Bai Family

Before Li Kun had finished relieving himself, a faint scent of blood slipped into his nostrils.

It was faint—so faint the night breeze nearly swept it away—but years of living by the blade had sharpened his instincts. In an instant, alarm bells rang in his head.

Something was wrong!

He didn't even bother pulling up his pants. With a furious shout, he abruptly retreated several steps.

"Who's there?! Who?!"

When he saw what lay before him, every hair on his body stood on end. His heart felt as though someone had clamped a fist around it and hauled it up into his throat.

In the moonlight, three of his four attendants were already sprawled in pools of blood.

Dark red blood slowly spread across the bluestone paving, gleaming eerily beneath the moon.

The last one stood bolt upright, utterly motionless, his gaze vacant and empty, as if his soul had been ripped away.

He'd been scared witless.

What kind of strength did this person have, to kill three Hidden Energy attendants without anyone noticing?

A Transformation Energy expert?

What chilled Li Kun even more was that he still hadn't spotted his attacker!

"Black Fish! Hold him off! When I get back, I'll reward your family with a thousand taels of silver!"

He roared at the last attendant as he began edging backward, ready to turn and run.

The instant the words left his mouth, the remaining attendant's body went limp. Like an overcooked noodle, he crumpled silently to the ground.

As he fell, a black figure darted out from behind him, moving like a bolt of black lightning, nearly tearing through the night.

"So fast!"

Li Kun let out a yelp. With no time to think, he instinctively crossed his arms in front of himself. Energy surged from his body and gathered into an invisible barrier over his arms, wrapping around them layer upon layer like silk.

"Roar—!"

A fist wind slammed into him, accompanied by a deafening tiger's roar.

It didn't sound like a fist had made that noise. It sounded like a real tiger bellowing.

What came at him wasn't a man, but a tiger that had broken out of its cage—ravenous and brimming with murderous intent.

The instant they collided, a vast surge of energy burst forth.

Li Kun's eyes flew wide. It felt as though a mountain had slammed into his arms, and his whole body flew backward beyond his control.

He tried to steady himself, but the force surged at him in wave after wave, carrying him along so completely that he couldn't react at all.

"Ah—!"

He was sent tumbling five or six zhang through the air, rolling over and over before finally coming to a stop.

A mouthful of blood sprayed across the bluestone paving.

His hair was disheveled, his breath weak, and his arms shook uncontrollably. The forearm of the arm he'd raised to block the blow was visibly caved in.

"Five Animals Fist?! Are you from the Five Animals Martial Hall?"

Li Kun raised his head and stared at the black-clad figure before him, whose face was covered with black cloth.

Five Animals Fist! That tiger's roar was the unmistakable hallmark of Tiger Style!

His mind raced. There were only a handful of Manifest Energy experts at the Five Animals Martial Hall, and he'd met them all. None had a build like this.

"Who are you? Aren't you afraid the Li Family will wipe out the Five Animals Martial Hall for doing this to me?"

Li Kun staggered to his feet and inched backward.

His only answer was a figure hurtling toward him at blinding speed.

This time, it wasn't a tiger.

It was a bear.

A great bear crouched in a mountain cave, coiled to strike.

"Boom—!"

The air before Li Kun seemed to be compressed to its limit by an invisible giant hand, letting out a deep, muffled boom.

The fist hadn't even reached him, yet the gust of wind had already pressed his face inward and left him gasping for breath.

The instant the fist struck his chest, it caved in.

His hard breastbone shattered into pieces like parched mud. Several ribs snapped along with it, and their jagged ends pierced his lungs, bringing a tearing agony.

"Pfft—!"

A great mouthful of blood burst from Li Kun's mouth, mixed with dark red chunks of flesh. His body flew backward like a broken sack, crashed hard onto the ground several zhang away, and rolled twice before finally stopping.

"Ahhhhhh—!"

Li Kun let out a heart-rending wail. It felt as if that punch had scattered his body to pieces; with every breath, it was as though someone were stirring broken bones inside his chest.

"Y-you... who are you?"

His voice was so hoarse it barely sounded human. His lips were coated in bloody froth as he stared at the black figure slowly approaching, his eyes filled with terror.

He hadn't been able to fight back at all.

The speed was terrifying. The power was terrifying. Among Manifest Energy fighters, he might not have been top-tier, but he was at least above average.

