Night Kill Zhou Zhongru

Market Ward, Meat Trade Association.

On the martial arts stage, Wu Ming's corpse had already been cleared away.

Li Beichen, wearing a Tiger-Head Mask, crouched in the shadows of a corner beside the stage.

Like a fierce tiger, he coldly watched the second floor of the association building.

There, the lights were still blazing.

As the president of the association, Zhou Zhongru naturally had living quarters in the back courtyard.

Furthermore, he possessed other residences in the Market Ward and elsewhere.

Along with the beautiful maids and concubines he kept.

Li Beichen's goal for this trip was simple: to kill.

In his heart, this Zhou Zhongru had already paved his own path to the grave.

He had come to the association first to try his luck.

If he didn't find him, he would return to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and search the other locations during the night.

But now, looking at the brightly lit pavilion, Li Beichen smiled almost imperceptibly.

Luck is good; no need to run around. Zhou Zhongru must still be at the association.

His luck was just right.

Naturally, Zhou Zhongru was destined for misfortune.

The next moment.

Like a monkey, Li Beichen nimbly scaled the brickwork and wooden pillars, quietly climbing to the exterior of the second-floor pavilion.

Through the paper window, he could see two silhouettes inside.

One of them was clearly the figure of Zhou Zhongru.

"Fourth, have you dealt with the kin of that bastard Wu Ming?"

"They've all been sent away for now, President."

"To think they dared to come to the association to cause trouble—do they really think I, Zhou Zhongru, am a soft persimmon? Tomorrow, seize all the shops under Wu Ming's name."

"This must be done quickly, before that vulture Mo Changkun reacts."

"Yes, President."

With the [Hunting] skill at his disposal, Li Beichen's senses were sharp; even though their voices were low, he heard them clearly.

Wu Ming had died in the afternoon.

And he had died while running errands for Zhou Zhongru.

That very same night, Zhou Zhongru was already plotting to seize Wu Ming's assets.

He called Mo Changkun a vulture.

At least Mo Changkun had shown his face, whereas Zhou Zhongru hadn't even bothered to go downstairs after Wu Ming died.

Li Beichen was not surprised; since drifting from Bing Province to Jiangnan, he had seen enough of human nature's depravity during his flight from famine.

A prominent association president like Zhou Zhongru was worse than the average person.

His moral bottom line could only be described as lower.

Or perhaps non-existent.

Even in peaceful times, such people were utterly repulsive.

Inside the room, the voices continued.

"There is one more thing. I've already sent word to the Thunderbolt Martial Hall; tomorrow, you go directly to find Yang Tianyi."

"That greenhorn Li Beichen might have been able to beat a piece of trash like Wu Ming, but can he beat Yang Tianyi? An Eighth-Grade martial artist crushing a Ninth-Grade one is a sure thing."

"I must get my hands on that secret recipe for the Braised Meat!"

"Once I do, and combine it with the Meat Trade—"

Just as Zhou Zhongru was fantasizing about the grand future he would have once he secured the Braised Meat business.

Xiu! Xiu!

The window shattered, and wood splinters sprayed everywhere.

Two Locust Stones shot in like lightning, tearing through the air with a sharp, piercing whistle.

"President, watch out!!"

The Fourth who worked for Zhou Zhongru was actually an initiated martial artist himself.

He instantly flicked a short blade from his sleeve.

He attempted to deflect the Locust Stones.

Yet in the blink of an eye, two Locust Stones were fired almost simultaneously.

Fourth could only save one person.

Either himself, or Zhou Zhongru.

At this critical juncture, the short sword in Fourth's hand chose to hack at the stone hurtling toward him.

Opposite him, Zhou Zhongru's frontal bone shattered instantly, the Locust Stone sinking almost entirely into his skull.

His eyes were filled with disbelief.

Although Zhou Zhongru had been a ranked martial artist thirty years ago, decades of debauchery had left him completely unable to withstand this strike from Li Beichen.

"Chairman!!"

