17: Chapter 17 I'm going to... kill you!

Over-River Dragon's gaze swept over Jiang Hanzhou. At first, there was surprise and doubt, but then, sensing the Qi and blood fluctuations that had not yet reached the Viscera Burning Realm, the shock in his eyes was instantly replaced by a hint of ferocious mockery.

"Iron Bone Realm?"

He sneered, his voice filled with an incredible sense of absurdity.

"A mere Iron Bone Realm, and you dare to meddle in my business? Kid, are you tired of living? Do you want to be buried with this woman?"

The hand holding his Emei thorn steadied once more, and he even relaxed slightly.

In the eyes of this veteran bandit who had stepped into the Viscera Burning Realm, the Iron Bone Realm was nothing more than a hard bone with a bit more strength.

"Go!" Shen Hongxiu coughed up blood and shouted sternly at Jiang Hanzhou, her eyes filled with genuine anxiety. "He is Over-River Dragon! You are no match for him! Go quickly!"

She struggled to stand straight, but the movement aggravated her internal injuries, and another mouthful of blood surged into her throat.

She could feel the heart-palpitating killing intent and calmness emanating from the black-clad youth, but the gap in their Realm was often something that willpower could not bridge.

She did not want to drag anyone else down with her.

Jiang Hanzhou acted as if he had heard nothing of their words.

His gaze remained fixed solely on Over-River Dragon, calm and focused, as if he were examining an object about to be dismantled.

Then, he moved.

No gathering of momentum, no warning, not even a starting stance.

The reef beneath his feet shattered with a "crack," and his entire body transformed into a black line that tore through the night, lunging straight at Over-River Dragon!

Fast!

So fast that it exceeded Over-River Dragon's understanding of the "Iron Bone Realm"!

Over-River Dragon's pupils constricted sharply. His mockery instantly turned into shock and rage, and his twin thorns instinctively crossed to block his front.

"Clang!" The water-dividing thorn and the Emei thorn collided for the first time, erupting with a harsh sound of metal clashing, sparks scattering under the moonlight.

Over-River Dragon felt an overwhelming, irresistible force surge through him, shaking his Qi and blood, leaving his arms numb. He couldn't help but stumble back three steps, "thud, thud, thud," leaving deep indentations on the slippery reef.

"What?!" A turbulent storm raged in his heart.

This strength, this speed—this was definitely not just the Iron Bone Realm!

Jiang Hanzhou gave him no chance to catch his breath.

[Tidal Shadow Thousand Hands] fully unleashed!

He seemed to transform into several people in an instant, his figure dragging out blurred afterimages around Over-River Dragon.

It was no longer just a single stabbing strike.

Fists, palms, fingers, elbows, knees, feet... every part of his body had become a lethal weapon.

Together with the elusive water-dividing thorn in his hand, they wove into a suffocating storm of death!

Over-River Dragon roared repeatedly, wielding his pair of Emei thorns so fiercely that not even water could penetrate. He had been immersed in this path for decades; his Moves were ruthless and seasoned, and he managed to parry lethal attacks at the very last moment time and time again.

But the more he fought, the more alarmed he became.

The black-clad youth's Martial Skill was simply bizarre to the extreme!

What clearly looked like a straightforward punch would suddenly transform into three palm shadows as it reached him.

It was clearly a sweep kick at his lower stance, yet the upper body would simultaneously thrust out a water-dividing thorn like a viper flicking its tongue.

He would parry the assault of his left thorn, only to be struck in the right ribs by a heavy elbow blow, dull pain radiating through him...

Even more terrifying was the force, layered upon layers like a true tide; one wave had not yet subsided before another rose, endlessly battering his defense and draining his Qi and blood.

"This kid... is strange!"

Alarm bells rang in Over-River Dragon's mind. He no longer dared to be the slightest bit contemptuous, unleashing all his hidden trump cards. His twin thorns transformed into two black lights seeking to devour, every Move a life-or-death gamble.

He attempted to turn the tide of the disadvantage with his rich experience and superior cultivation of Qi and blood.

However, at a certain moment, Jiang Hanzhou's offensive suddenly changed.

"Crack!" A bone-breaking sound so clear it set one's teeth on edge.

Over-River Dragon's left elbow joint was struck by a tricky palm strike from Jiang Hanzhou; the angle was bizarre, the force piercing to the bone, and his arm bone instantly twisted and deformed.

"Ahhh!" Over-River Dragon let out a short, miserable howl, and the Emei thorn in his left hand clattered to the ground.

He frantically swept his right thorn horizontally, forcing Jiang Hanzhou back half a step, his eyes already filled with terror.

Jiang Hanzhou remained expressionless, his figure closing in again like a ghost.

His right hand feinted with the water-dividing thorn, drawing away Over-River Dragon's parrying right thorn, while his left hand's five fingers hooked like claws, lightning-fast, locking onto the wrist joint of his right hand—a twist, a snap!

"Crack!" The second bone-break.

Over-River Dragon's right wrist joint was forcibly dislocated, his five fingers went limp and loosened, and the other Emei thorn also fell onto the reef.

Both arms were crippled!

"You... who exactly are you?!"

Over-River Dragon was in such pain that cold sweat poured like rain. His voice was hoarse and trembling, devoid of any ferocity, leaving only boundless fear.

He wanted to escape, but his arms were in agonizing pain and powerless, and his body was sluggish from the intense pain.

