Over a hundred li away, in Guangji City.
At noon, the area around Flower and Willow Street on the western side of the city was in an uproar. Idlers hurried between taverns and entertainment houses, spreading news that had arrived overnight:
"Sect Master Cheng of Iron Buddha Ridge has been killed..."
"Who had the nerve..."
In a small inn frequented by martial artists, Mountain-Crashing Tiger Wang Chengjing surveyed the street from the window. The short, stocky Wang Er was at the table, fiddling with throwing knives, lime powder, and other tools for ambushing people.
Hearing the noisy chatter outside, Wang Er was rather baffled:
"Is there something wrong with this Ye Silang? Instead of dealing with Embrace Origin Gate, he went off to another sect to kill someone. Once word spreads, Embrace Origin Gate will definitely admit defeat in public. If Ye Silang sees that fellow Li knows his place, won't he just stay away...?"
Wang Chengjing came over and sat down, picking up his teacup:
"Li Hunyuan won't cave in outright. From what I just learned, he's extremely concerned with saving face. Last year, seeing Red Flower House's sun sinking in the west, he seized all its overland transport business in Guangji and drove its Incense Master straight out. If he hurried to apologize and spit out everything he'd swallowed just because things look bad this year, how could he keep his footing in the martial world? Whatever happens, he'll fight a round to give himself a way down."
Wang Er nodded. "Ye Silang killed someone yesterday. Either he won't come, or he'll arrive today or tomorrow. Shall we go stake out the Li residence now?"
Wang Chengjing set down his teacup and picked up the weapon on the table:
"According to the rumors outside, Cheng Shilu was