Other than his own disciple, this black-robed so-called "advisor" did not care the least bit for the good-for-nothings who were making a huge fuss, much less for the group of "cash cow students" in the building who were stretching out their necks and shouting for help. The money was already in his hands, this place was rented and the rental hadn't been paid yet. A fire would burn everything up nice and clean; he could take the money and leave, go back home for the Lunar New Year and build a new lair next year.

The whole world was full of young people who could not find employment anyway. He could easily conceal himself with a shell company, put out an ad on recruitment websites and instantly hire a new batch.

As for murder and arson, he wasn't at all bothered about that. To him, the only thing to fear about murder was being punished by the law and sent to prison. The prerequisite for that was the police had to catch him, and that was impossible.

If he could take the life of this old Beggars' Sect leader, it would be easier for him to explain himself to the higher-ups.

But right now, the black-robed man's expression that had been relaxed and delighted the whole time suddenly changed.

He saw a row of blades sticking out of the ground, pierced into the soft mud at an angle. The blade sections that were exposed above the ground were all about the same length, the distance between each one also nearly equal. They lined up in a row all the way to his feet. He hadn't dodged in time just now, there was a small cut at the bottom of his front lapel!

In the many years the black-robed man had dominated his way through the land, he had never been at such a disadvantage.

Old Master Yang was equally shocked. His mouth dropped open and he called out an indistinct "Wei." Then, he recalled something and swallowed his words back in.

Right, Wei Xiao was already dead.

Furthermore, the hand that was supporting his back seemed a little thinner. Even though the footsteps were light, they had a touch of a careless, sluggish feel to them, and were not as subdued as that man's were all those years ago.

Right at that moment, Xu Shaowen opened his mouth and asked the question the other two wanted to know the answer to. "What is your business here?"

The hooded person replied, "I came to make some inquiries about a certain matter and just happened to bump into you guys being busy. My apologies for disturbing."

Even though she kept her voice very low and steady, she was after all the neighbour he bumped into nearly every day. Old Yang immediately recognised the voice and lifted his head to stare at her back in disbelief—this was the young lady staying at Zhang Meizhen's home!

Gan Qing didn't look at him. Her attitude lazy and relaxed, she strolled forward a couple of steps. Xu Shaowen retreated involuntarily, nervously watching her pair of hands that were tightly wrapped with black cloth strips.

"If I may ask… a while ago, there was a group of people who worshipped a wooden memorial tablet carved with 'Wan Mu Chun' and used dotted red lines to teach other people how to slit throats on the spot." Gan Qing asked politely, "Are they related to you?"

"Wan Mu Chun." The black-robed man was first momentarily stunned. Then, he looked at the blades on the ground and understood something. "How are you related to Wan Mu Chun? A disciple?"

Gan Qing chuckled. "How could that be? Wan Mu Chun didn't have disciples. I'm just an old acquaintance who likes to talk too much."

"The 'Chun' division is indeed our people." The black-robed man studied this hooded and masked person before him. Perhaps he felt that she was nothing good either, so he said frankly, "In the past, due to a fateful coincidence, our sect got to know a descendant of Wan Mu Chun and was passed on a small and inconsequential part of their martial arts skills. Unfortunately, our disciples were all unworthy."

"Oh, he said that he's Wan Mu Chun's… descendant." Gan Qing emphasised the word "descendant" heavily. She asked in a very peculiar tone, "Was he called Wei Huan?"

"That's right, it was him." The black-robed man nodded. "Was he your friend too?"

"No." Gan Qing suddenly laughed. Right after that, without saying a word, she immediately broke the peace. A blade spun between her fingers. Under the light from the fire, it looked like a miniature lightning bolt striking towards the black-robed man's throat. "I don't…

"...pick up friends from the trash can."

In an instant, the black-robed man had goosebumps all over. But his reaction was extremely quick; in a flash, he had retreated to a safe distance. He raised his three-edged blade and slashed out.

"Careful!" Old Yang shouted.

