Chapter 2: Chapter 2
The carriage raced through the streets, turning several corners in the blink of an eye.
Zhao Jiu followed closely behind. The perfected top-tier lightness skill Chasing Stars and Moon did not merely grant him extraordinary speed; it also allowed him to borrow force whenever he landed without making so much as a sound.
When he saw that the carriage was about to enter another street lined with brothels, Zhao Jiu decided to stop waiting.
He flicked his right hand, sending a poisoned flying needle directly into the horse’s neck. At the same time, he hurled several stones with his left hand, forcing the horse toward an alley on the left.
By the time the driver tried to restrain the maddened animal, it was already too late. Driven wild by the pain, the horse turned and galloped into the alley.
Zhao Jiu calmly took a mask from his storage space and put it on. He followed the carriage from a moderate distance, neither too close nor too far behind.
Once the poison killed the horse, it would be time to reap his reward.
The carriage staggered onward for approximately seven or eight minutes before the poison finally reached the horse’s heart. The animal collapsed dead, dragging the carriage down with it.
The driver was the first to leap out.
Before he could react, Zhao Jiu, who had been following close behind, unleashed dozens of poisoned needles, flying knives, and iron pellets.
The driver had no time to defend himself. The barrage struck him full in the face, killing him instantly.
Zhao Jiu remained in no hurry. He simply waited for Wu Xin to crawl out of the carriage.
Jianghu was a treacherous place. Could Zhao Jiu truly expect a man whose name sounded like “faithless” to fight openly and honorably?
Besides, Zhao Jiu himself was hardly an open and honorable man.
The two remained locked in a stalemate.
From time to time, Zhao Jiu tossed several flying knives, poisoned needles, iron pellets, or packets of poison into the carriage.
He was not in a hurry. His storage space contained an enormous stockpile of hidden weapons, and the alley was so remote that almost no one would come by.
After another fifteen minutes, Wu Xin finally reached his limit.
Inner Qi erupted from his body, shattering the carriage around him. He emerged from the wreckage with his sword in hand.
Unfortunately, with his short and stout figure, he looked nothing like an immortal bearing a sword as he wandered through the mortal world. He looked more like an old tortoise whose four limbs had been tied together.
“Hahahaha!”
Zhao Jiu could not hold back his laughter.
“You cur! What are you laughing at?”
“Now, now. I have undergone rigorous training. Unless I truly cannot restrain myself, I never laugh.”
“You insolent brat! Damn your mother!”
Wu Xin flourished his sword and charged forward.
Zhao Jiu stamped his heel against the ground and leaned backward. His hands moved repeatedly, launching one hidden weapon after another and forcibly halting Wu Xin’s advance.
Wu Xin hurriedly swung his sword to block the barrage. He retreated three consecutive steps and cursed Zhao Jiu as a despicable scoundrel.
At the precise moment when Wu Xin’s previous burst of strength had been exhausted and his next had yet to gather, more than ten flying knives followed the first barrage.
Although Wu Xin attempted to defend himself, it was impossible to block them all.
Two flying knives tore through the net formed by his sword and struck him directly in the chest.
Wu Xin’s entire body immediately weakened. He naturally understood that the blades had been coated with poison.
Before he could seal his acupoints, five flying needles pierced deeply into his neck, knocking him to the ground.
After seeing Wu Xin fall, Zhao Jiu calmly added several more flying needles.
Only after confirming that Wu Xin had completely lost the ability to fight did he slowly approach.
Zhao Jiu stopped ten paces away, took an abacus from his storage space, and smiled.
“Young Master Wu, I am wholeheartedly at your service.”
“You know who I am, yet you still dare to kill me? My uncle is a Hundred-Household Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! However much they paid you, I will pay twice that amount. No—three times…”
Wu Xin struggled to turn over and face Zhao Jiu as he spoke.
“That will not do. I know the difference between eating my fill once and eating my fill every day. Besides, I have only recently begun making a name for myself. I still need this reputation to earn a living.”
After a brief pause, Zhao Jiu continued.
“Here is what I can offer after your death. Preserving your face without damage will cost twenty taels. Leaving your body intact instead of destroying it and erasing all traces will cost fifty taels. Returning you to the Wu Family will cost another fifty, and reporting your death to the authorities will cost twenty. A coffin and burial plot will require an additional fee. Do those terms seem acceptable?”
Zhao Jiu moved the beads of his abacus as he listed the prices. The longer he looked at Wu Xin, the more pleasing the man became.
Wu Xin gave a weak laugh. No one knew what he was thinking.
He pulled a banknote from inside his robes, spat out two mouthfuls of blood, and spoke feebly.
“Two hundred taels. Return my body intact to the Wu Family. Cough, cough… Will you at least let me die knowing the truth?”
“I truly do not know who wants you dead.”
Zhao Jiu helplessly spread his hands. What else could he possibly say?
“Who are you?”
“Me? I am merely a believer.”
“A believer in what?” Wu Xin asked in confusion.
“I believe in the wicked yet almighty Church of Money. I never dare disobey anything its master commands. The food I eat and the roof over my head are all provided by my master. Whatever he orders me to do, I can only say yes, never no. My master’s name is Money!”
