Surprise Attack on the Golden Saber Gang's Azure Robe Branch Hall (Part 2)

The confidant Chen Xuan had planted there still wanted to say something.

Lu Hao had already stepped forward with his left leg. A Black Tiger Plucks the Heart smashed into the man's face. He fell to the ground, twitched twice, and lay still.

Seeing this, the other man turned and tried to run.

Lu Hao chased after him and struck with a Black Tiger Sweeps Its Tail, smashing the back of his head. He too fell dead.

Shi Kang walked over and looked at Lu Hao.

"Brother Hao! Why didn't you leave these two bastards alive? We could've kept them as witnesses and settled accounts with Chen Xuan when we got back."

Lu Hao lifted the hem of his short jacket and wiped the blood from his fists.

"No need. If Chen Xuan refuses to admit it, kill him. Have the brothers clean up the battlefield, count the casualties, and get the wounded bandaged and treated as soon as possible."

The Black Tiger Gang members began cleaning up the battlefield, turning over the corpses one by one to inspect them. Anyone not quite dead received a few more punches.

A burst of laughter and chatter suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

Two leaders from the Golden Saber Gang's Azure Robe Branch Hall, Sun Yuchen and Yao Jing, arrived outside the hall gates.

Sun Yuchen said to Yao Jing, "Yao Jing, your sister-in-law was very satisfied with your performance last night. She just thought your nails pricked her too badly."

Yao Jing gave an embarrassed smile. "Brother Sun, didn't Sister-in-law use scissors to cut off my sharp nails afterward? She even filed my nails for half an hour. After that, wasn't I free to touch her however I wanted? Hehe..."

Sun Yuchen added, "Before leaving this morning, your sister-in-law even secretly told me to have you come by the house again tonight." As he spoke, Sun Yuchen raised his brows slightly.

Yao Jing's face immediately took on a lewd expression. "As long as Sister-in-law is satisfied! Thank you, Brother Sun. Then I'll go home with you again tonight."

As they spoke, the two stepped into the Azure Robe Branch Hall.

Sun Yuchen even turned back to glance at the entrance. "Why isn't there even anyone standing guard today? Those lazy bastards—I'll show them how I deal with them later!"

Before his words had faded, the two had entered the courtyard. Looking up, they saw corpses strewn every which way across the ground, many of them familiar faces.

Then they saw the people standing in the courtyard. All of them were unfamiliar, with red cloth strips wrapped around their left arms.

The two froze for a moment, then immediately realized it—the branch hall had been ambushed!

The Black Tiger Gang members saw Sun Yuchen and Yao Jing and immediately surrounded them.

Two minor leaders rushed forward, raising wooden clubs to smash at the pair.

Sun Yuchen and Yao Jing each drew a dagger from their waists and fought the two Black Tiger Gang minor leaders.

The two minor leaders were one minor realm below them. After only a few exchanges, one had his throat slit by Sun Yuchen's dagger, while the other had his chest pierced by Yao Jing. Both died on the spot.

Seeing this, Lu Hao knew that these two were at least in the Second-Layer Gate-Breaking Realm. He strode forward and took them both on, fighting Sun Yuchen and Yao Jing at once.

Their blade techniques were tricky and vicious. They did not clash head-on with Lu Hao, instead stabbing or flicking their blades toward his openings.

After more than ten exchanges, Lu Hao had been cut once across the chest and once across the left arm. Blood seeped out, dyeing a patch of his short jacket red.

After several more exchanges, Lu Hao caught an opening in Yao Jing's defense. His waist twisted sharply, and his arm whipped out like a steel lash. A Black Tiger Sweeps Its Tail smashed squarely into Yao Jing's face. Yao Jing was sent flying sideways at once.

Lu Hao raised both fists high and unleashed a Black Tiger Descends the Mountain, smashing fiercely into Sun Yuchen's crown. Blood burst from Sun Yuchen's seven orifices, and he fell dead on the spot.

Yao Jing struggled up from the ground. The moment he lifted his head, he saw Sun Yuchen dead beneath Lu Hao's fists. Something was wrong! He turned and ran.

Yao Jing had only taken two steps when Shi Kang lunged out from the side. A Black Tiger Plucks the Heart drilled into his lower back. Caught completely off guard, Yao Jing crashed to the ground.

