He strode over to Chen Jing and lowered his voice, sounding close to a breakdown:
"For heaven's sake, why would you dare come back?"
"Aren't you afraid someone else will come looking for trouble?"
Chen Jing's hands never stopped. With a turn of the blade, he cleanly stripped off a slice of lean meat.
Without even looking up, he said casually, "No."
Qian Zheng nearly broke down. You little ancestor, you might not be afraid, but I am!
But there was nothing Qian Zheng could do.
He could hardly throw Chen Jing out.
Besides, Chen Jing was genuinely efficient at slaughtering pigs. He did the work of two men.
Qian Zheng couldn't bear to let him go, either.
At noon, after lunch.
A servant from the Lianshan Martial Arts Hall walked into Livestock Lane, pinching his nose.
The bloody, rank stench in the alley made him frown.
He searched through the yards until he finally spotted Chen Jing at the innermost butcher's table, slaughtering pigs with blood flying everywhere.
The sight was a hundred thousand miles removed from Chen Jing's dashing bearing at the martial arts hall. Frowning, the servant fought back his nausea and approached:
"Young Master Chen, a letter for you."
Chen Jing took the letter and laughed at the servant's pained expression. "All right, you can head back."
As though granted a pardon, the servant fled Livestock Lane.
The letter was Bai Zhixing's reply.
Bai Zhixing's handwriting was neat, and his wording polite.
He suggested meeting that evening to discuss things in detail.
He had reserved a private room at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion on Flower Moon Street and asked Chen Jing to be sure to honor him with his presence. Chen Jing put the letter away, folding it and tucking it inside his robe, then went on slaughtering pigs.
The Zhou residence, in the study.
Smack! A resounding slap exploded through the study.
Zhou Fan spun halfway around in midair before crashing heavily to the floor, bloody spittle seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Half his face swelled visibly.
Zhou Yunhan stood before him, his chest heaving. His well-maintained face was flushed crimson, and veins bulged across his forehead.
He pointed at Zhou Fan with a trembling finger. His voice was extremely low, yet more chilling than a roar:
"Fool! Utter fool!"
"You secretly contacted the Clear Wind Stronghold behind my back and brought Du Hai and Du Shan into the city. Now they're dead!"
"Not only are they dead, but I'm at risk of being exposed! All this just to satisfy your petty, pointless jealousy?"
Sprawled on the floor with half his face badly swollen, Zhou Fan crawled over and clung to Zhou Yunhan's leg, tears and snot streaming down his face. He spoke through sobs:
"Father, I was wrong. I really was."
"I didn't know Chen Jing was so ferocious that even the brothers Du Hai and Du Shan couldn't kill him."
"Father, Du Hai and Du Shan are dead now. Dead men can't talk. No one knows I did it! We'll be all right, won't we?"
Zhou Yunhan kicked Zhou Fan back onto the floor, his eyes blazing with fury at his son's failure to amount to anything:
"Do you think everyone else is as stupid as you?"
"Everyone at the Lianshan Martial Arts Hall knows about your feud with Chen Jing. Even without evidence, you'll be the first person they suspect!"
"They'll follow the vine to the melon, and sooner or later, it'll lead them to me!"
He paced rapidly back and forth through the study. After a moment, he stopped abruptly, his face livid, as though he had reached a decision:
"We can't sit here waiting to die. We have to strike first."
He turned and stared at Zhou Fan.
"I'll send you out of the city. We'll tell everyone you're going back to our hometown to visit relatives. It's perfectly reasonable. No one will suspect anything."
"Over the years, I found a secret place outside the city and hid all my savings there. You must guard that secret with your life."
"When the critical moment comes, that will be what keeps you alive."
Sensing something was wrong, Zhou Fan jerked his head up, his swollen face full of panic. "Father, aren't you coming with me?"
"Idiot!" Zhou Yunhan snapped. "If I leave now without accomplishing anything, the Clear Wind Stronghold won't let me off."
"Then both of us will die!"
"I have to stake everything on one throw and offer a pledge of allegiance with enough weight behind it. Only then can I save both our lives!"
Just then, a household servant hurried into the study.
Without so much as glancing at Zhou Fan sprawled on the floor, he went straight to Zhou Yunhan and whispered a few words in his ear.
Zhou Yunhan's expression shifted, then quickly settled back into calm. He nodded. "Go make the arrangements."
