Yin Blood Child

"Wait a moment, young master. I'll be right there."

It really was the thunder and wind making so much noise that the maid hadn't heard him.

For some reason, Wu Duan let out a long breath of relief.

Before long, the maid came in with graceful steps and lit the small lamp on Wu Duan's desk.

"That'll do. You may go."

Wu Duan was a little tired and planned to go to bed soon. Having all the lamps lit was too stimulating.

After the maid left, Wu Duan was alone in the room once more. He opened several portraits, each with the name of the person depicted written beneath it.

Following the clues, he carefully pieced things together and considered every possibility. In the end, he narrowed his target down to one person.

"Chen Han."

He murmured the name and found the corresponding portrait.

A somewhat familiar face appeared before him.

"This is..."

Wu Duan's pupils contracted, and shock surged through him!

There was no mistake. The person in the portrait was the young man he had seen two nights ago.

By now, Wu Duan was absolutely certain that this man was the fiend who had killed more than fifty Black Mountain Gang thugs in a single night.

He remembered telling the man to his face that he would arrest him. Could the man have already decided to kill him?

"This is bad..."

A sudden sense that he'd brought disaster upon himself came over him. At the same time, as if he'd sensed something, he broke into a cold sweat, every hair on his body standing on end.

At that very moment, a pair of shadowy eyes appeared behind him.

It was Chen Han. His gaze was icy as he appeared behind Wu Duan without warning, like a wandering spirit.

He raised his fist. Strength welled up from within, like silent thunder.

Wu Duan was a Transformation Force martial artist, after all, and his reaction was quick. The moment he sensed something was wrong, he was already moving.

Knowing he didn't have time to defend himself, he simply turned his body sideways and darted sharply in the opposite direction.

That sidestep sent Chen Han's punch—aimed at his head—slicing through empty air.

Chen Han immediately changed tactics and pressed his advantage, striking at other parts of Wu Duan's body.

Caught off guard, Wu Duan had no choice but to fend off blow after blow. Chen Han's attacks were ferocious, and Wu Duan held his breath, terrified that one moment's carelessness would get him killed on the spot.

When masters fought, victory or defeat often hinged on a single instant.

Chen Han still wore the same black clothes, with a black gauze hat on his head.

Behind the veil, his eyes gleamed with murderous intent. His fists whistled through the air as he attacked Wu Duan several times a second, each move ruthless, aimed straight at vital points like the eyes, throat, and heart.

Defend for long enough, and an opening was bound to appear. At one point, Chen Han seized his chance and drove a heavy kick forward.

Wu Duan's pupils contracted. Realizing it would smash his head to pulp, he hurriedly raised both arms to block.

"Hmph!"

He grunted and stumbled back several steps. Just as he was relieved to have some distance and thought he could call for help, Chen Han's right hand formed a rigid two-finger point, and a silver needle with a blackened tip appeared between them.

Two Yang Finger!

The next moment, the needle shot toward Wu Duan at astonishing speed and pierced straight through him.

It flashed past like a streak of cold light!

Wu Duan suddenly felt a chill somewhere in his chest, as if a raindrop had splashed against him. The sensation vanished in an instant.

He immediately sensed something was wrong and tore open his clothes. Sure enough, a small patch of dreadful black was spreading at astonishing speed, and an inexplicable weakness rose from within.

There was no doubt about it. It was poison!

Wu Duan's heart jolted. He immediately stopped circulating his force, doing everything he could to slow the flow of blood and qi.

"Hero, I was only doing a job for money. Spare me, and I'll find some lowly commoner to take the blame and get you out of this."

"Sorry, you know too much..."

Chen Han remained unmoved. Mercilessly, he charged at Wu Duan again.

"Hero! We can still talk—"

He hadn't finished speaking before Chen Han beat him to death with a flurry of punches.

"If I don't kill you, I'll die, so it's better if you go and die instead. You never crossed me, but your mistake was thinking you could meddle in everything..."

"Darling, it's time for your medicine."

Just then, the door opened. A pretty little maid entered with a bowl of medicine, her gaze fixed on it as she carefully stepped inside.

Chen Han had already sensed her. The moment the maid came in, he struck her unconscious with the edge of his hand. Her eyes rolled back, and she fell backward into a pool of water.

The storm had arrived, and the water had already risen above the soles of their shoes.

Chen Han felt a little sorry for her. He picked the maid up and laid her down inside the room.

If he left the girl outside, she'd likely freeze to death during the night. Even if someone found her the next day, she might fall gravely ill and die.

Chen Han didn't consider himself a good person, but he wasn't the irredeemable devil the Black Mountain Gang claimed he was, either.

No matter how many people from the Black Mountain Gang died, he'd clap his hands in approval behind the scenes. But if an innocent commoner died, all he could do was offer his condolences.

Chen Han went over to Wu Duan and searched him from head to toe, then ransacked the room. Afterward, he picked up the body. Naturally, he wouldn't leave a corpse behind, especially one that had been poisoned.

He knew that the more clues he left, the more danger he'd be in.

The best thing to do was burn the body to ashes or throw it into the river for the fish.

As he lifted Wu Duan, he noticed two bloody characters on the floor where he had been lying. They were none other than Chen Han's name.

The character "Han" had too many strokes. He must have been killed before he could finish writing it in secret.

"Good thing I was cautious, or that dead bastard might've gotten the better of me."

Chen Han muttered to himself as an idea came to him. He wiped away the original characters and wrote "Zhao Family" in their place.

Who cared whether they knew if it was the powerful Zhao Family in the city? They could make their own guesses. It'd be even better if the two sides became enemies and the dogs fought each other.

With that thought, Chen Han carried Wu Duan's body off into the night.

Early the next morning.

"What! He was killed?"

Yin Blood Child of the Black Mountain Gang—that was, Old Man Xiang—was the one who had proposed to the other high-ranking members that they spend a fortune to hire Wu Duan to investigate Chen Han's identity.

At the servant's report, the muscles in his greasy, pockmarked face twitched violently. His neck was like layers of fat stacked atop one another, and his eyes burned with fury.

"Master Yin, this man comes and goes without a trace, and he never leaves any openings when he strikes. Even the famous Wu Duan couldn't take him down. If we keep investigating, we might only invite more trouble."

The servant laid out the situation for Yin Blood Child, not forgetting to urge him to let the matter go.

He was just running errands to earn a meal. There was a devil out there who only killed Black Mountain Gang members—how could he not be afraid?

If this fat bastard, who did nothing but eat, sent him to investigate, he'd be in for a world of trouble.

"This man is indeed hard to deal with, but I still have to give the gang leader an explanation. Here, you take care of this. Go investigate him."

"G-great sir, I'm just a scholar. I'm no good at fighting..."

The servant was cursing the fat bastard's ancestors in his heart. The bastard had really made him take on this dangerous assignment.

"A scholar's good. Scholars can read and write. You go. Take two Bright Force brothers with you. If I haven't heard a peep from you in seven days, you can wait to feed the dogs!"

"Master, this..."

"Hm?"

Yin Blood Child, as fat as a little mountain, glared at him so viciously that the servant swallowed his complaint.

"Yes, I'll do as you say, Master."

In the end, he had no choice but to accept the task.