Starting from a peasant family, he mastered the profound art of martial arts.

Chapter 54 Snowstorm

The north wind howled incessantly, and the sky grew increasingly gloomy, a vast expanse of gray, as if a heavy snowfall was imminent.

The two ate a quick bite, and Meng Chen changed into tattered winter clothes and wrapped a rag around his head.

"You're doing this!" Gong Ziming rubbed Meng Chen's face a few times with his black hands, instantly turning Meng Chen's face into a big black face.

The two put on straw raincoats, hid the knife under the raincoats, and then checked each other's clothes.

After waiting for another hour, snowflakes began to fall outside. The two dared not wait any longer and set off.

The world was pitch black, with only a few scattered pedestrians and a charcoal vendor hawking his wares on the street.

The two stood one in front of the other, their hands tucked into their sleeves, looking exactly like poor people.

After crossing a street, we arrived at an alley.

This is Bamboo Basket Alley. There's a gambling den in the alley, and you can hear the noise coming from inside even through the door. Next to the gambling den are several doors, all leading to brothels, making it convenient for gamblers to do their business nearby.

The Bamboo Basket Gang's headquarters was located at the deepest part of the alley. The Bamboo Basket Gang usually held meetings and distributed accounts at the headquarters, and Qu San also lived there.

Normally, there would be guards at the entrance of this alley. But lately, with the cold weather, everyone has huddled indoors, and security is lax. Plus, they've been burning charcoal, so they're all fast asleep by now.

"They change shifts at midnight, so we need to hurry," Gong Ziming whispered.

The two continued walking into the alley and came to a courtyard gate at the end of the alley, where no one stopped them.

Snowflakes drifted down, and the two men's raincoats were already tinged with a pale white.

Meng Chen went up and knocked on the door, but no one answered.

The two exchanged a glance, knowing that the person guarding the entrance was fast asleep. Meng Chen took out his knife, inserted it into the crack in the door, and slowly began to pry open the latch, while Gong Ziming kept a close eye on the way they had come.

Meng Chen had already figured out how to latch the door at home, and this time it only took him a dozen breaths to open the door.

Upon entering, Meng Chen inspected the gatehouse and saw two people fast asleep, with wine jars scattered on the table. He couldn't tell if the medicine was working or if they were simply drunk.

Meng Chen gave Gong Ziming a wink, signaling for each of them to take care of one of them.

This was a test of Gong Ziming's courage. Meng Chen had killed people before and wanted Gong Ziming to get some blood on his hands, so that he wouldn't be intimidated if they encountered a fight later.

Gong Ziming nodded, took out the knife, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

They made a big show of it before the uprising, but when it came to actually doing it, they were hesitant! Meng Chen sighed inwardly, said nothing, and went straight forward to slit the throats of the two unconscious men.

Blood sprayed throughout the room, and the stench immediately filled the air.

Gong Ziming showed no signs of being a Taoist master. He didn't draw his knife, but he was already panting and his body was trembling slightly.

"I..." Gong Ziming felt ashamed, especially after seeing Meng Chen's nimble movements and decisive actions, without even a drop of blood getting on him, which made him feel even more embarrassed.

"It's always like this the first time," Meng Chen comforted softly, mimicking Du Ren's mannerisms perfectly. "I only became braver after helping to slaughter two pigs in the village."

As he spoke, Meng Chen wiped the blood off the knife, left the gatehouse, and then bolted the courtyard gate.

Then the two of them, one in front of the other, arrived at the side room next to the main hall.

The side room was lit, but silent. According to Gong Ziming, Qu San's key henchmen often drank and guarded there.

Meng Chen gently pushed open the door to look inside, only to find that the stove had been half extinguished, the cups and plates were in disarray, and the smell of wine was still strong.

Three people were slumped over the table, while another person, who hadn't fainted, was still pouring himself a drink.

Just then, the wind and snow rushed into the room, and the man who was drinking immediately looked up.

"Let me do it." Gong Ziming stepped forward. The other man tried to get up, but felt weak and was then stabbed in the heart.

Then, gritting his teeth, Gong Ziming poked it in again. Seeing that the man was beyond dead, he walked behind the unconscious man, grabbed his hair, lifted him up to expose his neck, slashed it with his knife, and then let go.

They performed the actions in turn, and in the blink of an eye, the three of them saw the west.

Seeing that none of the four men were Qu San, Gong Ziming said, "Qu San was drinking here this evening. Let's go to the backyard and take a look."

Upon arriving in the backyard, they saw a room with a light on, so the two crouched down and stepped closer.

There were people talking inside, clearly they hadn't been drugged yet.

"How are the New Year's gifts being prepared? You must remember, the Yan family's gifts must be generous." A man spoke up; it was clearly the white-robed scholar Qu San.

"How could I dare offend him? Everything was prepared long ago. It's just..." a woman spoke up, her voice soft and seductive like a persimmon about to fall from a branch, "...he won't let you touch me."

"Bullshit!" Qu San exclaimed angrily. "I work diligently for him, and he wants to take all the old whore I keep?"

