There were more than twenty of them. Zhang Chuan shot four dead, then killed three or five more in the blink of an eye before he was tied down by the enemy.
Six or seven others had also slipped past Zhang Chuan and were charging straight toward them.
Lu Yue shouted, "Xiao Zhou, don't be afraid! The men will protect you..."
Luo Zhou roared and charged forward.
He swung the bronze cudgel, bringing it down on one man's head.
The man sneered. "You half-grown brat, looking for death..."
He raised his shield to defend himself while slashing with his other hand.
But when the cudgel struck the shield, it shattered with a crack.
The bronze cudgel met no resistance as it kept falling. Its melon-shaped head smashed into the man's chest, breaking every rib and killing him with one blow.
The others beside him were shocked. "Careful, he's a strongman!"
"Get away from him! Keep circling him and wear him down. Don't fight him head-on..."
"Strongmen can't fight for long..."
Luo Zhou paid them no mind. A veil of water vapor rose around him as Vortex Guard shielded him. Then he swung his bronze cudgel and beat them back in a wild frenzy.
He had never practiced any combat techniques. The five Body Tempering arts he knew were only for tempering his body; he had no fighting techniques.
But he had strength enough—ten thousand catties of force, an unmatched power.
With the boundless stamina of Nine Oxen and the speed of Consecutive Swift Steps and Flying Pounce, he wasn't slow. He caught up to one man and brought his cudgel down, sending the man's blade flying as his head split open and his brains burst out.
Someone drew a throwing knife and lodged it in Luo Zhou.
"He hit him..."
The water vapor of Vortex Guard collapsed, transforming into a water blade that sliced off the man's left hand. He immediately let out a series of agonized screams.
Luo Zhou came over and brought his cudgel down, ending the screams and killing him outright.
With one blow after another, Luo Zhou killed four masked men, one by one.
But the masked men had also figured out his strength. They circled him, darting around with swift, whistling movements.
They were all seasoned veterans, old hands who had seen countless battles. They quickly seized on Luo Zhou's weakness.
No matter how great your strength, if you couldn't hit your opponent, it was useless.
Zhang Chuan roared from the other side, but his voice had lost its former strength, turning hoarse with injury.
Lu Yue and Cheng Yubo had both engaged the enemy.
A slash had struck Cheng Yubo in the face. One of his eyeballs had popped out and dangled from his cheek, a ghastly sight, but he kept fighting desperately without giving ground.
Suddenly, an explosion boomed from the distant forest, like a clap of thunder.
Flames surged into the sky!
Someone had used a talisman!
Cheng Wanli's voice rang out. "Cheng Wanli of the Dragon Fang Troop! I've killed a sorcerer!"
The remaining masked men scattered and fled.
Zhang Chuan roared. He picked up his bow and shot them one by one from behind, leaving none alive.
Luo Zhou chased after them too. He sprinted with Consecutive Swift Steps, caught up to one man, and knocked him down with a single blow.
Cheng Wanli emerged at a slow pace, looking somewhat aged. Using a talisman consumed one's lifespan, and killing a sorcerer wasn't easy.
He laughed loudly. "They thought they could kill us? Dream on!"
With a thud, Zhang Chuan collapsed. He was covered in blood, some of it his enemies', some of it his own.
Luo Zhou was panting heavily too. He slumped to the ground, unable to lift his bronze cudgel at all.
Only Lu Yue had escaped injury. He hurried to bandage Zhang Chuan and Cheng Yubo.
Once Cheng Wanli had recovered, he took a knife and cut off all the enemy's heads.
They also stripped off all the crocodile dragon's disguise. Their cover was blown, so there was no point pretending anymore!
They placed the heads on the crocodile dragon.
Cheng Wanli piled the headless bodies together and sprinkled them with a powder. The blood immediately turned yellow, and all the corpses slowly dissolved.
"Let's go. We're heading back!"
Cheng Yubo's dangling eyeball had been cut away, leaving him blind in one eye. After getting bandaged, he gritted his teeth and was still able to ride a horse.
Zhang Chuan could no longer move. He lay on a cart among the heads, while Cheng Wanli drove.
They traveled twenty li without further trouble!
Along the way, the other merchants and travelers they encountered were all shocked.
Many people followed behind the cart, staring at the heads and whispering among themselves.
The terrifying crocodile dragon stunned them even more.
When they reached the trading grounds outside the city, the merchant guilds were also shocked.
The other side didn't haggle over this deal at all; they completed the transaction immediately.
Cheng Wanli called over some friends to take Zhang Chuan and Cheng Yubo into the city for treatment.
Then he piled up the heads and had someone report the matter to the authorities.
A constable soon arrived in person to register the case and take statements.
Constables generally didn't interfere in fights outside the city. They only checked whether any of the heads belonged to wanted criminals.
After this battle, the Dragon Fang Troop's fame resounded throughout Ningze Prefecture.
