Chapter 94: Chapter 94

Standing at Bai Fufeng’s side was a hulking, iron-tower of a man clad in black.

He wore a short black jacket, and the arms bared to the night air were roped with veins thick as serpents. Slung across his back was a nine-ring thick-spined saber.

A gust of wind set the nine copper rings rattling against the blade — a sharp, jangling clatter that cut through the silence of the night.

This was none other than Chenjian Wu’s Fifth Chief — “Blood-Fiend Saber” Tang Jin!

At this moment, Tang Jin’s brass-bell eyes were fixed on Bai Fufeng, his face dark with anger.

“Bai the Third!”

“Has your Bai family lost its mind?”

“Going after the Ji clan’s own daughters — do you really think you’re untouchable in Changyun County?”

Bai Fufeng gave a light laugh, snapped his folding fan shut, and tapped the spine against his palm. His expression was utterly unconcerned.

“Tang Jin… you don’t understand.”

“Those two sisters cultivate the Ji clan’s Jade Maiden Yin-Essence Art. They’ve accumulated a body’s worth of refined yin essence — living elixirs the likes of which you can’t simply stumble upon. Compared to that Ji Guannan boy, they’re worth countless times more.”

Here a fanatical gleam entered Bai Fufeng’s eyes, and his voice rose.

“Four years ago, the Old Ancestor consumed Ji Guannan and pushed his cultivation to Late-stage Transforming Strength. If he can harvest the yin essence of those two girls, combined with the heart-blood ritual sacrifice of one hundred and twenty-eight boys and girls…”

“Then the Astral Strength barrier will be within reach! What is a trifling Ji clan worth next to that?”

Tang Jin let out a cold laugh. He looked at Bai Fufeng the way one looks at a fool.

“Save the fairy tales. I’m only asking one thing: the girls. Did you bring them back or not?”

Bai Fufeng’s face stiffened. A shadow crossed his gaze, and he gave a cold snort.

“The plan was sloppy…”

“We assumed the Ji clan had pulled its guards away. The intelligence from the island spy said the temporary escort was just some mud-legged kid who’d barely broken into Blood Tempering — nothing to worry about.”

“What we didn’t expect was that the Ji clan held a card in reserve. They’d sent Ji Wen to shadow the route in secret.”

“Ji Wen… the Ji clan’s Head of the Martial Hall?”

Tang Jin’s brow furrowed. “Wasn’t he supposed to be sitting the Ji clan’s trading house in the prefectural city?”

“Can’t you see…”

Bai Fufeng snorted. “That was a rumor they planted on purpose — all to bring that Five-Primes Qi-Refining Pill back safely!”

Tang Jin’s eyes turned glacial. The nine-ring saber on his back seemed to sense its master’s killing intent and let out a clear, ringing hum.

“So… it was that bastard who killed my man Qu Bushi?”

“Correct.”

“Ha ha ha! Good — very good, Ji clan!”

Tang Jin laughed.

The sound rolled across the night sky, startling waterfowl from the reefs.

“Give me two days. I’ll muster my men and personally pay Yunyi Island a visit!”

With that, Tang Jin’s gaze snapped to Bai Fufeng, his tone turning abruptly cold.

“Bai the Third. One matter at a time.”

“Old Ten did your family’s dirty work and got himself killed for it. Three Blood Tempering men dead on top of that — two of those don’t count for much, but Wang Neng… the Great Chief had his eye on that man. Said he had a real shot at reaching Hidden Strength someday. That debt — you’re going to settle it.”

“Relax. Hard silver, down to the last coin. You’ll get every wen.”

Bai Fufeng waved an impatient hand, then shifted the subject. “What about the ‘ingredients’ from Changshui? How’s the collection going?”

Tang Jin gave a cold grunt.

“Twenty locked up so far. Still short a dozen or so of your target.”

“Speed it up. The Old Ancestor can’t wait much longer.” Bai Fufeng’s tone brooked no argument.

“…I know.”

Tang Jin rubbed the coarse stubble on his chin. A vicious light flashed in his eyes, and he spoke abruptly.

“By the way — that kid you mentioned. The one assigned to escort the Ji girls, fresh into Blood Tempering. Where is he now?”

Bai Fufeng frowned.

“What do you want with him?”

“He got my Tenth Chief killed! You think I’m going to swallow that?”