"If he could drive his widowed aunt to such a desperate situation, what chance do we have?" the woman said unhappily. "I think that man surnamed Yan is heartless and ungrateful. Let's find another employer!"

"How can we change it? Yan Zhao will be staying in Qingshui County from now on. He's getting married after the New Year, and he'll be in charge of this place from then on!" Qu San said angrily, "Hmph! He won't let me touch you? I'll touch you anyway!"

Soon, unpleasant sounds came from inside the room.

Ten breaths later, the sound stopped.

"Something's weird today, I feel completely drained," Qu San said, puzzled. "You set the charcoal fire too high, it's so hot I can't breathe!"

The woman sneered, "The day before yesterday you complained about the bitter wine, yesterday you complained about the cold house, and today you complain about the hot charcoal. You always have the most excuses, but don't you ever think about whether it's your own fault!"

"You slut!" Qu San roared in fury, "Don't think I won't hit you just because you slept with Yan Zhao twice!"

Meng Chen had originally planned to join in halfway, but Qu San didn't give him the chance at all.

Left with no other option, Meng Chen nodded slightly to Gong Ziming, then, following the backup plan, stood up and hurriedly knocked on the door, saying in a deep voice, "Chief! Chief! Something terrible has happened!"

"What's the rush? Are you announcing a death?" Qu San's impatient voice came from inside the house, completely oblivious to the strange sounds outside. "With me here, the sky can't fall!"

"Young Master Yan is dead!" Meng Chen said.

"What?" Qu San was shocked. He hurriedly got out of bed, grabbed a piece of clothing, and opened the door while dressing.

The wind and snow outside rushed into the room in an instant. Qu San shivered and saw a person wearing a straw raincoat standing in front of the door. Before he could think any further, he saw the other person's knife thrusting towards him.

Qu San had been in Nancheng for over twenty years, so he immediately retreated and went inside. But the knife didn't stop and kept chasing after him.

As the two continued their struggle, the woman shouted, jumped off the bed, grabbed her clothes, and ran out the door.

But as soon as he stepped outside, Gong Ziming held a knife to his neck, saying, "If you make a sound, you'll die."

When Qu San saw that there were still other people on the other side, he panicked and had no mind to care about the woman. He could only grab a wooden chair to block Meng Chen's blade.

But after only ten breaths, Qu San felt increasingly powerless. He didn't know if it was because the sexual activity had exhausted his strength or for some other reason, but he was unable to keep up and started panting heavily.

"This is the Seventeen Forms of Gale? Who are you to Du Zhong of Tongbei Quan? I have no grudge against Du Zhong, and we even have a festival to pay respects to each other this year..." Before Qu San could finish speaking, his left arm was slashed by the other party's swift knife.

"Who exactly is this hero? What grudge do you have that you can't sit down and talk about? If you're short of money, just ask!" Qu San still didn't recognize Meng Chen, but he could tell that the man's Gale Blade Technique was still quite immature, probably because he had little real combat experience, especially since it was not very smooth to use in such a cramped place as a house.

Qu San believed that under normal circumstances, defeating this person would not be difficult. But at this moment, he was completely powerless, while his opponent was sparing no effort, and his defeat was imminent.

After enduring another ten or so breaths, Qu San tried his best but became increasingly tired and weak. Finally, he was stabbed in the waist and abdomen. He cried out a few times, but no one came to his aid. Only the north wind howled.

Meng Chen delivered the final blow, and Qu San was dead beyond any doubt.

Gong Ziming then led the woman into the room and asked, "Where is the money?"

The woman was wearing only a thin garment, and she was shivering. She pointed to the floor under the bed.

Meng Chen stepped forward, pried open the floor tiles under the bed, and pulled out two boxes containing only a little over a thousand taels of silver.

Upon opening it, sure enough, it was full of silver coins and a few silver notes.

"Go back inside and stay there." Gong Ziming pushed the woman.

"I didn't see the faces of the two heroes, I..." The woman trembled and took two steps inside before being stabbed in the back.

Gong Ziming pulled the knife back from the woman, but then, unnecessarily, he plunged the knife into the back of the white-robed scholar. With a forceful thrust, the knife pierced through his abdomen and embedded itself in the brickwork.

Meng watched silently, but the scene before him seemed somewhat familiar.

"That's how Gao Yuan died!" Gong Ziming sneered. "I heard the man who killed Gao Yuan was poorly trained; he was not only overwhelmed by Gao Yuan but also seriously injured. Our trip was incredibly smooth; we're ten or even a hundred times better than that man!"

"Then don't follow his example," Meng Chen couldn't help but say.

"I'm framing him, not copying him," Gong Ziming argued.

What kind of trouble are you trying to frame?! Do you really think Gao Wangtian is a fool? Meng Chen felt a headache coming on and said, "Hurry up. Someone will be here soon!"

"Okay!" Gong Ziming readily agreed.

Following their plan, the two did not plunder the remaining scattered gold and silver. They only lit the unburnt charcoal and set fire to the various rooms.

Carrying the box, I left the gambling den. As I walked out of the alley, I could still hear the noise from inside.