Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
Since it was already winter, the sky turned dark very early. By nine o’clock at night on the 30th day of the tenth lunar month, the streets of Pingxi City were pretty much deserted. In this world, which lacked night entertainment, most people were already asleep by eleven o’clock at night. By one o’clock after midnight, the areas that were still brightly lit throughout the entire city could be easily counted with one’s fingers. By the Ox Zodiac Hour, all of Pingxi City would basically be in total darkness.
According to the time system that used in Yan Liqiang’s previous life, the Ox Zodiac Hour was between one and three o’ clock after midnight.
Yan Liqiang napped in the afternoon today at the house he had rented at Nine Dragons Bridge to rest up. At night, he cultivated Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing in his bedroom. By the Ox Zodiac Hour, he had just cultivated five rounds of Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing. Thus, Yan Liqiang’s body and stamina were at peak state.
Unsure of whether it was due to the Nine Heavenly Bestowments he had received or the fact that he had been cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing more diligently these days, Yan Liqiang sensed that he was about to breakthrough the Stretching Tendon and Extending Bone stage. Based on his past experience, when he passed the Stretching Tendon and Extending Bone while cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, his dantian would also be established at the same time — these two stages would pass together at the same time. This also meant that he was going to progress into a Martial Warrior way earlier than he had predicted.
Yan Liqiang was quite excited about it, but of course, he hadn’t given up on his own plan. Putting aside the Tiger Roaring Consecutive Fist technique, just his hidden flying needle technique at the ninth layer and his Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps which he had cultivated to the peak were enough for Yan Liqiang. He was confident that he would be unstoppable in Pingxi City and that he was capable of achieving a lot of things. As such, that was what ‘the talented and skilled are bold’ saying meant. With proper insight, Yan Liqiang was suddenly able to see the light and the path open up before him. Things he had never dared to think of doing were now popping into his mind one after another as his thoughts gushed forth.
He killed Wang Haofei in self-defense so that he could buy himself more time. Today was the official beginning of his final showdown with the pair of father and son from the Ye Clan.
Yan Liqiang changed into the black clothes he had prepared earlier and also changed into a pair of warrior boots with softer soles. Carrying a black sack on his back, he once again put on King Cobra’s mask. Before he set out, he checked his equipment one last time.
There was a row of flying needles dipped in venom, a row of ordinary darts, an ordinary but sharp shortsword, and a firestarter — a firestarter that could start a fire faster than a fire striker because a fire could be ignited as soon as it was pulled out!
Although the Black Scale shortsword Lu Peien had given to him was sharp and easy to use, its distinctive feature stood out a little too much. Hence, it was not suitable for this occasion because if someone recognized the shortsword, they might be able to trace it back to Yan Liqiang. So in the end, Yan Liqiang left the shortsword behind in his room.
Yan Liqiang predicted that he might even be able to get his hands on some precious items if his operation succeeded tonight because he had already wandered around the location countless times while he was in his soul state. Hence, he knew about the extremely well-hidden items around there.
After equipping all his items, Yan Liqiang closed his eyes and sat in the pitch black room in silence as he waited. He slowed his breathing down at the same time and relaxed his heart.
Finally, after sitting for more than ten minutes in silence with his eyes closed, the sound Yan Liqiang was waiting for finally rang out from outside the window of his rented room.
Clang… Clang… Clang… Clang…
Four long gong beats rang out in the silence of the night. The fourth of the five night watch periods signified that it was already the Ox Zodiac Hour. As the saying goes, ‘the first of the five night watch periods is for the people, the second of the five night watch periods’ gong resounds in the silence, the third of the five night watch periods is for the ghosts, the fourth of the five night watch periods is for the thieves, and the fifth of the five night watch periods is for the roosters’. The fourth of the five night watch periods at the Ox Zodiac Hour was during the deepest part of the night when people slept most soundly. This was also when most nightwalkers started to roam about.
“The night is bitterly cold and dry, beware of fires and thieves…” The old night watchman’s voice resounded across the alley outside.
After waiting for three minutes when the footsteps of the night watchman and the sound of his bamboo clapper faded away, Yan Liqiang’s eyes which had been shut all this while suddenly snapped open. A light flashed across his eyes.
He gently pushed open his window halfway. With his palms gently pressed against the window sill, he instantly leaped out of the half-open window soundlessly like an agile raccoon dog. His body did a 360-degree flip in midair before he landed on the ground of the alley outside without making any noise.
The clouds tonight were as dark as lead; the stars and the moon were dim. In a night without electricity or street lamps, the visibility in the surroundings so low that it was as though the night had sunk into a dark forest. Without a light source, the visibility range for most people was less than a meter.
Yan Liqiang had waited in the city for over two days just for tonight.