In this kind of close combat, the range of the opponent's weapon was the "safe distance." Gan Qing only had a small blade in her hand, her range was only the length of her arm and was equivalent to fighting barehanded. Furthermore, when the black-robed man was on guard, the killing power of thrown knives was very limited. Even if it was the legendary Little Li Flying Dagger, the blade that flew out was just over three inches long. It couldn't become the blade Li Xunhuan had rid the land of bandits with like a razor blade getting rid of stubble.

With the two three-edged daggers, the black-robed man guarded all his vital spots so securely that not even the wind could get through. There was a chaotic round of clangs and the blades that were knocked away flew everywhere. As a bystander, Xu Shaowen was also in the line of fire, and he covered his head and scurried off to hide behind a large tree.

"Catch!" Old Yang was afraid that Gan Qing would be at a disadvantage and threw his walking stick to her. Gan Qing reached out and caught it; the hardwood walking stick spun a half circle in her hand and swept horizontally to parry the black-robed man's three-edged dagger. The man let out a roar and suddenly exerted his strength. The three-edged blade that was stabbing forward was like a lance, pushing Gan Qing away together with the walking stick. At the same time, the other three-edged dagger swept towards her.

Who knew if it was because Old Master Yang wanted to flaunt his wealth or if it was some other reason, the wooden walking stick was long and heavy. It was extremely inconvenient for her to use. This time, she didn't dodge in time and the three-edged dagger hit its target on her forearm with a scraping sound.

She should be wearing some sort of protective gear on her forearm; the sound was like metal clashing. Her arm wasn't cut but the impact on her bones had to be quite heavy. For a moment, Gan Qing's right arm lost strength and the walking stick in her hands tilted. Her hood fell back. On either side of her face, wisps of hair fell to curl beneath her jaw. The face hidden by the mask looked like it was only the size of a human palm.

So it's a foolish little girl, the black-robed man thought. Pretending to be a wolf.

The three-edged blade curved around the walking stick and pierced straight at her stomach. Right now, Gan Qing's weight was on her left leg. The black-robed man could tell that she didn't have enough strength in one hand to knock the three-edged dagger away and could only dodge by using her left leg as a pivot. Hence, without waiting for her to move, his other three-edged dagger swept across, sealing off the space where she could dodge to!

But Gan Qing didn't dodge. She suddenly let go of the walking stick and ducked down. Like a spring, she curled up in a ball and the three-edged dagger just barely missed the top of her head. Then, before the others could see clearly, she suddenly sprang up again. In just one step, she was perched right before the black-robed man. The man let out an anguished shriek and one three-edged dagger fell to the ground—Gan Qing had stabbed a blade into his wrist that was holding that lethal weapon!

It was a double-ended blade. When one end was stabbed into the black-robed man's wrist, at the same time, the other end was pushing into Gan Qing's finger.

Her fingers were obviously also flesh and blood. How deep the blade was embedded in her opponent's wrist was also how deep it stabbed into her finger. Blood flowed out, trickling along the curve of her finger tips and soaking the cloth strips wrapping her hand but she seemed not to feel it at all. She carelessly wiped the blood on her palms and picked up the fallen three-edged dagger.

The fire illuminated her eyes. Both her eyes were cold and looked rather like the eyes of someone who did not care for their life.

For some unknown reason, the black-robed man shuddered. He charged forward with a roar, his three-edged dagger dancing up and down and confusing the eye. Gan Qing darted and weaved between the strikes, feet barely touching the ground, evading all the while.

The black-robed man shouted, "Kill her!"

This seemed to be a signal. His voice was still hanging in the air when Xu Shaowen suddenly poked his head out from where he was hiding behind a tree. He took out a illegally made gun from somewhere and fired at Gan Qing's back!

The firing of the gun was lost in the sound of explosions.

The car fire extinguishers in the police cars were as effective as throwing a cup of water on a cartful of burning firewood. The fire could not be stopped at all, the tongues of flames grew ever greedier.

