That day, Gao Shang gave himself a rare day off, and gave Wang Tianyuan one as well.
Pale-faced, he ate a meal, then collapsed onto his bed and fell fast asleep.
Only when night fell again did Gao Shang climb out of bed, clutching his head.
"Did I sleep the whole day?"
Looking at the sky outside, he climbed out of bed despite his utter reluctance.
The aftereffects of expending so much Soul Power had yet to pass. His whole body felt weak, and his head was still somewhat muddled.
But the energy shells in the Thunder Hand Cannon could only be stored for twenty-four hours at most.
If he did not get up and act now, once the energy dissipated, he would have to spend another entire night charging it.
"Someone, come here."
Gao Shang went into the courtyard and called toward the gate.
"Boss, you're finally awake."
It was not a maid who entered, but Hong Hua.
She was carrying a large, four-tiered food box.
"Hong Hua? Have you been waiting outside for me this whole time?"
"No, I haven't."
Hong Hua smiled and set the food box on the table.
"I just happened to be bringing you dinner. I was going to leave it with the maid so she could heat it up when you woke, but then I heard your voice and came in."
As she spoke, she opened the food box and took out three dishes and a large bowl of rice.
Gao Shang stood on no ceremony. He sat down and began eating.
Hong Hua's cooking was not particularly good, but she could handle most ordinary ingredients competently.
Before long, he had swept all the dishes clean.
Though his face was still pale, he looked considerably better than when he had first woken.
Leaning lazily back in his chair, Gao Shang finally turned his gaze to Hong Hua again.
"By the way, I asked you to keep an eye on Zhou Qi. Has he made any moves lately?"
Hong Hua shook her head gently.
"Boss, because of Spirit Hall's investigation, Zhou Qi hasn't gone out these past few days. He's even closed his pharmacy and stayed home the entire time."
"He's stayed home the entire time?"
Gao Shang frowned.
Logically speaking, Spirit Hall was merely investigating him. They had not restricted Zhou Qi's freedom.
Zhou Qi was a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, after all. Surely something this minor would not frighten him into hiding at home?
Still, whatever his reason for staying home, at least his whereabouts had been confirmed.
That counted as good news for Gao Shang.
"All right, head back first. There's no need to keep watching him tonight."
"Yes, Boss."
Hong Hua nodded in acknowledgment.
Perceptive as she was, she vaguely sensed something, but asked no further questions. She simply packed up the food box, turned, and left.
Before long, she had dragged Wang Tianyuan over to Sun Meng's home to give Sun Meng a lesson.
"Sister Hong, why are you coming over so late today?"
Standing in the little courtyard, Sun Meng looked at the two of them in some surprise.
"Exactly. It's already dark. Besides, if you're teaching Xiao Meng, what did you bring me here for?"
Wang Tianyuan muttered quietly beside her as well.
Hong Hua shot him a glare, and Wang Tianyuan immediately shut his mouth.
"No particular reason."
Hong Hua turned to Sun Meng with a smile.
"I just noticed how diligently you've been studying lately, so I'm giving you a surprise test today."
"Huh?"
Sun Meng's little face immediately fell.
Elsewhere.
After Hong Hua left, Gao Shang immediately opened the System Shop and began selecting a Defensive Soul Tool.
He soon settled on his target.
"System, use the Random Discount Card and purchase Dragon Scale Protection."
[Ding, Random Discount Card successfully used.] [Original item price: 100,000 Gold Soul Coins. Discount applied: 20% off. Amount spent: 80,000 Gold Soul Coins.]
"Twenty percent off?"
Looking at the necklace that appeared in his hand, its pendant shaped like a dragon scale, Gao Shang felt a pang of heartache.
He had only just earned over eight hundred thousand yesterday, yet barely a day later, he had less than three hundred thousand left.
Truly, earning money was like constipation, while spending it was like diarrhea.
But he really could not afford to skip buying Dragon Scale Protection. He had no desire to gamble with his life.
Putting the necklace on against his skin, Gao Shang immediately summoned the Fire Phoenix Wings.