Zhao Jiu finished speaking and smiled.
“Now, it is time for you to be on your way. I still need to return and report to my master.”
Three flying knives shot out and buried themselves in Wu Xin’s left chest, right chest, and throat.
Wu Xin struggled several times, his breathing rasping like a bellows. Before long, he breathed his last.
Once Zhao Jiu confirmed that Wu Xin was completely motionless, he took out a large sack and picked up the banknote from the ground. He carefully placed Wu Xin’s body inside the sack while murmuring:
“Dust returns to dust, and earth returns to earth. Wronged souls and evil ghosts should return to the Naihe Bridge. May the Three Pure Ones, the Tathagata, Jesus, and Muhammad protect me. Do not come looking for me. Blessings beyond measure, Amitabha Buddha… Peace be upon you, amen.”
…
The main hall of the Wu Family residence.
The hall was brightly illuminated, and all three generations of the Wu Family were present.
Wu Xin’s corpse lay in the center of the hall. His face remained intact, and his body was complete.
The former patriarch of the Wu Family sat in the seat of honor.
Old Master Wu was already eighty-six years old. He had long since lost the handsome bearing of his youth. His skin resembled dried tree bark, and deep wrinkles covered his face.
However, his eyes remained bright and piercing.
As he stared at the corpse of his favorite grandson, his gaze was filled with malice.
“Has Tingning been informed?” the old man asked.
His voice was hoarse but clear.
“We have already sent the third son to the capital overnight,” the current patriarch, Wu Ting’an, replied, his voice filled with hatred.
“Investigate!”
Old Master Wu gripped his teacup and nearly roared.
“Even if you must turn all of Jiangzhou upside down, drag that assassin out! Kill anyone connected to this matter! I am not even dead yet, and someone already dares to touch my grandson. Once I die, will these people dig up the ancestral graves of the Wu Family?”
His favorite grandson had died for no apparent reason, and the killer had even left the corpse at the entrance of the Wu residence.
What could that be except a deliberate provocation?
The Wu Family had been a great clan for more than a century. Even the Prefect and Provincial Governor showed them a certain degree of respect.
How could Old Master Wu possibly remain calm after something like this?
In stark contrast to the tense atmosphere within the Wu residence, Zhao Jiu—the culprit behind the entire affair—was sitting leisurely inside a tavern, eating noodles and drinking wine.
He had just earned two hundred taels from Wu Xin. Once he collected the remaining payment, he would receive another two hundred taels.
That made four hundred taels in total, or four thousand God of Wealth Points.
There was too much to spend.
Far too much to spend!
Zhao Jiu looked at the discounted products newly refreshed by the System:
Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation
(Composed of the Immortal-Slaying Sword, Immortal-Execution Sword, Immortal-Trapping Sword, Immortal-Severing Sword, and Immortal-Slaying Formation Diagram. Once the formation is established, even a Saint can be slain.)
Discounted Price: 990 quadrillion God of Wealth Points
…
Damn you!
A Wisp of Chaos Qi
(Left behind when Pangu split heaven and earth. It contains a sliver of opportunity to attain sainthood.)
Discounted Price: 500 quadrillion God of Wealth Points
…
Damn it.
Asura Form
(A Buddhist hard-body cultivation technique. After cultivating it, the user will become impervious to water and fire and unaffected by heat and cold. Upon reaching perfection, the user can condense an Asura Dharma Manifestation and achieve sainthood through the flesh.)
Discounted Price: 600 million God of Wealth Points
…
I still cannot afford it.
Great Peng Inner Core
(Contains the Great Peng’s lifetime cultivation, allowing the user to roam freely throughout the Four Continents and Six Realms.)
Discounted Price: 2 billion God of Wealth Points
…
Wonderful!
Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils
(Refined within the Grand Supreme Elder Lord’s alchemical furnace by the Victorious Fighting Buddha. They can see through all falsehoods in the world and detect demons and monsters.)
Discounted Price: 100 million God of Wealth Points
…
A eunuch visiting a brothel—able to look, but unable to use anything.
Zhao Jiu decided to behave himself and purchase items at their original prices.
One thousand God of Wealth Points bought him two bottles of Essence-Nourishing Pills. Each bottle contained five pills, and the two bottles held just enough medicine for him to advance to the Eighth Rank.
He then spent another five hundred God of Wealth Points to raise the Grand Purity Jade Void Scripture to the Third Level.
After swallowing eight Essence-Nourishing Pills, Zhao Jiu advanced smoothly to the Eighth Rank.
“Open the panel.”
Host: Zhao Jiu
Cultivation: Eighth Rank
Martial Arts:
Chasing Stars and Moon (Perfected)
Grand Purity Jade Void Scripture (Third Level)
Secret Arts:
Tang Sect Secret Art: Weapons / Tang Sect Secret Art: Poison
Disguise Technique
Tortoise Breathing Technique
God of Wealth Points: 700
After advancing to the Eighth Rank, Zhao Jiu changed into another human-skin mask and waited to collect the remaining payment.