Chapter 42: Chapter 42
Sun Xi and Zhou Chao had followed Qi Hu to the scene. Watching Li Suifeng locked in ferocious combat with Ba Hu, their faces showed nothing but shock.
But beneath the shock lay relief.
They’d thrown in their lot with Boss Li early. Now his rise was unstoppable.
As the first to pledge allegiance, they’d surely reap the benefits when he ascended.
“Damn it!”
“Damn it all!”
Qi Hu’s mind raced through everything he’d learned in the past two days.
At headquarters, Manager Ma had made his move — but somehow, Commander Hu had intervened on Li Suifeng’s behalf.
Qi Hu hadn’t dared question the men who’d accompanied Li Suifeng to headquarters directly. That would have raised suspicion.
But now — Li Suifeng’s true strength was genuinely terrifying. If Li Suifeng ever discovered that Manager Ma had been acting on Qi Hu’s coin…
“Is that Li Suifeng?”
“He truly deserves the title ‘Boss Li.'”
Several jianghu wanderers stood on nearby rooftops, watching the battle unfold.
Among them were one or two seventh-rank fighters.
Most were refugees from Mingzhou Prefecture, where the situation had become a multi-sided war — the court, the Canal Gang, the Red Lotus Sect, and several other major Nanzhou factions had all gotten involved. Plenty of ordinary martial artists had been caught in the crossfire and killed.
They’d fled with their savings to Nanyang — the weakest of Nanzhou’s six prefectures.
They hadn’t expected to witness a fight of this caliber so soon after arriving.
…
“RAAAGH—”
Ba Hu howled.
He was trapped. More and more jianghu spectators were gathering.
Men of the martial world lived and died by reputation.
If he couldn’t kill Li Suifeng tonight, he’d never be able to show his face in Nanzhou again.
“If I hadn’t been wounded killing Liu Zhenhe, you think you’d be strutting like this?”
Ba Hu’s fists detonated with a thunderclap.
One Fist to Rule the River!
The Divine Fist Gate’s killing blow.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
Li Suifeng spread his frame wide. Golden Body Art and Iron Shirt surged to their limits — his body seemed to grow a fraction taller.
He was still performing. As far as the audience knew, he was seventh-rank.
To kill Ba Hu, he needed to make it look like a hard-fought victory.
WHAM!
Fist met palm.
Two titanic forces collided. A chain of shockwave-pops rippled through the air around them.
“Good!”
“You can take my punches? Let’s see how many more your body can handle!”
Ba Hu hammered fist after fist into Li Suifeng’s chest.
Li Suifeng absorbed every blow as if they were nothing.
Ba Hu, on the other hand, had accumulated four or five new puncture wounds from the One-Finger Zen — each one a bleeding hole.
Damn!
Even that isn’t enough to damage his organs?
Retreat. The thought crystallized in Ba Hu’s mind. He should have waited until his injuries healed. Attacking Li Suifeng now had been a mistake.
Too late for regret.
He committed to one final exchange, then wrenched himself free, throwing his body backward.
“Leaving?”
Li Suifeng launched skyward. His finger-strike carried noticeably more force — this time, he was channeling sixth-rank power.
A single thrust that could pierce solid stone.
Sensing the killing intent closing on his back, Ba Hu had no choice but to turn. True qi wrapped his fist as he swung to intercept.
SQUELCH!
A hole appeared in the center of his right fist.
“AAAGH!”
“You—”
Terror flooded Ba Hu’s eyes. But no more words came.
Li Suifeng’s Great Tombstone-Crushing Palm had already descended.
Ba Hu crossed both arms overhead, true qi billowing, desperate to block.
BOOM!
A muffled explosion shuddered through the air.
CRACK!
Ba Hu was hammered to his knees. The stone slabs beneath him shattered under the impact. Both arms buckled. Li Suifeng’s palm landed squarely on the crown of Ba Hu’s skull.
Blood welled from the point of contact, dripping to the ground.
Disbelief was frozen on Ba Hu’s face — as if he couldn’t accept that he’d died at a junior’s hand.
This fight was exhausting to fake.
PFFT!
Li Suifeng spat a mouthful of dark blood on cue. His face went convincingly pale.
“Boss Li!”
“Boss Li!”
Yuan Hai and Chen Shan rushed to his side, positioning themselves protectively while scanning the surrounding rooftops.
The Canal Gang disciples followed suit — weapons raised, bows trained on the watching jianghu figures.
“I’m fine.”
Li Suifeng waved off Yuan Hai’s steadying hand.
“Get the bodies inside. No outsiders enter the compound.”
“Yes, sir!” Yuan Hai relayed the orders immediately.
“Everyone — move the bodies! Seal the compound! No one gets in!”
Even Qi Hu held his tongue.
Ba Hu and Jin Buhuan had killed the Helmsman. Li Suifeng had avenged Liu Zhenhe by slaying Ba Hu despite being outranked. His standing among the branch disciples now eclipsed anything Liu Zhenhe had ever commanded.
…
The compound gates slammed shut.
Only then did the jianghu spectators slowly disperse. But every face still carried traces of awe.
A seventh-rank fighter killing a sixth-rank master was exceedingly rare.
Every time it happened, it sent shockwaves through the entire generation.
“With the Divine Fist Gate finished and the Canal Gang down a Helmsman, Nanyang Prefecture belongs to Li Suifeng now.”
“Heh — if you had his strength, it’d be yours too.”
“True enough. Looks like Nanzhou is about to get a new Human Rankings entry.”
“Wonder where he’d place.”
“Top ten at least. Top five would be tough — those five are all a few years younger, and they’ve all grasped blade or sword intent. By the time they’re his age, they’ll probably be sixth-rank.”
“…”
Nanyang Prefecture would not sleep peacefully tonight.
…
The Qi residence.
Sun Xi and Zhou Chao had followed Qi Hu home.
“Hah.”
Seated at the stone table, Qi Hu drained a cup of hot tea in one gulp and sighed.
“This Nanyang Prefecture… may truly belong to Li Suifeng before long.”
He fixed Sun Xi and Zhou Chao with a pointed look.
“For the time being, do not provoke Li Suifeng. Wait until we hear from headquarters.”
“Yes, sir.” Sun Xi and Zhou Chao exchanged a glance.
Provoke Li Suifeng? They were his people.
…
The Linshui Docks.
“My lady… my lady!”
“Ba Hu… is dead!”
Willow burst into Lin Zhixu’s room, so agitated she could barely form words.
“What?”
Lin Zhixu — wearing only her underclothes — sat up in bed.
These past two nights, Li Suifeng had been staying at the docks. Her injuries had spared her the final step, but each night he’d kept her up until the small hours. She’d been catching up on sleep while he was away.
She hadn’t expected this news.