Slaying

Seeing his target enter the courtyard, Lu Changsheng was in no hurry. He began to wait patiently.

He planned to make his move deep into the night, after the man had finished his business.

That would be when Zhao Erhu was at his most relaxed.

Time slowly passed.

An hour soon went by.

The lights in the courtyard began to go out.

Lu Changsheng put on his mask, took out the pig-slaughtering blade, and strode toward the courtyard ahead.

Reaching the edge of the courtyard wall, he leaped up and landed in the center of the yard.

Ever since breaking through to Skin Refining, his jumping ability had become astonishing.

He could easily clear a fence wall over a meter high.

After scaling the wall, Lu Changsheng hurried toward the bedroom.

"Bang..."

He kicked the wooden door open. Before Zhao Erhu and Widow Zhang's disbelieving eyes, he charged straight at them, raised the pig-slaughtering blade, and slashed forward with brutal force.

Even the air let out a violent screech of friction.

He had not chosen to sneak in and quietly open the door. He was unfamiliar with the room's layout, and would have been discovered sooner or later anyway.

Besides, opening such an old wooden door would make no small amount of noise.

"Not good, a powerful warrior is attacking!"

Sensing the blade wind bearing down on him, Zhao Erhu's face filled with terror.

He could not remember ever offending a martial artist.

He had always been exceedingly cautious and had never made an enemy of any warrior.

At most, he had bullied a few commoners.

With time pressing, he had no chance to think. Before Widow Zhang's despairing eyes, he grabbed her and hurled her forward.

In the face of death, no woman mattered. As long as she could hold the attacker off for half a breath, it would be enough.

Then, he quickly seized the long saber by the bed, ready to counterattack at once.

He had always kept a secret hidden in his heart: he had broken through to Skin Refining a year ago. Coupled with the treasured saber in his hand, even if his attacker was also a Skin Refining warrior, he had nothing to fear.

Let's see how you die today.

Zhao Erhu's heart burned with fury.

"Slash..."

At that moment, a soft sound rang out. Widow Zhang was cleaved directly in two and collapsed to the floor, blood gushing out in torrents.

Lu Changsheng's expression was icy to the extreme. He showed no mercy whatsoever.

The pig-slaughtering blade's momentum did not diminish in the slightest as it continued toward Zhao Erhu.

"Die!"

With Widow Zhang buying him time, Zhao Erhu finally gained a brief chance to catch his breath. He slashed out as well, Sha Qi erupting around his body.

The long saber in his hand was a treasured weapon nearing the hundred-forged grade, purchased at enormous cost.

For this man to dare trade blows with him head-on, he was truly overestimating himself.

Zhao Erhu was brimming with confidence.

In the darkness, though neither could see the other's face clearly, they could still sense each other's intense killing intent.

The instant Zhao Erhu attacked, Lu Changsheng realized that his opponent was actually a Skin Refining warrior, and the weapon in his hand was quite extraordinary as well.

Fortunately, he had not acted rashly and come looking for trouble before breaking through. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"Crack..."

In an instant, the two collided.

Zhao Erhu's long saber was severed in one stroke, its break smooth and even.

Then the pig-slaughtering blade in Lu Changsheng's hand continued onward with unstoppable force, cutting toward Zhao Erhu.

Amid Zhao Erhu's utterly disbelieving gaze, a miserable scream rang out, and a large head shot into the air.

Spurting blood dyed the entire wooden bed red.

Zhao Erhu's headless body slowly toppled toward the headboard.

"Phew..."

Lu Changsheng let out a light breath. If not for the Hundred-Forged Pig-Slaughtering Blade in his hand today, he would likely have needed to spend quite some effort.

If he had carelessly allowed the man to escape, all his previous efforts would have gone down the drain.

It seemed weapons provided a considerable boost to one's strength.

This also gave him a new understanding of the path he would take to improve his strength in the future.

One's martial realm was the foundation of everything, but weapons and martial arts were equally important. Methods of evasion and rapid movement were crucial as well.

If he could not win, he could still flee. Only by staying alive would there be hope of turning things around.

A moment later, he put away his weapon and walked over to Zhao Erhu.

After carefully searching the man's clothes for a while, he found a stack of banknotes and a book, then tucked them into his robe.

He then turned and left.

The next morning.

Early in the morning, Widow Zhang's courtyard was packed with people.

Quite a few Three Rivers Gang members were among them, and several of Zhao Erhu's lackeys were present as well.

"Who the hell did this?"

