Chapter 16: You deserve to die, you really deserve to die!

“The Dajiang Gang is on business! All bystanders, get lost!”

A fierce shout exploded through the night sky.

Luo Chen froze, then felt an overwhelming sense of joy.

*Yes, yes, yes!*

*I am exactly the kind of bystander you're talking about!*

Shouldering his snake-skin bag, he hurried toward a nearby dark alley with uncontainable haste.

He ran backward.

His eyes remained fixed on the four figures, terrified that one of them might casually launch an attack his way.

Under their watchful gaze, he realized the four were not working together.

They were clearly three cultivators, subtly surrounding the one man closest to him.

Due to the darkness and the fact that his back was turned, Luo Chen couldn't tell what expression was on the man's face.

However, once the man spoke, he could roughly guess the look on his face.

Because the person being surrounded was someone he knew very well.

Wang Yuan!

“Li Zixiong, you know what I do. Are you sure you want to stop me?”

“Stop you? Kill you! You, Wang Yuan, are nothing but a piece of trash cleaning up messes for the Poshan Gang. Don't think anyone actually fears you!”

“Kill me? With just you and these two Qi Refinement Level 5 bastards?”

“Enough! Do it!”

With a thunderous roar, the battle erupted instantly.

Meanwhile, a certain "bystander" had already retreated into the dark alleyway.

Luo Chen’s heart thudded wildly, and his face was flushed; anyone seeing him might have thought he was the one fighting.

In reality, it was just the sheer tension of witnessing a rare clash between so-called cultivators.

He knew of the Dajiang Gang and the Poshan Gang.

The Dahe Market was established by the Yuding Sword Sect, and its primary management consisted of the sect's experts.

Aside from the Yuding Sword Sect's own industries, the various businesses within the market were comprised of the other five great upper sects of the Six Eastern Regions.

However, a large-scale market housing tens of thousands of rogue cultivators was bound to be extremely complex.

This was especially true given the proximity to the Million Mountains of the Eastern Desolation, a place so rich in resources that it made the world envious; even the scraps left behind were enough to allow rogue cultivators to live quite comfortably.

Thus, through years of operation, three other significant forces had emerged in the Dahe Market.

Setting aside the external Lianyun Merchant Alliance.

There was the Poshan Gang, which relied on the mountains. Most rogue cultivators entering the mountains for hunting would join them. They huddled together for warmth and teamed up to kill demons; if they encountered solitary rogue cultivators, killing them to seize their treasures was certainly an option.

Then there was the Dajiang Gang, which lived off the Lancang River. The interests brought by that great river were, in some respects, not at all inferior to the Poshan Gang.

Between the two, they seemed to follow the rule of "well water not interfering with river water."

But where there are people, there is conflict.

Friction and skirmishes were not uncommon.

And this time, Luo Chen was seeing it with his own eyes.

Of course, through the daytime conflict and the conversation he just overheard, Luo Chen had pieced together some truth.

While the battle was fueled by the long-standing animosity between the two gangs, it was more closely related to the magical tools Wang Yuan had been selling.

If things went as expected, the original owners of those blood-stained tools were members of the Dajiang Gang—most likely relatives or friends of Li Zixiong.

Huddled in the alley, Luo Chen held his breath.

He wanted to watch the fight, but after a moment's thought, he decisively turned toward another small path leading home.

That kind of battle was not something he could participate in.

Watching the drama was one thing, but staying to watch too closely could cost him his life.

“I feel a bit bad for Brother Wang’s kindness in lending me that book today.”

Luo Chen was not an ungrateful person, but with his Qi Refinement Level 3 strength, trying to help would likely only end up being a hindrance.

So, fleeing was the best option!

A few minutes later, Luo Chen ducked into another alley.

If he remembered correctly, past this alley was a small grove of trees, and once through that, he would be very close to home.

Just as he was about to pick up his pace, the sound of whistling wind came from behind him.

Luo Chen spun around abruptly. Catching a glimpse of a figure in the moonlight, he quickly ducked into a corner of the alley to hide his presence.

