Flying Eagle Hall of the Li River Gang

Chen Jichuan quietly removed his sand vest and sandbags, hid in the shadows, and looked toward the distant woods.

He saw seven or eight people gathered together, heading north.

Two of them wore wooden cangues around their necks, with their hands shackled and their feet bound in chains.

One was grown, the other young.

The older one looked about thirty, a burly man. Yet he limped on one leg and was in a miserable state, clearly having suffered no small amount of torture.

The younger one was only eight or nine.

Timid and shrinking.

His hair hung loose and disheveled.

His little hand clutched the big man's clothes tightly, his lips pale.

Name: Sheng Dayang

Age: 32

Level: 3

Talent: Blood-Burning

Name: Sheng Xiaotian

Age: 9

Level: 1

Talent: Blood-Burning

"Altered Humans?"

Chen Jichuan's heart stirred.

Over the past month, he had seen plenty of people in Begonia Village, Zhao Market Town seven or eight li away, and Yangshuo County Town over ten li away.

Yet he had not encountered a single Altered Human.

That showed just how rare Altered Humans were.

Who would have thought—

That deep in these ancient mountains and forests, he would run into them, and two at once.

"Sheng Dayang."

"Sheng Xiaotian."

"Father and son?"

Chen Jichuan guessed inwardly, then looked toward the other six people escorting Sheng Dayang and his son. Each carried a steel blade or iron sword and wore green clothes embroidered with flying birds.

Chen Jichuan recalled what he had learned in Yangshuo County Town.

Then he used Insight Art to discern the strength of the six men—

One was Level 4.

The other five were Level 3.

The blade wielder practiced the Divine Pounce Blade, while the sword wielders practiced the Ghost-Fall Sword.

"These are Li River Gang martial arts."

"Flying birds?"

"Flying eagles?"

"Li River Gang's Flying Eagle Hall?!"

Chen Jichuan recognized the origins of the six men.

The Li River Gang had three halls and fourteen branches. The "fourteen branches" had originally overseen the docks of the ten counties in Shian Commandery.

Later, the Li River Gang rose in rebellion and divided Shian Commandery into fourteen regions. Each of the fourteen branches governed one region, handling all civil and military affairs themselves.

It was precisely because they were too scattered.

Golden Sun Sect and Wusheng Sect seized the opportunity to rise, attacking cities and seizing strongholds, forcibly taking six county towns from the Li River Gang. Half a month ago, Mausoleum-Building County had also fallen to Golden Sun Sect, leaving the Li River Gang with only three counties.

The powers of the fourteen branches were greatly curtailed, while the Li River Gang's directly affiliated "three halls" became overwhelmingly powerful for a time.

Flying Eagle Hall, which specialized in surveillance and criminal affairs, was one of the Li River Gang's three halls.

"Li River Gang."

"Flying Eagle Hall."

Chen Jichuan watched the group while secretly using Origin Force to restore his stamina.

He surveyed the surroundings again and discovered that this place lay seventy or eighty li east of Begonia Mountain. They had long since left Yangshuo County and entered Yongfu County. Farther east, they would even pass beyond Yongfu County and enter neighboring Linghe Commandery.

When practicing lightness skills such as the Land-Flying Technique, one should not always take familiar roads, lest familiarity breed ease and the training lose its effect.

Thus, Chen Jichuan always chose different routes and ran dozens of li away.

One round trip was enough to make the training effective.

"Seventy or eighty li."

"Far enough."

Chen Jichuan calculated inwardly.

He was currently living in Yangshuo County, using the Li River Gang for cover to evade Wusheng Sect's pursuit.

The world was vast. Even tiny Shian Commandery contained ten counties and nearly a million people.

Within such a broad expanse of land.

Trying to find Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe was like fishing for a needle in the sea—and they would have to fish for it in enemy waters. The difficulty was easy to imagine.

Over the past month.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe had lived steadily and peacefully, without encountering any pursuers.

If they merely drifted through life.

Then things could simply continue like this.

But the two brothers bore a blood-deep enmity toward both the Li River Gang and Wusheng Sect.

The former was the chief culprit behind the destruction of their family. Their father, elder brother, and uncles had all been worked or sickened to death after the Li River Gang threw them into Black Prison. The latter had likewise enslaved Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe for four years, first dangling a painted feast before them, then seeking to take their lives.

Chen Jichuan had never been a magnanimous man.

Chen Shaohe was even more the sort to hold grudges.

They would surely seek revenge.

