The Storm Gathers (Seeking Follow-up Reads and Monthly Votes~)

"My thanks, Brother Tian."

Zhang Zhongping lowered his palms and scanned his disciples once more.

Blackwater City appeared chaotic.

In reality, everything from the largest street down to the smallest brick had an owner.

The so-called "half-day" meant that during that time, regardless of whether it was the underworld or the authorities, not a single soul would pass through Green Willow Alley.

Once the half-day had passed, no one would care what had transpired there.

"What is his strength?"

Zhang Zhongping lowered his gaze to the ground, his eyes fixing on the wound on Zhao Peng's face.

"It should be about the same as mine, perhaps only slightly stronger."

Zhao Peng pondered for a moment, recalling the force behind the fox's strike; in truth, it was nothing special.

Had the constables not been present, causing him to lower his guard, he never would have suffered such a significant loss.

To make amends, Zhao Peng immediately added, "Besides, I have already had several junior brothers secure the street. He won't be able to escape even with wings!"

"My son did not die in vain."

Zhang Zhongping exhaled a long breath. "Qin Yunhai, is half a day enough?"

A thin man stepped out from the crowd.

He said indifferently, "An incense stick's time is sufficient."

As his voice fell, seven more men stepped forward. Including Zhao Peng on the ground, a total of eight people followed behind the man.

Qin Yunhai was the head disciple of the martial arts hall and the one whose martial skills were closest to his master's.

He had already mastered internal energy and was only a moment of enlightenment away from projecting it externally to earn the title of Grand Martial Master.

"Take your blades."

Zhang Zhongping waved his hand.

Nearby disciples immediately brought over a pile of long, strip-like objects wrapped in white cloth.

These were the finest refined steel longswords in the city.

"I do not wish to hear his explanations, nor do I wish to see him beg for mercy."

Zhang Zhongping closed his eyes again, the grief he had been forcibly suppressing finally transforming into a dense chill.

Under the slight pressure of his palms, the armrests of his chair shattered inch by inch.

"Bring his head to me."

The sun and moon rotated.

Night fell once more.

The streets were bustling with people, exceptionally lively.

Green Willow Alley was merely a disreputable, dark alley in a corner of West City.

Whatever happened inside was too trivial to affect this city in the slightest.

Two constables were patrolling the street as usual.

The exceptionally young, dark-faced constable was walking forward as he always did, but he was suddenly pulled back by his sleeve by the older constable beside him.

"Hm?" Chang Yi turned his head, looking at his senior with confusion.

"We aren't patrolling that street today; we're going this way."

The old constable smiled and withdrew his hand. He had no purple dragon emblem on his lapel, so by rights, he should have been under Chang Yi's jurisdiction.

However, he had been a constable for nearly twenty years and had been ordered to mentor this newcomer.

As for why they weren't patrolling that street, or what they might gain from it, there was no need to speak of it; the boy wouldn't understand the nuances anyway.

"..."

Chang Yi was silent for a moment, suddenly recalling previous events.

It was the same anomaly, yet he couldn't find fault with it.

People died in the end, but no one ever mentioned it.

He felt a revulsion toward the smile on the old constable's face, yet he respected him as a senior; the two conflicting emotions left him feeling stifled.

Chang Yi looked up toward the direction of Green Willow Alley.

After a moment of hesitation, he followed the old constable toward the other street.

At this moment, in Green Willow Alley.

Sister Hua leaned against someone's doorway, smiling as she chatted about daily life with another madam.

"It's a new master. Master Tian has been promoted, and this Master Lin is a reliable one as well."

"He's quite handsome, tsk, makes one want to pinch his cheeks."

The two old hags laughed, dressed in their gaudy finery.

Just then, a man walked down from inside the house and called the madam over to whisper a few words in her ear.

Sister Hua waited curiously for the woman to return, intending to tease her a bit more.

However, she saw the smile on the madam's face vanish instantly, and when the woman looked back at her, her gaze had turned peculiar.

Bang!

Sister Hua watched helplessly as the woman slammed the door shut, locking her out.

"What kind of foul temper is that?!"

As one of the top madams in Green Willow Alley, Sister Hua had her own pride.

She stepped back resentfully, just about to let out a string of curses.

Unfortunately, before the insults could leave her lips, they were cut off by a series of sounds.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The continuous slamming of doors and windows made Sister Hua instinctively shrink her neck.

Within a few breaths, Green Willow Alley, which had been filled with laughter and joy just moments ago, suddenly fell silent.

In the entire alley, only her lonely figure remained.

The sky was darkening, the very hour when guests usually began to arrive.

Such an eerie scene made a chill run down Sister Hua's spine for no apparent reason.

She wrapped her clothes tightly around herself and hurried back to Magpie Nest, hesitating for a moment before bolting the front door shut as well.

"What is everyone losing their minds over!"

Sister Hua ran to the second floor and pried open the window to look outside.

She stared at the dim sky, and the more she looked, the more wrong it felt.

Under normal circumstances, people should have been trickling into Green Willow Alley by now, but currently, not only was the alley empty, even the main street outside was terrifyingly desolate.

The night wind was bone-chilling.

Sister Hua stood dazed for a long time before she finally realized something.

The way that madam had looked at her earlier was clearly the look one gives a dead person!

Everyone else had received the news, yet Magpie Nest remained completely in the dark.

The dark-faced young constable who had been stationed at the alley entrance last night was also nowhere to be seen today.

"It's over!"

Sister Hua's body went limp, and she collapsed onto the floor with a thud.

How could she not guess it? Master Lin's backing had clearly been crushed by the other side.

Now, everyone was clearing the way for Good Fortune Martial Hall.

As for what they were clearing the way for, it went without saying.

In some corner that no one cared about, there would soon be piles of rotting flesh, until they were picked clean by snakes, insects, rats, and ants!

The sudden noise startled the girls.

They swarmed into the room, looking somewhat panicked. "Mother, what's wrong?"

"Your mother is going to die..."

Sister Hua's face was deathly pale, her lips bitter.

She stumbled to her feet and returned to the window.

At the entrance of the alley, a tattered lantern swayed, its light flickering on and off.

Clack!

A foot suddenly stepped into the shadows on the ground.

Soon, nine distinct shadows were cast against the dilapidated wall, rising and falling as they surged into the alley.

They wore white cloth tied around their arms and carried long blades in their hands, their expressions blank, like soul-reaping demons.

The man in the lead was thin and gaunt.

He kept his eyes lowered, strolling through the alley with leisurely steps as he approached the two-story building.

The houses on both sides of Green Willow Alley were clearly packed with people, and countless eyes were peeking out, yet there was not a single sound.

It was so quiet a needle drop could be heard; it was like a ghost realm.

Sister Hua knew why.

Because she, too, was instinctively clamping her hand over her mouth, the choking sensation brought on by extreme terror causing the veins in her neck to twitch violently.

The girls were at a loss, huddled blankly inside the room.

It was like a stifling silent film.

It desperately needed some other sound to break the tension.

Creeeak—

The harsh sound of the old wooden door being pushed open made Sister Hua gasp so sharply that she choked on bile.

Under the dim sky, in the deathly silent alleyway.

The door to the Magpie Nest was pushed open from the inside.

A young man dressed in a long gown stepped out and into the alley.

His eyes still held a trace of sleepiness, as if he had just woken up.

Lin Shu rubbed his wrists, his gaze clearing significantly.

He turned to look at the martial artists holding long blades not far away and offered a polite smile.

"Everyone is here, right?"