Chapter 165: Eradicate the Clan!

A voice filled with malicious glee rang out as a man in his forties or fifties—thin-faced, disheveled hair, unkempt beard, a black mole on his chin, eyes flickering with cunning—edged closer to Chen Mu.

"Cai, get out of my way," Chen Mu snapped.

"Old Li, I'm not saying this to mock you, but why'd you take a hard task when you could've picked an easier one? I, Old Cai, only take tasks below the Innate Realm—never failed once!"

Old Cai said with great pride.

A deep voice boomed: "Using your strength to bully the weak, and you're proud of it? Your face is thicker than a city wall." A middle-aged man, muscular and fierce, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and bearing the marks of wind and sun, strode forward to claim his task.

"Old Ni, you're back too."

Old Cai sidled up, watched the man claim his task, and nodded approvingly: "Good, good—another success. Old Li, you ought to learn from Old Ni and me, especially from me, Old Cai!"

"Just shut up," Chen Mu muttered, then turned to Old Ni and bowed: "Congratulations."

"Congratulations won't get you a meal," Old Ni replied without turning around.

"..." Chen Mu's face darkened, and he muttered, "Fine, I'll buy."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Old Ni spun around, grinning broadly.

"Hey! I look down on you!" Old Cai rolled his eyes.

"One Slash" Old Ni, "One Dot of Red" Old Cai, "One Plum Blossom" Old Li.

All three were seasoned members of the Xiangzhou Black Dragon Society branch, and got along well.

Old Ni was stingy; Old Cai had thick skin and loved to snatch petty gains.

Old Li, Li Dashun, had high standards and a hot temper.

Chen Mu had replaced Li Dashun and interacted with them convincingly.

Old Cai and Old Ni, unaware of his true identity, sensed nothing amiss.

For this, Chen Mu's mind grew even calmer.

As the three chatted, a commotion erupted near the task board.

"Let's go see."

Old Cai tilted his chin. "See what big task just popped up."

"Let's go," Chen Mu agreed, striding forward.

The three reached the task board and stared at the newest posting. Old Cai blurted out first: "Eradicate the Fang family? Did I misread? Or is this Fang family some minor clan from a prefecture?"

"You didn't misread—it's the Xiangzhou Fang family," Old Ni rubbed his chin, puzzled. "Eradicate the Fang family? Two thousand five hundred points for success? That can't be right—the Fang family has an Immortal Altar Realm expert. Why only two thousand five hundred?"

"Yeah, any task involving an Immortal Altar expert should be worth at least ten thousand points," Old Cai echoed, frowning. "Unless... Old Li, what are you doing?"

Old Cai cried out.

Old Ni's eyes widened too.

Everyone gathered around the task board stared in shock, all eyes fixed on Chen Mu.

Because Chen Mu had rushed forward in three strides and seized the "Eradicate Fang Family" task board!

"Old Li, are you insane?" Old Cai hissed. "You'd take an eradication task like this? If you fail, you'll lose more than two or three hundred points—your remaining points won't even cover the penalty!"

"Old Li, don't act rashly."

Old Ni added, "Even if the Fang family patriarch is wounded, he's still beyond your reach. And this task isn't about killing one Fang—it's about wiping out the entire clan! You know how hard eradication is—it requires coordinated action!"

"I know my limits," Chen Mu said calmly.

Yet inwardly he thought: Better late than never—this timing is perfect!

Eradicating the Fang family, where Fang Yuanzuo and Fang Yuanfu resided—this task suited him perfectly.

Assassins take money to do jobs—they care only for payment, not identity.

Chen Mu had planned to hunt down a few bullies or criminals to complete his task.

Yet now someone wanted to eradicate the Fang family!

Wasn't the Fang family his own enemy?

Eradicating the Fang family filled Chen Mu with no guilt whatsoever.

And the reward points would exactly total three thousand.

Meaning: if he completed this one task, he could exchange it for the "Sword Armor Bracers"!

The only puzzle: why was the reward so low despite the presence of an Immortal Altar expert?

But when Chen Mu obtained the task details and reviewed the accompanying records, it all became clear.

The Fang family's Immortal Altar expert—the patriarch—had already died.

Six months ago.

The news had been suppressed.

Even Fang family insiders, outside the inner circle, didn't know.

Yet accidents are inevitable.

A local martial family in Xiangzhou, the Zhang family, had marital ties to the Fangs. Unknowingly, they learned of the patriarch's death from a drunken Fang elder.

Those who heard it were stunned.

Afterwards, they panicked, agonized, and feared what to do.

When the drunken Fang elder sobered up and realized what he'd revealed, he led men to exterminate the Zhang family that very night.

Only the Zhang family's young master, hiding in a latrine pit, escaped.

After fleeing, he used the Zhang family's decades-worth of hidden wealth—stored outside the city—to hire assassins from the Black Dragon Society to eradicate the Fang family.

The Fang patriarch was dead; the Fangs' top martial strength now consisted of two Earth Altar Realm experts.

One, Fang Ronghe, had broken into the Earth Altar Realm less than ten years ago and was mediocre among his peers.

The other, Fang Rongxue, had ascended to the Earth Altar Realm nearly thirty years ago and was formidable.

But by coincidence, Fang Rongxue had been invited and gone to Jiangbei Dao, several thousand li away.

She wouldn't be back for at least three months!

Therefore, to wipe out the Fang family, the hardest part was dealing with Fang Ronghe!

Fang Ronghe had broken through to Earth Altar less than ten years ago, so his strength was limited—Chen Mu had a fifty percent chance.

He was an assassin now. Assassins kill people; they don't need to do it face to face, let alone openly. The more insidious and vicious, the better.

The fastest method was poison!

Drop poison into the Fang family's well water, and a whole swath of them would be guaranteed to die.

However, a poison capable of killing an Earth Altar realm cultivator was very hard to come by.

At least Chen Mu had never seen one, nor did he know of any—and "Li Dashun's" memories held none either.

Including the memory cards he had "looked" through before, none of them had any.

……

"Old Li, you've lost your head!"

Watching Chen Mu accept the mission, Old Cai sighed, "Even if the Fang family has some situation, taking them on all by yourself is full of difficulties. If things go wrong…"

"If things go wrong, you'll lose your own life into the bargain," Old Ni said in a low voice.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Chen Mu spoke in "Li Dashun's" tone, steady and calm: "If I really can't pull it off, I won't throw my life away. Worst case, I'll just work a few years for the organization for free."

If the mission fails, all points are deducted—right down into the negative.

Then you have to make them up, working for free.

"It can only be that way," Old Cai sighed.

"Do your best," Old Ni said in a low voice.

The two of them genuinely cared about "Li Dashun."

The others were different—huddled together, mocking in low voices.

"'One Plum Blossom' has lost his mind, taking a suicide mission like that."

"Overestimating himself—that's exactly the kind of person we're talking about."

"Heh, there won't be any 'One Plum Blossom' after this!"