Chapter 16

A vast horizon, where the boundary with the sky is barely discernible.

Standing by Dongting Lake, one of the two major freshwater lakes in the Central Plains alongside Poyang Lake, one is enveloped in a sense of awe, as if gazing upon the sea.

Po Yang, who was staring at such a Poyang Lake, had a rosy flush on her face, which was pale to the point of being almost white.

The blues of Poyang Lake, shimmering with the morning sunlight that heralds the day.

The deep scent of water from the mist floating on the surface.

Her mood lifted immensely with the beauty and freshness of it all.

Poyang Lake at dawn.

As she swept her long hair back and took in the scene, ...

Hehehe! This is the romance of the jianghu.

The time she wanted to be undisturbed, her small happiness, did not last long.

“Bitch. You still come up to the roof every morning to let your hair down and set the mood. Damn, you look like a ghost.”

Immediately, Jin Jiaxi’s killing intent was directed at the eaves below.

A man in black, shaking his legs, with a large chain sickle (鎖鎌) on his back.

He was Yan Changlu, the Lesser Demon Sickle (少魔鎌).

Swish.

Jin Jiaxi, with a venomous look in her eyes, pulled out a blood-red whip hidden in her sleeve.

It was her unique weapon, the Blood Steel Whip (血剛鞭).

“So, you cold bitch. That suits you. Why would I want to talk to a bitch like you? Stop setting the mood and come down quickly.”

Thud!

Jin Jiaxi, using her lightness technique, landed lightly on the ground and struck the ground with the whip she had drawn.

Swish!

“Say it again.”

Yan Changlu took a step back.

“Ugh... Look at that pale face, not a drop of blood. You look like a damn zombie. You give me the creeps.”

Swish!

Jin Jiaxi, gathering her inner energy, made the whip undulate like a lively snake.

“Say it again. You damn cripple.”

“What the hell, you bitch?”

Yan Changlu, with a murderous look in his eyes, drew out his chain sickle and extended it.

I can't be friends with a woman who brings up 'that incident' every time I forget about it.

“Did some courtesan give you some kind of medicine again? Why are you picking a fight with me in the morning?”

“Ha! Look at that lewd tongue of a woman who can't even get married. That's why you're not popular!”

Jin Jiaxi, withdrawing the inner energy she had infused into the whip, shot back venomously.

“Enough. Let's get to business. If it's something trivial, I'll tear off your other side too.”

“Huh!”

Yan Changlu, stepping back, feeling the sticky gaze of her on his lower body.

To casually threaten to take away the only life left of a man!

I've heard that even her master, the Poison Whip Death King (毒鞭殺王), keeps his distance from her. Indeed, she is not an ordinary woman.

Yan Changlu also retracted the chain sickle he had drawn.

“A Golden Ghost (金鬼) has appeared in the Poyang Lake area.”

“Golden Ghost?”

While a Ghost of Death (殺鬼) or an Evil Ghost (惡鬼) would be understandable, this was the first time she had heard of a Golden Ghost.

Jin Jiaxi showed curiosity.

“Does it mean someone is muddying the waters?”

“I don't know, bitch! They call it that upstairs, so I just call it that. Anyway, this guy is buying up land in the Poyang Lake area like crazy.”

“Land?”

It's a typical rookie mistake for someone with a lot of money.

Even if they buy the land and open inns, brothels, and gambling dens, no business can operate without the permission of the Black Heaven League, the ruler of Poyang Lake.

“They will all be stripped and driven away. Such fools have appeared more than once, so why should we even bother with them?”

“But what if it's two million square feet?”

“What? Two million?”

Jin Jiaxi, eyes wide open.

Two million square feet is a quarter of the entire Poyang Lake business district.

“Also, it seems to be a former imperial official.”

Occasionally, there are former officials from the imperial court who, after accumulating wealth throughout their lives, want to start a business.

While it's a bit awkward to clash with someone from an official background, the Black Heaven League doesn't shy away from a fight they are given.

“Even the great Duan Youming, who served as the Minister of Works, was chased away and utterly defeated. Who else would come?”

No matter how grandly they open a business, if the Black Heaven League openly interferes, they can't withstand it.

With the rumor that the Black Heaven League is watching the people eating at the inn of the Minister of Works, who would dare to eat there?

“What a bunch of fools. Even if they buy two million square feet of land, what do they think they can do with it?”

“I don't know. Anyway, they told us upstairs to meet this guy.”

“Huh? Why?”

Yan Changlu, a disciple of the Sickle King (鎌王), and Jin Jiaxi, a disciple of the Poison Whip Death King (毒鞭殺王).

They are the disciples of the Eight Great Experts of the Black Heaven League, the Black Heaven Eight Kings (黑天八王).

