Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

The bright moon hung high in the sky, its light casting shimmering ripples across the river’s surface.

The Tiger Head Gang headquarters was situated on a major street along the river in East City, not far from the docks. They operated two casinos and a brothel while also skimming profits from the dockside gangs, making for a very comfortable living.

Late at night, inside the headquarters, Gang Leader Wang Dazhao was lounging lazily in his armchair.

Behind him stood a man holding a burnished copper staff, a peony embroidered on each shoulder.

Wang Dazhao gently caressed the exquisitely carved white jade tiger in his hand and said to the three subordinates before him, "Long San, Liu Mao, Li Pu. Tell me, how is the investigation coming along?"

"Gang Leader, I questioned over a dozen people today, from both legitimate and underworld circles, but no one knows where his family is."

The speaker was Long San, the same man in black whom Zhao Lin had seen at the temple fair.

"Same here, Gang Leader," Liu Mao, who stood beside Long San, added.

Wang Dazhao’s hand stilled. Without looking up, he asked, "What did the authorities say?"

Long San answered, "They don’t know either. All they know is that he sleeps at the government office every night, as if he doesn’t have a home."

Wang Dazhao frowned. "You two have been on this for a few days now, haven’t you? How is it that you still don’t have a single lead?"

Long San wiped the sweat from his brow. "I’m guessing his family is no longer in Qinghe County."

Wang Dazhao’s face fell. "That’s obvious! I know they’re not in Qinghe County. The question is, where did they go? His parents and older brother are all mountain farmers—either sick or disabled. There’s no way they could have gotten out on their own!"

Long San and Liu Mao fell silent, too scared to speak. Li Pu, who had yet to say anything, suddenly spoke up. "Gang Leader, I used to train at the Flying Tiger Martial Arts Hall."

"I was at a birthday celebration for one of my seniors from the hall yesterday, and I happened to overhear him say that Zhao Lin was with him on a job for the Xinglong Escort Agency a few months ago."

Wang Dazhao’s eyebrows shot up. "Is that so? Go on!"

"Do you think it’s possible they were transported away by the escort agency?"

A thoughtful look appeared on Li Pu’s face. "Otherwise, there’s no way three adults could have gotten out by water or through the city gates without Drilling Mountain Leopard noticing."

"That makes sense!"

Wang Dazhao sat up straight, gently patting the white jade tiger in his hand. "We have contacts at the escort agency. Why don’t we go ask them?"

Li Pu shook his head and gave a wry smile. "The men of the escort agency value their secrecy above all else. I doubt we’d get anything by asking directly."

"However, they always have experts from martial arts halls and sects accompanying their shipments."

"These escorts don’t know the exact contents of the cargo, but if we ask around about whether the convoy was transporting anything large—like a carriage with its curtains always drawn, or a large crate big enough to hold people—we should be able to uncover a lead."

Wang Dazhao slapped his thigh and pointed at Long San and Liu Mao. "You hear that? You need to learn to use your heads!"

"Follow this lead. If it comes to a dead end, we’ll think of something else."

Long San and Liu Mao hastily agreed.

Wang Dazhao waved his hand impatiently. "Get a move on! When Drilling Mountain Leopard first hired me, this Zhao fellow was a nobody. Now he’s a damn Constable Captain!"

"Damn it, I’m never taking a job like this again..."

The sound of steady, unhurried footsteps came from the entrance, and a young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes walked in.

The Tiger Head Gang members were all startled and whipped their heads around to look.

"Gang Leader Wang, I hear you’ve been looking for my family?" Zhao Lin said, strolling calmly into the hall.

Wang Dazhao shot up from his chair as if his ass were on fire. "Constable Captain Zhao?"

Zhao Lin said coolly, "Out with it. Why are you looking for my family?"

Wang Dazhao cracked a wide, earnest-looking smile. "Captain Zhao, you’re new to your post, and the Tiger Head Gang now falls under your purview, does it not?"

"I wanted to present you with a humble gift to show my respect. However, I heard you’ve been staying at the government office, and it’s not convenient to deliver things there. That’s why I was making inquiries."

Seeing that Zhao Lin was alone, Wang Dazhao breathed an inward sigh of relief.

He’d long heard of Zhao Lin’s reputation. The man was from the Liuhe Sect and was a formidable fighter, but his cultivation was only at the Second Layer of the Power Realm—a step below his own.

