Surrounded, Ninth-Rank Killing Intent

Seeing this, Su Xinghe instantly understood that the other side had accomplices.

The brokerage guild was probably their main target tonight. These ordinary gang members guarding the warehouse had merely been unlucky fools caught up in it.

So who were the enemy?

No firearms meant it was not the government or county yamen.

The Lu Family could also be ruled out.

If it had been either of those two, there would have been no need for a sneak attack against a small force like theirs.

That left only other gangs.

He thought of the Qian Family Trading Company from some time ago.

Not one in ten would survive did not mean certain death.

He still had a way out. He needed to escape this place of trouble as soon as possible.

He could not go to the brokerage guild's rear courtyard.

In the rush,

Su Xinghe pushed off the ground with his toes and swept sideways, preparing to change direction and flee.

But that brief pause immediately shortened the distance between them. As the chilling wind and cold gleam descended, he could even smell the faint rusty tang carried by the sword tip beneath his nose.

In his desperation, he could only raise a hand and overturn the long table beside him as a shield.

At that moment, Su Xinghe cursed the Lu Family's damned rules countless times in his heart.

As someone who made his living in the underworld, he could not even carry a weapon on him within the city.

Otherwise, how could he have ended up in such a sorry state?

"Crash~"

The cold gleam struck the table Su Xinghe had flung up. The sharp sword tip pierced through the tabletop as easily as cutting tofu.

There was no explosion of inner force or true qi, nor did wood chips fly everywhere.

Su Xinghe secretly counted himself fortunate.

His opponent was not a Dark Force expert, at most a Bright Force martial artist who had tempered her skin, membranes, and bones.

A Ninth-Rank Bright Force martial artist possessed the strength of a thousand catties, with a body like oxhide that blades could scarcely wound. But without the explosive inner force of an Eighth-Rank martial artist, his hopes of escape rose by several degrees.

The ponytailed girl wore a cold expression, frost filling the space beneath her long lashes.

Her high leather boot kicked up in an instant, savagely striking the obstructing long table before her. Her ponytail fluttered as she leaped lightly over the obstacle at her feet.

In midair, her longsword swung out again, aimed straight at the back of Su Xinghe's neck.

What greeted her was a handful of quicklime mixed with chili powder.

Unable to borrow force in midair, the ponytailed girl's frosty, pretty face instantly turned into that of a big tabby cat.

Sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy sensations immediately surged over her all at once.

Snot and tears streamed down without stopping.

Qingmei had been born into nobility. Though she was a maid, all those she usually encountered were people of high status and elegant bearing. When had she ever seen such a despicable trick?

She hurriedly covered her mouth and nose, her longsword dancing into an afterimage in her hand.

Su Xinghe knew perfectly well that with his current Inner Tempering strength, he could not injure a Ninth-Rank Body Tempering martial artist with only his fists and no sharp weapon. Even if it was merely a Lower Ninth Rank martial artist still tempering skin and membranes, he was no match.

He could only bring out the "hidden weapons" he carried to delay her pursuit.

And there was more than one volley.

He grabbed one with every step, covering three steps in two.

Under the agitation of his opponent's Sword Qi and fierce winds, chili-lime powder rained across half the hall.

Sure enough, the shrieking of the sword through the air behind him no longer felt like thorns stabbing into his back.

Just one more breath, and the main doors would be within reach.

Just as he passed Six, who was still unconscious and snoring, he saw shadows moving outside the window and blade light flickering.

Su Xinghe's heart skipped a beat. These people had actually split their forces and set an ambush in the rear alley as well.

They were probably not martial artists, but he was only at Inner Tempering. He could not withstand an assault by so many people. If they delayed his steps, it would not be worth it even if he managed to kill a few.

Crouching beside the window, Su Xinghe casually yanked Six off the stool in one motion.

"Wake up!"

Six would never wake again.

There was a bottomless gash across his neck. His blood had long since drained away, leaving only a horrifying crimson hole.

That unlucky young man had likely been the first to die.

Leaving the corpse behind, Su Xinghe swiftly recalled the layout of the alleys outside the warehouse.

The rear alley exit was no longer an option. His gaze swept toward the room next to the minor leader's quarters. That was the small warehouse where weapons were stored, perhaps his last path to survival.

After all, the brokerage guild had martial artists too. Even the old gang leader was a Dark Force expert. If he could stall for a while, martial artists from the county yamen and the Lu Family would arrive.

After confirming the direction and distance, he scattered several handfuls of chili-lime powder in succession. Then, holding his breath and closing his eyes, he turned and charged back into the fog.

What greeted him was a bench hurtling through the air.

Qingmei had already wiped her eyes clean. Though she did not dare rashly charge into the poisonous fog, the attacks in her hand did not stop.

