Xiangzi’s Record of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 96: The Night Is Perfect for Killing

“They were your sons too.”
The anguished words drifted in the night breeze.
Fourth Master Liu froze, his cloudy eyes filled with disbelief. He’d thought Liu Quan betrayed him to climb onto the Li family’s coattails, but never expected this outburst.
“I, Liu Quan, followed you at eleven, fighting across the south to seize Harmony Rickshaw Yard,” Liu Quan said, hair disheveled, eyes red, face etched with sorrow. “At thirteen, when you made me your adopted son,
I thought I had a home.
”
“I fought for your empire, willing to die for it…”
He stepped closer to Liu, breath ragged, trembling like a leaf in the wind. “But after my injury, you stripped me of the second-tier courtyard! Later…
even Liu Hu could lord over me!
”
“Traitor! Traitor!” Liu roared, voice harsh, blood pulsing from his chest wound.
His voice was hoarse, like a broken gong.
“Traitor?” Liu Quan’s graying temples quivered in the wind, his expression cold. “Let me ask you, Fourth Master—
was Liu Hu a traitor? Was Liu Tang?
”
“With a foster father like you, what else could I be but a traitor?”
At the names “Liu Hu” and “Liu Tang,” Liu’s eyes dimmed.
In an instant, the once-fierce rickshaw boss seemed to age decades.
—
“Enough with this tabloid drama,” Shi Cheng yawned lazily, brushing dust from his sleeve, impatience on his face. He urged Liu Quan, “Finish him and find that ledger. The young master said,
dead or alive, the ledger must be secured.
”
If not for the young master’s orders, would a ninth-rank major achievement martial master bother with such filth?
Liu Quan bowed hastily, forcing a smile. “Master Cheng, don’t worry. This old thing’s too cautious to trust anyone. The ledger’s surely on him!”
Turning, his smile vanished.
Without a word, he flipped his wrist, the long blade plunging into Liu’s heart with a
pfft
.
Blood sprayed as the blade withdrew.
For the first time, Liu Quan looked down at the dying old man. “For raising me, I’ll make it quick.”
As Liu’s eyelids drooped, Liu Quan reached into his robes, then froze. “The ledger?
It’s not here!
”
Realizing something, he whipped his head toward the street’s end—
no trace of that iron-tower figure.
“Damn it! It’s with Girl Hu!” Liu Quan shouted, furious.
Shi Cheng’s pupils narrowed. “How far can a wounded woman run? Chase her!”
His figure blurred into a gray streak in the night.
Liu Quan gritted his teeth and followed, knowing if he didn’t secure the ledger, the young master wouldn’t spare him.
He cursed inwardly:
If I’d known Girl Hu was that tough, I’d have shot more arrows!
The group scattered, leaving Qingfeng Street silent, save for the two Li family guards staring blankly.
Master Cheng had ordered them to stay at the yard to prevent trouble. With everyone chasing Girl Hu, they were left idle.
“Old Zhang, what now? Nap in the yard?” the younger guard nudged his companion.
Old Zhang spat, grumbling, “Sleep? The bedding stinks of axle grease.”
“We’re cursed! First Li Gui’s mess, now this rotten job!”
As he ranted, his eyes caught the corpse, and they lit up.
They say Liu was a miner-turned-boss. Maybe…
The two exchanged a glance, chuckling.
The younger guard crouched, searching Liu’s body but finding nothing. “Tch, some boss!
Not a single valuable!
”
His eyes locked on Liu’s thumb—the jade thumb ring glowed faintly.
Grinning, he yanked it off.
The emerald ring was clearly exceptional, shimmering in the night.
Rubbing the still-warm ring, the young guard’s face lit with joy, shouting, “Old Zhang, come look! I’m not seeing things—this old dog had treasure!”
Old Zhang approached.
Suddenly, he froze, eyes wide, shouting, “Watch out!”
The young guard turned, following Old Zhang’s gaze—to Liu’s dust-covered face.
The lifeless face twitched, tiger-like eyes snapping open!
A copper dagger shot from Liu’s hand, its cold light aimed at the guard’s throat!
—
Under the faint moonlight, from a high perch, Xiangzi watched Liu strike as expected, a faint smirk on his lips.
Is that it?
Shi Cheng and Liu Quan, seasoned as they were, didn’t know to finish a kill?
Xiangzi noted this—
this world’s martial artists have bodies far tougher than in my past life.
Especially someone like Liu, rich enough to hone his muscles and bones with elixirs.
Xiangzi had known Liu wasn’t dead.
Thanks to his mule-and-horse trade skill [Chase Mountains, Hunt Moon], he’d easily tracked Liu’s group.
[Skill: Chase Mountains, Hunt Moon]
[With this skill, you excel at running, unaffected by terrain, with greatly enhanced lower body strength.]
This trade skill outshone the movement techniques of ordinary martial artists.
When Liu turned into Baiyun Street, Xiangzi, trailing far behind, spotted the Li family’s hidden guards with his uncanny vision.
Now, perched on a tall locust tree, his figure was concealed by dense leaves, only a corner of his robe occasionally visible in the breeze.
He wasn’t worried about being seen.
Who’d be bored enough to stare at a tree?
So Xiangzi boldly watched the drama unfold on Baiyun Street.
At first, he was impatient.
Impatient that Liu hadn’t died yet—this play dragged on.
Impatient that the two Li family guards might chase Girl Hu.
Thankfully, they stayed, and Xiangzi’s heart settled.
To avoid suspicion, they wore plain pullers’ tunics, their faces weary, lacking the arrogance from the night they’d prodded Wen San’s head with spears.
Xiangzi took a deep breath—the scent of locust blossoms mingling with the chilly breeze sharpened his senses.
His gaze cut through the hazy night, a curve forming on his lips:
The night is perfect for killing!