My Little Ancestor, Why Are You Still Here?

He quickly walked over to Chen Jing's side, lowered his voice, and spoke with a trace of collapse in his tone:

"My little ancestor, how do you still dare to come here?"

"Aren't you afraid someone else will come looking for trouble with you?"

Chen Jing's hands did not stop. With a turn of the blade, a slab of lean meat was cleanly and neatly trimmed off.

Without even raising his head, he said lightly, "Not afraid."

Qian Zheng collapsed. Ancestor, you might not be afraid, but I am.

But Qian Zheng had no way out.

He could not very well drive Chen Jing out.

Besides, Chen Jing's pig-slaughtering efficiency was truly high; one man was worth two.

He could not bear to lose him either.

At noon, after the meal.

The pageboy from Lianshan Martial Arts Hall pinched his nose and walked into Livestock Lane.

The fishy, acrid stench of the alley made him frown hard.

He searched around the yard, and finally saw Chen Jing at the chopping block deepest inside, slaughtering until pig's blood flew everywhere.

This scene was ten thousand and eight thousand li away from Chen Jing's heroic bearing at the martial arts hall. The pageboy frowned, forced down his nausea, and walked forward:

"Young Master Chen, there is a letter for you."

Chen Jing took the letter, looked at the pageboy's face full of suffering, and laughed. "All right, you can go back."

As if granted a great pardon, the pageboy fled out of Livestock Lane like he was running for his life.

The letter was Bai Zhixing's reply.

Bai Zhixing's handwriting was upright, his wording polite.

It said they would meet tonight to discuss the details.

He had reserved a private room at Hundred Flowers Pavilion on Flower Moon Street, and requested that Chen Jing do him the honor of attending. Chen Jing put away the letter, folded it neatly and tucked it into his robes, then continued slaughtering pigs.

The Zhou residence, the study.

Smack! A loud slap exploded through the study.

Zhou Fan's entire body was struck into half a spin in midair before he smashed heavily onto the floor, a trace of bloody foam spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Half his face visibly swelled up.

Zhou Yunhan stood before him, his chest heaving violently. His well-maintained face had flushed crimson, and blue veins bulged one by one on his forehead.

He pointed at Zhou Fan, his finger trembling, his voice pressed extremely low, yet even more chilling than a roar:

"Stupid! Stupid beyond saving!"

"You secretly contacted Clear Wind Stronghold behind my back, and even brought Du Hai and Du Shan into the city. Now, they are dead!"

"Not only are they dead, even I am at risk of being exposed! And all of this was just to satisfy that bit of worthless jealousy of yours?"

Zhou Fan lay collapsed on the ground, half his face swollen high. Snot and tears streaming down, he crawled over and hugged Zhou Yunhan's leg, a sob in his voice:

"Father, I was wrong. I was truly wrong."

"I didn't know that Chen Jing would be so fierce, that even the brothers Du Hai and Du Shan couldn't kill him."

"Father, Du Hai and Du Shan are already dead. Dead men don't open their mouths. No one knows I did it! We won't be in trouble, right?"

Zhou Yunhan kicked Zhou Fan over onto the ground, his eyes filled with furious hatred that iron had failed to become steel:

"You think everyone else is as stupid as you?"

"Your feud with Chen Jing is known to everyone in Lianshan Martial Arts Hall. Even if they have no evidence, the first person they suspect will be you!"

"Following the vine to find the melon, sooner or later they'll trace it back to me!"

He paced back and forth through the study, his steps fast and urgent. After a moment, he suddenly stopped, his face ashen, as if he had made some sort of decision:

"We can't sit here waiting for death. We must strike first to seize the advantage."

He turned and stared at Zhou Fan.

"I'll send you out of the city. To the outside world, we'll say you returned to our hometown to visit relatives. It's reasonable and proper, and no one will be suspicious."

"Over these years, I found a secret place outside the city and hid all my savings there. You must guard this secret to the death."

"At the crucial moment, that will be the capital that keeps you alive."

Zhou Fan sensed something was wrong and abruptly raised his head, his swollen face full of panic. "Father, you're not leaving with me?"

"Idiot!" Zhou Yunhan said sternly. "If I leave now, having accomplished nothing, Clear Wind Stronghold won't let me off."

"When the time comes, both of us father and son will have to die!"

"I have to stake everything on one throw and present a certificate of allegiance weighty enough. Only then can I preserve both our lives!"

Just then, a servant hurried into the study.

He didn't even look at Zhou Fan, who was sprawled on the ground. He walked straight to Zhou Yunhan's side and murmured a few words by his ear.

Zhou Yunhan's expression shifted, then quickly returned to calm. He nodded. "Go make the arrangements."

