A Windfall

Not long after Chen Zhuo left, a group of burly men with fierce faces and murderous auras arrived at the Ghost Market, heading straight for the residence hidden in the busy streets.

At the front walked a middle-aged man with a high nose bridge and hair that was half white and half black. He was broad and muscular, with bulging back muscles that looked like a pair of fleshy wings, nearly bursting through his clothes.

This was Huang Tiansheng, the second-in-command of the Long River Gang and Huang Tianhe's younger brother.

As soon as they reached the mouth of the alley, they saw layer upon layer of people crowding around its narrow entrance. The crowd kept growing.

Several young women in tattered clothes and covered in blood were surrounded in the middle, while voices rose all around them.

"Whose daughters are these? How did they end up in such a state?"

"In broad daylight, how can something so horrifying happen here in Great Yong?!"

"Come on, let's report this to the authorities. I refuse to believe..."

"Shh! Watch your tongue! Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You have no idea who might be behind this. Do you want to die?"

At these remarks, Huang Tiansheng's brows furrowed into a deep crease. He waved a hand, and the burly men behind him immediately stepped forward.

"Move along, move along. Nothing to see here."

The men began dispersing the crowd without so much as a word.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"You dare shove me? Don't you know I run with the Long River Gang?"

"Don't hit me, don't hit me..."

At first, some in the crowd resisted the men's rough treatment. But when fists fell like raindrops, the crowd scattered in an instant.

Huang Tiansheng's face darkened. He didn't spare a glance for the people howling in pain or the pale young women sprawled on the ground, and strode straight into the alley.

"Second-in-command."

As soon as he entered the residence, a Grey-Robed Man hurried over and reported everything that had just happened.

Huang Tiansheng looked around, his eyes settling on the three rooms with their doors smashed in.

One glance was enough to tell him that the number of women inside had nearly been cut in half.

Thinking of the young women at the mouth of the alley, and seeing the corpses and severed limbs scattered on the ground, Huang Tiansheng's fury surged to his head. Blood began to creep into his eyes.

"How did you let him get away?"

The Grey-Robed Man shuddered, his voice trembling as he replied, "That man struck viciously. We were no match for him. Even though we fought for our lives, we couldn't stop him."

Just then, footsteps sounded.

The burly men came inside, bringing along several young women who had collapsed at the mouth of the alley.

"Second-in-command, what should we do with these few?"

Huang Tiansheng was already fuming. Seeing the young women in his men's hands nearly made his rage overwhelm him. He cursed furiously:

"Idiots! Idiots! Idiots!"

As he cursed, he slapped them hard across the face.

"Why did you bring them in? Are you trying to make sure everyone knows we've been keeping these people locked up?"

"Bunch of idiots!"

Everyone lowered their heads under his scolding, not daring to say a word.

"You..."

Huang Tiansheng took a deep breath, doing his best to keep control of himself. But he still couldn't help roaring:

"What are you standing around for? Get out! Go find him! If you don't find that man, none of you are eating today!"

The burly men looked as if they'd been granted a pardon. They hurried off, doubling back the way they'd come.

"Send two men to tell the Liansheng Sect what happened here. Have them keep a close watch on every exit from the Ghost Market. They must find that man!"

After giving the order, Huang Tiansheng's expression grew increasingly cold.

"Go take a look over there."

The Grey-Robed Man led Huang Tiansheng quickly to the room where Zhou Sheng had been.

When he saw the carnage inside, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"That man didn't have any weapons with him. He took one of our swords and a dagger, then chopped Young Master Zhou's head in two with just a few swings."

Listening to the report, Huang Tiansheng examined the corpses carefully. His eyes flickered, and his expression grew more and more grave.

He took a few steps forward, bent down, and picked up the long sword on the ground, inspecting it closely.

There were three notches in the blade, each one deeper than the last.

"Did you get a good look at his technique?"

Huang Tiansheng asked in a low voice.

"Not very clearly."

The Grey-Robed Man shook his head, then hesitated as if recalling something. "I exchanged one blow with him and he kicked me flying. But in that brief moment, I thought his sword moves looked like the techniques Yamen Runners often use. Still, they weren't quite the same..."

"Zhengyang Blade Technique..."

Huang Tiansheng murmured to himself, a glint of blood flashing through his eyes.

"Which way did he go?"

The Grey-Robed Man pointed to a tall wall in the distance. "He climbed over there. Our men have already gone inside, but the alleys are winding. They haven't finished searching yet."

"Search thoroughly. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you'd better drag him out for me."

"Yes."

The Grey-Robed Man turned to leave, but Huang Tiansheng immediately gave another order:

"Send someone to the Yamen and inform Huang Yuan'er about this."

"Stallkeeper, how much for this piece of jade?"

"One hundred taels of silver."

"Are you kidding me? One hundred taels? Come on, let's go. Another unscrupulous merchant."

"Off you go, then."

Chen Zhuo watched over the jade stall, playing the part of a less-than-competent stallkeeper.

The main problem was that he didn't know the going prices. If he quoted too low, people might quickly gather around, increasing the risk of exposure.

So he simply quoted high prices. There were plenty of unscrupulous stallkeepers in the Ghost Market anyway.

Just then, a burly man suddenly came up to the stall and asked loudly:

"Have you seen a man in a gray robe pass by here?"

Chen Zhuo looked up and replied calmly, "Customers come and go all the time, and plenty wear gray robes. Which one are you asking about?"

"Don't give me that crap."

The burly man cursed impatiently and turned to leave.

Chen Zhuo said nothing, letting him go.

He swept his gaze over the street, then quickly looked away.

"There are even more Long River Gang members around now."

Before long, the sun climbed high overhead.

Waves of heat rolled in, and many stallkeepers couldn't stand the temperature. One after another, they began packing up.

The crowds in the streets gradually thinned as well.

Chen Zhuo packed up the jade on his stall and carried it back inside.

He opened the cabinet, took off the stallkeeper's clothes, and stuffed them inside, then put back on the long robe and bamboo hat he'd worn when he came.

He placed the porcelain bottles he'd taken from Zhou Sheng into his own bundle, then counted the banknotes again.

There were ten in all, each worth twenty taels.

Two hundred taels in banknotes.

Chen Zhuo's eyelid twitched, and his breathing grew heavier.

A fortune!

Just those two hundred taels of banknotes alone meant he'd made a tidy profit this time.

And that wasn't even counting the three bottles of Demon Blood.

"What's in this other bundle?"

A thought stirred in Chen Zhuo's mind as he looked at the other bundle on the table.

A faint thrill went through him.

He reached out and opened it. What was inside made his heart race.

The glittering silver nearly blinded him.

"No wonder that blade-wielder was in Zhou Sheng's room. So they'd sold off all those people?"

Chen Zhuo came back to himself and quickly counted the silver. There was at least as much as the banknotes were worth.

Kill and set fires, and a golden sash awaits—sure enough, it wasn't a lie!

This time,

he'd struck it rich.