Killing

After his shift ended, Li Feng walked out of the City Guard Office.

He had changed out of his White Runner uniform and into ordinary coarse-cloth clothes. Wearing that uniform always made him feel as though he were still on duty. Taking it off was much more comfortable.

As Li Feng walked, he was still thinking about the Black Tiger Gang.

Judging by the posted notice, the higher-ups at the City Guard Office must already have had dealings with the Green Bamboo Gang, which was why they had remained silent as it swallowed up the Black Tiger Gang.

Forget it. Whatever happened next had little to do with a temporary runner like him. If the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up. He should look after himself first.

The sky was gradually darkening, and Li Feng quickened his pace toward the Spring Renewal Hall. He was still worried about his sister-in-law and wanted to see how her injuries were doing.

As he passed a dark alley, the clash of weapons and a clamor of voices suddenly rang out. A faint trace of blood also drifted through the air.

Li Feng stopped, his brow furrowing slightly.

Thinking of today's fighting between the Black Tiger Gang and the Green Bamboo Gang, he hardly needed to guess what was happening inside.

He had intended to ignore them, following the principle that one less problem was better than one more. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to take a look.

Under cover of the dim evening light, Li Feng concealed his presence and crept toward the mouth of the alley.

"Black Tiger Gang scum! Stop running and let me hack you to death!"

Peering inside, he saw three burly men carrying chopping sabers relentlessly pursuing a man drenched in blood deep in the alley. Their quarry was clearly a bolt at the end of its flight. In his panic, he looked up and happened to spot Li Feng, then immediately shouted, "Save me! Save me!"

But the instant he raised his head and shouted, he missed his footing and crashed heavily to the ground. Before he could get up, the three men behind him swarmed over him.

Squ elch! Squelch!

Blood sprayed everywhere in a scene of utter brutality.

The man twitched a few times, then lay motionless in a pool of blood.

With their target dealt with, the three men looked up and fixed their eyes on Li Feng's head poking around the corner.

"Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by?" Li Feng could only step out and explain helplessly.

Since Li Feng had already changed out of his runner's uniform, he looked like an ordinary traveler of the martial world. Coupled with the dying man's plea for his help, the three naturally assumed that Li Feng belonged to the Black Tiger Gang.

"Another accomplice! Cut him down too!"

"..." Li Feng was speechless.

Facing the three men charging at him like rabid dogs, Li Feng sighed helplessly. "What a nuisance."

Since reason would not work, he could only resort to violence.

His right hand instantly settled on his saber's hilt.

Clang!

With a crisp ring, his long saber left its sheath, and a gleam of cold light flashed in the dark alley.

Although he had used the Heavenly Dao Advance Panel to obtain the perfected Water-Cutting Saber Art in advance, he had never tried it in actual combat and did not know how strong he was. These three gang thugs would make a convenient test of his saber skills.

The burly man at the front raised his chopping saber and brought it down viciously toward Li Feng's forehead.

But Li Feng was far faster than him.

Just as the blade was about to fall, Li Feng darted aside, narrowly evading it as the long saber in his hand became a streak of cold light.

Swish!

In a single exchange, saber light flashed, and the man's movements froze. A thin red line appeared across his neck, followed by a wild spray of blood as his hulking body crashed to the ground.

The other two froze on the spot. They looked at the corpse on the ground, then at Li Feng, and terror flooded their eyes.

"You... you're a martial artist who's entered the Martial Dao?"

Although they were only rank-and-file gang members, they had some discernment. No ordinary person could have wielded that last strike with such speed. He had to be a martial artist who had entered the Martial Dao!

"A... a misunderstanding, sir! We're from the Green Bamboo Gang. It was too dark just now, and we couldn't see clearly..." One of them swallowed, his legs going weak as he immediately tried to surrender and beg for mercy.

"Yes, exactly, sir! We thought you were with that Black Tiger Gang fellow. Please let us go. We'll pretend we never saw anything." The other hurriedly nodded in agreement, barely able to keep hold of his saber.

They were nothing but lowly lackeys. Black Tiger Gang, Green Bamboo Gang—neither was worth a fart when their lives were on the line.

"Now you call it a misunderstanding? Too late." Li Feng's face was expressionless.

Why had they not called it a misunderstanding when they charged him? That saber had come straight for his forehead, too. If he had not entered the Martial Dao, would he not have been cleaved in two?

In this chaotic world, with a grudge already formed and his face exposed, how could he possibly let these two go?

Seeing that the killing intent in Li Feng's eyes had not diminished, the two knew begging was useless. They exchanged a glance and gritted their teeth. "Let's fight him!"

