"Master, you..."
After leaving the dim alley, Qin Fang hurried ahead in pursuit. Before long, he caught up with Scar-Head Li.
He quietly called Scar-Head Li's name. The already-tensed man nearly screamed in fright.
Fortunately, Qin Fang clapped a hand over his mouth at once, keeping him from giving them away.
Scar-Head Li soon came to his senses. Seeing Qin Fang had returned, he let out a breath of relief.
He was about to say something, but the next moment his expression changed. A trace of fear appeared in his eyes as he looked at Qin Fang.
It was because he saw the blood spattered across Qin Fang's face.
That made him realize... the man really had been killed!
Scar-Head Li's head spun, and his heart was filled with apprehension.
There was no doubt about it: Qin Fang was a ruthless killer!
Would he... would he really let him go?
Scar-Head Li felt a chill run through him. His mind was in complete turmoil.
Qin Fang paid no heed to what he was thinking and asked quietly, "Did anyone else leave?"
He peered ahead carefully. Scar-Head Li was too timid and had kept his distance. The others were almost at the far end of the street, so it was hard to make out exactly how many there were.
Only then did Scar-Head Li come back to his senses. His voice trembling, he said, "Y-yes. One person left..."
"Where?"
Qin Fang furrowed his brow and asked in a low voice.
Scar-Head Li pointed toward an alley ahead. "I-in there..."
"How long ago?" Qin Fang asked, frowning.
"J-just went in..."
"All right. Keep following them... get closer. I'll go take a look."
Qin Fang set off at a run without the slightest hesitation.
He was already a long way from Wang Long and the others, so there was no need to worry about them hearing his footsteps.
Scar-Head Li opened his mouth to say something, but Qin Fang had already sprinted away.
That kind of decisiveness...
Scar-Head Li trembled all over. He wanted to turn back, but the sight of Qin Fang's blood-covered face immediately crushed the thought.
If he kept going, perhaps he still had a chance to live. Just as Qin Fang had said, they were all in the same boat.
If he backed out now... he was certain Qin Fang would kill him without a doubt!
Scar-Head Li was well and truly trapped. He had no choice left.
Qin Fang naturally had no idea what was going through Scar-Head Li's mind. He dashed into the alley and swept his gaze around. Sure enough, several dozen meters ahead, someone was standing in front of a courtyard, apparently picking the lock.
Qin Fang's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure whether anyone was inside. If the man made it into the house, things would get troublesome.
He immediately picked up speed, no longer caring whether the man noticed him.
In the middle of the night, someone suddenly running at full speed couldn't hide the sound of his footsteps.
Even though Qin Fang was being careful, he was still spotted.
"Who's there?"
The man was clearly startled. He turned around instinctively and called out.
Qin Fang didn't answer, only closing the distance at speed.
The man looked taken aback, then called out again, "You..."
But while he was speaking, Qin Fang had already approached to within five or six meters. The instant the man opened his mouth again, Qin Fang raised his right hand, and a Flying Dart shot out in a flash!
Thwack!
A Flying Dart at the Minor Accomplishment Stage was reliably accurate.
The man had barely gotten the word "You" out when the dart drove the rest of his words back down his throat.
He grunted, clapped both hands over his neck, and staggered backward into the door, making quite a racket.
Qin Fang said nothing. He rushed forward and, just as he had with his first target, pressed hard on the Flying Dart embedded in the man's neck.
The man's eyes widened as he instinctively struggled wildly. With his back against the wooden door, he made a series of thumping noises.
Qin Fang ignored it and kept pressing the dart into the man's throat with all his strength.
At last, after struggling for a short while, the man gradually lost his strength. Then, like the first target, he breathed his last.
Qin Fang breathed a little harder. After killing his second target, he pulled out the Flying Dart but didn't immediately check the man's belongings. Instead, he surveyed the area.
He paid particular attention to the courtyard gate the man had been trying to open. Was there any movement inside?
The surroundings were utterly still.
After waiting a good while, Qin Fang let out a breath of relief.
He'd been lucky. The noise hadn't seemed to wake anyone nearby.
That made sense. It was already the dead of night, when ordinary people slept most soundly. The man had spoken, but not very loudly, and the sounds of his struggle hadn't been all that loud either. It was only natural that no one else had woken up.
After exhaling softly, Qin Fang searched the body with practiced ease.
A moment later, he frowned.
"You're broke, but you still want to run with the gang?"
He had found three or four taels of silver on the first target. On this second one, he'd found only a few dozen copper coins.
He shook his head, stood up, and examined the man. After confirming that his appearance matched the person Scar-Head Li had described, he quickly left.
He didn't dispose of the body.
He didn't have time.
The longer he lingered here, the more troublesome the rest of the operation would become. He might even have to break into someone else's house to kill them.
"Too bad I'm still too weak. The dart can only sink into the neck, not pierce straight through. That makes it far less lethal, and wastes a lot of time..."
Qin Fang reviewed the two attacks.
The Flying Dart was powerful enough, but it was hard to kill someone instantly with it.
A devastating wound to the neck was fatal, but it didn't kill right away.
The best method would actually be to pierce the head... If he could punch straight through the skull, the target would die instantly.
But unfortunately, his dart couldn't even pass right through a neck yet, let alone a skull.
The skull was hard. At most, his dart could stick into someone's forehead.
It might look terrifying, but it wouldn't even count as a serious injury. It wouldn't hinder the target's ability to move at all.
Unless he could pierce the eye socket, which could also kill instantly...
But the eyes were a tiny target, and it was pitch-black outside. If he missed, things would get very troublesome.
He might even end up killed in return...
It looked as if he'd had it easy, killing two targets in a row.
But in fact, he'd attacked them from a distance with Hidden Weapons.
If he fought them openly... with his puny frame, he'd probably be utterly crushed.
His body was still far too weak.
If he had another month or two to recover, and his master began properly teaching him martial arts, while his Flying Dart skill advanced a little further... then things would be much easier.
Too bad.
Thinking this, he caught up with Scar-Head Li again.
Four targets remained.
But when he caught up with Scar-Head Li again and saw the worry on his face, Qin Fang's brow creased slightly. He realized something might have gone wrong.
"What happened?"
Seeing Qin Fang, Scar-Head Li hurriedly spoke in a trembling, low voice. "Master, what do we do? Three targets went to Lan Gui Fang together... There are so many people in Lan Gui Fang! W-what do we do?"
At this, Qin Fang's expression darkened.
Lan Gui Fang was the name of a brothel in True Martial County.
It was famous throughout True Martial County.
"Which ones? Is Wang Long there?"
Qin Fang asked in a grave voice.
Scar-Head Li froze for a moment, then stammered, "W-Wang Long isn't there. It's the other three..."
That meant Mole Zhang and the two other remaining targets.
Qin Fang's eyelid twitched.
...The unexpected had happened after all.
He had already killed two people.
Once word got out tomorrow, the rest would surely be on high alert.
They might even suspect him.
And if he went up against the Iron Tiger Gang openly now, it would be like an egg smashing against a rock. He wouldn't have even the slightest chance to fight back.
What should he do now?
Qin Fang's expression shifted between dark and bright.
Before you continue