Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Revenge
"What?"
"Third brother!"
Seeing the third brother fall lifelessly, his breath completely gone, the remaining twin demons howled as if they had seen a ghost.
With a flick of his wrist, the fresh blood on the Greenfang Sword was shaken off. Shi Xiaole looked at the other two and asked, "Who sent you to kill me?"
The faces of the first and second brothers in the trio of demons turned from red to white.
The death of the third brother sparked their anger, but what overwhelmed it was shock.
The aura emanating from Shi Xiaole when he made his move earlier had clearly reached the first level of the Qi Absorption Realm. But how was that possible?
"There must be an opportunity down there," the first brother woke up with realization.
He despised himself for missing an opportunity, yet recalling the endless venomous creatures, an infinite fear arose, endowing his gaze towards Shi Xiaomei with layers of complex jealousy.
"Let’s go."
Knowing well that the assassination mission cannot be completed, the eldest made an immediate decision, leading the second brother to flee.
"Did I say you could go?"
The two were about to leave when Shi Xiaole’s prepared stance thwarted them, forcing them to defend themselves.
This left them in a predicament, unable to escape.
There was a flash of cunning glee in the eldest brother’s eyes as he tossed a silver blunt dart from his bosom.
With a bang, the silver dart detonated, instantly transforming into a cloud of white dust, with a peculiar smell that filled the surroundings.
"Haha, big brother is brilliant, he had an Execution Poison Dart hidden."
Seeing this scene, the second brother laughed heartily.
The Execution Poison Dart, a low tier concealed weapon from the Shu Tang Sect, although ranked low, was more than enough to deal with a Qi Absorption Realm master. The three demons once killed a Qi Absorption nine-layer peak master with this dart
Remembering that face-off, the master put up only a brief struggle before his body decayed and died.
Just as the twin demons widened their eyes, ready to enjoy the tragic scene of Shi Xiaole, a figure emerged unscathed from the smoke.
"You, how are you not dead?"
At this point, even the eldest brother could not keep calm.
The response was a streak of green sword light.
Swish.
A great head rose to the sky, the second brother fell.
"You damned brat, I’ll fight you to the death,"
Knowing he had no way out, the eldest’s eyes reddened, gripping his sword, the black sword’s shadow filled, he ferociously slashed at Shi Xiaole.
This was his killing move, ominous might of the ghost head.
A fierce gust of wind came from above, Shi Xiaole didn’t even bother to lift his eyes, his left hand drew out the Shattered Snow Blade and nonchalantly lifted it.
The white blade’s shadow formed like broken snowflakes, bending and twisting in the air, drilling into the gap of the black sword’s shadow.
The eldest brother stammered, "You, you can’t possibly, find the killer."
"I have my ways."
As the swords were sheathed, Shi Xiaole left Mingliu Villa without turning back. Behind him, a thud resounded as blood spurted out, the eldest brother fell face up on the ground, his breath completely gone.
Unnoticed, the sky brightened, revealing a clear blue skyline.
A handsome and talented young man in a blue shirt attracted many eyes as he walked along the bustling Dark Alley
The young man in the blue shirt entered a three-story building.
"Young master, welcome to Know-it-all, any affairs to deal with?"
The girl responsible for receiving guests looked up with sparkling eyes, her voice soft but engaging.
"I’m here to buy information."
Shi Xiaole smiled back.
Known-it-all, the most famous intelligence organization in Qingxue State, although their price is nearly half higher than other organizations, you get what you pay for, their information is the fastest and most accurate.
"Please, the young master, follow me to the second floor."
The girl, sharp-eyed as one would expect of a worker at Know-it-all, graciously led Shi Xiaole to the second floor. Usually, all she had to do was say hello or provide verbal guidance.
In a secret room on the second floor.
"What information does the young master seek?"
The man behind the mask asked.
"The three men who tried to kill me yesterday, who sent them?"
Shi Xiaole didn’t reveal his identity, his question left everyone befuddled. However, he was confident that Know-it-all could find the answer.
Sure enough, just a few dozens of breaths later, the masked man returned and said, "One hundred liang of silver."
Shi Xiaole took out a silver note.
"The people who came to kill you were sent by the Red Flower Pavilion."
Red Flower Pavilion?
Shi Xiaole frowned slightly.
This was trouble. The Red Flower Pavilion was just an intermediary for assassin organizations. Finding the real person who wanted to kill him through them would be extremely difficult.
Everyone knew that the Red Flower Pavilion was impeccable in safeguarding information. If the hirer of the murderers was easily found, who would dare to do business with the Red Flower Pavilion?
"I want to find the person who hired the assassin."
With a try-and-see approach, Shi Xiaole spoke.
The man behind the mask spoke with a strange smile: "Young Hero Shi, the request you’re making is not an easy one. Moreover, ’Know All Tell All’ only answers one question per customer each day."
Upon hearing that there was a chance, Shi Xiaole retorted: "I understand that, at worst I can come again tomorrow. I just want to know if ’Know All Tell All’ can find the person who hired the assassin."
The masked man thought to himself that The Red Flower Pavilion has a complicated network of relationships and it’s unwise to offend them. However, recently they have been encroaching on the intelligence business, wanting to divide the profits, which is absolutely absurd.
Given the circumstances, why not take this opportunity to teach them a lesson while also doing a favor for this Shi boy?
After pondering a moment, the masked man left once more, soon returning he said: "Young Hero Shi, we usually do not accept this kind of business. However, the boss has instructed that we should take care of you under any circumstances. Here’s the deal, pay three hundred thousand taels of silver and return here in three days."
