Three days later, the Hour of the Rat.
Nighttime in the City of Chaos did not bring silence, but rather the beginning of another life—a life of worldly desires, greed, and blood. The eastern district, the territory of the Crazy Sand Gang, was the loudest and most bustling. Bright red lanterns hung high, illuminating streets packed with people. Laughter, the clattering of dice, and excited shouts from the gambling dens echoed everywhere.
Among them, the largest and most luxurious gambling den was named the "Golden Coin Pavilion." This was a three-story building, magnificently decorated, with two massive stone lions guarding the entrance, each holding a gold coin in its jaws. This place was the fattest "pig trough," the primary financial source for the entire Crazy Sand Gang.
Tonight, the casino was as crowded as usual. Hundreds of gamblers, ranging from wandering rogue cultivators to wealthy merchants, were deeply engrossed at the betting tables. Their eyes were bloodshot as they howled in the intoxication of wealth. They had no idea that outside this clamor, an invisible net had quietly been cast.
A wandering wine peddler trudged back and forth in front of the Golden Coin Pavilion. A drunken beggar lay curled up in a dark alley across the street. A carriage driver waited patiently for customers at the end of the road. They were Blood Fiend Guards. They were waiting.
Right at the third watch, when the atmosphere inside the casino reached its boiling point, a cart carrying dried goods suddenly overturned right in the middle of the main street in front of the Golden Coin Pavilion, completely blocking the path.
This was the signal.
Inside the casino, at a Sic Bo table, two burly men suddenly got into an argument.
"Motherfucker! You dare cheat!"
"When did your father cheat? You don't have the money to pay up so you're trying to play tricks?"
Bam! A punch was thrown. A brawl instantly erupted. Tables and chairs went flying. The two men, who were also Blood Fiend Guards, did not strike to kill; they merely used incredibly ferocious moves, intentionally creating the largest possible chaos.
"Someone is causing trouble! Hurry!" Over twenty Crazy Sand Gang guards stationed around the premises were immediately drawn in, rushing over like a tide to quell the disturbance.
This was the stratagem of "Beating the Grass to Scare the Snake". The snake had been startled.
While all attention on the first floor was focused on the brawl, up on the third floor, within the most luxurious private room, the Third Vice Boss of the Crazy Sand Gang—a pockmarked man at the early Foundation Establishment stage—was embracing two beautiful women, enjoying fine wine. Hearing the commotion below, he merely furrowed his brows in disdain. "A bunch of bugs. Quell the riot and throw their corpses outside."
He was completely unaware that out in the corridor, a black shadow had silently appeared.
Tran Kien, or Faceless.
He had taken advantage of the chaos, utilizing the skills of an assassin to easily infiltrate the top floor. He did not conceal his aura. His mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation base quietly rippled outward.
The pockmarked Vice Boss suddenly felt a chilling sensation down his spine. Horrified, he hurriedly pushed the two beauties aside and drew the massive broadsword next to him. "Who is it?!"
The wooden doors were shattered to pieces by a wave of formless invisible qi. Faceless, wearing his bamboo hat and black cloak, quietly stepped inside. The dull black saber in his hand, under the light of the lanterns, radiated an impossibly deadly, frigid gleam.
"You... who are you?" the pockmarked man panicked. The aura of this intruder was even stronger than his own!
Faceless did not reply. He gave the man no time to spout nonsense. His body shot forward like an arrow.
Saber Intent - Hundredfold Tempered!
A single slash. It was still a simple, straightforward slash. But it carried an "Intent" that had been tempered to the absolute limit.
The pockmarked man roared, swinging his broadsword up to block. But when his blade met Tran Kien's saber intent, it was like a withered branch attempting to resist a howling hurricane.
CRACK!
His broadsword was cleaved cleanly in two. Tran Kien's dull black blade, after shattering the weapon, continued its trajectory.
A line of bright red blood appeared on the Vice Boss's neck. His eyes bulged perfectly round as both hands clutched his throat, yet he could not stop the gushing blood. He collapsed heavily, his breathing ceased.
At the same time, in the treasury located in the basement of the Golden Coin Pavilion.
Thiet Phu, leading the ten most elite Blood Fiend Guards, moved like phantoms, silently taking down all the outside guards. They made not a single sound. Every saber strike was incredibly precise and clean, exactly following the rules Faceless had laid out.
They stood before a colossal iron door forged from Profound Iron, incredibly sturdy.
But Thiet Phu merely sneered. He gave a signal. The ten Blood Fiend Guards instantly formed a bizarre formation. It was none other than the "Blood Sacrifice Array" reconstructed by Tran Kien.
"OPEN!" Thiet Phu roared. He stood at the center position, activating the Blood Soul Mark within his body. The auras of the eleven men were instantly linked, condensing onto his horse-chopping saber.
He swung his saber, delivering an all-out strike!
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The sturdy Profound Iron door, facing an attack concentrating the power of eleven experts, was cleaved inward, leaving a massive dent as its hinges were violently blasted apart.
They quickly rushed inside. Countless chests piled high like mountains with gold, silver, jewelry, and Spirit Stones appeared before their eyes.
"Move!" Thiet Phu ordered. They were not greedy. They only took the most valuable items: Spirit Stones and bank notes.
Just as the melee on the first floor was quelled, the news of the Vice Boss's assassination and the treasury's robbery arrived. Everyone was utterly horrified.
But when they rushed up to the third floor and down into the basement, the intruders had vanished without a trace.
In a dark alley behind the Golden Coin Pavilion, a garbage cart had been waiting for some time. Tran Kien and Thiet Phu's group were there.
"Retreat!" Tran Kien ordered.
They did not leave the City of Chaos. Once again, they merged into the shadows, vanishing into the labyrinth of alleyways, like drops of water returning to the sea.
That night, the entire eastern district of the City of Chaos was shaken. The Golden Coin Pavilion, the largest gambling den, had been picked completely clean, and a Vice Boss assassinated right in his private room. This was a heaven-toppling slap to the face of the Crazy Sand Gang.
No one knew who did it. Only a single rumor spread. The intruder had left behind only a single character, carved into the wall with a saber.
The character "VÔ" (Void).