Making a move

Over the next few days, Zhao Feng continued practicing his stances and punches during the day, while his nights were devoted to other business.

He had been secretly following and observing Leopard Lord these past few days. During the day, he mostly stays at the Hall or patrols his territory collecting protection money, usually with several men in tow. Nighttime is the only possibility, but even then, he usually drinks and carouses with his men. They even visit brothels together.

Zhao Feng found him much trickier to deal with than Huang Biao. The crowded Outer City was full of prying eyes, and it was Black Tiger Gang territory. Unless he could kill Leopard Lord and all his men in an instant, any fish that slipped the net and reported back would bring the entire Black Tiger Gang's vengeance down on him.

He might not fear that if he were alone, but there were still Little Aunt and Qiao'er.

So this had to be absolutely foolproof. Nothing less would do. He could not leave the slightest telltale trace.

"If I don't kill you, I won't be able to sleep." He drew a map of Leopard Lord's movements, carefully studying his routes and calculating how quickly the gang members could respond.

Though his target was only an ordinary man with a few paltry fighting tricks, while he was already a Bright Strength Martial Master, even a lion used its full strength to catch a rabbit.

"If only I had a powerful bow."

Once he had money, he would have a suitable bow and arrows made and take up archery again.

After several nights of following Leopard Lord and looking for a chance to strike, an opportunity actually presented itself.

Late at night, a jumble of footsteps rang out over the bluestone paving of an Outer City street,

accompanied by shouts and the sounds of fighting. The residents along the street were so frightened that they barred their doors and hardly dared breathe.

"Fucking Liu Laosan dares run wild on my turf! Cut him down!"

Leading a band of his men, Leopard Lord charged ferociously down the street after a group from the Three Harmonies Gang. The Black Tiger Gang had repeatedly come off worse against them lately, but tonight, they had finally managed to settle a score.

"Keep chasing!" Leopard Lord had only just climbed off a woman's belly that evening, and the pursuit had left him feeling weak. He leaned against a corner to catch his breath.

He waved his men onward while he rested, with only one trusted subordinate staying beside him.

"Leopard Lord, we really vented the Black Tiger Gang's anger tonight. The Gang Leader and Hall Leader are sure to reward you generously," his confidant said with a grin.

"Of course! Liu Laosan must have been blind as a dog. Bad luck for him, falling into my hands tonight. He didn't even look at who he was up against-me, Leopard Lord!"

"Once the Gang Leader's reward comes through, I'll treat the brothers to a trip to the brothel."

Leopard Lord spoke smugly between panting breaths. Just then, he felt an inexplicable chill. He glanced behind him, but there was no one there.

"Must be imagining things."

He turned back and waved for his confidant to follow, preparing to rejoin his men.

But at that very moment, a dark figure burst out of the alley beside him like a whirlwind. "Shit!"

Leopard Lord had barely begun raising his saber when his vision blurred. The dark figure slammed straight into his chest. Heart-Top Elbow! Bang!

Agony tore through his chest, followed by the crack of shattering bones. He flew backward, foam spilling from his mouth.

"Mother of mercy!" At the sight, his confidant immediately realized they had run into a Martial Master. He dropped his saber and fled for his life.

"Help! Murder! Leopard Lord's dead!"

He had barely run any distance when a sharp pain struck between his shoulder blades. A short knife had plunged into his back.

Thud! He pitched forward onto the ground. A moment later, it felt as though a red-hot iron bar had torn open the blood vessels in his neck. The short knife swept across his throat, and agony exploded! He could only rasp for breath before his fishlike eyes stared lifelessly and he stopped breathing.

With a black cloth covering his face, Zhao Feng put away his short knife and immediately returned to Leopard Lord, who lay collapsed on the ground.

His Bright Strength Heart-Top Elbow had shattered Leopard Lord's breastbone. As his consciousness faded, Leopard Lord struggled to see who had attacked him, but his attacker had already picked up the saber from the ground and brought it down. His awareness sank into darkness.

Zhao Feng quickly took a cloth bag from Leopard Lord, then hacked the corpse several more times with the saber, leaving a mangled mess of flesh and blood. He went over to the confidant and added several cuts there as well before leaving.

