Kill!

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

This fork must have been used by some household to gather firewood.

It only had two prongs, one of which was missing its tip, and its overall length was shorter than his own fishing spear.

But having it and not having it were two completely different matters.

Without the iron fork, Lu Cheng could only flee.

With the iron fork, his only fear was that these two would turn and run.

Having walked this path at a sprint, Lu Cheng had basically figured things out.

The man dressed in better clothes had average stamina, average movement, and average intelligence; he was no different from an ordinary person, so there was no need to worry about him.

The other one looked a bit more troublesome.

He wasn't tall, but he hadn't been panting heavily despite the long chase, which meant his stamina was good.

His hands and face were covered in old and new scars, clearly marking him as someone who fought year-round; he was bound to be experienced in brawls.

But fortunately, he now had a weapon in hand, and he was in such a narrow alley.

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

That was why Lu Cheng had stopped.

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

The difference was that Lu Cheng's smile was a silent, subtle curling of the lips.

The Young Gang Leader and his companion, however, laughed with undisguised disdain.

They laughed at Lu Cheng for overestimating his own abilities.

They laughed recklessly.

They laughed so loudly that the sound carried far out of the alley.

The sound waves vibrated, causing a few doors and windows on either side of the alley to tremble slightly before being shut even more tightly.

The Young Gang Leader pointed at Lu Cheng, laughing until he was out of breath.

This Young Gang Leader was nothing special himself; although he hadn't lived in the lap of luxury since childhood, he had never suffered any hardships either.

Even during street fights, he would watch from a position of absolute safety.

Therefore, he knew exactly what his own level was.

But Shi Da, who stood beside him, had spent years fighting and brawling on the streets and had quite a fierce reputation throughout the Fish Gang.

Earlier, Lu Cheng's side had been numerous and wore clothes that clearly identified them as martial arts students, so the two had been afraid of accidentally getting hurt.

But now, facing Lu Cheng, a half-grown boy, they didn't have a shred of caution left.

Instead, they were amused by Lu Cheng's posture as he stood guard with the fork.

In their eyes, Lu Cheng was just a boy who had practiced kung fu for a few days and thought he had become a martial artist.

He had been cornered by them and had happened to pick up a "weapon," intending to put up a desperate fight.

The two had chased him for so long that they had thought Lu Cheng was about to get away.

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

He had actually dived into such a small alley.

This alley was a passage between two rows of mansions, wide enough for only two people to squeeze through side by side.

One end led to the street, and the other led to the river, making it essentially a dead end.

The only thing to worry about was Lu Cheng jumping into the river; the kid was a fisherman, so his swimming skills were bound to be excellent.

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

"Lu Cheng, is it? Hahaha... cough." Shi Da laughed so hard his breath hitched, causing him to cough twice.

"That's not how you hold a fork, hahahaha."

He casually pulled a Clothes Drying Pole from the wall and, tapping it against his hand, walked toward Lu Cheng:

"Come, come, let Master Shi teach you how it's really... holy crap, you little brat!"

Before he could finish his mocking words, they turned into a cry of alarm.

His eyes widened abruptly, and he held the pole in front of his chest with both hands, barely managing to block the lightning-fast thrust of Lu Cheng's fork.

With a clang, the fork and the pole collided.

Feeling the force transmitted through his hands, Shi Da was shocked.

This was just a half-grown kid; how could he have such great strength?

It was so great that he had almost lost his grip on the pole.

Lu Cheng, however, sighed slightly in his heart, thinking it a pity.

He had now managed to get one foot through the door of his stance training.

Not only had strength emerged in his limbs, but he could now leverage the ground to generate force through his legs.

He had been secretly gathering strength for that previous strike, and since it was half a sneak attack, it had been an excellent opportunity.

Unfortunately, having trained too hard over the past four days, Lu Cheng's body was still aching and numb.

His strength, speed, and angle had all been significantly diminished.

Otherwise, that single strike would have been enough to claim the man's life.

Though he felt a pang of regret, Lu Cheng did not stop.

Strike while the iron is hot!

