Regarding the reason for the demise of the North City Gang, it has long been investigated and clarified; perhaps there are truly too many coincidences in worldly affairs! The root cause was simply that Qin Hu's son, Qin Xiaobao, that ignorant young dandy, unintentionally offended Tang Yuan and Jun Moxie in a tavern—two powerful young masters whom he absolutely could not afford to offend. Taking personal vengeance, with their interference, the destruction of the mere North City Gang was a matter of mere moments. However, I wonder if I am overly suspicious, but I always feel something is amiss about this, though I cannot quite pinpoint what it is. Li Youran stood up and began to pace slowly. "Now, having lost the North City Gang as our eyes and ears, we are lacking quite a few sources of street intelligence. This needs to be rectified quickly."

"You decide matters within the family," Li Shang said, keeping his eyes closed. "I had intended to recommend you for a position in the Imperial Court, but since you insist on refusing, we will have to postpone that conversation. However, Youran, the foundation of our Li family remains firmly in the Court, not in the Jianghu. You must always keep this in mind! I know your ambition is considerable, but remember, everything must be done within your capacity. Acting recklessly for a slim chance of success is something you can do once, but never twice. Caution ensures longevity!"

"Chaer understands," Li Youran replied after a long silence, bowing his head.

An autumn wind stirred, sending a cascade of yellow leaves flying. Illuminated by the sun, the drifting leaves glittered, as if the heavens had suddenly opened up to rain down gold.

Two unremarkable men, dressed plainly, walked calmly down the main street of Tianxiang City, carrying an air of leisure and effortless grace. One had a sallow complexion but an exceptionally upright stature; the sharpness in his eyes belied his pallor. The other was a slightly darker-skinned youth.

"Tianxiang City has truly changed a great deal in these ten years," the middle-aged man murmured as he walked, his eyes slowly sweeping across the roadside. His voice held a desolate tone, much like an elder suddenly emerging from a long stretch of profound change, as if snapped back into the normal world. "That place... a little over a decade ago, it was the Ye Family Ancestral Hall. Many of us brothers played there since childhood. Heh heh."

He laughed, but the sound was akin to weeping.

"Third Uncle, do you also feel like... a lifetime has passed?" The youth beside him smiled faintly.

"In the end, you get used to it. All people must die; whether leading a life or commanding troops, one must be able to see clearly through life and death. If one cannot clear the hurdle of life and death, no matter what one does, achieving true greatness will be difficult."

"Seeing clearly through life and death, how easy that is to say!" the middle-aged man sighed. "A single dream spans ten years, leaving only barren sights before my eyes. My former brothers have all turned to dust, and now I look around and find myself utterly alone."

"Third Uncle, look at the ground beneath our feet." The youth smiled gently, though his gentle expression was laced with mockery—a cynicism toward life, a sarcasm directed at the mortal world! In that moment, the youth's gaze carried a detached calm that seemed to see through past and present, scorning everything. He pointed to the earth below. "Third Uncle, do you know how many people have been buried beneath this very land, throughout history, for thousands upon thousands of years?"

"In a sense, we are stepping on corpses every moment! This moment we tread upon perhaps a beggar; the next, we might be walking over the remains of an emperor! Whether it is mountains and rivers or fertile earth, it would not be an exaggeration to say that they are entirely accumulated from skeletal remains."

"Life and death, is it not merely the withering and flourishing of grass and trees? In the end, what does it truly matter? One day, you, or perhaps I, will also lie beneath this ground, trampled upon by others!"

"But the most important thing is the now! Right now, we are constantly stepping on others. Whether he was once a hegemon controlling one region, an emperor whose merits will be celebrated for ages, or a peerless beauty capable of toppling nations—are they not all utterly unresponsive now? Therefore, before we are trodden upon by others, we must ascend to a height where no one can step on us! In the future, only we will tread upon others! Be they living or dead."

"Hahahaha!" He laughed with defiant arrogance. "Since that is the case, what is there to reminisce about? Where is there time to mourn the dead? Let whatever lies ahead be mountains of knives or seas of fire—trample them all down! Let whoever stands before us be a prince or a general—slaughter them all! Whether it is a high mountain or a vast ocean—go and conquer it all!"

"While alive, one must have no regrets! Even if one makes mistakes, one must not regret them! Right and wrong, good and evil—who can say clearly? While alive, one must live to the fullest! Live wantonly, live as one pleases! Whoever displeases us, step on them! Whoever provokes or hurts us, kill them! Anyone standing in our way, destroy them!"

