A similar incident had occurred a few years ago. Hong Jiu had been sleeping soundly in his bedroom late at night when a drunken subordinate, emboldened by alcohol, had knocked on his door and woken him up.
It was one thing to disturb someone’s rest, but to disturb the ill-tempered Gang Leader of the Red Blood Gang...
The outcome was predictable. The ruthless Hong Jiu had, of course, killed the drunk subordinate and buried him in the garden as fertilizer.
Years had passed, and now something similar was happening again. From Hong Jiu’s perspective, someone had clearly forgotten what happened that day.
’This kind of disrespect to the Gang Leader must be punished severely. I’ll make an example out of whoever did this... with their life!’
CREAK.
Based on the direction of the retreating footsteps, they had gone to the right.
His face a mask of fury, Hong Jiu threw open the study door and stepped out.
He had just left the study and was about to chase the person down the right side of the corridor.
But just as he turned right, a figure shot out from the shadows, appearing before him in the blink of an eye.
’Danger.’
For a man like Hong Jiu, who had spent years fighting for his life, he knew instantly that he was under attack by an assassin.
He leaned back, pushed off with his feet, and leaped backward to dodge the assassin’s strike.
A faint golden Spiritual Light traced a shimmering line through the air. Thanks to Hong Jiu’s swift reaction, the assassin’s Spiritual Artifact Dagger missed his body, merely slicing a tear in his loose robes.
"Second Order Middle Stage... Heh. It must have cost a pretty penny to hire an assassin of your caliber. Care to tell me who hired you to kill me?"
Having dodged the attack, Hong Jiu calmly touched the tear in his clothes and addressed the assassin before him, whose face was obscured by a black hood.
"..." Lin Li looked at the Gang Leader of the Red Blood Gang. The man had a pleasant face, but his mind and methods were exceptionally vicious. Lin Li didn’t answer his question.
Since the man had mistaken him for an assassin hired by someone else, there was no need to correct him.
’Even though I wasn’t using my full power in that surprise attack, an ordinary Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator shouldn’t have been able to dodge it. Yet, the Gang Leader of the Red Blood Gang did.’
’This vicious bastard is probably more than he appears. He can’t just be a Second Order Middle Stage...’ Lin Li analyzed internally as he sensed the Second Order Middle Stage Spiritual Energy Wave coming from Hong Jiu.
Seeing Lin Li’s silence, Hong Jiu naturally assumed the assassin was unwilling to reveal his employer’s identity. He wasn’t particularly bothered by it.
After all, he had experienced many assassination attempts over the years.
The difference was that past assassins were at most at the Second Order Initial Stage. This was the first time he’d been targeted by an assassin with a Second Order Middle Stage cultivation.
"Since you’re unwilling to name your employer, I’ll just have to capture you and... interrogate you properly until you decide to talk," Hong Jiu said, his face twisting into a malicious sneer and his voice turning sinister.
The moment he finished speaking, he strode toward Lin Li, his pace quickening until, in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.
He channeled the Spiritual Energy from his Dantian. His fist, large as a sandbag, was instantly enveloped in a faint golden Spiritual Energy. As he threw the punch, it made a sound like tearing air.
Seeing the fist coming, Lin Li immediately countered, thrusting his Spiritual Artifact Dagger in a backhand grip toward Hong Jiu’s punch.
Although enveloping a fist in Spiritual Energy enhanced its defense, clashing head-on with a Spiritual Artifact also infused with Spiritual Energy was a losing proposition unless there was a massive difference in power.
The battle-hardened Hong Jiu immediately withdrew his fist and aimed a kick squarely between Lin Li’s legs.
Many would scoff at such a low blow, but it was brutally effective. No man wanted to risk that kind of catastrophic injury.
Lin Li quickly retracted his Spiritual Artifact Dagger and dodged.
After an initial exchange where neither gained an advantage, they pulled apart. Hong Jiu immediately dashed into his study, and Lin Li, seeing this, gave chase.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...
BANG.
The sound of metal clashing erupted from the study, followed by a figure flying out backward.
THUD, THUD, THUD...
Kicked out of the study, Lin Li landed and stumbled back several steps before steadying himself.
He watched as Hong Jiu strolled out of the study, now radiating the Spiritual Energy Wave of a Second Order High Rank cultivator and holding a Nine-Ring Saber that glowed with a faint golden Spiritual Light. Lin Li thought to himself.
’Just as I thought. The Gang Leader of the Red Blood Gang was hiding his true strength.’
Wielding the Nine-Ring Saber, Hong Jiu emerged from the study and looked at the black-hooded assassin in the courtyard, a smug smile spreading across his face.
"What do you think? Didn’t see that coming, did you? I’m at the Second Order High Rank."
"Hah... If your employer had sent you a month ago, before my breakthrough, I admit I would’ve had a problem. But now? You should just surrender!"
"Take off that hood, get on your knees, and tell me honestly who hired you. If you do, I might consider letting you live."
With an air of absolute victory, Hong Jiu looked down on Lin Li and commanded his surrender in a tone that brooked no argument.
"You’re certainly confident," Lin Li said calmly, looking up at the enemy who was regarding him with such contempt.
Then, he began to channel the Spirit People within his Dantian, revealing his own true power.
"Huh???"
"Second Order High Rank? You’re actually at the Second Order High Rank too?!!"
The smile on Hong Jiu’s face froze. He never expected that the black-hooded assassin before him, just like himself, had also been hiding his true strength.
A powerful Spiritual Energy Wave radiated from Lin Li. Based on its perceived intensity, although they were both Second Order High Rank, the Spiritual Energy Wave emanating from Lin Li was clearly a notch stronger than Hong Jiu’s.
"What a power play... to hire a Second Order High Rank assassin to kill me. You must have been sent by the Gang Leader of the Flying Dragon Gang!"
His advantage had vanished completely. Facing an assassin who was also a Second Order High Rank, Hong Jiu’s expression grew so dark it looked like it could drip water. He voiced his suspicion.
The Flying Dragon Gang and the Red Blood Gang were mortal enemies. The Gang Leader of the Flying Dragon Gang was the very enemy who had fought Hong Jiu for control of the docks.
In that battle, not only did the Flying Dragon Gang lose control of the docks, but the Gang Leader’s own younger brother had also died at Hong Jiu’s hands.
From that day on, a deep-seated blood feud had existed between the two gangs.
The Gang Leader of the Flying Dragon Gang had publicly sworn on more than one occasion that he would see Hong Jiu dead.
Hiring a Second Order High Rank assassin was no small expense.
No one would be willing to spend such a fortune on an assassin without a blood feud to motivate them. Thus, Hong Jiu concluded that the man before him must have been hired by the Gang Leader of the Flying Dragon Gang.
"You sure talk a lot," Lin Li mocked the grim-faced Hong Jiu before charging toward him.
"Bastard!" It had been years since someone had dared to humiliate him to his face. Hong Jiu, who valued his pride above all else, flew into a rage and charged to meet the oncoming assassin.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...
The Nine-Ring Saber and the Spiritual Artifact Dagger, both glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light, clashed with a deafening ring.
The destructive power unleashed when two Second Order High Rank Cultivators fought in earnest was astounding.
Thick pillars snapped and the roof began to collapse, sending tiles crashing to the ground.
The commotion from the battle spread throughout the estate, waking sleeping servants and alerting the patrolling members of the Red Blood Gang, who immediately rushed toward the source of the noise.
「...」