Lu Qingshan silently appeared in front of the charging man, hand stretched outwards to slam him into the ground. A shocking force pushed back. But it was still too weak to resist him.

  The shopkeeper tried to keep running, but was thrown downwards too. Lu Qingshan stared down at the wriggling bodies with a frown, especially at the eavesdropper. The level of force shown by the man was completely incongruous with his appearance. A peak Marrow Tempering expert, dressed like a common citizen and acting as a beggar. These two didn't seem to be working together.

  Qin Ye appeared in front of him like a ghost. Meng Zhang was there a moment later as well. With both the awake spies having made a move, there was no longer a need to continue hiding. They dragged the two dazed men inside before the other three informants woke up from the noise.

  Liu Yingting prepared his poison and his knives. A sleek blade dangled in front of the eavesdropper’s face as Lu Qingshan slapped him awake.

  “Tell us why you’re here.”

  A defiant glare met their eyes. Lu Qingshan sighed. Why did everyone always make it so difficult? He inclined his head towards Liu Yingting.

  “Wait!” the man shouted once he finally saw what was in the vial. Eyes shrunken into pinpricks, he began blabbering about their employer. Lies spewed out at first, but he eventually understood that all his lies would be detected by his captors. Then the truth came.

  Someone had sold her out. Lu Qingshan assumed it was related to the person who brought her the painting. Too bad the man had long disappeared after making the sale.

  Surprisingly, it was not the Song clan, but the Blade Shadow Valley, a large sect with a standing higher than the Jade Skies Sect. Even they had begun to bully commoners, aiming to snatch the painting from Miao Mei’s hands. Apparently, the painting was part of a collection of special artworks from a long-dead renowned painter, desired by many prominent martial artists around the kingdom. The craze around these paintings had even been spotted in neighboring kingdoms as well.

  “Then why were you there?” Lu Qingshan turned his glare onto the middle-aged store owner.

  “I wasn’t trying anything!” Panicked and terrified, this man was no martial artist. Liu Yingting treated him the same as the others though, bringing a blade closer to his fingers. "I'll talk! Stop!"

  It turned out the shopkeeper was simply feeling envious of Miao Mei’s recent success. A sudden impulse to attack the store had struck him, which was why he had made his move in the middle of the night. Lu Qingshan looked at Qin Ye, who nodded to signal the man was not lying.

  But Lu Qingshan’s instincts were still wary. Something was not right about the situation.

  "How should we deal with you," he muttered. It didn't matter. Both were enemies, and had tried to do him harm. The only thing that needed to happen was how to obscure the causes of their deaths as much as possible.

  Meng Zhang nodded, not needing to be told to go get the three brothers. Not much could be done about the sudden Viscera Tempering expert, though. His death would be suspicious no matter what he did. Lu Qingshan simply crushed the man’s throat with his hand and let his flies devour the corpse.

  The shopkeeper could only watch wide-eyed as Lu Qingshan threw him over his shoulder. Hidden in the side alley next to their store were the three brothers, who watched the man get tossed onto the ground, struggling for his life. An axe glinted in the moonlight.

  "Let us send you on your way," muttered one of the brothers while Lu Qingshan returned to the store, having dropped off a supply of secret medicines for them.

  Harsh thumping sounds echoed down the street over the next hour. While the shopkeeper's store lost its life as well, Lu Qingshan returned to his closed-door cultivation, his mind teeming with thoughts about the situation.

  ---

  The sun rose the next day. Lu Qingshan snuck out at an opportune time, but he noticed that the three watchers had not changed their schedule at all, even with the death of their companion. Still lost in thought, Lu Qingshan kept his flies buzzing around the area while he started tracking the rest of the Elders who had continued their observations during the night.

  Qin Ye had already filled him in on what he saw before going to bed. Much of the southern part of the city seemed normal throughout the day. People worked, talked, and exchanged for goods they needed to sustain themselves through the night. He hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary while he stayed in the market yesterday.

  Lu Qingshan met up with Meng Zhang first, who had stayed close by. The man had traveled through some of the more dangerous areas in the southern city. Within a day, he’d spotted a few instances of violence from many different groups. Some were part of smaller gangs, while others fought for food, money, or survival. Lu Qingshan marked these areas as possible sources to recruit people from.

  Li Fanghua and her parents took a more scenic route. Though the Barbarian Bull Gang carried power in the southern city, they could not run rampant before the city’s guards. Even the gangs had to tread carefully in public areas. The three of them were able to enjoy their final vacation before they had to enter a period of hiding.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  The conclusion Lu Qingshan drew from the current situation was that the city was still relatively calm, for now. He had time to take things slow.

  Instead of rushing towards the Barbarian Bull Gang to seize more territory, Lu Qingshan stayed in the neighborhood, helping the Azure Wind Gang’s consolidate their new territory. His Bloodseeker Flies flew through the area as a cursory check, and he noticed the other gang had surprisingly withdrawn their members. He tagged them with a cluster of fly scouts.

  They were heading into the direction of the northern part of the city, where the Furious Whale Gang thrived on their rivers and lakes. In the Great Wind City, the four gangs had their roots in separate areas. Lu Qingshan was located in the southwest. The Furious Whale Gang controlled the northwest.