Combined with his own advantages in age and experience, Wang Dazhao wasn’t intimidated by Zhao Lin.

’Besides,’ he thought, ’my own bodyguard is at the Second Layer of the Power Realm and a ferocious fighter. With him and my other three men, if a fight breaks out, the advantage is clearly on my side.’

"So it was all just a kind gesture, Gang Leader Wang."

Zhao Lin nodded, then his tone shifted. "I thought I just heard the name Drilling Mountain Leopard."

Wang Dazhao’s heart skipped a beat. ’We were whispering just now,’ he thought. ’How could Zhao Lin have possibly heard us?’

He hastily tried to cover. "You must have misheard, Captain Zhao!"

"Oh, really?"

"Absolutely! Captain Zhao, you just rid the people of a great evil. Even though we’re part of a gang, we admire such righteous deeds. Why would we ever get mixed up with a villainous bandit who stops at nothing!"

Zhao Lin seemed to accept his explanation and didn’t press the matter. He chuckled lightly. "Gang Leader Wang, I hear there’s a rule in the underworld, one that all gangs must follow. I was hoping you could enlighten me."

Wang Dazhao chuckled. "You’re too kind, Captain Zhao. Please, ask away!"

Zhao Lin’s expression turned serious. "The rule is that you don’t involve family. No matter how vicious the fighting between gangs gets, you never touch an opponent’s family. Otherwise, you’ll face their total retaliation, and even your own men will lose their loyalty to you. Is that correct?"

Wang Dazhao’s expression flickered. His hand came to rest on the hilt of his saber. In a low voice, he said, "You’re overthinking things, Captain Zhao. We’re just common folk. We wouldn’t dare to target your family."

Zhao Lin smiled faintly. His body moved like a phantom, and he suddenly lunged forward, his iron ruler viciously smashing down toward Wang Dazhao.

Wang Dazhao was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out of his head. One moment, Zhao Lin had been standing more than ten yards away; the next, he was right on top of him.

The wind from the iron ruler whipped across his face; it was clearly a killing blow.

There was no time to draw his saber. He started to retreat, but remembered his chair was behind him and clumsily rolled aside, shouting, "Musheng!"

Musheng was the name of Wang Dazhao’s bodyguard. Even as his name was called, he was already in motion, swinging his burnished copper staff to intercept Zhao Lin’s iron ruler.

A muffled THUD, followed by a sharp CLANG.

The webbing between Musheng’s thumb and forefinger split open, and his burnished copper staff clattered to the floor. Zhao Lin’s iron ruler was also bent from the impact.

Now weaponless, Musheng let out a ferocious roar, stepped forward, and threw a punch at Zhao Lin’s chest.

Zhao Lin saw the five ghastly white knuckles on his opponent’s fist and knew he was also at the Bone Training Stage. He gathered all his strength and threw a punch of his own.

With a sharp CRACK of breaking bones, Musheng shrieked in agony and stumbled backward, landing right in Wang Dazhao’s armchair.

Giving him no chance to recover, Zhao Lin followed the motion and thrust his iron ruler deep into the man’s chest.

"Attack! Kill him!"

Wang Dazhao scrambled to his feet, drawing his saber, only to see his bodyguard slump over, dead. A shiver of terror ran through him.

’Wasn’t he just at the Second Layer of the Power Realm? Only just entered the Bone Training Stage? How can he be this strong?’

’I couldn’t have done that,’ Wang Dazhao thought to himself. ’But thankfully, my other three men are skilled fighters. If we use our numbers, our chances of winning are still high.’

’Two fists can’t fight four hands. A single man has blind spots; it’s hard to defend against attacks from the flank and rear.’

He made up his mind. Once Zhao Lin was dead, he would flee and never look back.

’A pity about the empire I’ve built over so many years...’

His three subordinates snapped back to reality, drew their cudgels, and charged at Zhao Lin.

Zhao Lin pulled his iron ruler free. His eyes remained fixed on Wang Dazhao, but he suddenly whipped the ruler backward.

It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. With a sickening CRACK, the ruler connected with the head of Long San, the first to reach him.

Long San collapsed to the ground without so much as a grunt.

Wang Dazhao’s face went pale with horror. His two remaining men were so terrified they skidded to a halt.