He waved a hand, too lazy to spare Zhou Fan another glance. "Drag this unfilial son away. Send him out of the city at once, and don't take the official road."

The sun slanted west. In the slaughterhouse, Chen Jing slaughtered the eighth pig.

He rinsed the pig-slaughtering knife in clean water, glanced at the panel, and saw that his Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique proficiency had risen by another 40 points.

He clicked his tongue and muttered to himself:

"Killing people still raises it faster. I chopped down two yesterday, and it went up by 200 points straight away."

He tucked the knife behind his waist and walked to the accounting room door.

"Manager Qian, I'm leaving early today."

Qian Zheng was huddled inside the accounting room. At those words, he looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him. He poked half his face out from behind the doorframe and said with a bitter expression:

"My living ancestor, please hurry up and go."

"I'm truly afraid of a great Buddha like you."

"In the future, if you run into anything again in the alley, please, whatever you do, don't let me witness it. My heart can't take it."

Chen Jing returned to the martial hall.

He changed out of his coarse short hemp jacket, reeking of blood and filth, took a bath, then put on the black martial uniform Hu Yang had given him and tied a dark ink-colored belt around his waist.

Then he picked up the new pig-slaughtering knife Zhang Chengji had sent over from the table and weighed it in his hand.

The entire blade was deep black, with the dull, heavy sheen unique to Hundred-Refined Iron. Only along the edge did a streak of snow-bright sharpness show.

The whole knife was simple to the extreme, without the slightest extra ornamentation, yet one look at it made a person feel it was calm and dangerous.

He spun it twice in his hand. It felt excellent.

It was slightly heavier than Butcher Zhang's knife, but because of that, it carried a few more degrees of vicious force in a chop.

He put Butcher Zhang's knife away.

Then he slid the new knife into the sheath behind his waist and strode toward the courtyard gate.

He had just reached the courtyard gate when Cheng Qingshi was standing there.

He was still dressed in black fitted martial attire, standing with his hands behind his back. Moonlight shone on that cold, stern face, revealing no expression.

"Where are you going so late?"

Chen Jing was taken aback.

This Fourth Senior Brother of his normally cherished words like gold.

Usually, a nod when they met counted as a greeting. Tonight, he had actually taken the initiative to ask where he was going. The sun had truly risen from the west.

"I have an appointment with the young owner of White Horse Pharmacy at Hundred Flowers Pavilion."

Cheng Qingshi was silent for a breath, then said coldly:

"I'll go with you."

Chen Jing's expression turned strange.

Was Cheng Qingshi worried about his safety?

His cold-faced senior brother accompanying him to visit a brothel...

No matter how he imagined it, the scene felt awkward.

But with another skilled hand at his side, Chen Jing naturally wouldn't refuse. He grinned. "Then, many thanks, Fourth Senior Brother."

The two left Deer Cry Alley and headed toward Flower Moon Street.

Green Mountain City had a curfew. After night fell, most of the neighborhoods put out their lamps and shut their doors. Only Flower Moon Street in the East Market was an exception.

The street was not long, but it was brightly lit. On both sides, pleasure houses, theaters, brothels, and guild halls stood row upon row like fish scales and comb teeth. Lanterns hung one after another, illuminating the entire street in a brilliant glow.

The sounds of strings and flutes, along with drinking games, drifted out from every building.

Mixed with the fragrance of powder and rouge, they spread through the night wind.

This was Green Mountain City's finest money-burning den. Lavish spenders who threw down a thousand gold in one toss and dissolute wastrels drunk on life and dreaming of death packed every storefront.

Hundred Flowers Pavilion was the foremost among those on Flower Moon Street.

Its three-story pavilion had carved beams and painted rafters, and several carriages were stopped outside the entrance.

A matron in a red silk blouse, still retaining traces of beauty though past her prime, came forward while waving a round fan. Her gaze swept back and forth over Chen Jing and Cheng Qingshi, and a professional, coquettish smile rose at the corners of her mouth.

She swayed gracefully toward Cheng Qingshi, who stared straight ahead without glancing aside. With a light flick of her round fan, her entire body nearly pressed against him.

"You two young gentlemen look unfamiliar. Is this your first time at Hundred Flowers Pavilion?"

"Would you like me to introduce some girls to your liking?"

When had Cheng Qingshi ever seen such a scene? His whole body went stiff as an iron plate, his face flushed red with a whoosh, and he had no idea where to put his eyes.

Chen Jing forced back his laughter and stepped forward to smooth things over for him:

"We're friends of Young Master Bai Zhixing."

The woman understood at once, and her smile grew a few shades warmer.

"So you're Young Master Bai's honored guests! We were told in advance. This way, please."