Some People Don't Wait Overnight for Revenge

Once he had filled his stomach again,

Su Xinghe began cultivating the secret art, "Listening to Tides Art."

At the same time, he restored the vital energy and blood he had just expended.

This visualization secret art required the inner landscape of the Spirit Sea, so he could not let the silver little man in his mind take its place, nor could he activate the cheat-like "Dual Engines" method.

Three minutes later.

"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day."

"Listening to Tides Art, experience +1"

Just as he was burying his head in grinding experience for "Listening to Tides Art," a faint swish of robes cutting through the air came from the backyard.

Su Xinghe's brows drew together slightly.

He immediately activated his spiritual perception to investigate.

He heard an extremely faint set of footsteps coming from the row houses, then swiftly vaulting over the wall and departing.

He raised a hand and snuffed out the candle.

Then he quickly draped himself in a black robe that concealed his tracks.

He leaped down from the street-facing window and followed those hurried footsteps receding into the distance.

There were no pedestrians on the streets late at night, only a round moon overhead spilling down a cold veil of silver.

Under the hazy moonlight, a petite figure with twin ponytails swinging behind her was sprinting madly ahead with her head lowered.

Her footsteps alternated between fast and slow, while her silhouette flickered in and out of sight.

Along the way, she avoided quite a few Public Security Office patrols.

Gradually, a strange expression appeared on Su Xinghe's face.

He had initially thought she was after the two hoodlums, but now he realized she was approaching a small courtyard somewhere in Firewood Alley.

She's this fierce? She's even more impatient than I am!

Su Xinghe began to form a guess.

This new sister-in-law of his had never seemed particularly remarkable in daily life, despite apparently being skilled in both letters and martial arts. Perhaps because she had only recently married into the family and was still somewhat unfamiliar with everyone, she did not speak much at home.

She helped their mother wash clothes and cook, and she could also manage the goods at the shop.

She rarely went out and had never brought anyone home.

She looked like the quiet, well-behaved sort.

After secretly keeping an eye on her for some time, he had gradually let down his guard.

But now that he saw this,

she was simply someone who hated evil as bitterly as an enemy and never let revenge wait overnight.

Sure enough.

That petite silhouette appeared atop a wall, then flashed down into the courtyard.

Two crisp impacts of fists and kicks came from within.

Still worried, Su Xinghe followed her onto the wall.

A Sky-Patrolling Raven descended from the sky.

He looked into the courtyard after it.

By then, two gang members were already lying on the ground, while the western room echoed with dull thuds of fists striking flesh.

But he could tell that his sister-in-law's martial cultivation was quite impressive. After all, not a single person in that room had cried out a warning from beginning to end.

After breaking through to Martial Warrior, Su Xinghe's eyesight and hearing had improved considerably. Sounds that came through crystal clear to him might require others to listen very carefully before they noticed them.

The Black Tiger Gang had no Martial Warriors, so nothing should go wrong.

Reassured, he lowered his head to look below.

The two men lying on the ground looked somewhat familiar. After thinking for a moment, he remembered who they were.

These two were precisely the Black Tiger Gang disciples who had appeared at his doorstep that evening.

Sure enough, retribution had found them.

Su Xinghe greatly admired this kind of temperament.

More than a dozen breaths later, the twin-ponytailed figure shot out from the room. After sweeping her gaze around, she charged into another room.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the entire courtyard had fallen into dead silence. Carrying a large bundle in her hand, the twin-ponytailed figure scaled the courtyard wall and returned the way she had come.

Su Xinghe did not leave with her. He remained quietly crouched on the roof.

Beside him was a half-foot-tall Sky-Patrolling Raven, staring blankly at the scene below. Little White Bat in his arms was slightly uneasy, though it was already much braver than before.

He was not worried either.

According to rumor, these ravens possessed little intelligence and only reacted to pedestrians without the aura of a Travel Pass Talisman.

It had likely noticed the two of them running through the streets at night and flown over out of curiosity.

Ten breaths later, a figure slowly crawled out of the courtyard, feeling his way along.

Another ten breaths later, the man was lying on the ground again.

Only this time, he would never rise again.

The full moon slanted westward, and all sounds fell silent.

The raven on the roof had also vanished.

Standing in the courtyard, Su Xinghe slowly sorted through the information he had just obtained.

