Crash!
Doors and windows exploded with a thunderous crash. Amid flying splinters and billowing dust, glazed roof tiles flipped loose and came clattering down toward the street.
With a dull thud, Poison Lady fell from the fourth floor of the Ding Sheng Building like a rag doll and struck the long street below.
Blood and mangled flesh splattered across the bodies and faces of several nearby passersby. Even though they had grown accustomed to deadly fighting in recent days, the sight still gave them a fright.
Poison Lady had nearly been severed at the waist, her flesh, sinews, and bones blasted apart. With only a final breath remaining, she stretched both hands forward, feebly grasping at nothing.
Merchants, travelers, and martial artists along the street were drawn by the tremendous commotion and turned to look.
Searching gazes also emerged from the taverns and inns on either side of the street. Some fell on Poison Lady, while others looked in astonishment toward the Ding Sheng Building, where roof tiles were still sliding down.
"What happened?"
Everyone was puzzled. Several martial artists approached Poison Lady, who lay plastered against the ground, but no sooner had they drawn near than they caught a strange scent. Their heads immediately grew heavy, their vision swam, and they staggered backward.
"Careful! That's Poison Lady! Get back!"
A seasoned veteran hurriedly shouted a warning. At the same time, someone gasped, "Hiss! Poison Lady met such a gruesome end? Who killed that she-devil?"
"She's still warm. She isn't dead..."
While the martial artists were merely stunned, the Smuggling Suppression Battalion elites Zhou Wenjie had brought and the many sturdy salt guards stationed around the Ding Sheng Building were already falling into panic.
"Something's happened!"
"Get upstairs! Protect His Lordship!"
On the fourth floor of the Ding Sheng Building.