Old Mr. Zhou had been locked into a solitary isolation room on the second floor. Along with the explosions, pieces of plaster fell non-stop from the ceiling. Outside, there was the jumbled sound of voices. He pounded on the door. "Is there anyone out there? Let me out!"

But, right now, it was too chaotic inside the building. No one noticed at all the noise he made pounding on the door. Very quickly, smoke started to seep into the room through the gaps of the door.

Han Dongsheng picked up a few bed sheets that were being dried in the garden and wetted them with water from the tap for watering plants. He carried them, together with a car fire extinguisher wedged under his arm, and detoured around the building to the side that was further from the kitchen. He jumped up and just managed to hang on to the window frame on the second floor.

His body was too heavy. The heart was willing but the body was incapable. Han Dongsheng sighed inwardly.

Right after that, the veins on his neck bulged out fiercely. He exerted all the strength he had in his arms and pulled himself up with nothing more than that. He smashed the glass on the window, tied the wet bed sheets into a rope and shouted at the panicked and directionless elderly. "This way!"

The police had also rushed over. Han Dongsheng grabbed an old man that was nearly scared into crying and pushed him directly to the window, tossing him out. Below, the police hurried to catch him.

Waves of heat billowed at him. Han Dongsheng took off his coat and sweater, and shouted at the elderly in a voice that was running out of strength. "Look for wet towels or wet clothes and cover your nose and mouth… cough…"

The confused old men and old ladies were like headless flies. They squeezed together in the narrow corridor and it seemed like there was going to be a stampede. Han Dongsheng held his breath and charged over. He grabbed these old people who had been knocked about until they seemed to have changed shape, one in each hand, and raced against time to send them outside.

The uncontrollable fire was growing bigger and bigger. A few Beggars' Sect disciples also charged over and helped to carry the people out. All the fat in Han Dongsheng's body was nearly cooked out of him and his face was smudged with black marks from the smoke and ash, yet his heart was even more agitated than his body—he still hadn't found Old Mr. Zhou!

"Dad!" Han Dongsheng passed the old lady in his hands to someone from the Beggars' Sect. He waded against the flow of the people and headed inside. "Are there any more people inside? Dad!"

Locked in the isolation room, Old Mr. Zhou lifted a wooden chair and smashed it against the door with all his might but the large door did not budge even an inch!

He thought of the qigong books he had read before. In this desperate situation, he tried to use the "internal energy" in his core but when he sucked in a huge breath, half of it was smoke and his entire body, core included, was thoroughly smoked. Old Mr. Zhou choked and coughed, his eyes tearing. His fingers scrabbled desperately at the gaps of the door. "Help, help… cough…"

It was strange. People like him, when they registered to join Paradise, they all felt that their lives were dull and bland, that there was nothing worth living for anymore. They just wanted to find a place where they could console themselves so that they wouldn't be so lonely as they walked towards death.

But when a disaster suddenly fell on them, these elderly people realised with a shock that they actually still had such a strong desire to live.

Old Mr. Zhou had inhaled smoke until his mind was befuddled. His fingernails were broken from his scrabbling and blood was coming out. Yet, he was still subconsciously scratching at the door with both hands.

A hazy thought emerged in his head. My Zhou-Zhou hasn't finished primary school yet.

Away from the fire, Gan Qing seemed to be quite familiar with these shameless methods. At the very second the black-robed man shouted, she had leaped away and the illegally made gun missed its target. Xu Shaowen cursed and was preparing to aim again when there was a pain on the back of his head—Old Master Yang had knocked him unconscious.

Old Yang panted heavily. He raised his head to look around, tense.

The black-robed man took the chance when Gan Qing was dodging the gun to seize the upper hand and was essentially pushing her back. The two three-edged daggers clashed in the air. The black-robed man swept his leg across. Gan Qing just barely managed to retreat out of the way. She stepped on the black-robed man's shin and at the same time, raised the three-edged dagger above her head and smashed it down on the man's head.

