Chapter 272: The Idea of Monopolizing the Bounty

After reading the letter, Zhou You's mind was crystal clear.

Who else could it be? It was definitely Qi Fengxiao.

This guy was truly petty; he had barely left before putting a bounty on Zhou You's head.

Too cowardly to fight openly, he resorted to backstabbing and underhanded tactics—what a piece of work!

Zhou You grew angry just thinking about it; the bounty was only ten thousand taels—who was he looking down on!

If he were to put a bounty on Qi Fengxiao, it would be at least ten times that amount; a mere hundred thousand taels was a sum he could afford.

"The situation is somewhat serious."

As the saying goes, one can guard against a thief for a thousand days, but one cannot prevent a thief for a thousand days! From this day forward, Zhou You had to be on guard day and night against attacks, because this world was not lacking in martial artists driven mad by poverty who would risk their lives for ten thousand taels.

There were even more unscrupulous types who might even target his parents.

"Qi Fengxiao, by doing this, you have brought death upon yourself."

As Zhou You gripped the envelope, he suddenly heard a notification from the panel, triggering a Trial Project.

"Trial Project (Five-Star Level): Complete the Thousand Faces Hall bounty, assassinate Zhou You."

Pfft! Zhou You couldn't hold it in; was the panel lagging or having a stroke, asking him to kill himself? Even if you gave more Experience Points, he couldn't do that!

Suddenly, he had a change of thought; things weren't that simple. The key to triggering this task was... Li Hao's letter.

The letter mentioned the Thousand Faces Hall bounty, which meant that assassinating Zhou You was not the goal; the goal of the task was the bounty itself.

Hmm, it didn't necessarily have to be suicide, right?

Zhou You could completely use his second alias to claim this bounty and then drag his feet on completing it.

This way, he would monopolize the task while avoiding the risk of being plotted against or assassinated by other unknown martial artists—killing two birds with one stone.

That's it!

Zhou You felt a jolt of excitement; as Zhou You, he was the target, but as Du Yan Lu Zhigang, he could be the Bounty Martial Artist—playing two roles at once.

Conditions met; panel, I accept.

"Trial Project (Five-Star Level): Complete the Thousand Faces Hall bounty, assassinate Zhou You."

"Since you are assuming ≥2 roles in this task, the projection requirements are met. Please select a projection location."

Hearing the panel's feedback, Zhou You knew his guess was correct and decisively chose... Fucheng.

There was no time to lose; he had to secure this task before news from Fucheng reached Gongliang City.

……

Zhou You appeared on the streets of Fucheng, looked at the familiar surroundings, and nodded silently.

He strode toward the Thousand Faces Hall and soon arrived at his destination.

On both sides of the Thousand Faces Hall were countless small houses, almost all cut from the same mold; they had no windows and only one door for entry and exit.

These houses were known as 'Information Houses' and sold only one type of commodity: the personal information of bounty targets.

The biggest profit for the Thousand Faces Hall was not the commission from bounties, but the buying and selling of intelligence on bounty targets.

A single piece of intelligence could be sold infinitely; it was truly a business with a hundred-fold return.

Zhou You could guess that ever since his name appeared on the list, his private information had likely been sold countless times.

Calm down, keep a level head.

His gaze swept over the Thousand Faces Hall's list, and he selected one person: "Iron Palm Wu Zhuifeng, a Disciple of the Iron Palm Martial Arts Hall in the city, who fled after raping and murdering his junior sister, killing 13 fellow disciples while resisting."

"This person is at the 9th stage of Qi and Blood, is brutal and vicious, and has been hiding in the countryside around Fucheng."

"The number of Bounty Martial Artists who have died at his hands, according to records, is already 47."

"Bounty amount: 7,000 taels." The bounty was a bit low, but it had been scraped together by the aggrieved parties and the victim's fellow disciples.

The Iron Palm Martial Arts Hall also had martial masters, but they had not stepped forward to hunt down Wu Zhuifeng, instead letting him remain at large.