A man in black pointed at the headless corpse on the ground, his face full of killing intent.

Someone had actually dared to kill one of their gang members within Three Rivers Gang territory.

This was a naked provocation. If they did not kill the murderer, where would their gang's prestige be?

The gang members exchanged glances, then all lowered their heads.

None of them knew what formidable person Zhao Erhu had offended. They could only play dead and keep their mouths shut.

"Hmph... I will report this matter to the hall master."

The black-clad man's tone was grim.

Just then, Chen Yuan walked out from the crowd.

"Dead, dead... good, good..."

His eyes were vacant, and he wore a foolish grin.

The black-clad man's gaze turned cold, but he did not flare up. He simply walked out of the courtyard.

Yet the following day, someone discovered Chen Yuan lying in a foul ditch. Rats had gnawed away part of his face, making for a horrifying sight.

As two days passed.

The news of a Three Rivers Gang minor leader being killed spread as well.

Some neighbors secretly clapped and cheered, sighing that he had finally received his retribution.

Zhao Erhu had committed every manner of evil throughout the area and had long been hated by everyone.

Now that a martial arts expert had stepped in and killed him, the people were naturally overjoyed.

Three Rivers Gang, Wind Thunder Hall headquarters.

Inside a great hall.

A middle-aged man sat boldly in a chair.

He was tall and broad, dressed in fitted red martial attire. His eyes flashed like lightning, and Sha Qi radiated from his entire body.

"Have you found out who did it?"

Wang Yong's voice was ice-cold.

As a hall master, no one had ever dared slap him in the face like this.

They had even cut off the head of one of his gang members.

Zhao Erhu had always been favored by him, and had even offered his own elder sister to him.

The two had thus become relatives.

With Wang Yong's help, Zhao Erhu had even broken through to Skin Refining, greatly increasing his strength.

Who would have thought he would be killed in the blink of an eye? Wang Yong was furious beyond measure.

His concubine had been raising a great fuss these past few days, insisting that the murderer be found.

"Reporting to Hall Master, we have yet to determine it."

The man in black knelt on one knee in the open space, his face full of reverence.

"Investigate this with all your strength. Once you find this person, slaughter their entire family and bring their head back."

Killing intent erupted in Wang Yong's eyes.

He then waved his hand, dismissing the man.

"This subordinate obeys."

Wang Shouren nodded heavily, then turned and left the great hall.

It was fitting enough for a Protector such as himself to investigate this matter.

The murderer's strength was likely only at the Skin Refining realm.

With his Muscle Refining martial cultivation, killing that person would be more than easy.

Inside the bedroom.

Lu Changsheng took out his spoils and began to count them.

A stack of banknotes lay quietly on the table.

He counted them. There were a full hundred taels' worth of banknotes.

This was already a huge sum, and it delighted him greatly.

From now on, he could properly improve his household meals. At last, he would not have to gnaw on black flatbread for so long.

Then he turned his gaze to the book beside them.

"Iron Leg Technique."

Three large characters were printed quietly on the cover.

Another martial arts manual.

Lu Changsheng's heart stirred as he began to read it carefully.

This technique was clearly more exquisite than the commonplace Iron Cloth Shirt.

"Rustle, rustle..."

Soon, the sounds of turning pages echoed through the room.

Half an hour passed, and Lu Changsheng was completely immersed in the technique.

This set of techniques was exceedingly complete. It not only included illustrated diagrams, but even the accompanying medicinal baths. It was extremely valuable.

"It seems this was the technique Zhao Erhu cultivated."

Even if he had no use for it himself, he could use it to train subordinates in the future.

Just as Lu Changsheng turned to the final page.

A blue Light Screen appeared in the air.

The techniques section had changed.

Technique: Iron Cloth Shirt (Great Mastery 5%) Iron Leg Technique (Beginner 1%)

After reading through it once, he had actually mastered the technique at the beginner level.

Lu Changsheng was quite surprised.

This was surely inseparable from his Great Mastery Iron Cloth Shirt.

The skin membrane on his legs had already begun to transform, sparing him the hard work of starting from scratch.

He looked at the techniques section and saw that a fusion option had appeared afterward.

"Could it be...?"

Lu Changsheng began to look forward to it.

According to his guess, as long as he acquired enough martial arts techniques in the future, he could continuously fuse and evolve them, pushing the Iron Cloth Shirt to its limit.

From then on, collecting martial arts techniques became his foremost goal.

However, he currently lacked Source Energy Points, so he could not verify it for the time being.