Chapter 28: Wild Wolf

"The Zheng family..."

The drone tracked the three, zooming in, revealing a large, unassuming plaque glowing brightly with the characters "Zheng Mansion."

"Relatives of the Marquis of Zhendong, household head 'Hunjin Dao' Zheng Ye... is this how uncouth they are?"

Jiang Ding sighed inwardly; even the beneficiaries of Dongling Prefecture’s order refused to abide by the rules they themselves had established, venturing out to do such risk-free business.

Or were these just a few greedy servants acting on their own?

He lightly brushed the sword hilt, slipping into a light doze, his internal force flowing silently, nurturing the ten primary meridians of the second regular meridian, the Hand Jueyin Pericardium.

Today, he would complete the nurturing of these ten meridians and begin the third.

Around eight or nine, Jiang Ding stepped out to chat with Lin Wanqiu and Jiang Yuan, then returned to the back courtyard, closing his eyes to rest in the morning’s warm sunlight.

"Good."

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"The Wild Wolf Gang isn’t far from here."

Scarred giant Liu Qi bowed with a nervous smile behind him, flanked by seven or eight armed warriors in tight-fitting gear, ever alert to their surroundings.

If all goes well, his sleep time could be reduced from eight hours to four.

"This..."

Their coordination was nothing short of seamless; over the years, at least a dozen internal qi martial artists had fallen to them, five of them dead.

A cold, icy voice came from the side.

"Master! Trouble has come!"

Huang Deyou hurried forward to Jiang Ding, lowering his voice: "The Wild Wolf Gang’s leader, 'Wild Wolf Dao' Long Shi, has come in person—and left you a formal visit note."

"One sword?"

Crack!

Jiang Ding didn’t press him; he lifted the sword hilt and scabbard, striking the ground, sending a fist-sized pebble flying upward, then precisely tapped its tip with the scabbard’s end—the standard technique of the Pointing Sword.

Clang! A sword hum rang out, scattering blades of light.

At first, not sleeping felt unnatural, but after adapting, he found that internal force nurturing the meridians through stillness could partially replace sleep.

It wasn’t necessarily that he couldn’t beat him, but since it didn’t touch on the core, he had no desire to provoke a serious conflict with a powerful man.

"Big brother!"

His strength was merely that of a sturdy, aggressive brute.

"Good."

"Who?!"

Alas...

Ding! The sword tip struck the side of the blade aura; in a single touch, the sword light effortlessly shattered the seemingly thick blade aura, the swift blade path collapsing visibly.

All of them are decades-old! If he swallowed them all, he might advance from Internal Qi Minor to Major—making him a notable figure in Dongling Prefecture, no longer confined to just a few streets near Luanban Street.

'Wild Wolf Dao' Long Shi rubbed his chin beard; this man of his was an old brother, which was why he’d been given this lucrative post.

In these few streets near Luanban Street, if he wanted a family dead by midnight, they wouldn’t live to dawn.

Liu Qi’s heart turned cold—he recalled how lucky he’d been last time.

He might not be able to do it.

Simultaneously, by instinct, the remaining Wild Wolf guard slashed out in tandem, like a wolf pack on the grasslands following the alpha to hunt a beast.

Entering the back courtyard gate.

A cold voice drifted through the wind, causing Long Shi to halt.

"Bold indeed! A mere shopkeeper dares to act superior before my brother!" Long Shi suddenly sneered: "Wolf One, Wolf Two, bring out this mongrel!"

Jiang Ding drew his bright silver longsword; a faint aura of killing intent spread.

Silence fell all around; the two remaining sword-wielding guards stared warily at the utterly ordinary shop. "Shopkeeper, my brother was rude first—apologies for the disturbance."

!.

"Still, young, pale skin, handsome... all together..." Long Shi hesitated; like Liu Qi, he sensed trouble here and had no wish to provoke it.

In the martial world, the most important thing is to have eyes. Otherwise, you’d be dead long ago. "You mean he knocked you out with one sword? That’s not surprising."

A flash of brutality crossed Long Shi’s eyes; he gave a signal, and one of the armed warriors slipped away silently.

"Defend my one sword, and I’ll give you all of it."

Long Shi instantly shifted from greedy fervor to calmness, pointing his blade sideways, speaking calmly: "Young master, you misunderstand. You’ve resided near Luanban Street for nearly a month; as the local host, I merely came to make a new friend."

Outside the general store, a rough-looking giant sat sprawled on a high-backed chair, his left hand’s curved blade, scabbard and all, deeply embedded several inches into the hardened earth.

"All martial circles know that I, 'Wild Wolf Dao' Long Shi, love making friends—and never let friends suffer losses."

Thud! Thud!

If combined with various spirit herbs, it might suffice for several people to advance from Internal Qi Minor to Major! "Want it?"

"Master, there’s still business in the gang..."

Good heavens! This was 'Wild Wolf Dao' Long Shi, the man who built his empire from nothing—not some lowly thug like Liu Qi!

A frantic knocking came from outside the door.

The sword tip turned, piercing the gap between Long Shi’s heart and his blood vessels.

Han Lin and the other clerks turned deathly pale.

The two armed warriors, startled by the whistling sound, swung their blades simultaneously toward its source—precise, brutal, and efficient; their combat experience was razor-sharp, no surprise they were the famed 'Wild Wolf Eighteen Riders.'

"Come over."

"Arrogant!"

"Yes, Boss!"

The first thing he saw was a stack of black boxes, gold-embossed, bearing the Four Seas Merchants’ mark.

The two armed warriors responded in unison, reversing their longswords and stepping through the door.

Long Shi swallowed hard, searching for the right words.

Long Shi signaled the rest to carry the two wounded brothers away; he uttered not a single threat, clearly deciding to leave.

Wolf One and Wolf Two’s eyes widened in horror; before they could react, two sharp cracks echoed—both their arm bones shattered, immense force slamming into their chests, hurling them and their blades out the door, hot blood mingling with dust falling to the ground.

Jiang Ding, who had been dozing with his hand on the sword, opened his eyes, coldness in his gaze: "Let him come."

He saw clearly—a fist-sized stone, seemingly from nowhere, had shattered both their arm bones, leaving them no chance to resist.

"Enter."

Jiang Ding’s sword light condensed to its utmost, slipping effortlessly into the side of the blade aura; though both were moving at high speed, it was like a nimble bird darting above a bull’s head—effortless, graceful.

Long Shi snorted, internal qi surging; his blade aura became a river of light crashing down, a wolf’s howl faintly echoing through the air.

Long Shi’s pupils contracted; he stood up.

This was a notice, not a request.

There was definitely a mole inside Four Seas Merchants—he was known the moment he stepped out. Once wealth reached a certain level, these martial folk in a feudal society had no concept of law.

Huang Deyou dared not move.

His Chengming battle—he led the 'Wild Wolf Eighteen Riders' into the home of the previous Black Snake Gang’s boss, slaughtering every member of the family with one sword and one blade; he was a man whose word was law.

Long Shi’s heart trembled, a fierce greed rising within him.

Shh! A black dot, invisible to the naked eye, pierced the door, leaving a perfectly round hole before vanishing.

Huang Deyou froze, sweat breaking out.

Ding! A dazzling shower of sparks erupted between the two blades.

Ginseng!

Wolf Four’s eyes bulged; that sword light was too fast—he couldn’t follow it.

Still a chance—his blade was already near the opponent’s neck; one cut, just one cut!

Wolf Four stared fixedly at that pale, slender neck.

A flash of sword light—the head flew up, blood spurting half a meter high, splattering the ground.

(End of Chapter)