"What thief dares launch a night raid on my Veteran's Trade House!"

An aged roar rang through the night sky.

"It's the old gang leader!"

Su Xinghe took a blow from the bench and was knocked over among the unconscious crowd. Hearing this, he could not help relaxing inwardly.

In truth, less than three breaths had passed since he shouted his warning.

"Saved!"

"Cough! Cough cough..."

The sound came from behind him. It was a Great River Gang disciple who had been unconscious just moments ago. Perhaps stimulated by the chili powder Su Xinghe had scattered, he suddenly woke up.

"Cough cough..."

"Cough cough cough!"

"Which son of a bitch is messing with me? Just wait... Ah!"

Coughing rang out one after another throughout the warehouse hall, accompanied by agonized howls.

"Enemy attack! Get up and fight!"

At this point, Su Xinghe could no longer care about revealing his position.

He hid beneath a table, calling out to warn the disciples who had already awakened while moving toward the weapons storehouse.

Qingmei discovered that benches could not hurt this hateful fellow either, so she shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Stop guarding outside! Get in here and kill!"

Still feeling unsatisfied, she added another sentence.

"Leave none alive!"

Originally, someone of her status had not needed to take part in this hunt. She only needed to command from the rear.

But to ensure nothing went wrong, after learning that the warehouse held only a group of ordinary people, she had taken it upon herself to oversee the scene and cut off the brokerage guild's retreat.

As for drugging ordinary people, that had been to cooperate with the Eighth-Rank martial artists raiding the front courtyard.

After all, a brokerage guild that had stood for a century had more than one Eighth-Rank martial artist.

Besides, there was the Martial Dao Bureau within the city, along with all the major powers.

They could originally have completed the mission in secret. Now they had no choice but to launch a direct assault.

Heavy, dense footsteps immediately sounded outside the rear alley.

Hiding in the darkness, Su Xinghe instead quietly let out a breath of relief upon hearing them.

Clearly, everyone outside listened to that ponytailed girl.

That meant she was the only martial artist on the other side in the rear courtyard. As long as he got hold of a spear, he still had a way to live.

Hearing such commotion, the Great River Gang disciples in the warehouse instantly sobered up as well.

This was not a dream. Someone had raided their home base!

There had been more than a dozen people drinking and playing cards in the compound tonight. Together with those originally on guard, there were just over twenty.

After being roused by the chili powder, these people ran about in terror like headless flies through the dust-filled hall.

Some clever ones had already quietly felt their way toward the weapons storehouse door.

Seeing this, Su Xinghe silently called it an opportunity.

He flashed forward, intending to rush over with them, only for a familiar cold gleam to suddenly appear before his eyes.

"Damn it!"

"With so many people here, why are you always staring at me?!"

In his haste, he could only dodge aside and crash into the minor leader's resting room.

Sure enough,

The moment he entered, he saw the minor leader Li Tiebang lying on the bed, along with the three-foot steel saber hanging at the head of the bed.

Only this time, Li Tiebang's fate had not been tough enough.

He had not gone very peacefully, and his eyes remained open in death.

Bang!

Before the door behind him could even shut properly, it shattered and fell beneath tremendous force.

Sword Qi howled through the smoke and dust, charging straight toward Su Xinghe's back.

He hurriedly leaped, landing atop Li Tiebang's bed.

With the long saber in hand, he swung it backhandedly in a chopping block.

"Clang~"

The blade and sword spine collided, sparks scattering beneath the immense force.

Fortunately, by the time her strike broke through the hall door and reached the bedside, its momentum had run dry. Only because he was waiting at ease for the exhausted enemy did he barely manage to block it.

Yet what he blocked was only the sword tip's sharp edge.

A massive impact force was still wrapped within it.

As the sword edge skimmed past his shoulder and tore through the air,

Su Xinghe felt an incomparably enormous force travel from the saber hilt through his arm and into his shoulder.

His entire body was sent flying by that tremendous force, slamming heavily into the wall behind him.

So strong!

This was Su Xinghe's first time clashing head-on with a Grade Martial Artist.

His opponent truly deserved to be a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior. Her strength was absolutely more than twice his own.

Under normal circumstances, he would certainly have avoided her. But now that his retreat had been cut off, he could only fight to the death.

And his confidence in that desperate fight came from the long list of proficient jianghu martial arts on the Fate Panel, as well as the blood-and-qi flame he had condensed just last night.

The instant he was sent flying, he had already planned his next move.

As he flew through the air, Su Xinghe curled his body into a ball to disperse the force.

Because the wall behind him was not the load-bearing brick wall facing the rear alley, but a wooden partition separating this room from the neighboring small weapons storehouse.