Chapter 48: The Fall of Wu Zhuang

Wu Zhuang was not in a good state right now. Having already been injured during his fight with Agui, he was now relentlessly pestered by me, causing a massive depletion of his magical power and physical strength.

I rushed forward and unleashed a flurry of wild, untutored punches. I had no formal combat style; in such a narrow alley, victory belonged to whoever had more courage. Wu Zhuang's momentum had long since faded, and while he was solely focused on fleeing, his hands and feet still packed a punch.

"Thud!" I took another kick, but I counter-attacked by wrapping my arms around his leg, dragging us both down into a messy brawl.

Meanwhile, Han Cuiyun was locked in combat with the female ghost. After being batted away earlier, the Dao Soldier's phantom form had grown significantly dimmer, but summoned through the Soldier Incantation, its sole mission was combat—an endless fight unto death.

It charged forward again, the tiny spiritual energy staff striking frantically at Wu Zhuang from all directions—above, below, left, and right.

Realizing the Dao Soldier posed a genuine threat and pushing through my assault, Wu Zhuang took a few heavy blows and swung his hand backward, slapping a glowing red palm print directly onto the Dao Soldier.

The Dao Soldier was blown away once more by the strike, vanishing completely mid-air.

I cursed inwardly. You useless piece of trash, Huang Liulang, wasting so much of my magical power again!

With Wu Zhuang pinned directly in front of me, we traded blows—I punched him, he kicked me—engaging in a brutal fistfight. I grabbed a handful of his hair and refused to let go, raining punches down directly onto his face.

This was a tactic I had learned from being beaten up by street punks before; once you start pounding someone's head, their morale instantly plummets.

"What the fuck! Where the hell did you come from?"

"Thud!" Driven into a frenzy, Wu Zhuang kicked me over with a single blow.

I noticed that Han Cuiyun was also getting the worst of it against the opposing female ghost. As she retreated toward my side, I called out, "Sister Han, I've got a treasure for you!"

I immediately pulled the Tier 2 green Face-Covering Cloth from my pocket and tossed it in her direction. "Sister Han, cast your spell and finish him off!"

The moment the item was thrown, Wu Zhuang saw it too.

To the three of us, the significance of that green hue was entirely different.

A green light practically gleamed in Han Cuiyun's eyes. Earlier, she had been reduced to a bystander, too terrified to approach Wu Zhuang because his blood inspired a primal fear deep within her.

Yet, the moment the Face-Covering Cloth appeared, her ghostly form began to ripple violently. "Wu Zhuang, go to hell!"

A gust of black whirlwind swept past, snatching the Face-Covering Cloth away.

What I saw was a billow of black fog carrying the green cloth, slamming directly onto Wu Zhuang's face.

"Ah!" Wu Zhuang let out a harrowing shriek, a sound that seemed to rise straight from the depths of hell.

Whenever Han Cuiyun forced the Face-Covering Cloth onto Wu Zhuang's face, she would instantly be violently repelled.

I noticed that Han Cuiyun's shroud of black fog was also rippling violently. She quickly retreated back into the ghost token, and I could sense that she was extremely weakened.

"You motherfucking little punk, how dare you backstab me! Just wait until I get my hands on you—"

He channeled power into his palms, only to instantly realize that all his strength was completely gone.

As if dawning on a terrifying realization, Wu Zhuang yelled out, "You wouldn't dare! I am from the Wu family, you can't touch me!"

Looking at Wu Zhuang now, all his arrogance had vanished. He swung his hand, frantically tearing the Face-Covering Cloth off his face.

His power had been entirely wiped out by that single blow, and I could tell he was completely finished.

Without a word, I continued walking toward him.

As I stepped forward, my mind raced with a single question: What should I do now? Surely I hadn't risked my life all this time just to prove I could beat him in a fight.

I had promised my grandfather I would seek revenge, but now that the moment was here, I hesitated.

However, since Agui had mentioned earlier that he should hand over the notebook, I knew Wu Zhuang must be carrying something that Old Wan had his eyes on.

Ignoring his pleas, I kept moving forward. My mind had changed; my new target was the Money Sword he carried on his back.

"Don't, don't, don't, little brother! Murder is a crime, you can't do this to me." Half of Wu Zhuang's face was deathly pale, and terror had brought him to the verge of tears.

Step by step, I approached. He dragged himself backward on his hands and buttocks, weeping in absolute panic.

"Don't kill me! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!"

I reached him, crouched down, and picked up the Money Sword and the Face-Covering Cloth he had dropped on the ground. "Very well," I said. "A practitioner is not greedy for wealth, but the more the merrier. I'll give you a chance to buy your life. How much are you willing to pay?"

My voice was low and steady. These were the second words I had spoken today.

"I'll give you whatever you want. I have money."

He pulled a small notebook from his inner pocket and handed it to me, stammering, "This contains the passwords to the safe deposit boxes I have in various banks. There's money inside. As long as you spare my life, it's all yours!"

A jolt went through my heart. Safe deposit boxes of that kind only required the password and a token; they didn't verify identity.

I took the password notebook and saw that it didn't just record passwords—it also contained Taoist secret incantations. There were only three passwords listed.

A wave of wild joy washed over me. Those secret incantations were far more enticing to me than all the money he mentioned.

Pockets of the notebook secured, I pressed on, "Wu Zhuang, do you take me for a fool? Safe deposit boxes aren't accessed with passwords alone."

"I have the token!" Wu Zhuang immediately reached up, tore a platinum necklace from his neck, and handed it to me. "Take it all, take it all! I beg you, spare my life."

I took the necklace. It was a platinum chain hung with a large Qianlong Tongbao coin. The coin had a notch cut into the character for "Tong." It was a spiritual artifact, polished smooth to the touch, showing signs that it had passed through the hands of many cultivators. To an ordinary person, however, it would merely look like a young man's accessory.

"This is the token. Take it, it's all yours."

I tucked the necklace away, lacking both the leisure and the means at the moment to verify its authenticity.

"Where is Han Cuiyun's fate slip?"

Stunned for a moment, Wu Zhuang immediately pulled a crumpled piece of yellow joss paper from his trouser pocket.

I snatched it open, saw Han Cuiyun's birth characters and some details of her life events recorded inside, and put it away.

Rising immediately, I turned to leave.

At that moment, I noticed the female ghost staring at Wu Zhuang, standing completely frozen in place.

As I walked away, she glided over to Wu Zhuang. Her ten fingers glowed with a pitch-black light, and she thrust them straight into Wu Zhuang's lower abdomen at the Sea of Qi acupoint.

"Ah!" With a piercing shriek, Wu Zhuang stared at her wide-eyed. Three seconds later, his head slumped to the side and he passed out cold.

I had expected the female ghost's thrust to leave Wu Zhuang covered in blood and dead on the spot.

However, upon closer inspection, there wasn't a single scratch on his body. I instantly understood: the female ghost had destroyed Wu Zhuang's Sea of Qi, rendering him completely unable to cultivate ever again.

Transforming into a swirl of black mist, the female ghost vanished. I broke into a run, darting into a small alley and disappearing into the web of streets.

Once I reached the main avenue, I pulled out my phone and called Boss Zhang.

With Wu Zhuang reduced to a cripple, I was certain Boss Zhang would be able to capture him this time and take very good care of him.

"Boss Zhang, the target is in the alley behind the Emperor Hotel. He killed Agui, Old Wan's subordinate, and he's heavily injured himself. You have five minutes before he manages to move."

"Beep, beep, beep." I hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

If Boss Zhang still failed to catch him this time, I wouldn't lift a finger to help again no matter what.