The alley was narrow.
The warriors only had to spread out a little to block every possible escape route.
By this point, everything was under control.
Qin Yunhai slowly came to a stop. He looked ahead, his gaze settling on the young man's naturally hanging hands.
They were clean, delicate hands, with long, slender fingers and distinct knuckles. There were no obvious signs that he had practiced martial arts.
More importantly, the other man was unarmed.
Foxes were most skilled at deceit.
Whether it was his sleepy-eyed expression or his harmless demeanor, both were feigned weakness meant to lower their guard.
After that came the honeyed words, enough to leave a person reeling.
What a pity.
This stupid Fox still hadn't figured out the situation.
He had come to kill, not to do business.
The other man's best move now was to get into fighting shape and grab everything he could use for one last desperate struggle—not play ridiculous little tricks.
That way, he could at least die with a little dignity.
"..."
Qin Yunhai glanced sideways at the burly figures beside him.
Ever since the young master was a child, he had led the eight men behind him in taking care of the young master's problems.
Over the years, he had stained his hands with countless lives.
Of course, in return, his master had truly taught him everything he knew over the years. Not only he, but all eight men behind him were the strongest disciples in the martial arts school.
Now that Zhang Ci was dead, this tedious business could finally come to an end.
As long as he handled this matter well, perhaps afterward he could try to get a job as a Purple Flood Dragon Constable at the Yamen.
Qin Yunhai collected his thoughts.
The thin man lowered his eyes again, reached up to rub his temple, and said casually,
"Cut him down."
BOOM! BOOM!
Thunder suddenly cracked across the sky, a sign of the downpour to come, drowning out the rapid footsteps that had abruptly quickened in the alley.
Lightning followed, slashing through the dark night like a sword.
It lit up the long blades gleaming coldly in the alley!
These men were no ordinary martial arts school disciples. They were a group of trained killers whom Zhang Zhongping had deliberately raised to take care of unsavory business.
When enemies met, their eyes burned red with hatred.
Zhao Peng charged at the front. Muscles rippled across his body, and years of practicing martial arts meant every step stirred up gusts of wind!
The cracked skin on his face and the torn corners of his mouth made his whole face ugly and savage.
"Who's going to protect you today?!"
"..."
Lin Shu stood where he was, his hands lowered. Several figures pouncing like tigers were reflected in his pupils.
At last, the young man's polite smile faded.
In its place, a fierce glint of excitement and greed gleamed in his eyes.
Spiritual Power surged through his arms, and wisps of black qi coiled around his fingers.
In the next instant, his frail, scholar-like frame unleashed an explosive force the likes of which no one had ever seen.
Lin Shu curled his fingers into claws and swung his arm with brutal force.
He moved so swiftly that even the black mist between his fingers was dragged into long, streaming flames!
Sshhk—
The muffled sound of cloth tearing rang through the alley.
Warm blood mixed with entrails sprayed out with a splat, spattering the dim figure that had leapt high into the air, only to be severed in half.
"..."
The group stopped abruptly, staring down at the corpse split into two pieces at their feet.
The stench of blood stung their nostrils.
They had seen plenty of dead bodies, but even so, such a gruesome death made their hearts pound instinctively faster.
In the moment these warriors froze, the lone young man across from them became the savage predator.
Like a tiger plunging into a flock of sheep!
Lin Shu smashed straight into the human wall.
"Cut him down!!"
Unlike Senior Brother Qin's earlier, almost bored tone, they all shouted the same words, but their voices were now thick with undisguised panic.
Their bodies had been tempered since childhood. Their skin was tougher than cowhide, and their bones hard enough to split bluestone.
But before that hand wreathed in black qi, they were like trotters stewed until soft—crumbling at a touch, disintegrating in a squeeze.
"Whew."
Lin Shu had never practiced martial arts and couldn't make sense of the forms these men used when they swung their blades.
But he was good at fighting.
At a glance, he could tell whose blade would reach him first and who was blocked by a companion's body, unable to bring his full strength to bear.
He used that to decide the order in which to deal with them.
Crack!
Lin Shu raised his hand and crushed a section of throat bone.
Scarlet blood sprayed everywhere, streaking the young man's handsome, fair face and adding a trace of Baleful Intent to his clear eyes.
He swung his arm again. Black qi roiled, shattering the steel blade slashing in from the side.
His five fingers clenched into a fist, and he drove it into the man's chest, blasting him away.
Another life claimed!
As his long robe fluttered, the young man moved through the crowd with ease.
One figure after another fell.
Before long, the alley was spacious once more.
"Hh!"
The last martial arts school disciple twisted his features and stared wide-eyed in disbelief, looking down.
Lin Shu exhaled, then slowly pulled his hand from the man's chest.
The disciple's eyes gradually dimmed. His towering frame shuddered as he leaned backward.
He crashed to the ground, revealing the thin man behind him.
Drip, drip.
Though lightning had flashed and thunder had rolled, that wasn't the sound of rain.
Lin Shu stood with his hands lowered. Black qi had already spread from his palms to his elbows, flickering like flames.
Thick blood dripped from between his fingers, soaking into the dirt.
It added a splash of color to the ink-black mist.
"Why so quiet? Something on your mind?" Lin Shu stepped over the corpse and looked across at him.
"..."
Qin Yunhai stared at the young man nearby, his face expressionless.
Everything had happened far too quickly.
He hadn't even come out of his pleasant reverie about the future before the other man was already standing in front of him.
So the thin man wasn't keeping his composure. He simply didn't know what expression to wear in the face of this scene.
Qin Yunhai steadied his ragged breathing.
He slowly bent down and placed the long blade in his hand on the ground.
Then he straightened, faced the young man, and slowly took two steps backward.
He said nothing, but his stance made his intentions clear.
He had already recognized what the other man was: a wolf in Fox's clothing. A cultivator, like Tian Jingyuan had once been, only with insufficient cultivation, still stuck at Magpie Nest.
Faced with this scene,
Lin Shu glanced at the corpse at his feet. After a moment, he let out a breath of hot air. "Since you've come all this way."
He lifted his head and grinned. His neat, white teeth gleamed with a chilling menace. "You might as well stay."
At that,
Qin Yunhai's expression shifted between light and dark. He pressed his dry lips together.
He had once watched his master fight Tian Jingyuan. It had ended with his master narrowly winning.
That meant a warrior's inner force could injure a cultivator.
His inner force was perfectly rounded, and he was only a step away from the Great Martial Master realm. He wasn't without a chance.
He had put down his blade partly to feign weakness, but also because Qin Yunhai had practiced boxing since childhood.
His inner force surged through his body, flowing along his meridians and into his arms. Beneath his calm exterior, he had already prepared to fight to the death!
"You're forcing me to do this!"
As the young man drew closer, brutality finally surged into the thin man's eyes.
He let out a hoarse growl, stepped forward in a low stance, and unleashed the fiercest punch of his life.
All his inner force gathered in his fist, roaring as it threatened to tear apart the frail body before him.
But soon, Qin Yunhai realized something was wrong.
The black qi was cold as frost, as though it had frozen his flesh and meridians, slowing his punch by an unfathomable degree.
So much so that the other man seized his wrist with ease.
Qin Yunhai looked up in horror.
He met the young man's cold, downward gaze, and the faintly cruel curve of his lips.
Splurt!
A vicious hand strike, wrapped in roiling black mist, swept cleanly across Qin Yunhai's throat.
Amid the rain of blood, his head rolled away down the alley.
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