"You've got some nerve! You actually dared to offend the Axe Gang!"
After the Red Queen left with her people, the Landlady immediately came running out.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, Xu Long cut her off.
"The Axe Gang bullies merchants and terrorizes the neighborhood. There's no hiding from them. Even if the three of us left, the Axe Gang would still come looking for trouble."
Xu Long looked at the Landlady, his eyes bright. "I know you and the Landlord are one-in-ten-thousand masters too. You should understand that bad people can't turn good. They'll only get worse and worse."
The Landlady fell silent at his words.
Xu Long had struck a chord. After all these years of hiding and bearing humiliation, what had she gained?
A peaceful life?
No! The bullying had only grown worse!
"What are you planning?"
The Landlord, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked.
"We'll go after them and wipe out every gang in Shanghu City. We don't need to kill everyone, just the ones in charge."
Xu Long sneered. He needed a few fighters to help him deal with The Beast.
After all, he was the final boss in the movie. He wouldn't be easy to deal with.
"Go after them?"
The Landlord froze for a moment at Xu Long's words, then sighed quietly. "Let's talk about it later!"
As martial arts masters, they couldn't be without pride.
But they had grown used to living under assumed names and wouldn't act easily unless pushed too far.
Fortunately, Xu Long wasn't worried in the slightest. When the killers came knocking, they wouldn't have a choice but to act.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
The Red Queen worked quickly, bringing in every one of the top ten killers except The Beast in one sweep.
The killers arrived at different times, though. Five arrived at roughly the same time, while the others would be a day later.
Xu Long really was getting impatient. Time was short, and what he had to do was far more than just deal with the top ten killers.
[Hidden mission: 3. Subdue all underworld forces in Shanghu City! Complete! 1,000 points awarded!]
The notification sounded in his head, and Xu Long knew the Red Queen had finished her work and moved on to the next step.
"Good, just as I thought. Unifying Shanghu City's underworld really was a hidden mission. In that case, killing all ten of the top killers should be another hidden mission."
Xu Long chuckled, gazing at the bright moon in the sky as he silently waited for the killers to arrive.
The five killers ranked sixth through tenth on the killer rankings were each assigned to assassinate Xu Long, the tailor, Coolie, and the Landlord and Landlady.
Five killers, one for each person.
The Landlord, the Landlady, and Xu Long would be fine, but it was hard to say about Coolie and the tailor.
Xu Long planned to finish his fight quickly, then go help the two of them.
A moonless, windswept night-the perfect time for murder and arson.
The night was dark, and sinister winds blew in gusts. It was just the time for killing.
Xu Long, leisurely practicing his punches in his room, suddenly shuddered and looked outside.
A pair of blood-red eyes, ghostly enough to send a chill rising from the bottom of his heart.
This man was no ordinary opponent. He felt far more formidable to Xu Long than the tailor and Coolie combined.
"Fang Fist! Blood Wolf!"
"Eight Trigram Staff of the Fifth Brother! Long Aotian!"
Hearing each other announce themselves, Blood Wolf and Xu Long both froze for a moment.
"So you're the famous Long Aotian!"
"So you're Blood Wolf, the reincarnator known as the strongest E-rank!"
A smile appeared at the corner of Xu Long's mouth, and he was no longer in a hurry to attack.
The Reincarnation Temple had been established for over a decade, producing a great many masters.
At the top were B-rank masters such as the Divine Heavenly Emperor and Xuanming Emperor, while below them were countless low-rank reincarnators.
Among them, Blood Wolf was known as the strongest E-rank.
All five of his basic attributes had reached 49 points, and he possessed the Blood Wolf Bloodline, a mutation combining vampire and werewolf bloodlines.
A native-born Chinese, Blood Wolf had gotten lucky and obtained a B-rank evaluation in the Naruto world, drawing the attention of several major regions.
Faced with the various benefits offered by the Second District Western Europe Region, he couldn't resist the temptation and decisively chose to betray his people. He then received the Embrace of a C-rank vampire Earl, and later found a way to fuse a werewolf bloodline into his own.
Blood Wolf had lingered at E-rank, unwilling to take the assessment, all to obtain an authority card.
The bloodline formed by fusing vampire and werewolf was unstable, and he needed the Main God to intervene.
Apart from conscripts like Xu Long, the only way to get the Main God's help was with an authority card.
An S-rank evaluation, or killing the most powerful boss in a mission world. Aside from those, there was currently no other way.
"I didn't expect to meet the world-shaking Long Aotian here..."
Blood Wolf chuckled. "You're going to die anyway, so how about telling me how you got an S-rank evaluation?"
"Sure, but you'll have to beat me first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Long flicked his arm and sent the staff beside him shooting toward Blood Wolf.
"Bring it on!"
Blood Wolf roared, ten sharp claws abruptly extending as he grabbed viciously at the wooden staff.
Fang Fist referred to his sharp claws.
Blood Wolf had spent so long at E-rank that he had no shortage of good things on hand.
This time, he had spent a fortune buying an identity replacement card from a high-rank reincarnator, replacing one of the original top ten killers so he could enter the plot directly instead of groping around in confusion as he had before.
Crack!
The wooden staff was clawed to splinters, and Xu Long had already arrived in front of him.
Like a spear, like a venomous snake, it aimed straight for Blood Wolf's throat.
If it struck, it would surely pierce right through, and even Blood Wolf would be injured.
But Blood Wolf wasn't called the strongest E-rank for nothing. He twisted aside to dodge the staff, then sprang forward.
Clang!
The tip of the wooden staff struck Blood Wolf's claws, actually producing a crisp ring like clashing metal.
Xu Long's blow carried immense force, enough to leave a mark on a three-centimeter-thick iron plate.
No matter how sturdy the wooden staff was, it couldn't withstand such terrifying force. About a fifth of its length shattered under the blow.
"You think you can kill me with a mere wooden staff? Fool!"
Blood Wolf snorted coldly, only to be smacked across the mouth with the staff.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The sounds were crisp, carrying an indescribable implication.
Xu Long whirled the wooden staff through the air, aiming specifically at Blood Wolf's vital spots.
"Damn it! Are you even a man? Why are you hitting me there?"
Blood Wolf pulled back, his legs clamped tightly around his balls, his face full of grief and indignation.
"Looking like that, neither man nor wolf, you've long since become reproductively isolated. I might as well smash them for you. It's not like they're any use to you anyway."
Xu Long chuckled twice and thrust the staff viciously at him.
"You've gone too far!"
Blood Wolf was so furious he laughed instead, twisting aside to protect his vital spot.
Pfft!
Xu Long's thrust was exceptionally vicious. Although it missed Blood Wolf's vital spot, it plunged at least five centimeters into his thigh.
"Without your staff, let's see how you fight!"
Blood Wolf roared and twisted his thigh sharply, snapping the wooden staff with sheer force.
"Is that so? I forgot to tell you, what I'm best at isn't actually the staff!"
Xu Long smiled and assumed the opening stance of Tai Chi.
"Tai Chi Chuan! Long Aotian! Please instruct me!"