Standing beside Bai Fufeng was a dark-skinned man as burly as an iron tower.
He wore a black cloth tunic, with veins bulging on his exposed arms like writhing snakes. Slung across his back was a nine-ring thick-backed broadsword.
As the night wind blew, the nine copper rings clanked against the blade, making crisp clanging sounds that were exceptionally grating in the silent night.
This man was none other than the fifth chief of Chenjian Dock, the “Blood Fiend Blade,” Tang Jin!
At this moment, Tang Jin’s copper-bell-like eyes stared at Bai Fufeng, his face full of irritation.
“Bai the Third!”
“Has your Bai family gone mad?”
“You even dare to touch the daughter of the Ji family. Do you really think your Bai family can cover up the sky in Changyun County?”
Bai Fufeng chuckled, snapping his folding fan shut with a sharp clack. He tapped the fan ribs against his palm, his face entirely unconcerned.
“Tang Jin... you don’t understand.”
“Those sisters practice the Ji family’s ‘Jade Maiden Yin Essence Art’ technique, accumulating a body of pure Yin essence. They are human elixirs that one can only hope for but never seek... countless times better to use than that Ji Guannan.”
Speaking up to this point, a fanatical look flashed in Bai Fufeng’s eyes, and his voice rose a few pitches:
“Four years ago, our old ancestor consumed Ji Guannan, and his cultivation reached the Great Accomplishment of the Huajin Rank... If he can harvest the Yin essence of these two girls and refine it with the heart-blood of one hundred and twenty-eight young boys and girls...”
“By then, the great barrier of the Gangjin Rank will be just around the corner! What is a mere Ji family to us?”
Tang Jin let out a cold laugh, looking at him as if looking at a fool, and said:
“Cut the nonsense. I’m only asking you, where are they? Did you bring them back?”
Bai Fufeng’s face stiffened slightly, a shadow falling over his eyes as he snorted coldly:
“We were careless with the plan...”
“We thought the Ji family had drawn away the guards, and the intelligence from our spy on the island clearly stated that the temporary escort was nothing but a mud-legged peasant who had just entered the Blood Tempering Rank, unable to stir up any trouble.”
“Who would have thought that the Ji family had a trick up their sleeve and sent Ji Wen to cover them in secret.”
“Ji Wen... the Martial Hall Master of the Ji family?”
Tang Jin frowned and said, “Wasn’t he stationed at the Ji Family Firm in the prefecture city?”
“Don’t you get it yet...”
“It was just a rumor intentionally spread to ensure that the Five Elements Qi-Refining Pill would be brought back safely!”
Tang Jin’s eyes turned cold. The nine-ring broadsword on his back seemed to feel its master’s killing intent, letting out a crisp buzz.
“So... it was that old bastard who killed Qu Bushi under my command?”
“Exactly.”
“Hahaha! Good, what a fine Ji family!”
Tang Jin laughed.
His laughter echoed in the night sky, startling a few waterfowl nesting on the reefs.
“In a couple of days, I’ll gather my men and personally head to Yunyi Island to give them hell!”
Having said that, Tang Jin’s gaze turned cold as he stared at Bai Fufeng, his tone suddenly freezing:
“Old Third Bai, let’s keep things separate.”
“The tenth chief was doing business for you, but ended up losing his own life. Three Blood Tempering Rank experts also died. The other two don’t matter, but the key one was Wang Neng... He was someone the First Chief thought highly of, who could have reached the Anjin Rank in the future... You must settle this account!”
“Don’t worry, you won't lose a single coin of real gold and silver.”
Bai Fufeng waved his hand impatiently, changing the subject. “How is the collection of that batch of ‘ingredients’ in Changshui?”
Tang Jin snorted coldly and said in a gruff voice:
“We already have twenty locked up in the dungeon. We’re still short of your target by more than ten.”
“Gather them as quickly as possible. The ancestor cannot wait too long,” Bai Fufeng said in an unquestionable tone.
“...I know,” Tang Jin replied.
Tang Jin rubbed the coarse stubble on his chin, a fierce light flashing in his eyes as he suddenly said:
“By the way, you mentioned earlier that the kid who was responsible for guarding the Ji family ladies, the one who just entered the Blood Tempering Rank—where is he now?”
Bai Fufeng frowned:
“What do you want to do?”
“He killed the tenth chief of my Chenjian Dock. I can’t swallow this insult!”
