Night Killing Hu Jiao, Yellowed Sheepskin

At the door to Yun Yi's room, a scar-faced brute bared his teeth as he advanced step by step.

"Little beauty, your damned brother has been missing for so long. Why not come with me instead?"

The brute was none other than Hu Jiao!

Yun Yi clenched her teeth. "Shameless bastard, get lost!"

"Ha ha ha!"

Seeing her like this only excited Hu Jiao further. "What fire! This is exactly the kind of woman I like.

"Little beauty, come back with me, and I guarantee I'll make you soar to the heavens."

"Give up that thought!"

As Hu Jiao closed in, Yun Yi grabbed a pair of scissors and pressed the point against her throat. "If you insist on forcing me, I'll kill myself immediately!"

At those words, Hu Jiao really did stop.

Yun Yi stared him down without yielding an inch. "I mean what I say. Don't dream of getting even the slightest bit of me!"

"Very good!"

Hu Jiao did not continue crowding into the room.

His expression changed as he gave a cold snort. "That sounds nice enough. Since that's the case, little beauty, shouldn't your brother return the silver he owes me?"

"When did my brother ever owe you silver?"

"Three months ago, he borrowed two taels of silver from me. The IOU is right here on me."

He took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

Yun Yi immediately glanced over it. It really was an IOU.

"Debts must be repaid. That's the law of heaven and earth."

A wicked smile curled at Hu Jiao's lips. "Little beauty, what else do you have to say? Pay me back!"

Yun Yi's delicate body rose and fell unceasingly.

In the end, she took out two taels of silver from a box and exchanged them for the IOU.

"You really are rich!"

Hu Jiao tucked the silver into his clothes.

Yun Yi snapped, "You've taken the silver. Why aren't you leaving?"

"Leave?"

To her surprise, Hu Jiao burst into laughter and said again, "Sorry, little beauty. You've repaid the two taels, but there are still another three taels."

"What three taels?"

"Your brother still owes me three taels."

Hu Jiao pulled out another IOU.

In an instant, Yun Yi stood there dumb as a wooden chicken.

She hurriedly spread out the paper she had just received and held it beneath the oil lamp. "Fake! This isn't my brother's handwriting!"

"So you want to deny the debt?"

Taking advantage of the moment, Hu Jiao reached out and snatched the scissors from Yun Yi's hand.

"You!"

Yun Yi's face drained of color.

Hu Jiao shouted, "Heh heh, let's see where you can run now!"

"So it's Master Hu!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind him.

Hu Jiao turned around.

Two zhang away, Shen Han stood motionless in the small courtyard, quietly dressed in rough hemp clothes.

"Little Shen, run!"

The moment Yun Yi saw Shen Han, she was overcome with worry.

Shen Han did not move. "Master Hu, why get angry in the dead of night?"

Hu Jiao snorted coldly. "You brat want to play the hero?"

"Master Hu misunderstands. How would I dare? It's just that Sister Yun Yi is my neighbor. If you have something to say, you can talk it out properly."

Hu Jiao's face darkened.

He wanted to kill Shen Han right away, but then he thought better of it. If he got his hands dirty with murder now, he would have no mood left to play with this little beauty.

"Little beauty, I won't let the three taels your brother owes me slide just like that. I'll give you one day to gather the money. I'll come again tomorrow. If you still don't pay by then, don't blame me for being rude!"

As he spoke, Hu Jiao viciously kicked a stone in the courtyard.

The stone merely shifted slightly.

"And you, brat, remember this well. Next month, the Dragon King's incense fee will double again!"

With that, Hu Jiao tossed away the scissors and strode off.

"Take care, Master Hu."

Shen Han watched Hu Jiao leave, then cast a sidelong glance at the stone weighing over two hundred jin.

An imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Little Shen, so he's been bullying you too..."

Yun Yi hurriedly lifted her long skirt and rushed before Shen Han, her face full of difficulty.

Shen Han comforted her. "It's all right, Sister Yun Yi."

Yun Yi sighed. "I dragged you into this."

Shen Han picked up the scissors from the ground and returned them to her. "Sister Yun Yi, you give me too much credit. Hu Jiao is used to bullying men and tyrannizing women. I believe he won't come to a good end."

"That may be true, but..."

"Sister Yun Yi, it's late. Go back and rest soon. Perhaps by tomorrow, everything will be different."

That night, inside a private residence in Three Rivers County.

The house was not large, but the oil lamp in the room burned brightly.

