Heart-Pounding

Overnight, who else but Chen Han could have slaughtered over fifty members of the Black Mountain Gang?

At this very moment, Chen Han felt his heart pounding and his soul trembling; he could even feel the hairs on his back standing on end as cold sweat poured down his body.

Just imagine the feeling of sitting right in front of two men who were determined to kill you, while they remained completely oblivious to your identity.

If they were to find out, he feared he would be beaten until he was no longer recognizable as a human.

Chen Han was only at the level of a Transformation Force martial artist, and having only broken through the barrier a few days ago, his body had yet to fully adapt to the Transformation Force.

As such, facing the peak Transformation Force old man and the average Transformation Force Wu Duan, he certainly had no chance of victory; even his chances of escaping were infinitesimally small.

The shock on Chen Han's face did not fade, but his mind raced, frantically searching for a way to escape his predicament.

Just then, Wu Duan spoke up, "The third suspect has emerged..."

As he spoke, he pushed a slip of paper across the table toward the old man.

Chen Han's heart gave a violent jolt; there was a name written on it, but he was too far away to see it clearly.

This is bad. Although I didn't reveal my name to the old man, he saw me wearing the Chen Family uniform a few days ago. If that paper has my name on it, he will definitely become suspicious.

This is a disaster. What if it is my name? Fight? I can't win. Run? It would be a narrow escape at best...

At this life-or-death juncture, Chen Han was tense to the extreme, his heart feeling as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

Fortunately, the next moment, the old man read out an unfamiliar name.

"Zhao Goudan?"

The old man sucked in a breath and his eye twitched. "What kind of shitty name is this? And this is the guy who killed over fifty of my brothers? Tell me, kid, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

Wu Duan didn't care about the old man's skepticism and said, "I am still vetting them one by one. This is only the third one; it might not be him."

"Take a few men to break his legs. If nothing happens, then it proves he isn't the one."

"And if it is him?"

The old man countered.

Wu Duan sneered, "Then you had better be careful. This is a fiend who slaughtered over fifty of your thugs..."

"Hmph, as expected of the city's renowned Investigator Wu. Your methods for handling cases are truly something else."

The old man said with a sarcastic tone.

"You go ahead and investigate. It's getting late, and I must return to my estate to rest."

Just like that, the three of them parted ways.

As he left, Chen Han secretly resolved to eliminate this constable named Wu Duan as soon as possible, or else he would eventually be tracked down.

Although Chen Han was currently a martial artist who hadn't fully adapted to the Transformation Force, with the training of the next two days and the physical reinforcement from the Taiji Health Cultivation Technique, he had a chance to kill Wu Duan with a thunderous strike if he fought him one-on-one.

If he launched a sneak attack, it would be much easier, but such opportunities were rare, and the situation at that time would be unpredictable.

Of course, he could hide in the Chen Family forever, and the other party would be unable to touch him, but what would be the point of that? What good would it do?

There was still that poison planted by that bitch in his body; who knew when it would be full and start spawning, eventually filling his stomach with worms and leading to a miserable death?

But if he took the risk, Wu Duan might discover his identity at any moment.

He naturally understood the old man as well; he was nowhere near as approachable as he appeared on the surface, and he definitely had ulterior motives in the shadows.

Perhaps this interrogation was just a test—submit and live, resist and die.

Whether to advance or retreat—in the blink of an eye, Chen Han had made his decision: the latter. Even if the risk was great, he would not fear it!

Besides, life itself was a high-stakes gamble. With great profit in front of him, if he didn't fight now, when would he?

The next day, Chen Han began training like a madman: punching, stance training, and sparring with others. By the end, taking on five Dark Force practitioners simultaneously was no longer a challenge.

In half a day, he made significant progress, gaining a deeper understanding and mastery of the Transformation Force.

It was no wonder he progressed so quickly; every time a breakthrough was successful, his body underwent a heaven-shaking transformation. At the martial artist stage, one could comprehend three distinct types of "Force."

External Force! Above raw strength; once unleashed, a hundred men could not withstand it. One would not be defeated even when facing several giants.

Dark Force! External Force transformed into internal; the power of bone and the power of force. Hidden within the form, it has form and power, and even without form, it still has power!

As for Transformation Force, it is a direct and violent enhancement of force, many times stronger than Dark Force. At the same time, his force naturally dissolves into his body; it can be said that the form is born from the heart, moving according to his will.

Simply put, his force was greater, and he was much more resistant to beatings.

As the saying goes, "To practice martial arts, first practice taking a beating." This Transformation Force took that to the extreme; as long as he willed it, the Transformation Force would cover his entire body.

Unless a blunt weapon was used, basically no one below the level of Dark Force could hurt him.

The following night, Chen Han returned to the Black Market and walked into Qing Xue's meat shop.

"Aunt Xue'er, two more pounds of meat."

Seeing Chen Han appear again after only two days, with no signs of dementia in his expression, Qing Xue was filled with excitement.

That was a full two pounds of exotic beast blood; even a martial artist would need a long time to recover, let alone this young lad.

With such an exaggerated consumption of blood, she couldn't think of any other possibility besides a litter of exotic beast cubs waiting to be fed.

It's confirmed. This kid truly has a litter of exotic beast cubs. I must find an opportunity...

"No problem, good nephew, just wait here, Auntie will go fetch them for you right away."

Before long, Chen Han left once again, carrying two large water gourds.

Qing Xue gazed at Chen Han's retreating figure, her eyes deep and alluring, "Next time it is. We have to take a boat when leaving, so it won't be easy to follow. Judging by that direction, it's toward that large locust tree. I shall wait there in a day or two..."

"Hahaha, excellent, excellent! That little wench has completely taken the bait. I reckon she'll sneakily follow you over next time. When that happens, I'll surely capture her alive and present her to you, my young friend. Once you take her home, make sure to discipline her well."

Inside the dilapidated shack, the little old man laughed heartily after hearing Chen Han's report, his spit flying right onto Chen Han's face.

Chen Han remained composed, wiping it away with a look of distinct disgust before chuckling twice and praising, "That goes without saying. Senior's wisdom is peerless; how could that woman who only knows how to pose and flirt compare?"

The little old man was so flattered by Chen Han that his face turned red, and he was clearly delighted. After finishing his laughter, he looked Chen Han up and down.

"Young friend, I can see you are no ordinary person. Why not join my Black Mountain Gang and follow me? I guarantee you'll have whatever you desire."

Chen Han politely cupped his hands, "Many thanks for your high regard, Senior. This junior must ponder this matter carefully and will give you an answer in the future."

A flicker of gloom flashed through the former's eyes, "Mm, good. This is no small matter; it is indeed worth pondering carefully..."

"If there is nothing else, this junior will take his leave. We shall act the day after tomorrow..."

"Good!"

That night, dark clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, and a fierce wind howled, signaling an impending storm within a mansion in the Inner City.

The cold wind whistled. Inside a room, lamps were lit, but after a sudden breeze, all the lamps extinguished at once, leaving the space in absolute stillness.

At the desk, Wu Duan, who was recording clues from bamboo slips to solve a case, felt his heart skip a beat and glanced toward his back.

Yet, there was nothing unusual to be found.

"Gui Yue, come and light the lamps."

He called out thus.

After a moment, there was no response. His vigilance spiked instantly; he stood up abruptly, scanned his surroundings, and raised his voice to call out again: "Yue Gui, come and light the lamps!"