20: Chapter 20: Utter Annihilation!

South City, Spring Breeze Pavilion.

The main hall on the first floor was packed with guests, and the boisterous sounds of revelry were incessant.

In a private booth at the end of the second floor, the atmosphere was oppressive and heavy. The thick wooden door blocked out most of the noise from outside.

Xue Er, the second-in-command of Black Wind Fortress, sat at a round table. He raised his wine cup, drained it in one gulp, and slammed it heavily onto the table.

"Those four useless trash, how has it taken them so long to handle such a small matter?" Xue Er wiped a wine stain from the corner of his mouth, a flash of brutality in his eyes.

Beside him, the Third-in-Command paced back and forth in the room anxiously.

"Killing a low-level jailer shouldn't have taken even half a stick of incense's time." The Third-in-Command stopped and frowned. "Could they have made their move on the street and accidentally alerted the patrolling constables, getting themselves hauled off by Six Doors?"

Xue Er snorted coldly, grabbed a whole roasted chicken from the table, tore off a leg, and began chewing on it greedily.

"If those idiots really were caught, we need to change locations immediately. Big Brother is still locked up in prison; we can't afford any more mishaps."

"Second Brother, you rest here. I'm going out to see what the situation is."

The Third-in-Command turned and walked toward the door.

He reached out and pulled open the carved wooden door.

The light in the corridor was dim, and the red lanterns on both sides swayed slightly in the draft.

He turned his head, preparing to head toward the stairs.

The moment his gaze returned to the front.

A person stood silently in the shadows directly ahead in the corridor.

Dressed in a black long-sleeved robe and wearing a bamboo hat, his face was obscured.

The Third-in-Command's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart skipped a beat.

With his perception as an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, he hadn't sensed even the slightest movement of breath or blood flow. The opponent was like a lifeless stone, eerily merged into the darkness.

The young man in the robe slowly raised his head.

His gaze was cold and indifferent.

The Third-in-Command's hair stood on end. His intuition, honed from years of living on the edge, made him feel a tangible threat of death.

He opened his mouth to shout, his right hand instinctively reaching for the short blade at his waist.

It was too late.

Chen Ran moved.

Not a single word of nonsense. No opening stance.

The hard wooden floor beneath his feet let out an overwhelmed thud, caving in and splintering.

Chen Ran's figure was like a gale tearing through the darkness, instantly closing in on the Third-in-Command. The surrounding air seemed violently compressed by some massive weight, letting out a dull howl.

He thrust his right palm forward.

Cloud-Turning Palm.

The violent blood and Qi of the Seventh-Rank Bone Forging Realm, mixed with fifty years of profound Internal Energy, were compressed to the extreme in his palm.

The Third-in-Command had no time to draw his blade and could only cross his arms in desperation, trying to protect his chest.

"Boom!"

Chen Ran's palm slammed into the Third-in-Command's arms.

The thick arm bones shattered inch by inch the moment they made contact.

The palm's force didn't diminish, striking straight through to the chest.

The Third-in-Command's sternum caved in completely, forming a terrifying pit, and the clothes on his back suddenly exploded with a large hole.

His entire body was like a ragdoll, blasted backward into the private booth by the immense force.

"Bang!"

The corpse smashed through the round table. Wood chips flew, and the table's wine, food, and broken porcelain scattered everywhere.

Inside the room, Xue Er stood up abruptly, the wine cup in his hand falling to the floor and shattering.

He looked at the twisted corpse on the ground in horror.

Old Third's eyes were wide open, his chest collapsed, and he was bleeding from all seven orifices.

Xue Er's mind went blank.

He suddenly looked up at the open door.

The young man in the robe stepped over the mess on the floor and walked in. His steps were light and slow, his expression calm, and even his breathing wasn't the least bit disturbed.

"An expert from the government?!" Xue Er was scared out of his wits.

He couldn't even muster a single thought of resistance. He turned and bolted.

Xue Er threw his whole body against the carved window lattice behind him.

"Crash!"

The wooden window shattered, and Xue Er's massive body leaped out, falling toward the back alley below.

Chen Ran watched Xue Er in mid-air and activated Cloud Water Step.

He didn't go through the window but instead charged directly into the wooden wall.

"Boom!"

Most of the booth's wall was directly collapsed by his powerful Physical Body. Chen Ran's figure was like a cannonball, plummeting straight down.

Xue Er's feet had just touched the ground, leaving his knees numb from the impact. He didn't dare look back, scrambling on all fours to flee deep into the alley.

The sky above him suddenly darkened.

Chen Ran was like a goshawk spreading its wings, leaping down through the air.

He bent his right leg, his knee smashing toward Xue Er's back like a meteorite.

Xue Er let out a desperate roar, his blood and Qi circulating frantically in an attempt to withstand the blow.

"Crack!"

His arms were instantly broken by the shock.

Chen Ran's knee slammed heavily onto Xue Er's spine.

The massive force caused the bluestone slabs on the ground to instantly explode into a deep pit.