Fierce Tiger Martial Hall had three Ninth-Rank Martial Warriors. They were the same group who had come to cause trouble when the Martial Arts School opened last time.

Among the three Ninth-Rank Martial Warriors, one was at Bone Forging and two were at Body Tempering.

They also had more than a hundred inner disciples and Outer Disciples.

This would not be easy to handle...

But did that mean he could simply leave it alone because it was difficult?

Lin County had rules, after all.

Once tonight's incident erupted, Fierce Tiger Martial Hall would probably bring the Black Tiger Gang corpses and Public Security Office constables to the Su Family tomorrow.

Su Xinghe did not believe in coincidences that convenient.

The Black Tiger Gang had not troubled any other family, yet they had sent hoodlums to stir up trouble at his family's shop.

They had clearly seen him wearing the Martial Arts School's training uniform and knew that White Ape Martial Academy was nearby, yet they still refused to fulfill their obligation to pay the "peace tax."

He was no greenhorn who knew nothing. Back when he was with the Great River Gang, what kind of situation had he not seen?

This was the Black Tiger Gang provoking them, openly bullying his family—and doing so with an especially clumsy method.

Three Inner Tempering apprentices were enough to bully the Su Family. But behind him, an Outer Disciple, stood White Ape Martial Academy. Who had given them the nerve to act this way?

He did not even need to use his brain to guess the truth.

There was only one possibility: their backer, Fierce Tiger Martial Hall.

The moment he thought of this, he had the urge to go complain to Elder Xie, but he immediately suppressed it.

How was he supposed to explain a whole room full of corpses?

Although he had not killed them.

His sister-in-law's hidden identity also seemed far from simple.

She was clearly only around twenty, yet judging by her skills, she was already a Grade Martial Artist. Those two Inner Tempering apprentices in the room were no pushovers; judging by the sounds, their punches carried roughly five hundred pounds of force.

Oh, right.

There was also one in the corner of the courtyard who had tried to slip away, only for Su Xinghe to crush his skull beneath one foot.

Walking over to that unlucky fellow, he rummaged through his clothes and pulled out an exquisite embroidered pouch.

He shook it open and found three to five taels of broken silver and five or six copper coins.

An old craft should not be lost.

He had looted equipment. This trip had not been in vain.

Smiling, he tucked it into his robes.

His figure shot high into the air and raced toward the northern side of Narcissus Street.

Since he was already here, he might as well play Head-Chopping Bandits for once.

Su Xinghe considered his martial talent fairly decent, and he also had the cheat of his fate configuration supporting him. As long as he worked hard enough, he would be able to soar into the sky.

But if someone wanted to give him some resources, naturally he would not miss the opportunity. And this Fierce Tiger Martial Hall before him was precisely the big fool in his mind who delivered money and pills to his door.

As the saying went, poverty was no problem—take up a blade and earn it yourself.

Green Lotus Pool in the west of the city was a small dock on the Central River.

Beyond it lay the Clearwater River outside the city, and it was specifically used to transport daily necessities to the area around Tongzi Ward.

The daily needs of tens of thousands of people in the west of the city were enormous.

As a result, even deep into the night, carts and horses still flowed endlessly while human voices buzzed like a boiling cauldron.

Beside Green Lotus Pool Dock stood an artificial hill spanning dozens of meters. It had been formed from the mud piled up during the excavation of the river channel and pool, as well as the construction of the dock.

It could truly be called a place where mountain and water gathered, a quiet spot amid the bustle.

Such scenery was naturally not something ordinary people could possess.

Unfortunately, this was the west side of the city, with Tongzi Ward right beside it. The rich disdained coming here, the poor could not climb their way in, shops would sit idle behind lofty doors, and the ground was too unstable for building towers.

In the end, the half nearer the Central River became the property of the dock's fishing gang. The other half was bought by Fierce Tiger Martial Hall and turned into a backyard training ground.

Only some pavilions and towers had been built atop it,

for leisure and entertainment.

Tonight, Qi Haifeng, the manager stationed by the fishing gang at Green Lotus Pool Dock, was hosting a banquet at the Moon-Gazing Pavilion atop the artificial hill.

Accompanying him was a steward from the Lu Family who had come from outside the city, while their guest was their neighboring Down-the-Mountain Tiger, Lü Chenggong.

One held high authority, one managed a second-rate gang, and one was the master of a third-rate Martial Arts School. Naturally, they were not discussing household trivia.