Hearing the whistle of wind and the middle-aged killer’s venomous snarl, a cold smirk curled Li Peak’s lips.
Battle instincts honed across two lifetimes snapped awake. In his previous life he had danced on the edge of death every day; raw power might be greater now, but experience was priceless. How could he miss such an obvious feint?
He had seen through the trap the moment it was set. All that remained was to spring it the other way.
“Die.” The killer’s face twisted into a savage grin, fist plunging like a meteor.
Mid-air, Li Peak spun. A metre-long sword flashed into existence, the very blade wrested from Zheng Haoyuan. Cold light licked its edge as it stabbed upward.
“Impossible!”
Confidence shattered. The killer’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, terror flooding his face.
Pfft!
Fist met sword-tip. Steel punched through flesh, skewering wrist, forearm, elbow. Bone splintered. The man’s scream tore the sky.
Li Peak landed cat-light, stamped once. The sword vibrated, pulverising the trapped arm, then whipped sideways. A silver arc parted air.
The second hand fluttered to the ground. The killer folded, unconscious before he hit dirt.
A final thrust through the heart. Weeds did not grow twice.
Li Peak’s gaze swept the remaining black-clads. Murder blazed.
He strode forward, sword a streak of lightning. Throats opened. Blood painted the training yard.
“Young Master slew their leader! Brothers, finish them!”
Black Eagle roared. The tide turned to slaughter.
In moments, a dozen corpses cooled. The last three cowered in a corner, knees buckling.
“Mercy, lords, mercy!”
“Speak. Who sent you?” Ice dripped from each word.
The prisoners swapped desperate glances, lips sealed.
“Very well.” Li Peak sealed their pressure points with three flicks. “Lock them in the hole. Guard them like gold.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
He was already sprinting toward the rest zone.
One gate, many sectors. Dark Tiger held training; Sky Wolf held living quarters. Reinforcements had arrived just in time.
Li Peak exploded into the fray, a tiger among sheep. Three minutes later, silence fell over fresh bodies.
He frowned at the carnage.
Not the Four Great Clans. They knew Master Lu was absent, yet these attackers were fodder. A true strike would have brought Postnatal ninth-layer killers, not cannon-fodder the Black Eagles could bleed.
Then who?
Sky Wolf approached, head bowed. “Young Master…”
“Clean the field. Reset every defence. I left three tongues alive. Break them. I want names, paymasters, mothers’ maiden names.”
“Leave it to me.” Sky Wolf’s eyes hardened.
Li Peak vanished.
Later, Dark Tiger scratched his head. “Is the Young Master angry?”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Sky Wolf sighed. “We cost him two brothers today.”
“We were outmatched.”
“No. We were weak.” Sky Wolf’s fists clenched. “From now on, we train until we bleed.”
Tianya Pavilion.
“Young Master, Supervisor Wu is dead.” Zhong Shuhui slid a folder across the desk.
“Expected.” Li Peak had come straight from the base, hoping Eagle Eye had caught wind of the raid. Instead he got Wu’s autopsy.
He flipped pages, brow creasing. “Mid-forties, yet kept a harem.”
“Men.” Zhong Shuhui’s single word carried a paragraph.
Li Peak glanced up, caught the barb, let it pass. “Anything else?”
“One woman. Seen with Wu the night the keys vanished. No name, no past, no prints. She appeared like smoke.”
“Fu Yanxiong’s smoke.” Li Peak tapped the photo. “Check every skirt near that snake. Follow the perfume.”
“Already started.”
“Oh, Qin Feng paid Li Wu a morning visit.”
Li Peak’s smile could freeze blood. “Alliance of the desperate.”
“Two blades aimed at your back.”
“Let them try to hold the same hilt.” He leaned forward, voice soft steel. “Eagle Eye on both. The instant they blink wrong, Black Eagle bites. I want broken bones and nightmares. No corpses unless I say.”
Zhong Shuhui’s eyes gleamed. “Understood.”
Li Peak rose. Outside, dusk bled across Tianhai.
Let the wolves circle. This tiger was only getting started.
