Chapter 285: That was close; I almost died

Until Jiang Cheng slowly walked toward him, Xiao Yuanqing's face finally showed terror again.

Master is dead.

The next one, it seems it's his turn.

He was just about to open his mouth to say something when darkness fell before his eyes, and he fainted.

Jiang Cheng, one hand gripping Xiao Yuanqing's neck and the other holding that Light Blue Long Sword, leapt from the third-floor window and vanished from everyone's sight.

The entire third floor fell into dead silence.

Or rather, the whole Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall was plunged into dead silence.

On the second floor, the members on the first floor, though they hadn't gone up to the third floor, could discern something from the earlier commotion.

For several minutes, the Martial Arts Hall was terrifyingly quiet; no one dared to speak.

Until a group of people appeared.

There were over thirty of them, almost all dressed in training robes; the pattern embroidered on their chests clearly marked them as members of the Dragon Walk Martial Arts Hall, each brandishing knives, spears, staffs or clubs, radiating murderous intent.

The only exception was an elder appearing fifty or sixty, whom Bai Wei and the others would certainly recognize here: this elder was the Gym Master of the Dragon Walk Martial Arts Hall, Yuan Yunxiang.

Like the deceased master of the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall, they were both Fifth-level Force Warriors.

The group hurried into the Martial Arts Hall; the receptionist woman, seeing this, jumped in fright and rushed out to block them.

"Where is your master? Let him come out!"

A man in his forties, angry, said, "I want to ask him: under the bright daylight, the person who killed someone from my Dragon Walk Martial Arts Hall—does he intend to declare war on us?"

"Huh?"

The woman was stunned.

"What good is telling a receptionist? We'll just storm in and demand an explanation from the one surnamed Tang!" another man shouted.

"Exactly, charge in!"

"Charge in! Retrieve justice for Third Senior Brother and the others!!!"

Fueled by collective outrage, the group rushed through the turnstile straight toward the third floor.

Pingxi Street is that small; any slight incident spreads to everyone, let alone something happening in broad daylight on the street.

Soon after the Iron Fist Gang learned the news, the Dragon Walk Martial Arts Hall also received it.

The difference was that upon arriving at the scene and seeing several corpses, they were furious to the point of wanting to tear the killer to pieces! Soon, they learned from onlookers that the murderer was a middle-aged man carrying a knife; after the killings, he didn't leave immediately but entered the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall.

In an instant, they understood everything.

Even if the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall didn't do it, they couldn't be uninvolved; it was likely a hit they hired, or perhaps the one surnamed Tang was faking it.

As for why the killer went back after the murders instead of hiding first, they couldn't care that much.

Who benefits, who is suspect; this matter definitely involves the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall!

The members of the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall were all stunned like wooden chickens.

So what exactly happened today?

A few minutes earlier, a person had barged straight in.

A few minutes later, a large group stormed in, still the mortal enemies—the people from the Dragon Walk Martial Arts Hall.

The group quickly went up to the second floor.

"Where is the one surnamed Tang? Is he here?" someone shouted at Lin Quanliang and the others.

Lin Quanliang slowly extended his hand and pointed upward.

A group rushed toward the third floor.

They walked while cursing and swearing.

They muttered things like 'Blood Debt Blood Repayment,' demanding the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall pay a painful price.

However, a few people in the squad suddenly changed expression.

A strong scent of blood!

Yuan Yunxiang's face grew even more solemn.

He had actually smelled the odor as soon as he entered, and the further up he went, the stronger it became.

Now, the source of the smell seemed to be above. While pondering this, the group had already reached the third floor.

A corpse lay there horizontally before them, the blood nearly pooling into a lake.

Many people screamed in terror or vomited uncontrollably.

But some were merely startled, then began to wonder: what was the situation with this headless corpse? Who was he?

Their gazes searched ahead.

Soon they saw the three Zeng Zhiten slumped there; the latter also looked at them, but the three's eyes held no light, utterly numb.

"What happened?"

The middle-aged man asked.

This was completely different from the scene he had imagined.

Yet no one answered him.

"That's it!"

Suddenly, someone saw something and pointed into the distance.

It seemed to be a helmet lying far away; looking at it closely sent a chill down one's spine.

Yuan Yunxiang inhaled deeply, instantly reached the helmet, bent down to pick it up, removed it, and a pair of terror-filled eyes met his.

"Tang Hall Master!"

"It's Tang Hall Master!"

"My god! How is it him!"

In a moment, exclamations rose up one after another around them.

Nobody expected that the culprit they were looking for this time, Tang Nian, would die first! Someone turned around, looking at the dazed Zeng Zhiten and his two companions, and finally understood why they looked like that.

"Who killed him?"

"Yeah, Tang Hall Master's strength is about the same as our Gym Master's; who has the ability to kill him?"

"Look, Tang Hall Master is still wearing a combat suit; I've heard of this thing—once put on, its defense is astonishing, not even a Level 6 Original Force Warrior can harm him."

"If it's that strong, how did he still die?"

"Nonsense, obviously the killer's strength is too great; the combat suit is useless."

Upon hearing this, everyone drew another sharp breath.

It seems that's indeed the case.

"Could it be that the knife-wielding man did it?"

"What, him?"

Many people opened their mouths wide.

"But he's not with the people from Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall, is he?"

"That was just our guess; now it seems not the case. Otherwise, Tang Hall Master wouldn't have died. In my view, the knife-wielding man killed our people, then rushed here and killed Tang Hall Master."

"Let's go!"

Just then.

Yuan Yunxiang, who had been silent, put down the skull in his hand and turned to leave.

He didn't know what the facts really were.

But he didn't want to investigate further.

Because even he had no full confidence of defeating Tang Nian, let alone in a life-and-death battle.

The killer could behead Tang Nian wearing an A-Level Combat Suit, so killing him would be even easier, since he doesn't even have an A-Level Combat Suit.

Judging from the blood flowing from the wound, Tang Nian must have died only a short while ago; what does that indicate? If he had arrived a few minutes earlier, he probably would have died here too.

Thinking of this, his hair stood on end; he dared not stay another second, for if the killer returned, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Seeing their own hall masters leave, the others also turned pale with fright and hurried away, leaving the members looking bewildered.

(End of chapter)