One on each side, they raised their sabers and attacked Li Feng again, making a desperate last struggle.

Unfortunately, ordinary people already had uncertain odds of survival against a martial artist, let alone Li Feng with his perfected Water-Cutting Saber Art. These two were merely mantises raising their forelegs against a chariot.

Li Feng snorted coldly. Instead of retreating, he advanced, unleashing the Water-Cutting Saber Art to its fullest. His blade force flowed like an unbroken stream, yet concealed a lethal edge.

Clang! Clang!

With his immense strength, Li Feng easily blocked their attacks, then saber light flashed in quick succession.

In just three consecutive moves, the remaining two Green Bamboo Gang members fell into pools of blood, clutching their spurting throats, their eyes filled with unwillingness. They twitched a few times and went still.

The alley fell silent again, leaving only the thick stench of blood hanging in the air.

Standing where he was, Li Feng took a piece of cloth from inside his clothes, calmly wiped the blood from his blade, then sheathed it.

Once that was done, he looked calmly at the corpses on the ground, and a strange feeling suddenly rose within him.

This was his first time killing anyone. An ordinary person would probably have felt nausea or fear, yet strangely, he was exceptionally calm, without the slightest mental or physical discomfort.

"Was I born a homicidal maniac?" Li Feng could not help making a self-mocking remark.

But on second thought, this was a world where the weak were meat for the strong. If he had not killed them, he would have died. Perhaps this cold-bloodedness was precisely what he needed to survive in this man-eating world.

And these martial skills gained through allocating points were evidently no rootless duckweed. They were no different from skills honed through years of genuine hard training. Thanks to the points, he had even gained a wealth of combat experience out of thin air.

Shaking his head and casting aside these stray thoughts, Li Feng followed the principle that, since he was already here, he might as well make the most of it. He deftly crouched down and began searching the bodies.

The search yielded a sizable haul. He found several finely crafted pieces of jewelry on the Black Tiger Gang member who had been pursued, all clearly worth a great deal. From the three Green Bamboo Gang members, he collected some loose silver, which he estimated at twenty-odd taels.

"I don't know how much this jewelry is worth, but the loose silver alone comes to twenty-odd taels. Even if the jewelry isn't worth a single copper, I've made a killing."

Li Feng tucked the silver and jewelry inside his clothes, glanced at the corpses on the ground, then swiftly vanished into the dim night, hurrying toward the Spring Renewal Hall.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later.

A jumble of footsteps broke the alley's silence as several Green Bamboo Gang members arrived carrying torches.

They immediately stopped when they saw the four corpses lying on the ground.

A minor leader at their head stepped forward and crouched down. After inspecting them carefully, he frowned. "These three are Wang Er and his fellows from our gang. The other dead man should be an Incense Master of the Black Tiger Gang. But here's the strange part: that Incense Master had already been badly wounded by saber cuts and shouldn't have been able to fight back. How did he end up taking all three down with him?"

Growing increasingly puzzled, the minor leader brought his torch closer to the four bodies and continued examining them carefully.

"No, they didn't kill each other." Finally understanding what had happened, the minor leader said gravely, "This Black Tiger Gang fellow is covered in haphazard saber wounds. Clearly, Wang Er and the others hacked him to death. But afterward, someone else must have appeared in the alley."

"Someone else?" a gang member beside him asked in confusion.

"Look at the wound on Wang Er's neck. Smooth and clean, fatal in a single strike. Only a martial artist who has entered the Martial Dao could have that kind of speed. Now look at the other wounds on the three of them. Judging by the characteristics of the saber cuts, it should be the Water-Cutting Saber Art."

"As far as I know, some members of the Black Tiger Gang practice the Water-Cutting Saber Art. It looks like Wang Er and the others had just slaughtered this Incense Master when an expert from the Black Tiger Gang happened to arrive. Seeing the Incense Master dead, he struck in fury, his saber work clean and decisive, killing all three in an instant."

"Then, boss, should we follow the alley and avenge Wang Er and the others?" one gang member asked.

The minor leader looked down the dark alley, then at the gruesome scene on the ground, and shook his head. "Forget it. It's so dark, and there's no telling where he's already run off to. We wouldn't find him even if we gave chase."

He stood and dusted himself off. "The Black Tiger Gang's tide has turned. Our Green Bamboo Gang has them completely suppressed, and they're only a few days away from total destruction. At a time like this, a few fish slipping through the net is normal. They won't stir up any waves. There's no need to dwell on it."

"Come on. Carry our brothers' bodies away, and we'll report exactly what happened when we get back."

With that, the Green Bamboo Gang members briskly lifted their companions' bodies and hurried out of the alley.