"Ah!"
"My leg, my leg is broken..."
"Where's my second brother? Why can't I see him? Has anyone seen my second brother?"
A wave of anguished wails and screams filled the street, now resembling a battlefield from hell.
Li Jinshui had already swapped in a fresh battery and was slaughtering his way through the crowd once more.
The martial artists from these gangs were simply too few. Aside from the four gang leaders, who were First-rate Martial Artists, the few dozen others were mostly Third- or Second-rate Martial Artists. The rest of the ordinary gang members had, at best, plenty of experience in street brawls.
Li Jinshui had burned through several batteries and used up most of his Qi-Blood, yet he had still managed to kill nearly all of the dozens of Second- and Third-rate Martial Artists who had charged at the front. With the Venom Snake Gang's leader dead on the spot as well, fear had begun spreading through the crowd.
The ones at the front didn't dare make a fuss. Drawing on years of street-fighting experience and a knack for staying alive, they were quietly edging backward.
The ordinary gang members on the outskirts, who still had no idea what was happening, kept pressing forward.
In an instant, people were trampling and shoving one another. The scene descended into chaos.
The other three gang leaders were also in a panic. They couldn't even begin to steady the situation, and had already taken advantage of the confusion to scramble and crawl their way to the rear.
"What do we do? What do we do now? There's something wrong with that kid!"
"He's definitely in the Flawless Realm. Those bastards from the Wei Hu Gang set us up! Old Snake died for nothing!"
"This is ridiculous! That kid looks barely seventeen or eighteen. How can someone that young be in the Flawless Realm? And he's learned at least two ninth-grade martial arts. How does that even make sense?"
The three huddled in a shadowy corner like stray dogs, drenched in cold sweat.
The Venom Snake Gang leader's death had nearly scared them witless.
After all, they were First-rate Martial Artists. The Qi-Blood within them had long since formed a Great Heavenly Cycle, giving them powerful protection.
They might not have been able to withstand bullets, but ordinary blades and swords could hardly hurt them.
Yet the Venom Snake Gang leader had been killed on the spot by a single flying knife.
How terrifying would someone's Qi-Blood have to be to do that?
"What do we do now? Should we pull out? All our capable fighters are almost dead!"
"Let them die. As long as we're not the ones dying, it doesn't matter. There are plenty of Second- and Third-rate Drifters out there. We can just recruit another batch."
"I'm worried we won't finish this job. We won't just lose the money—we might also get punished by the Wei Hu Gang."
"Damn it, punished for what? Their intel was wrong! If this gets out, we're the ones in the right. Let's get out of here. If we don't leave now, we'll end up dead too."
"Fine!"
With their lives on the line, the three immediately reached an agreement. Without even telling their men, they turned and fled in different directions.
If even the gang leaders were acting like this, how could their underlings be any better?
Some had already been watching their bosses closely. The moment they saw them run, the remaining martial artists slipped away without making a sound.
Those with a little conscience waited until they'd made some distance before shouting, "The boss has run! Everyone, get out of here!"
"What?"
The gang members still pushing at the front finally snapped out of it. They looked around in panic, and sure enough, their bosses were nowhere to be seen. Even the gang's high-ranking martial artists had vanished.
"Shit, brothers, run! They've abandoned us as bait!"
"Damn it, hundreds of us against one guy, and we still lost? What a joke!"
In the blink of an eye, the whole scene fell into chaos.
No one cared about surrounding and killing Li Jinshui anymore. Shoving and trampling one another, they scrambled to flee.
Seeing this, Li Jinshui stopped moving too. His chest heaved as he panted heavily, his strength all but spent.
But he didn't stop there. He reached to his waist, pulled a flying knife between his fingers, and flung it forward with a sharp snap.
A streak of cold light shot out, slipping through the gaps in the crowd and pinning a Third-Rate Martial Artist who was climbing over a wall to the bricks.
He didn't even spare another glance at the hundreds of ordinary gang members who had been scared witless.
It definitely wasn't because Heaven Rewards Diligence gave him no feedback for killing non-martial artists.
It was simply because he was kind!
Looking at the Heaven Rewards Diligence panel again, he saw that it had changed dramatically.
[Name: Li Jinshui] [Realm: First-rate Martial Artist (Flawless Realm)] [Martial Skills: Basic Lightness Skill (Greater Mastery 50/2000)] [Lame Fist (Not Initiated 0/100)] [Lightning Pulse Step (Proficient 450/1000) (Can be upgraded)] [Meteor Chasing Moon (Skilled 120/300)] [Techniques: Basic Stance Technique (Extreme Realm) Iron-Skin Stake (Extreme Realm)] [Traits: Deduction, Copper Skin] [...]
This battle had been an incredible haul!
He had killed no fewer than fifty martial artists, including the Venom Snake Gang leader, a ninth-grade First-rate Martial Artist.
Basic Lightness Skill had improved the most, advancing straight to Greater Mastery.
Next came Lightning Pulse Step. Since it was a ranked martial art, its proficiency gain wasn't as high.
But enough martial artists had died to this move that it had jumped from Skilled to Proficient. It wasn't far from Greater Mastery.
Meteor Chasing Moon had only improved a little, advancing from Initiated to Skilled. He'd had few chances to use hidden weapons, only occasionally squeezing in a few throws.
"If they hadn't run, and I'd killed the rest of those martial artists, including those three ninth-grade First-rate Martial Artist gang leaders..."
Li Jinshui made a rough estimate, his eyes gleaming.
If he'd taken them out, Lightning Pulse Step would definitely have reached Greater Mastery, and Meteor Chasing Moon could have reached Minor Mastery!
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the station.
Lin Zhen and the others were still staring at one another, their faces blank with shock. They could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Four Drifter gangs, six or seven hundred people in all, had actually been driven into a frantic retreat by Li Jinshui?
"Everyone, am I dreaming? Am I still asleep?" Chen Dali asked the people around him, his face full of astonishment.
"Yes, yes!" The people beside him couldn't even hear what he was saying. They just kept nodding.
"Whatever happens, we... survived." An old rider let out a long breath, his expression complicated.
They hadn't done a thing. They hadn't helped at all. It was all thanks to that monstrous young stationmaster that everyone had survived.
"From now on, I'm sticking with Stationmaster Li!" one rider declared, clenching his fist.
With a stationmaster that incredible, how could anyone worry about having no future?
"Give it a rest. After tonight, this station probably won't be standing."
Another rider shook his head, but managed a smile. "Still, you're right. Wherever Stationmaster Li goes next, I'll follow him no matter what."
Lin Zhen stood with his hands behind his back, silent. The words Same here in his heart were worth more than a thousand words.
"What are you standing around for up there? Get downstairs! Bring as many batteries as you can and come with me!"
Li Jinshui's shout came from below.
Only then did everyone come to their senses. They instinctively started hauling batteries, then froze again.
What did he mean?
Come with him?
What was there left to fight?
Soon enough, they hurriedly gathered up the batteries and went downstairs.
"Stationmaster Li, what did you mean just now? Where are we going?" Lin Zhen asked, handing Li Jinshui a clean towel.
"sigh"
Li Jinshui took the towel and wiped the blood off himself, then let out another deep sigh. In a heavy voice, he said, "Everyone, I killed too many people tonight. I've committed an irreversible slaughter, and I fear I've developed an inner demon. If I don't resolve it, it'll surely become an obstacle on my path to the pinnacle of martial arts."
Smack!
He tossed aside the towel, now completely stained red, and shouted, "So, brothers! Are you willing to bring the batteries and help me resolve my inner demon?"