Hearing the familiar voice, Li Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"A-Chuan, you nearly scared me to death. What happened here?"
Li Chuan explained,
"This is the Wave-Breaking Gang's lookout they planted near our home. I've taken care of them all."
"Help me dispose of their bodies, then take Grandpa and the others somewhere safe. Don't open the door to anyone until I get back!"
Li Qing hesitated.
"Should we tell Grandpa?"
Li Chuan shook his head.
"It won't help. Let them get a good night's sleep."
"Okay!"
Li Qing nodded firmly and quickly tied the bodies together.
Li Chuan and Li Qing dragged the bodies to the river and sank them.
"Big Brother, go back and wait for news from me. Remember, stay hidden!" Li Chuan said sternly.
"Don't worry, A-Chuan. I'll make the arrangements. Be careful!"
After parting from Li Chuan, Li Qing hurried home.
Once he'd shut the door, he gasped for breath.
This was the first time he'd dealt with so many corpses, and he was actually terrified.
But he didn't want to hold Li Chuan back, so he forced those feelings down.
"How long were you going to keep this from me?" Li Nian appeared in the doorway, leaning on his cane.
Li Qing had no choice but to explain what had happened.
After listening, Li Nian sighed.
"Wake Xiumei and your mother. Pack up all the valuables in the house."
He glanced at the full moon overhead and said quietly,
"If A-Chuan fails, take these things and run with him. The farther away, the better."
Li Qing asked anxiously,
"Grandpa, what about you?"
Li Nian's tone was calm.
"Our legs aren't what they used to be. We wouldn't get far."
Li Qing's hands trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't help looking back in the direction Li Chuan had gone.
A-Chuan, can you... really do this?
Li Chuan had changed into black clothes and covered his face with a black scarf. He raced across the tiled rooftops.
He moved like a nimble cat, making not the slightest sound.
At last, he stopped outside a brightly lit room.
The Wave-Breaking Gang was so brazen that they made no attempt to hide where they lived.
They even hung a sign bearing the three characters "Wave-Breaking Gang" above the entrance.
After swallowing an Antidote Pill, Li Chuan leaped down from the roof.
He gathered force in his fingers and poked a hole through the paper window.
Then he took a white jade bottle from his robes, unscrewed the stopper, and poured the powder inside through the hole.
When he was done, he pressed himself against the wall and quietly waited for time to pass.
Inside the room,
The Wave-Breaking Gang's leader, Wu Wenda, picked at his teeth.
"Skinny Monkey, where did that girl from the Zhang family go? The one from last time."
Skinny Monkey gave a bitter smile.
"Boss, didn't you tell the boys to take turns after you were done?"
"Those brutes acted like they'd never seen a woman before. They had her dead within an hour..."
Wu Wenda furrowed his brow.
"Idiots. Don't they know how to make it last? If they killed her this time, what were they supposed to do with her next time?"
Skinny Monkey chuckled.
"Just find another one next time!"
Wu Wenda raised an eyebrow.
"You do understand me."
"Now, about business. The bigwigs upstairs gave us a death order: we have to take over all those shops in the next couple of days."
"Tell Huang San and the others to hurry up. What's there to negotiate? If a family refuses, kill them. Make an example of them!"
"Once the others see what a miserable end they'll meet, won't they fall into line?"
Wu Wenda suddenly remembered something.
"Li Family Breakfast Shop, Liu Family Tea Shop, Zhang Family Rice Stall, and all the others who flat-out refused me back then—kill them whether they agree or not."
"They dared to disrespect me. This is what happens!"
Skinny Monkey reminded him,
"Li Nian has a grandson at Pine Wind Martial Hall..."
Wu Wenda impatiently waved a hand.
"Didn't we look into him already? A Bright Force practitioner with a Low-Grade Bone Constitution—what kind of trouble could he cause?"
"If he ever gives them the chance, Huang San and the others will take care of him."
A cold glint flashed in Wu Wenda's eyes.
"Oh, right. We need to give special attention to Li Nian and Liu Jing. Don't kill them yet. Dig out their bones and see just how hard they are!"
Wu Wenda paused, then suddenly laughed.