Riiip!
His clothes split open again.
"..."
"Damn it, I forgot about my clothes again."
There was no time to mourn his shirt. The Fire Phoenix Wings were consuming Soul Power every moment.
First, he controlled the wings to withdraw the flames clinging to them. Then, under cover of darkness, he shot into the sky and headed straight for Zhou Qi's residence.
With the speed granted by the Fire Phoenix Wings, Gao Shang soon reached his destination.
As the owner of one of Nuoding City's largest pharmacies, Zhou Qi naturally had a fine residence.
Though it could not compare to Gao Shang's current mansion, it still occupied a sizable area, with high courtyard walls and a full complement of buildings.
After roughly surveying the grounds from above, Gao Shang quickly chose a spot. With a few beats of his wings, he landed soundlessly on a rooftop.
He carefully lowered himself flat, swallowed several pills to restore Soul Power, and waited quietly.
The Thunder Hand Cannon could only fire once.
Gao Shang had no intention of firing rashly before confirming Zhou Qi's location.
Perhaps luck was on his side. Before long, two servants carried a sack over and knocked on the gate to the main house's courtyard.
"Master, we've brought her."
As he spoke, one of the servants untied the sack, revealing an eight- or nine-year-old girl inside, her eyes tightly shut.
At the sound, a window in the main house opened from within, and Zhou Qi's face appeared at the window.
He glanced up at the girl in the sack and nodded in satisfaction.
"Good, bring her-"
Before he could finish, an intense sense of mortal danger enveloped him.
Every hair on Zhou Qi's body stood on end.
Without the slightest hesitation, he struck the windowsill with his palm and used the recoil to fling himself backward in a frantic retreat.
But even a Soul King could not easily evade the Thunder Hand Cannon's attack speed, let alone a mere Four-Ring Soul Ancestor like him.
The next instant, a cone-shaped energy projectile brimming with violent lightning tore through the night sky.
Almost in the blink of an eye, it crossed dozens of meters and blasted through the main house's window.
Boom!
Lightning exploded.
The entire residence seemed to have been struck by a massive hammer, and the ground shook violently.
On the distant rooftop, Gao Shang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He had never imagined this thing would have such tremendous recoil.
Had his constitution not far surpassed that of an ordinary person, that shot would probably have knocked him unconscious.
Even so, he had suffered significant internal injuries. He would likely have to keep taking time off for the next few days.
Still, its power really was outrageous.
The spot where the main house had stood was now completely reduced to rubble, with only broken walls barely remaining upright.
At the center of the shell's impact was a huge crater seven or eight meters across and two meters deep.
"With this much power, it's probably already on par with a heavy Soul Cannon of the same rank."
"I imagine Zhou Qi must have passed very peacefully."
Gao Shang took a healing pill, then reached the courtyard of the main house in a few bounds.
First, he found the girl who had been thrown aside by the shock wave and reached out to check her pulse.
With his own life at stake, Gao Shang could not possibly abandon this assassination for an innocent stranger.
But by the same token, he did not want this girl to die because of him.
Fortunately, though the girl was badly injured, she had not been at the center of the explosion. Shielded by the walls of the main hall, she had survived.
Gao Shang took out a pill, pried the girl's mouth open, and fed it to her.
He would keep her alive first. As for what to do afterward, he could only work that out once he left this place.
Having done that, Gao Shang strode into the ruins of the main house, which had been almost flattened by the blast.
The explosion had been so powerful that nearly everything inside had been blasted away. He easily found the mangled, charred corpse at the foot of a wall.
One of the corpse's arms was nowhere to be found, and only half of each leg remained.
But judging by the residual Soul Power fluctuations in the corpse, the deceased had indeed been a Soul Master.
"Looks like tonight's objective has been perfectly accomplished."
Gao Shang surveyed his handiwork, then turned to leave.
But just then, a faint sound suddenly came from the ground beneath his feet, which had already been blasted two meters lower.
Crack!
Gao Shang stopped short.
The next instant, the ground abruptly collapsed.