https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-462-Three-Factions-Watch-from-Afar/12536715/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-464-The-Beautiful-Woman-Appears-Again/12536717/
Chapter 463: The Annihilation of the Black Assassins
Chapter 463: The Annihilation of the Black Assassins
The next morning, Tie Kaicheng woke up early, a rare occurrence. He stretched leisurely before turning to Rong Biaoshi and asking, "Any news?"
Rong Biaoshi nodded immediately. "Yes! Last night, two men from Fusang showed up at Xinghualou in the east of the city and called for eight girls. They partied through the night and haven't stirred yet."
"A stranger arrived at Lidongji in the south of the city and drank a full ten pounds of alcohol, passing out drunk. But he woke up early this morning and headed to Qingyun Inn."
"Also, two men checked into the Qingyun Inn in the south of the city yesterday. One was dressed in a blue Daoist robe, and the other was an axe-wielding big man. They stayed the night and are now having breakfast with the drunkard at the inn."
"Additionally, a monk was seen entering the city through the west gate, but his trail was lost after that, and we have no idea where he is now," Rong Biaoshi reported cautiously.
The previous night, after Tie Kaicheng had killed Hei Gui, Qing She, and Ding Erlang, he had sent out the scouts to gather information on the remaining six members of the Black Assassins.
These six individuals were bloodthirsty and brutal, and while they might not pose a threat to him, they were certainly a danger to the escorts and scouts of the escort agency. It was necessary to eliminate them as soon as possible.
Upon hearing Rong Biaoshi's report, Tie Kaicheng furrowed his brows in confusion. "After Hei Gui's group failed to return last night, didn't they notice anything amiss?"
Rong Biaoshi scratched the back of his head, unsure how to respond. "According to our scouts, they don't seem to have noticed anything unusual."
Tie Kaicheng couldn't make sense of it, even after racking his brains for the original plot. So, he simply stopped thinking about it. "Let's go and take care of Bai Mu and his two companions first."
...
At the inn's lobby, Bai Mu, Axehead, and Lao Chai were having breakfast.
Lao Chai took a sip of thin porridge and shook his still-dazed head, mumbling softly, "Those three guys, Hei Gui and his companions, have no discipline. Every time after they kill someone, they go off to enjoy themselves without reporting back."
Axehead glanced at Lao Chai but remained silent. In truth, Jiang Dao and Sasaki were no different, but after chastising Lao Chai once, he dared not speak ill of the two men from the East again.
Suddenly, Bai Mu spoke up. "They didn't complete their mission."
Lao Chai was bewildered, and Axehead looked up, asking, "Is that possible? With their light martial arts skills, the entire Hongqi Escort Agency couldn't detect them, and Tie Kaicheng wouldn't have been a match for them either."
"But even if the escort agency didn't notice anything amiss last night, it's daytime now," Bai Mu said calmly. "No matter how stupid those escorts are, they should have discovered by now that their chief escort is dead. Yet, there's been no movement from them."
Lao Chai, who was mostly sober now, looked startled, and Axehead's eyes widened in shock. "Did they fail, or are they already dead?"
Bai Mu let out a cold laugh. "Whether they failed or died, it's clear that Tie Kaicheng is still alive."
Lao Chai scratched his head. "So, we won't be getting the employer's promised payment of ten thousand taels of silver afterward?"
"Boss, the Hongqi Escort Agency has a lot of people in Chenzhou. Should we leave the city first?" Axehead asked. Though he appeared to be the most reckless and brutish of the Black Assassins, he was actually the most cautious and careful of the group.
Bai Mu hummed noncommittally, but Lao Chai quickly tried to curry favor. "When has anyone from our Black Assassins ever failed to kill their target?"
Bai Mu reached for the hilt of the longsword at his waist and suddenly asked, "Where's the Earth Monk?"
Lao Chai shook his head. "I don't know. He must have taken a liking to another man's wife, killed her husband, and spent the night with her."
