have experts in the Viscera Refining Realm! They might even have Meridian Connecting Realm powerhouses! What could we possibly fight them with? Are we supposed to throw our lives away?!"
Despair.
Deep despair engulfed Chen Wanli.
This was a dead end. Whether Lu Chen stayed or left, the Black Water Gang seemed doomed.
Seeing Chen Wanli's distraught state, Lu Chen slowly stood up.
He walked up to Chen Wanli. Half a head taller than the Help Leader, his towering frame cast a vast shadow that completely engulfed him.
"Help Leader, you're old."
Lu Chen's voice was quiet, yet it hit Chen Wanli's heart like a heavy hammer.
"In the martial world, there's no such thing as swallowing your pride to survive. If you want to live and protect your foundation, there's only one way—"
"Break the teeth of anyone who wants to eat your flesh! Chop off the heads of anyone who wants to drink your blood!"
A terrifying Killing Intent erupted from Lu Chen.
At that moment, Chen Wanli felt as if he were facing not a man, but an ancient ferocious beast that had just awakened!
"Lu Chen, you... what are you planning?" Chen Wanli instinctively took a step back, his eyes full of shock.
Lu Chen didn't answer. He merely asked in return:
"If I can eliminate the threat from the Li Family, Help Leader, what will you do?"
Chen Wanli froze.
Eliminate the threat from the Li Family?
How?
The Li Family was a behemoth!
Yet as he looked at Lu Chen's eyes, filled with absolute confidence and icy killing intent, the ambition that had lain dormant in Chen Wanli for years stirred, against all reason.
He swallowed and asked hoarsely, "You... how sure are you?"
The corners of Lu Chen's mouth lifted slightly, forming a smile that sent a chill through the heart.
He didn't speak. He merely reached out and clenched his hand in the air.
"Crack!"
It was as if the air itself had snapped.
"One hundred percent."
The next morning.
The docks of Nujiang County were noisier than usual, yet weighed down by an even heavier tension.
All the laborers had been driven to the outskirts. Rows of Black Water Gang members in black martial outfits stood on both sides of the docks, weapons in hand and faces taut with nerves.
At the very center of the docks, outside the entrance to the Black Water Gang's Main Hall,
Help Leader Chen Wanli, War Hall Leader Zhao Tieshan, and all the gang's other leaders had gathered.
None of them looked pleased. Those who had originally argued for handing Lu Chen over were especially ill at ease, their eyes darting around.
Because Lu Chen hadn't left.
Not only had he stayed, but he was sitting ramrod straight on a Taishi Chair outside the Main Hall, eyes closed as he rested.
His famous Hundred Refinements Steel Saber lay across his knees.
"Help Leader, w-what's going on?"
A fat, big-eared hall leader wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sidled up to Chen Wanli, asking in a low voice, "Weren't we letting him leave? Why's he still sitting there like a Buddha? Isn't he just bringing disaster down on us?"
"That's right, Help Leader! The Li Family's people will be here any moment! If they see Lu Chen still here, we'll never be able to explain ourselves!" another leader said anxiously, stamping his feet.
Chen Wanli ignored them.
He stared at the young man sitting outside the entrance, both hands gripping the chair's armrests so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
He was gambling.
He was betting the Black Water Gang's century-old foundation, the lives of thousands of brothers, and even his own head.
He was betting everything on Lu Chen's words from the night before: "One hundred percent!"
"They're here!"
A cry of alarm suddenly rose from the crowd.
Everyone's gaze instantly snapped toward the river.
On the broad surface of the Angry River, a colossal Tower Ship broke through the morning mist and slowly approached.
The vessel was entirely black and three stories tall. A huge golden "Li" was embroidered on its sails, shining brilliantly in the sunlight and radiating an overwhelming majesty.
The ship hadn't even reached the shore when a terrifying aura swept over them like a tidal wave.
It was the pressure of those who stood above others!
It was the presence of a true powerhouse!
Before that aura, the Black Water Gang members were like sheep facing a lion. Many couldn't stop their legs from trembling, and some could barely keep hold of their weapons.
"So this is... the Li Family of the Prefectural City?"
Zhao Tieshan's palm was slick with sweat around the hilt of his Ghost Head Saber. Though he was in the Meridian Connecting Realm himself, before the foundations of a wealthy clan like this, he still felt as small as an ant.
The Tower Ship reached the shore.
It didn't lower a gangplank.
Three figures leaped directly from the deck, more than ten zhang above, and landed steadily on the docks like three great birds.
The man in the lead was an old man wearing a purple robe. His hair and beard were snow-white, his face lean and refined, and his eyes flashed with brilliance whenever they opened. His temples bulged high, and a faint current of air swirled around him.
Two middle-aged men followed behind him. Their auras were equally steady, their eyes sharp as blades.
"That's... Li Changfeng, the Li Family Elder!"
Someone in the crowd recognized the old man and let out a frightened whisper. "I heard he entered the Viscera Refining Realm ten years ago. His Primordial Qi Art has reached the point of perfection. Once, he killed a rampaging Iron Armored Rhinoceros with a single palm!"
The Viscera Refining Realm!
At those three words, every Black Water Gang member present turned pale as paper.
Body tempering, bone refining, viscera refining.
Though all fell under the broad category of the Body Tempering Realm, the Viscera Refining Realm was already the pinnacle of this major realm!
Their internal organs were as strong as iron, their breath long as rolling thunder, their endurance boundless, and their blood and qi like mercury.
In tiny Nujiang County, a man like this was an invincible existence!
Chen Wanli's heart sank. Though he was also in the Meridian Connecting Realm, he was still no match for a true expert from a great clan like this.
Li Changfeng stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes sweeping coldly over the Black Water Gang members.
He offered no opening remarks.
He exchanged no pleasantries.
He merely uttered a single word:
"The man."
His voice wasn't loud, but it exploded beside everyone's ears like muffled thunder.
His lofty disdain, his arrogance as he looked down on all living beings as though they were ants, were laid bare.
Chen Wanli took a deep breath and was just about to step forward and speak.
"Creeeak—"
A grating scrape of a chair rang out.
Lu Chen, who had been sitting outside with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
He stood, picked up his saber, and walked down the steps one measured pace at a time.
With every step, the aura around him rose another notch.
When he stopped three zhang in front of Li Changfeng, his aura had risen to the point where it could faintly stand against the old man's as an equal!
Lu Chen looked at the haughty Li Family Elder before him, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold smile.
"You want a man?"
"Then ask the saber in my hand if it agrees."
Before you continue