He waved a hand, no longer bothering even to look at Zhou Fan. "Drag this unfilial son away. Send him out of the city immediately, and don't take the main road."
As the sun sank westward, Chen Jing slaughtered his eighth pig at the Slaughterhouse.
He rinsed the Butcher Knife in clean water and glanced at his panel. His Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique proficiency had risen by another 40 points.
He clicked his tongue and muttered to himself:
"Killing people raises it faster after all. Cutting down those two yesterday gave me 200 points outright."
He tucked the knife behind his waist and walked to the accounting office.
"Manager Qian, I'm leaving a little early today."
Huddled inside the accounting office, Qian Zheng felt a great weight lift from him. He poked half his face out from behind the doorframe and said miserably:
"For heaven's sake, please hurry up and go."
"I'm truly terrified of having a great Buddha like you here."
"If anything happens to you in the alley again, please don't let me see it. My heart can't take it."
Chen Jing returned to the martial arts hall.
He took off his rank-smelling coarse-cloth clothes, washed, and changed into the black martial outfit Hu Yang had given him, fastening an ink-black belt around his waist.
Then he picked up the new Butcher Knife Zhang Chengji had sent him from the table and weighed it in his hand.
The blade was black throughout, with the distinctive muted sheen of hundred-refined iron. Only its edge revealed a gleam of snowy brightness.
The entire knife was pared down to the simplest possible design, without a single unnecessary ornament, yet one glance conveyed a sense of stillness and danger.
He spun it twice in his hand. It felt excellent.
It was slightly heavier than Butcher Zhang's knife, but that only lent its chopping strokes more savagery.
He put Butcher Zhang's knife away.
Sliding the new knife into the sheath behind his waist, he strode toward the courtyard gate.
Just as he reached it, he found Cheng Qingshi standing there.
As usual, Cheng Qingshi wore a close-fitting black outfit and stood with his hands behind his back. Moonlight fell across his stern face, revealing no discernible expression.
"Where are you going this late?"
Chen Jing paused in surprise.
His fourth senior brother usually guarded his words like gold.
A nod when they met normally counted as a greeting. For him to actually ask where Chen Jing was going tonight was like the sun rising in the west.
"I'm meeting the White Horse Pharmacy's young proprietor at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion."
Cheng Qingshi was silent for a breath, then said coldly:
"I'm going with you."
A strange look crossed Chen Jing's face.
Was Cheng Qingshi worried about his safety?
His cold-faced senior brother accompanying him to a brothel...
The image felt awkward no matter how he pictured it.
Still, Chen Jing certainly wouldn't turn down another skilled fighter at his side. He grinned. "Then thank you, Fourth Senior Brother."
The two left Deer Cry Alley and headed toward Flower Moon Street.
Green Mountain City had a curfew. After nightfall, most neighborhoods extinguished their lights and shut their doors, with Flower Moon Street in the East Market the sole exception.
The street was short but brilliantly lit. Entertainment houses, brothels, and guild halls lined both sides like scales on a fish and teeth on a comb. Lantern after lantern illuminated the whole street in dazzling splendor.
Music from strings and flutes mingled with the cries of drinking games drifting out of the buildings.
Mixed with the scent of rouge and powder, they spread through the night breeze.
This was Green Mountain City's foremost gold-devouring den. Big spenders who tossed away fortunes and wastrels who lived in drunken dreams crowded every establishment.
The Hundred Flowers Pavilion was the finest of all on Flower Moon Street.
Its three-story building boasted carved beams and painted rafters, and several carriages stood outside.
A woman in a red silk blouse, past her youth but still alluring, came forward waving a round fan. Her gaze swept over Chen Jing and Cheng Qingshi, and a practiced, flirtatious smile rose to her lips.
She swayed gracefully toward Cheng Qingshi, who kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. With a light sweep of her fan, she all but pressed herself against him:
"You two gentlemen look unfamiliar. Your first visit to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, is it?"
"Shall I introduce you to some girls you'll like?"
Cheng Qingshi had never faced anything like this. His whole body stiffened like an iron plate, his face flushed bright red, and he had no idea where to look.
Struggling to suppress his laughter, Chen Jing stepped forward to rescue him:
"We're friends of Young Master Bai Zhixing."
Understanding dawned on the woman, and her smile grew warmer:
"Ah, Young Master Bai's honored guests! He already left instructions. This way, please."
Before you continue