Seeing this, Ling Gengqiu asked no more questions. With a casual flick of his hand, the chests of two men caved in immediately. Without even a cry of agony, they both died on the spot.

Watching Ling Gengqiu’s face, cold as frost, Ling Chen was somewhat taken aback. He had never seen Ling Gengqiu like this before.

"Big brother..." Ling Chen attempted to say something, but before he could finish, Ling Gengqiu suddenly said, "Let’s go. It’s time to head back."

As Ling Gengqiu headed out, Ling Chen dared not slack off and quickly followed behind him, walking straight out of the factory. Once in the car, Ling Chen greeted Hu Fei, asking him to take care of the bodies, and then drove back to the city with Ling Gengqiu.

Throughout the journey, Ling Gengqiu sat in the passenger seat, his eyes gazing out the window, seemingly deep in thought.

"Big brother, what’s going on?" Ling Chen couldn’t help but ask. Ling Gengqiu withdrew his gaze from the window, turned to look at Ling Chen, and said, "Let’s find a place to drink, and I’ll tell you slowly then."

Ling Chen agreed. After entering the city center, he found a roadside stall, took Ling Gengqiu to a spot, and sat down. Before long, the owner brought over some braised dishes and a few bottles of erguotou. After a few drinks, Ling Chen put down his glass, looking at Ling Gengqiu in front of him, waiting for him to speak. The latter took his time to speak slowly, "Earlier in the parking lot when I was hiding under that car, I followed them all the way to where they were staying. I know you have many questions about why I sought trouble with them. The reason is simple: that person had a tattoo on his neck."

"Tattoo?" Ling Chen was taken aback, trying hard to recall. If he remembered correctly, the man in the suit seemed to have a snake tattooed on his neck. However, tattoos are quite common, so he didn’t pay much attention at the time.

"Big brother, does that tattoo have a significant background?"

"The origin of that tattoo is quite extraordinary, and I’m afraid it dates back hundreds of years. Back then, the Martial Arts world had not yet seen the establishment of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. There were two powerful organizations in the Martial Arts world — one was the Zhu Family, who were initially royal henchmen but later became a family specializing in training assassins. Besides the Zhu Family, there was another organization known as the Netherworld Snake, the most brutal assassin force in the Martial Arts world. They were notorious for their brutal methods. While other assassins mainly focused on stealth killings, Netherworld Snake assassins were different. Every time they were to assassinate a target, they would notify the target in advance, indicating when they would be killed. No matter how those targets tried to evade or how many experts they hired to protect themselves, once the time came, the target would inevitably die in a highly cruel manner. For this reason, the Netherworld Snake became a force everyone in the Martial Arts world feared."

"Later on, when the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion was established, it joined forces with other Martial Arts factions to besiege the Netherworld Snake, killing many of them. Since then, the Netherworld Snake seemed to have vanished without a trace. However, the Netherworld Snake was not eliminated; they just shifted from light to dark and became even more secretive in their actions. They also changed the way they operated, so nobody knew of the Netherworld Snake’s existence anymore. As time went by, people gradually forgot about the Netherworld Snake. If I hadn’t seen that tattoo on that person’s neck today, I wouldn’t have recalled this matter."

After listening to Ling Gengqiu’s story, Ling Chen asked, "Big brother, are you sure you’re not mistaken? Tattoos are quite common now, and many people like to tattoo things on themselves."

"There’s no mistake." Ling Gengqiu affirmed, "The Netherworld Snake tattoo is quite unique. The neck only has a snake head tattooed, but if you channel your Inner Strength, other parts of the tattoo will appear. I’ve verified it; that person’s tattoo is exactly the same as the Netherworld Snake tattoo from hundreds of years ago."

"So, that killer organization called Netherworld Snake has continued for hundreds of years."

"Exactly!" Ling Gengqiu nodded, "The Netherworld Snake committed numerous atrocities back in the day, harming many people, including some of my friends who fell victim to their assassins."

No wonder! Ling Chen finally understood why Ling Gengqiu seemed like a changed man. It turned out to be for revenge. Those people were indeed unlucky — something that happened hundreds of years ago ended up with retribution falling upon them.

"Kid, the Netherworld Snake is considered a major force in the Martial Arts world. Since you’re part of this world, you’d better find a way to eradicate the Netherworld Snake. Such a scourge must not be left alone, or it will cause trouble for the entire Martial Arts world."

Ling Chen touched his nose. Previously, the Netherworld Snake people found him and proposed that they would leave each other alone. Now, in this situation, Ling Gengqiu took the initiative to act and wiped them all out, making it impossible for him to coexist peacefully with the Netherworld Snake.

Alas! With this thought, Ling Chen sighed helplessly. His ancestor certainly knew how to create trouble for him — eliminating people without even giving a heads-up. Now, he had no way out. As his mind raced, Ling Chen seemed to think of something and curiously asked, "Big brother, when you interrogated those two people before, what were you trying to find out from them?"

Ling Gengqiu waved his hand, "No need to ask. Just focus on your own affairs." Pausing for a moment, Ling Gengqiu continued, "I might not be able to stay by your side for a while. If anything comes up, you’ll have to figure out a way on your own. I don’t think I can help you."

Upon hearing this, Ling Chen’s face changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked, "Big brother, where are you planning to go?"

"I’ve already said, don’t ask things you shouldn’t ask." After saying this, Ling Gengqiu picked up his glass, downed the contents in one go, and then got up to leave the stall. By the time Ling Chen caught up, Ling Gengqiu had already vanished into the night.

Getting into the car, Ling Chen let out a wry smile. All this time, he had never seen Ling Gengqiu be so serious and solemn. As someone who had lived for hundreds of years, whatever he was about to handle must be no simple matter.

Forget it! Since the ancestor doesn’t want him to know, he sees no need to delve deeper. Just like Ling Gengqiu said, it’s best to focus on his own matters.

...

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed. During this period, Ling Chen found time every day to visit the Nanrong Family to ensure Nanrong Wanqing and Nanrong Hao’s safety. Aside from that, he spent his other time at the Dragon Tiger Hall. Tong Zhentian hadn’t returned, and Qiu Yong and his group went wandering about. With no one else to manage the Dragon Tiger Hall, Ling Chen had to take up this responsibility. Fortunately, the Dragon Tiger Hall was already on the right track, with specific people handling each task. He only needed to oversee the hall without worrying about other matters.

That night, after Ling Gengqiu resolved the Netherworld Snake issue, Ling Chen also successfully rescued Qiang and took him to the Nanrong Family. With Jiang Yue’e present, Qiang should be safe. Moreover, with an Earthly List expert nearby, their safety was guaranteed.