Zhou You felt quite satisfied; he would use this person as an example to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys!

Because Wu Zhuifeng's track record was too 'illustrious,' no one had claimed his bounty for a long time; after all, that junior sister came from a poor family, and the bounty was pooled together by a few fellow disciples, which couldn't attract any true experts.

Zhou You easily claimed the bounty, and a head poked out from the Information House nearby.

"Brother, do you want to buy some information?"

"How much?"

"You've claimed the bounty for Wu Zhuifeng. This man is cunning by nature and has 7 or 8 hideouts; his whereabouts are erratic. If you want his specific location, you'll have to pay this price."

The other party gestured a number, which was a staggering 12,000 taels.

In other words, if Zhou You bought this information, he would be 12,000 taels in the hole before even setting off; even if he successfully took the head, the final tally would be a net loss of 5,000 taels.

"Not buying, too expensive."

The receptionist at the Information House watched him leave and chuckled, "Good luck."

The 47 Bounty Martial Artists who had gone before and never returned were, without exception, those who were unwilling to spend money.

Poor Zhou You, he was already the 48th.

The receptionist wrote his name on a piece of paper... Du Yan Lu Zhigang, hesitated for a moment, but didn't write the second half of the sentence, "Task failed, death," in advance.

The news of Du Yan Lu Zhigang appearing at the Thousand Faces Hall would not reach Zhang Huaimin for a few days.

As Zhou You walked along the streets of Fucheng, a reminder sounded in his ear: "New Trial Project (Three-Star Level): Kill Wu Zhuifeng."

Look at that, this was a proper task—concise and to the point, making it clear what needed to be done.

Zhou You hadn't bought the information because he was certain the panel had a target-tracking function.

When he was at the Thousand Faces Hall, he had heard others discussing how Wu Zhuifeng, fearing the martial arts hall would pursue him if he stayed in the city, had fled to the countryside outside the city to hide, building several secret chambers and tunnels.

To lock onto a target, one first had to narrow down a general area before the panel could provide specific positioning.

Half a day later, the people Zhou You was waiting for arrived.

Three young men wearing dark blue martial robes blocked Zhou You's path and identified themselves; they were Disciples of the Iron Palm Martial Arts Hall.

"Du Yan Lu Zhigang, we heard you accepted the mission to kill Wu Zhuifeng, so we are here to provide you with information."

They were among the contributors who crowdfunded the bounty, and also close friends of the victimized Disciple.

Having long since abandoned hope for revenge, they suddenly heard that Du Yan Lu Zhigang had accepted the mission, and their hope was instantly rekindled.

Even if Du Yan Lu Zhigang failed, he still had a sworn elder brother, Zhang Huaimin; with a mid-level Martial Master taking the field, success would be certain.

Several Disciples hurriedly found Zhou You, listed the locations where Wu Zhuifeng had appeared in detail, and even introduced the circumstances of the Bounty Martial Artists who had previously perished there.

"The Iron Palm is an Instruction from our sect, so it is inconvenient for us to reveal the details, but that beast Wu Zhuifeng thinks himself clever; the iron sand he uses for training is mixed with volcanic magma, which grants it the added power of fire poison."

"Our Master commented that this is picking up sesame seeds while losing a watermelon—it is foolish."

"His signature weapon is a giant iron pen, which doubles in power when used in conjunction with his Iron Palm and can break through Hard Qigong body protection."

"We can only say this much, Lu Zhigang, we are counting on you!"

After providing the information, the several Disciples of the Iron Palm Martial Arts Hall immediately turned and took their leave.

Zhou You looked at the compiled information and fell into deep thought; everything was ready, all that was missing was the east wind.

This battle was his battle to establish his prestige, and it had to be resolved cleanly and efficiently to make the name of Du Yan resound.

Only in this way, when he subsequently monopolized the bounty for Zhou You, would he be able to suppress the many Martial Artists who coveted the reward!

(End of chapter)