Assassination

In the gloomy alley.

Within the darkness, two figures moved forward rapidly, like vipers lurking in the shadows.

Fang Xing stumbled along, appearing as if he could collapse at any moment.

"Ugh..."

Suddenly, Fang Xing stopped, his body leaning against the wall as he bent over and retched.

"Perfect opportunity!"

Seeing this, the eyes of the two men lit up. They exchanged a glance and lunged forward simultaneously, cold light flashing.

Each brandished a dagger, stabbing toward Fang Xing.

But the very instant they struck, Fang Xing, who had been leaning against the wall, spun around.

"Bang! Bang!!"

His movements were like lightning, striking the daggers from their hands with incredible speed.

The two figures were sent reeling back, their arms numb, their faces turning pale.

"A martial artist? How is this possible!"

A cry of shock rang out, but before they could react, a powerful sensation of suffocation descended upon them.

A pair of hands, firm as iron clamps, gripped their throats.

His gaze was frigid, like a man-eating beast; there was no trace of drunkenness left in him.

The intense suffocation immediately made the two men feel lightheaded from a lack of oxygen.

Clamping his hands around the necks of the two men in black, Fang Xing's voice was as cold as frost: "Who sent you?"

From the terror in their expressions, Fang Xing could largely guess that these men were not sent by Yang Bo.

If they were Yang Bo's men, he wouldn't have sent these two ordinary thugs.

But if it wasn't Yang Bo, then who could it be?

He didn't recall having any grudges against anyone.

"Misunderstanding... this is a misunderstanding."

One of them, his face flushed red, spoke with great difficulty.

"Snap!!"

Before the words had even faded, the neck of one of the men twisted. His eyes bulged, and as Fang Xing released one hand, the other man slumped to the ground, lifeless.

"My patience is limited." Fang Xing's cold voice rang out as he looked at the survivor.

Seeing his companion collapse and fall silent, the other man couldn't help but tremble: "I... I'll talk! It... it was our boss who sent us."

"Who is your boss?" Fang Xing asked, staring at him.

"Our boss is the leader of the Black Tiger Gang."

"Black Tiger Gang..." Fang Xing narrowed his eyes, quickly sifting through the information in his mind.

It was a bottom-tier gang.

Although it was insignificant, the leader of this Black Tiger Gang was a Bright Force martial artist.

In his memories, the Black Tiger Gang had only risen to prominence in the last two months.

However, their expansion had been rapid; despite still being a small, low-level gang, they had gained a certain reputation.

But... why would the Black Tiger Gang want to kill him?

Although the Black Tiger Gang was a force in North City, he had no history with them.

His previous patrol routes had not even fallen within the Black Tiger Gang's territory.

He had just been promoted today, and he was already being assassinated by the Black Tiger Gang. No matter how he looked at it, something felt wrong.

While news of his promotion might not have reached these factions yet, would a small gang really be crazy enough to send men to assassinate a government official?

Thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning. Fang Xing looked at the man and said, "Why does the Black Tiger Gang want to kill me?"

"I... I don't know. The boss said that as long as we finished the job, we'd get fifty taels of silver."

The man said, his face flushed and struggling to speak.

"And what else? Your boss didn't tell you the reason?" Fang Xing continued to press.

"I... I don't know. The... the boss didn't say." The man stammered.

"Is that so?" Fang Xing's gaze was sharp, his eyes like blades.

He continued to question him, but he never received the answer he wanted.

These two men truly did not know the intention behind the hit.

With no further information to be gained, Fang Xing exerted force and snapped the man's neck. The man collapsed before him, his eyes filled with resentment and fear.

In the night, two corpses lay on the ground. Looking at them, Fang Xing felt no fear like he had the first time he killed; on the contrary, he was extremely calm.

Scanning the two bodies, he searched them and only found a few scraps of silver.

He then immediately grabbed the two bodies and vanished into the night.

He did not dispose of the bodies in any special way; he simply dumped them in a patch of overgrown weeds in North City.

If anyone passed by during the day, they would easily be discovered.

He intended to use these two bodies as a lure, a pretext to go and investigate the Black Tiger Gang.

Although the Black Tiger Gang was a low-level faction, its leader was a Bright Force martial artist.

He was not confident in his ability to kill a Bright Force practitioner.

However, by using his current official status to investigate, he might be able to uncover some clues.

He had never offended the Black Tiger Gang, yet they had sent men to deal with him.

There had to be a reason for this.

Aside from the conflict he'd had with Yang Bo today, he couldn't think of any other reason.

However, in reality, he suspected this had nothing to do with Yang Bo.

But he hadn't completely ruled it out; it was still a possibility.

If he hadn't just stepped into the Bright Force realm, he would have dealt with this himself.

But he didn't want to take risks without absolute certainty.

After all, a Bright Force martial artist was not so easily handled.

He only knew that the Black Tiger Gang's Li Hu was a Bright Force martial artist; he knew nothing of his specific strength or martial arts.

Attacking them alone was too risky. Even though his Capture Hand had reached the pinnacle, it was still just a basic martial art.

When killing other martial artists, martial skills, experience, and other factors were all crucial.

"I'll go test the waters tomorrow..."

Looking at the bright moon in the sky, Fang Xing's eyes flashed, and he quickly left the area.

Returning home, Fang Xing continued to practice his Capture Hand as usual.

With the Black Tiger Gang incident, he was desperate to increase his strength.

But cultivation could not be rushed; he had to follow the proper steps.

For now, he had to accumulate Enhancement Points. Only with enough points could his strength improve faster.

He practiced until late at night before stopping.

He washed up and went to bed.

The next day, early morning.

Fang Xing rose early.

After breakfast, he headed out.

However, he did not take his usual route today; instead, he went to where he had dumped the bodies the night before.

As he passed by, Fang Xing saw a group of people already gathered, discussing the matter animatedly.

"Two of them. Don't know how they died. They look young, what a pity..."

"Pity? I've seen these two before. They're from the Black Tiger Gang. They deserved to die."

"People from the Black Tiger Gang? They probably died because of some gang feud..."

Listening to the onlookers, a smile appeared on Fang Xing's face.

It was exactly as he had expected.

With their Black Tiger Gang affiliation revealed, he now had a justifiable reason to lead men to the Black Tiger Gang to "investigate the situation."

Without lingering, Fang Xing continued toward the County Yamen.

Upon arriving at the Yamen and changing into his official uniform, Fang Xing told Xu Zhengxiong about what he had "stumbled upon" on his way.

After listening to Fang Xing's account, Xu Zhengxiong frowned: "It looks like a gang feud. For matters like this, just go through the motions. Handle it however you see fit."

"Understood, Boss." Having received Xu Zhengxiong's word, Fang Xing nodded and immediately took a few yamen runners with him.

He was the one who had killed them!

But he had to pin this "blame" on the Black Tiger Gang.

Using this "lure," he had to investigate, and it would also be a perfect opportunity to make direct contact with the Black Tiger Gang.

Soon, Fang Xing, accompanied by Xu Le and four or five other yamen runners, arrived at the "crime scene."

Looking at the two corpses, Fang Xing swept his gaze over them: "Investigate. First, confirm their identities."

Although he already knew, he still had to follow the proper procedures.

Soon, the specific identities of the two men were "investigated" through the words of the surrounding crowd.

With their identities confirmed, Fang Xing ordered his men to handle the bodies and have them transported away. At the same time, he led the yamen runners toward the Black Tiger Gang.