The man who was called Old Blade pondered for a moment before he said unwaveringly, “Go after him!”
The two darted into the alley in a flash.
They were already in the slums where it was dark and humid and alleys crisscrossed like a spider’s labyrinth.
Not long after Old Blade and the other man sped into the alley, they found that they had lost their target.
“Old Dog, can you still detect that kid’s presence?” Old Blade asked with a frown.
“He’s not that far ahead,” Old Dog quickly replied.
Old Blade grunted and hurried forward though he felt somewhat uneasy. The alley was long and extremely narrow, being no more than ten feet wide. They ran into no one on their way and it was dark and humid even during the day.
“Old Dog, we should be extra careful. Although we work for money, once we lose our lives we will lose everything,” Old Blade reminded. He still couldn’t help but feel that something didn’t feel right.
“Haha, he’s just a kid from a remote village. Also, we are just following our target and not doing anything else.” Old Dog disagreed.
“No matter what it’s better to be cautious,” said Old Blade with a frown.“Of course.”
Old Dog didn't think so but the next second, he immediately exclaimed, “How could that be? The target’s scent suddenly disappeared...”
Old Blade was stupefied. His heart sank and he groaned inwardly.
Bang!
A dark shadow suddenly descended from above with incredible ghost-like speed.
Old Blade could only see everything before him blur and then Old Dog violently shook and collapsed to the ground like lightning had struck down on him.
“He wants to die!”
Old Blade swiftly reacted with a fierce roar. He drew his blade and charged forward.
The shadow was, of course, Lin Xun. Before Old Blade could launch an attack, Lin Xun had already blasted towards Old Blade like a cannonball. At the same time, he extended his fingers, tightly clutched Old Blade’s wrist and violently shook.
Boom!
A terrifying force slammed Old Blade’s body like a torrent of water, causing his limbs and bones to vibrate to the extent that they almost shattered. And when the force finally subsided, blood wildly flowed from his nose and mouth.
Then, he smashed to the ground with a loud thud and his vision blurred. Every part of his body ached with indescribable pain to the point that he couldn’t push himself up from the ground.
The fight broke out abruptly and ended in a flash. It was too unbelievably fast, direct and ruthless.
Only then did Old Blade see his attacker and realized that it was the target they had been following.
Old Blade had never thought that a thirteen to fourteen year old youngster would fight so fiercely and mercilessly. His combat methods didn’t resemble a teenager’s.
Lin Xun stepped forward and said with a smile, “Tell me what I want to know. If you don’t tell me, I'll ask him. If you cooperate, I can let you die happily.” He pointed to Old Dog who had lost consciousness.
With just one sentence from Lin Xun, Old Blade had realized that the youngster before him was no child!
However, Old Blade refused to admit defeat and hissed through gritted teeth, “Do you know who we are?”
Kacha!
Lin Xun smiled and said nothing. He stepped on Old Blade’s hand with his toes until blood oozed out, flesh crushed and bones crumbled. Old Blade wanted to scream out in pain but a stone was stuffed into his mouth.
As Lin Xun watched Old Blade make a painful grimace, he remained calm and composed. He whispered, “Believe me, I have learned a lot of torturing methods since I was a child. At least one thousand. Don’t tell me anything if you want to try them.”
Old Blade’s expression dramatically changed and his body violently trembled from severe pain. His eyes were on the verge of cracking and oozing blood. As he stared intently at the youngster before him, his heart pounded.
Kacha!
Lin Xun was still smiling but Old Blade’s hand had been crippled under his foot. Old Blade was in so much pain that he whined and hissed, and his face contorted fiercely.
The youngster appears warm and gentle and seems like he would never hurt any living creatures but his ruthless means are more ruthless than those used by executioners!
How is he a mere boy? He is clearly a little devil!
When he saw Lin Xun crouch down and take out a short azure blade to torture him, he almost collapsed as fear drowned his head.It made him nod frantically.
Lin Xun smacked his lips in slight disappointment. “I thought you were pretty tough. Who would have thought that you would yield before the torture even began?”
Old Blade’s entire body twitched violently. He hadn’t started the torture yet?
Lin Xun’s smile faded from his lips as he studied Old Blade calmly. “In that case, I will no longer make things difficult for you. I will ask you questions and you will answer. Understood? I hope you won’t deceive me. I will ask your companion to answer these questions again later. If your answers are different, you know what the consequences are, right?”
Old Blade had completely given up putting up resistance and nodded.
……
When Lin Xun walked out from the other end of the alley, two dead bodies had appeared in the dark alley and it wouldn’t be long before they would be devoured by wild dogs.
Lin Xun didn’t care.
Carrying the preserves, aeth fruits, roasted meat and all sorts of snacks he bought from the street vendors, he strolled home.
The warm sunset light brushed past the top of the alley. A ray of light squeezed into the alley and dispelled the darkness and bathed the thin figure of the youngster in a warm glow.