"In this life, man or woman, one must only stand proud against the heavens, look down upon the earth, roam the world, and command the winds and clouds! Only then will one not have lived this existence in vain!" The youth coldly observed everything around him. Everything else, at most, was merely a game! Nothing more!

These two individuals were rather strange; it was the younger one comforting and lecturing the elder.

This peculiar uncle-nephew pairing was naturally Jun Wuyi and Jun Moxie.

It was said that Jun Wuyi had not left the Jun Manor gates for ten years. To help him relax, Jun Moxie proposed they venture out in disguise. Jun Wuyi was more than pleased and readily agreed. Thus, the uncle and nephew slipped out to wander the imperial city.

Jun Moxie’s disguise technique was inherited from an unparalleled master of disguise from his previous life, integrating the pinnacle of ancient and modern, Eastern and Western techniques. It was believed that across the entire Xuanxuan Continent, absolutely no one could recognize their true appearances, so the two wandered about with complete confidence and ease.

"Moxie, I truly didn't expect you to be so..." Jun Wuyi shook his head and chuckled after listening to Jun Moxie's speech. "If one didn't look at you, but only listened to your words, I would believe you were an old man who had experienced vast changes, seen clearly through life and death, and was even somewhat extreme."

Jun Moxie inwardly offered a bitter smile, thinking that perhaps he had experienced far more than the old men he spoke of, for he was, after all, a reincarnated soul who had lived two lives. "This place, ten years ago, was the First Prince's Gathering Hall. I never imagined today it has become the Yellow Flower Hall? I truly doubt that within the capital city, there is any faction daring to contest territory with the First Prince." Jun Wuyi frowned, looking toward a recessed area on the left side of the road—an inconspicuous pavilion, behind which stretched a large complex of manor houses, faintly emitting shrill cries of misery, weak yet desperate. "The Yellow Flower Hall... what does that even mean? It couldn't possibly mean the 'yellowed remnants' of former glory, could it?!"

He noticed the passing pedestrians giving the entrance to the Yellow Flower Hall a wide berth, as if venomous snakes or ferocious beasts were hidden inside. Fear, apprehension, and even disgust flickered in everyone's eyes as they hurried past the entrance, quickening their steps.

Jun Moxie quickly searched his mind. "The Yellow Flower Hall... it seems to be a place similar to a brothel, but the ages here are generally younger, and some of the better-looking ones are young boys!" As he said this, a surge of intense anger welled up in Jun Moxie’s heart.

"This is fundamentally a transit point for trading young boys and girls. Those with good potential are secretly sent away. Those with mediocre aptitude but good looks are subjected to debauchery and then sold at high prices to wealthy families for exorbitant profit. As for the lowest tier, they remain here, and after a few years, when they grow older, they are sold to the Misty Lake as playthings for men and women. It is truly a den of iniquity and filth."

Jun Wuyi’s eyes widened as he looked sharply over. "I never expected such a vile establishment to appear in the capital city of the Tianxiang Empire. Do the officials not pay any attention to this?"

Jun Moxie sighed. Nominally, the First Prince had given up this place ten years ago, but in reality, who could say exactly what was going on? Who would dare to stick their neck out to invite a blade? This was once the First Prince's domain. Even if the First Prince wasn't secretly in charge, anyone capable of taking territory from the First Prince could hardly be an ordinary figure!

The government office in the capital was the last place to handle miscellaneous complaints. Any involvement could easily implicate a prince or minister, a descendant of royalty; people would be too busy hiding rather than daring to investigate! Moreover, these people operate under the guise of legitimate business—buying and selling—taking in homeless children and treating them as personal slaves. Who would object?

"What a foul atmosphere! Completely ruined the mood!" Jun Wuyi snorted coldly. After taking a few lingering looks, he reluctantly walked past the entrance. Since he was in disguise today, it was inconvenient to expose anything, especially since the news of Jun Wuyi's recovery had to remain strictly confidential. Despite his unwillingness, he had to leave it be for now.

The two had only walked about thirty feet when they suddenly heard a piercing scream from behind, followed by a dull thud. The crowd erupted in chaos as a figure fell into the middle of the street—a young girl in disheveled clothing. A large footprint marred her back; her once delicate face was twisted in agony, spewing clots of blood from her mouth. Her eyes were vacant; she clearly wasn't going to survive.

Yet, she was still weakly pleading, "I beg you, let my brother go, please, don't let him become..."

