Chapter 74: The Trickery of Fate (Bonus Chapter)

A moment later.

The black night filled the sky, the cold wind was biting, and three mysterious figures appeared in a dark street corner, staring at a residence not far away.

The tall man in the lead wore black clothes, his temples bulging, his face covered by a simple Mask, and his eyes flashed with a sharp glint, revealing a hint of ferocity.

He stared at the pillar of smoke rising from the residence where Lu Yuan was located ten-plus zhang away, a cold sneer appearing on his face:

"Finally, I've waited for it."

Beside him, two equally capable and fierce men lowered their voices and said:

"Kong Ye, are you saying the guy who bought this house is really a secret confidant hidden outside by that fellow Jin Taihong?"

"More than just a confidant, it might even be that old thing's illegitimate son; otherwise, how could the Silver Dollar Voucher I offered as tribute have been spent from his hands?"

The man in the lead, addressed as Kong Ye, had a cold and fierce gaze, and said with resentment:

"I said that the silver treasury built by that old thing Jin Taihong was just to deceive people; the real accumulation had long been transferred out. That old thing clearly played me even after he died!"

Another subordinate whispered:

"We came to look for it two days ago but found nothing. Who knows where that guy hid so much money?"

Kong Ye sneered: "Who cares where he hid it? Won't it be clear if we catch him and torture him severely? Let's go!"

After speaking, he waved his hand and drifted toward the residence silently.

Kongweiyang, one of the vice-leaders of the Money Gang.

When the Money Gang was destroyed more than half a month ago, he was the first to arrive at the Jin family mansion, and after confirming with his own eyes that Jin Taihong was dead, he was overcome by greed and evil thoughts, leading his own confidants to start a massacre, intending to claim the wealth accumulated by the Money Gang as his own.

As a result, after the slaughter, he discovered that the silver treasury in the Jin residence was empty; let alone gold, silver, and jewels, he didn't even see a single copper coin.

Having gone to such great lengths to rebel only to end up with this result, he almost vomited three liters of blood at the time, and because the Jingwu Division brought troops to suppress them, he had no time to search carefully and could only flee in a panic with his two confidant subordinates.

Afterwards, the Money Gang completely fell apart, and at the same time, both in the Jianghu and the imperial court, people suspected they had taken the Money Gang's wealth and had been searching for them in secret.

Because of this, Kongweiyang could only hide and dodge with his two confidants, during which time they also picked some wealthy households in the city to rob, preparing to leave this Fengyang Prefecture after making a few scores to save up some capital.

As a result, a few days ago, they took advantage of the night to rob a wealthy household that ran an agency in this East City, stealing thousands of Silver Yuan worth of goods in one go.

And during the subsequent counting, Kongweiyang unexpectedly discovered a Silver Dollar Voucher with a face value of one thousand, which also had a special triangular mark, among the stolen money.

He was all too familiar with this special triangular mark; it was the mark he had the accountant specifically leave on all large-denomination Silver Dollar Vouchers when he, as vice-leader, turned in profits to the gang every month!

This discovery undoubtedly shocked Kongweiyang immensely. He immediately interrogated the tied-up agency owner and only then learned that someone had used this Silver Dollar Voucher to buy a house from the agency.

After finishing the interrogation and silencing the people at the agency, he led his confidants to find this residence, and after discovering there was no one in the house, he even snuck in to search it.

But he didn't find any gold, silver, or jewels.

The matter was of great importance, so from then on, Kongweiyang ordered his subordinates to keep watch in the vicinity every night, waiting for the owner of this house to appear, wanting to figure out the situation.

And tonight, they finally waited for him.

As a vice-leader of the Money Gang, Kongweiyang already possessed the strength of the Fourth Realm, and his two confidants were also at the Bone Forging level, possessing considerable strength. Under the cover of the night, the three of them silently climbed over the wall and snuck into the courtyard.

All three held long sabers and walked without sound, soon passing through the courtyard and arriving at the back residence.

