Kill!

In the alley, Lu Cheng weighed the iron pitchfork in his hand and watched the two men closing in, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

It looked like the pitchfork belonged to some household and had been used to fork up firewood.

It had only two tines, and one of them was missing its tip. It was shorter overall than his own fishing spear, too.

But having one and not having one were two entirely different things.

Without the pitchfork, Lu Cheng could only run.

With it, he feared the two men would turn tail and run.

As he'd hurried all the way here, Lu Cheng had gotten a pretty good read on them.

The better-dressed man had average stamina, average reflexes, and average intelligence. He was no different from an ordinary person, so Lu Cheng didn't need to worry about him.

The other one, though, looked like he'd be a bit harder to deal with.

He wasn't tall, but he'd chased Lu Cheng this far without even breathing heavily, which meant he had good stamina.

His hands and face were covered in old and new scars. He was clearly someone who'd been fighting for years and was bound to have plenty of brawling experience.

But fortunately, Lu Cheng now had a weapon, and he was standing in a narrow alley like this.

With the river behind him, even if he couldn't win, escaping wouldn't be difficult.

Only then did Lu Cheng stop.

Lu Cheng smiled, and so did the Young Gang Leader and his companion.

The difference was that Lu Cheng's lips had curled in a silent, almost imperceptible smile.

The Young Gang Leader and his companion laughed openly, full of scorn.

They laughed at Lu Cheng for overestimating himself.

They laughed without a care in the world.

Their laughter rang far beyond the alley.

The sound waves shook the place. A few doors and windows on either side of the alley rattled slightly, then shut even more tightly.

The Young Gang Leader pointed at Lu Cheng and laughed until he could barely catch his breath.

The Young Gang Leader himself was one thing. Though he hadn't grown up in silks and satins, he'd never known hardship.

Even when street gangs clashed, he watched from somewhere completely safe.

So he knew exactly what he was capable of.

But Shi Da, standing beside him, had spent years fighting and scrambling for dominance on the streets. He was notorious throughout the Fish Gang.

Earlier, Lu Cheng's side had outnumbered them, and they'd all been dressed unmistakably as students of a Martial Arts Hall, so the two men had worried they might get hurt if they made a careless mistake.

But now they faced just one half-grown boy, and they'd lost every trace of caution.

Instead, Lu Cheng's wary stance with the pitchfork had them in stitches.

In their eyes, Lu Cheng was just a boy who'd practiced martial arts for a few days and already thought he was a martial artist.

Cornered by the two of them, he'd happened to pick up a "weapon" and was planning to make a desperate stand.

After chasing him for so long, the two men had figured Lu Cheng was about to get away.

They hadn't expected the fellow to be so unfamiliar with the city streets.

He'd actually run straight into an alley like this.

The alley was a passage between two rows of houses, barely wide enough for two people to squeeze through shoulder to shoulder.

One end opened onto the street; the other led to the river. It was practically a dead end.

The only thing they had to worry about was Lu Cheng jumping into the river. He was a fisherman, so he was bound to be a good swimmer.

If he slipped into the water, they really wouldn't be able to catch him.

"Lu Cheng, was it? Hahaha... Cough, cough." Shi Da laughed so hard he ran out of breath and had to cough twice.

"You don't hold a pitchfork like that, hahaha!"

He casually pulled a drying pole from beside the wall and tapped it against his hand as he walked toward Lu Cheng.

"Come on, come on. Let your grandpa Shi teach you how to... Holy crap, you little—!"

Before he could finish, his teasing turned to alarm.

His eyes flew wide as he grabbed the pole in both hands and held it across his chest, barely blocking Lu Cheng's lightning-fast thrust.

Clang! The pitchfork met the pole.

Feeling the force in his hands, Shi Da was astonished.

How could a half-grown kid have so much strength?

The force nearly knocked the pole from his hands.

Lu Cheng, however, sighed inwardly, thinking what a pity.

His Stance Training had now carried him halfway through the door.

Not only had strength risen in his limbs, but he could also draw power from the ground through his legs.

He'd been secretly building up strength for that thrust, and he'd also caught Shi Da partly by surprise. It had been an excellent opportunity.

Unfortunately, after practicing so intensely over the past four days, Lu Cheng's body was still sore and numb.

His strength, speed, and aim had all fallen far short of their best.

Otherwise, that thrust would have been enough to take the man's life.

Though Lu Cheng regretted the missed chance, he didn't stop.

While you're down, finish you off!