Xue Er's spine snapped in two. His body folded at a bizarre angle, pinned firmly into the mud, completely motionless.

Chen Ran slowly stood up.

The night wind blew snowflakes into the alleyway.

He glanced down at the corpse on the ground and turned to disappear into the depths of the darkness.

With a few leaps, he vanished without a trace.

...

A stick of incense's time later.

The back alley of the Spring Breeze Pavilion was lit as bright as day by torches.

Lin Wan stepped over the cordon and walked quickly into the alley. Her face was grim.

She had been at Six Doors preparing to review Lei Laohu's case files when she received an urgent report of a vicious murder at the Spring Breeze Pavilion.

"Constable Lin." An old constable came forward to meet her, his face pale. "The body is up ahead."

Lin Wan walked to the pitted bluestone slabs.

The corpse on the ground was in a bizarre folded posture. She crouched down and, by the light of the fire, clearly saw the face.

"Xue Er, the second-in-command of Black Wind Fortress."

The old constable added from the side, "There's another body in the booth upstairs; it's the Third-in-Command of Black Wind Fortress. The state of his death... it's even worse. His entire chest is caved in."

Lin Wan stood up and walked quickly up to the second floor.

Entering the booth, the pungent smell of blood hit her.

She walked to the Third-in-Command's body and pressed against the edge of the collapsed sternum.

The bones were completely shattered. There were no wounds from blades or swords; the defense had been crushed purely by overbearing Internal Energy.

Lin Wan's pupils contracted sharply.

Captain Wang's head had also been shattered by a single blow of this kind of palm force.

"It's the same person." Lin Wan slowly stood up, her gaze cold.

That mysterious expert has struck again.

Last time he killed a Heavenly Jail captain, and this time he killed wanted bandits from Black Wind Fortress. Who exactly is this person?

"Take the bodies back to Six Doors." Lin Wan turned abruptly. "Prepare a horse immediately. We're going to the Heavenly Jail!"

...

Heavenly Jail, Cell Block D.

In the dark and damp corridor, a musty smell that hadn't dissipated in years filled the air.

Chen Ran carried a greaseproof paper bag, walking unhurriedly through the passage.

He had already changed back into his black jailer uniform, washed off his disguise, and his hands were clean.

Walking to the front of the deepest high-security cell, Chen Ran stopped.

Inside the cell, the Red Lotus Witch Jiang Mengli was sitting cross-legged on a pile of hay.

"Hungry?" Chen Ran opened the paper bag. Inside were several steaming hot meat buns.

Jiang Mengli glanced at the buns and then looked at Chen Ran.

"How are you so kind today, giving me an extra meal?"

"It's snowing outside, and I felt sorry for you." Chen Ran took out a bun and pushed it through the iron bars.

Jiang Mengli reached out to take it and took a small bite. She stared at Chen Ran for a moment.

"The aura on your body is more stable than it was a few days ago." Jiang Mengli chewed slowly. "It seems you've been practicing that Cultivation Technique very smoothly."

"It's alright." Chen Ran leaned against the iron bars and replied casually.

As the two were talking.

A sudden flurry of hurried and messy footsteps came from the outer area of the Heavenly Jail.

Chen Ran turned his head.

Captain Li led a few jailers in front, followed by Lin Wan dressed in a Flying Fish Robe, and several Six Doors constables carrying blades.

Lin Wan walked with long strides, heading straight for the Section C area.

"Open it." Lin Wan pointed at Lei Laohu's cell.

Captain Li hurriedly took out the keys and opened the iron door.

Chen Ran silently stepped to the side, his hands tucked into his sleeves, quietly playing the part of an unremarkable, ordinary jailer.

Lei Laohu was held fast to a wooden stake by iron chains. He raised his head, a cold sneer hanging on his fleshy face.

"Constable Lin, visiting the prison in the middle of the night? Have you found out where I hid the Official Silver?"

Lin Wan ignored his mockery.

"Your Black Wind Fortress is finished." Lin Wan spoke coldly.

Lei Laohu froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Scaring me? My second and third brothers are outside, with hundreds of brothers under them..."

"Xue Er and Old Third are dead." Lin Wan interrupted him.

The flesh on Lei Laohu's face twitched violently. "Bullshit!"

"An hour ago, at the Spring Breeze Pavilion in the south of the city." Lin Wan stared him down. "The two were killed on the spot. One palm shattered a chest, one strike broke a bone. They had no power to fight back."

Lei Laohu felt as if he'd been struck by lightning and began to struggle frantically.

"Impossible... who could kill them in one move! Impossible!"

"I want to know who it is too." Lin Wan took a step closer. "They died under an extremely overbearing palm technique. Tell me, did you or Black Wind Fortress offend some top-tier expert recently?"

Lei Laohu shook his head in a breakdown, his eyes full of terror.

"No... we only seek wealth... we definitely never provoked such a monster..."

Lin Wan frowned, falling into deep thought.

Outside the cell door, the firelight flickered.

Chen Ran stood quietly in the shadows.