Hu Jiao lay back in a bamboo chair, his feet soaking in a porcelain basin of warm water before him.

A woman crouched beside him, washing his feet.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Women from Miaoyu Pavilion truly live up to their reputation when it comes to washing feet."

Hu Jiao rubbed and slapped his feet, thoroughly enjoying himself.

The woman raised her head and giggled. "Master Hu, you spent money to redeem me. This is what I ought to do."

Crash!

At that moment, the wooden door of the residence was suddenly kicked open.

A Black Shadow appeared in the doorway.

"Who is it?"

Hu Jiao immediately rose from the bamboo chair and stared at the uninvited guest. "Do you know who I am, daring to barge in?"

The woman was startled as well, her whole body shuddering.

"Master Hu, it's me."

The Black Shadow slowly stepped into the room.

Under the oil lamp, Hu Jiao finally saw his face clearly. "You brat surnamed Shen, it's you again!"

The Black Shadow was naturally Shen Han.

After following Hu Jiao all the way to the residence, he had surveyed the surroundings and found no accomplices.

"Master Hu, if I said I no longer wanted to pay the Dragon King's incense fee, what would you do?"

"You don't get to choose whether you pay!"

Hu Jiao flew into a rage, grabbed the porcelain basin from the floor, and hurled it at Shen Han. "Drink my foot-washing water!"

Shen Han dodged to one side.

The improvement to his physique brought by the Minor Achievement Breathing Technique had not only doubled his strength, but greatly enhanced his agility as well. Avoiding this basin of foot-washing water was effortless.

Hu Jiao shouted, "The sky has turned upside down! You brat actually dare dodge?"

"I don't have that sort of perverse hobby."

With that, Shen Han charged at Hu Jiao at lightning speed.

In the flash between spark and stone, he gathered every ounce of strength in his body into his right fist and threw a punch at Hu Jiao's chest.

Bang!

No sooner said than done, Hu Jiao had no time to react. The punch landed squarely in his chest.

The next instant, his entire body toppled backward out of control.

Crash!

He crushed the bamboo chair into splinters.

"Master Hu!"

The woman was horrified and hurried forward to support him.

"Cough..."

Hu Jiao was scared out of his wits. "You... how could you..."

He clutched his chest. The bones inside had already broken, leaving him in agony worse than death.

"Master Hu, you can really take a beating."

"Don't... don't kill me..."

Hu Jiao felt it difficult to breathe as he endured the pain and pleaded.

The woman was drenched in cold sweat as well.

Shen Han seized Hu Jiao by the collar. "Sorry, Master Hu. You forced my hand!"

Caught in his grip, Hu Jiao could not move at all. "You... if you dare kill me, my cousin definitely won't let you off..."

"Is that so?"

Shen Han gave a cold laugh and punched again.

Thud!

The Basic Fist Technique, cultivated to perfection, combined with the force of over two hundred jin at close range and smashed directly into Hu Jiao's face.

How could Hu Jiao withstand it?

In the blink of an eye, his skull shattered from the blow.

His head lolled to one side, and he stopped breathing.

Hu Jiao died on the spot. This sudden turn of events left the woman beside him silent as a cicada in winter.

"Now it's your turn."

Naturally, Shen Han had no intention of sparing her either.

The woman trembled all over and immediately dropped to her knees, kowtowing again and again. "Spare me, hero! Spare me, hero..."

"Tell me, who is Hu Jiao's cousin?"

"His cousin is called Hu Teng. He's one of Black Wind Stronghold's men."

Black Wind Stronghold?

Shen Han pondered inwardly. Having lived in Three Rivers County for half a year, he understood the situation within and beyond the county seat. Black Wind Stronghold occupied Black Wind Mountain outside the county, and its members were a band of utterly wicked bandits with a foul reputation.

"Where does Hu Jiao keep his money?"

"In the drawer over there, and in the clay jar under the bed." The woman hurriedly begged, "Hero, you are a great man with great magnanimity. Can you let me go..."

"Get up and speak."

"Thank you, hero."

The woman frantically scrambled to her feet. Her forehead had already been bloodied from kowtowing.

Shen Han said, "Bring all the money over."

How could the woman dare resist? At the fastest speed possible, she handed everything from the drawer and clay jar to Shen Han.

Besides the silver, there was also a piece of yellowed sheepskin.

Shen Han glanced over the sheepskin. It was densely covered with the names and quantities of nine medicinal herbs, including jute, angelica, Iron Flower Herb, and more.

"What is this?"