Fourth let out a roar and scrambled over to check on Zhou Zhongru's condition.

At the same time, he caught a glimpse of the window out of the corner of his eye.

He saw a figure in a Tiger Mask leaping from the pavilion and disappearing into the alleyways with the agility of a bird.

Just after Li Beichen had left, a more burly man in an Ox Mask appeared before the chamber of commerce pavilion.

With a light leap, he flew into the second floor.

At this moment, Fourth was still immersed in the grief of Zhou Zhongru being killed.

Suddenly, he saw the man in the Ox Mask appear in the room.

The man reached out a large, muscular hand with bulging veins.

Fourth hurriedly thrust his short sword at this hand.

Unexpectedly, the hand did not dodge, reaching straight toward him.

Ding, ding, ding!

Like pearls falling onto a jade plate!

The short sword struck the hand as if hitting solid jade, emitting a crisp sound.

It did not even pierce the skin, leaving only a few white marks.

"A master of Skin Refining!"

Fourth let out a miserable howl as his head exploded like a watermelon.

After finishing the deed, the man in the Ox Mask hoisted the remains of Zhou Zhongru and Fourth as if they were two small chicks.

With a light leap, he arrived directly at the open space in the back courtyard of the chamber of commerce.

Next to it was the kitchen, where firewood was stacked.

The man in the Ox Mask casually tossed the two corpses into the center of the courtyard.

Then, he gathered an armful of firewood to cover the bodies.

He retrieved a large handful of tinder from the kitchen and spread it over them.

Afterward, he dropped a lit flint.

In no time at all, a raging fire roared to life.

Reflected in the firelight, the jade-like skin of the man in the Ox Mask shimmered brilliantly.

Returning to Hundred Flowers Pavilion, Li Beichen first settled the bill.

Then he returned to the private room to continue the banquet.

He looked around, but did not see his Eldest Senior Brother, Zhang Meng.

He looked at Third Senior Brother, Wang Dao, who was drinking with Fourth Senior Brother, Yang Ling.

"Third Senior Brother, where is Eldest Senior Brother?"

Wang Dao, his face slightly flushed, turned back and replied.

"Didn't Eldest Senior Brother go to the latrine too? How did you miss him, Seventh?"

"Perhaps we just missed each other."

No sooner had the words fallen than the door to the private room was pushed open.

"I'm back!"

"I just saw a vendor selling masks outside, so I bought one."

Zhang Meng displayed an Ox-Head Mask to the group.

At the same time, he flexed and swelled his biceps.

"Look, doesn't this ox head match my powerful muscles perfectly?"

"Hahaha..."

Everyone burst into laughter.

The group drank until late into the night before finally ending the feast.

Since they had to cultivate tomorrow, everyone went their separate ways home.

The moonlight was bright and clear.

Li Beichen parted ways with his senior brothers at an intersection.

He walked toward his two-courtyard residence alone.

His expression was pensive.

He was still thinking about what had just happened.

The Ox-Head Mask that Zhang Meng displayed had been right next to the Tiger-Head Mask that Li Beichen had picked up.

He knew that Zhang Meng was aware he had been to the Meat Trade Association.

"The inner courtyard is a web..."

Li Beichen muttered softly, recalling what Zhang Meng had said.

His gaze sharpened, and he turned back around.

He headed straight for the Market Ward.

Before he even arrived, Li Beichen saw flames shooting into the sky in the distance.

It was exactly the location of the Meat Trade Association.

He walked a few hundred meters closer and discovered that the fire was contained to a single spot and had not ignited the surrounding houses.

Moreover, yamen runners were already rushing toward the scene.

The area was already in an uproar.

Li Beichen stopped, watched for a moment, and chose not to go any further, opting to return home instead.

The next day, Li Beichen heard the news.

The president of the Meat Trade Association, Zhou Zhongru, and the steward, Fourth, had both perished within the association.

Their remains had been cremated by the fire.

Not a shred of evidence was left behind.

Murder and arson... is this your way of covering your tracks, Senior Brother...