Before Shi Da could switch his grip and catch his breath, Lu Cheng pressed forward with the iron pitchfork.

By now, Lu Cheng was using Fish Spearing Technique.

He first thrust at the man's face.

But it was a feint.

As the man raised his drying pole to block again, Lu Cheng pushed off with his left foot, sending the force up through his thigh and into his shoulder and back.

He twisted his arm rapidly. The pitchfork spun around, passed over the drying pole, then swept back through the air.

The intact tine suddenly sliced across the man's throat, drawing a streak of red.

The drying pole clattered to the ground.

Shi Da clutched his throat and slowly toppled backward.

The Heavenly Mandate in Lu Cheng's Consciousness Sea flashed briefly.

Having gained experience with Fish Spearing Technique before, Lu Cheng knew this meant the Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance had made considerable progress during the fight.

But he had no time to check now.

He kicked Shi Da, increasing the speed and force of his backward fall, then stepped forward with the pitchfork and closed in on the Young Gang Leader behind him.

It had all happened in a fleeting instant.

The Young Gang Leader's laughter hadn't even died away when he saw Shi Da begin to topple backward in front of him.

They'd been three or four steps apart, but before the Young Gang Leader could react, Shi Da's falling body had lurched right up into his face.

The Young Gang Leader realized something was wrong and turned to run.

But as soon as he lifted his foot, a sharp pain shot through his rear leg.

His leg gave way, and he fell to the ground.

In the next instant, an iron pitchfork clanged down around his neck, pinning him face-down on the ground.

"Fish Gang?"

Lu Cheng looked down at him and asked coldly.

Pinned by the pitchfork around his neck, the Young Gang Leader didn't dare move, let alone reach up to touch his wound.

He could only endure the pain and answer while lying on the ground:

"I... I'm the Young Gang Leader of the Fish Gang. It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! Please don't do anything rash."

Lu Cheng shook his head.

"A misunderstanding? What if I told you it wasn't?"

"N-no, it wasn't a misunderstanding?" The Young Gang Leader immediately began to tremble, so terrified he didn't know what to say.

What kind of person was this? He was so young, yet he killed without batting an eye.

A sudden warmth spread beneath him, and the stench of urine rose into the air.

Lu Cheng looked at the man on the ground, his eyes cold.

He didn't care whether the man was a Young Gang Leader or not. Since they'd come after him, that meant the Fish Gang wasn't going to let him go.

Besides, he'd already killed one of them. This fellow had to die, too.

It didn't matter if a dying man learned about You Lanchuang.

But before killing him, Lu Cheng had to get an answer to one question.

He pressed down, lightly digging the pitchfork into the Young Gang Leader's throat.

"Who told the Fish Gang I'd come to Yang City?"

It wasn't that Lu Cheng suspected Old Man Ge of informing on him.

It was just that the people who ran the fish stalls were vicious and ruthless, and Lu Cheng feared they might have used force against Old Man Ge.

Or worse...

Pinned beneath Lu Cheng, the Young Gang Leader naturally answered every question.

"It was Liu Daozi from Cold Willow Town. He came into town three days ago and asked around about You Lanchuang. That's how we learned something had happened in Cold Willow Town."

"Later, he was the one who said that only your family had had a conflict with You Lanchuang recently."

"That's why we started suspecting you, but by then you'd already disappeared."

"After that, he heard from an old fisherman that you'd come to Yang City on the very day You Lanchuang disappeared."

Hearing this, Lu Cheng's heart gave a jolt. What he'd feared had still come to pass.

The Young Gang Leader, lying on the ground, couldn't see Lu Cheng's expression.

When Lu Cheng didn't answer, the man seemed to have found a lifeline and hurriedly said:

"Lu Cheng, Lu Cheng, listen to me. You Lanchuang was a rotten bastard. I never liked him either. You did a good job killing him! No, he fled with the money. If we catch him, we'll kill him for sure!"

Lu Cheng gave a wooden "Mm," and tightened his grip on the pitchfork.

"Then I'll send you to find him."

With that, he pressed down, driving the pitchfork into the Young Gang Leader's throat with a wet thud.

He pulled out the pitchfork, dragged the Young Gang Leader, still twitching, and Shi Da, who'd already gone cold, and dumped them into the river with a splash.

Then he turned and left the alley, not returning to the Long Wind Escort Agency.

He went straight out through the South Gate of Yangcheng County and hurried toward Cold Willow Town beneath the moonlight.