The remaining two of the Iron Horse Seven Thieves are the head thief and the third among them.
The two managed to escape calamity. After moving a bit away, they changed horses, each riding one, and galloped ahead.
Once they ran for over ten miles at one go, they finally slowed down.
Ahead, they saw a deep pond. The head thief dismounted and hurried to the water's edge, scooping with both hands and gulping greedily.
The third thief arrived beside him, mimicking his actions.
After drinking, they washed their heads and faces. Finally, the head thief took out the hand axe stained with fresh blood and washed off the bloodstains with the water.
The third thief let out a long sigh, his face full of relief from escaping death:
"Big brother, where exactly did those two women come from?"
"How would I know?"
The head thief's mouth twitched:
"Some crazy woman appeared out of nowhere, asking if we were being hunted. I initially thought of hacking her with an axe, but ended up being pulled down from my horse.
"I had no choice but to go along with her words... Later, as you arrived, I gave you a signal, thankfully you understood.
"Had we not used those two fools to hold off Chu Fan, today would have been our death anniversary next year.
"It's just a pity we couldn't hack that Chu bastard to avenge our brothers before his martial sister arrived."
Speaking of this, his expression darkened.
The third thief took a deep breath:
"Big brother, we must avenge this!
"However, there's a saying, 'A gentleman's revenge is never late even after ten years,' so there's no rush now."
"Indeed."
The head thief nodded, his brows furrowing:
"Who do you think that Night Emperor is? From the cloth strip's meaning, Old Five died by his hand.
"Have you ever heard of such a character in the Martial World?"
The third thief shook his head quickly:
"Never heard of him."
"Humph, meddling fools, bound to meet untimely death sooner or later."
The head thief cursed viciously upon hearing this.
The third thief asked:
"Chu Fan is the second young master of the Chu Family from Celestial Dance City, and also the high disciple of Taiyi Sect's Cui Bunu. We've made a deadly enemy of him, and our brothers have died until only the two of us are left. I'm afraid things won't be easy, big brother, what should we do next?"
"Hmm..."
The head thief pondered for a moment before speaking:
"Let's go to Luoyu Hall."
Upon hearing this, the third thief contemplated slightly and nodded gently:
"These years, Liu Shijie has taken quite a few benefits from us. It's time for him to lend us a hand.
"Moreover, Luoyu Hall is just in Celestial Dance City. For Chu Fan, it's right under his nose; no matter how much he racks his brains, he probably wouldn't think we are right under his nose.
"Big brother, this move is truly brilliant!"
"As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place."
The head thief smiled and gently patted the third thief's shoulder:
"There's no time to waste, take some of the food from your horse, let's eat, and move immediately."
"Okay."
The third thief immediately got up and left, while the head thief rested on a rock, holding the hand axe.
His mind also planning ahead, knowing Luoyu Hall wasn't a long-term solution, but temporarily it should be fine to stay.
Afterwards, where to go, needs careful thought.
But when he thought of several places, he denied them all, the more he thought, the hungrier he got.
He'd been through rounds of battles and escape, even an iron man would find it unbearable in a day.
"Old Three, what's taking you so long to get something to eat? Are you dead?"
No response came from Old Three, causing the head thief to look up, only to see Old Three standing as a silhouette behind the horse.
Instantly standing up, he strides forward, reaching out to push:
"I asked you something..."
Before finishing the sentence, he saw Old Three stumble to the ground with a sword mark on his neck.
Two inches long, from which only a drop of blood gathered from the wound!
Immediately, the head thief's pupils contracted.
Killing without leaving blood—this person's sword technique was terrifyingly swift.
Without thinking, he quickly turned around.
A light came right at him.
No sound, not seeing the blade, bodies passed by each other, the head thief didn't even see clearly the appearance of the attacker, he heard the hand axe drop to the ground with a thud.
Following this, his body knelt, his head drooped, dead on the spot.
Chu Qing calmly sheathed his long sword and turned around, letting out a breath:
"Enough runners... if not for my Ruo Xu Scripture maintaining breath over the long haul, I really wouldn't have caught up."
The earlier incident also exceeded Chu Qing's expectations; two assumed opportunities coincided.
Luckily, the two really fled... such a good chance, Chu Qing naturally wouldn't miss.
After all, not appearing before Chu Fan was optimal.
Even though he disguised himself, bloodlines are strange; sometimes a bit of suspicion can be magnified countless times.
Nowadays, this result couldn't be better.
Tracking them, he happened upon them plotting at the pond's edge... he didn't act immediately, took a moment to gather himself, watched Old Three rise for supplies before making a decisive move.
Being able to strike separately, why bother gathering for a kill?
Naturally, one should conserve energy whenever possible.
Just as he meant to clean up the corpses, loot what's needed, and process them accordingly.
A prompt suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Commission Complete!]
[Successfully killed the Iron Horse Seven Thieves, granted a 'Random Martial Arts Treasure Chest.']
Chu Qing pouted:
"Killed three, only rewarded one… at least three shouldn't be too much to ask?"
The system naturally did not respond to such a notion.
In fact, other times, when Chu Qing spoke to the system, it also did not answer.
This was a mute system.
He wasn't in a hurry to open the treasure chest; he continued his task.
This place couldn't be lingered upon; if Chu Fan explained to those two women, he might chase here.
Meeting head-on without other interference, the kid would press for his identity, no doubt.
Thus, he accelerated his actions, looting the thieves thoroughly.
Ultimately gathered twenty-some taels of silver, a handful of gold leaves, especially on the head thief—he had the most.
With these gold leaves alone, if in peaceful times, Chu Qing could buy a small courtyard and enjoy a carefree life.
Unfortunately, aside from Martial World's turmoil, even the Mirror of Sin behind him wouldn't let him stop moving.
Other items include silver notes, elixir, golden sore medicine.
After discerning briefly, accepted elixir and golden sore medicine for moving blood and healing bruises; unfamiliar items were left.
After cutting off their heads, as previously handled, left the marked "Night Emperor" name upon the horse, letting them run free to spread news.
Since system rewards were granted, visiting the shopkeeper wouldn't be necessary now.
Finally, he used the flint to ignite silver notes, lighting clothes, causing the two headless bodies to instantly be engulfed in flames.
Fully ensured the bodies burned beyond recognition, regardless of the skill of any forensic doctor in figuring how they died, only then did Chu Qing turn and leave.