Wild Wolf

"The Zheng Clan..."

The drone tracked the three men, its view zooming in as a grand plaque came into sight. The words "Zheng Residence" gleamed brightly.

"Related by marriage to the Eastern Pacifying Marquis's Estate, with 'Golden-Mixing Blade' Zheng Ye as its head... and they're this unrefined?"

Jiang Ding sighed inwardly. Even those who benefited from Eastspirit Prefecture's order were unwilling to follow the rules they themselves had established, coming out to engage in this kind of robbery.

Or perhaps a few profit-blinded servants had acted on their own initiative?

Lightly stroking his sword hilt, Jiang Ding slipped into a false doze. Inner force flowed silently within him, nourishing the ten main channels of the Hand Jueyin Pericardium Meridian, his second regular meridian.

Today, he would finish nourishing those ten channels and begin on his third regular meridian.

Around eight or nine, Jiang Ding went out and chatted with Lin Wanqiu and Jiang Yuan for a while. Then he returned to the rear courtyard and rested with his eyes closed beneath the warm morning sunlight.

At first, he found it somewhat difficult to get used to not sleeping. But after adapting for a while, he discovered that using meditative practice to nourish his meridians with inner force could replace part of his sleep.

If things went smoothly, he could eventually reduce his sleep from eight hours to four.

Knock, knock!

Urgent knocking came from outside.

"Come in."

"Boss, trouble has come!"

Huang Deyou hurried to Jiang Ding's side and lowered his voice. "The Wild Wolf Gang's leader, 'Wild Wolf Blade' Long Shi, has come in person. He even sent you a calling card."

Jiang Ding, who had been feigning sleep while stroking his sword, opened his eyes. Coldness flashed in them. "Let him come in."

Huang Deyou froze, cold sweat breaking out.

Good heavens!

This was 'Wild Wolf Blade' Long Shi, the man who had built up such an enormous enterprise from nothing—not some small-time gang lackey like Liu Qi!

In the battle that made his name, he had led the Eighteen Wild Wolf Riders into the former Black Serpent Gang leader's home and slaughtered his entire family with a single blade. He was a man whose word was law.

On the streets around Rotten Plank Street, if he wanted a family dead by midnight, they would not live to see dawn.

Huang Deyou did not dare move.

Jiang Ding did not make things difficult for him. He flicked his sword hilt, sheath and all, against the ground. A fist-sized pebble bounced into the air, and he swung the tip of his sheath, striking it with precise force—the standard exertion technique of the Pointing Sword Form.

Whoosh!

A black speck shot through the main gate at a speed invisible to the naked eye, leaving behind a neatly edged hole before vanishing.

Outside the general store, a rough-looking burly man sat boldly in a grand chair. A curved saber, sheath and all, was embedded several inches deep in the hard, dry earth beside his left hand.

The scar-faced Liu Qi stood behind him with a cautious, fawning smile. Seven or eight martial artists in fitted outfits, longsabers at their waists, stood around them, alert to their surroundings at all times.

"You said he made you cough blood with a single sword strike? That isn't too surprising."

'Wild Wolf Blade' Long Shi stroked the beard on his chin. This subordinate had been his old brother for many years, otherwise he would not have let him take such a lucrative post.

But in terms of strength, he was merely strong and sturdy, daring enough to fight and risk his life.

"But young, fair-skinned, handsome... putting all that together..." Long Shi found himself in a dilemma. Like Liu Qi, he sensed trouble here and had no desire to provoke it.

But...

"What nerve. A mere shopkeeping wretch dares put on airs before my brother?" Long Shi suddenly sneered. "Wolf One, Wolf Two, drag that bastard out here!"

"Yes, Gang Leader!"

The two martial artists in fitted outfits responded in unison, entering through the door with their sabers held upside down.

Han Lin and the other clerks turned deathly pale.

"Who goes there?!"

Startled by the sound of something cutting through the air, the two martial artists swung their sabers toward it at once. Their strikes were steady, precise, and ruthless, their combat experience honed to an extreme. They truly deserved their reputation as the Wild Wolf Gang's Eighteen Wild Wolf Riders, forged through years of killing.

Clang!

A shower of dazzling sparks burst between the two blades.

Crack!

