This Isn't a Good Habit

Did they really want to slaughter an entire village just because there was no wine for sale?

Zhang Wuji walked over slowly. The villagers blocking the path ahead seemed to sense something and fell back to the sides, parting to form a path for him.

These movements caught the attention of the two men, who spotted a somewhat familiar face in the distance.

“It's Zhang Wuji!” one of them said in surprise.

Although the two had been ordered to search for him, they hadn't expected to run into him in this very village.

“Haha, that saves us the trouble of looking for him,” the other laughed, glad they wouldn't have to waste time running around.

Listening to their conversation, Zhang Wuji made no move to greet them. Under the watchful eyes of the villagers, he walked straight up to one of them.

The man also seemed to sense that something was off with Zhang Wuji.

“You—urgh!”

Before the man could finish speaking, Zhang Wuji punched him in the stomach. The force of the blow made the man bend over in agony and collapse, wheezing for air with his face flushed bright red.

“What are you doing?!” The other man gasped in horror, never expecting that he would actually strike.

“What, doesn't he deserve it?” Zhang Wuji asked coldly, his gaze icy.

The one he had struck was indeed the man who had threatened to slaughter the village.

“Do you know who we work for?!” the man roared in anger. “We are Wu An's men! How dare you lay a finger on us!”

Zhang Wuji frowned slightly, but his tone didn't back down in the slightest.

“That is no excuse for slaughtering the innocent.”

“You're courting death!” The man flew into a rage, his hand forming an eagle claw as he lunged for Zhang Wuji's throat.

Ever since they started working under Wu An, no one in the Martial Alliance had ever dared to disrespect them. This had made them incredibly arrogant.

Being provoked today, they naturally couldn't save face.

Zhang Wuji let out a cold snort. Using a gentle, yielding force with the side of his hand, he struck the man's wrist. With a muffled groan, the man's wrist instantly dislocated.

“That's soft force!” Fengqingzi was slightly startled. To precisely dislocate an opponent's joint using soft force showed that Zhang Wuji had an exceptionally skilled control over power.

Jiang Moran smiled faintly. It wasn't as simple as mere soft force.

This move seemed effortless, but the point of exertion was entirely on the side of the hand, using the body to generate momentum. The entire sequence was smooth and fluid, moving with the opponent's momentum—this was true Taiji technique.

The opponent lost all momentum, and any chance of victory vanished.

Zhang Wuji hooked his foot behind the man's heel and delivered a heavy, powerful heart-striking elbow, slamming it directly into a vital point on the man's chest!

The man flew backward violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The ribs in his chest shattered as if pierced by a spear. Fortunately, Zhang Wuji's blow hadn't landed directly on his heart, otherwise, it would have been enough to kill him on the spot.

“Cough! Cough, cough... Do you really want to oppose Wu An?!” clutching his chest, the man wheezed. The arrogance in his eyes had vanished, replaced entirely by fear.

Zhang Wuji said nothing, his brow deeply furrowed.

Seeing this, the man felt a bit relieved. He quickly pulled his companion up, preparing to leave.

Zhang Wuji simply watched them, neither stopping them nor saying a word...

The two supported each other, hatred festering in their hearts. Just wait. Once they returned to Jinling City and reported this to Wu An, Wu An would definitely not let him off. He would surely die!

—Slash!

Sudden pain struck without warning. The two felt an excruciating, unbearable pain in their necks, a pain so intense that their vision went black.

What was happening?!

Their eyes widened in sheer horror. Their own bodies appeared before their eyes. Under their own gaze, two headless corpses slowly collapsed.

Amidst a bed of absolute terror, darkness rushed in like a tide, completely consuming their vision.

Zhang Wuji's mouth hung slightly open, a blank look on his face. He seemed completely caught off guard by this scene.

Jiang Moran was holding a head in each hand, with some bits of flesh still hanging from the necks. The faces of both heads were frozen in terror.

This scene struck a powerful chord of shock in everyone present. The entire area fell into a dead silence, and even their breathing slowed.

“Being soft-hearted is not a good habit,” Jiang Moran said casually, tossing the two heads aside.

“Y-young hero,” the elder stepped forward tremulously and clasped his hands.

Uh... Watching the old man shake like a leaf gave Jiang Moran a bigger headache than getting into a fight. He was genuinely worried that if the elder stayed in front of him for another two minutes, he might pass away right then and there.

“Alright, alright. I'm just someone who likes to step in and help when I see injustice,” Jiang Moran said with a wave of hand, telling the man to go cool off.

“Thank you, young hero, thank you,” the elder thanked him repeatedly before hobbling away.

None of the surrounding villagers dared to linger either, scattering as if fleeing for their lives. It seemed they would be plagued by nightmares tonight regardless.

“Sigh.” Zhang Wuji snapped out of it and let out a long, quiet sigh.

“The two men you just killed worked under Wu An,” Zhang Wuji said slowly, his brow furrowed with deep worry.

“Who is Wu An?” Fengqingzi asked. He only knew of the Martial Alliance's leader, Wu Changfeng.

“Outsiders only know that the Martial Alliance has an alliance leader named Wu Changfeng, but they don't know he has a son.”

“His son... is Wu An!” Zhang Wuji said with a grave expression.

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

Zhang Wuji's grave expression instantly froze. Why were these two reacting so casually?!

“He's Wu An, the son of the Martial Alliance's leader!” Zhang Wuji repeated.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You're so naggy.”

“Senior, it's getting dark, and we haven't bought our groceries yet.”

“Shoot, you're right!”

Jiang Moran cried out in alarm. With this delay, the sky was already turning dark, and there probably weren't many vegetables left at the market.

As for that son of the Martial Alliance's leader, Wu An or whatever, he was just some insignificant small fry. Why even bother with him?

Fengqingzi didn't take it to heart either. Wu An, the Martial Alliance leader's son—he might have been wary of him in the past.

But now?

Below, they had slaughtered their way through the Prince's Residence; above, they had scammed the Emperor. Yet they were still alive and kicking. No matter how big the trouble was, let it come.

If it dared to show up, he would immediately push Senior right in front of him.

Even Fengqingzi hadn't noticed that his personality had changed quite a bit after spending so much time with Jiang Moran.

Watching the two walk further and further away, Zhang Wuji had no choice but to quickly catch up, a bitter smile lingering on his lips.

Though he didn't know why they didn't care, the deed was done. He could only take things as they came.

But what the group didn't know was that someone had already arrived in Jinling City before them.

...

“Five liang of silver for a night?!” Qiu Zhiya looked at the shopkeeper with a dark face. “Even a shady inn shouldn't rip people off like this!”

“Hey, how are you speaking?! What kind of place do you think this is? This is Jinling City, a place where hundreds of thousands of people enter and exit every single day.”

The veins on Qiu Zhiya's forehead throbbed. Even a standard inn in Fengcheng, right under the Son of Heaven's nose, only cost three liang of silver a night.

“Give us two rooms!”

Ultimately, she still booked two rooms. After all, Jinling City was not like other cities; lives could truly be lost at night here.

There were exactly four of them, so two to a room was just right.

“Right away! Keep your room plaques safe, customer!” the shopkeeper said, his face beaming with joy.

Qiu Zhiya snatched the room plaques away. Turning around, she saw Xu Qing standing behind her, his face slightly flushed.

“What are you doing?”

“Cough... Are we staying in the same room? Wouldn't that be a little inappropriate...”

Oh, for fuck's sake.