Free Web NovelChapter 116: Chapter 115: Toad Palace, Gratitude, Money in the Fish’s Belly
The Man with a Yellow Face leaped from one stack of goods to another like an ape. Below, the Patrol Police scrambled to keep up, while more armed officers emerged from all sides.
Gunshots rang out continuously. Bullets nipped at his heels, striking the stacks of crates and gouging out countless splinters of wood.
Suddenly, a black net shot out from a corner beneath the crates. Caught off guard, the man was ensnared, his evasive rhythm momentarily broken.
Then, more black nets flew out.
Each of these black nets was interwoven with iron wire, so tough that three or five strong men couldn’t tear one apart. They were also covered in barbs, making escape nearly impossible once entangled.
In the blink of an eye, the Man with a Yellow Face was completely cocooned by the layers of black nets.
"He’s netted! Fire!"
A Patrol Police officer who looked like a captain roared. In that instant, all gun barrels turned in the same direction and spat fire simultaneously.
"BANG BANG BANG BANG—!"
A waterfall of bullets.
The bullets sparked brilliantly against the black wire nets, but most passed through the mesh, burying themselves solidly into the gray figure within.
The figure instantly began to shudder violently, like a torn burlap sack in a gale....
When the gunfire paused and the smoke began to clear, everyone stared intently at the "iron cocoon" formed by the tangled black nets. The figure within was on one knee, head hanging, completely still, as if he had been riddled with holes.
Suddenly.
"CREAK... CRACKLE....."
A grating sound of metal being forcibly twisted echoed.
The captain’s expression changed. Before he could react and order them to fire, the "iron cocoon" on the ground abruptly shot into the air and then exploded with a loud BANG.
"Hah..."
He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva. Before it even hit the ground, a gray shadow had already charged into the crowd.
In an instant, screams and blood erupted in unison. The armed Patrol Police fell in droves, like wheat cut down by a scythe.
Wherever the gray shadow passed, broken guns and severed limbs flew through the air. Blood splattered wantonly across the dusty wharf ground as if it were free.
The once-orderly encirclement instantly fell into chaos. The lead Patrol Police captain’s face was ashen as he rapidly backed away, unsure for a moment whether to order a retreat or to open fire.
"Scraps of metal... and you think you can kill me?"
After a bout of carnage, the gray shadow in the center of the field came to a sudden stop.
The gray padded jacket the Man with a Yellow Face had been wearing was now in tatters, revealing a physique of gnarled muscles that looked as if they were cast from fine steel.
He was not unscathed. Numerous bullet holes on his body were still oozing blood, yet he stood tall with a ferocious expression. His blood-lust soared to the heavens, and an aura of absolute tyrannical power enveloped the entire area.
Compared to his previous appearance, he was like a completely different person.
All the blue-uniformed men and Patrol Police involved in the encirclement were intimidated by the man’s presence. Their faces were pale, and despite their superior numbers, not a single one dared to step forward. The so-called containment circle even showed signs of breaking apart.
The man sneered, tossed aside the crushed gun barrel in his hand, and was about to look for a chance to escape again.
Just then, an ice-cold voice drifted over with the frigid wind on the wharf.
"The golden wind has yet to stir... It seems you have a close relationship with Jin Jianyue of the overseas Hong Jun."
"You were the only one to survive from that entire ship. You do have some skill."
The man’s expression froze, and he looked toward the source of the voice.
He saw the surrounding crowd automatically part to the sides as a pale-skinned man in his thirties, holding a slender whip, slowly walked in.
The man was of medium build and rather ordinary looks, but his attire was quite peculiar—he wore a long queue that reached past his waist and a Profound-black ceremonial robe in the style of the previous dynasty’s court.
Embroidered on the robe, however, was not a dragon-like python, but a massive Purple toad.
"Toad Palace?!"
Seeing this person, the Man with a Yellow Face’s gaze gradually hardened.
He took a deep breath, and without a moment’s hesitation, his figure shot out diagonally to one side like a kite with a broken string, at an incredible speed.
The man in the black robe had a cold and indifferent expression, showing not the slightest concern about the other man’s attempt to flee.
He unhurriedly gave chase in the direction the man had fled, but vanished after just a few steps. To the eyes of the nearby Patrol Police captain and the others, it was as if he had disappeared into thin air.
A few breaths later, a horrified and furious roar came from the Southeast direction of the wharf: "You’re in the Gratitude Sensing Realm?!"
Immediately after, the man in the black robe, who had vanished, returned.
His slender whip was now fully extended. With a casual tug, there was a dull THUD, and the Man with a Yellow Face who had fled earlier was slammed heavily onto the ground.
The Man with a Yellow Face was now a bloody mess from head to toe. His face, in particular, had been completely whipped to a pulp, his features almost indistinguishable. He looked like a pile of minced meat with blood constantly bubbling out from underneath. Some of the surrounding officers who saw this couldn’t help but vomit on the spot.
One end of the whip was wrapped around the Man with a Yellow Face’s neck, digging in deeply.
The man in black flicked his wrist, and the slender whip immediately retracted like a sentient snake. He then took out a white handkerchief and began to wipe it clean, bit by bit.
"Send someone over to listen..."
The man in black said calmly to the Patrol Police captain beside him while wiping his whip, "What’s he saying?"
"Oh... oh, yes!"
"Lord Yu has spoken! Hurry up and go!"
The dumbfounded Patrol Police captain was suddenly jolted to his senses. He quickly called over an officer and gave the order.
The young officer leaned down close to the Man with a Yellow Face on the ground and listened for a long while. Only after the man had breathed his last did the officer walk back, frowning.
"What did that fellow say before he died?"
"It sounded like... ’Fisher... man...’"
"Fisherman? What fisherman?"
The young officer’s face lit up as if he had figured something out. "I get it! Not fisherman! It’s *fish’s belly*!
He said, ’Money in the Fish’s Belly!’"
"BANG!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the young officer’s head suddenly burst like a watermelon.
Red and white matter—blood and brains—splattered all over the Patrol Police captain. Caught completely off guard, he stood there in a stupor, watching blankly as the headless corpse slowly toppled over.
"So completely ignorant of the rules."
The man in black looked at the slender whip in his hand, then glanced up at the crowd of Patrol Police and blue-uniformed men surrounding them. He frowned slightly, as if weighing some decision.
A moment later, he seemed to have abandoned whatever he was considering. He lightly flicked the newly bloodstained whip, shook his head, and sighed softly, "Now I have to wipe it all over again."
With that, he slowly walked out of the crowd. Just as he had arrived, he vanished in the blink of an eye.
On the vast, open ground of the wharf, there were bodies everywhere and patches of blood.
Including the Patrol Police captain, everyone involved in the capture stood frozen in place like clay statues, unable to recover from the series of shocks and horrors for a long time.
Until at last, the leaden clouds, like water-soaked cotton, could no longer contain their deep, bottomless gloom.
A bone-chilling wind suddenly began to blow.
Someone slowly raised their head, gazing at the dark sky as gray-white flakes rustled down, and murmured.
"It’s... it’s snowing..."
.....
"CREAK—"
The heavy, rusted iron door of a prison cell was slowly pushed open from the outside, and a tall, slender figure strolled in.
Hearing the sound, a man with disheveled hair, half his body shrouded in shadow beneath the cell’s small, barred window, set down the meat and wine in his hands and slowly, inch by inch, raised his head.
