The night was as dark as ink.
Though it was already deep into the night in the Outer City, nearly every household still had its lights on. After the demons' previous nighttime attack, the people of the Outer City were all on edge. Even after nightfall, they kept candles lit and took turns standing watch.
Qin Jiu wore a fitted gray outfit.
He channeled his blood and inner strength, racing forward at incredible speed.
Along the way,
he occasionally saw collapsed houses. His heart grew heavy, and he felt wary. The hostility of those men he had seen earlier at the Demon Suppression Bureau might not have been because they were targeting him or the Qin Family. It might have stemmed from the matter of the demons.
After all, the demons were running amok.
He himself, and even the Qin Family, were inside the county town.
If no one was deliberately targeting him and the Qin Family, then the only danger could come from the demons. And the demons seemed to be controlled by someone behind the scenes. Combined with the intense malice of those men earlier...
"Now they've all left the city."
"I'll see for myself what's going on with the Fisher Gang and the Chai Gang."
About half an hour later,
he neared the woods beside a small river and gradually slowed down. Fishing boats and skiffs were moored across the river, while the Fisher Gang's headquarters blazed with light. The noisy chatter rose and fell, making the place look lively.
Qin Jiu stopped and activated Ghost Illumination.
In an instant,
the night turned to day.
Wisps of gray-black mist rose faintly from the Fisher Gang's headquarters, bright as candles in the night.
"..."
"Open, open, open. Why is it small again? What rotten luck."
"Our old fish pen manager..."
The jumbled voices
left Qin Jiu feeling irritated.
Still, he patiently directed his consciousness toward the headquarters. More than ten clouds of black mist were gathered in the meeting hall there.
"Why's the gang leader been going over to the Chai Gang so often lately..."
"You really don't know, do you?"
"Tonight the County Magistrate took people out. He could be back in as little as three or five days, or it might take half a month. This evening, people from the Li Family went to the gang leader. Guess what? They want to join forces with our Fisher Gang and the Chai Gang and use this opening to swallow the Qin and Han Families in the Inner City whole. That's why the gang leader went to the Chai Gang to discuss it with them."
"Has the Li Family gone mad?"
"They don't even have a single Internal Strengthening warrior, yet they dare set their sights on the Han and Qin Families. Aren't they afraid Han Zheng and that Sick Tiger, Wang Yue, will come back and wipe them all out?"
"Heh, you youngsters just don't know the whole story. I can't tell you much, but those experts who went out tonight might not all make it back alive. If the Li Family makes its move then, we won't even get a drop of the broth. So I'm certain the gang will make a big move in the next day or two. Brothers, keep your wits about you, and don't waste your strength on women these days."
"That recipe from the Qin Family is something our gang leader is determined to get."
"Once we retrieve it, the day that lord enters the city will be the day the Fisher Gang establishes itself in the Inner City. Then, we brothers..."
By the riverbank,
Qin Jiu opened his eyes and slowly let out a breath.
Then he popped a pill into his mouth.
At the same time, he activated Withered Wood Meets Spring.
"The Li Family..."
"And that lord the Fisher Gang mentioned? Could they mean the person behind the scenes controlling the demons? From what they said, it seems the County Magistrate's departure with his people tonight might be a trap?"
Qin Jiu furrowed his brow slightly.
Once his mental strength had recovered,
he didn't dwell on it any longer. He set off across the stone bridge to the other bank.
The Fisher Gang's headquarters.
Inside the Incense Hall,
more than ten figures with fierce auras sat around two large square tables, drinking and loudly discussing something.
They were dressed in all kinds of clothes.
Some even had their chests and bellies bare, their hair hanging loose over their shoulders.
They looked quite wild and untamed.
"Hall Master, you said the gang leader told us to wait here in the Incense Hall. Could he be planning to make his move tonight?"
"That's hard to say."
A burly man with a rough face shook his head. "The Han Family has three Three Refinements warriors. The Qin Family only has one, but Qin Xuanzhou is exceptionally talented. Even the gang leader suspects he's close to opening all his meridians and entering the Internal Strengthening realm."
"If we want to deal with him,"
"we'll need at least two warriors of the same realm to attack together."
"As for Three Refinements warriors, only the gang leader in our gang has reached that realm. I reckon the Chai Gang's leader, and perhaps even some of their other members, will act with us. And the Li Family should..."
"Rumble!"
Suddenly,
a corpse flew in through the doorway.
It slammed hard onto the table.
Everyone in the hall froze in shock.
"Bold bastard!"
"How dare you cause trouble in the Fisher Gang's Incense Hall!"
The Hall Master was the first to react. He snarled, "Brothers, grab your weapons! Chop him into mincemeat!"
Outside the door,
a figure approached with a blade in hand.
At their Hall Master's words, the others immediately grabbed the long sabers beside them and charged forward.
Meanwhile, the Hall Master shouted
and edged toward the window.
The Fisher Gang was usually guarded by a Three Refinements warrior. Anyone daring to break in here at night had to be formidable—at the very least, more than a Second Refinement warrior like him could handle. His best option was to flee at once.
But in the very next moment,
his body stiffened against his will.
The man at the entrance swung his saber down.
The warrior charging at the front, a fierce-looking man also at the Second Refinement level, was split in two from head to toe, along with his saber.
His corpse fell in two halves.
With a thud, it pitched forward.
"Drip..."
Scarlet blood trickled from the tip of the azure blade.
Not a single drop stained its edge.
At the sight, a figure flashed through the Hall Master's mind. He looked again at the tall figure whose face was covered with gray cloth and stammered, "You're... Qin Guihong, the head of the Qin Family?"
"N-no, that's impossible..."
But no one answered him.
The figure turned the saber in his hand, and a terrifying killing intent instantly engulfed the hall.
The others were so terrified their guts nearly burst.
Even as they retreated, they froze in place, with no choice but to raise their sabers in defense.
But when blades clashed, there was only one outcome.
Broken blades and dead men.
They became a heap of minced flesh splattered across the floor.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
Seeing that the Fisher Gang's Hall Master's killing intent hadn't weakened in the slightest, he knew his only chance of survival was to fight for his life.
He roared, his inner strength surging through his body.
He looked ready to risk everything.
Yet as he spoke, three iron-ball-like objects suddenly shot from his hand.
"Hmph!"
Qin Jiu's gaze was sharp as lightning.
His nerves were already taut. The instant he saw the movement, he dodged the objects, which seemed like hidden weapons, choosing not to meet them head-on.
Then his saber flashed as he fearsomely slashed at the man.
"Clang!"
To his surprise,
the Hall Master's weapon didn't shatter at the first touch.
But the man was still sent sliding backward
by the tremendous force of the blow.
"Qin Guihong clearly died that day. How did his weapon end up in your hands? Qin Xuanzhou of the Qin Mansion isn't skilled with a saber and never uses one. Just who are you in the Qin Family?"
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