Chapter 16

The old woman lay there lifeless, but the woman still stared at the corpse with hatred in her eyes; this hatred even made Bai Lang, who had just killed someone, feel a chill. Having lived two lives, this was still Bai Lang's first time personally killing someone—although he had seen corpses before while working as an enforcer at the pawnshop, actually doing the killing himself was still a first. Strangely, Bai Lang felt no discomfort at all; instead, it felt as natural as eating and sleeping, and he even felt a smooth, unimpeded flow of vital energy in his chest.

The woman went inside to wash and look for clothes, while Bai Lang leapt onto the wall and looked around the village. "In the mountains, transportation isn't very convenient, there aren't many people in the village, but there is cell phone signal... This place actually has human trafficking? No buying means no killing; since they bought, there is my killing—indeed." Bai Lang just crouched on the wall, not bothering with the two corpses on the ground.

The woman came out within twenty minutes, having tidied up a bit. "Did you get the money?" Bai Lang said offhandedly. "Oh, this village still has people buying women?" He shouldn't have said that. The woman bowed to the ground and kowtowed to him; Bai Lang didn't stop her—otherwise, how would she express her gratitude? Letting her feel at ease is fine too. "There are a few more households that also buy women, and one of them is even a middleman!" the woman whispered.

"Oh? There's more of this? In this line of work, there are no innocents on any link of the chain! Point them out to me; since we've opened the killing spree, we might as well clean things up completely." Bai Lang also laughed, with a smile like a tiger's. "Before, killing a thug could be blamed on a mistake, but this time two are definitely murders. Even if not executed, it would likely be life imprisonment, so better make a big deal of it and then turn onto another route—perhaps we can exit via the Sichuan-Tibet Highway?"

"But there's no need to think too much now; first we'll kill those few people, then talk—however, Bai Lang couldn't just believe whatever the woman said. 'You go first; I'll follow behind you.' Bai Lang said with his hands in his pockets, behind the woman."

First, they broke into the home of a villager whom the woman called a middleman. As the door opened, a simple-looking face appeared, and the woman let out a shriek and lunged to scratch. "Is this really true? Look at the woman's hatred—even though her body is so weak, she can still summon this strength? Forget it, forget it; even if it's fake, it counts as this person dying unlucky." Otherwise, how would one say that bearing a weapon gives rise to killing intent? Bai Lang now had a clear impression: killing these ordinary people by his own hand is no harder than eating.

The man shouted while preparing to strike, but Bai Lang stepped forward, grabbed the woman and pulled her behind him, then threw a punch. The man flew backward, hit the door panel, and slid down limp—clearly lifeless. If a huge hole exploded in his back, with his chest caved in and bones and organs bursting out through his spine, yet he could still survive, he'd definitely be a monster. After the man was flung backward, the woman inside the house screamed.

The woman behind Bai Lang also rushed in frenziedly, "This one too?" Bai Lang raised his forehead, "Really, one nest after another." Without further words, he stepped inside—after all, the door panel had already been burst open by the corpse. Inside, the woman hadn't even put on her clothes properly; rural folk sleep like that, and Bai Lang couldn't be bothered to look—what's there to see about a papaya? He likewise kicked out, and the woman immediately crashed onto the bed and died. Bai Lang's killing now is just a matter of a moment; after practicing the Thirty-Two Route Long Fist and cultivating internal force, he had practically developed the Tiger Form fist intention, and after training the Golden Bell Cover and opening the Ren Meridian, the power of his punches and kicks had already reached that of a tiger.

The Tiger Form True Meaning had been mastered; a tiger's forepaw strike can reach a ton of force, and Bai Lang's palm and punch power now likely exceeds that of a fierce tiger—plus we must add internal force enhancement. This middleman household is done for; there are children inside, but Bai Lang won't go that far—crimes do not extend to women and children—the woman was killed because she herself was a criminal. Bringing the rescued woman out, she actually couldn't say which other households bought wives—having been locked inside all along, just knowing that such dealings existed here was already good enough; asking her to point them out specifically is impossible.

Bai Lang merely shook his head. "I originally wanted to eradicate evil completely, but now I have no choice." Since you can't be sure which household buys wives, let's just chalk it up to their luck. Now I'll take you away—come, I'll carry you—otherwise you can't keep up." He hoisted the woman onto his back, Bai Lang employed Lightness Skill. In a single night he ran a hundred li to a town—this place was already in central Sichuan, and it was visibly bustling. "Turning myself in would just mean revealing my appearance, which doesn't matter." After saying that, Bai Lang set the woman down and ran off.

"This is exposure now; hurry and test if the bank card works—if it does, take the money to buy enough supplies and head straight into the mountains." Bai Lang gave a wry smile; in a moment of anger he'd caused this outcome, and he could almost imagine the ensuing manhunt. Regret? "How could I regret it? I feel no such feeling; instead, I feel invigorated—next I'll have to flee for my life." Killing two people could still be claimed as rescuing trafficked women, likely resulting in a life sentence, but killing four people... there's no doubt it would be the death penalty.

"This is the work of the state apparatus; what are you doing privately as an individual?" Bai Lang also admitted this was outright illegal, so he wouldn't defend himself—fleeing is the answer. "A knight errant uses martial arts to disrupt prohibitions. The ancients truly did not deceive me." Bai Lang quickly entered his password, found his bank card usable, promptly withdrew the daily limit, went straight to the supermarket and bought a huge amount of food and water, then got a large package. "There's still plenty of money; forget it, just leave it for now!" Shouldering the big pack, this guy slipped into the mountains.

"Actually, what Bai Lang most wanted was a high‑resolution large‑scale map, but that can't be bought; however, here he could get a better 'military compass,' even though he knows they're all fakes—still, it's not bad. It's better than an ordinary compass, after all its casing is brass. 'The accuracy is decent, and it has leveling and altitude measurement; combined with a map it would still be somewhat useful...' Bai Lang isn't a reconnaissance soldier by background; he can only rely on his martial arts, learning and using as he goes."

With his martial arts, his survival and mobility in the wilderness far exceed those of an ordinary scout, so Bai Lang is confident he can escape the manhunt.

The case has indeed blown up; Bai Lang already had a criminal charge on his record, the Lanzhou police had sent out requests for inter‑regional cooperation and placed him on the online wanted list. And now another earth‑shattering case has surfaced—the woman didn't file a report, but the villagers did......