Yet before this man, he was like a child who had only just learned to walk, not even fit to block a blow.

Who in the world was this?!

He desperately searched his mind for anyone he'd offended recently.

The only person he'd had a grudge against lately seemed to be Jiang Minghai!

But Jiang Minghai had fallen a level, from Manifest Energy to Hidden Energy. Otherwise, Li Kun wouldn't have dared brazenly show up at his door and plot to take Bai Zhiruo.

Apart from Jiang Minghai, he hadn't offended anyone in the past year.

The black-clad man stopped before him and looked down at him. His gaze was as indifferent as if he were staring at a dead dog.

Then the man reached up and slowly pulled the black cloth from his face, revealing the lower half of it.

A cold smile curled his lips.

"Let me at least make sure you die knowing why." His voice was quiet, but every word was perfectly clear.

"Does this face remind you of anyone?"

The instant Li Kun saw his face, his pupils shrank to pinpricks.

"Jiang Minghai!"

No.

At first glance, he looked like Jiang Minghai, but on closer inspection, the two weren't quite the same.

His features were more defined, his face gentler—like a younger, more handsome version of Jiang Minghai.

A thought struck him like lightning. Back when he'd first considered taking Bai Zhiruo for himself, he'd sent people to investigate Jiang Minghai's background.

His parents had died young. He had a younger brother who'd studied himself stupid. There was nothing special about his background.

His younger brother?

Impossible!

That bookish fool?

But the truth was right in front of him. He had no choice but to believe it.

"You..." Li Kun coughed up blood, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"You're Jiang Tian?!"

"Not as stupid as you look."

Jiang Tian gave a cold laugh and raised his fist.

"Wait! Silver, martial arts, pills—I'll give you anything you want!" Li Kun's voice shot up, frantic with the desperation of a dying man.

"Name your price! Whatever you want!"

"No need."

"Crack."

The fist came down. Li Kun's neck twisted at an impossible angle, and the sound of his cervical vertebrae breaking rang out with eerie clarity in the still night.

Hot blood sprayed everywhere, soaking Jiang Tian's face and clothes, his hands—everything was slick with sticky red.

Jiang Tian got to his feet and wiped the blood from his face.

The reason he'd been able to silently deal with all four attendants without Li Kun noticing was the newly mastered Deer in the Snow: light-footed, leaving no trace in the snow.

He swiftly searched the bodies. The four guards were poor; together, they had only a hundred taels of silver.

Li Kun hadn't been carrying much either—just a thousand-tael banknote and a few decent pills.

Jiang Tian hastily cleaned up the scene, then hurried to the Blackwater River, which ran through Blackwater County. He stripped off his blood-soaked clothes and threw them into the river, then washed the blood from his body in the icy water.

The water was bone-cold, washing the warmth of blood from his skin. Under the moonlight, dark red ripples spread across the surface.

He changed into the clean clothes he'd prepared beforehand, took a deep breath, and vanished into the night.

By the time he got home, it was already the middle of the night.

The lamp in the east room was still lit. Dim yellow light seeped through the paper window, casting a small patch of warmth across the courtyard.

With his current strength, he could easily climb over the wall without his big brother noticing. But when he heard the quiet voices inside, curiosity got the better of him. He slowed his steps and listened.

"Minghai, why don't we go to Qingyuan Prefecture City tomorrow?"

Bai Zhiruo's voice carried a strain of anxiety she could barely contain.

"Li Kun has men watching both city gates... We can't get out."

Jiang Minghai's voice was low and weary, like an oil lamp about to burn out.

A moment of silence passed.

"I'll write to my family and get in touch with them." Bai Zhiruo's voice suddenly grew very soft, as if she were afraid of waking something.

"Even though I cut ties with them back then... they definitely won't just stand by and watch me die."

Family?

Jiang Tian froze. A hazy memory surfaced.

Bai Zhiruo had originally been from the Bai Family in Qingyuan Prefecture City. When she'd been traveling years ago, his big brother Jiang Minghai had saved her, and the two had fallen in love at first sight.

But the Bai Family was one of the five great families of the Prefecture City. Although Bai Zhiruo had no talent for martial arts, she was still a pawn they could use in a political marriage. Naturally, the Bai Family wouldn't let her marry an obscure nobody.

Bai Zhiruo had stubbornly gone her own way, and in a fit of anger, the Bai Family had cut ties with her.