The shadow raced all the way back, then quietly slipped into the Li Family Breakfast Shop.
After removing the mask from his face, a handsome, delicate-featured face was revealed.
It was none other than Li Chuan!
After returning home, Li Chuan gasped for breath.
His lungs felt ready to burst, and his throat was unbearably dry and itchy from breathing in too much cold air.
"But it was all worth it." Moonlight glinted in Li Chuan's eyes.
After Cao Yan was dealt with, the remaining Black Bear Gang remnants wouldn't escape the Iron Tiger Gang's clutches either.
Until the so-called "Brother Zhou" returned, his situation was temporarily secure.
As for Brother Zhou, Li Chuan wasn't too worried about him.
By the time he came back in a few months, Li Chuan would have reached Dark Force.
If they were both at Dark Force, who had anything to fear?
Besides, he'd made sure to cover his tracks tonight.
If anyone came under suspicion, Song Jin would be the first—not him.
And there was... an even bigger haul!
Li Chuan lit the oil lamp, and its dim yellow light filled the entire room.
He opened the cloth bag he'd taken as loot.
Clink, clink—the dazzling white gleam of silver flashed!
Li Chuan counted it carefully.
Ten taels of silver!
"Tsk, tsk. Sure enough, murder and arson bring golden belts, while building roads and bridges leave nothing but corpses!" Li Chuan thought to himself.
Working diligently for the Luo Family Pharmacy earned him only about four taels of silver a month.
This trip had taken just one night, yet he'd made ten taels.
That was nearly three months' wages!
"Too bad I can't keep doing this. If Cao Yan hadn't threatened my family, I wouldn't have taken the risk."
Li Chuan shook his head, his mind still clear despite the huge sum he'd come into.
His success this time had depended on favorable timing, location, and people.
Even so, killing Cao Yan had taken quite a bit of effort.
He absolutely couldn't get greedy!
Once he had calmed himself, Li Chuan turned his attention to the booklet.
Thunder Shadow Leg.
"So it's a leg technique? That's a pretty impressive name!"
After a quick look through it, Li Chuan confirmed that it was a formidable leg technique.
It covered the same three stages: Bright Force, Dark Force, and Transforming Force.
"I really did strike it lucky this time. I'd been wondering how to get another fighting technique to train with, so I could improve my performance in the Martial Exam." Li Chuan felt a little emotional.
Truthfully, he hadn't held out much hope at the time.
After all, the good fighting techniques were closely guarded secrets of the various Martial Halls. They made their money off those techniques, so there was no way they'd reveal them to him.
Even if he could buy one, he definitely couldn't afford it.
Luckily... Cao Yan had turned out to be a treasure-delivering boy!
"A leg technique is exactly what I need. If I train it well, I can combine it with Through-Arm Fist, making my attacks even more unpredictable and impossible to read!"
As the saying went, fists were no match for legs.
Fist techniques had the advantage of being nimble and versatile, while leg techniques packed more power.
With equal strength, a leg technique could inflict more damage than a fist.
There was another benefit to training leg techniques: stronger legs would also make him faster.
He might not move like a ghost, vanishing without a trace as he would with a dedicated footwork technique, but it would still be far better than training nothing at all!
Li Chuan had already decided that once he'd spent the New Year at home and returned to the Martial Hall, he'd start practicing this Thunder Shadow Leg manual.
The next morning.
After sneaking out, Li Chuan returned at a leisurely pace through the front door.
Wang Xiumei was overjoyed.
"Chuan, you're finally back! I thought you weren't coming home for the New Year. I knew you were busy at the Martial Hall, so I didn't dare write to you in case I interrupted your training."
Li Chuan smiled.
"It's fine, Mother. Write whenever you want. How could taking a moment to reply get in the way of my training?"
Wang Xiumei beamed.
"Good, good. Sit down while I make you breakfast."
"I was planning to open up shop today, but now that you're back, I'll keep it closed. Let's have a proper New Year!"
While waiting for breakfast, Li Chuan went in to greet his grandparents and the others.
After coming back out, he sat on a bamboo stool and waited for Wang Xiumei to cook breakfast.
Nearby, he could already hear the neighbors discussing the news.
"The Black Bear Gang was wiped out in a single night! Their boss, Cao Yan, died a horrible death. Song Jin beat him until he was drenched in blood—not a single inch of him was left unbruised!"
"Old Liu, what kind of fake news is that? I've got a buddy in the Iron Tiger Gang. He told me Cao Yan wasn't killed by Song Jin, but by some mysterious person!"
"Ha! Who cares whether it was some mysterious person or not? Cao Yan's dead, and that's what matters!"
The Black Bear Gang had run roughshod over the area and made enemies of plenty of people.
Before, they'd had the upper hand, so everyone had kept quiet.
Now that the Black Bear Gang was gone, naturally the whole neighborhood was celebrating.
After serving Li Chuan a bowl of noodles, Wang Xiumei curiously moved closer to hear what everyone was talking about.
Once she'd heard, she hurried back, astonished.
"Chuan, have you heard? Song Jin wiped out the Black Bear Gang!"
Li Chuan put on a suitably shocked expression.
"What?! Something like that happened?"
When Grandpa Li Nian heard the news, he hurried outside too.
Once he understood what had happened, he gathered the family and announced the good news.
"Good riddance to Cao Yan! When he was alive, I couldn't sleep at night for fear he'd set his sights on this shop!"
Li Nian's face showed a rare burst of excitement.
Though Liu Hu had died earlier and the danger had temporarily passed, as long as Cao Yan was alive, the family had never been able to relax.
Who knew what those gang members might do?
Li Qing asked in confusion.
"Could my Li Family have the legendary 'good fortune'? Every time we're in danger, Heaven sends someone to help us."
"Last time Liu Hu was killed by a man in black, and this time Cao Yan was taken out by a mysterious person!"
Li Nian sighed.
"Don't let me find out who that mysterious person is, or I'll have to kowtow to him!"
Li Chuan gave Li Nian a strange look.
Grandpa had said twice now that he'd kowtow to him.
How embarrassing!
As he listened to everyone's happy chatter and slurped his noodles, Li Chuan felt a rare sense of peace settle over him.
But that peace didn't last long.
Before long, a commotion sounded outside.
"Gang Leader Song!" The gathered crowd grew nervous.
They were all worried that their earlier discussion might have offended him.
After all, now that the Black Bear Gang was gone, this whole area belonged to Song Jin!
If they upset him, how could they go on living here?
Unexpectedly, Song Jin didn't give them so much as a glance. He headed straight for the Li Family Breakfast Shop.
His actions set everyone whispering and exclaiming in surprise once more.
"I heard Li Nian's grandson broke through to some kind of Force. Could he have been foolish enough to offend Gang Leader Song?"
"Who knows? Li Nian used to be awfully high and mighty!"
All kinds of comments rang out among the neighbors, some kind, some unkind—but mostly unkind.
That was human nature.
Seeing someone close to you do well could make you angrier than seeing yourself do badly.
Li Nian's heart sank as a sense of foreboding welled up inside him.
Wang Xiumei raised her spatula and watched Song Jin warily.
Li Qing silently stepped in front of Li Chuan, his muscles taut.
Song Jin reeked of blood, and with his fierce expression, he was enough to make anyone shudder.
After a moment of silence,
the crowd was astonished when that fierce face broke into a smile.
"Brother Li, Song has come to wish you a happy New Year!"
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