She was wearing a pair of old and worn shoes on her feet. They were very large, with very blocky and unfashionable square tips. The style even seemed to be men's style—the kind worn by middle-aged or old men.

The black-robed man raised his leg to shake her off. Right at that moment, from beneath Gan Qing's slovenly-looking shoes, a metal awl suddenly shot out. The black-robed man was basically stabbing his own leg on the awl!

That blood curdling shriek made even the experienced Sect Leader Yang shudder.

These two people—one fired a sniper's shot behind the other's back, the other hid mysteries beneath her feet. As the saying went, "The little demon is one foot tall, the big demon ten feet^[1]"; when competing, neither had a lower limit!

Gan Qing seized the black-robed man's uninjured arm. The little blade between her fingers made a slit like it was sewing. Without holding back, she snapped his tendons and bones, everything done smoothly in one breath.

Old Yang finally regained his voice. He shouted in a rush, "Don't kill him!"

His shout was just in time. Gan Qing's hand that was brushing against the man's throat paused. Her fingers curled back nimbly, breaking the skin on the man's throat, then curving around to the back of his neck and pounded down…

The black-robed man fell to the ground silently, one of his legs crippled.

Old Master Yang was still looking at her in shock. "You… You…"

Gan Qing avoided his eyes. She stretched her hand out to fiddle at her heel. The awl under her shoe fell out. She rubbed her feet against the ground to get rid of the blood, then glanced towards the chaotic scene of the fire. "I'll go take a look."

"Wait!" Old Yang called out.

Gan Qing turned a deaf ear to him. In an instant, she had slipped meters away.

"Dage! There's no one else inside! Hurry up and get out!" In the small building, two police officers carrying one elderly person each pulled Han Dongsheng. "The fire is spreading up! This building is all wood, it'll burn until it collapses!"

In a fluster, Han Dongsheng turned the faces of the two elderly people around—neither were Old Mr. Zhou. Without a word, he shook off the officers' hands and ran towards the smoke and fire.

The wet towels could temporarily cover his nose and mouth but could not cover his eyes. Both of Han Dongsheng's eyes were bloodshot. He searched everywhere around him, almost losing all hope.

Right then, he heard a weak scratching sound.

Han Dongsheng widened his eyes. He very quickly identified where the sound was coming from and hurried over. He crashed forcefully against the door a couple of times. "You inside, move away!"

However, Old Mr. Zhou had no more strength to move away. He couldn't even recognise his family member's voice. He slid down the door, delirious.

Han Dongsheng retreated a few steps, then ran up to the door. He curled his shoulders in and crashed his entire body against the door, throwing it open violently. The unconscious Old Mr. Zhou was also pushed away.

Han Dongsheng scrambled to him and reached out to check his breathing. In the chaotic scene, he could not sense anything conclusive. He lifted the old man onto his shoulders and ran outside.

Another round of explosions came from downstairs. The white fluorescent lights hanging from the corridor ceiling trembled and crashed down, but Han Dongsheng could no longer see clearly what was happening.

In an instant, a coat flew towards him and wrapped around the fluorescent tube in midair, crashing it against the wall with a bang. Han Dongsheng stumbled; someone held him up.

Through eyes that were filled with tears from the smoke, he saw clearly the person who had come. "You…"

On the ground below, the police were shouting and yelling. Gan Qing took the unconscious Old Mr. Zhou from him and pushed the old man out the window.

With a thunderous boom, half the building collapsed.

T/N:

[1] "小魔头高一尺，大魔头高一丈" (the little demon is one foot tall, the big demon ten feet) is a twist on the idiom "道高一尺，魔高一丈" which translates to "virtue is one foot tall, the devil ten feet." It refers to the need to always be vigilant to stave off evil, for every gain in one's cultivation, there will be even more interference from evil influences. Here, neither Gan Qing nor Black Robe are "virtuous," hence they are the "little demon" and the "big demon."