"Master Qin, the boss has been sold out!"

Monkey spoke, his face a mask of grief and fury.

Qin Fang’s brow furrowed. He said calmly, "Explain clearly. Don’t rush."

Monkey took a few gasping breaths, but Qin Fang’s composure eased some of his tension. He began to speak quickly, his words seething with hatred.

Qin Fang listened without interrupting.

His story was jumbled and chaotic, but Qin Fang quickly understood the gist of it...

Because of the Demon scare, fishermen had stopped coming to the fish market. The Fish Dragon Gang’s income dried up, so Xu Meng decided to make a move on the Water Dragon Gang—another gang in the same market—to seize their territory.

The original plan was to strike after midnight tonight and catch the enemy completely by surprise.

But unexpectedly, just as the gang members were gathered and waiting to move out... the Water Dragon Gang attacked first.

And it wasn’t just the Water Dragon Gang; there were many people from the Hometown Association as well...

Nearly a hundred men launched a sudden attack, catching the Fish Dragon Gang completely off guard.

And in the midst of the chaos, Xu Meng never imagined someone would stab him in the back... He was knifed in the waist...

"I saw it clearly! It was that son of a bitch Cheng Tuo! He was the one who instigated the boss to move against the Water Dragon Gang in the first place! That goddamn bastard, he sold us all out!"

Monkey’s face was contorted with rage. "Shi Tou and Haozi... they were a step too slow and got hacked to death. The boss fought his way out with a few brothers, but now he’s like this... I didn’t know what else to do, so I brought him to you... Master Qin, what do we do now?"

Qin Fang’s brows knitted together tightly.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "How many of them are there?"

"At least a hundred!"

"And Mingjin Martial Artists?"

"Mingjin Martial Artists?" Monkey paused, then said hesitantly, "Probably just Zhao Cheng... But he didn’t make a move."

’He didn’t make a move?’

Qin Fang frowned.

Just then, Xu Meng, who was being supported by Monkey, let out a sudden groan and slowly opened his eyes.

"Boss!"

Monkey, feeling the movement, cried out immediately.

Xu Meng’s gaze was hazy at first, but then his vision cleared and he took in his surroundings.

Qin Fang stepped forward. "Brother Xu, are you holding up?"

"Brother Qin..."

Xu Meng finally focused on Qin Fang. He spoke weakly, forcing a smile onto his face, his eyes filled with apology. "Sorry for dragging you into this..."

Qin Fang just shook his head and asked, "How many with Mingjin?"

"Probably just Zhao Cheng... I was saving what little strength I had left, planning to take him down with me if he dared to come at me... But he was too cautious and never made a move..."

As Xu Meng spoke, he gasped for breath. The slight strain on his abdomen caused another gush of fresh blood to flow from his wound.

His face turned pale, and he subconsciously clutched at his waist.

Just as he was about to say more, Qin Fang suddenly frowned and glanced toward the gate. He then said to Monkey, "Take Brother Xu inside to rest for a bit. They’re here."

Without another word to them, he looked around, took two quick steps, and with a sudden leap, vaulted onto the three-meter-high courtyard wall.

...This showed just how much stronger the current Qin Fang was compared to before.

In the courtyard, both Xu Meng and Monkey were stunned.

On the wall, Qin Fang gripped several Iron Nails in his right hand and stared coldly outside...

"That courtyard up ahead!"

"I saw them go in!"

"It’s right here!"

"A few of you go surround it!"

"We have to finish Xu Meng!"

Outside, torches were already approaching the courtyard. The sounds of footsteps and shouting were incessant. Just as described, the men were all carrying short blades, their faces murderous.

Qin Fang took a deep breath. The next moment, his eyes turned cold, and with a flick of his fingers, he shot out the Iron Nails!

WHOOSH!!!

The Iron Nails were almost invisible in the night, their speed astonishing.

Almost in the same instant Qin Fang raised his hand, a man rushing toward the courtyard threw his head back and collapsed to the ground.

"Huh?"

The man behind him froze for a second, still processing what had happened.

Qin Fang pinched three more Iron Nails between his fingers and suddenly flicked his wrist...

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!!

The invisible Iron Nails crossed a distance of over ten meters.

In an instant, three more men fell to the ground without so much as a grunt.

Qin Fang didn’t stop. He grabbed another three Iron Nails and flung his hand out again...

THWIP! THWIP!

Another three men toppled over.

Throughout the entire process, no one noticed the Iron Nails... It was nighttime, and the nails didn’t have the obvious red tassels of Darts. It would have been a miracle if they had seen anything.

Moreover, the scene was chaotic, making discovery even less likely.

But seeing seven men fall in succession made the men behind them freeze in their tracks, stunned.

"What’s going on?!"

"What’s wrong with you guys?"

"Is it a trap?"

Someone shouted.

But none of the seven men lying on the ground responded.

Someone subconsciously moved closer.

But just as he reached them, before he could get a clear look at what had happened...

His head jerked back, his body went limp and numb... and then, without a sound, he also collapsed to the ground.

This scene left the men behind him completely dumbfounded.

After a long moment, someone said in a trembling voice, "I think... they’re dead?"

"Dead?"

"What happened?!"

Even with the torches, it was late winter, and the night was terrifyingly dark. No one could see the details of what had happened to the fallen men, only that they were down.

Likewise, no one noticed the crouching dark figure that had appeared on the three-meter-high courtyard wall.

But the sudden, violent deaths of several of their men brought the mob to a halt. They didn’t dare approach, standing at a distance, filled with fear and suspicion.

"Could it be... a Demon?" someone stammered.

"Bullshit! Where would a Demon come from?" someone else jumped, retorting instinctively.

But after saying it, he fell silent...

’Dropping dead for no reason...’

’If it’s not a Demon, what is it?’

And as it happened, the rumors of a Demon were currently spreading like wildfire.

A buzz went through the crowd. They subconsciously retreated, no longer daring to get any closer, and stared from afar at the eight or nine men who had suddenly collapsed.

"Master Zhao is here!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Just then, a voice came from behind. The crowd quickly and naturally parted. Illuminated by the torchlight, a group of people approached from the rear of the column.

Zhao Cheng was a man in his forties, his body packed with corded muscle, but his eyes were sharp and shrewd.

He seemed puzzled by the men’s behavior. He frowned instinctively and asked as he walked forward, "What’s wrong? Did you catch Xu Meng?"

"No, Master Zhao," someone quickly replied. "Xu Meng went into that courtyard up ahead, but..."

"But what?" The man trailed off, and Zhao Cheng frowned, asking with confusion.

"But... anyone who gets close to the courtyard just drops dead for no reason. It looks like they’re all dead..." another man chimed in hurriedly.

Zhao Cheng stopped in his tracks and looked up to get a better view.

But because the nearby torches were too bright, they actually made it harder to see into the distance. He could only vaguely make out several figures lying on the ground up ahead...

Zhao Cheng’s expression changed slightly. "What happened?"

"We don’t know..."

Everyone shook their heads in confusion.

"We were chasing them, and they just suddenly dropped... We didn’t see anyone else around..."

"Someone said it was a Demon..."

The men around him all started talking at once.

Zhao Cheng’s expression faltered, especially at the mention of a Demon, but he quickly barked, "Everyone, quiet down!"

The chatter immediately stopped.

Zhao Cheng glanced around and then ordered, "You with the torches, spread out! Don’t clump together. Let’s see what’s really going on!"

When the torches were too close together, the area within their light was clearer, but anything further away became completely invisible.

He needed the torches to spread out, not cluster together, to increase the illuminated area...