Chapter 91: Panic and Franticness

At the western suburb crematorium, Su Jingxing and his partner Kong Dabao began their day's work, hauling corpses.

Naturally, there were not many bodies that early in the morning, and the two of them finished quickly.

Finding a corner, Kong Dabao took out his phone and urged Su Jingxing to play a game with him.

Su Jingxing was just about to refuse when sudden commotion rose from the front yard.

"Another incident?" Kong Dabao, still holding his phone, looked up.

"I'll go take a look." Seizing the chance, Su Jingxing slipped away and strode toward the front yard.

"Together, together." Kong Dabao hurried after him from behind.

When they reached the front yard, what they saw was not a quarrel or a fight, but a crowd surrounding the corpse transport cart that had just returned from a run outside, shouting in alarm.

Among them were both crematorium employees and relatives of the deceased who had come to say goodbye.

"What happened? Dalong, what happened?" Kong Dabao grabbed an acquaintance and asked curiously.

"Ouyang Qinhu! The body in the cart is Ouyang Qinhu!" Dalong said, his face flushed with excitement.

"Ouyang Qinhu?" Kong Dabao froze. "You mean the Black Tiger Gang chief, the fifth-rank master, Ouyang Qinhu?"

"Who else could it be?" Dalong rubbed his hands together, inexplicably thrilled. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ouyang Qinhu is actually dead. A master like him died just like that!"

"Found a corpse. Pick up?" "Yes."

"He died like that? How did Ouyang Qinhu die?" Su Jingxing asked.

"He was killed in three moves!" Dalong replied, animated. "Early this morning, a swordsman named Nie Renchou stormed the Black Tiger Gang headquarters, saying he wanted to see Ouyang Qinhu. When Ouyang Qinhu rushed over in a hurry, Nie Renchou drew his sword and challenged him without a word. In the end, Ouyang Qinhu blocked only two moves before Nie Renchou cut him down!"

"It's said the scene was terrifying. Before anyone else could even see what had happened, Ouyang Qinhu was already lying on the ground, a line of blood on his neck, dead with his eyes still open!"

"This..." Kong Dabao's eyes went wide as he listened. "Is that real?"

"Would I lie to you?" Dalong pointed at the corpse cart and raised his voice. "The body has already been brought back. How could it be fake?"

Just then, the person who had gone to fetch the handcart returned, opened the rear door of the corpse transport vehicle, and moved the body out onto the cart.

"Old Ma, open the bag and let us see."

"Exactly. We need to make sure whether it's really Ouyang Qinhu before we know if it's true."

"Open it! Open it!"

"..."

The onlookers heckled the two body movers, urging them to open the shroud bag.

"This... isn't that proper, is it?" Old Ma hesitated.

"What's improper about it?" Dalong rushed over in a single stride, yanked open the bag, and revealed a face familiar to everyone present.

Black Tiger Gang chief, fifth-rank master, Ouyang Qinhu!

"Damn it, it really is Ouyang Qinhu. It really is him!"

Kong Dabao cried out in shock, unable to believe his eyes. "Ouyang Qinhu was actually killed so easily? Could that Nie Renchou be a fourth-rank expert?"

"No idea."

Dalong was brimming with excitement. "According to the news that came through, that Nie Renchou seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. No one knows where he came from. All anyone knows is that his swordsmanship is extremely formidable, and when he challenged Ouyang Qinhu, he struck with killing intent from the very first move."

"Hah, no matter how good his swordsmanship is, if his realm isn't high enough, how could he kill Ouyang Qinhu? I don't believe it. That Nie Renchou must at least be sixth rank!"

"Exactly. Without sixth-rank cultivation, you can't even release sword energy, let alone kill someone."

"I'm very curious—was Nie Renchou hired by Ouyang Qinhu's enemies?"

"Why don't you say that Nie Renchou himself had a grudge against Ouyang Qinhu?"

"Tsk, Ouyang Qinhu's dead. Doesn't that mean the Black Tiger Gang is finished too?"

"How could it be finished? If Ouyang Qinhu is gone, can't someone else take his place? Of course, the more likely outcome is that the Black Tiger Gang will split apart and break into several smaller gangs."

"..."

Seeing it with their own eyes and confirming that it was indeed Ouyang Qinhu himself, the crowd grew even more excited, and the noise at the scene swelled louder and louder.

It could hardly be blamed on them for making such a fuss. After all, a master of Ouyang Qinhu's level being publicly slain was the sort of thing one might not witness even once in several years.

To have suddenly run into it like this, the impact was overwhelming.

Fifth rank—not sixth rank, not seventh rank.

In the city and its surroundings, a fifth-rank martial artist was a figure of real importance.

Someone of that level was far removed from ordinary people and low-tier warriors.

Not to mention that in recent days, several branch strongholds of the Black Tiger Gang had been wiped out one after another, and Ouyang Qinhu, as the gang chief, was at the height of his fame.

And now he had suddenly died, and was slain in fewer than three moves.

It would have been difficult not to cause a sensation!

Kong Dabao, Dalong, and Old Ma were all long-time crematorium workers, yet this was the first time they had ever seen—and helped carry—the corpse of someone of Ouyang Qinhu's stature.

Their excitement was only natural.

Among everyone present, only Su Jingxing showed little outward reaction. Standing off to the side, he was lost in thought.

To Kong Dabao, Dalong, and the others, news of Ouyang Qinhu's death was shocking.

But in Su Jingxing's eyes, there was nothing surprising about it. Ouyang Qinhu was indeed fifth rank, but under a surprise attack, the odds of killing him were high.

If it were Su Jingxing, he could also kill Ouyang Qinhu in three moves, just as Nie Renchou did.

Compared with that, Su Jingxing cared far more about the treasure in Ouyang Qinhu's hands.

One of the Black Tiger Gang's branch strongholds had been destroyed because of that treasure.

The backer behind Ouyang Qinhu had wanted that treasure as well.

Now that Ouyang Qinhu was dead, there were far too many hidden mysteries behind the matter.

Who had sent Nie Renchou to kill him?

An enemy of Ouyang Qinhu? The force backing him? Some power hoping to seize the treasure?

Or, more bluntly, had Nie Renchou killed Ouyang Qinhu precisely in order to take the treasure?

All manner of possibilities existed.

Especially since less than ten minutes had passed after Ouyang Qinhu's body was carried into the morgue.

Sun Ye, who shared the same backer as Ouyang Qinhu and had hidden ties behind the scenes, rushed over to the crematorium in a panic, stormed into the morgue, drove Su Jingxing, Kong Dabao, and the others out, and used an excuse of conducting an autopsy to remain alone inside.

The chief of the western district branch of the Martial Suppression Division personally conducting an autopsy?

A pretext like that was more than sufficient.

Kong Dabao, who had been driven out, grumbled inwardly with considerable disdain.

Su Jingxing only smiled and said nothing.

Others did not know the reason, but Su Jingxing did.

Sun Ye had been thrown into a panic and had lost his head. In his haste, he had forgotten everything else and acted unnaturally.

Ouyang Qinhu's death did not matter. What mattered was who obtained the treasure in his possession.

Had that treasure now fallen into Nie Renchou's hands?

Or had Ouyang Qinhu, prepared in advance, given it to Shen Xinlan, who was connected to him?

Su Jingxing was rather curious.

Amid the uproar, he found an opportunity to take out the card he had picked up from Ouyang Qinhu's body, held it in his hand, and read the information.

The result made his eyes light up.