Their position in the Black Heaven League is by no means insignificant.

“Do they want to buy our land too?”

“Our land?”

Jin Jiaxi's eyes widened.

As members of the Black Heaven League, they cannot own land. It all belongs to the League.

“Do you mean they have come to negotiate to buy the Black Heaven League's land?”

“Yes?”

“Wow! Have their brains exploded?”

Yan Changlu looked as if he was getting goosebumps.

“Ugh, you cruel woman. Why do you always speak so harshly?”

Jin Jiaxi pouted her lips.

“You're the one who has burst more heads.”

Due to the nature of their weapons, the chain sickle sees more blood than the whip.

The chain sickle technique of this seemingly careless man is extremely cruel, unlike his usual carefree demeanor.

“Enough. Get ready quickly. They will be here soon.”

“Here? At the Black Heaven League's First Branch?”

“Yes?”

Jin Jiaxi was flustered.

“Wow! Lend me that sickle later. I want to measure the size of their livers by slicing them open.”

“Ugh, a ruthless woman.”

Jin Jiaxi glared coldly.

“Between Xiaomagian (少魔鎌) and Dumeihong (毒魅紅), who is more ruthless and cruel? Let's have a popularity contest among the children.”

Yan Changlu looked genuinely horrified.

“Hey, you pale woman! Just by calling it a 'popularity' contest, you're already not normal!”

“Enough. So, where are they coming from?”

Yan Changlu's gaze turned to the far end of the vast lake.

“Yuxiang Tower (漁香樓).”

* * *

Zha Hui, posing as a noble merchant, and Zhuge Yun, acting as the manager.

Zhang Yilong, disguised as a porter, and Nangong Zhanghu, playing the role of a bodyguard.

Zha Hui and his companions were all tense.

Over the past two months, they had met all sorts of prominent merchants in Jiangxi Province, but today's tension was the highest.

The First Branch of the Black Heaven League, the main branch.

This was their first meeting with an officer from the Black Heaven League.

The past two months had been like a war.

The people of Nanchang were completely different from those in Hefei, the territory of the righteous sects.

They would sell land with a smile and then use assassins to stab you in the back, poison your drink during negotiations, or even openly draw their swords.

In the market, knives would fly around at any moment, and the shrill screams of women could be heard everywhere. It was not uncommon to see a thief running away with a stolen bag, looking like a madman.

They all seemed like lunatics.

Only the logic of power ruled here; there was no basic distinction between negotiation and justification.

Indeed, they were from the evil sects of the black path. The wicked hearts of the people made Nangong Zhanghu and Zhuge Yun feel as if their minds were collapsing.

The only thought that dominated their minds was, 'How can the Wulin Alliance let such a place be?'

But the Wulin Alliance was powerless against the Three Great Evil Sects.

Today, they were to meet the most insane of these lunatics.

It would be strange if they weren't tense.

“That's him.”

Zhuge Yun's low voice.

Everyone bowed and lowered their eyes as a man in black lifted the curtain and entered Yuxiang Tower.

The man in black, carrying a large chain sickle on his back, looked around arrogantly and then suddenly shifted his gaze to the second floor.

Zha Hui stood up and gave a slight nod.

The man in black, grinning, showed his teeth.

He soon ascended to the second floor and, swinging his chain sickle, charged in roughly.

Bang!

Rattle!

The large chain sickle embedded in Zha Hui and his companions' table!

It shook violently for a while, revealing a cruel blade.

“Is it you? The one who wants to buy our land?”

Yan Changlu, with a sinister smile, looked at Zha Hui.

“Let's sit down first.”

Creak.

Yan Changlu stared intently at Zha Hui, who gestured to pull out a chair. His eyes were filled with curiosity.

“Wow, a tough kid. You're not scared even though you know who I am?”

These evil sect kids all try to suppress the other side first.

Zha Hui had seen too many of these kinds of people. Now, he found it a bit boring.

Suddenly, a glint appeared in Yan Changlu's fierce eyes as he observed Zha Hui and his companions.

“Hmm? There's a reason you're not scared?”

The bodyguard, now emitting a fierce aura.

A deeply pulled-down hood.

A sharp aura.

Indeed, his presence was extraordinary.

“Since you've come this far, it means you're willing to listen to what I have to say, right?”

Yan Changlu nodded in agreement.

He soon sat down, put his feet on the table, and spat.

“Let's hear it.”

Zhuge Yun, looking awkward, gestured to the large chain sickle embedded in the table.

“We need to spread out the map. Can you remove this for us?”

Yan Changlu laughed and pulled the chain attached to the end of the chain sickle.

Swish!

The heavy sickle and chain neatly coiled up and were soon stored on his back. It was truly a skillful move.

“Is that better?”

Zhuge Yun then spread out a large map of Poyang Lake on the table.