Without a second thought, Shi Xiaole said: "Deal."
Three hundred thousand taels of silver, an absolute fortune, but to find out who the real culprit was behind the scenes, Shi Xiaole couldn’t care less. He didn’t want to face another wave of assassins someday.
As for the money, from the last escort mission for Miss Zhang, he has left eighteen thousand of the original twenty thousand taels of silver. He would need to go to the bank to withdraw some more from the Golden Phoenix Tower.
Two days later.
"The person who hired an assassin to kill you is Li Zhichong, a disciple of the Justice Sect."
The masked man said.
A cold glimmer flashed across the eyes of Shi Xiaole. He couldn’t figure out when he had offended the other party, but since they were determined to kill him, he won’t be to blame for his actions.
Putting a stack of high-value silver notes on the table, Shi Xiaole got up and left.
"Interesting."
Watching his fading figure, the masked man chuckled leisurely.
...
Standing by the window of a guest room not far from Zhu Mansion, Shi Xiaole was lost in thought.
Li Zhichong must be killed by his own hands. However, it seems that the other party knows their plan has failed. These past few days, he has been holed up inside Zhu Mansion and hasn’t come out.
"In two more days, it will be the 60th birthday of Old Master Zhu. It seems that I can only blend in then to act. With so many people, it won’t be easy to arouse suspicion."
Having made up his mind, Shi Xiaole sat back on the bed and started meditating.
Unbeknownst to him, another two days passed.
Early in the morning on this day, Zhu Mansion was filled with joy and festivities.
Various kinds of Martial World personalities one by one arrived, presenting gifts selected with great care.
As the first family of Emerald City, Zhu Family’s influence in the Martial World of Cloud Triangle is not small.
The master of the house, ’Iron Cauldron Mountain Guardian’ Zhu Wanquan, is a well-known practitioner of the Righteous Path. Hearing that he was celebrating his sixtieth birthday, of course, everyone wanted to show their faces.
Today, with all the high-profile figures present, Zhu Family obviously was not afraid of any trouble. To show their magnanimity, anyone who had registered, regardless of whether they brought a gift or not, could enter the mansion and enjoy a drink.
Using a fake name, purposely changing his clothes, and carrying only an ordinary long sword at his waist, Shi Xiaole blended in. After making some inquiries, he finally arrived outside the courtyard where the disciples of the Justice Sect were resting.
On the way, he took off his outer purple coat, revealing the wide black robe with a golden enclosing border inside, and put on a bronze mask extracted from his bosom.
In the courtyard, Li Zhichong was tenaciously following a young man, chattering.
Ever since he learned that the assassination was unsuccessful, he had been somewhat disturbed.
Although he trusted that the Red Flower Pavilion would not leak information, every time he thought about the figure of Shi Xiaole, he had a bad premonition for some reason.
So when the rest of his Brother Disciples went to the front courtyard, he obstinately stayed behind, not letting Lu Erfeng leave.
The front yard was just too crowded. What if someone carried a concealed weapon? He would rather stay with Lu Erfeng. He believed that with him there, no trouble would come.
Though he doubted his own paranoia, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Brother Li, if you’re not occupied, I’m going to the front yard," Lu Erfeng stood up, hiding his slight impatience.
"Brother Lu, as a direct disciple of Justice Sect and also the Unrivaled Blade Young Master of the Four Outstanding Youths in Cloud Triangle, I believe if you put your mind to it, you would be able to capture Sister Zhu’s heart," seeing him about to leave, Li Zhichong hurriedly spoke.
Lu Erfeng indeed smiled, feeling triumphant in his heart but feigning annoyance on his face, he said: "Brother Li, don’t talk nonsense! I don’t have any special feelings for Sister Zhu."
Li Zhichong sneered in silence, about to speak, when his eyes inadvertently flitted over to the black-clad figure walking into the arched gate, his pupils instantly shrank into tiny dots.
Clang!
Before the two could react, the black-clad figure had already stabbed out with his sword.
The cold sword light drew a straight line in the air, and in the blink of an eye, it was already approaching Li Zhichong’s heart.
"No..."
Li Zhichong wanted to shout, but the cold killing sensation from the sword rendered his body weak, leaving him speechless. In this instant, through those deep cold eyes, he already knew who the other party was.
"Presumptuous!"
Lu Erfeng was stunned at first, then he was immediately enraged. He violently pulled out the sword from his back and slashed towards Shi Xiaole.
His sword was terrifyingly powerful. The concentrated sword energy formed a raging storm, resembling a giant rock falling from the sky. The pressure alone was enough to seriously injure most of his peers.
As one of the Four Outstanding Youths, Lu Erfeng, at just seventeen, had already smoothly broken into the Qi Absorption Realm. Although his strength was not as good as those who were slightly older like Liu Mengse and Yue Xunxian, he was still respected among his peers.
The aura Shi Xiaole revealed was mere first level Qi Absorption. In Lu Erfeng’s view, even if he couldn’t immediately kill him, this attack could at least force him to retreat.
The dark eyes beneath the mask didn’t move, Shi Xiaole’s arm shook, the long sword drew an arc, and actively surfaced the oncoming sword.
With a bang.
Lu Erfeng retreated three steps, a look of shock washing over his face.
"Impossible..."
Li Zhichong screamed internally, as if witnessing something unbelievable. The next moment, a hand clasped his throat, with a "snap", his screams ceased abruptly.
