I was told I'd be a late bloomer, but I was born with the potential to achieve great things!

In the night sky, faint moonlight peeked through the dark clouds, carried by a cold wind that swept across the alleyway.

"Donkey Face, this man came and went in a hurry. Are you really confident you can stop him?"

At the exit of the black market, two men, one with a donkey face and the other with a fox face, followed closely behind Zhou An, quickly chasing after him.

"Don't worry, Niu Mian has already gone ahead of us... With him taking action, that person will definitely not have a chance to escape."

The donkey noodle stall owner spoke directly, his words brimming with confidence.

"But we need to be quick, that raccoon has a sharp eye."

He sent this man to the Hidden Affairs Pavilion to test his courage.

If we are slow, he might bring his men and do the same thing as the mantis stalking the cicada behind.

Not long after...

"We caught up with them."

The donkey noodle stall owner's eyes lit up as he saw Zhou An, wearing monkey-faced noodles, stop in front of him. At the end of the alley, there was none other than the cow-faced noodles that had blocked the way earlier.

"Why must you leave in such a hurry? Wouldn't it be better to take your time?"

Seeing Zhou An's figure, Donkey Face took a deep breath, exchanged a glance with the fox noodle stall owner next to him, and then they all surrounded him.

With a flick of their wrists, a knife and a sword slipped from each of their sleeves.

This posture clearly indicates a seasoned killer who frequently commits murder and robbery; his positioning is extremely deliberate.

"Why do you three persist in pursuing me? You should know that I have already spent all my money on the black market."

Zhou An's gaze swept over the masks of the donkey-faced and fox-faced men, and he sighed.

He recognized the two men; they were both vendors from the same street as the raccoon noodle and rabbit face stall owners.

"Is that so...then please remove all your clothes."

The moment the word "retreat" was uttered, the three men—Ox-faced, Donkey-faced, and Fox-faced—suddenly accelerated, forming a triangle as they surrounded and attacked Zhou An.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Before they even got close, Donkey Face spread his four fingers on his left hand and used his thumb to hold three throwing knives, taking the lead in throwing them towards Zhou An.

Under the moonlight, the three throwing knives were not only fast and urgent, but their blades also gleamed with a dark luster.

It was a poisoned hidden weapon.

As expected of a ruthless killer who frequently commits murder and robbery, his actions are decisive and life-or-death, a stark contrast to his combat skills in the arena.

Zhou An's eyes were bright, and he was deeply inspired, but his movements were not slow at all.

With a swift movement of his feet, he dodged left and right, each afterimage splitting off from his body.

This is the movement technique of the carefree wind rider.

"not good!"

Seeing his hidden weapon dodged in an instant, Donkey Face's pupils contracted. Then, seeing Zhou An closing in like a whirlwind, his eyelids twitched even more.

Just then, a cold glint slid down from Zhou An's sleeve.

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, a sword-like aura pierced through the air.

"It's sword energy!"

"This person has actually mastered sword energy!"

Fox Face and Donkey Face were terrified and brandished their short swords and daggers to defend themselves, with flashes of light from both blades and swords appearing simultaneously.

"Clang clang clang!"

In an instant, a clanging sound burst forth from in front of the two, as crisp and clear as the sound of hammering iron.

"Use your killing move; don't give him any room to unleash his sword energy."

Donkey Face was terrified, but remained remarkably calm in this life-or-death situation.

This person moves with ghostly speed and has mastered sword energy. Once the distance is created, relying on this sword energy that can kill from a distance, they will only have one way out: death.

"Watch out, it's the Seven Mysteries Sect's Ten Steps Kill!"

Just then, the two suddenly heard the ox-faced man's exclamation from ahead.

"Um?"

The donkey noodle stall owner's pupils contracted, and he subconsciously took a step back. He then saw Zhou An's feet suddenly take several steps at an illogical speed.

"Whoosh!"

Donkey Face only saw a blur before Fox Face, who was a step ahead of him, bulged out from behind and slammed towards him at an extremely fast speed.

A violent gust of wind swept in, and Donkey Face instinctively dodged.

However, just as the fox-faced corpse passed before his eyes, three sword energies followed closely behind, attacking from afar and rapidly enlarging in his vision.

"Hero, spare my life! I'm from the Golden Saber Martial Arts School. I even had dinner with your Elder Gong a while ago..."

As Zhou An attacked him without turning back as the two corpses were thrown into the air, the bull-faced man wielding a long knife shouted loudly.

Zhou An ignored him and continued using the Shadow Chasing Step.

The ox-faced man was terrified, his pores popping open, and he retreated at top speed.

But Zhou An was even faster. With a flick of his short sword, he unleashed seven wisps of clear wind sword energy.

"Puff puff puff puff puff..."

"Why call on Elder Gong of all people... Golden Saber Martial Arts School? I've never even heard of it."

As Zhou An watched the seven sword energies explode into seven bursts of blood on the bull-faced man's body, he sneered.

He felt that the burly man with the cow mask was more or less suffering from some serious illness.

Throughout the entire Seven Mysteries Sect, everyone knows that he was once targeted by Elder Gong's disciple... Besides, when you're about to fight to the death, what's the point of talking about friendship over a meal?

"They don't even know how to pay for their lives, yet they dare to go out and kill and rob."

Zhou An shook his head, took the package he had taken from the ox-faced body, and quickly ran towards the corpses of the donkey-faced and fox-faced men.

After thoroughly searching the three bodies, he moved away swiftly and calmly, as if he were walking on the wind.

After a short while, a constable arrived with a team of constables.

The blazing torches immediately illuminated the streets inside and out with a bright red glow.

"Remove the mask and check for any roaming thugs... Watch out for hidden weapons and poison."

The head constable waved his hand, and several constables immediately stepped forward.

Their movements were very practiced, as if they did this kind of work often.

"Officer Zhao, the deceased's identity has been verified."

One was a roaming thug, and the other two were from martial arts schools in the city. The one with the bull-faced mask was Jin Hu, the swordsman from the Golden Knife Martial Arts School, but...

"Just what?"

"The wounds on this golden tiger's corpse seem to be somewhat similar to the Qingfeng Sword Qi of the Seven Mysteries Sect."

The constable in charge of examining the body pointed to the sword marks on Jin Hu's body and said in a deep voice.

"With such sharp sword energy, this person must hold a high position in the Seven Mysteries Sect."

When Constable Zhao stepped forward to examine the area, his pupils constricted involuntarily, and he instinctively withdrew his outstretched fingers.

"Check who has met with Jin Hu recently."

"Yes, boss."

"As for the other two bodies, the martial arts school has notified the owners of their respective martial arts schools to come and pay the fee to claim them tomorrow."

The remaining perpetrators... will return and close the case, and will continue to receive their rewards as usual.

"Thank you, Zhao."

Upon hearing this, the constables were overjoyed and skillfully began to move the body and clean the ground.

These thugs thought the black market was a no-man's-land, but little did they know that it wasn't outside the city, but inside it.

The government's tacit approval of the black market was actually to provide these martial arts practitioners with a place they thought was easy and comfortable.

And here comes another one who slipped through the net.

the other side.

"Clang!"

As soon as Zhou An returned to his residence, before he could even relax after closing the door, he heard the sound of silver coins rolling out of his bag.

The oil lamp was lit.

Zhou An's breath hitched.

......