Heavenly Profound Pulse-Severing Finger! (Seeking Daily Reads)

Yang Yi felt his entire arm go numb; his long saber was knocked from his grip by Zhao An, flying through the air to pin itself directly into the roof beam.

Zhao An struck out with another finger—Pulse-Severing Finger!

Yang Yi tried to circulate his Internal Breath, but under the pressure of this strike, he felt his meridians suddenly constrict, his circulation grinding to a halt.

A breath caught in his throat, and as his Internal Breath fell into chaos, his face flushed a deep, congested red, forcing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

"You!" Yang Yi was struck with terror, unable to fathom what method Zhao An had used to interfere with his internal circulation so effortlessly.

"The outcome is decided!" Seeing his opponent wounded by his Internal Breath, Zhao An shifted his stance, seamlessly transitioning into the Silver Snake Hand.

His hand transformed into a claw, like a great python snapping its jaws, and clamped onto his opponent's neck, snapping the throat bone with raw force!

One must understand that Zhao An's hands were the result of both rigorous physical tempering and the mastery of finger techniques.

Coupled with the fact that his Gale Palm, Mountain Crushing Fist, and Silver Snake Hand had all reached perfection, his hands were truly forged through thousands of trials.

His five fingers were as strong as reinforced steel, and his grip strength was nothing short of terrifying!

To him, crushing and snapping the man's throat bone was no different than pulling apart a rubber band.

The scars on Yang Yi's face bunched together in a hideous grimace; he clutched his throat, his expression one of utter disbelief, before he toppled over stiffly and quickly ceased to breathe.

Zhao An tapped his toe, flicking the fallen saber into his hand, and strode toward Zhao Ke.

Zhao Ke's legs had turned to jelly; he never imagined that Zhao An could actually kill the Third Leader of the Black Wind Stronghold.

"This, how is this possible..."

"Brother, Brother An, I..." Zhao Ke began to beg, but before the words could leave his mouth, a flash of steel swept past, and his perspective began to spin wildly.

His head hit the ground!

Zhao An couldn't be bothered to listen to a single word more.

He had never acknowledged this blood relative as his elder brother.

Had the man not stirred up trouble, he would have ignored him entirely.

But since he had provoked him time and again, there was no way he would let him live through the night.

Inside the house, Lu Yixiu and Gao Baoding, the two Chief Constables, had been busy searching for valuables.

At first, when they saw Zhao An return, they hadn't paid much mind, never believing that this Zhao An could handle the likes of Yang Yi.

They had simply assumed that, like them, Zhao An would eventually bow and submit to the Black Wind Stronghold.

However, as Yang Yi suddenly dropped dead and Zhao Ke was decapitated, the two of them finally felt the sting of fear.

"Run!"

Lu Yixiu turned to scramble out the window, intent on escape.

But the next moment, a flying blade pierced through his body.

Gao Baoding, who had followed him out the window only a second later, was so terrified he nearly wet himself on the spot; he collapsed to his knees, kowtowing and begging Zhao An for mercy.

"I was forced into this..."

Zhao An glanced at the Red Name hovering above his head and, without a word, finished him off with a single strike.

Words might be used to deceive, but the name above one's head never lied.

None of these Chief Constables who enforced the law in the Outer City were good people; their deaths were well-deserved.

Even if they hadn't broken into this small courtyard today, he would not have let these Red Name constables live another day.

After all, there were very few Red Name Martial Masters in the Outer City.

"M-Master, you, this..." The carriage driver, who should have left long ago, stood trembling at the gate, unsure of what to do after witnessing the final slaughter.

"Trouble yourself to inform the County Magistrate. Tell him there are remnants of the Black Wind Stronghold, and also news regarding the Moon People," Zhao An said, turning his head while holding his blood-stained blade.

"Yes, yes!" The driver hurriedly agreed and rushed away.

Zhao An did not intend to hide what happened tonight.

Though he had killed several constables, these men had long been in league with the Black Wind Stronghold and had even colluded with the Moon Tribe to the west; their crimes were unforgivable.

Killing them was not a mistake, but a service.

As for the matters involving the Black Wind Stronghold, he had no intention of getting involved; he would leave that headache to the County Magistrate.

An hour later, the sound of chaotic hoofbeats approached rapidly.

A squad of Prefecture Soldiers surged in, nearly filling the small courtyard.

Torches illuminated the scene in the yard with a harsh, bright light.

Then, Tao Heng stepped down from a carriage, dressed in plain clothes.

"Zhao An, what exactly happened here?" Tao Heng asked immediately, looking at the carnage and the corpses.

Zhao An told him the truth.

Beside Tao Heng, a guard frowned upon hearing that the dead man was the Third Leader of the Black Wind Stronghold; he stepped forward to inspect the body, his expression turning grim.

"Jin'er, did you not say that you had slaughtered those bandit leaders? Then what is this corpse!" Tao Heng questioned in a deep voice, his tone displeased.

"It was this subordinate's momentary negligence. When I went up the mountain to suppress the bandits that day, they must have used a Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell trick to escape." Tao Jin'er did not argue, bowing his head to admit his fault directly.

"Fortunately, Zhao An eliminated the hidden danger today, but I fear the remaining bandit remnants are still hiding near the county town. I order you to mobilize the County Soldiers and conduct a thorough investigation immediately! You must not let a single bandit leader escape!"

Tao Heng did not punish him, merely issuing the order to give his guard a chance to redeem himself through service.

"Yes, this time this subordinate will absolutely not let any mistakes occur again!" Tao Jin'er solemnly accepted the order.

"Furthermore, what is this news about the Moon People that you wished to tell this official?" Tao Heng continued, turning his inquiry toward Zhao An.

Compared to a few bandit remnants, he was actually more concerned about the news regarding the Moon People.

This was also the reason he had come in person.

"The bandit leader of Black Wind Stronghold seems to have colluded with the Moon People from beyond our borders, intending to seize the county town and offer it to the Moon Tribe. If what that bandit leader said is true, in the worst-case scenario, the Moon People's army will arrive at Lianjiang County in a matter of days," Zhao An said.

Upon hearing this, Tao Heng's expression turned as heavy as water.

"Zhao An, if only you could have left him alive..." Tao Heng sighed softly as he looked at the bandit leader's corpse on the ground.

This matter was of great importance; if he could learn more intelligence regarding the movements of the Moon People, it would be for the best.

Zhao An remained silent.

Leaving a live captive was impossible. At a time when he was in dire need of high-quality Soul Slaves, how could he let this bandit leader go?

"My Lord, if the Moon People's army is to come, they can only take the water route and land at Python Water Bay. That is the focal point of our defense," Tao Jinyi said, leaning in to whisper.

Tao Heng shook his head.

"If the Moon People's main force invades, these defenses will have no meaning at all..."

"Let us discuss this back at the office."

Tao Heng had come in a hurry and departed just as quickly.

Before leaving, he specifically instructed Zhao An not to spread word of tonight's events.

Zhao An agreed, though he knew in his heart that this matter was far from over.

Having killed the Third Leader of Black Wind Stronghold, he reckoned there were still two other bandit leaders hiding in the shadows.

Especially the master of Black Wind Stronghold, who styled himself the Black Wind King and possessed immense strength.

He had forged a blood feud with Black Wind Stronghold tonight; there was no guarantee the Black Wind King wouldn't come looking for him in the future.

My current strength is still not stable enough! Zhao An pondered to himself.

He could not afford to slack off in his cultivation for even a moment!