I Can Merge Techniques-Chapter 57 - 56: Kill

"Something’s wrong!"

Just as a flicker of joy ignited in the three men, their hearts sank. Something was wrong!

Before they could react, another black shadow charged in, faster than a galloping horse. Like a black bear slamming into a tree, it lunged straight for the man closest to the door!

Startled, the man tried to turn and swing again, his Long Saber still not fully retracted from hacking into the previous shadow’s calf!

But the second shadow was a step ahead, crashing into his chest. Its left hand shifted into a Dragon Form Diverting Palm, thrusting diagonally upward from under the man’s ribs. With Force concentrated in the palm and power erupting from the waist, it struck his chin with a resounding WHAP!

"Ugh!"

The man’s vision went black from the heavy blow to his jaw. His feet left the ground as his body flew backward!

Meanwhile, the first shadow that the three had hacked now lay collapsed on the ground—it was just the corpse of a Huang Family servant!

Seeing this, the remaining two men roared and attacked the shadow from both the left and the right.

But the shadow took two steps forward and unleashed a Bear Form Shattering Fist, smashing it heavily into the chest of the man who was still flying backward!

THUD!

With a dull thud, the man’s sternum shattered. He was dead before he hit the ground!

"Die!"

The remaining Blood Saber Sect member and the scar-faced man closed in on the shadow simultaneously.

Just as the glint of their blades enveloped the shadow...

...the shadow met them head-on. Raising its knees and tucking its abdomen, it soared like a swallow. With a move called Swallow Passing Through the Curtain, it shot straight through the gap between their flashing blades!

"Twelve Forms Fist!"

The Blood Saber Sect member was aghast.

He wasn’t shocked that the intruder was using the Twelve Forms Fist, but at the exquisite and clever way it was being executed!

Even with his mastery of the Nine Blood Soul Blades, their pincer attack had been effortlessly dodged!

Faster than words could describe, he changed his footwork and slashed his Long Saber diagonally at the masked figure in black.

But the masked figure simply flicked his left wrist, flinging a cloud of quicklime powder straight into their faces!

"Damn it!"

The Blood Saber Sect member and Scarface reacted instantly, turning their heads, shutting their eyes, and hastily retreating!

In that instant their vision was blocked and they were backing away...

...the shadow twisted at the waist and, like a sparrowhawk pouncing on its prey, executed Sparrowhawk Darts Through the Forest, rushing right up to the Blood Saber Sect member!

’Crap!’

The Blood Saber Sect member’s heart tightened.

The Twelve Forms Fist was fundamentally a close-quarters fighting style. Once an opponent got in close, just like with his companion moments ago, it was impossible to use the Nine Blood Soul Blades. All he could do was take a beating!

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

He retreated rapidly, trying to create distance. The Long Saber in his hand actually began to glow with a bloody light in the darkness!

But he was half a beat too slow!

With Chu Fan’s Perfection-level Running Technique combined with his Perfection-level Twelve Forms Fist, his speed was a whole tier faster than even someone in the Blood Refining Realm!

The instant the Long Saber began to glow, Chu Fan was already on him. His left palm struck out with the Snake Silk Binding Force, fast as lightning, and clamped down on the man’s saber-wielding wrist!

CRACK!

Chu Fan unleashed his Finger Force and twisted violently!

The man felt an excruciating pain in his wrist. He lost his grip on the Long Saber, which fell to the ground with a CLANG!

But Chu Fan didn’t press his advantage. As soon as he succeeded, he sidestepped quickly to the right!

SQUELCH!

Scarface’s Long Saber stabbed from behind him, piercing straight through the chest of the other Blood Saber Sect member!

WHOOSH!

Chu Fan’s Body Technique was as agile as a hawk’s pivot. The edge of his palm was as sharp as a blade as he delivered a Hand Blade strike right onto Scarface’s saber-wielding wrist!

Scarface’s hand went numb, and his Long Saber slipped from his grasp!

Chu Fan flicked his left wrist again...

Another cloud of quicklime powder flew at Scarface’s face!

Scarface was both shocked and enraged—

’He has such tyrannical skills, yet he insists on using quicklime powder!’

But the powder was genuinely disorienting, making it hard to defend himself. He wanted to pick up his saber but could only dodge to the side.

Chu Fan seized the opening and closed in again. He used the Twelve Forms Fist’s Dragon Form Transforming Force followed by the Tiger Form Shattering Strike. Within three moves, a punch smashed into Scarface’s chest!

Scarface let out a muffled grunt, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he stumbled back several steps.

But Chu Fan stuck to him like a persistent disease, landing another punch right on his liver!

BOOM!

Scarface screamed in agony and flew backward like a broken sack, landing in front of the trembling Huang Shouliang and his men!

...

Huang Shouliang, his son, and the few remaining servants were frozen like stone statues, not daring to move.

Chu Fan didn’t move on them first. Instead, he picked up a Long Saber from the ground and delivered a finishing blow to both Scarface and the other Blood Saber Sect member.

Only after doing this did he slowly walk over to Huang Shouliang.

THUMP!

Huang Shouliang’s knees gave out and he dropped to the ground. He clutched a wooden box to his chest, wailing, "Spare me, hero! I’ll give you all my family’s wealth, just please spare my son and me!"

Just as Chu Fan was about to speak...

The four terrified servants suddenly let out a cry and fled madly towards the door!

Chu Fan chased them down, felling each one with a single slash of his saber.

He had already thrown Huang Yu’s head in as a warning. These men had still stubbornly followed Huang Shouliang—they all deserved to die!

