Jiang Baihe's Death

Lin Qing followed her out. Jiang Baihe sprang to his feet, his eyes fixed on Lin Qing.

"I am Jiang Baihe, a Constable Chief of the Night Patrol Office. You blind fool, you dare break into my home? Kneel! If I'm in a good mood, I might spare your life!" Jiang Baihe looked disdainful. At first glance, he had taken the intruder for a petty thief.

He had encountered this before. Once he invoked his title as a Night Patrol Office Constable Chief, most thieves fled in terror.

Lin Qing said nothing. He suddenly lunged straight at Jiang Baihe. On his panel, he had already equipped the Blood Soul Hand and Mysterious Yin Bone-Scrambling Hand.

Though they would not strengthen his physique, both martial arts included combat techniques, and that part could benefit from the Rebirth Record's enhancement.

Jiang Baihe frowned. The intruder had attacked even after hearing his name and title. This was no thief, but an assassin.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Lin Qing charged up to him and threw a punch.

He poured nearly all his strength into that punch, unleashing both Blood Soul Force and Cold Marrow Force.

Blood Soul Force coursed through his body. He could clearly feel his blood and vitality being consumed, but his strength surged.

Cold Marrow Force acted on his right arm. Lin Qing felt it grow numb and sluggish, while his skin toughened as though wrapped in thick oxhide, impervious to blades and spears and incapable of feeling pain.

Crack!

Jiang Baihe struck with his palm. Lin Qing met it with his fist. Fist and palm collided.

Jiang Baihe's face changed drastically. A tremendous force surged into his right arm, breaking it in an instant. The limb twisted out of shape, and he stumbled back several steps.

Agony struck. Jiang Baihe's face twitched, and then fear seized him.

"Ten thousand jin of force!"

"Who is he? How can he be so strong?"

Even an ordinary Hidden Strength Martial Artist did not possess such power.

In that instant, more than a dozen faces flashed through Jiang Baihe's mind.

He knew every martial artist in this county whose strength exceeded Bright Force. Which of them would attack him?

Across from him, Lin Qing had found his answer. With two perfected Bright Force training methods behind him, his strength utterly overwhelmed Jiang Baihe's.

Jiang Baihe's fighting skill held no particular advantage over his, either.

Lin Qing's confidence soared. He darted forward again.

"Stop! I'm a Constable Chief of the Night Patrol Office! Whoever you are, killing me won't do you any good. Stop now! Spare me, and we can discuss anything!" Jiang Baihe panicked, retreating rapidly as he shouted.

Lin Qing ignored him. He closed the distance in an instant and threw another punch.

Jiang Baihe could not dodge in time. He crossed his arms to block, but the punch still sent him flying. The tremendous force flipped him over, and he slammed heavily into the ground.

What terrifying punching power!

Despair spread across Jiang Baihe's face. That punch had broken his left arm too. They were opponents on entirely different levels.

Run!

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Baihe scrambled up and used his movement technique to leap over the wall.

Lin Qing had anticipated it. He flicked three Golden Needles, striking Jiang Baihe's right leg.

Jiang Baihe had just reached the top of the wall when pain shot through his right leg. His body went limp, and he toppled to the ground.

As Jiang Baihe fell, Lin Qing rushed in. His right leg whipped around in a sweeping arc, stirring a gust of wind before slamming into Jiang Baihe and sending him flying.

This time, Jiang Baihe flew even farther. He landed more than twenty paces away and spat out a great mouthful of blood. His organs felt as though they had been torn apart, and the pain was unbearable.

He struggled to rise, but Lin Qing appeared before him, seized his throat, and lifted him off the ground.

Jiang Baihe's eyes filled with terror. A powerful grip clamped around his neck. If it tightened, his bones would shatter and he would die on the spot.

"Cough, cough! Are you from the Yinyuan Sect?"

Jiang Baihe's eyes suddenly lit up. Lin Qing's hand against his neck felt like ice, radiating threads of piercing cold.

He knew that sensation all too well. It was unmistakably the Yinyuan Sect's Cold Marrow Force.

Under its influence, an arm took on precisely that state.

Many Yinyuan Sect servants and even outer disciples possessed this force. After all, the Mysterious Yin Bone-Scrambling Hand was the sect's standard introductory art, much like the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake at the Soul-Calming Office.

Lin Qing stared at Jiang Baihe with cold eyes and said nothing. Jiang Baihe grew even more afraid.

"Don't kill me! I'm close to the Han Family, and they do business with the Yinyuan Sect in secret. We're on the same side! Spare me, and I'll give you anything you want!" Jiang Baihe begged loudly.

Lin Qing tightened his grip and crushed Jiang Baihe's throat. His eyes rolled back, and he died at once.

Lin Qing let go. Jiang Baihe collapsed limply to the ground.

"You got off easy, dying like that," Lin Qing murmured.

He had hesitated earlier over whether to take Jiang Baihe away and torture him with the Thirteen Golden Needles, making him suffer before he died.

But he had decided against it. He did not want Jiang Baihe to die so easily, yet the longer he stayed here, the greater the risk of exposure and the more that could go wrong.

The thought passed, and he quickly searched Jiang Baihe's body, finding nothing.

He went inside and searched the room. In a cabinet beside the bed, he found a redwood box about the size of a handbag, secured with a brass lock.

Lin Qing gripped the lock and twisted hard. Snap! The lock broke, and he opened the box.

Inside, he found two banknotes worth a hundred taels each, a quantity of loose silver, and some gold and silver jewelry and jade bracelets.

These were probably valuables Jiang Baihe had given his concubine.

Delight stirred in Lin Qing. With this money and what he had taken from Yin Muhua, he now had more than five hundred taels in total—enough to raise the Rebirth Record to level three.

He carried the box outside, dragged Jiang Baihe's corpse indoors, and poured a bottle of Corpse-Dissolving Water over it from head to toe.

In moments, the corpse dissolved into a puddle of foul liquid. Lin Qing tossed a lit firestarter onto it, setting the puddle ablaze.

Within a few breaths, all that remained of Jiang Baihe was a pile of ashes.

Only then did Lin Qing feel completely at ease. He turned, went outside, scaled the wall, and fled through the rainy night at top speed. Before long, he was home.

Shen Lian had not moved in yet, so Lin Qing was still the only one living in the rented courtyard. It was quiet.

Lin Qing went inside. First, he took off his old, bloodstained clothes and soaked them in pine oil, using its resinous scent to mask the smell. Then he took a hot bath, washing away every lingering odor, and changed into clean, fresh clothes.

He went to the window. As the night breeze blew over him, his emotions settled.

He had been exhilarated earlier, especially at the moment he crushed Jiang Baihe's throat. It had felt immensely satisfying.

He had wanted to kill that bastard Jiang Baihe for a long time. Now he finally had his wish, and all the anger pent up inside him had been released. How could he feel anything but satisfaction?