Yet whether it was the repeatedly defeated Li River Gang or the ever-victorious Wusheng Sect, both had strong troops, sturdy horses, and vast foundations. It would be truly difficult for Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe to shake them.

Not to mention.

Chen Jichuan also greatly coveted the Spirit Stones in Black Prison.

To overturn the Li River Gang and Wusheng Sect, to seize Black Prison and take its Spirit Stones—those were things the two brothers alone were far from capable of accomplishing.

And before them now.

Were two ready-made "allies"!

Sheng Dayang limped onward, his heart filled with hatred and regret.

He regretted being careless and failing to notice that his son had also awakened an "immortal art," causing the "immortal art" to be exposed.

What he hated was this pack of Li River Gang butchers, who had broken into his home, dragged father and son away, and subjected them to cruel torture, frightening his elderly mother to death.

Now they were even using his son to threaten him, forcing him not only to reveal the location of the Immortal Jujube Tree.

He looked at the man ahead, who carried a steel blade in one hand and a cloth sack in the other. The sack weighed roughly four or five jin, filled with "immortal jujubes" that could "extend one's years and increase one's life."

What a pity.

They had all now fallen into the hands of this pack of fiends.

Sheng Dayang secretly ground his teeth, nearly crushing them, wishing he could strike out with one palm and use his "immortal art" to burn every one of these people to death.

But he could not.

He lowered his head.

He saw his son, Sheng Xiaotian, clutching his clothes tightly. To either side and behind them, Li River Gang experts watched like tigers with weapons in hand. The moment he dared act, steel blades would hack him to death and iron swords would pierce him to death.

Not only would he die—his son would die as well.

"What are you looking at?!"

"Behave yourself."

"If you want your son dead, go ahead and make a move!"

Zheng Biao waved the steel blade in his hand and barked at Sheng Dayang, frightening Sheng Xiaotian into trembling all over.

"I wouldn't dare."

"I wouldn't dare."

Sheng Dayang hurriedly forced a smile, though his face was stiff all over.

"Still not convinced?"

The sight of Sheng Dayang's false smile made Zheng Biao's anger flare. Raising the flat of his blade, he smashed it down on Sheng Dayang's injured leg.

Hiss!

The blow made Sheng Dayang stagger and collapse to his knees. Pain tore through him, and the hatred in his heart surged to its utmost limit.

"Get up!"

"Quit dawdling!"

Zheng Biao shouted again.

He had far too much experience dealing with people like Sheng Dayang.

These people had originally possessed no great abilities, but once they suddenly gained an Altered Ability, every last one thought themselves incomparably extraordinary, their ambitions soaring higher than the sky.

To deal with such people.

One had to seize their weak point.

Then torment and humiliate them fiercely, break their backbone and crush their spirit. After that, they could be ordered about at will and would never dare bare their fangs again.

"Dad."

Sheng Xiaotian struggled to support his father. His timid little face lifted, and he glared at Zheng Biao with fear and hatred.

"Heh!"

"This brat has more backbone than his father."

Zheng Biao gave a cold chuckle and flung out a slap, striking Sheng Xiaotian across the face. The nine-year-old spun in place, stars bursting before his eyes as he fell to the ground.

The other five Flying Eagle Hall members all watched Zheng Biao teach the father and son a lesson with grinning faces.

The more obedient the pair became.

The safer their journey would be.

"I won't do it again."

"I won't do it again."

After a round of punches, kicks, threats, and intimidation, Sheng Dayang held Sheng Xiaotian and repeatedly begged for mercy. Only then did Zheng Biao stop.

The group continued onward.

Sheng Xiaotian's little face was swollen high, burning with pain. The shackles around his feet clanked with every step. They were not only heavy, but had also rubbed his ankles raw, making his small face wrinkle into a knot from the pain.

He could only secretly use his "immortal art" to drive the blood through his body and heat it up, making himself feel much better.

His small eyes quietly fixed on Zheng Biao ahead and to the side.

He thought that if a huge stone fell from the sky right now and crushed that vicious man to death, that would be wonderful.

But he knew.

"How could stones possibly fall from the sky?"

Sheng Xiaotian felt a little dejected.

Then he thought that once he grew up, he would surely strike back, avenge his father, and avenge his grandmother.

Thinking of that.

He thought of his grandmother again.

"Grandma is dead."

"They killed her."

Flames burned within Sheng Xiaotian's heart. After circling around and around, he once again hoped that a stone might fall from the sky and crush that man to death.

Because he could not wait until he grew up.

Stone.

Crush him to death.

The thought repeated itself over and over in his mind.

And just then—