They didn't split the money or celebrate that day. Once they returned outside the city, Cheng Wanli had Luo Zhou quietly leave.
Only after getting home did Luo Zhou feel afraid.
It took him quite a while to calm down.
He slowly resumed his cultivation. The more shaken he was, the less he could afford to slack off. He had to train hard and keep at it every moment.
The next day, on the morning of the ninth day of the sixth month, he went to look for Cheng Wanli.
When he arrived at the Cheng residence, everyone was there except Zhang Chuan.
Cheng Yubo's face was wrapped up tightly. He was blind in his left eye.
Cheng Wanli spoke slowly.
"Zhang Chuan is crippled after this battle.
"Even though he survived, he won't be able to fight as well as before once he recovers. He'll have to leave the troop.
"As we agreed, he gets half the earnings this time as a retirement allowance.
"Yu Bo is also disabled, so he gets two tenths.
"We three will split the remaining three tenths.
"Is that all right, Xiao Zhou?"
They had made their agreement when they founded the troop.
Luo Zhou nodded. "All right!"
This time, he received seven hundred and thirty-five Broken Spirits.
"The ones who attacked us this time were the Sanjiang Gang.
"We can't let this matter end here. In the martial world, martial-world matters must be settled by martial means!
"If we don't deal with them, we won't be able to hunt dragons.
"I'll ask an old friend to help. Within ten days, we'll wipe out the Sanjiang Gang!"
Lu Yue said, "I have no money to spare; I need it for something else. But when the time comes, I'll give my life!"
Luo Zhou thought it over, then said, "I'll contribute three thousand Broken Spirits. I'll give my life too!"
Cheng Wanli shook his head. "Xiao Zhou, you don't need to give any Broken Spirits.
"I'm the troop leader. They came after my Dragon Fang Troop, so I'll pay for everything!
"But the Sanjiang Gang has five chiefs. We killed one of them in yesterday's attack.
"One of the chiefs, Zhang Meng, is at the great perfection stage of Body Tempering. His talent is Copper Head, Iron Skin, and he's mastered the hard-body art Golden Bell Cover Iron Cloth. He's incredibly difficult to break through. I need you to curse him to death."
Luo Zhou said, "All right. But no one can watch me when I cast the death curse, or it won't work."
"That won't be a problem. Leave it to me!"
After they finished dividing the money, everyone left.
Luo Zhou went to Zhang Chuan's house to visit him.
Zhang Chuan was wrapped in bandages from head to toe and lying in bed, but he seemed in high spirits, as if nothing were wrong.
Luo Zhou chatted with him for a few minutes. When he left, he quietly left behind a thousand Broken Spirits.
If the Zhang family spent carefully, that money should be enough to support them for ten years.
Luo Zhou then found Cheng Wanli, who led him to a building.
Cloud Pavilion in the city.
It was a restaurant, but the food was terrible and outrageously expensive. The waiters also treated customers rudely, so business was poor.
"Xiao Zhou, this is the Spirit Workshop shop in Green Ridge City."
When they entered the main hall, a waiter asked without much interest, "Here to eat?"
Cheng Wanli smiled and said, "Zhurong's radiance scatters its blossoms; bathed by sun and moon, a hundred treasures are born!"
The waiter looked at him. Cheng Wanli made a strange hand gesture.
"An old customer! Please, please, this way—to Green Pine Room."
Green Pine Room was a private room. Cheng Wanli led Luo Zhou inside.
A hidden door slowly opened in the room.
They went through it, and a passage leading underground appeared before them.
About ten zhang down, a large shop came into view.
It was several dozen zhang across, with all kinds of goods filling the shelves.
Artifacts, talismans, pills, spirit incense, manuals—everything was there...
But no matter how you looked at it, it still seemed like a general store.
An Qi Refining cultivator stood guard at the entrance. Seeing them, he said,
"Welcome to the Spirit Workshop. Please come in.
"Everything in the shop costs one Spirit Stone per item. No bargaining.
"All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges."
Luo Zhou was speechless. It really was a general store, like those one-yuan shops from his previous life.
Cheng Wanli said, "There's no market district here, just this one Spirit Workshop. The provincial capital of the prefecture, Fengtian City, has a proper market district."
Luo Zhou nodded, pretending he had only just learned this.
In truth, he knew all about it from the memories of the five Woodworm Devils. But he had to let someone guide him, so he acted as if this were his first time here.
"A little shop like this doesn't even welcome those of us at the Body Tempering realm. They say only Qi Refining cultivators are true cultivators. Luckily, I have some connections; otherwise, they wouldn't have let us in!"
Once inside, Luo Zhou could sense spiritual energy circulating. A cultivator was using magic to watch them.
"Xiao Zhou, the artifacts all have descriptions. Pick whatever you like. I'll browse too; I need to choose a few artifacts for use in a few days."
With that, Cheng Wanli went to browse the goods as well, leaving Luo Zhou alone to make his selection.
Before you continue