With his main goal of purchasing the Evil Skill Secret Manual accomplished, Zou Feng had no intention of lingering in the Ghost Market.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he had the constant feeling that someone was watching him from the shadows.
Although the Ghost Market surely had more interesting things to see, it seemed more prudent to hurry back and cultivate.
Especially the Chaos Finger—that Cultivation Skill was truly powerful.
'Maybe after I cultivate it to the Great Success realm, I'll be on par with that man from my past life known as the "Divine Hand".'
'Even more powerful than him, in fact.'
'When that time comes, with just one poke of my finger, my opponent would probably erupt like a fountain on the spot…'
Without further delay, Zou Feng strode quickly toward the Ghost Market's exit.
His journey was uneventful, right up until he stepped outside the Ghost Market.
He hadn't run into any trouble inside the Ghost Market, but to his surprise, someone called out to him the moment he was outside.
"A moment, if you please!"
Zou Feng wasn't flustered at being suddenly called out to.
Although he had left the Ghost Market, he wasn't far from the entrance, so there were bound to be lookouts from the Danxin Alliance and the Black Flood Dragon Gang watching from the shadows.
Turning his head, Zou Feng saw a simple, honest-looking young man.
He didn't look like he knew any Martial Arts.
"What is it?"
Zou Feng asked, his voice hoarse and his tone displeased.
As he spoke, Zou Feng's palms had already taken on a dark, bruised hue.
The cloyingly sweet fragrance around him grew stronger.
He was trying to project the image of a ruthless, volatile, and irritable man of few words.
Seeing this, the young man's face paled. He hurriedly waved his hands. "Please, calm down! I just wanted to ask… do you take commissions?"
"Commissions?"
The honest-looking young man nodded. "Yes. I can see that you must cultivate... Poison Skills. So, I was hoping to hire you to... kill... kill someone..."
"You must have a way to poison someone so it looks like they died from an illness, right? Something the forensic doctor won't be able to trace?"
'Huh. So he wants to hire me to send someone on their way and make it look like an "accidental death by illness"?'
'But when you hire an assassin, aren't you supposed to go through a professional middleman in the black market...?'
'After all, that's the only way to have some guarantee. It's the proper way to go about it.'
'Could it be this guy is too cheap to pay more and let a middleman take their cut?'
When Zou Feng neither spoke nor immediately refused, the honest-looking young man sensed an opportunity.
"So, will you take the job?"
"Rest assured, the target isn't a Martial Artist, and he's already in poor health."
"I... I'm willing to pay... ten taels. How does ten taels sound?"
Zou Feng sneered inwardly.
'What a cheapskate,' he thought. 'Only ten taels of silver, and he has the nerve to demand it look like a "death by illness".'
'No wonder this guy didn't search inside the Ghost Market, choosing instead to try his luck at the entrance…'
'However…'
"Twenty taels," Zou Feng said in a low voice. "We go now. You pay me the moment he stops breathing!"
The honest-looking young man was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, twenty taels!"
"The moment he's dead, I'll pay you. You won't be short a single copper coin!"
'Clearly, this young man had already made inquiries at the black market.'
'A commission like his would cost at least thirty taels, and the middleman would charge an extra five taels of silver on top of that.'
'So, thirty-five taels in total. The expense was too much for him to stomach.'
'Luckily, he considered himself clever enough to skip the middleman and find a suitable candidate on his own.'
'Getting it done for twenty taels now was an absolute steal.'
"Lead the way!"
Zou Feng's tone was as impatient as ever, his urging loud and sharp.
He put on an air of eagerness, as if he wanted to finish the job, take the money, and be on his way.
The young man flinched at the shout, but he immediately began to scurry ahead.
"Oh, right, this way..."
"It's not far, just over on Xing'an Old Street."
The young man could hardly hide his excitement as he led the way.
Clearly, he stood to gain a great deal once the man "died by accident."
The two of them quickly left the shantytown, arriving at a small path along the riverbank.
To one side stood towering reeds.
"Is this person you want killed an enemy of yours?"
Zou Feng, who had been silent the whole time while posing as an expert, suddenly asked an unexpected question.
By this point, the honest-looking young man was completely lost in a pleasant fantasy of what would happen after the deed was done.
Hearing the question, he answered subconsciously, "I don't have any major grudge against my older brother, it's just... his wife is so alluring. I just can't..."
He trailed off, catching himself, and quickly fell silent.
'He didn't need to say any more. It was easy enough to guess the truth of the matter.'
'To covet his own sister-in-law to the point of madness.'
'A man whose lust makes him fearless. What a talent! It's a shame he hasn't joined the Demon Dao!'
"Is his wife really that beautiful?" Zou Feng asked with a wicked grin.
The question played right into the young man's nature.
"Heh heh, well, she's not what you'd call a peerless beauty, but her figure is absolutely intoxicating…"
"Er, why do you ask?" The young man turned, a trace of suspicion finally dawning in his eyes.
Zou Feng's smile widened. "Isn't it obvious? I was just looking for an excuse to kill you for your money!"
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. Actually... I'm a good person!"
The words had barely left his lips when his Five Poison Palm slammed heavily into the young man's chest.
"GAAH!!"
With a pained wail, the young man was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the dense reeds.
"You... you..."
The poison still needed time to take effect, so he didn't die instantly.
Zou Feng was rather annoyed by this.
'Tsk, in terms of striking power alone, the Five Poison Palm is seriously pathetic!'
'And this lecherous fiend was truly as stupid as he was evil.'
'He didn't even stop to think. Why would someone like me, a proper member of the Evil Dao, go to all that trouble just to earn his little fee?'
'I could just kill him, and the money would be mine all the same.'
'As for whether this guy had the money on him…'
'Zou Feng had already tested that right from the start.'
'When he demanded immediate payment after the job was done, the fellow had agreed without a moment's hesitation.'
'Therefore, the silver was most likely on his person.'
"In your next life, remember this," Zou Feng taunted. "If you're going to hire an assassin, it's safer to just let the middleman take his cut."
Unfortunately, the young man could no longer respond. The poison had already spread rapidly through his body, causing him to bleed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
After another muffled wail, the young man's legs kicked out, and he went completely limp.
'So, from the moment the Poison Palm lands to the moment of death… it takes about three breaths' time?'
'But even if they're alive for those three breaths, they're completely incapable of fighting back.'
'Even a Martial Artist who has cultivated to the Entering the Hall and the Room realm, as long as they haven't reached an Entering Grade, couldn't possibly suppress the poison while continuing to fight me.'
'So as long as my opponent takes one solid palm strike, I can practically pop the champagne in advance!'
All the while, Zou Feng had been silently calculating the time.
After all, this was the first time he had killed someone with the Five Poison Palm.
'In his past life, he'd read in novels and seen in movies that killing someone was supposed to bring on some strong sense of unease…'
'But now, having experienced it firsthand, he felt nothing at all.'
'He was even a little excited, now that he'd verified the power of the Five Poison Palm.'
'So, even with the side effects of his Cultivation transferred away, was he still heading down the path of becoming a complete psychopath?'
"Kekeke…"