Want to Cause Trouble? Then Get Out Sideways (New book seeking monthly votes~)

On the staircase.

The limp woman looked up in a daze, her tear-filled eyes gazing toward the nearby figures.

Having suffered a mental breakdown, she was more desperate for a turning point than anyone else.

But what met the woman's eyes was only the cold, grim profile of Zhang Ci, and the slight pulsing of his temples.

Clearly, this young master of the Good Fortune Martial Hall had no intention of backing down; on the contrary, he was on the verge of a violent outburst.

"Are you fucking brainless?"

Zhang Ci's initial refined mood had been swept away entirely.

No matter how powerful the Blackwater Gang was, the man before him was nothing more than a stinking fox.

In fact, the Good Fortune Martial Hall itself was one of the connections for many members of the Cunning Fox Hall.

Intimidating commoners was one thing, but trying to pull that on him, the young master of the hall?!

"Fuck you..."

Accompanying the curse, Zhang Ci's gaze turned icy. He swung his right arm, his palm lashing out directly toward the man.

Swish—

The sound of wind breaking erupted, but a vicious slap landed on Zhang Ci's face first, cutting his shouting short.

"Pfft."

Before Zhang Ci could even see the man's movement, he felt a massive force strike him, nearly crushing his cheekbone.

He spat out a spray of blood, and just as his body began to buckle, that hand had already expertly gripped his hair.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lin Shu grabbed his head and slammed it violently against the table.

The thick wooden table shook violently, and along with the surface, Zhang Ci's nasal bridge cracked.

This fluid, seamless sequence of movements lasted for a full dozen seconds.

Zhang Ci's brain was dazed, his entire face throbbing with agony.

By the time he regained his senses, his whole body was pinned hard against the table, and the five fingers pressing firmly against the back of his head made even lifting it a hopeless luxury.

"..."

Lin Shu leaned down, pulling on the young master's hair to reveal his face, which was now covered in blood.

Their eyes met.

He carefully used his thumb to wipe the blood from the corner of the other man's eye and said indifferently, "Can you understand human speech now?"

Zhang Ci's facial muscles twitched violently, his eyeballs bulging.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the group of wenches nearby.

This sudden turn of events had left all the girls in the room frozen in shock.

They didn't dare to breathe, their dull gazes fixed on the two men.

With these unmasked stares added to the wounds on his face, Zhang Ci felt his skin burning with shame.

He had always enjoyed the way these sluts looked at him—full of fear with nowhere to run.

But now, he had become the subject of their spectacle.

"Hah!"

Zhang Ci's throat bobbed rapidly, a touch of madness surging in his pupils.

Just then, he felt the thumb at the corner of his eye gradually applying pressure, as if it were about to crush his eye socket.

"I... I can understand."

Zhang Ci's voice trembled as he hurriedly shrieked.

Lin Shu wiped the blood from his fingertips onto the other man's collar, not bothering to say more: "The door is over there."

He shifted slightly to the side, exposing the bundle on the table to the young master's line of sight.

The bundle was slightly open, and resting on top was a sharp, blood-stained iron spike.

Zhang Ci froze for a moment, then his eyes turned bloodshot, and without a second of hesitation, he reached out and gripped the iron spike.

The moment his five fingers tightened around it.

The iron spike vibrated rapidly, to the point that it erupted with a sword-like hum!

As the young master of the Good Fortune Martial Hall, Zhang Ci was completely different from wild practitioners like Liu the Third.

Even if their physical strength was similar, the techniques inherited from his ancestors allowed him to easily crush these ordinary martial artists.

Die!

Zhang Ci nimbly flipped to his feet, intending to finish off this lowly fox with one strike.

Compared to the iron spike that could emit a sword hum, a silent short blade seemed somewhat ordinary.

It simply happened to appear in the right place at the right time, stabbing into Zhang Ci's heart in a plain, unremarkable fashion.

Puchi!

Lin Shu had one arm draped over the other man's shoulder, his other hand gripping the short blade, pushing it in inch by inch.

He leaned in close to his ear, whispering comfortingly, "Don't be afraid. Take a deep breath; it will be over soon."