As he carefully examined the spread-out map, Yan Changlu's eyes widened in disbelief.

“Don't tell me the marked areas. You want to buy all of that?”

Zhuge Yun nodded.

“Yes.”

“What the hell! You guys are completely crazy!”

The area marked on the map included more than half of the Poyang Lake business district, which the First Branch of the Black Heaven League owned.

“Ha ha!”

A woman's laughter echoed from somewhere, making the porter Zhang Yilong jump.

“Ah! Damn, you scared me!”

A woman was hanging outside the window, looking curiously at the map.

Her face was so pale it seemed to show her bones, and she didn't look human at all.

‘What, what is this? Who is this woman?’

Zha Hui was equally surprised.

She had a face that could be called beautiful, but for some reason, it made the hair on his back stand up.

Her skin was so transparent and pale that it reminded him of a maiden ghost from a horror movie he had seen before.

“Ha... Do you have to make your entrance like that? You almost made me faint, you cold woman. Why do you like the roof so much?”

Swish.

Jin Jiaxi entered gracefully, pointed to Nangong Zhanghu with a nod, and looked at Yan Changlu.

“If we just pull off those hoods, all their money will be ours, right? I can't do it alone... Do you want to team up?”

“Ugh, you vicious woman. How can you plan to kill someone in front of them?”

Jin Jiaxi, with a long whip coiled around her right hand, rolled her eyes.

“Shut up, you cripple. Decide if you want to team up or not.”

Swish!

Crack!

The second floor floorboards split from the whip strike, and Yan Changlu, startled, threw his chair and composed himself.

“What the hell!”

He spat and glared.

“Hey, you disrespectful woman. Why can't your whip distinguish between friend and foe?”

Swish!

“Like this! Right! Can't you aim properly?”

His extended chain sickle shot at Nangong Zhanghu at an incredible speed.

“Ha ha ha!”

Swish!

Just as Jin Jiaxi's whip, like a lively snake, was about to entangle Nangong Zhanghu—

Thud! Thud!

Zha Hui, blocking the whip and chain sickle with both hands, was smiling wryly.

“You guys are not human.”

“I, I see the real boss is here.”

He tried to smile and maintain his composure, but Yan Changlu was inwardly shocked.

He almost dropped the chain sickle.

He had experienced all sorts of things in his life as a black path man, but he never imagined someone could block his Slaughter Demon Sickle (修羅殺魔鎌) with one hand.

Moreover, was that the end of it?

The Seven Deadly Whip (邪毒七絶鞭) of that cold woman was at a similar level to his.

The person in front of him had blocked both simultaneously.

Even if he could block it, he would understand if there was some shock, but wasn't he holding the chain sickle as if it were chopsticks, infused with his seven-star inner strength?

Moreover, looking into the cold eyes of the person, as transparent as glass, made his back damp with sweat.

The terrifying gaze, matching his incomprehensible martial arts, was truly not that of an ordinary man.

“Sit down, damn it.”

“Yes.”

Thud!

Yan Changlu, with agile movements, pulled the chair close and sat down.

Zha Hui's face became even colder as he stared at him.

He must not show any weakness to these shallow black path kids.

Once he revealed his strength, he had to thoroughly suppress them to avoid any trouble.

This was Zha Hui's bitter experience over the past few months.

“Throw that sickle out the window.”

“But, it's quite, very expensive.”

“Throw it.”

“Yes.”

Whoosh!

Bang!

Nangong Zhanghu, watching this, whistled.

To order the disposal of a unique weapon, the life of a martial artist, as if it were trash, and for the black path kid to throw it out the window without a moment's hesitation—neither of them were normal.

“Maiden ghost, you sit down too.”

Zha Hui's cold voice made Jin Jiaxi blush.

“Huh! I'm a maiden!”

Did she not even care about the word 'ghost' that followed 'maiden'?

To be able to find something positive and feel good about it in such a situation showed that she was not an ordinary crazy woman.

Zha Hui, gathering his inner strength, quickly snatched the whip from Jin Jiaxi and threw it out the window.

Whether they recovered it later or not, he had to take away all their weapons in this situation.

These damn black path kids, while making careless moves, never stop rolling their eyes.

“I can hear your scheming from here, you brat. Do you think I haven't dealt with people like you before?”

“Damn! What about me!”

Yan Changlu, who had been watching, suddenly glared at the waiter on the first floor.

“Damn! What about me! When have I ever not compensated for broken items!”

Zha Hui's eyes narrowed.

“Don’t make a fuss and shut your mouth.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sir, this brat.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the fight ended, the inside of Yuxiang Tower became bustling again with the sounds of people.

Only then did the waiter cautiously approach to take their order.

“Ha ha! What would you like to order?”