Without waiting for Shi Da to switch hands or catch his breath, Lu Cheng pressed forward with the iron fork.

At this moment, Lu Cheng was already employing the Fish Spearing Technique.

First, he lunged the fork toward the man's face.

However, this was merely a feint.

As the man moved to parry with his Clothes Drying Pole, Lu Cheng pushed off the ground with his left foot, channeling the force from his thigh up through his shoulder and back.

Lu Cheng twisted his arm rapidly, flipping the iron fork in an instant to bypass the Clothes Drying Pole and strike from above.

The intact prong of the fork slashed across the man's neck, drawing a streak of blood.

With a metallic clang, the Clothes Drying Pole fell to the ground.

Shi Da clutched his neck and slowly collapsed backward.

The Heavenly Mandate in Lu Cheng's sea of consciousness flickered rapidly.

Having gained experience from the Fish Spearing Technique before, Lu Cheng naturally knew this meant the Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance had made significant progress during the recent struggle.

But there was no time to check it now.

With a kick to accelerate Shi Da's backward fall, Lu Cheng stepped forward, fork in hand, to close in on the Young Gang Leader behind him.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The Young Gang Leader's laughter had not yet faded when he saw Shi Da, who had been standing before him, begin to tilt backward.

The two had originally been three or four paces apart, but before the Young Gang Leader could react, the falling Shi Da was suddenly right in 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 hind leg.

His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

In a flash, an iron fork pinned his neck with a clang, forcing him to lie flat against the earth.

"Fish Gang?"

Lu Cheng looked down at him and asked coldly.

Pinned by the iron fork, the Young Gang Leader dared not move, nor did he dare reach out to touch his wound.

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

"I... I am the Young Gang Leader of the Fish Gang. It's all a misunderstanding, a total misunderstanding! Please, don't be rash."

Lu Cheng shook his head:

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

"N-not a misunderstanding?" The Young Gang Leader began to tremble instantly, too terrified to know how to answer.

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

A 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 about any Young Gang Leader; since they had come for him, it proved the Fish Gang would not let him go.

Besides, having already killed one, he would certainly have to kill this one too.

It wouldn't hurt for a dying man to know about You Lanchuang.

But before killing him, there was one question that had to be answered clearly.

He applied pressure, the iron fork pressing lightly against the Young Gang Leader's neck:

"Who told the Fish Gang that I had come to Yang City?"

It wasn't that Lu Cheng suspected Old Man Ge of snitching.

It was just that the Fish Gang were ruthless people, and Lu Cheng feared they might have used force against Old Man Ge.

Or even...

Held at the mercy of Lu Cheng's fork, the Young Gang Leader told him everything he knew:

"It was Liu Daozi from Cold Willow Town. He came to the gang in the city three days ago to ask about You Lanchuang, and that's how we found out something had happened in Cold Willow Town."

"It was also him who said later that only your family had a conflict with You Lanchuang recently."

"That was when we started to suspect you, but you had already vanished by then."

"Later, he learned from an old fisherman that you had fled to Yangcheng on the very day You Lanchuang went missing."

Lu Cheng felt a tremor in his heart upon hearing this; what he had feared had come to pass.

The Young Gang Leader, sprawled on the ground, could not see Lu Cheng's expression.

Seeing Lu Cheng remain silent, he seemed to have grasped at a straw and hurriedly said:

"Lu Cheng, Lu Cheng, listen to me, You Lanchuang is just a piece of trash, I've long found him an eyesore too. You did well to slaughter him—no, wait, he embezzled funds and ran away! If we catch him, we'll definitely kill him!"

Lu Cheng gave a wooden "hmph," his grip tightening on the iron fork:

"Then I shall send you to find him right now."

With that, he exerted force, and the iron fork plunged into the Young Gang Leader's neck.

He pulled out the iron fork, dragged the still-twitching Young Gang Leader and the already cold Shi Da, and tossed them into the river with a splash.

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

He headed straight out of the south gate of Yangcheng County, treading under the moonlight as he made his way toward Cold Willow Town.