Tang Jin’s voice was thick with hostility:
“I might not be able to touch Ji Wen, but for a mere Blood Tempering Rank brat, I will definitely chop off his head to offer as a sacrifice to the Tenth!”
Bai Fufeng’s eyes flashed. After a moment of deliberation, he said slowly:
“That kid is a disciple of the Mei Courtyard. Mei Shuangfeng is a crazy woman notoriously protective of her own. Have you thought this through?”
“Mei Shuangfeng?”
Tang Jin threw his head back and laughed wildly:
“Let her come! Our First Chief is currently looking for a place to wet his blade with blood!”
“Hmm?”
Bai Fufeng was taken aback. “Chief Duan...”
“Hmph, to tell you the truth.”
Tang Jin’s smile vanished, replaced by pride as he said:
“The First Chief came out of seclusion a month ago. Now, he is a genuine Huajin Rank Grandmaster!”
Bai Fufeng’s heart clenched violently, and he instinctively sucked in a breath of cold air.
His expression shifted several times. After freezing for a long moment, he barely managed to force a smile, cupping his fists in congratulation:
“What a joyous occasion... truly a great occasion! Once I return and report to the ancestor, we will prepare a generous gift to congratulate the First Chief.”
Seeing him like this, Tang Jin sneered inwardly.
Although the Bai family was on good terms with the Duan family, those pampered young brats from the Bai family, relying on Bai Qingcang’s reputation, treated the several Anjin Rank chiefs of Chenjian Dock like servants.
Tang Jin had long been displeased by this.
Now, seeing Bai Fufeng swallow his pride like this made him feel exceptionally pleased.
Bai Fufeng took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and said slowly:
“Since Brother Tang wants to vent his anger on that kid, I naturally have no objection... Speaking of which, it’s quite a coincidence. I didn’t connect the dots before, but after looking into it, that kid actually shares a bit of an ‘ill-fated connection’ with me.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
Bai Fufeng chuckled sinisterly. “Brother Tang, do you still remember three months ago?”
“Three months ago... do you mean the time we escorted those sixteen ‘ingredients’ onto the island?”
“Indeed.”
Bai Fufeng’s smile was bone-chilling:
“That day, when I was passing by the Xiaojing Bay waterway in the Outer City, I ran into an old fisherman carrying his granddaughter. So, I casually slaughtered the old man and seized the little girl as an ingredient. Who would have thought that a nearby fisherman witnessed this and immediately rowed away to escape.”
“The guard beside me recognized that man as a tenant farmer of my Bai family, so he secretly followed him. That fellow knew he couldn’t escape, and not wanting to drag his family down, he fled toward the Inner City. But before he could run far, my men caught up to him and hacked him to death...”
Tang Jin was stunned, asking in surprise:
“That man was...”
A smug grin spread across Bai Fufeng’s face:
“His father!”
“His father... Hahaha, great, great, great! A good kill!”
Tang Jin slapped his thigh and laughed heartily, finding this coincidence truly marvelous.
Bai Fufeng stopped laughing and said sinisterly:
“It’s just as well that you go and slaughter him... It just so happens that ingredients have been tight lately. Once he is dead, I will send men to seize that peasant’s younger sister... We didn’t catch her last time, but she won’t escape this time!”
Tang Jin clicked his tongue and shook his head, sighing:
“You killed his father, now you’re going to kill him, and you even want to refine his younger sister... Does his family have anyone left?”
“There’s still an old mother.”
Bai Fufeng tapped his palm with the ribs of his fan, speaking nonchalantly:
“I will sell her into the lowest brothel in the Outer City, and tell that woman she must obediently spread her legs to serve men. Only after she sells her body for ten full years and earns enough money will this young master show mercy and let her reunite with her children.”
“I want her to live in that place, enduring endless humiliation. When the ten-year mark is up, I will tell her—her children had already died ten years ago!”
The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward, a morbid pleasure erupting in his narrow eyes:
“Wouldn’t that scene be far more interesting than just killing her with a single slash?”
The night wind swept past, and layers of ripples crashed against the jagged reefs, shattering into white foam.
Tang Jin’s eyes widened. He pointed at Bai Fufeng and let out a burst of wild, unrestrained laughter.
“Hahahahaha!”
“You Bai bastard, when it comes to being insidious and ruthless, I still can’t match your sheer cruelty after all!”
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