Only a dozen or so breaths after his departure, hurried footsteps sounded ahead. More than a dozen Black Tiger Gang members came rushing back. Seeing Leopard Lord on the ground, they immediately broke into shouting, and chaos erupted.

Zhao Feng circled around to the river and threw his outer shirt, outer trousers, black face cloth, and short knife into the foul-smelling water.

Only then did he circle back under cover of darkness to the row house where he lived.

He shut the door and braced it with a wooden post. It took a long while for his wildly pounding heart to gradually settle.

Though this was not his first time killing someone, this killing had still left him tense to the extreme, with adrenaline surging through him.

Once he calmed down, he reviewed the assassination. His calculations for the moment to strike, the time it took, and the return of the gang members had all been close to the mark. There had been no real oversights.

Though their Gang Leader was at most only at Bright Strength, they had numbers on their side. Naturally, leaving no telltale traces was best.

In short, a martial artist-even someone like him, who had only just reached Bright Strength-struck ordinary people from an entirely higher plane. His target had been utterly incapable of resisting or dodging a single Heart-Top Elbow, and the blow had been almost instantly fatal. Had his opponent also been a martial artist, it would have been another matter.

"A bow and arrows would still be better." They would have made this sort of thing much easier.

Zhao Feng opened Leopard Lord's cloth bag. Inside were a money pouch and an account book. He carefully counted the silver and large-denomination coins, which totaled roughly thirty taels.

"Good!" Delight spread across his face. This covered his tuition, as well as meat and Vitality Powder for a while.

He glanced at the account book and found that it recorded the Black Tiger Gang's collections. Without examining it closely, he took it to the kitchen and consigned it to the flames.

Over the next few days, familiar faces among the Martial Arts School's disciples kept disappearing, while new faces kept appearing. Everything went on as usual.

Meanwhile, several more large-scale armed clashes broke out between the Black Tiger Gang and the Three Harmonies Gang in the Outer City, leaving many dead and wounded. Every resident of the Outer City feared for their own safety.

"Junior Brother Zhao, are you free tonight? Let me treat you to a few drinks at the Drunken Moon Tower. We never got a chance to celebrate your breakthrough last time," Wei Yuan said as he approached.

"How could I let you pay, Senior Brother? I'll treat you."

"No need to stand on ceremony with your senior brother. You can make it up to me next time."

Zhao Feng smiled and agreed. Though he did not want to seem like a freeloader taking advantage of others, and did not want too much involvement with anyone, Wei Yuan had helped him quite a bit and was his senior brother. Naturally, he had to show him that courtesy.

The Drunken Moon Tower in Nanhua Ward of the Inner City rang with a boiling hubbub of voices. Business was excellent.

Zhao Feng followed Wei Yuan upstairs, where a waiter led them to a quiet table by the window. Looking down from the second floor at the Inner City streets, he saw that everything was far cleaner and more orderly than in the Outer City. The houses were much more uniform, without so many dilapidated buildings, and the people passing by were not dressed in such ragged clothes.

Wei Yuan ordered several dishes in succession, all of which sounded expensive. There was no stopping him.

Once all the steaming dishes had arrived, he said, "Here, Junior Brother Zhao, try this fish."

Wei Yuan picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and placed it in Zhao Feng's bowl. Zhao Feng lifted it into his mouth. His first impression was that the fish was very chewy. The moment he swallowed, he felt warmth rise from his belly, and a trace of energy flowed through his meridians into his dantian.

"What kind of fish is this?" Zhao Feng was startled. This was definitely no ordinary fish.

"This is Treasure Fish. Its flesh contains a peculiar energy that makes it extremely suitable for martial artists. It greatly benefits mental power and vitality, and helps bolster strength."

"To think there was something this good!" Zhao Feng said in surprise.

"It must be expensive."

"Basically, one costs nearly three taels of silver, and that's only an ordinary Treasure Fish around five years old. One around ten years old costs about ten taels, while those over ten years old can easily cost dozens of taels each. If it's a high-quality, older Variant Treasure Fish, there's no telling the price. It starts at a hundred taels, with no upper limit."