First Blood of Revenge

Night was as black as ink.

In Qingyang City's South City, within a luxurious brothel known as the Golden Slough, the lights blazed brightly and lewd music drifted endlessly through the air.

This was one of the Wang Family's most profitable businesses, as well as a stronghold where many of its high-ranking figures sought pleasure and discussed secret matters.

On the third floor, inside the most prestigious Heavenly Chamber Number One.

A middle-aged man, fat as a pig and with a face full of flesh, held two beautiful, scantily clad women in his arms as he drank recklessly.

He was the Wang Family's Foreign Affairs Manager, Wang Fugui.

Though he too bore the surname Wang, he came from a collateral branch. Relying on shameless flattery and ruthless cruelty, he had clawed his way to his current position.

On the night the Chen Family was slaughtered, he had been the most eager and the most vicious. No fewer than ten Chen Family members had died by his hand.

"Come, beauties, have another drink!"

Wang Fugui laughed loudly and roughly poured a cup of fine wine into the mouth of the woman beside him.

However, he failed to notice that the small-framed servant responsible for pouring wine beside him flicked his fingertip as he refilled the cup. A wisp of colorless, odorless powder silently fell into his wine.

That servant was naturally Chen Chen in disguise.

Though Uncle Fu's intelligence network was not large, it had spread its roots throughout Qingyang City for decades. Tracking the movements of a Foreign Affairs Manager was as easy as turning one's hand over.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen had used the resources found in Wang Zhan's Storage Bag to easily bribe the Golden Slough's manager. Disguised as a newly hired servant, he had infiltrated the place.

"Manager, you truly have an impressive capacity for drink!"

Chen Chen lowered his head and spoke in a fawning tone.

"Ha ha, naturally!"

Wang Fugui lifted his cup, about to drain it in one gulp.

Suddenly, the room's door was violently shoved open with a bang.

A Wang Family guard rushed in with a panicked expression and whispered several words into his ear.

Wang Fugui's face instantly darkened.

He shoved the two women away and barked impatiently, "Get out! All of you, get the hell out!"

The two women went pale with fright. Together with Chen Chen, the servants hurriedly bowed and withdrew.

Chen Chen's heart sank slightly.

The plan seemed to have gone awry.

He did not leave. Instead, he slipped into the shadows of the corridor, held his breath, and pushed the Nine Nether Soul Refining Art to its limit. His powerful Spiritual Power allowed him to hear the conversation inside clearly.

"What did you say? Second Master wants me to go to the Council Hall right now? What happened?" Wang Fugui's voice carried a trace of displeasure.

"Manager, it's... it's about that Chen Family Remnant!" The guard's voice trembled slightly.

"That little bastard? Didn't he die in the Black Wind Mountain Range long ago?"

"N-No! News just came from the Black Wind Mountain Range. Several groups we sent out have all lost contact! Second Master suspects... that little bastard not only didn't die, but killed our men. He may very well... have already returned to Qingyang City!"

"What?!"

Wang Fugui's voice instantly changed pitch, and his fat body sprang up from the chair.

A flash of fear crossed his eyes, but it was immediately replaced by a disdainful sneer. "He's just some wet-behind-the-ears brat. Even if he didn't die, what waves could he possibly stir up? Second Master is making a mountain out of a molehill!"

"Fine, I understand. I'll change clothes and head over immediately."

Wang Fugui waved his hand impatiently and dismissed the guard.

He picked up the drugged cup of wine from the table, drained it in one gulp, and cursed as he headed toward the inner chamber.

"Damn it, what rotten luck!"

In the shadows, killing intent flashed through Chen Chen's eyes.

He had originally intended to use the sleeping drug to let Wang Fugui die in his sleep.

But now, he had changed his mind.

He wanted this butcher to die awake, amid endless terror and regret!

Like a ghost, he silently pushed open the door and slipped inside.

In the inner chamber, Wang Fugui had his back to him and was slowly taking off his luxurious brocade robe.

He had not noticed in the slightest that Death was already standing behind him.

"Manager Wang, where are you rushing off to so late at night?"

A cold voice, as though it had risen from Nine Nether Hell, suddenly rang out behind him.

Wang Fugui's fat body stiffened violently!

The color drained from his face in an instant, and cold sweat burst forth with a whoosh.

Stiffly, inch by inch, he turned his head.

A gray-clad man wearing a bamboo hat stood behind him at some unknown time, holding an ordinary steel blade in his hand.

"Y-You... who are you?!"

Wang Fugui's voice became shrill and piercing from extreme terror.

Chen Chen slowly raised his hand and removed the bamboo hat from his head, revealing a young, cold face.

"Me?"

He bared his teeth in a chilling smile.

"My name is Chen Chen."

"I've come to collect a... blood debt from you!"

"Chen... Chen Chen?!"

The instant he saw that face, Wang Fugui seemed to have seen the most terrifying evil ghost in the world. His fat body shook like a sieve, and with a thud, he collapsed limply to the ground. A foul-smelling stream of liquid flowed from beneath his crotch.

He had actually been scared into wetting himself!

"N-No... impossible! Aren't you dead?!" he shrieked incoherently.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Chen Chen advanced toward him step by step. The steel blade in his hand reflected a grim, icy gleam beneath the lamplight.

"I'm not only alive. I'll also send every last one of you Wang Family bastards, every person who took part in that slaughter, down one by one to be buried with the three hundred and sixteen members of my Chen Family!"

"No! Don't kill me! Spare me!"

Wang Fugui completely broke down. Kneeling on the ground, he kowtowed frantically like a dog. "Young Master Chen! No, Lord Chen! I was wrong! Wang Zhan forced me to do it! It had nothing to do with me! Please, spare my life! I'll give you money! I'll tell you all the Wang Family's secrets!"

"Too late."

Chen Chen's voice was cold and indifferent.

He raised the blade in his hand.

"Go repent in hell."

Splat!

The blade flashed.

A fine head shot into the air, its face still frozen in the utmost terror and regret.

[ Ding! Killed a Seventh Level of Body Tempering Realm martial artist. Cultivation Points +60! ]

The cold system notification sounded in Chen Chen's mind.

Expressionless, he sheathed his blade, walked to the wall, and dipped his finger into the warm blood gushing from Wang Fugui's neck. Upon the pristine white wall, he wrote one shocking, blood-soaked character—

"Chen!"

Having done all this, his figure silently melted into the night beyond the window, just as silently as he had come.

A quarter of an hour later.

A shrill scream tore through the Golden Slough's night sky.

The first drop of blood in this revenge utterly shook all of Qingyang City!

Inside the Wang Family Mansion's Council Hall, the lights blazed brightly.

When news of Wang Fugui's death, along with the blood-soaked character "Chen" on the wall, reached them, Wang Wei, the newly appointed Family Head, slammed his palm down. The table before him, made from Century-Old Ironwood, shattered into pieces!

"CHEN CHEN!!!"

He let out a beast-like roar, his eyes filled with endless venom and a trace of... fear he could not conceal.

That dead soul who should have perished had returned!

And in a forceful, bloody manner none of them could have foreseen, he had announced his return!