The Confrontation!

Zhou Chen hefted the sack in his hand, casually set it aside, and beside it lay a man who had already been knocked unconscious, his hands and feet bound behind his back.

"I like taking walks at night when I have nothing to do. I wanted to see if there were any rats still sneaking bites of medicinal herbs."

Zhou Chen looked at Chen He's deathly pale face. Chen He's hand trembled, and the light from the fire striker in his hand flickered across his face, casting his extreme terror into sharp relief.

"Chen He, don't treat everyone as fools. That isn't a good habit. People who fancy themselves clever often die quickly."

Zhou Chen sighed. After a pause, he asked, "Speak. Who ordered you to do this?"

"I..." Chen He's eyes darted around. He suddenly clenched his teeth and sprang up from the ground, then bolted toward the other end of the alley.

As long as he could escape and deny it to the death, no one could do anything to him!

But he had barely taken two steps when a fierce gale swept in from behind. His vision blurred, and Zhou Chen had already appeared ahead of him. Zhou Chen drew his right fist back to his waist, sank into a horse stance, and crouched like a wild bull lowering its head to gather strength. Then his right fist drove upward in a savage thrust, its edge slanting up like a bull's horn—Blood Bull Charge!

In a daze, Chen He felt as though a blood-red bull had charged straight at him, its momentum like a mountain collapsing.

Was this the force of the Wild Bull Fist?

Hadn't Zhou Chen only become a Martial Warrior recently? How had he trained the Wild Bull Fist to such a terrifying level?

The thought had only just surfaced when the fist was already upon him.

With a thunderous boom, Chen He felt as though a bluestone had smashed into his chest. The sound of cracking bones rang out, and he was sent flying in an instant, crashing heavily down and rolling several times across the ground, covering himself in dust and fallen leaves.

Pfft!

Chen He spat out a mouthful of blood. He tried to crawl up, struggled once, then fell heavily back to the ground. He knew he was finished!

Zhou Chen walked to Chen He's side, grabbed him by the hair, and said coldly, "My patience is limited! Tell me honestly who the mastermind is, and I can give you a quick death!"

"It... it was Lord Du..."

Chen He coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Zhou Chen fell silent for a moment. He had long harbored suspicions, and now they had been confirmed.

When he had first come to guard this warehouse, he truly had not noticed anything amiss. He had simply kept his head down and trained. What had made him suspicious was an inspection a week ago, when he discovered that every few days, Du Ruming would deliberately pull away the people guarding the warehouse and send them on patrol.

Though replacements would immediately be sent over, that gap during the handover was neither long nor short—long enough for someone to tamper with things.

After becoming a Martial Warrior, his blood and vitality had flourished, and he no longer feared encountering Mist Monsters on the road at night. Thus, every night, he quietly circled the warehouse once. Last time, he had run into Chen He sneaking back through the rear entrance, but he had not exposed him then.

He had originally thought that water too clear raised no fish. If someone wanted to play a few petty tricks, then so long as it did not interfere with his own affairs, he could not be bothered to care. Some losses in a warehouse were normal, and the Lian Household understood that better than anyone; they would not take it to heart. But when they had the audacity to empty the entire warehouse, even putting the accounts for the medicinal herbs they had swapped out with inferior goods under his name, he truly could not stand by and watch.

By now, Zhou Chen could not even be bothered to ask Chen He whether he had done right by Senior Brother Lian.

At this moment, regret also appeared in Chen He's eyes as he lay on the ground. Whether he regretted being discovered today or regretted betraying Lian Taoze's kindness, no one knew.

"Hehe! Brother Zhou, what fine methods. I miscalculated."

At that moment, a familiar thin voice suddenly sounded from nearby.

Zhou Chen looked up. A burly figure emerged from the alley's corner, a saber hanging from his waist. It was Du Ruming.

Du Ruming glanced at the badly injured Chen He on the ground and said indifferently, "Brother Zhou, since you are a clever man, why don't we discuss cooperation?"

"Cooperation?"

Zhou Chen raised a brow.

"That's right. Today, this brat Chen He betrayed us from within and stole medicinal herbs. You and I discovered him and killed him together. How about we let the matter end there?"

The moment those words were spoken, Chen He, lying below them, gave a miserable laugh.

Zhou Chen revealed a hesitant expression.

Du Ruming took two steps forward and patiently persuaded him. "Brother Zhou, we all came from poor backgrounds. You know better than anyone how much silver martial training consumes. Food supplements, medicinal supplements, weapons—which of them does not cost silver? Those wealthy people spend a fortune every day without batting an eye, scattering gold like worn-out shoes. We are merely taking a little of their insignificant wealth. Why make things difficult for yourself?"

