Skill in Hand, Killing Intent Arose

"What's this?"

Qin Geng glanced at the wealthy madam. He did not even look the new boss in the eye, merely chuckled. "Trying to drive him out by force? All of you, stop."

Skill in hand, killing intent arose!

There was truth in that saying.

Now that Qin Geng had real skill and had entered Bright Force, the sight before him did not frighten him. Instead, his palms itched.

That was the confidence skill gave him.

At Qin Geng's command, everyone in the room froze.

"Brother Qin Wu?"

Seeing Qin Geng, Abacus Song waved for the Dragon King Society men to release Master Zhu Xin. Then they came outside.

Wearing his trademark false smile, Abacus Song said, "I nearly forgot how close you are to Master Zhu Xin. What a mess. Brother Xiao Wu, talk some sense into Master Xin. The authorities have already stamped the deed. This courtyard belongs to Madam Cui now."

"Who are you?"

The plump woman—Madam Cui—looked Qin Geng up and down. Seeing only a carriage driver in coarse clothes, she arched her brows in fury. "Where did this stinking laborer come from? You dare meddle in Cui Family business?"

"..."

Qin Geng ignored her. He did not look at the supposed deed, either.

He walked straight into the room, helped Master Zhu Xin up from the floor, and carefully guided him onto the heated bed.

The people outside exchanged glances. Abacus Song gave Madam Cui a reassuring look, and they waited.

Inside the room.

"Don't worry, Master Xin. I'm here."

Qin Geng rubbed Master Zhu Xin's back to ease his breathing as he spoke softly.

Master Zhu Xin coughed violently, his chest heaving like a broken bellows. He clutched Qin Geng's sleeve so tightly that his hand shook.

"Don't try to be a hero, Little Wu. We can give it up... Fighting with blades and spears could cost you your life. It isn't worth it. Even if they take the courtyard, they won't find what they're after."

The old man was afraid.

Not of dying himself. He was afraid of dragging Qin Geng down with him.

"No, we can't have that."

Qin Geng cut him off, his voice steady and firm. "Lie down and rest. I'll go have a proper talk with them."

When Master Zhu Xin tried to protest again, Qin Geng patted his shoulder. "It's all right, Master Xin. No blades or spears. Abacus Song and I know each other well. He'll give me some face."

He settled Master Zhu Xin in and pulled the quilt over him.

Then Qin Geng straightened, left the main room, and closed both wooden doors behind him until they fit snugly together.

The moment the doors shut, the air in the courtyard seemed to congeal.

With the old man's view cut off, the warmth vanished from Qin Geng's face, replaced by a bone-deep chill.

He stood on the steps and looked at the people in the courtyard.

"You fellows. Let's hear who you are."

Qin Geng looked down at them from the steps, his hands hanging loosely at his sides. His whole body seemed slack, like a sick tiger that had not fully woken.

He had not wanted to clash with the Dragon King Society so soon. After all, they were grasshoppers after autumn, with only a few days left to jump.

But after what they had done to Master Zhu Xin today, Qin Geng could not swallow his anger.

"This is Lin Zhihe, the Cloud-Turning Hand, of the Dragon King Society's Azure Dragon Hall."

Abacus Song pointed to the sturdy man beside him, whose knuckles were thick and prominent. "These three are Red Poles of Azure Dragon Hall. They came to settle this matter for Madam Cui."

Abacus Song narrowed his eyes and gave Qin Geng a smile that did not reach them. "Well? Brother Xiao Wu, are you set on standing in our way?"

"I'm taking this on. I've got the deed with the official seal. You know for yourselves what's black and what's white. Let our fists decide."

At that, Abacus Song's smile stiffened.

He had not expected Qin Geng to show him so little respect.

Lin Zhihe, the Cloud-Turning Hand, stepped forward.

"Well, a newborn calf really doesn't fear the tiger. Care to test hands?"

Lin Zhihe took an opening stance and watched Qin Geng. No more than three steps separated them.

Testing hands.

It was a custom among martial artists.

The two would use no weapons, competing only with the force of their shoulders, hands, waists, and arms. They would stop at the first decisive touch, establish who was stronger, and leave each other some dignity without causing injury.

Lin Zhihe had heard that Qin Geng had killed Chen Sanpi with one punch.

Now Qin Geng looked like a sick tiger, listless at first glance. But the longer Lin Zhihe looked, the more unnerving he became. Lin Zhihe could not gauge his strength.

That was why he had proposed testing hands.

"Testing hands?"

Qin Geng looked at the hand extended toward him and shook his head.

"You used both these hands to hold Master Xin down just now, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?"

Before the words had left his mouth.

Qin Geng, who had stood there so loosely, suddenly moved.

It was as though the drowsy, sick tiger had snapped its eyes open and lunged. Wind and thunder erupted!

The bricks beneath his feet shattered. Qin Geng moved so fast he left an afterimage, bearing down on Lin Zhihe with a suffocating reek of blood.

Too fast!

Lin Zhihe's vision blurred. A thick, almost tangible wave of blood-soaked killing intent struck him head-on.

His pupils contracted sharply. Years of martial training made him try to retreat on instinct. He flipped both hands up, attempting to block and divert the force with his best technique, Cloud-Turning Hand.

Against an ordinary martial artist, that defense might have worked.

But he faced Qin Geng, who had mastered Bright Force and possessed Dragon Tendon and tiger-like bones!

The exchange lasted only an instant.

Crack!

A sharp, teeth-jarring snap cut through the wind sweeping the courtyard.

Clawing Strike!

Qin Geng had practiced this move tens of thousands of times at Hundred Herb Hall.

Now he struck in anger, and its ferocity was overwhelming.

His five fingers hooked around both of Lin Zhihe's wrists with unerring precision. Then he released his force.

"Aaah!!!"

A piercing scream rang up to the heavens.

Lin Zhihe howled and staggered back.

His hands hung limp. The flesh at his wrists had been torn open to the bone, and two thick tendons had been ripped free. They dangled toward the ground, dripping blood.

One exchange.

Qin Geng had severed the tendons in both hands of Lin Zhihe, the Cloud-Turning Hand and hall master of the Dragon King Society's Azure Dragon Hall!

All of Lin Zhihe's skill was in his hands. Now he was ruined for good!

Dead silence.

A dead silence tinged with blood and smoke settled over the courtyard at Number Twenty-Eight, Tanlong Alley.

The wind stopped. Even the snow seemed frozen in midair.

It was as if an invisible hand had seized every throat in the courtyard at once.

Abacus Song's false smile froze completely, as though the winter wind had locked it in place.

His eyes, usually narrowed and glinting with shrewd calculation, were now wide open. They nearly bulged from their sockets.

What had he just seen?

Lin Zhihe was a Bright Force expert steeped in martial arts for years, one of the Dragon King Society's four hall masters. His Cloud-Turning Hand was a name people knew in Tianjin Guard. Yet a single exchange had crippled him!

Both wrists hung limp. White shards of bone pierced his flesh, his tendons were severed, and blood dripped from his fingertips onto the snow, staining a patch red in moments.

A storm of shock surged through Abacus Song.

An expert could tell another's skill from a single move.

One exchange had crippled a Bright Force expert.

That could mean only one thing: Qin Geng had reached Bright Force. And with training like that behind him, his skill was enough to reach the heavens!