Cunning Villain

After returning home, Chen Jing first comforted Chen Chunmiao, who was on the verge of a breakdown, and urged her to rest.

Once the room fell quiet, Chen Jing stepped outside to begin practicing the Five Harms Technique.

Over the past half-month, Chen Jing had fully mastered the Five Harms Technique, and by running it at five times the normal speed, he had accumulated a significant amount of vital energy and blood.

If he were to unleash it in a single burst, it would be enough to multiply his attack power several times over, completely tearing through the defenses of any martial artist at his own level.

Fists flew in a blur, striking the air with sharp cracks.

With each punch that landed, the rage in Chen Jing's chest was pressed down, bit by bit.

Yet, every time he recalled the scene of Chen Chunmiao, tears in her eyes, forcing a smile as she said, "I'll just marry into his house alongside Miss Ren," Chen Jing's fists couldn't help but clench tight.

Xie Chong, that dog!

After throwing a few more punches, Chen Jing's emotions gradually calmed, and he began to analyze the situation.

"Xie Chong's brother-in-law is the Three-Blood martial artist Hu Duanzhuo... Although I have become an official disciple of Fei Feng, my aptitude is mediocre, and Fei Feng would never risk a falling out with Hu Duanzhuo for my sake."

"And Senior Brother Zhuang? Even though he is a Two-Blood martial artist and his family owns a restaurant, his foundation still doesn't compare to a Three-Blood martial artist... So even if he wanted to help, he couldn't."

Various paths flashed through his mind.

In the end, only one remained.

He had to do it himself.

And he had to eliminate Xie Chong without leaving a trace!

With this thought, Chen Jing took out a prepared bag of lime and fished out several rusty iron nails he had scavenged from a scrap heap. He tied them together with a string, creating a heavy, clinking bundle.

He then walked to the pit latrine behind the courtyard and slowly submerged the blackened iron nails into the filth.

Rusty nails soaked in excrement—even if the wound didn't kill, it would ensure infection and rot.

This was a contingency plan, just in case he failed to finish off Xie Chong!

After finishing all this, Chen Jing finally fell into a deep sleep.

Two days later.

Over these two days, Chen Jing had gone without sleep or rest, secretly tracking Xie Chong while gathering information on his every move.

Hard work pays off; Chen Jing had gradually uncovered the key information.

The relationship between Xie Chong and his brother-in-law, Hu Duanzhuo... was not close at all.

It had been two days, and he hadn't visited him once.

Xie Chong lived in the wealthy district in the east of the city, quite a distance from the Eight Desolations Academy, and Hu Duanzhuo spent most of his time living at the martial arts hall, so he had no real control over Xie Chong.

This news made the murderous intent in Chen Jing's heart grow steady and cold.

At the same time, Chen Jing discovered that Xie Chong spent his days doing nothing but drinking, visiting brothels, and picking fights.

Others, out of respect for Hu Duanzhuo, dared not truly retaliate against him.

Furthermore, Xie Chong wasn't stupid; the women he forced were all from ordinary families with no influence or martial artists to protect them.

Thus, relying on his status as a martial artist, Xie Chong had forced many women into marriage without anyone ever causing him trouble.

Because he was a martial artist, and because Hu Duanzhuo stood behind him.

Such a villain—should he be allowed to live?

Impossible.

The night was deep.

The lights of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion were dim, the air thick with the scent of alcohol and heavy perfume.

Xie Chong emerged from the doors, arm around the courtesan he had just finished with, reeking of wine and rouge, a lingering, lecherous grin on his face.

"Brother Lin, I'm taking two more concubines in a couple of days. You must do me the honor of coming for a celebratory drink!"

Xie Chong said, patting the shoulder of the man beside him with bleary, drunken eyes.

"No problem! You and I are brothers who frequent the brothels together; I'll definitely be there!"

The man beside him cupped his hands in a drunken gesture before departing with his own guards.

"Master Xie, when you have your new concubines, don't you dare forget about me~"

The courtesan in Xie Chong's arms said with a seductive pout.

"That goes without saying. Once I get bored of them in a while, I'll come back to find you~"

Xie Chong laughed heartily, let out a drunken belch, gave the courtesan's backside a hard pinch, and then swayed unsteadily toward home with his two guards in tow.

"I didn't expect tonight's courtesan to be so satisfying."

"Heh heh, in two more days, I'll be able to take that Ren Zhining..."

Walking down the street, Xie Chong chuckled to himself as he thought about it.

"Young Master, I heard Ren Zhining's maid is coming along too? When the time comes... heh heh... once you're bored of her, let us have a taste too, eh?"