Horror appeared in Wolf One and Wolf Two's eyes. Before they could react, two crisp snaps of breaking arm bones rang out. An enormous force slammed into their chests, sending both men and their sabers flying out the gate. Scalding blood mixed with dust as it splattered down.

Long Shi's pupils contracted, and he rose to his feet.

He had seen it clearly. A fist-sized stone from nowhere had shattered both men's arm bones, leaving them no room to resist.

He might not have been able to do that himself.

A chill ran through Liu Qi's heart. I was lucky last time.

Silence fell over the area. The remaining two saber-bearing guards faced the utterly ordinary shop as though confronting a great enemy.

"Shopkeeper, my brothers were rude today. We have disturbed you."

Long Shi signaled for the others to help up his two badly injured brothers. He did not utter a single threat, clearly intending to leave just like that.

In the martial world, the most important thing was knowing when to back down. Otherwise, one would have died long ago without even knowing where.

It was not necessarily that he could not win, but so long as it did not concern something fundamental, he was unwilling to have a serious conflict with a highly skilled man.

"Come in and talk."

A cold, indifferent voice drifted through the wind, stopping Long Shi in his tracks.

"Shopkeeper, there are still matters to attend to in the gang..."

"The Wild Wolf Gang isn't far from here."

"Fine."

A flash of savagery passed through Long Shi's eyes. He gave a look, and one of the martial artists in fitted clothes silently departed.

When he entered the rear courtyard—

The first thing he saw was a stack of square boxes, jet black with gilded ornamentation, each bearing the mark of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce.

Long Shi's heart shook, and intense greed rose within him.

Ginseng!

All of it was several decades old!

If he swallowed all of it, he might be able to advance from minor accomplishment in inner qi to major accomplishment, becoming a notable figure even in Eastspirit Prefecture rather than remaining confined to the few streets around Rotten Plank Street.

If it were compounded with various spirit herbs, it might even be enough for several people to advance from minor accomplishment in inner qi to major accomplishment!

"Want it?"

A cold, eerie voice came from beside him.

"Well..."

Long Shi swallowed, wanting to say something polite.

"Take one strike from my sword without losing, and it's all yours."

Jiang Ding drew his bright silver sword. Traces of killing intent spread through the air.

There was definitely an enemy mole within the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce. The moment he stepped outside, they knew. Once wealth reached a certain level, these martial world people in a feudal society had no respect for laws at all.

"One sword strike?"

Long Shi's blazing greed instantly cooled. He angled his saber downward and said calmly, "Young master, you misunderstand. You have lived temporarily on Rotten Plank Street for nearly a month. As the host here, I merely came to make a new friend."

"Everyone in the martial world knows that I, 'Wild Wolf Blade' Long Shi, love making friends most of all. I never let my friends suffer losses."

Clang!

A sword cry rang out as sword light scattered.

This was notice, not a question.

"Arrogant!"

Long Shi snorted coldly. Inner qi surged as saber radiance transformed into a long, cascading river that fell from above. The air faintly carried a windlike howl of wolves.

At the same time, as though by instinct, the sole remaining wolf guard drew his blade and followed. Like a male wolf following the alpha wolf in a pounce across the grasslands, he joined in surrounding and hunting fierce prey.

Their coordination could not have been more seamless. Over the years, at least a dozen inner qi martial artists had fallen to their hands, five of them dying.

"Good."

The sword light in Jiang Ding's hand condensed to an extreme degree. It lightly pierced into the side of the saber radiance. Though both weapons were being swung at high speed, his sword seemed like a nimble bird flitting around a bull's head, effortless and at ease.

Clang!

The sword tip touched the side of the saber radiance. In that instant of contact, the sword radiance easily shattered the seemingly solid saber radiance. The swift saber path collapsed at once, visible to the naked eye.

The sword tip turned again, piercing through the gap between Long Shi's heart and blood vessels.

"Big Brother!"

Wolf Four's eyes split wide with fury. That sword light was too fast—he could not keep up at all.

There was still a chance. His saber was already closing in on the other man's neck. Just one slash, just one slash!

Wolf Four stared fixedly at that fair neck.

Sword light flashed. A head flew into the air, and blood spurted half a meter high before splashing across the ground.