"If you are willing to join hands with me, I will give you half of every copper coin we earn from now on. I can also redo the previous accounts so they are seamless. There will be absolutely no problem when the autumn harvest inspection comes."

He paused, and his tone sank several degrees. "Besides, you have only just broken through. Your fist art surely has not reached Initiation yet, has it? Your old brother here has immersed himself in the Plum Rain Saber Art for more than ten years and has long reached minor accomplishment. If I give you a few pointers, you may draw inferences from one instance and grasp the whole. Perhaps I can even help you reach minor accomplishment in your fist art sooner."

Those words were a threat.

Du Ruming firmly believed that Zhou Chen had only just broken through, so his fist art could not possibly have reached minor accomplishment. Zhou Chen could not possibly be his match.

At last, Zhou Chen was moved. He cupped his hands toward Du Ruming, who had walked before him, and said, "Brother Du is absolutely right. Just now, I took a dangerous gamble!"

Seeing Zhou Chen yield, Du Ruming revealed a satisfied smile. Chen He below them showed a bleak smile as well. Hadn't Zhou Chen, who had seemed so righteous just moments ago, now become a rat sneaking bites too?

"Brother Du, I was presumptuous today. How about I treat you to a few drinks at Clearwind Tower tomorrow?"

Zhou Chen smiled warmly as he reached out to sling an arm around Du Ruming's shoulder.

Du Ruming suspected nothing and nodded with a smile. The instant Zhou Chen's hand landed on his shoulder, Zhou Chen flipped his palm over, and a bulging fish-bladder pouch smashed hard into Du Ruming's face. It burst with a pop, and gray powder instantly plastered his entire face, burning his eyes with unbearable pain.

"Ah!"

Du Ruming felt as though his entire face were on fire, especially his eyes, which hurt beyond measure. He instantly lost his sight. What enraged and humiliated him most was that the dust was poisonous. His vision was already spinning, and he immediately drew the long saber from his waist with a swish and slashed wildly about, roaring furiously, "Zhou Chen, you little thief! You dare trick me!"

"I'm tricking you, all right!"

How could Zhou Chen possibly trust someone like Du Ruming? If something went wrong during the autumn harvest audit, he would likely be the first one pushed out to take the blame. Moreover, Lian Taoze had treated him with sincerity. Though he did not consider himself a gentleman, he could not bring himself to betray trust and abandon righteousness. Everything he had said earlier had merely been to numb his opponent.

"Take my sweeping leg!"

Zhou Chen shouted, but his right fist drew back to its limit instead. The veins in his arm bulged, a faint bronze gleam surfaced over his skin, and his muscles tightened like steel cables, even letting out a low, muffled hum.

Having lost his sight, Du Ruming heard those words and instinctively held his saber horizontally to block Zhou Chen's leg, leaving his upper body wide open. Zhou Chen's fist thus slammed solidly into Du Ruming's chest.

Boom!

Terrifying brute force poured forth without the slightest restraint.

"Fuck you!"

Du Ruming had not expected anyone to be so shameless and despicable. He felt as though a charging bull had rammed him head-on in the chest. The sounds of his ribs breaking crackled in a rapid burst, and piercing pain drilled into his heart. He opened his mouth and sprayed blood, then flew away like a kite with its string cut, smashing heavily into the courtyard wall. The wall collapsed with a crash, and blue bricks and shattered stones rained down over him, burying half his body.

"Pfft!"

As Du Ruming coughed up blood, only one thought remained in his mind: that servant had not been boasting earlier!

The posture behind that punch—the controlled release of force and the circulation of blood and vitality—was already the mark of minor accomplishment in fist arts!

Hadn't this brat only just become a Martial Warrior?

How had he reached minor accomplishment in his fist art so quickly?!

He could not understand it no matter how hard he thought!

But what shocked him even more was that, in the dazed instant when his eyes were stabbed by pain, he seemed to have seen the bronze radiance fading from Zhou Chen's skin!

Wait!

Had he seen it wrong?

Bronze skin!

Copper Skin!!!

This brat had tempered his entire body's skin to copper skin as well?

One had to know that after all his years of martial training, Du Ruming had only barely tempered his skin to iron skin perfection. As for copper skin? He did not even dare dream of it!

It was not merely that he lacked resources. He had gathered resources before and tried to break through, but that thick realm barrier had directly beaten him back to his original form, forcing him to recognize reality: he simply was not cut from that cloth!

Who said this brat came from a poor family and had only just become a Martial Warrior?

You've led me astray!