"Sister!" A sharp cry followed, and a frail child could be seen desperately trying to rush out. A brute standing at the door stretched out a hand to stop him. The child's face was contorted with anxiety, struggling fiercely. But how could a mere child break free from the grasp of a grown man? The child grew desperate, suddenly opening his mouth and biting down hard on the man's arm. Startled by the sharp pain, the brute flinched, allowing the child a chance to break free and sprint toward the dying girl in the street.

The girl watched the small figure rushing toward her, her eyes showing a mix of joy and concern. She weakly extended a blood-soaked hand toward her younger brother.

Just then, a voice cursed angrily, followed by a sharp sound of air being pierced. The small body of the running child suddenly contorted as if cut short like a sugarcane stalk, and with a thump, he collapsed heavily. His spine, right at the base of his back, had been broken by a punch delivered through the air! He made no sound, his breath already gone. His body slid a few feet on the ground, his eyes wide open in anger, one hand stretched forward, yet still half a foot short of touching his sister's hand.

This distance of half a foot—it was the gap that this brother and sister could not cross, even with their lives!

The little boy died before his dying sister?!

The girl let out a wail of grief and rage, struggling to crawl toward her little brother's body. But after only two feeble attempts, she could move no further. She stared fixedly with her once beautiful eyes, her spirit finally fading, yet she refused to close them, her hand stubbornly stretched toward her brother. Clink. A small sound. A copper coin, missing half its edge, slipped from the girl’s embrace and fell out, rolling across the bloodstained ground where the siblings lay. It spun for quite a distance before settling near Jun Moxie's shoe, stopping precisely against the edge of his boot.

"What a sin! How many have there been this month? Alas, this batch of children is truly unfortunate," a passerby muttered low, shaking his head before quickly hurrying away.

"These are people's purchased slaves; punishing one's own servant—what sin is that?" another scoffed dismissively.

Many others showed pity, their eyes hinting at anger, yet none dared to speak. In the blink of an eye, the crowd vanished. The densely packed street, moments ago full of people, was suddenly empty.

"Beasts!" Jun Wuyi turned around upon hearing the sounds and pushed through the crowd, but by the time he arrived, everything was irreversible! He flared up in fury. "To use such vicious hands on such small children—do you people have no humanity? Is there no law or justice here!"

The burly men at the entrance were grinning ferociously, savoring the bloody scene they had personally created. They had absolutely not expected anyone to step forward and openly accuse them!

For the Yellow Flower Hall, this was something that hadn't happened in a very long time.

"Blind pauper, mind your own business! Go back home and drink milk! If you dare to whine again, I'll give you the same fate as these two wretches! Law and justice? I am the law and justice!" The brute who had been bitten glared, grinning menacingly.

Jun Wuyi was dressed today as a scholar, in very common robes, appearing more like a scholar who had failed his examinations.

"How bold!" Jun Wuyi was furious. "Under the Imperial City's very nose, in broad daylight, to treat human life so cheaply! And to dare trample upon the law like this?"

At this moment, Jun Moxie was looking down at the half-copper coin at his feet, lost in thought. At this instant... a murderous intent surged within him, and a feeling, both familiar and strange, flooded his heart!

This broken copper coin, carried by the faintest of vibrations, had coincidentally rolled past several pairs of feet and landed against his shoe! A commission? Or perhaps, fate?

At this moment, Jun Moxie seemed to be transported back to his previous life, once again becoming the King of Assassins, Xie Jun Jun Xie!

He slowly bent down and picked up the coin with the missing corner with extreme solemnity, cupping it in his hand. He whispered, "Rest assured, I accept your commission! The first transaction of my current life! No debt left unpaid, Heaven bears witness!"

Slowly raising his head, Jun Moxie’s eyes narrowed as he gazed upon the dazzling characters of the "Yellow Flower Hall." The sharpness in his narrowed eyes was like a single ray of sunlight piercing through heavy clouds, creating a clear path, lending an almost dazzling brilliance to the surging killing intent emanating from him!

I will not concern myself with the story hidden behind this. I do not need to know who this little girl was, or what her identity was; I do not care how powerful the force behind the Yellow Flower Hall might be!

I only know this: I must see this through!

To take payment is to resolve a grievance!

One copper coin is money, and a broken copper coin is still money!

Since I accepted this single, flawed coin as my reward, then these people must die!

Therefore, I... kill!

For more novels, visit storyread.net.