"Big Brother!"

Struggling to get up from the ground, Gong Yangmo saw Gong Yang Sun being killed by Su Changkong with a single punch, and he immediately let out a howl of sorrow and rage.

"I'll kill you! Kill you!" Gong Yangmo appeared frenzied, determined to rush at Su Changkong with total disregard for his own safety.

Su Changkong, holding the fine steel folding fan he had snatched from Gong Yang Sun, channeled his True Qi into it. With a flick of his wrist, the folding fan shot out like a flying knife, striking Gong Yangmo's forehead as he charged.

"Pfft!"

The sharp tip of the fan's steel spine pierced through Gong Yangmo's skull and into his brain, his eyes bulging as he staggered forward several steps, inertia carrying him until he fell to the ground.

The battle between the two sides lasted merely a dozen breaths before a victor was declared, with both Gong Yang brothers meeting their demise at the hand of Su Changkong!

Facing these two disciples of the Black Lotus Sect, Su Changkong had not an ounce of pity. The brothers were the scum of humanity, having done countless evil deeds, and sending them to the Yellow Springs was an act of great kindness.

"Ahhh!"

"Murder! There's been a murder!"

Only now did the other patrons in the building come to their senses, cries of alarm rising as pairs of eyes stared in fear at Su Changkong wearing his Ghost Face.

Su Changkong ignored the others. He bent down and rummaged through the corpses of the Gong Yang brothers. A smile appeared beneath his mask as he found, aside from their identity tokens, over five hundred silver notes!

The disciples of the Black Lotus Sect were usually quite wealthy, often bringing Su Changkong extra surprises!

Su Changkong took ten silver notes and slapped them on the table nearby as compensation for disrupting the business of Maple Leaf Building, then, without a word, he turned and left, disappearing into the darkness.

"Report to the officials! Report to the officials!"

It was a long while after Su Changkong had left that someone finally reacted and went off to report to the authorities.

Of course, by the time the local officials responded, Su Changkong had already traveled far.

"I've been delayed quite a bit. First, I'll rest at Clearwater City for the night before returning to Black Iron Manor at dawn tomorrow," Su Changkong thought to himself.

Black Iron Manor would have already closed its doors for the night. It would suffice to return before they resumed work in the morning.

Su Changkong was in no rush to travel, walking alone through the wilderness.

After covering a hundred li, Su Changkong was passing through a forest when his ears twitched at the sound of galloping—"da-da"—the noise of horses in full sprint!

"Brothers! Don't harm this lady's face, or I'll be very displeased when it's my turn to enjoy!" A licentious laugh echoed in the night.

In the darkness, two groups of people were in pursuit. The one fleeing was a woman, not yet in her thirties, dressed tightly, with a beautiful face but a murderous aura in her eyes that made her seem icy and unapproachable.

At that moment, a man riding beside her said hastily, "Miss Yu, I will hold them off. You run!"

"Be careful!"

The woman barely had a chance to say anything before her expression changed, and she warned him.

"Pfft!"

But it was too late. An arrow flew from behind, piercing the man's back, his flesh torn open as blood spattered. He groaned and fell off the horse.

"Liu Rui!"

The woman hesitated briefly but did not pause; she whipped her horse to gallop faster while she herself jumped off and darted into the neighboring woods!

"Chase! She's heading into the woods! You go that way and cut her off!"

Shouts followed from behind as more than a dozen knights either turned their horses to block the woman's path or dismounted and followed into the woods on foot, as riding hampered their speed among the trees.

The woman entered the forest but stopped abruptly, facing a figure under a large tree, dressed in black. It was a young man, looking up at her!

"Another person?" The woman was startled to encounter someone so late at night.

And that figure in black, of course, was Su Changkong!

"Who is she? Seems like she's being hunted!"

Su Changkong too was taken aback; he had just heard the noise outside when the woman happened to flee into this small grove, running into him head-on.

Glancing around, Su Changkong saw a group of agile individuals in pursuit, clearly her pursuers.

"Hide!"

Without hesitation, Su Changkong leapt into a nearby bush, executing the Turtle Breath Technique to conceal his breath. Holding his breath and remaining motionless, even his heartbeat and blood flow nearly ceased.

One of the main features of the Turtle Breath Technique was to hide one's breath. Under the condition of holding breath and stillness, one would be indistinguishable from a piece of dead wood, almost invisible unless seen with the eyes.

This woman was being chased, and Su Changkong had no desire to inadvertently attract trouble. Hiding was the most sensible course of action.

"Just a passerby?" The woman was also shocked to encounter a passerby so late, but she soon had no more room to care about such things as black-clad martial artists began to surround her from all sides, leaving her nowhere to escape!

The woman's palm gripped the handle of a curved blade at her waist, ready for battle. Despite her pale complexion, she was calm and seemed experienced in such situations.

A group of a dozen or so black-clad martial artists had the area completely surrounded, yet they held back from attacking. They knew that despite the woman's lovely looks, she was no simple target. She had already killed several of their brothers, and if they weren't careful, there would be casualties amongst them as well.