Like a Hot Knife Through Butter

After understanding that the Thanh Ha Gang's Gang Leader was likely an eighth-rank martial artist, and the other several Great Vajras were ninth-rank martial artists.

Tran Mac had pretty much understood clearly the matters he wanted to inquire about.

After chatting a few more sentences, Wu Shan left the room, embraced the courtesan he had just called for, and headed towards a small private room.

Tran Mac, however, had no such intentions.

Firstly, this Zi Jin Lou was not some high-class brothel; all sorts of people came here. The courtesan he had just called was not one of those high-priced ones; who knew how many times she had been called upon.

Taking some liberties with his hands was enough.

As for "real guns and real bullets," Tran Mac was worried about contracting diseases.

He wasn't so desperate as to eat anything; wasn't sister-in-law at home fragrant enough?

Secondly, his time was precious; he still had other matters to attend to.

Of course, he didn't leave Zi Jin Lou immediately but continued to drink with the called courtesan, playing drinking games, until the courtesan drank too much, became as limp as mud against him, and passed out drunk.

Tran Mac removed her outer garments, loosened her belt, covered her with a quilt, closed the door of the small private room, and secretly left Zi Jin Lou.

...

Because it was just after the New Year, all sorts of things were being sold on the streets. Hawkers vied with each other in shouting their wares; it was very lively.

Outside a courtyard in the south of the county town, over a hundred local ruffians and idlers, in groups of three and five forming small cliques, gathered together, surrounding tables, drinking wine and playing finger-guessing games.

When they were getting worked up, these men would stomp one foot on the ground, the other on a bench, loudly playing their games, foul language and obscenities rolling off their tongues, creating an exceptional din.

Some who lost would pick up their wine bowls and drink with their heads thrown back, the wine trickling down from the corners of their mouths, soaking their clothes, their bodies reeking of alcohol.

The winners, on the other hand, would loudly cheer and applaud.

Compared to the liveliness outside, the main hall within the courtyard was a scene of silence.

After a long time, Duong Uy, seated at the head, finally spoke: "So many days, and not a shred of news. What use are you all? Do you know how outsiders see us now? All our prestige lost, being stepped on and slapped in the face, yet you don't even have a single clue. A bunch of rice buckets..."

After speaking, he heavily slammed the table before him, and the tabletop immediately cracked.

The seven branch leaders dared not speak further.

"In short, this matter must be resolved immediately. Even if it can't be, we must quickly find someone to take the blame, to quell the impact of this incident," Duong Uy said in a deep voice.

Seated second on Duong Uy's right, the fat man known as "Pig Head Tam," Chu Tam, spoke up: "Gang Leader, yesterday my men in Phuc Trach Village investigated someone who is very suspicious."

"Speak." Duong Uy's eyebrows shot up.

"This person is named Tran Mac, sixteen this year, yet he can already hunt bears alone in the mountains, and one person can fight more than ten. Moreover, your subordinate had someone check his file at the yamen; he has an elder brother who achieved merit and was awarded a military cultivation technique. So he should be an initiated martial artist. Furthermore, on the day Tran Ho met with misfortune, someone saw him go fishing at Dai Dong Lake. Therefore, your subordinate suspects that Tran Ho's death might be related to him," Chu Tam said.

"A sixteen-year-old little brat, does he have the guts to dare kill people from our Thanh Ha Gang?" a branch leader said.

"Suspicion is enough. Go capture him. Whether he is the culprit or not, he must be." Seeing the Thanh Ha Gang's prestige greatly diminished, Duong Uy had to restore it.

As soon as he finished speaking.

"Bang!"

The main door of the hall was kicked open by someone.

"Who is it?" A Thanh Ha Gang lackey outside shouted.

"Who?"

The people in the main hall were also startled, their gazes turning towards the outside of the room.

Thump, thump, thump...

Only to see a man dressed in black, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, tall and slender, his face covered, holding a black-sheathed long saber, striding in.

