Chapter 10: Chapter 10
“Thank you, Boss Li!”
Liu Yuan’s eyes shone as he looked at Li Suifeng.
Following Boss Li had definitely been the right call.
The stack of banknotes totaled two or three hundred taels. Working a whole month at the docks, Liu Yuan earned a mere four taels of silver — and that was better than most. Even after taking a few dozen brothers out for a night of drinking and merriment, there’d still be enough left to split among them.
Liu Yuan swept his hand grandly and barked out orders:
“Tell the brothers at the dock — half stay on watch, the other half go out tonight. Tomorrow, the other half gets their turn. Whatever silver’s left over, I’ll split equally among everyone.”
“Tonight — nobody goes home sober!”
The entire group erupted in cheers.
“Thank you, Boss Li!”
“Thank you for the reward, Boss Li!”
…
Li Suifeng lingered at one of the dock-side taverns until the sky had gone fully dark before making his way back toward Green Stone Alley, reeking of wine.
“Extract.”
Reaching the mouth of the alley, he murmured the word.
He’d been surrounded by his men all evening — no opportunity to claim the Life-Death Talisman until now.
【Ding!】
【Extraction successful!】
BOOM!
A lifetime’s worth of Life-Death Talisman mastery flooded into his mind, as though he’d cultivated the art for decades.
Even his internal energy had taken on the Life-Death Talisman’s properties.
He could now effortlessly condense water into ice and launch it as a talisman with pinpoint precision.
More importantly, the sheer volume of talisman-launching experience made Li Suifeng a formidable hidden-weapons expert in his own right.
TAP TAP TAP!
Just as Li Suifeng was about to enter Green Stone Alley, the sound of someone moving at speed across rooftops reached his ears — the distinctive rhythm of qinggong footwork striking tile and earth.
The area around Green Stone Alley was residential. This era had none of the entertainment options of his previous life, and lamp oil wasn’t cheap.
Once darkness fell completely, ordinary people of this age had exactly one pastime left — making babies.
By now, Green Stone Alley was almost entirely devoid of light.
“Trouble.”
Li Suifeng frowned.
He couldn’t tell whether these people were coming for him, but the fewer complications, the better.
He turned and started to slip away, planning to take a detour home.
But the footsteps drew closer and closer.
A slender figure in green appeared before him. She clearly hadn’t expected to encounter anyone at this hour, and spoke in a low, urgent voice:
“Go!”
“There’s trouble here!”
Only then did Li Suifeng get a clear look at her — a young woman in green. Despite her current disheveled state, her striking features were impossible to mask. Sharp eyes that glowed with an inner light, and a bearing that carried the unmistakable air of a woman who yielded to no man.
“Go?”
“He’s not going anywhere today. But I do intend to have a taste of you — number three on the Human Rankings.”
Over a dozen figures materialized, encircling Li Suifeng and the woman. The two men at the front — one carrying a sword, one a saber — looked to be in their forties.
Number three on the Human Rankings?
Ye Qingmei?
Li Suifeng blinked.
In all his years since transmigrating, he’d been crawling through the Canal Gang’s gutters. A minor gang boss in the Nanyang Branch.
The gap between him and the figures on the Human Rankings was the distance between heaven and earth.
The Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings were compiled by the Star-Plucking Pavilion, an institution under the Daye Dynasty’s imperial court. Their authority was beyond question.
The Human Rankings recorded the thirty-six most powerful prodigies under the age of twenty-five.
Naturally, this only accounted for those with proven combat records. If a genius had no verifiable feats, the Star-Plucking Pavilion would have no way of knowing their true strength.
But broadly speaking, anyone who made the Human Rankings was a top-tier powerhouse of the younger generation.
And Ye Qingmei was a legend.
Nearly every name on the Human Rankings hailed from a major faction.
It was exceedingly rare for someone from a minor sect to make the list. Ye Qingmei had been born into a small southern sect — one that had been annihilated seven years ago. Armed with nothing but the modest martial manuals her sect had left behind, she had clawed her way to the number-three spot on the Human Rankings and held it firmly.
She was only nineteen. Four years younger than Li Suifeng.
