Forced Kill

Inside a private room on the third floor of River-Mountain Tower.

Two men who bore a five-point resemblance to each other were drinking tea in the room.

"Brother, once we capture that brat's sister, I'll make sure to thoroughly have my way with her."

"I'd love to see what expression that brat makes when he sees his own sister being defiled. I can hardly wait."

Yu Sheng wore a twisted, vicious smile.

"Don't worry. You'll get your chance to take revenge on that brat."

"A mud-legged peasant thinks that just because he's latched onto the Li Family, he can sleep easy? Dream on."

Yu Qiang sneered, his tone icy.

"Exactly. That mud-legged peasant thinks becoming a Martial Artist means he can defy fate and change his life? What a joke."

"He dared to cripple my arm. I'll make him wish he were dead."

Yu Sheng stroked his wrapped-up severed arm, his face filled with venomous hatred, murder written all over it.

He had already seen a physician. Even if it healed, he would never be able to lift heavy objects again. This arm was as good as useless.

After learning this, Yu Sheng had immediately gone crying to his older brother, Yu Qiang, asking him to stand up for him.

Yu Qiang was also a member of the Wild Wolf Gang, and his standing within it was not low.

The Wild Wolf Gang had a chief and deputy chief, three hall masters, and eight branch masters.

Yu Qiang was one of those eight branch masters, with Qi-Blood Second Transformation cultivation.

After finding out that Chen Xun had only just become a Martial Artist, Yu Qiang immediately arranged for someone to retaliate against him.

A fellow who had only just become a Martial Artist was not worth his notice.

But considering that Chen Xun was, after all, part of the Li Family, he planned to use Chen Xun's sister as bait and lure Chen Xun into leaving the Li Estate on his own.

That way, they could kill Chen Xun without a sound and would not need to worry about the Li Family finding out.

"Why aren't they here yet?"

"I'm starving to death."

After waiting a while longer, Yu Sheng could not help complaining.

"Wait a little longer. You're far too impatient."

Yu Qiang continued sipping tea at an unhurried pace as he lectured his younger brother.

"You know I've never been able to sit still since I was little. Otherwise, I wouldn't have failed to become a Martial Artist."

Yu Sheng offered a weak rebuttal.

Yu Qiang glared, and Yu Sheng immediately dared not say another word. He could only sit obediently.

After some more time passed, just as even Yu Qiang was beginning to lose patience, the private room's door was pushed open.

"You're finally here."

"Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?"

Hearing the sound, Yu Sheng immediately rose to his feet and complained.

Before he could finish, however, a blade smashed heavily into his face.

Crack! Yu Sheng's entire head was split in two.

Only then did Yu Sheng vaguely hear Yu Qiang's anxious shout: "Watch out!"

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Yu Sheng was cut down on the spot.

"Ah! My brother! I'll kill you!"

Watching his own younger brother be hacked to death alive before his eyes instantly drove Yu Qiang into a rage.

His eyes bloodshot, he hurled a fist wrapped in Blood Qi savagely at the killer's head.

The fist wind howled as the heavy, powerful punch struck its target with precision.

Yet Yu Qiang's pupils contracted. His opponent's head was completely unscathed; it had not even swayed in the slightest.

"You—" Yu Qiang opened his mouth in horror, but the moment the word left his lips, he stopped.

Because blood clogged the rest of his words.

Yu Qiang slowly lowered his head. The blade that had just killed Yu Sheng had now pierced through his heart.

When his punch had failed to achieve anything, his guard had opened wide, exposing a fatal flaw.

Seizing that opportunity, the man had thrust out with his blade, creating the scene before them.

Only then did Yu Qiang finally see the person who had killed him.

And in the instant he recognized that figure, the shock in his eyes nearly overflowed.

"Guh, guh, guh..." With blood blocking his throat, he could not make any sound.

At last, Yu Qiang's eyes dimmed, and he toppled headfirst to the floor, dead.

The only person still standing in the room was Chen Xun, blade in hand.

Chen Xun pulled out his short blade and chopped at Yu Qiang's neck, directly severing his head.

Finishing off the wounded was a very important matter.

Another important matter was looting the corpses.

Chen Xun shut the private room's door and quickly searched the two bodies.