Tang Jin’s voice dripped with venom.

“Can’t touch Ji Wen — fine. But a measly little Blood Tempering brat? I’ll hack off his head and burn it as an offering for Old Ten!”

A shrewd gleam flickered through Bai Fufeng’s eyes. He mulled it over briefly before answering, slow and deliberate.

“That kid’s a Mei Hall disciple. Mei Shuangfeng — that mad bitch — is famous for shielding her own. You sure you want that trouble?”

“Mei Shuangfeng?”

Tang Jin threw his head back and roared with laughter.

“Let her come! My Great Chief’s been itching for someone worth bloodying his sword on!”

“Hm?”

Bai Fufeng blinked. “Chief Duan is…?”

“Heh. I’ll tell you straight.”

Tang Jin’s laughter vanished. Pride swelled in his voice.

“One month ago, the Great Chief emerged from seclusion. As of now, he is a bona fide Transforming Strength master!”

Bai Fufeng’s heart lurched. He sucked in a sharp, involuntary breath.

His expression shifted through several shades. He stood frozen for a long moment before finally managing to paste on a smile and clasp his fists.

“Wonderful news… wonderful news indeed! I’ll report this to the Old Ancestor the moment I return. We’ll prepare a generous gift to congratulate Chief Duan.”

Tang Jin watched the performance and sneered inwardly.

The Bai family and the Duan family were allies, true enough. But those Bai whelps, hiding behind Bai Qingcang’s name, had been ordering his Chenjian Wu’s Hidden Strength chiefs around like servants.

Tang Jin had been seething about it for a long time.

Now, seeing Bai Fufeng’s composure crack — that was deeply satisfying.

Bai Fufeng let out a slow breath, tamping down the shock, and continued in an even tone.

“If Brother Tang wants to take it out on the kid, I’ve certainly no objection… In fact, it’s quite the coincidence. I didn’t make the connection at first, but once I dug into it, it turns out that kid and I share a twisted little history.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

Bai Fufeng chuckled, an ugly sound.

“Brother Tang, do you recall — three months ago?”

“Three months ago… you mean the run where we shipped those sixteen ‘ingredients’ to the island?”

“Exactly.”

Bai Fufeng’s smile turned chilling.

“That day, I was passing through the Xiaojing Bay waterway in the outer city when I came across an old fisherman ferrying his granddaughter. I killed the old man on the spot and grabbed the girl for ingredients. But the whole thing was witnessed by another fisherman. He yanked his boat around and ran.”

“My guard recognized the man — one of our Bai family’s tenants. He tailed him in secret. The fool knew he couldn’t outrun us, and not wanting to drag his family into it, he bolted toward the inner city. But he didn’t get far before my men caught up and cut him down…”

Tang Jin stared, taken aback.

“That man was…?”

Bai Fufeng’s smile curled with satisfaction.

“His father!”

“His father… ha ha ha! Wonderful, wonderful! Beautifully done!”

Tang Jin slapped his thigh and howled with laughter, finding the coincidence exquisitely delicious.

Bai Fufeng’s amusement faded. His voice dropped to something cold and serpentine.

“Kill him if you like… it works out rather well, actually. Ingredients have been hard to come by lately. Once he’s dead, I’ll send men to collect his little sister. She slipped through my fingers last time — she won’t be so lucky again.”

Tang Jin clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Kill the father, kill the son, and snatch the little sister for the cauldron… Is there anyone left in that family?”

“An old mother.”

Bai Fufeng tapped his palm with the fan spine, his tone perfectly casual.

“I’ll have her sold to the lowest brothel in the outer city. I’ll tell the woman that if she spreads her legs and services men like a good girl for ten years — earns enough silver — then and only then will this young master show mercy and let her see her children again.”

“I want her to live in that place, drowning in humiliation, day after day. And when the ten years are up, I’ll tell her the truth — that her children were dead before the first year was out.”

His lips curved upward, slow and deliberate. In those narrow eyes, a sick, twisted pleasure ignited.

“Now wouldn’t that be so much more entertaining than simply killing her?”

The night wind blew. Ripples crashed against the jagged reefs and shattered into white foam.

Tang Jin’s eyes went wide. He jabbed a finger at Bai Fufeng and dissolved into raucous, shameless laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Bai — when it comes to sheer vicious depravity, I’ll be damned if I can hold a candle to you!”