"KILL!!!!!!" Yan Liqiang howled in rage and charged towards Ye Tiancheng, the Prefectural Governor of Pingxi Prefecture and Mo Leng, whose finger had been bitten off by him, as well as a group of Pingxi City law enforcers...

Countless arrows pierced Yan Liqiang's body. Instead of feeling any pain, he only felt the fury burning within him...

Yan Liqiang held a kukri knife in one hand and shortsword in the other, vanquis.h.i.+ng everyone who stood in his way. Each and every single law enforcer and guard fell before him.

However, the silhouettes swarming around him were endless. The moment he killed one, another two instantly emerged.

Yan Liqiang snarled, his eyes bloodshot. There was only one thing on his mind— to rescue his father!

Yan Liqiang didn't know how long he been charging in to kill. Just when he was about to reach Mo Leng, the Pingxi Prefectural Governor Ye Tiancheng's thunderous laughter was heard. His figure instantly leaped off from the ground and transformed into a three-headed, six-armed monster. "You are nothing but a powerless peasant; the son of a blacksmith. How dare you fight against me. I am the Prefectural Governor of Pingxi Prefecture, an important figure of the Ye Clan from Gan Province. The entire Gan Province shall be the possession of our Ye Clan in the future. Killing you and your father will be as easy as crus.h.i.+ng an ant if I wish to do so. Your actions today have brought about your own destruction. I shall start with your father first. Mo Leng!"

At Ye Tiancheng's yell, Mo Leng gave Yan Liqiang a sinister smile before he slashed Yan Dechang with his sword.

When Yan Dechang collapsed, he yelled at Yan Liqiang, "RUN…!"

Everything was instantly stained crimson...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

...

Yan Liqiang screamed and instantly snapped open his eyes. When he woke up, he realized that he was already completely drenched in sweat, panting heavily and curled up beneath the eaves of the firewood room. The sky had just barely turned brighter and the air was still chilly...

It turned out to be just a dream!

However… Yan Liqiang touched his face, tears were already streaming down his face. The pain he felt in his heart was still so real and suffocating.

The pain of Yan Dechang's death would haunt Yan Liqiang forever. No matter how much time had pa.s.sed, Yan Liqiang couldn't help but to sink deeply into the self-blame and regret every time he remembered about all that had transpired on that fateful day...

If only his sense of righteousness wasn't so strong for him to pick a fight with those Shatu people… If only he didn't take those shortcuts that day… If only he wasn't that nosy that day… If only he didn't venture into that tunnel upon discovering it...

Would the final outcome be different? Would Yan Dechang still be alive now?

There were simply too many 'if's in Yan Liqiang's mind. However, all those 'if's had no place in reality.

This was the most heart-wrenching fact.

If he could choose again, Yan Liqiang was willing to do anything as long as Yan Dechang would still be alive.

Unfortunately, this was nothing but Yan Liqiang's wild wish.

"What are you yelling for, you d.a.m.n beggar?! I was startled by you! I'll beat you up if you wake the guests! Now, hurry up and scram!"

The staff of the inn woke up early and had started working. He was about to start a fire to prepare hot water in the kitchen for guests who woke up early. When that staff came to the firewood room to gather firewood and heard Yan Liqiang screaming in his dream outside, he couldn't help but come out from the rear exit to yell at him and even threaten to beat Yan Liqiang up.

Yan Liqiang wiped his tear-stained face. He stood up wordlessly then made his way towards the main street.

He had to become more powerful, only then there was hope to fell his enemies under his blade...

Yan Liqiang clenched his fists tightly...

The entire town had already woken up and people were getting ready for a day of work to earn a living. Yan Liqiang followed the path he took yesterday and left the small town. When he arrived at the main road outside, he used his tree branch as a walking cane and slowly walked towards Hu Provincial City.

The road between the small town and Hu Provincial City was only six to seven thousand meters at most; not too far. Yan Liqiang kept walking for about two hours before he found himself outside of Hu Provincial City once again by the time the sun had completely risen.

The city gates of Hu Provincial City were wide open, with endless traffic flowing through it. Vegetable sellers and traders were lining up at the city entrance, ready to enter the city.

Unexpectedly, Yan Liqiang noticed a few others dressed similarly like himself— their clothes were in tatters. The beggars with dusty faces were also queueing up to get into the city, It seemed like they were going in to beg for food. They'd probably get more food in the city than outside.

Apart from a group of soldiers at the city entrance, two other men in their thirties were scanning each and everyone who entered the city with their bloodshot eyes.

The clothes they wore were completely the same as the other two men who were in Wu Tao's company last night. Not only their attire but even their auras were similar. These two men who stood guard at the city entrance exuded a similarly brave and ruthless aura as those thugs at the marketplace.

It took Yan Liqiang only a glance to figure out that both of them who stood guard at the city entrance were either waiting for himself or another three people. He was guessing that these people from the Rising Moon Tower were probably panicking because Wu Tao and the other two never returned since last night.