One of the guards leaned in with a wicked grin.

"Yes, yes, Young Master, we've been holding it in for quite a while..."

The other guard hurriedly chimed in at this moment.

"Heh heh, you two rascals want a taste of the meat too!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Chong was not annoyed in the slightest; instead, he said with a grin, "It's only because you're with me that I'm being generous. Anywhere else, you'd surely be beaten to death with clubs!"

"Heh heh, who else but you, Young Master, has such a kind heart!"

The two guards scrambled to flatter him, the scene filled with lewd laughter and sleaze.

Just then, Xie Chong felt a sudden urge to urinate, so he said to the two, "Wait here for a moment, this young master is going to go drain the lizard!"

With that, Xie Chong swaggered into a dim alleyway nearby, unbuckled his belt, and began to relieve himself.

The alley was pitch black, and the night breeze carried a chill.

The moment Xie Chong unbuckled his belt, the killing intent stirred.

A coldness that had been lurking for a long time, sharp as a blade, suddenly bloomed in the darkness!

Chen Jing, dressed in black and masked with a black cloth, revealing only his icy eyes, surged out from the shadows like a streak of black light. With explosive speed, he covered several yards and instantly lunged before the first guard.

His fist was clenched like iron, his blood and qi surging to their peak, like a block of iron compressed to its limit!

BOOM!

A dull sound, so heavy it was nearly suffocating, rang out. Before the guard could even constrict his pupils, his throat bone was smashed to powder by the punch.

His neck buckled backward at an unnatural angle, and his body collapsed in a spasm, unable to even let out a scream.

Seeing this, the other guard was terrified to the extreme and hurriedly shouted, "Who are..."

But before the words could finish, a foul-smelling rag was precisely stuffed into his mouth, cutting his exclamation off mid-air.

The guard instinctively raised his hands, but he was half a step too late.

Chen Jing had already turned, his movements as clean and fluid as flowing water, every inch of his strength taut like a fully drawn bowstring.

The second punch struck straight for the throat as well!

BOOM!

Another dull sound echoed.

This guard's neck was also punched through by Chen Jing. His terrified eyes bulged wide, blood sprayed from his mouth and nose, and after staggering back a step, he collapsed straight down, waiting for death to slowly arrive.

Two breaths, two punches, two lives.

There wasn't even time to struggle.

"What's the matter, what are you two shouting about!"

At this moment, Xie Chong walked out of the alley, pulling up his pants, grumbling with a face full of resentment.

But the moment he saw the two guards lying in a pool of blood at Chen Jing's feet, his drunken stupor was instantly evaporated by terror.

"You are..."

Looking at Chen Jing before him, Xie Chong just wanted to say something.

But the next second, Chen Jing didn't waste a single word and swung his fist in an attack.

This alley, this distance, the rhythm of every step, every angle...

For the past two days, Chen Jing had simulated this in his mind hundreds of times.

This was the optimal route for killing.

"You bastard!"

Xie Chong was so frightened he roared out loud. His drunkenness vanished instantly, and almost instinctively, he channeled his blood and qi with all his might, raising his hands to block Chen Jing's punch head-on!

BANG!!!!

Fist collided with fist.

A thunderous sound exploded in the narrow alley, like a muffled peal of thunder rolling past.

The air was instantly compressed, rippling with visible waves. The dust beneath their feet was whipped up by the force, dancing wildly in the night breeze like an invisible vortex.

Both figures were shaken apart!

Chen Jing's footing was steady; he slid back half a step and stabilized his stance.

Xie Chong, however, was like a kite with a broken string, stumbling back three large steps until his spine slammed hard against the wall.

Crack!

The delayed pain finally surged from the depths of his finger bones.

"Ah...!!"

Xie Chong's face twisted to the extreme, nearly deforming.

This wasn't ordinary dull pain; it was the bone-shattering, heart-piercing agony of a fracture!

Then, Xie Chong looked down, and his scalp went numb.

By the moonlight, he saw clearly that Chen Jing had two rusty iron nails wedged between his knuckles!

The marks where the nails had pierced his own hand bones were still oozing blood, and his fingers were bent at a grotesque angle, hanging limply by nothing more than a sliver of skin that looked ready to snap at any moment.

"You... you cunning villain!!"

Feeling the excruciating pain of his broken fingers, Xie Chong's voice trembled with rage; he was both agonized and furious, his eyes filled with terror.

"To think—to think you would use hidden weapons!!"

For a moment, Xie Chong couldn't tell if he was the villain, or if the guy standing before him was the true villain!