"But he's never neglected his duties before," Axehead said. "If we agreed to meet here before noon, he'll definitely show up."
"Then, let's..."
Just as Bai Mu finished speaking, a young man strolled into the lobby, followed by two middle-aged men. One held a long saber, and the other had a chain whip wrapped around his waist.
Old Chai's reflexes were legendary, and seeing Axehead's move caused him to react as well. He drew a soft sword from his waist without hesitation.
However, just as they prepared to face off, a dazzling flash of sword light filled their vision, and the piercing chill of sword qi caused their hairs to stand on end.
Old Chai's soft sword and Axehead's giant axe lost all their momentum midway, and both men fell to the ground along with their weapons.
Only Bai Mu remained standing, madly stabbing with his Nine Palace Linked Sword Technique. He executed a full twenty-seven strikes, feeling as though he had reached the pinnacle of his life. His sword speed was so fast that even he couldn't see the afterimages.
Surely even the renowned Third Young Master of the Xie family wouldn't be able to withstand this sword technique of his?
But just as Bai Mu wanted to take a slight breather, he saw a faint sword light gently piercing through his intricate sword net. It was like a hanging horn without a trace, seemingly slow but actually fast. By the time he felt a chill in his heart, the sword light had already pierced his throat.
Tie Kaicheng sheathed his longsword and turned to face the door.
At that moment, a fat monk holding a Zen staff strolled into the inn, looking quite satisfied. He happened to witness Tie Kaicheng killing the three men.
The next moment, without another word, the monk turned around and ran for his life.
However, as he turned into the alley next to the inn, he saw the young man who had just been killing people inside the inn now standing in front of him.
"Spare my life, Chief Iron!" The Earth Monk didn't hesitate and threw down his Zen staff, kowtowing, "Earth Monk is willing to join your ranks and follow your commands!"
Seeing the monk's behavior and recalling Bai Mu's words from earlier, Tie Kaicheng finally understood why the rest of the Black Assassins hadn't reacted after Hei Gui and his companions had died.
This group of nine was nothing more than a makeshift troupe, a bunch of lowlifes banded together. There were more factions within the group than members, and they lacked any internal discipline or unity. Their previous success was solely due to their superior martial arts skills and the fact that they hadn't encountered any real challenges yet.
If they met a real opponent, they would be annihilated just like in the original story.
"Chief Iron, this monk has formidable martial arts. He can be useful to the escort agency..."
Before the Earth Monk could finish his plea, the light in his eyes dimmed, and he fell to the ground with a thud.
...
Compared to Bai Mu's trio, who had forced Tie Kaicheng to draw his sword, the Earth Monk was killed with a single palm strike. As for Jiang Dao and Sasaki, their deaths were even more pathetic.
On his way to Xinghualou, Tie Kaicheng encountered several excited escorts rushing toward him.
"Chief, we've obtained the heads of those two men from Fusang!" Liu Meng announced excitedly.
"How did you get them?" Tie Kaicheng was also surprised. Jiang Dao and Sasaki were no weaklings; their martial arts were superior to these escorts. How could they have been killed so easily?
"We had the girls at Xinghualou drug them with sleeping medicine in their drinks, and then we chopped off their heads!" Gu Zhongcai explained.
Tie Kaicheng was perplexed. "They didn't notice anything amiss?"
Normally, most poisons and sleeping medicines had a bitter taste. The Hongqi Escort Agency didn't possess any colorless and odorless top-tier poisons that could be used on martial arts masters. They might work on ordinary fools, but not on skilled warriors.
Even though Tie Kaicheng looked down on those two men from Fusang, he knew they were definitely martial arts masters.
Liu Meng's face was creased with laughter. "We mixed the sleeping medicine into an aphrodisiac and hangover tea. The bitterer it tasted, the more they enjoyed drinking it!"
Tie Kaicheng was speechless.
(End of Chapter)
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