"AH! AHH!"

Huang Lin started screaming like a madman, scrambling around on the floor.

Without a word, Chu Fan strode forward and lopped off Huang Lin’s head with his saber.

The head rolled to a stop at Huang Shouliang’s feet.

...

Huang Shouliang stared blankly at the head on the ground, as if he hadn’t yet processed what had happened.

In the dim light...

The saber flashed again.

Huang Shouliang, the man who treated the lives of the poor as worthless weeds, died with his eyes wide open, his head now separated from his body.

Chu Fan dropped the Long Saber, searched the pockets of every corpse for gold and silver, stuffed it all into a bag, then picked up Huang Shouliang’s wooden box and the bag of money before disappearing into the darkness.

...

「Seven days later...」

A slightly weary Chu Fan walked into the wood-chopping yard.

As usual, he silently sat down, picked up his hatchet, and began chopping wood.

The short, fat youth hadn’t arrived yet.

The other two boys glanced at Chu Fan, then quickly lowered their heads, not daring to look again.

These days, they were increasingly unwilling to speak with him—

For the past few days, they felt Chu Fan’s gaze had a frightening quality to it.

What was more unsettling was that Chu Fan would often hold his hatchet and let his gaze sweep over their necks, sending a chill down their spines every time.

The two wondered privately, ’We haven’t done anything to offend him, have we?’

’What the hell is wrong with this guy, aiming his blade at people’s necks all day long...’

Just then, the short, fat youth walked in, chewing on a flatbread.

He moved a small stool over, sat next to Chu Fan, and said, "Chu Fan, remember that Boss Zhou who was beating someone up at the main gate the other day?"

"Boss Zhou?" Chu Fan raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

The short, fat youth said, "That’s Zhou Ye, the nephew of Incense Master Zhou. He was taken away by people from the Government Office yesterday afternoon. I heard it was because of a massacre."

"A massacre?" Chu Fan slowly sat up straight.

The other two boys also pricked up their ears.

The short, fat youth continued, "Seven days ago, Boss Zhou got into a dispute with Huang Yu of the Blood Saber Sect on Xingning Street and injured him."

"That very night, Huang Yu was beheaded, and the entire Huang Family was massacred..."

"Both Huang Shouliang and his son were decapitated. It was a ghastly sight!"

"Besides Huang Yu, two other Blood Saber Sect Members also died..."

"If the Hall Master of the Cyan Wood Hall hadn’t vouched for him, Boss Zhou would have been in big trouble this time!"

"And then?" Chu Fan asked. "Did the Government Office find evidence proving Boss Zhou did it?"

"I don’t think so..." The short, fat youth grinned. "Word is he came back today and then headed back to Seven Stars Castle."

Seven Stars Castle is the Seven Stars Gang Headquarters.

It is over a hundred li from Cyan Yang Ancient City, situated on Dragon Ridge Mountain.

For handymen like Chu Fan, if they could break through to the Blood Nourishing Realm or master one of the Twelve Forms Fist styles to the Great Success level, they could become disciples of the Seven Stars Gang and go to Seven Stars Castle.

Chu Fan asked, "So they still haven’t found the killer?"

"How could it be that easy?" The short, fat youth scoffed. "Even if they could find him, the Government Office probably wouldn’t even bother to look!"

"In this world, lives are as worthless as weeds. What’s the big deal about a few deaths?"

"The Seven Stars Gang and the Blood Saber Sect are fighting over the jade mine on Dragon Ridge Mountain. Not a day goes by that a pile of people don’t die."

"Have you ever seen the Government Office get involved?"

"Unless a massacre like that happens in the Inner City and threatens those officials, otherwise..."

"On the contrary, Boss Zhou is furious about almost taking the fall for someone else. He’s the one who wants to find the killer now!"

’What kind of world is this...’ Chu Fan sighed softly, unsure whether to feel relieved or saddened.

The matter of the Demon Suppression Stele crossed his mind again.

The constable had mentioned before that several years ago, many people had their eyes on the Chu Family’s Old Mansion.

But in the end, all of them lost their lives.

’Thinking about it now, it must have been the secret work of my ’Cultivating’ parents.’

Of course, these things all happened before his parents passed away.

As for the Moon Worship Sect, they only arrived in Cyan Yang Ancient City shortly before his parents’ deaths.

’If the people from the Moon Worship Sect knew that the Chu Family’s Old Mansion was the site of so many bloody incidents, how could they not pay attention to it?’

Chu Fan’s heart suddenly tightened, but then he relaxed.

The incidents of people targeting the Chu Family’s Old Mansion and subsequently dying all occurred before the Moon Worship Sect arrived in Cyan Yang.

Besides, the Outer City was chaotic to begin with—it wasn’t just the gangs fighting all day. Even a ruffian like Liu Da probably had a lot of blood on his hands.

’People die here every day. Who would care about some ’minor disturbance’ from a few years ago?’

Even his neighbor, Zhao Hu, had only heard fragmented rumors.

’The only ones who would remember this ’clue’ would probably be the few constables who were involved in the original investigation.’

Chu Fan cast aside his distracting thoughts and split the firewood in front of him with a single chop. Then, he "looked" at his panel.

[Skill: Ninefold Thunder Shock Saber (Small Success) Progress: (481/500) (Trait: None)]

’Today, I should be able to break through to the Great Success level with the Ninefold Thunder Shock Saber...’

’The heat has died down. Tonight, I’ll dig up that box and take a proper inventory.’