Chapter 103: Chapter 103

The dock fell silent as a tomb.

Lake wind moaned, sending a few dead leaves tumbling end over end.

BOOM!

In the next instant, the Chenjian Wu bandits exploded into a thunderous cheer.

“Ninth Chief is mighty!”

“Ha ha ha! One palm and that mouthy little bastard’s crippled for life — goddamn, that felt good!”

“Tenth Chief’s spirit in heaven can finally rest in peace!”

The water bandits were beside themselves with excitement, whooping and brandishing sabers and swords overhead, the noise shaking the sky.

Tu Xiaotian flicked a few drops of blood from his hand.

Soaking in the cheers, a wild arrogance crept across his face. He couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh.

Beside him, the bamboo-thin Pang Yi licked the corner of his mouth and gave a sinister chuckle.

“Old Tu… nicely done. That kid’s bearing — he must be one of the Ji family’s young masters?”

“Not quite.”

Before Tu Xiaotian could answer, Tang Jin cut in with a cold, dismissive glance at the motionless Ji Yuande on the ground — the look one might give a corpse.

“I have a copy of every name on the Ji clan’s legitimate registry. This one’s never been on it. Most likely… just a branch nobody.”

“…A branch nobody.”

Pang Yi split his mouth open, baring a full set of yellow teeth in a savage grin.

“Still counts for something! Call it interest collected for Old Ten. Only…”

His narrow, slit eyes swept slowly across the Ji clan’s ranks like a serpent’s tongue tasting air.

“Which one of them is the kid called ‘Shen Xiuhan’? Don’t forget — the whole reason we came was to take his head back and lay it on Old Ten’s altar!”

At those words, the grin slid off Tu Xiaotian’s face, replaced by glacial killing intent.

The chiefs who had risen to their seats together had all kowtowed and drunk blood-wine — sworn brothers, bound by oath.

Tu Xiaotian and Qu Bushi, the two lowest-ranked, had always been closest.

Qu Bushi had been killed by Ji Wen. For the sake of the bigger picture, Ji Wen couldn’t be touched — for now.

But the kid surnamed Shen? Today, he was a dead man.

…

The Ji clan’s side looked like a funeral procession.

Patrol Envoys and guards gathered around Ji Yuande, faces grim.

Wang Jindao reached out with a callused hand and pressed gently against Ji Yuande’s limp back. His hand instantly trembled.

Li Han’s voice shook. “H-how is he?”

Wang Jindao’s face was the color of dead earth. He let out a long, helpless sigh and shook his head.

“The spinal column — shattered clean through. Bone splinters are buried in the meat…”

A beat of absolute silence.

Then fearful, hushed whispers spread like a rising tide.

“Vicious — ruthlessly vicious!”

“It’s over… Young Master Yuande’s second half of life is done for.”

“Sigh… he may have been here barely a month, arrogant and insufferable the whole time, but at the end of the day, he was the first one to step up for the match…”

“Chenjian Wu — those heaven-damned beasts!”

“The main family finally managed to kill one Qu Bushi and claw back some face, and now… now we’re about to take an even bigger fall…”

Panic and alarm spread through the ranks, voices rising in every direction.

Luo Feng, however, slipped away from the circle without drawing attention. He returned quietly to Shen Xiuhan’s side.

He looked at the pine-straight back in front of him, clasped his fists, and spoke in a low voice.

“Patrol Envoy… things happened too fast just now. Luo Feng acted on his own judgment.”

Shen Xiuhan didn’t even turn his head. His tone was flat. “Quiet. Not another word.”

“Yes, sir!”

Luo Feng exhaled, a long breath of relief. A flash of fierce elation crossed his eyes.

‘I bet right!’

‘The Patrol Envoy really does despise that Ji Yuande!’

Luo Feng’s gaze slid toward Ji Yuande’s body as it was carried away by two guards. A sliver of cold calculation glinted in his eyes.