During this period of time, he persistently cultivated the eye technique from the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing External Cultivation. In addition to the blessings he had received for his eyesight through the Nine Heavenly Bestowments, his eyes had already gained a terrifying night-vision ability before he even realized it. Nothing within the radius of a hundred meters could escape his eyes. Although objects which were a hundred meters away from him were a little blurry, he could still vaguely make out their outlines.
Yan Liqiang leaned close to the walls of the alley. He moved quickly and demonically, swift like a running horse yet soundless, exhibiting the ability of Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps’ highest realm. Without any lights, if Yan Liqiang ran in front of a person at a meter away, that person would probably just feel a gust of cold wind and would probably even categorize him as a ghost.
In just a flash, Yan Liqiang reached the end of another bridge near the Nine Dragons Bridge.
The street which bustled with activity during the day was pitch black and completely deserted at night. The buildings on either side of the street had no lights and were in total darkness, creating an indescribably eerie atmosphere.
Yan Liqiang crossed the bridge like a black shadow in a flash, arriving at the Shatu community to the west of the Nine Dragons Bridge.
At this hour, the Shatu community was similarly in total darkness. After all, the Shatu people were also humans who needed to sleep at night. Almost everyone was already sound asleep. The only difference between here and the Chinese community east of the Nine Dragon Bridge was that the Shatu community had no night watchman. Instead, they assigned people that were armed with weapons to patrol the area.
The Shatu people had turned their community into a military barrack. But since they had already settled down into an easy and comfortable life in Pingxi City for a few decades, even if they had patrols, the Shatu people had long been lax.
Yan Liqiang had already met two teams of Shatu people patrolling the area with lanterns in their hands on the street, but he easily managed to slip past them.
Yan Liqiang was extremely familiar with the streets and alleys in the Shatu community. In just a few minutes, he was able to pass through two streets and a few alleys, arriving at a place in the northeastern part of the Shatu community.
Before Yan Liqiang was a huge warehouse which occupied up to a hundred mu which was used to store various merchandise: fur, medicinal herbs, and some precious wood types for most of the Shatu businesses in Pingxi City.
Although they appeared to be Shatu people’s goods on the surface, this warehouse was actually also the Shatu people’s arsenal in Pingxi City. Various munitions and weapons they had secretly transported inside Pingxi City were all kept here. They were so well hidden that even ordinary Shatu people wouldn’t realize that there were many important goods hidden in there.
The gate outside the warehouse was tightly locked. The walls on either side of the entrance were more than three meters high. Yan Liqiang dashed towards the wall and quietly listened for sounds before he did a half-squat and leaped two meters high. He landed quietly with one foot on top of the wall, and like a sparrowhawk, Yan Liqiang’s black silhouette flipped over to the other side of the wall.
Within the walls, one of the houses was still brightly lit. The few Shatu guards inside were responsible for keeping watch of this warehouse during the night.
The light in the room was lit to keep people away, just like the scarecrows in the rice fields. This was requested by the leader of Shatu people. Since things had been quiet for many years, the Shatu people had already grown bored.
Yan Liqiang had already determined that there were actually four Shatu people living in the house without even going near. Based on the practice here, two of the four Shatu people would come out together to do a round every two hours while the others continued to sleep in the house. But in reality, the Shatu guards here were already accustomed to patrolling the area alone so that the others could sleep longer.
Yan Liqiang quietly approached the entrance of the house. After waiting for less than ten minutes in silence, he heard some gibberish Shatu language, then the sound of someone getting up from the bed, grumbling as he got up. Just about ten seconds later, the door of the house creaked open from the inside. A Shatu man came out yawning with a lantern in his hand.
Yan Liqiang suddenly reached out to cover that Shatu man’s mouth. Then he plunged his knife into him from behind, piercing his heart.
That Shatu man collapsed limply onto the ground. Before his lantern even hit the floor, Yan Liqiang grabbed it and then immediately charged into the room.
There were four beds in the room. The other three Shatu men shielded themselves from the light outside the window and were sleeping soundly with their heads covered. Their snores filled the room. No one even sensed that Yan Liqiang had already made his way inside the house.
Yan Liqiang moved with lightning speed and quickly circled around the other three beds. With a few waves of his shortsword in the air, the three Shatu people were murdered in their sleep from being stabbed in their hearts. The snoring in the room ceased instantly and the scent of blood permeated the room. In just the blink of an eye, the four Shatu people guarding this place were dead.
Yan Liqiang blew out the lantern in his hand and put it away. He opened the door and dragged the other Shatu man at the entrance back inside. He then stabbed each of them twice again. After ensuring that these Shatu people who might even have hearts on their right side too were totally dead, Yan Liqiang picked up a key that was hanging on the wall by the door and left the small house. When he left, he didn’t forget to properly shut the door too.
