Chapter 708: The Tooth Broker Who Had Long Expected This

The Saber Wielder charged into the fray alone.

The Long Saber tore through the crowd. Its sheer force cleaved muscle and bone as easily as chopping vegetables; every strike was relentlessly brutal, delivered without a shred of mercy.

In the blink of an eye, several agonizing screams rang out.

One man took a slash to the neck. It did not sever his head entirely—half remained attached—but a geyser of blood erupted from the wound in a horrifyingly gruesome scene.

The soldiers on the scene were paralyzed with terror.

Some, their faces splattered with blood, shrieked in horror. Their legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground, pools of urine seeping from beneath them.

"Slash..."

Wherever the Long Saber passed, it harvested life after life.

The blade in the Saber Wielder's hand suddenly halted against a man's neck.

The man before him gulped, and instantly burst into tears.

"Clang."

The soldier's blade slipped from his grasp, clattering sharply against the ground. He was scared utterly witless.

The Saber Wielder watched him with cold eyes.

The man's lips trembled. He tried to speak, but absolute terror stole his voice.

The Saber Wielder gave the Long Saber a flick, drawing a resonant hum from the steel.

"Ring!"

The soldier trembled violently and dropped to his knees.

The Saber Wielder scoffed coldly, stepping forward to kick the man flat onto his back.

Behind Chen Changsheng, Fang Miao witnessed the massacre and immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. She turned away and began to retch violently.

"Hrk..."

The overwhelming gore made her stomach churn uncontrollably.

As a woman who had never witnessed such slaughter, she was instantly consumed by dread. Yet she had to force herself to remain calm, enduring the nausea and not daring to steal another glance.

Just as the Saber Wielder was about to deal the fatal blow, Chen Changsheng stepped forward to stop him. "It would be best to minimize the killing," he said.

The Saber Wielder glanced at Chen Changsheng. "Are you some kind of bodhisattva?"

Chen Changsheng paused for a moment. "Don't you think it's rather ill-advised to let yourself be tainted by so much bloodlust?"

The Saber Wielder opened his mouth, looked at the man and hesitated for a moment, then sheathed his blade.

It wasn't that he found Chen Changsheng's words particularly reasonable. Rather, he had simply lost interest in the slaughter, and so spared the man's life.

Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers were frightened out of their wits and fled in panic.

The entire street suddenly fell dead silent. Five or six corpses lay strewn across the ground, completely mangled and bathed in blood. Worse still, most of the bodies were incomplete; severed arms and legs were scattered haphazardly nearby, and a thick, nauseating stench of blood washed over the area.

The Saber Wielder put his blade away, looked at Chen Changsheng, and suddenly chuckled. "I finally caught up to you, didn't I?"

Chen Changsheng paused at those words. "It seems you haven't actually touched me yet."

The Saber Wielder also faltered for a moment.

With a light tap of his toe, Chen Changsheng's figure abruptly drifted backward.

He grabbed the bewildered Fang Miao from behind, and with another tap of his foot, soared onto the rooftops and flew off into the distance.

The Saber Wielder stared blankly at the sight. He blinked, watching Chen Changsheng's retreating silhouette, and promptly cursed, "Son of a bitch!"

But after swearing, he burst into boisterous laughter.

Immediately after, he gave chase, racing after Chen Changsheng's fading figure.

With one arm supporting Fang Miao, Chen Changsheng darted deeper into the alleys. After breaking line of sight with the Saber Wielder, he finally came to a halt in a secluded hiding spot.

Still somewhat dazed, Fang Miao righted herself, stepping out of Chen Changsheng's embrace.

A sudden blush crept over her cheeks, and she pursed her lips.

Chen Changsheng looked up, catching sight of a figure flashing past the rooftops overhead. A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth before he turned his gaze back to Fang Miao.

Fang Miao opened her mouth, calling out softly, "My Lord..."

"Just follow me," Chen Changsheng said.

...

In the Black Market of Water's End City, a vendor sat on the ground, his stall laid out with a myriad of rare treasures and oddities.

The vendor wore a conical straw hat, his face angled downward.

A moment later, he noticed someone pause in front of his stall.

Startled, the vendor lifted his head to look.

The man standing before him wore a green scholar's robe, with a young woman standing quietly by his side.

The vendor's mouth fell open, clearly taken by surprise.

Chen Changsheng gave him a level look. "Where are they?"

The vendor fell silent for a moment before asking, "How did you recognize me?"

Although the vendor had disguised his appearance, it was utterly useless against Chen Changsheng.

With a heavy sigh and an anxious heart, the vendor led Chen Changsheng away from the area.

After exiting the Black Market, they followed a pitch-black alleyway all the way down, eventually arriving at a small courtyard.

The remaining five or six young women from the cage were being held captive here.

Chen Changsheng threw a glance at the tooth broker. "Did you think This Chen wouldn't make it back?"

The tooth broker gaped for a second, then put on a fawning smile. "What is Senior saying? Haven't I kept them here, waiting specifically for Senior's arrival?"

Chen Changsheng snorted softly. "Tooth brokers like you are the most despicable of all, abducting people from all corners of the world only to sell them off to far-flung lands."

The tooth broker froze, then immediately threw himself to his knees.

A heavy thud was quickly followed by the frantic sound of his head slamming into the ground.

"Spare my life, Senior!"

The tooth broker was well aware of his current predicament. He had thought that hiding in the Black Market in disguise would let him escape disaster, but against all expectations, he had still been tracked down.

He had no idea how his whereabouts had been exposed. But at this juncture, bowing his head and admitting his guilt was his only remaining shred of hope.

Chen Changsheng ignored him, striding past and into the house.

Fang Miao, trailing behind, shot a glare at the groveling tooth broker. Pure hatred burned in her eyes; she wanted nothing more than to tear the man to pieces.

All the torment and displacement she had suffered along this journey had been caused by him. How could she not hate him?

Fang Miao entered the room, reuniting with the others.

"Sister Miao!"

"Sister Miao! You're back!"

Fang Miao stepped forward to comfort the girls, gently patting their backs. "It's alright now. It's all over."

Outside the door, the tooth broker continued to knock his head against the ground, not daring to look up.

Chen Changsheng watched the reunion with calm eyes.

After Fang Miao explained the entire sequence of events, the assembled women immediately began weeping bitterly with streaming tears.

They stepped forward to kowtow to Chen Changsheng. "Thank you, My Lord! Thank you, My Lord!"

Their eyes brimmed with tears. The bitter heartbreak they had endured was something only they themselves could truly understand.

They held one another as they wept, offering each other comfort.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng quietly pulled the door shut.

He stepped back outside and looked down at the kowtowing tooth broker. "That's enough."

The tooth broker had already battered his forehead bloody; blood was trickling down his face.

He panted heavily, waiting for the man before him to speak.

"Where are the other two from before?" Chen Changsheng asked.

"I told them to leave first..." the tooth broker replied.

He had stayed behind out of sheer necessity. It seemed he had sensed the impending danger far in advance and sent those two away early. In the end, he was simply gambling with his luck.

Evidently, he had lost that gamble.

"You certainly are clever," Chen Changsheng remarked.

The tooth broker shuddered, not daring to utter a single word.