Some said that if Ye Qingmei had been born into a major faction, even the number-one spot would have changed hands.
She was an icon to every low-born martial artist in the realm.
And now here she was, in the flesh.
“You seem to know a bit of martial arts,” Ye Qingmei said without looking at him, her voice low. “When I engage them, find an opening and run.”
“Who are they?” Li Suifeng asked quietly.
According to the Human Rankings, Ye Qingmei was only seventh-rank — and currently wounded at that.
The fact that this group of Red Lotus Sect followers hadn’t been able to easily capture her meant they weren’t that much stronger themselves.
Ye Qingmei seemed faintly surprised. She glanced at him. Most jianghu wanderers ran at the mere mention of the Red Lotus Sect. She hadn’t expected this man to ask questions instead of bolting.
“Soul-Severing Blade Sun Yue and Seven-Trick Sword Lin En. Both are jianghu rogues with nasty reputations around Mingzhou Prefecture. They’re Red Lotus Sect now.”
Still, she kept her voice low. “They’re both seventh-rank. The others don’t matter much. When I pin those two down, find your own way out.”
Under normal circumstances, she could have dealt with both of them without breaking a sweat. But the Five Poisons Palm had struck deep, and the toxin was eating at her from the inside. She could barely muster four-tenths of her full power. Both men were seasoned jianghu veterans — they wouldn’t go down easily.
“Ha ha ha!”
Soul-Severing Blade Sun Yue threw back his head and laughed.
“Ye Qingmei — if you hadn’t taken a hit from the Branch Master’s Five Poisons Palm, we might have shown you some respect. But now? The poison is devouring your heart. How much of your strength do you really have left?”
“Kind of you, though — worrying about a stranger’s life at a time like this.”
“Too bad. You stumbled onto our Red Lotus Sect branch’s location. We can’t let you leave alive. But before you go, I’ll make sure you enjoy yourself.”
“Move!”
“Take Ye Qingmei alive. Kill the man.”
WHOOSH!
Before the Red Lotus Sect followers had even moved, the whistle of hidden weapons tore through the air.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Ye Qingmei’s sword was already drawn, its edge scattering sparks as she deflected every projectile hurtling toward them.
And then the Red Lotus Sect fighters closed in.
The two leaders both threw themselves at Ye Qingmei. The remaining followers spread out in a net, cutting off any escape route for either her or Li Suifeng.
SWISH SWISH SWISH!
Three of them peeled off and converged on Li Suifeng from three directions.
Two wielded sabers. One swung a pair of iron hammers — aimed straight at Li Suifeng’s face. The two saber-men flanked left and right, slashing for his vitals.
“I can pretend I never saw any of this.”
Li Suifeng’s voice was cold.
He had no desire to tangle with the Red Lotus Sect. They were a pack of lunatics.
“Heh!”
All three men’s faces twisted with scorn.
Some unlucky bastard stumbles into the middle of this, and he thinks they’re just going to let him walk away?
“You’re asking for it!”
BOOM!
Seeing the twin hammers bearing down, Li Suifeng’s eyes turned to ice. Energy roared through his body. The muscles of both arms hardened like cast bronze and hammered iron. The Great Tombstone-Crushing Palm smashed forward to meet the hammers.
THUNK!
A palm-print cratered into the face of the iron hammer. The wielder felt a monstrous force slam through his arms — then his vision went black, and he knew nothing more.
The two saber-men, a beat slower, watched their comrade’s skull burst apart before their eyes. Shock froze them mid-swing, killing intent evaporating.
“Tough bastard!”
“Get two more over here!!”
They swallowed hard and shouted for reinforcements.
But before the perimeter fighters could react, a blur filled their vision — and Li Suifeng materialized directly in front of them.
CRUNCH!
Their skulls popped like watermelons beneath Li Suifeng’s massive palms.
THUD!
Three headless corpses toppled slowly to the ground.
“Hm?”
Mid-clash with Ye Qingmei, Soul-Severing Blade Sun Yue’s brow furrowed. He barked:
“Lin En — hold Ye Qingmei! I’ll deal with the kid!”