The man called Brother Zhang casually tossed the bloodstained white cloth by his feet. He shook his head, his tone tinged with regret. "He’s told us everything. There’s probably nothing left. This Yue Shan fellow... his family’s assets were thinner than we expected. If he hadn’t spent most of his savings asking that Alchemy Master named Jiang to refine an Elixir for him, there might have been more."

"A hundred and forty or fifty thousand taels of silver isn’t a small sum."

Bai Qingquan took a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil within him, but he couldn’t completely hide the greed and excitement deep in his eyes.

He then glanced around warily and lowered his voice. "This matter... no one else knows, right?"

’Wiping out a family’s assets was a vicious act, and the target had been his own former friend. If word of this got out, his, Bai Qingquan’s, reputation in Yunlin Prefecture and even the entire Jianghu would be ruined. He’d have no place left to stand.’

"Don’t worry."

The man surnamed Zhang sneered. "I’m always very cautious. Only heaven, earth, you, and I know about this. Absolutely no one else. And even if, by some miracle, word did leak, so what? The Yue Shan couple were just Independent Martial Artists with no backing, no sect, no faction. Who’s going to come looking for trouble with us over some irrelevant dead people? Some distant, country relatives from thousands of miles away who they barely knew?"

Hearing this, Bai Qingquan felt a little more at ease and nodded.

’Indeed. In this world, if you died without strength or backing, you died for nothing.’

He rubbed his hands together, forced a smile, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhang, that... that little meeting... when is the next one?"

"Hm?"

The man surnamed Zhang shot him a sidelong glance, a flicker of something in his eyes. "We just held one two months ago, and you’re already this impatient? Have you burned through that little bit of ’provisions’ so quickly?"

Bai Qingquan gave a dry laugh and said evasively, "No, no. It’s just that my Cultivation is stuck at a bottleneck, and I can’t seem to break through. I was thinking that with a little more help, I might succeed all at once."

The man snorted, his tone turning cold. "Haste makes waste. The meetings must be at least three months apart—those are the rules from our superiors! If we move too often, we’ll attract the attention of those hounds from the Four Great Sects, and neither of us can afford that!"

Bai Qingquan’s heart tightened, and he quickly wiped the smile from his face. "You’re right to scold me, Brother Zhang. I was being reckless."

Seeing his reaction, the man’s demeanor softened slightly. He waved a hand. "Alright, enough idle talk. Let’s inventory these things and divide them up. I’ve already stayed here for several days, and I can’t linger. I have to leave tomorrow."

With that said, he rose and brought out a heavy bundle and a small Jade Box from the inner room, placing them on the large square table in the hall.

The two then began to take inventory of the valuables.

silver notes, gold leaves, several pieces of jewelry shimmering with Spiritual Light, and two or three labeled bottles of Elixirs... It was a dazzling and valuable collection.

However, dividing the spoils was never a pleasant affair. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The two, who had seemed amicable just moments before, now let a sharp edge creep into their words over a discrepancy of a few taels of silver and the valuation of a treasure. Wary and refusing to yield, each hoped to squeeze out a little more for himself.

"Brother Bai, this Truth Condensing Pill goes for at least three hundred taels on the market. Valuing it at one hundred taels is just unscrupulous, isn’t it?"

"Brother Zhang, this Warm Sun Jade of yours has a murky luster. It’s clearly inferior. How can you appraise it at the price of Top-Grade Jade?"

"..."

Just as the two were locked in their argument and the atmosphere grew tense...

A terrifying, bone-chilling killing intent, like an invisible ice pick, instantly pierced through the roof and locked onto the entire hall!

Almost simultaneously, the hairs on the bodies of Bai Qingquan and the man surnamed Zhang stood on end. A chill shot down their spines, as if they had been plunged into an ice cave.

"SWISH—THUMP!"

A faint but sharp whistle cut through the air, followed immediately by the sickening thud of something sharp tearing through flesh!

"AHH—!"

Bai Qingquan let out a blood-curdling scream. A small, bloody hole had appeared on his right forearm, a fine needle glinting with a cold, blue light buried almost completely within it.

An incredibly sharp Qi Force instantly exploded within his arm, savagely destroying his meridians and bones!

His entire right arm instantly swelled up, turning a dark purple. Excruciating pain pierced his heart, as if countless ice needles were churning within his flesh. He lost all feeling in the limb, and it dropped limply to his side. It was clearly crippled!

Bai Qingquan’s terror instantly turned to rage. He roared, "Zhang Qian! You fucking backstabbed me!?"

At almost the exact moment the needle hit him, several other cold glints shot toward the other man, Zhang Qian!

Zhang Qian was just as shocked and furious. He desperately dodged and parried, one of the cold glints tearing through his sleeve. He had narrowly avoided a fatal blow, but his shoulder was grazed, leaving a bloody gash that stung fiercely.

Hearing Bai Qingquan’s roar, he was so furious he almost coughed up blood. "Bullshit!" he cursed. "I was also..."

His words were cut off by an even denser volley of whistling sounds through the air!

In a flash, both men were hit. They both saw the other’s wretched and grievously wounded state.

’This isn’t a double-cross!’

’Then who the hell is it!?’

The instinct for survival overwhelmed all suspicion.

"Team up! Or we’re both going to die!"

Zhang Qian roared again, his voice now clearly laced with panic.

The True Qi in his body circulated frantically. A cold, sinister True Qi erupted from his body to shield his vital points as his palms turned black. He stared warily in the direction the killing intent was coming from.

Gritting his teeth against the heart-rending pain from his crippled arm, Bai Qingquan struggled to muster his True Qi with his remaining left hand.

However, just as the thought of teaming up occurred to them, the second wave of deadly attacks from outside the window arrived!