As time passed.
The Canoe Gang members aboard the pleasure boat swiftly gathered, surrounding the doorway and the hole that had just appeared in the ceiling.
For a moment, Qin Zheng stood holding a Ghost-Head Saber, trapped within the encirclement of the entire Canoe Gang.
A grave atmosphere spread through the air.
Watching this scene, Qin Zheng thought to himself that tonight would be a hard battle. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he prepared to forcibly summon three thousand pounds of strength and end the fight quickly.
Whoosh!
Suddenly!
Blade light flared!
A head bearing a venomous expression rolled across the floor.
Second Boss had not even had time to show a panicked reaction.
Perhaps even he had never imagined that the one who cut off his head would not be Qin Zheng, but his own eldest brother!
Even Qin Zheng glanced sideways in mild surprise.
"I am Zhang Wei. May I know how to address you?"
After cutting off Second Boss's head with a single stroke, the First Boss's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly.
He was a truly ruthless man!
Qin Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Qin Zheng!"
The First Boss nodded, then bent down and picked up Second Boss's head. With a flick of his hand, he tossed it over, letting it roll to Qin Zheng's feet.
"By Zhang's estimation, it must have been this dog bastard who struck first. I have killed him for Brother Qin, so our grievances are now wiped clean."
"Could Brother Qin give me this small favor and let the matter end here?"
The moment those words left his mouth, not only was Qin Zheng slightly startled, but the surrounding Canoe Gang members stared at their First Boss in utter disbelief.
To reach the position of Second Boss, he must have devoted himself heart and soul to the Canoe Gang, giving everything he had.
Yet now, for the sake of an outsider, the First Boss had turned his blade around and cut off Second Boss's head in one stroke!
A trace of terror appeared in the eyes of the Canoe Gang disciples.
Some of the gang's higher-ups present, meanwhile, darkened slightly. As their gazes met, an unspoken meaning emerged between them.
In that instant, everyone present harbored different thoughts, their minds churning like surging waves.
Yet on the surface, the Canoe Gang members still fixed their eyes on Qin Zheng, their gazes brimming with pressure.
"If I suffer harassment from your Canoe Gang again in the future, then what?"
After several breaths of silence, Qin Zheng asked.
The First Boss of the Canoe Gang had already gone this far. If Qin Zheng still insisted on fighting, he would instead be taking the lower ground.
Besides, since the man had cut off Second Boss's head first, he clearly truly wished to settle the matter peacefully.
Otherwise, if he merely wanted Qin Zheng to stop for the moment, the price he had paid would have been far too great.
After Qin Zheng spoke, the First Boss opposite him said, "If you are harassed by my Canoe Gang again in the future, then Zhang will personally bring you my head!"
Qin Zheng chuckled softly at this. He sheathed the Ghost-Head Saber, stepped past Second Boss's head without a glance, and walked toward the doorway.
As they watched him draw closer and closer, the Canoe Gang members grew increasingly tense.
The scene inside the room was simply too horrifying. Aside from the scarlet blood slurry covering the floor, nearly ten headless bodies lay sprawled across the ground, making the place seem like purgatory.
Moreover, the corpses on the ground were mostly experts under the Canoe Gang's Second Boss, all martial artists in the Flesh-Refining Realm.
Dressed in coarse hemp clothing and carrying a Ghost-Head Saber, Qin Zheng looked to them like a god of slaughter!
When he neared the doorway, aside from First Boss Zhang Wei and several higher-ups, the other gang members unconsciously retreated several steps.
Qin Zheng's gaze met the First Boss's for several breaths.
Then Qin Zheng moved his hand, reaching out and pulling a longsword from the waist of one of the higher-ups.
That action immediately made the Canoe Gang members' hearts leap.
The higher-up whose sword had been taken instantly wore an extremely ugly expression.
Zhang Wei's eyes narrowed slightly as well.
Then, beneath everyone's gaze, Qin Zheng spun the longsword in his hand into a flourish.
Afterward, he pointed the blade downward and hurled it fiercely.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The longsword pierced through the floors, producing six consecutive crashes.
Only then did terrified cries ring out from below.
"I hope you will keep your word."
Qin Zheng's expression remained calm. He then passed by the First Boss, walked out through the room's doorway, and headed downstairs.
Outside, Canoe Gang members holding weapons had already packed the corridor full, yet they swiftly opened a passage for Qin Zheng.
Their movements were quick, as though they feared that if they accidentally brushed against Qin Zheng, their heads would be chopped off with a single stroke.
Only after Qin Zheng's figure had completely departed, even leaving the Gathering Heroes Pavilion, did the atmosphere here finally ease.
The First Boss then turned to the gang members behind him and said, "Disperse. Check every floor for casualties, calm the guests, and also..."
"Bring me the blade from just now."
"Yes!"
The gang members responded, then retreated like a receding tide.
A short while later, only the First Boss and several higher-ups remained.
"Do you think that cutting off Second Boss's head has left you unwilling to accept it, perhaps even chilled your hearts?"
The First Boss looked at them and spoke calmly.
"We do not."
"What is First Boss saying?"
"Without First Boss, how could our Canoe Gang have what it has today?"
"..."
One after another, they immediately voiced their loyalty, denying the thoughts that had been hit right on the mark.
Hmph!
The First Boss snorted coldly, then continued, "You have all grown used to being overbearing. Open your eyes and take a good look! Use your brains and think carefully!"
"Every person who died in this room was an expert in the Flesh-Refining Realm!"
"And not a single one of them had a head left. Their heads were clearly exploded by a single palm strike!"
"Do you think someone capable of smashing their heads so cleanly and efficiently would still be an ordinary Flesh-Refining Realm martial artist?!"
As his words fell, the eyes of the several higher-ups flickered. They said gravely, "First Boss, are you saying that man just now was a Muscle-Refining Realm martial artist who had broken through the three great barriers?!"
The moment those words were spoken, everyone seemed to awaken from a dream.
Then cold sweat broke out all over them.
"I could sense from that man's eyes that he did not fear the Canoe Gang at all. He had even been ready to strike!"
Hmph! "If I had not done what I did then, I fear the heads of you people would already have been rolling across the ground!"
The First Boss snorted coldly and looked at them with displeasure.
The several men immediately understood and repeatedly thanked the First Boss.
Yet the First Boss's expression remained filled with gravity.
In truth, these people could not be entirely blamed.
Throughout Black Goose City, there were only a handful of martial artists who had broken through the three great barriers and reached the Muscle-Refining Realm.
Including himself, every one of them was a known figure in Black Goose City.
Who could have imagined that such an obscure ordinary man was also a Muscle-Refining Realm martial artist!
"First Boss, the blade is here!"
At that moment, a gang member arrived before them carrying the blade.
"There were no casualties," he added.
The First Boss took the blade and examined it closely, then asked, "Where was it found?"
At his words, fear surfaced on the gang member's face. He said, "On the first floor. The blade was almost entirely embedded in the floor!"
That man had been on the sixth floor, yet with a casual throw, he had made this blade pierce through six floors in succession and stab straight into the ground on the first floor.
That was practically one blade piercing through the entire Gathering Heroes Pavilion!
Such terrifying strength was simply inhuman!
Hearing this, the faces of the higher-ups present filled with shock.
The First Boss's expression turned even graver.
He walked up to Second Boss's head and then stomped down.
Bang!
Red and white scattered in all directions!
Before you continue