It was one of the two Level 5 Qi Refinement cultivators.

The man seemed to be searching for something, flying about two or three meters off the ground while scanning his surroundings.

The night wind blowing into the alley carried a faint scent of blood.

“This person is injured!”

“His breathing is heavy; the wound isn't light.”

“Judging by how he's searching, Brother Wang might have escaped the encirclement.”

“As expected of someone who lives on the edge every day—to be able to heavily wound enemies while outnumbered three-to-one and still escape calmly.”

His mind raced with thoughts, but Luo Chen only hoped the man would leave quickly.

However, things often do not go as one wishes.

“You damn bastard, I told you to get lost, yet you still ran right into my hands!”

Before the words could even settle.

*Whoosh!*

Under the moonlight, a black shadow flew toward him like a bolt of lightning.

“Since I couldn't kill Wang Yuan, you'll have to vent this anger for me!”

The black shadow was so fast and sudden that Luo Chen had no time to react.

He frantically activated the protective shield of his tattered magical robe, and he barely managed to draw his low-grade magical sword.

*Clang!*

*Sizzle!*

The sword snapped, the light shield shattered, and the black shadow instantly pierced his body!

Chen Xiao deactivated his Wind-Gliding Technique and landed on the ground, stumbling involuntarily.

A massive wound gaped on his shoulder; he was so severely injured that even the scent of blood could not be masked.

Upon flying to this spot, he knew he was no longer fit to continue the pursuit of Wang Yuan.

It just so happened that a Level 3 rogue cultivator was hiding nearby. Given his heavy injuries, that person could very likely threaten his safety.

Thus, the habitually ruthless Chen Xiao struck instantly, giving the opponent no time to react.

And the result was exactly as he expected.

“Even Wang Yuan couldn't defend against my Soul-Piercing Nail. For a mere Level 3 like you to die by it is well worth it.”

*Pfft!*

After saying this, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

This place was not safe for long; he would search for the spoils and then leave quickly!

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a burst of flame caught his eye.

“He's not dead?”

*Bang!*

His reflexes were incredibly fast, and he instantly activated the defensive shield on his magical robe.

However, as the first burst of flame exploded, another massive fireball slammed into him.

It wasn't just one fireball; almost simultaneously with the first explosion, a continuous stream of fireballs followed, nearly driving him to despair.

“How is this possible!”

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

It was too fast, leaving absolutely no room to breathe.

With almost no pause, twenty fireballs were unleashed in rapid succession like a volley of cannon fire.

Chen Xiao was at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, and his magical robe was only a mid-grade first-tier item.

Its defensive capabilities were decent, but it had already been slashed by Wang Yuan during the breakout.

Now, under the frantic onslaught of twenty fireballs, it couldn't even withstand the third one before collapsing entirely.

By the end, the fireballs were no longer hitting a person, but a charred corpse.

Luo Chen leaned against the wall, his face deathly pale and his entire body trembling.

A man without wounds loses his courage, but a tiger with wounds targets the human heart.

He wanted no part in any conflict, yet the opponent had wanted his life!

If the opponent hadn't been low on magical power and in a terrible state...

If he hadn't maintained his caution and used his sword and robe to block the initial shadow attack in the shortest time possible...

He would be dead by now.

“You deserve to die... you really deserve to die!”

Luo Chen gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand up.

In his abdomen, there was a sudden, finger-thick hole.

He could feel something inside him, like a nail, causing him unbearable agony.

Enduring the pain, Luo Chen walked up to the charred mass.

The person had been burned through; their mid-grade magical robe was in tatters, stripped of any former luster.

Using the broken shard of his sword to poke at it, Luo Chen's eyes suddenly lit up.

“At least some inheritance was left behind.”

A pitch-black storage bag was hidden beneath the ruined magical robe.

Just as he picked up the storage bag, before he could even feel joy, the sound of whistling air came from the rooftop.

Looking up, he saw a burly man holding a large saber, clutching two severed heads, diving down like a predatory eagle under the moonlight.

(End of Chapter)