"Thank you, Brother Tian."
Zhang Zhongping lowered his hands and looked over his disciples again.
Blackwater City seemed chaotic.
In reality, everything belonged to someone, from an entire street down to a single brick.
By giving him half a day, they meant that during that time, day or night, no one would pass through Green Willow Alley.
And once the half day was up, no one would care what had happened there.
"What level of strength does he have?"
Zhang Zhongping lowered his gaze to the ground before him, his eyes settling on the wound on Zhao Peng's face.
"He should be about as strong as your disciple. Not much stronger, at any rate."
Zhao Peng thought for a moment, recalling the force behind Fox's attack. It hadn't been anything special.
If there hadn't been a constable there, making him let his guard down, he never would have suffered such a heavy loss.
To make up for it, Zhao Peng quickly added, "Besides, your disciple has already had several junior brothers guard that street. He won't get away, even if he grows wings!"
"My son can't die for nothing."
Zhang Zhongping let out a long breath. "Yunhai, is half a day enough?"
A lean man stepped forward from the crowd.
He said mildly, "One incense stick will do."
As soon as he finished speaking, seven more men came forward. Including Zhao Peng on the ground, there were eight in all, and every one of them followed behind the man.
Qin Yunhai was the martial hall's senior disciple, and the one whose martial arts came closest to his master's.
He had already mastered inner force. He needed only a little more insight before he could project it outward and earn the title of Great Martial Master.
"Take your blades."
Zhang Zhongping waved a hand.
The disciples beside him immediately brought over a pile of long, white-cloth-wrapped objects.
They were the finest steel long swords in the city.
"I don't want to hear him explain himself, and I don't want to see him beg for mercy."
Zhang Zhongping closed his eyes again. The grief he had been suppressing finally turned into a deep, bitter chill.
At the slight pressure of his hands, the arms of the chair splintered one piece at a time.
"Bring me his head."
The sun and moon turned.
Night fell once more.
The streets teemed with people, bustling with activity.
Green Willow Alley was just a shadowy lane tucked into a corner of West City, beneath notice.
What happened there was too insignificant to affect the city in the slightest.
Two constables made their usual rounds.
The unusually young, dark-faced constable walked toward the street ahead as usual, but the old constable beside him suddenly caught him by the sleeve.
"Hm?" Chang Yi turned around and looked at his senior in confusion.
"We're not patrolling that street today. We'll go this way."
The old constable withdrew his hand with a chuckle. There was no Purple Flood Dragon insignia on his lapel, so by rights he should have been under Chang Yi's command.
But he had been a constable for nearly twenty years, and had been ordered to show the new kid the ropes.
As for why they weren't patrolling that street, or what they stood to gain, there was no need to spell it out. The other man wouldn't understand the ins and outs anyway.
"..."
Chang Yi fell silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered what had happened earlier.
It was the same sort of strange behavior, and yet there was nothing he could point to as wrong.
In the end, someone had died, but no one mentioned it.
He disliked the smile on the old constable's face, but respected him as a senior. The two feelings tangled together, leaving him with a heavy knot in his chest.
Chang Yi looked up toward Green Willow Alley.
He hesitated for a moment, then followed the old constable toward another street.
Meanwhile, in Green Willow Alley.
Sister Hua leaned against someone else's doorway, chatting and smiling with another madam.
"They've got a new master now. Master Tian's been promoted, and this Master Lin seems dependable too."
"Such a handsome face. Tsk, makes you want to pinch his cheek."
The two old women laughed, decked out in their finery.
Just then, a man came down from inside and called the madam over to whisper something in her ear.
Sister Hua waited curiously for her to return, ready to tease her again.
But the smile vanished from the madam's face. When she looked back at Sister Hua, her gaze had turned strange.
Bang!
Sister Hua watched as the woman abruptly shoved the door shut, leaving her outside.
"What kind of rude behavior is that?!"
As one of the most prominent madams in Green Willow Alley, Sister Hua had a temper of her own.
She backed away two steps in a huff, about to curse her out.
But before the words could leave her mouth, a series of slams drowned them out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The unceasing sound of doors and windows shutting made Sister Hua instinctively hunch her shoulders.
Within a few breaths, the Green Willow Alley that had just been filled with laughter fell silent.
She was the only figure left alone in the entire lane.
Dusk was deepening. It was just about time for the evening guests to arrive.
The eerie scene sent a chill crawling up Sister Hua's spine.
She wrapped her clothes tightly around herself and hurried back to Magpie Nest. After a moment's hesitation, she shut the front doors as well.
"What's gotten into everyone?!"
Sister Hua ran up to the second floor and pushed open a window to look outside.
She watched the dim sky, growing more and more certain that something was wrong.
Normally, people would be trickling into Green Willow Alley by now. But at present, not only was the lane itself deserted, even the main street beyond it was frighteningly empty.
The night wind was bitterly cold.
Sister Hua stared blankly for a long while before she finally understood.
The madam's gaze just now had been the look one gave a dead person!
Everyone had received the message, but Magpie Nest knew nothing.
The dark-faced young constable who had stood at the entrance to the alley last night had vanished today, too.
"We're finished!"
Sister Hua's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
How could she fail to guess? Master Lin's backers had clearly been overpowered by the other side.
Now everyone was making way for Good Fortune Martial Hall.
And there was no need to say what they were making way for.
In some forgotten corner, heaps of rotting flesh would soon pile up, until snakes, insects, rats, and ants had eaten every last scrap!
The sudden noise startled the girls.
They crowded into the room, looking flustered. "Mama, what's going on?"
"Your mama's going to die..."
Sister Hua's face was deathly pale, bitterness gathering at the corners of her mouth.
She staggered to her feet and returned to the window.
At the mouth of the alley, a tattered lantern swayed, its light flickering on and off.
Tap!
A foot suddenly stepped into the shadows on the ground.
Soon, nine shadows stretched across the old wall, swaying as they surged into the alley.
White cloth was tied around their arms. Long blades hung in their hands. Their faces were expressionless, like vengeful ghosts come to claim a life.
At their head was a lean man.
His eyes lowered, he strolled through the alley as if wandering in a garden, approaching the two-story building.
The houses on either side of Green Willow Alley were packed with people. Countless eyes peered outside, yet not a sound stirred.
So quiet you could hear a pin drop, like a ghost realm.
Sister Hua knew why.
She, too, had instinctively clamped a hand over her mouth. The sobs of terror made the veins in her neck throb violently.
The girls were at a loss, huddled together in the room.
It was like a stifling silent play.
It desperately needed another sound to break the spell.
Creeeeak—
The harsh sound of the old wooden door opening made Sister Hua gasp, so violently she choked up sour bile!
Beneath the dim sky, in the dead-silent dark alley,
the front door of Magpie Nest was pushed open from inside.
A young man in a long robe stepped out, entering the lane.
A trace of drowsiness still lingered in his eyes, as though he had just woken up.
Lin Shu rubbed his wrists, his gaze clearing.
He turned toward the martial artists nearby, long blades in hand, and smiled politely.
"You're all here, then?"
Before you continue