Duong Uy's brow furrowed, then knitted.

He saw the masked man who entered, acting as if it were his own home. First, he indifferently brushed off the snowflakes that had fallen on him, then turned, and with a "Kata" sound, closed the main door of the hall.

The lackeys were locked outside, looking bewildered.

The seven branch leaders also frowned one after another, wondering inwardly where this strange person had come from.

Chu Tam stood up and shouted coldly, "Who goes there?"

In the next second, he saw the masked man slightly lift his head, a cold, chilling light flashing from his eyes.

Clang—

The sound of a dao being drawn!

Duong Uy, seated in the main position, sensed something was amiss. He turned and looked up towards the great dao placed on the weapon rack behind him.

At that very same moment, the masked man who had drawn his dao swung it fiercely.

"Swish!"

A flash of dao light in the main hall.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

In an instant, blood mist filled the air, wood splinters flew.

The three Thanh Ha Gang branch leaders in Chu Tam's row, along with the chairs beneath their buttocks, were directly sliced in half by the dao qi.

Chu Tam suffered the worst; because he was standing, he was directly bisected by the dao qi, his intestines spilling all over the place.

This scene stunned the remaining few.

However, being old Jianghu hands, they quickly stood up and dispersed, to prevent being taken out in a chain like Chu Tam and the others.

"You bastard..."

Duong Uy was also frightened by the scene before him, but as a Gang Leader, he naturally had courage, not to the point of being scared into begging for mercy. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask the masked man a few questions.

That masked man had no intention of wasting words with them at all, directly charging over with his dao.

Although Duong Uy didn't understand why, he knew that this person before him was specifically here to kill them.

"This person is a great enemy, attack together!"

Duong Uy shouted loudly, grabbing his nine-ringed great dao and meeting the attack.

But the masked man's speed was too fast. With a few quick strides and rushes, he slashed through the main hall table and then dashed in front of Duong Uy.

In the masked man's eyes, Duong Uy had a red "69+7" on his forehead.

In his haste, Duong Uy could only raise his dao horizontally to block.

"Clang!"

With a flick of his wrist, Duong Uy heard a crisp sound of metal clashing, then an immense force struck from the dao's body. He was directly hit by a heavy slash, the blunt back of the dao smashing into his chest. He retreated backwards, crashing through the weapon rack behind him, only stopping when he hit the wall. He slumped to the ground, his nine-ringed great dao now having a large gash, about to break.

"Hiss..." Duong Uy felt as if all his internal organs were about to be displaced, his chest aching fiercely. He wanted to cough a few times, but that masked man gave him no chance at all. After merely a simple sound of surprise, he was about to strike again with his dao.

Fortunately, at this moment, the remaining four branch leaders rushed forward together to help, allowing Duong Uy a moment to catch his breath.

However, it was only a moment to catch his breath.

Those four charging branch leaders were like ants, instantly, three were slain by the masked man, and one was kicked flying.

At this time, that masked man finally spoke: "You are Thanh Ha Gang's Gang Leader, Duong Uy?"

Duong Uy didn't know what these words meant, but he felt perhaps it was a hope for survival, and nodded: "I am."

"It's you I'm looking for." The masked man slit his throat with one slash.

"Uh... uh..."

Duong Uy instinctively clutched his throat, wanting to say something, but only blood bubbles came from his mouth. Feeling his life force dissipating, he used his last breath to try and pull off the black cloth on the masked man's face, but his hand rose halfway, then drooped down. He died with his eyes open.

The branch leader who had been kicked flying struggled to get up, then stumbled towards the main door.

Just as he opened the main hall door, a wide-brimmed hat flew towards him.

"Pfft..."

He looked down, then immediately collapsed at the threshold of the main hall.

The masked man walked out, pulled his wide-brimmed hat from the corpse's back, flicked off the fresh blood from it, and put it on his head...