“What’s going on? Why are the lights out? Which idiot didn’t shut the door?” Shopkeeper Wei was feeling a little apprehensive not only because of the darkness, but also the noise he just heard.
Secretly, he prayed to be able to hear the response of his subordinates.
However, what made his heart sink was the uncanny silence that followed his question. It was as if he was the only person left in this room.
Shopkeeper Wei’s first reaction was to dismiss his thoughts.
There were more than ten of his subordinates in the room, and they were all big burly men. Only a few seconds had passed since the candle was extinguished so how could anything have happened?
Even if something did happen, he should at least have heard a squeak. It was impossible to produce no sound at all.
This may be his first time experiencing something like this but Shopkeeper Wei’s instincts told him something was definitely wrong.
He refrained from making any moves recklessly.
This room had only a single door, and it was shut tight so their only source of light was the candle, which had gone out abruptly.
The fact that none of his subordinates made a sound indicated that something had definitely happened.
Shopkeeper Wei’s pet beast, a sabertooth hound, was waiting outside. He had tried to use his blood contract connection to summon his companion, but like his subordinates, he received no response from his pet beast whatsoever despite his commands.
Shopkeeper Wei was afraid to move at all now.
He didn’t even want to breathe too loudly. He had thought about jumping up and rushing to the door to escape, but he was too scared to even do that.
Whoever had put out their candle, defeated all his subordinates, and even silenced his pet beast outside. In other words, his enemy was someone Shopkeeper Wei couldn’t handle alone.
He knew at least that much.
Wait.
Waiting for the unknown was usually the most agonizing way to pass time, and he knew full well that something horrible lied at the end of this wait.
After a brief silence, an ember appeared and fell onto the extinguished candle, lighting it up again.
The pitch-black room was illuminated once more.
Shopkeeper Wei immediately noticed all his brothers lying on the ground, not moving. The thing he feared most turned out to be true. All his men were defeated in a matter of seconds in the darkness.
What incredible prowess.
No matter who the enemy was, Shopkeeper Wei could not afford to fight a one-man battle.
Looking ahead, a man had appeared.
The upper half of this man’s body was concealed in the darkness so his features were unclear. He was currently sitting at the gambling table across the room.
It was a frightening sight. Shopkeeper Wei may be a local gangster but based on his accumulated experience over the years, something told him that he should give up now.
He immediately said, “I, Wei Youcai, may have opened up a gambling business and sometimes offended people because of this, but if I have done something to you, please forgive me, brother. Allow me to apologize to you. Take all the money you want from the table as a token of my friendship. If this is about something else instead, do let me hear you out. If it’s within my capabilities, I’ll surely comply with your orders.”
How sensible!
As expected of a gang leader here in Heavenly Spiral City. Shopkeeper Wei sure knew when to advance and when to give up.
The man sitting across the room was none other than Lin Jin.
To him, this Wei Youcai was unimportant and worth nothing. Lin Jin was only here to ask for the rich young master’s whereabouts.
That was his only goal.
Lin Jin remembered Wei Youcai addressing that young master as ‘Boss’.
“Where is your boss?” Lin Jin asked.
Wei Youcai visibly froze as his heart thumped wildly. Lin Jin added, “You only have one chance to speak. Don’t waste it.”
Beads of sweat began rolling down Wei Youcai’s forehead.
This was a matter of life and death.
He knew full well what he would face if he lied to Lin Jin, or if he answered with the typical ‘I don’t know’.
Death.
Wei Youcai didn’t want to die.
Although he wouldn’t be better off betraying his own boss, it was a choice between dying right now or dying tomorrow. Also, there were still a couple of hours before dawn so he could probably use the time to escape.
Since the man was looking for his boss, that meant that Wei Youcai himself wasn’t the target.
This was a good thing.
So he made a quick decision. After gathering his courage, he asked, “Sir, do you intend to take revenge on our boss?”
“Does that have anything to do with you?”
“Our boss’ mansion is somewhere around here. Make a right turn outside the door and head to the end of the third lane on that street. It’s the mansion in the furthest end and there’s a stone statue of Emperor Wu at the door. You can recognize it easily.”
Wei Youcai had just betrayed his boss without an ounce of hesitation.
Knowing that his boss would never forgive him for revealing this piece of information, Wei Youcai decided that he would make his escape under the cover of the night. Fortunately, he had made preparations for this exact scenario. For years, he had maintained an escape route for himself so he wouldn’t be buzzing around like a headless fly should the unthinkable happen.
“You better not be lying because no matter where you run, death will come knocking on your door.”
The candlelight flickered and without him paying attention, the man sitting there disappeared.
Wei Youcai stood up at once, too afraid to look at the brothers lying on the floor. Realizing that the money was still on the table, he tied them up in a bundle with the tablecloth and hurried outside.
He would escape into the night and the further he went, the better.
Though, he had no idea that a needle was still hidden inside his body. Lin Jin had yet to remove it in case Wei Youcai had lied to him.
However, Lin Jin’s gut told him that Wei Youcai wasn’t lying.
Local gangsters like him were at the bottom of the food chain in human society. Despite rambling on about brotherhood all day long, they would never die for someone. He was the physical manifestation of the saying, ‘every man for himself’.
Lin Jin soon arrived at the place Wei Youcai mentioned.
He found the house at the deepest end of the lane and sure enough, it had a stone statue of Emperor Wu at the door.
Emperor Wu was a legendary martial arts expert who lived several hundred years ago. While everyone else was researching pet beasts and blood contracts, Emperor Wu deviated on a different path and practiced martial arts, successfully becoming a world-class expert.
He was deemed Emperor Wu from then on. Many martial arts enthusiasts placed his stone statue at the entrance of their homes to demonstrate their devotion and respect for martial arts.
On the street that morning, when Master Gu fought the young master, Lin Jin could tell that he was a martial arts expert.
This should be it as only martial arts practitioners would live in this kind of place.
Lin Jin had learned some martial arts in the past too. However, his goal was to strengthen his physique, so he wasn’t an actual martial artist.
Activating Camouflage, Lin Jin stepped onto a cloud and floated into the yard.
The courtyard was spacious, but there was not a single speck of dust in sight. After he landed, Lin Jin saw a house and walked toward it. This mansion had no beasts to guard it so that was fairly relaxing.
But soon, Lin Jin realized he had been careless.
When he ascended the steps, he accidentally touched something which triggered a bell.
It must be a spider silk trap.
The next instant, a glint shot out from the house, hurtling towards Lin Jin’s face. Its speed was so fast that it was impossible for anyone to react in time. Fortunately, Lin Jin already knew he had screwed up when he heard the bell so he quickly turned to the side. The arrow barely grazed his cheek, indicating how close he was to dying.
“That was close!”
Lin Jin hadn’t steadied himself when another two glints were fired from the house. This round was much more dangerous because a human silhouette had darted out of the window alongside the gleams.
The opponent was a martial arts expert so if he got too close, Lin Jin wouldn’t have time to perform spells.
“Xiao Huo!”
Lin Jin invoked a spell and flicked his sleeve at the same time, sending out dozens of silver needles to fight off the incoming weapons. He heard two loud clangs and two flying daggers fell to the ground after colliding with the needles.
If he was any slower, Lin Jin would have been cut by the blades.
Xiao Huo had leaped up from a pile of flames to subdue the silhouette.
‘Twas indeed a dangerous situation.