When Yan Liqiang followed the rest into the city and came face to face with them, both of them only took a single glance at Yan Liqiang before treating him like air and continued their conversation in a soft voice.

"You think Wu Tao will be alright with Laoshu and Zeimao? I heard Master Zhu had personally led others to search for them over hundred li but there were still no sights of them...:"

"Who knows? Putting aside Wu Tao, Laoshu and Zeimao are both good fighters. They have never blinked when they stabbed someone and never failed in carrying out those kinds of tasks. With both of them around, it's unlikely three adult men can be outmatched by a fourteen or fifteen-year-old youth…"

"To h.e.l.l with this! I've already stood here for more than a few hours. My feet are going numb..."

"I heard the youth from last evening was someone Young Master Fu had seen by coincidence at the marketplace yesterday. He was at a restaurant that time when he instantly spotted the youth downstairs, so he sent Wu Tao over to approach him. This was the first time he failed to get the person Young Master Fu requested for. I heard he flew into a terrible rage later that evening..."

"Young Master Fu is the most important patron of our Rising Moon Tower. How can anyone afford to offend him?!"

...

While eavesdropping on the conversation of those thugs behind him, Yan Liqiang stopped in front of the city entrance fee collection box and produced three copper coins from his sleeve. He deposited the coins into the box and then entered Hu Provincial City unhindered.

The city before him was quite a risky place. However, compared to the risks he might face, he was much more unwilling to pa.s.s up the opportunity to join the Soul Mountain Sect.

If he didn't join these major sects and get the backing of these influential parties, how would it be possible for an ordinary person without anything like him, to learn advanced martial skills and secret techniques? Without advanced martial skills and secret techniques, his so-called 'revenge' would remain nothing but a dream forever...

For the sake of this chance, Yan Liqiang was willing to take the risk.

...

The moment he pa.s.sed through the city gates of Hu Provincial City, Yan Liqiang was greeted by a very crowded and lively street. Both sides of the street were filled with richly ornamented grand buildings at least seven stories high. On the streets, pedestrians and horse carriages used separate lanes. The wide traffic lanes were enough to fit ten horse carriages side by side. The merchandises sold in the shops by the roadside were a dazzling array of beautiful exhibits which contained everything anyone possibly needed. Quite a number of merchants hired performers to put on various kind of sideshows at their shop entrances for the sake of attracting customers.

The prosperity of Hu Provincial City exceeded Pingxi City by nearly tenfolds.

Yan Liqiang wandered around Hu Provincial City without attracting any attention. His appearance convinced everyone that he was nothing more than a beggar so no one spared an extra glance at him.

...

After an hour, Yan Liqiang found himself in a relatively quiet street in Hu Provincial City and spotted a boutique which sold various ready-made clothes, shoes, and hats for men.

There were no other customers in the shop except for a fat shopkeeper who stood by the counter beside the shop entrance. He was anxiously watching the pedestrians on the street.

Yan Liqiang took a single glance at the goods in the shop before he walked in.

"Get out, get out, get out…" The moment the fat shopkeeper saw Yan Liqiang came in, his face twisted in disgust. He instantly came out from behind the counter and chased Yan Liqiang outside in annoyance. "It's still early in the morning. Not even a customer has come in and you are already here to beg for food. You're bringing bad luck!"

"Who said I am here to beg for food?" Yan Liqiang shot the shopkeeper a glare before he took out a few taels of silver and slammed them loudly against the countertop. "I am here to shop for clothes."

Upon seeing the few taels of silver, the shopkeeper's face instantly changed. A smile immediately appeared across his face and his anger had completely dissipated. "Well then! Welcome, welcome! Everyone is a customer, everyone is a customer…"

A variety of ready-made clothes were available in the store, ranging from those made with low-grade coa.r.s.e materials to high-grade silk gowns. High, medium, low quality— they had them all.

It took Yan Liqiang only a short while to pick a set of outfit for himself from head to toe.

"How much for everything?"

The shopkeeper calculated with his abacus noisily. "These clothes, shoes, socks, and headwear are finest in our humble little shop. If you are buying them all, I will give you a discount and waive the little remainder of 17 copper coins. Therefore, that will make a grand total of three taels, nine maces and six candareens of silver for everything."

Three taels, nine maces and six candareens of silver. Although it didn't sound that much, it wasn't cheap but very pricey instead. In this era, five or six taels of silver were quite enough for an average family of four to live for a year. The cost of this outfit Yan Liqiang had picked was enough for an average family to live for half a year.

"Can I change in this shop?"

"Of course you can. There are two changing rooms right behind there…" The shopkeeper replied promptly.

"Good, I shall pay you four taels of silver, you may keep the change. I need only two buckets of water to be sent to the changing room as I will take a bath and freshen up here."

"W-Well… I'm afraid our humble little shop cannot provide that much hot water under such a short notice…"

"Cold water will do…"

This much water was hardly worth any money as it could easily be obtained from the well in the backyard. When the shopkeeper thought about how he was able to earn a few candareens of silver just by delivering two buckets of water without going through much trouble, a smile instantly broke into his face as he immediately nodded to the request.

...