  Since the Barbarian Bull Gang left in a rush, they hadn’t had the time to take all their supplies with them. A few scrappy martial artists had already moved in to take them, and a conflict began. Lu Qingshan wondered what made them leave so quickly.

  A confrontation with the Furious Whales? Only such an emergency could make a gang drop all their plans for this. As Lu Qingshan’s flies trailed after the moving martial artists, he finally saw what was happening.

  The royal guards had arrived, besieging one of the Barbarian Gang’s locations near the river. Two peak-level Viscera Tempering martial artists were facing off against each other while their forces gathered around them. The Furious Whale Gang was nowhere to be seen.

  It only made sense. Since the royal guards were raiding an enemy, the entire situation was not their concern. But they should’ve had some watchers around. Lu Qingshan aimed to find them, spreading his flies outwards.

  There they were. Hidden in a local port warehouse were a few martial artists clad in the symbol of the gang, a large red whale diving into the sea. Each sea layer inscribed signified the ‘depth’ of the expert, with five layers indicating their most important experts under their leader and vice-leader.

  In the dim sunlight, one of the hidden martial artists revealed a four-layered inscription. Another Viscera Tempering expert. Lu Qingshan did not expect there to be so many inside the city. He directed his flies to scan the warehouse as well.

  There were a lot of boxes. All of them were closed, but Lu Qingshan wanted to pry them open. What were the Furious Whales trying to guard, to send a Viscera Tempering expert to oversee? It must’ve been important.

  He stopped seeing through his flies’ senses and looked around. The residents in this neighborhood had returned to the usual, after spending some time hiding from the conflict. The Azure Wind Gang was taking care to establish good relationships instead of forcefully extorting or recruiting others. It seemed this gang was steady, thoughtful, and did not do things lightly. He was beginning to like them.

  Lu Qingshan decided they were safe for now. He stepped into the streets and disappeared down the same direction the Barbarian Bulls went. Nearby, the martial artists had already finished their conflict, with teams of Bone Tempering experts having looted the remaining supplies.

  To cross the river, he needed to find a boat. But word traveled fast. With the royal guards and gangs locking down most of the area, no one would risk their livelihoods today. And the Wave Motions Fist at the first level was not enough to let him swim freely through the river.

  Lu Qingshan’s plan was to simply join the gangs in stealing boats. Covering his face in a smoky veil, he shot through the streets, found an unmoored rowboat, and left behind enough silver taels to pay for it.

  He managed to cross the river, but the boat now lay on the river floor after hitting a few too many rocks. Lu Qingshan clicked his tongue. Rowing was too difficult. He decided to focus a bit on the Wave Motions Fist, for at least a few levels.

  Sneaking into the warehouse posed another problem. There was only one entrance, naturally guarded by some of the Furious Whale martial artists. So he had to create a second.

  One punch shattered open the wall and bright light flooded the dark warehouse. Lu Qingshan quickly broke in, prying the covers off the first container he encountered.

  Sets of crossbows and boxes of bolts lay in the box. Lu Qingshan tore off the next container, only to find more sets of crossbows. And another, and another.

  His eyes turned dark. All these crossbows were a lethal addition to any army. Even a martial artist of his caliber would fall to this number of ranged weaponry. In the corner, he uncovered another box, to see the glint of tempered metal on a much larger crossbow.

  Divine Crossbows, the supreme weapons afforded to the kingdom’s army, could take the life of a Marrow Tempering expert in a single shot. Such a powerful weapon should not have appeared in a gang’s storage. The use of these weapons was carefully regulated.

  Unless corruption was rampant. That meant chaos. Lu Qingshan had a feeling the thin veneer of calmness inside the city was about to break, and the fires of conflict were about to spread throughout.

  Hesitation kept him from immediately leaving once he saw the Furious Whale Gang’s martial artists coming his way to investigate the noise. Leaving this arsenal in their hands was not what he wanted. Plans flew through his mind, to raid this warehouse later, to intercept the gang if they tried to transport these weapons away, or to stay inside, killing all the martial artists who came near the area.

  He dropped all of those plans in favor of simple destruction. But he still aimed to get something from the whole endeavor.

  “Who are you?” The Furious Whale Gang spread out around him, taking defensive positions. They were highly wary of someone with the strength to break walls.

  “You don’t need to know.” Lu Qingshan disappeared from their sight. They didn’t even have a chance to scream.

  After the massacre, Lu Qingshan took out the quiet Bloodsense Bug. He couldn’t stay in the warehouse forever. The only thing left to do was destroy it, but not before grabbing some of these crates for the sect. He needed some additional help.

  Out of all his Elders, Qin Ye was the fastest. Immortal cultivation spells gave him the greatest advantage. His only shortcoming was having a limited amount of energy, but even that would fade once he reached the Radiant Lake stage.

  The Bloodsense Bug knew where he was. With a flick of his hands, Lu Qingshan sent the tick-mosquito-cicada flying into the air. Qin Ye would know to follow it back to him.

  In the meantime, Lu Qingshan swept his gaze across all the unopened crates in the warehouse.