Zhang Ci's eyes began to glaze over, and his entire body went limp.

The man hadn't lied.

It was truly fast—so fast that... he felt like something wasn't quite right, but he didn't even have the time to think about it.

The iron spike clattered to the floor.

It startled everyone in the room.

"..."

Old Yang stood stiff as a board, staring at the Lin Shu before him.

He had seen this man kill before, but only from behind.

Now that they were mere inches apart, he finally experienced the full weight of the fierce Sha aura radiating from the young man.

"Haa."

Lin Shu exhaled softly and pulled out the blade.

He casually snatched the jade pendant from the young master's waist and tucked it into his own robes.

Then, he grabbed the parcel on the table along with Zhang Ci's limp corpse and strode out toward the street.

The scent of blood drifted into Green Willow Alley.

Passersby were startled and scrambled to get out of the way.

The girls peeking out from the building next door quickly recognized Zhang Ci.

Relief washed over their faces, but then they looked at the man dragging the corpse, their gazes complex.

But before the girls could even reflect on it, they saw Lin Shu look left and right, then casually dump the corpse in front of someone else's door.

He dusted off his hands and turned back into the room.

Leaving such bad luck at his own doorstep would inevitably affect business.

"..."

Everyone's lips twitched, but no one dared to complain, so they could only shrink their heads back inside.

The Magpie Nest was deathly silent.

No one knew what to say.

The woman on the stairs stumbled to her feet, headed toward the returning Lin Shu, and knocked her head against the floor.

"Jin Gui thanks Master Lin for saving my life."

Regardless of what others thought, she had regained her life because of this Fox Master.

"No need. Get back to work."

Lin Shu stretched, walked straight past the woman, and sat back down behind the table.

It was the same weary posture as before, yet it gave the girls around him a completely different feeling.

Just as Zhang Ci had said earlier, even Master Tian wouldn't have bothered with him.

Was it that Master Tian couldn't afford to offend Good Fortune Martial Hall?

Of course not; it was simply that the cheap lives of people like them weren't worth as much as the tribute Zhang Ci paid him.

They were just women with two legs; if they died, he could just have Cunning Fox Hall send over a new batch.

But this Fox Master was someone who would actually step in and handle things!

"Don't just stand there, get back to work."

Sister Hua hurriedly calmed their nerves, then approached Lin Shu's side.

She wasn't sure how much confidence Master Lin really had, nor did she have the heart to explain to him just how serious Zhang Ci's death really was.

Sister Hua only knew one thing.

The man was already dead, and now the only thing the Magpie Nest could rely on was this fox.

If she wanted to tether this man, she would have to offer something substantial.

That was a full three taels of silver!

Sister Hua's heart was bleeding, but she kept a beaming smile on her face. "Master Lin, what fine skills you have. But you're covered in blood—would you like to wash up? I'll have Liu Ya attend to you."

She gave him a suggestive wink. "Don't worry, she's still a virgin. I guarantee she's clean, not dirty at all!"

Sister Hua had thought her sincerity was more than enough.

Unexpectedly, Lin Shu cast a casual glance at her and said with disdain, "I meant that this place of yours is filthy."

Most of the women in this dark alley had been swindled, coerced, or lured into Cunning Fox Hall.

If Master Lin were to drop his trousers in a place like this, how would he ever show his face again?

As his words fell.

The women in the room, who had been restless and pretending to be busy, stopped what they were doing in unison.

They looked toward the corner in silence.

Still, no one spoke.

Only a moment later, quite a few of them secretly wiped the corners of their eyes.

"Prepare a clean room for me. Right, there's one more thing..."

Lin Shu had no interest in explaining his thoughts to a madam; he took out a jade pendant and placed it on the table. "Go exchange this jade pendant for silver and bring it to me by daybreak."

Having said that, he turned his head to look into the void.

[Murder and arson bring golden belts, building bridges and paving roads leave no remains; kill one lowly life, reward two coins of evil.]

[Life and death are ordained by heaven, snatching lives from the hands of Yama; save one wretched life, bestow one merit of virtue.]

Thinking that he finally had something to feed the pup again, a hint of anticipation couldn't help but appear in Lin Shu's eyes.