‘Don’t blame me for being ruthless…’

‘If you hadn’t provoked the Patrol Envoy, it might not have come to this. I, Luo Feng, have nothing against you personally. I just want to follow the right man — survive, and climb.’

…

Just then, the bandit side erupted in another wave of jeering and weapons-clanging.

Blades hammered against shields — CLANG CLANG CLANG — a cacophony like a mob of crows.

Tu Xiaotian rested briefly.

Once his breathing steadied and his qi-blood recovered, he stepped out again, arms folded. His gaze swept across the Ji clan’s ranks, cold and serpentine.

“Next! Who’s coming to die?!”

The shout crashed like muffled thunder, shaking dust from the ground.

More than a dozen Ji clan Patrol Envoys and guards stood mute. On the vast expanse of the western dock, not a single soul dared answer.

Some dropped their eyes to stare at their own boots.

Some turned away from that icy gaze, pretending to watch the lake.

Some clenched their fists, chests heaving — then finally let out a long breath and closed their eyes, as though accepting fate.

“Ha ha ha! A pack of ball-less cowards!”

“Look at those sorry wretches — bet the Ninth Chief scared the piss right out of their pants!”

“Not a single swinging dick among the lot! The Ji clan spent all that money and hired a pack of worthless trash to fight Chenjian Wu? Are they trying to make us laugh ourselves to death?”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

The water bandits erupted in a deafening roar of mockery. The jeers rolled across the water, startling birds from the mast-tops into a fluttering retreat.

The piercing laughter landed like slap after slap across every face.

Shen Xiuhan stood quietly amid the crowd.

He could feel it — several gazes had found their way to him, one by one.

Hopeful.

Probing.

And tinged with reluctance.

Three Patrol Envoys remained standing.

Wang Jindao and Li Han were Blood Tempering at best, their combat skills unremarkable. The only thing worth noting was their battlefield experience.

But against a monster like Tu Xiaotian, experience counted for nothing.

Only Shen Xiuhan — young as he was — had broken through to Bone Tempering and trained under Mei Hall.

No matter how you looked at it, he was the only one who could take this bout.

Anyone else who stepped up would be throwing their life away.

“This… brother, what do you think…”

Wang Jindao’s dark face flushed deep red. He shuffled to Shen Xiuhan’s side, rubbing his hands in agitation, managed half a sentence, and choked off.

The image of Ji Yuande’s shattered spine still hung fresh before his eyes.

He simply couldn’t bring himself to ask Shen Xiuhan to go and die on everyone’s behalf.

The surrounding guards arrived at the same thought, and their faces fell.

Shen Xiuhan was Bone Tempering, same as Ji Yuande.

And Ji Yuande had come from the main family — raised on rare medicinal feasts, wielding a top-tier sword art.

If even he had lost so cleanly…

No one could blame Shen Xiuhan for not wanting to step forward. That was only human.

But just as hope was dying —

“Brother Wang, there’s no need to say more.”

Shen Xiuhan’s face was hard as iron. He gave Wang Jindao a slight nod, his voice quiet but cutting through every other sound.

“This bout… I’ll take it.”

Then, under the stunned gazes of every man present, he walked out from the crowd. His steps were steady, his robes snapping in the lake wind.

You take a man’s coin, you fight his battles.

He drew the Ji clan’s pay. When the moment came, there was no stepping back.

In truth, Shen Xiuhan had planned to wait for Ji Ning to emerge before making his move.

With Ji Ning holding the line, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about being swarmed.

But all this time had passed, and Ji Ning still hadn’t shown…

He had stolen a covert glance at the Four Seas Heart-Link Disc. The light-point representing Ji Ning sat motionless in the nearby bamboo grove.

Hiding in place, refusing to emerge — there had to be a reason.

Shen Xiuhan didn’t know what Ji Ning’s plan was. But he knew one thing:

Ji Ning would not sit idle while the situation fell apart.