99: Chapter 99 is about this kid.

Either he had struck a windfall, or he was involved in some shady business.

Regardless of which it was, since he had entered the Inner City, he was on his turf.

"How interesting."

Tie Shan stood up.

As he rose, the entire room seemed to darken.

Standing over two meters tall, he was like an iron tower.

"Go, tell Old Third to take a few men and follow him."

Tie Shan cracked his neck, the joints popping loudly.

"See where he goes and what he buys. If he leaves the city..."

Tie Shan made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Understood!" The servant kowtowed and scrambled out of the room.

Tie Shan walked to the window, looking out at the bustling street.

The sunlight was pleasant.

But the greed in his eyes was more piercing than the sun.

"A fat sheep has entered the pen..."

He muttered under his breath.

In this world, weakness was a sin, and possessing treasure was a capital offense.

Since he had delivered himself to his doorstep, he couldn't blame Tie Shan for having a large appetite.

As he stepped over the threshold, the bluestone slabs beneath his feet seemed to tremble. He wore no shirt, and his bronze-colored muscles gleamed in the sunlight like a piece of cured meat come to life. Seven or eight men followed behind him, each with fierce brows and a menacing gait, looking as if they wanted to carve the word 'thug' onto their foreheads.

The directions the servant gave were correct.

Across the street, Chen Mo was standing in front of a pharmacy called "Baicao Pavilion," looking up at the sign.

"Hall Master, is that the kid?"

The speaker was a one-eyed man, Tie Shan's top thug, known as "One-Eyed Wolf." He squinted his single eye, licked his lips, and rested his hand on the short axe at his waist. "He doesn't look like anything special. Should I go grab him?"

Tie Shan didn't speak; he just narrowed his eyes, his gaze hooked onto Chen Mo like a barb.

At that moment, Chen Mo turned sideways, revealing half of his Face.

The sunlight hit his Face, and his features were as hard as stone.

"Wait."

One-Eyed Wolf had only taken half a step when Tie Shan's large hand pressed down on his shoulder, the force nearly crushing his collarbone.

"Hall Master?" One-Eyed Wolf grimaced in pain.

Tie Shan ignored him, but his Face visibly darkened. The predatory ferocity he had just displayed suddenly froze.

He recognized that Face.

Not because he had seen him in person, but because of a portrait.

Half a month ago, a new head catcher named Chen Mo was appointed in the west of the city. At the time, to maintain the reputation of the Iron Bone Martial Arts Hall in the Outer City and to set the rules for the newcomer, Tie Shan had specifically sent an invitation for the kid to come have tea.

And the result?

The invitation was returned.

The reason was simple: no time.

In Pingyang City, that was a slap in the Face. Tie Shan had been so furious he smashed two teacups, swearing to find an opportunity to crush this ignorant ant.

But now, as he looked at Chen Mo, a cold sweat broke out on his back.

He was a rough man, but he hadn't reached his current position through muscle alone; he had brains and a keen instinct for danger.

The Iron Mountain Martial Arts School could stand its ground in the Inner City because the Liu Family, one of the Four Great Families, was backing it.

A few days ago, the eldest young master of the Liu Family, Liu Feng, had sought him out privately.

Liu Feng's fair Face had been so dark it could drip ink as he gave him a piece of news: the ambush outside the city had failed.

Ambush who? This very Chen Mo.

Liu Feng hadn't gone into detail, but Tie Shan had his own channels. The Iron Bone Martial Arts Hall in the Outer City had also participated in that operation, sending three experts of the Body Tempering Realm to coordinate with a group of Liu Family death guards.

And the result?

Total annihilation.

Not even their bodies were found. It was said that the scene was covered in shredded meat and blood, as if they had been chewed up by some beast.

Those were three experts of the Body Tempering Realm!

In the Outer City, a single expert of the Body Tempering Realm could walk tall. Three working together, plus the Liu Family death guards, would be enough to surround and kill even a master of Body Tempering Major Achievement.

Yet Chen Mo was standing right here.

Alive and well, completely unscathed, and even leisurely shopping for medicine.

What did that mean?

It meant this kid was either a ruthless character who liked to pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger, or he had someone powerful backing him.

Either way, he wasn't someone Tie Shan could touch lightly.

Furthermore, Liu Feng had specifically warned him before leaving: "Don't act rashly for now. This kid is a bit strange; I'm looking into his background."

If even the Liu Family didn't dare move, what was he, Tie Shan?

"Hall Master, do we move?" One-Eyed Wolf had no situational awareness and was still gesturing. "This kid's purse is really fat. If we finish this job, the brothers can stay at 'Zuihua Pavilion' for a month."

"Move your mother's head!"

Tie Shan delivered a backhand slap that sent One-Eyed Wolf spinning. Half his Face instantly swelled up like a steamed bun.

The surrounding subordinates were stunned.

Didn't the Hall Master usually hate people who didn't give him Face the most? Why was he hitting his own man when a fat sheep was right in front of them?

"Go back."

Tie Shan gritted his teeth, forcing out the words.

He took a long, deep look at Chen Mo in the distance.

His gaze was complex—filled with greed, wariness, and the frustration of being humiliated.

But he still turned around and strode back toward the martial arts hall.

The gate slammed shut with a loud bang.

Leaving a group of subordinates bewildered in the wind. One-Eyed Wolf clutched his Face, looking aggrieved, yet not daring to utter a single word.

...

Chen Mo didn't know he had just brushed past the gates of hell—or rather, it was Tie Shan who had.

His attention was now entirely on the pharmacy in front of him.

"Baicao Pavilion."

The largest pharmacy in the Inner City, rumored to be backed by the City Lord's Mansion.

As soon as he entered, a rich medicinal fragrance wafted over. The scent was completely different from the moldy root smell of the pharmacies in the Outer City; it was crisp and profound, making one feel refreshed with just a single breath.

The counter was high, made of polished mahogany.

The shopkeeper was an old man with a goatee, sipping tea from a purple clay pot. When he saw Chen Mo enter, his eyelids flickered briefly before dropping again.

Although Chen Mo had changed into new clothes, the aura of someone who had struggled at the bottom for years was distinctly different from the pampered gentlemen of the Inner City.

In the shopkeeper's eyes, this was just a country bumpkin from the Outer City, likely here to buy some basic liniment.

"What do you want?" the shopkeeper asked lazily, without standing up.

Chen Mo didn't mind. He walked to the counter and tapped his finger lightly on the surface.

"tiger bone paste, made from ten-year-old tiger bones."

"black python bile, freshly harvested."

"And three stalks of Red Blood Ginseng."

The shopkeeper's tea-sipping stopped.

He slowly set down the purple clay pot and looked Chen Mo over again.

These three items together would cost over five hundred taels of silver.

tiger bone paste strengthened the sinews, black python bile tempered the skin, and Red Blood Ginseng replenished Qi and blood.

This was a standard, yet extremely luxurious "Body Tempering Package." Generally, only the scions of great families would be willing to use such things during Foundation Establishment.

"Customer, these items are not cheap." The shopkeeper's tone changed. While still carrying a hint of arrogance, he at least looked Chen Mo in the eye.