Killing Intent, Part One

Fishing Village

A band of bandits and mountain brigands were smashing down doors one house at a time and searching inside. A bald, burly man wearing a Copper Ring Earring stood in the middle of the village with a Ghost Head Broadsword in hand, glancing around. His ears twitched faintly, as if he were listening for something.

"Damn it all! They dragged me to this godforsaken place in the middle of the night to turn the place upside down. There's nothing to eat, nothing to drink, and nothing to play with!" The big man spat on the ground and swung his blade lazily.

"I guessed that Huang Shan had already fled long ago," said a strategist dressed like a pale-faced scholar beside him.

"You're certainly able to keep your cool, sir. They sent us here to supervise these little vermin, but who knows what they were thinking." The bald man said impatiently, "Do they really think these trashy mortals can find anything?"

"Don't say that. That may not necessarily be true. These mountain brigands and bandits have far more tricks up their sleeves than cultivators like us who spend all day practicing," the scholar said with a smile.

Bang!

Before his words had faded, a fishing village hut burst apart, and two bandit corpses flew out through the wreckage.

The remaining man crawled out from inside with a miserable howl, covered in blood.

A pale-faced middle-aged man appeared before the two of them.

He had a well-proportioned build and gave off an honest, steady air. It was Huang Shan, who had been hiding here.

"It really is... it really is him!" The big man's eyes immediately lit up, meeting Huang Shan's gaze directly.

Shhk!

A black-clad man slashed his sword across a bandit's waist. Blood sprayed out, and the