Jiang Hanzhou still said nothing. He raised his leg and delivered a side kick, accurately striking the side of Over-River Dragon's left knee joint.

"Crack!" The third time.

Over-River Dragon's left leg bent outwards in a grotesque manner, his entire body losing balance, and he fell to one knee on the cold reef with a scream.

Immediately following that was his right leg.

Jiang Hanzhou's toe tapped the back of his right knee, and with a burst of force—not kicking it to break—he shattered the tendons and cartilage in his knee in an even more cruel manner.

"Thud." Over-River Dragon knelt on both knees, his entire body like a broken sack with its spine removed, collapsing into the mire mixed with blood and seawater.

All four limbs were crippled!

But this was not the end. Jiang Hanzhou walked up to him and looked down at the face distorted and twisted by intense pain and fear.

Then, he raised his foot and stomped heavily down between Over-River Dragon's legs, onto that male vital point!

He did not use the rigid force that would shatter the reef, but rather a heavy, slow, crushing force.

"Ugh... hhh... hhh..." Over-River Dragon's scream was choked in his throat, turning into the sound of a broken bellows gasping for air. His eyeballs bulged, and his complexion instantly turned from pale to deathly gray.

His whole body began to convulse violently, like a dying fish out of water. The fifth limb was also crippled.

Only then did Jiang Hanzhou stop. He stood before the collapsed, mud-like Over-River Dragon, who was only exhaling and not inhaling, and slowly crouched down.

Over-River Dragon's eyes were unfocused; in his remaining consciousness, only boundless pain and regret remained. His lips trembled, as if he wanted to beg for mercy, but he could not even utter a single complete syllable.

Jiang Hanzhou looked at him, and finally, there was a trace of a very faint ripple in his eyes—not pity, but more like a confirmation.

Confirming whether this pain was heavy enough. Confirming whether this end was worthy of those souls who had sunk to the bottom of the river.

He reached out, picked up one of the Emei thorns that had fallen beside Over-River Dragon, and weighed it. Then, with a flick of his wrist, a black light plunged into his throat.

Over-River Dragon's body jerked violently, then went completely limp, the last trace of life rapidly fading away along with the gushing blood.

Those eyes that had once been ferocious and sinister were finally frozen in boundless pain and unbelievable bewilderment.

Jiang Hanzhou pulled out the Emei thorn, casually flicked off the blood droplets, wiped it on the blood-soaked robe, and sheathed it back at his waist.

He stood up, not even glancing at the corpse again, turned around, and walked towards the direction where he had moored his boat.

From beginning to end, he had not spoken a single word.

The moonlight shone on his blood-stained but still straight back, cold and murderous.

"Wait... wait!" Shen Hongxiu forced her pain-ridden body to stand, stumbling as she chased after him.

The way she looked at Jiang Hanzhou had completely changed.

Shock, horror, disbelief, and a hint of... awe that even she herself had not noticed.

An Iron Bone Realm, in a head-on fight, had used an almost crushing method to alive-and-well cripple and kill a bandit who had stepped into the Viscera Burning Realm!

This was no longer just challenging someone of a higher Realm; this was subverting common sense!

"You... who exactly..." Her voice was dry.

Jiang Hanzhou did not stop his pace.

Shen Hongxiu gritted her teeth, quickened her steps, and blocked his path a short distance in front of him, saying urgently:

"I am not trying to pry into your background! I want to tell you... behind Over-River Dragon is the White Dragon Gang! The business they do... is human trafficking!"

Jiang Hanzhou's steps finally came to a halt.

He turned his face to the side, the moonlight illuminating half of his calm, ripple-less face.

Seeing him stop, Shen Hongxiu spoke even faster, with an eagerness and heaviness that came with exposing darkness:

"They don't just collude with River Bandits to raid merchant ships! From all over, even from outside prefectures, they abduct and kidnap women, children, and young men, and through the Three Rivers Estuary waterway network, sell them to various places... even overseas! Those are living people! Not cargo!"

She stared into Jiang Hanzhou's eyes, trying to find a hint of being moved:

"With such remarkable skills, you must have people you care about, right? Aren't you afraid that one day, the people around you will also disappear on the river, becoming cold numbers in their ledgers, sold off to some unknown Hell?"

Jiang Hanzhou was silent.

Family?

His Transmigration into this world's Physical Body left him alone, without any blood ties.

But Shen Hongxiu's last sentence was like a thin needle, piercing through a certain solidified barrier in his heart.

Understanding intelligence would do him no harm.

In this world fraught with crises and intertwined forces, knowing a bit more of the dark truth might mean having a bit more certainty of survival.

The anxiety of knowing the truth was always better than dying in complete ignorance.

He looked up at Shen Hongxiu, whose breathing was chaotic and who was heavily injured, and then glanced at the faint lights of the black market in the distance.

This was not the place to talk.

"Get on the boat."

He dropped these two words, stopped lingering, and continued walking toward the small boat he had tied in a hidden spot.

Shen Hongxiu was stunned for a moment, then a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes, and she followed without hesitation.

The two, one after the other, boarded the inconspicuous black-awning boat.

Jiang Hanzhou untied the mooring rope, the wooden oar entered the water, and he pushed off lightly.

The small boat, like an arrow released from a bow, slid silently into the dark heart of the river, leaving the filthy black market island and the bloody slaughter that had just occurred there far behind.