Anyone who saw such a handsome and gentle young man would never have thought that he was the one who ended two people’s lives in such a cold and ruthless way.
The young man was Lin Xun.
Having been brought up in a dark environment, Lin Xun was destined to be different from his peers.
“Lian Fei…the Wu Clan…”
Lin Xun organized his thoughts as he walked.
Old Blade and Old Dog had already disclosed everything and so he knew that the Wu Clan had been targeting him from the first day that he came to Donglin City.
This surprised Lin Xun a little. The Wu Clan was the family of Wu Henshui and also the force behind the Wu Corporation in the Qingyang Tribe.
After the Stone Cauldron Alms’ warning, Lin Xun thought that the Wu Clan wouldn’t dare to bring him trouble even if they hated him, but it seemed like the Wu Clan hadn’t given up.
According to Old Blade, the Wu Clan contacted Lian Fei and they plotted together on the first day that Lin Xun entered Donglin City.
Their plot was very simple—get rid of Lin Xun!
Only that the Wu Clan didn’t act in person and gave Lian Fei full control while they stood behind him and provided him with all financial support and resources.
This was what surprised Lin Xun. Lin Xun didn’t think that the Wu Clan would ask Lian Fei, who was the son of Lian Rufeng, to deal with him.
But after a deeper thought about it, Lin Xun understood why Lian Fei agreed—Lin Xun had killed his father!
Would Lian Fei not want to avenge his father?
“Push the wolf out to swallow the tiger? What a good plan the Wu Clan has!”
Lin Xun smiled coldly. He could clearly tell that the Wu Clan was afraid of the Stone Cauldron Alms and wanted to avoid dealing with him in the open so they used Lian Fei’s hands instead.
Old Blade and Old Dog were intelligence gathers hired by Lian Fei. They were ordered to follow Lin Xun and provide him with information for his next operation.
According to Old Blade, Lian Fei had hired many desperate criminals with the financial support from the Wu Clan. Those criminals only cared about money and would not hesitate to assassinate Lin Xun with the right opportunity!
Lin Xun wasn’t afraid of Lian Fei and the others, but when he thought about how they had been plotting to kill him and that assassins could appear at any time, he felt his head throb with pain. It’s hard to prevent thieves forever.
However, Lin Xun learned that Lian Fei was only fifteen years old and already possessed a cultivation base of the fifth layer True Martial Stage. He was a student at Donglin Academy and had been focusing on the district examination for the past month. This was why he hadn’t personally acted already.
Based on this information, Lin Xun speculated that if Lian Fei really wanted to kill him, he would wait until after the district examination was over in a month.
But that was just Lin Xun’s speculation. If Lian Fei knew that Lin Xun had seen through his plan, he might decide to take action early.
“It seems that I have to hurry up and gather some information about the Wu Clan and Lian Fei…”
Murderous intent surged into Lin Xun’s heart. He hated being targeted and being plotted against. Since the Wu Clan hadn’t given up, how could Lin Xun just sit and do nothing?
However, the enemy was hiding in the dark while he was exposed. He knew little about the Wu Clan and so his priority now was to first understand the real situation and plan carefully before taking action.
While contemplating, Lin Xun arrived at the door to his house. He shook his head, dispelling the distracting thoughts. Then, he pushed open the door.
Huh?
Lin Xun immediately saw two figures in the courtyard, one fat and one thin. Suddenly, his eyes turned chilling and murderous intent filled them.
The fat man and thin man both turned their heads and saw Lin Xun. An ingratiating smile simultaneously came to their faces. However, when they met Lin Xun's icy blade-like gaze, their faces stiffened and they couldn't help but shudder with terror.
“What are you two doing?”
Lin Xun recognized the two men. It was Fatty Diao and Beanpole Ma. He immediately calmed down and his killing intent subsided.
Fatty Diao and Beanpole Ma breathed a sigh of relief. They respectfully bowed together and said loudly, “Paying respect to Master Chopstick!”
Boss…Chopstick?
The title stupefied Lin Xun. Isn’t this title really bad?
Lin Xun swept a glance over the two and then looked at the tightly closed door. A thought came to his mind and he headed straight towards the door
He pushed open the door and, as expected, saw Xia Zhi sitting at his desk and reading quietly.
“What is happening?” asked Lin Xun.
He knew that the two men couldn’t possibly break into their house if Xia Zhi was around, which meant that Xia Zhi was the one who let them in.
“They are your subordinates.”
Xia Zhi set down the book in her hand, thought for a moment and said, “I originally wanted to be their master but I found it too troublesome so I passed the role of master to you instead.”
Lin Xun’s face grew overcast when he saw the serious look on the little girl’s face.
He was most worried about Xia Zhi being influenced by the dark and filthy environment but she came into contact with the dark world on her own accord!
How would she not follow their bad examples if she became connected to ruffians, hooligans, gangsters, criminals and the underworld?