In the back residence, the main room and guest room were both in darkness, only the fire room in the corner emitted the light of a lamp, clearly indicating someone was inside.

Strange. What is that person doing?

Forging iron, brewing medicine?

Kongweiyang's eyes were slightly suspicious, and he made a slight gesture.

Through the agency, he currently only knew that the owner of this house was surnamed Lu and was not very old; he knew nothing about other information such as his identity or background.

They had already snuck in here the day before yesterday and had seen the modified fire room with their own eyes, always wondering about its purpose. Now, in the middle of the night, the other party was still in this fire room, which was truly somewhat mysterious.

However, the whereabouts of the Money Gang's treasure were the top priority. Kongweiyang had already reached the door of the fire room, then suddenly kicked the door open and led his subordinates to rush in fiercely!

However.

Even as he and his two subordinates rushed in aggressively, wanting to instantly capture and control the person in the room.

Looking around, the fire room, which was only one or two zhang square, was completely empty!

What?

Kongweiyang, who never expected that he would come up empty-handed, had his expression change, and his gaze scanned the room in disbelief:

"Where is the person!?"

He clearly saw on the fire platform that a three-legged, two-eared furnace was being heated, boiling something unknown; clearly, someone had been here just a moment ago.

But this house was only so big, and there were no signs of anyone living in the other rooms; where could the person have run off to!?

And just as Kongweiyang and his two confidant subordinates were in shock and doubt.

Chi chi!

Suddenly, two golden rays flashed through the room, and at the same time, the sound of skin and flesh being torn was heard.

Kongweiyang turned his head in wild shock, and then he saw his two confidants, who had reached the Bone Forging realm and were battle-hardened, both clutching their throats with ferocious and painful expressions, blood fountains gushing uncontrollably from between their fingers!

This!

Never having seen such a bizarre event, Kongweiyang was instantly terrified to the point of his liver and gallbladder splitting, and without thinking, he lunged toward the door, intending to break through and escape this dangerous place first.

However.

Clang!

At the same time Kongweiyang made his move, a clear sword hum poured into his ears from his side.

There was clearly nothing in his peripheral vision, but he suddenly felt as if a sword light like wind and thunder had burst forth, its peerless sharpness instantly dividing and whistling, simultaneously shrouding his heart, throat, and forehead!

The sound of the sword hum was like the grimace of the God of Death. Kongweiyang was instantly terrified out of his wits, subconsciously following his body's instinct to raise his saber to block.

Yet the next moment:

Chi chi!

Streaks of blood suddenly erupted from his right arm and right leg as he held the saber, causing him to lose all sensation in his left hand and left foot amidst the excruciating pain.

It was as if in that instant, he had been severed at the tendons of his right hand and right leg by some invisible attack!

Fresh blood splashed instantly, and Kongweiyang stumbled with a sharp scream, suddenly kneeling to the ground, having suffered a heavy blow.

But he was, after all, an expert who had fought his way up through years of gang struggles; in his panic, he suddenly rolled with the momentum, his intact left hand drawing the Firearm equipped at his waist, intending to pull the trigger in the direction of his attacker.

Yet at this very instant, a flash of wild, sharp intent like a thunderbolt and lightning streaked past; before Kongweiyang could even pull the trigger, he felt a pain in his left hand, and the repeating Firearm in his hand, along with two of his fingers, were severed out of thin air!

"Ah, ah!"

Kongweiyang, scared out of his wits, dropped the half-broken Firearm and let out a shrill, painful roar, while his only intact left leg kicked frantically, as if trying to evade the invisible and intangible eerie presence before him.

He had seen much in his years of fighting and killing in the Money Gang, but what had just occurred completely exceeded his understanding; it was impossible to explain unless it were the legendary demons and ghosts!

However.

Under Kongweiyang's gaze of extreme terror and shock.

The light three or five paces in front of him suddenly twisted, and a figure holding a sword appeared out of thin air, watching him with an amused expression:

"Who are you, and why did you find your way here?"