Lu Hao arrived right after. He bent his knees slightly and raised both arms high once more. Another Black Tiger Descends the Mountain smashed into the back of Yao Jing's head. Yao Jing's whole body shuddered, and he too fell dead.

Shi Kang looked at Lu Hao's wounds. "Brother Hao, you're injured. I'll find someone to bandage you."

Lu Hao waved a hand. "No need. I'll deal with the wounds myself."

In truth, Lu Hao wanted to find a quiet place to absorb the chicken Qi-Blood in his Equipment Slot. Last time, when the Spring Breeze Pavilion guard had stabbed his left arm, he had returned home and absorbed the chicken Qi-Blood from his Equipment Slot, and the wound had healed. But he did not want anyone else to know this secret.

Lu Hao looked at Shi Kang.

"Have the brothers continue cleaning up the battlefield first. Count all the money and valuables in the Golden Saber Gang's Azure Robe Branch Hall. Then gather up the loose silver on the Golden Saber Gang members and distribute it among the brothers later."

The Black Tiger Gang members were immediately energized when they heard this.

This was the first time they had wiped out an entire Golden Saber Gang branch hall. In past conflicts between the two gangs, they had traded blows and suffered casualties on both sides, but neither had ever captured the other's branch hall. Yet now, following Lu Hao, they had directly destroyed a Golden Saber Gang branch hall, losing only seven or eight members, while another dozen or so had been injured.

Lu Hao found a room and walked straight inside.

The moment he pushed open the door, he saw a woman. She was the same woman who had been with Shen Mao earlier. She had already put on her clothes and was cowering in the corner, trembling all over, her face deathly pale.

Lu Hao glanced at her and slowly walked over.

The woman trembled even harder. "I'm Tiantian from the Spring Breeze Pavilion. Shen Mao brought me back last night to spend the night, but I'm not close with him. Please..."

Before she could finish, Lu Hao's right hand traced a short arc and drove into her throat. Her neck bones gave a crisp crack. She clutched her neck with both hands, making hoarse gasping sounds as her pupils gradually lost focus and her body slowly slid to the floor.

Shi Kang followed him inside at that moment. Seeing the scene in the room, he said, "Brother Hao, this woman was unarmed, and she said she had nothing to do with Shen Mao. We didn't have to kill her, did we?"

Lu Hao turned to Shi Kang with a smile on his face.

"Kang, haven't you heard a saying? The more beautiful the woman, the less you can believe her words. I don't care what her relationship with Shen Mao was. As long as she appeared in the Azure Robe Branch Hall, she could not be allowed to leave alive."

Lu Hao gently patted Shi Kang's shoulder again. "Remember, showing mercy to an enemy is being cruel to yourself. Go keep watch outside. I want to rest for a while."

Shi Kang nodded as if he understood, pulled the door shut behind him, and left the room.

Lu Hao found a chair and sat down, bringing up the deep-blue panel.

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Grand Mastery)]

[Progress: +50]

...

[Progress: +50]

[Current Progress: 1401/2000]

[Qi-Blood in Body: 4/30]

Lu Hao had known that whenever he fought someone to the death, each punch he threw would increase the Black Tiger Fist Technique's proficiency by 50.

But when he saw that it had increased by a full 1,050 points, he still could not help being astonished.

He had thrown a total of twenty-one punches just now. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had gained as much proficiency as six or seven days of hard training.

If only the proficiency of his Black Tiger Stance Art could increase when he fought others to the death as well. Unfortunately, stance arts focused mainly on nurturing Qi-Blood, and he still had to train them over and over again to improve their proficiency.

After the battle just now, the Qi-Blood in Lu Hao's body had basically been exhausted. He activated the Equipment Slot and began absorbing the Qi-Blood from the chicken.

After roughly the time it took to drink two cups of tea, his Qi-Blood had filled up again. The wounds Sun Yuchen and Yao Jing had cut open also began to heal.

[Qi-Blood in Body: 30/30]

This rate of Qi-Blood recovery was already extremely fast compared with other people.

Yet Lu Hao grew increasingly worried about one problem. What if his Qi-Blood ran out while he was fighting someone to the death? He urgently wanted to equip an item that could rapidly replenish Qi-Blood.