"No, I've changed my mind. Leave them alive for now. Let his grandson watch him die with his own eyes."
After saying that, Wu Wenda frowned.
"Skinny Monkey, Mad Dog, don't you feel a little off?"
Skinny Monkey lifted his hand.
"I feel kind of weak."
Mad Dog clutched his forehead.
"I'm dizzy."
"Thud!" Outside, the sound of many people collapsing rang out.
A Bright Force practitioner stumbled inside.
"Boss, a lot of our men have fallen outside. They're foaming at the mouth!"
Skinny Monkey realized what was happening and cried out in terror,
"Someone poisoned us!"
"Stop blubbering like that!" Wu Wenda roared. "This poison's only having a slight effect on us. It won't kill you."
He narrowed his eyes and analyzed the situation.
"Besides, the killer doesn't dare show his face and can only use poison. That means he isn't very powerful. He hasn't even reached Dark Force, or why go to all that trouble?"
"We're wearing soft armor, too. Without force that can penetrate the body, it'd be hard to hurt us!"
"So there's no need for us three Bright Force peak experts to worry!"
As he spoke, Wu Wenda sneered.
"Show yourself!"
"Bang!"
Li Chuan smashed through the wooden window and charged straight at Wu Wenda, his momentum undiminished.
Wu Wenda burst into laughter.
"Good! You're just in time!"
He threw out a fist, meeting Li Chuan's blow head-on!
A muffled boom exploded between their fists.
Wu Wenda tilted his head and scoffed.
"That's all you've got? Then you can leave your life here!"
Suddenly, a powerful, fierce force surged through his fist and into his body, churning his insides into chaos!
Wu Wenda spat out a mouthful of blood.
But Li Chuan gave him no time to catch his breath.
His left fist followed through, slamming hard into Wu Wenda's chest.
A soft, insidious Dark Force pierced the soft armor and struck Wu Wenda's body directly.
Wu Wenda's eyes flew wide. His voice trembled.
"Force that penetrates the body... You're Dark Force?!"
Wu Wenda nearly cursed aloud.
You bastard! You're a Dark Force expert, yet you still poisoned a few Bright Force practitioners like us?!
Shameless!
Li Chuan punched him again, knocking him unconscious.
Skinny Monkey and Mad Dog exchanged a look and barked,
"Attack him from both sides! Aim high!"
The two Bright Force peak experts sprang into action.
Even poisoned, they were still formidable.
Seeing Li Chuan's sluggish movements, Skinny Monkey's lips curled into a vicious grin. His left hand suddenly flipped out a dagger, driving it toward Li Chuan's lower body.
"Actually, we're aiming low!"
Li Chuan twisted aside, dodging the deadly combined attack from Skinny Monkey and Mad Dog.
Then he threw two punches, one from each side, and knocked them both to the ground.
He pressed his advantage, smashing their heads flat before stopping!
The Bright Force practitioner who had stumbled in from outside was already on his knees.
"Sir, spare me! I've got three taels of silver. You can have it all!"
Li Chuan looked at him indifferently.
"If I kill you, it'll be mine anyway."
With a snap, Li Chuan twisted his windpipe and broke it.
Li Chuan walked out of the back room and saw that more than a dozen bodies were already sprawled outside.
The only ones still standing, the ones capable of fighting, were Bright Force practitioners.
"Only four left."
Li Chuan's gaze was icy. He had no intention of sparing them.
No one in this room deserved to walk out alive!
Li Chuan used Throat-Piercing Heart-Lock and Rib-Breaking Mountain-Cleaving, ending the lives of all four.
Then he hurried back into the back room and hauled Wu Wenda up.
"That big shot..."
Li Chuan's pupils suddenly contracted.
Black blood seeped from the corner of Wu Wenda's mouth. He was dead!
Li Chuan checked the mouths of Skinny Monkey and Mad Dog and found a green poison pill hidden in each.
Li Chuan shook his head. It looked like he wouldn't be getting any answers for now.
After making sure each person was dead, he searched them and took out all the loose silver.
Once he'd finished looting the bodies, Li Chuan stepped outside and set the place on fire.
A fierce wind howled past.
The wind fanned the flames, as if it would cleanse away every last trace of evil.
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