Naturally, it was Lu Yuan.

With the continuous progress of his cultivation and True Qi, his five senses had become increasingly sharp, almost like a radar; the moment the three of them snuck into this courtyard, he had sensed them while he was refining pills.

And then, with just a simple ambush, he had easily taken down this group of thieves.

Seeing Lu Yuan appear, Kongweiyang seemed to forget the pain in his entire body, his gaze dull and his mouth agape.

"You, you..."

Subsequently, he seemed to think of something, and with his blood running cold, he hissed:

"Are you... Qingyike?"

Invisibility out of thin air—this was a technique that only existed in novels and strange tales; he had never imagined he would witness it with his own eyes.

At the same time, he also immediately thought of the Qingyike worshipped by the masses, who had once displayed the supernatural feats of severing throats from the void and manifesting words out of thin air!

"Your reaction is quite fast."

Lu Yuan smiled without smiling:

"Stop the nonsense. Who are you three, and was it you who broke into my residence earlier?"

Never expecting the person before him to be the Qingyike feared and hated by countless landlords and powerful families, Kongweiyang was stunned for a moment, then laughed miserably with a face ashen as death:

"No wonder you had Silver Dollar Vouchers with markings on them; so you are Qingyike..."

"Haha, hahaha, to actually, actually fall into your hands, how laughable, how laughable..."

"Fate plays tricks on people; this is Heaven wanting me dead!"

Amidst the opponent's desperate and crazed muttering, Lu Yuan frowned and pressed him with questions.

In the end, upon learning the opponent's identity and how they had found him, he couldn't help but be stunned, feeling a sense of irony at how fate plays tricks on people.

He had heard the name Kongweiyang a few times; he roughly knew that this person was considered one of the important factors leading to the disintegration of the Money Gang, and this unlucky fellow had even taken the blame for him on several occasions.

But Lu Yuan had not expected that, with the undercurrents surging in the city, this person would not think of fleeing immediately, but instead had circled around and found his way to him; it was truly too coincidental and too unlucky.

Looking at the ashen-faced Kongweiyang, he didn't wait for the other to beg for mercy before shaking his head and sighing lightly:

"Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but one cannot live if they bring it upon themselves."

"For the sake of you being so unlucky, I won't hold it against you for wasting a furnace of my materials."

*Chi! *

As soon as his voice fell, he thrust his sword, piercing the center of the opponent's brow like lightning, ending his life.

"To be fair, this 【Sword Technique】 is truly easy to use; it is even better than 【Generating Light】 for close-quarters combat..."

During the brief exchange just now, when Kongweiyang exerted his power, his internal organs hummed; it was clear he had reached the Thunder Sound Realm where the organs are like iron, and his strength was definitely not weak.

Yet, once this 【Sword Technique】—which he had practiced for no more than half a month—was unleashed, it had taken down such an expert without much effort.

Although 【Invisibility】 had played a significant role, the sharpness of the 【Sword Technique】 was already evident.

From this, it could be judged that relying solely on this technique combined with his current physique, he could easily deal with Fourth Realm Martial Arts experts; and with other techniques, dealing with Fifth Realm grand experts would not be difficult, nor would he face the embarrassing situation of having to run away once his Dharma Power was exhausted.

It could be considered a practical test of the power of his sword technique.

Lu Yuan immediately searched the three corpses and obtained more valuable Silver Dollar Vouchers, which could be exchanged for Silver Yuan directly at the silver shop; there were at least several thousand in quantity.

Although Lu Yuan was currently rolling in wealth, he would never complain about having too much money, so he accepted them with a smile.

Subsequently, he activated the Earth Walking Technique to sink the three corpses ten zhang underground outside the courtyard, destroying the bodies and erasing the traces.

Returning to clean up the bloodstains on the ground, and taking advantage of the fact that there was still plenty of time, he poured out the ruined materials from the Bronze Furnace and continued to start a new round of refining...

(End of this chapter)