Before long, Chen Xun found thirty taels' worth of banknotes, several taels of loose silver, and a small amount of copper coins.

"They actually brought so many banknotes."

Chen Xun pinched the three ten-tael banknotes, feeling little joy and only lingering fear.

This money was clearly intended as payment from the Yu brothers to those two people.

After taking all the money, Chen Xun disguised himself as a waiter, pushed open the door as if nothing had happened, and left River-Mountain Tower.

He had entered dressed the same way.

When he arrived at that third-floor private room, they had even mistaken him for a real waiter and ordered an entire table of dishes.

Clearly, those dishes would not be delivered in time. Chen Xun had not gone to the kitchen to report the order at all, because the moment he did, his disguise would be exposed.

"Murder! Murder!"

Not long after Chen Xun left, a shrill cry rang out through River-Mountain Tower.

Immediately afterward, someone reported it to the authorities. Before long, a group of constables arrived.

When they saw the scene, the constables all sucked in cold breaths.

"What a brutal method."

"First, find out who the dead men are."

The only constable chief present wore a grave expression as he began investigating the case in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile, Chen Xun, the killer, had already returned to the Li Estate.

"Chen Xun, let me inform you: tomorrow, our third team will escort a batch of medicinal herbs to Blackwater Town. Be prepared."

The moment he returned, Li Peng spoke to him.

"Understood."

Chen Xun nodded to show that he understood.

He had been in the Medicine Escort Team for nearly half a month, and this was only their first assignment. That was already rather slow.

The Ore Escort Team that Liu Feng and Bai Zhen belonged to had already gone on two assignments.

They had not encountered any accidents on the road. Everything had been exceedingly peaceful.

At the same time, among the group who had practiced martial arts alongside Chen Xun, eight people in total, including Chen Xun's group of four, had successfully broken through and become Martial Artists within one month.

The other four had been sent back to serve as servants.

If they had perseverance and were willing to invest resources, they might still have a chance to become Martial Artists again in the future.

There were many such examples in the Li Family.

But their final achievements were generally mediocre. Few had even broken through to the Blood-Qi Third Transformation.

Of the eight, Chen Xun had been keeping watch on Sun An's movements.

Some time ago, he had seen Sun An. The man's injuries had healed, he had become a Martial Artist, and he had even become the attendant of the Li Estate's Twelfth Young Master.

High-spirited and full of ambition, Sun An's mindset had also changed somewhat.

The two had exchanged only a few words before Sun An hurried away.

"Chen Xun, you'd better perform well. The captain's impression of you isn't very good."

Li Peng reminded him with gloating delight.

Chen Xun glanced at him and ignored him.

"Hmph. Without the captain looking after you, you'll suffer when the time comes."

Li Peng snorted coldly, his eyes full of satisfaction.

In the blink of an eye, night fell.

Outside the city, in a valley more than ten li from Cloudflow County, a group of people wearing masks and black robes carried lanterns past one stall after another, stopping whenever something caught their interest.

All around them, a group of highly disciplined men wearing iron masks and carrying weapons patrolled without pause.

If anyone caused trouble or started a fight, this group would immediately step in to stop it.

It was precisely because of these people that good order could be maintained here.

"So this is the Black Market?"

Chen Xun wore a monkey mask and black robes, blending into the crowd without attracting any attention.

"I wonder whether Ghost-Hand Jin will appear today."

Chen Xun worried inwardly.

Ghost-Hand Jin was a master forger Chen Xun had learned about.

Whether documents or seals, he could imitate them with such lifelike accuracy that fakes passed for the real thing.

But Ghost-Hand Jin kept his whereabouts hidden. Usually, the Black Market was the only place where he could be found.

And even then, he did not appear at every Black Market gathering.

The Black Market was held once a month, and all manner of things that could not bear the light of day flowed through it.

Naturally, Ghost-Hand Jin was also one of those things that could not bear the light of day.

After searching around, Chen Xun's eyes lit up. He had finally found Ghost-Hand Jin.

But he was not the only one seeking Ghost-Hand Jin. Before he arrived, three people were already standing beside him.

"Not bad. Another one has come."

When Ghost-Hand Jin saw Chen Xun appear, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.