Simply put, it was too much of a coincidence!
Duan Feihong was to fight Chen Xiaodao in an arena match at late noon, and at noon on the same day, Chen Xiaodao had been murdered, along with every last Dagger Gang member.
At first glance, these two events seemed to be unrelated. But on further thought, this was too much of a coincidence.
The most suspicious point was that no one knew when Chen Xiaodao died.
Or rather, those who knew—the entire Dagger Gang—perished alongside him.
And at this point in time, who wanted Dagger Gang gone the most?
Duan Feihong and the Wei siblings!
Indeed, Duan Feihong could kill Chen Xiaodao in a public arena match.
However, there were other members in the Dagger Gang who coveted the Wei family's businesses.
Even if Chen Xiaodao died, the Dagger Gang would still have their eyes on the Wei siblings.
Rather than staying passive, it would be much more efficient to take out the entire Dagger Gang at once!
It was reasonable to suspect that Duan Feihong's challenge to Chen Xiaodao was nothing but a mere distraction to draw attention away from their actual operation, and that the Wei siblings had pulled off the perfect diversion tactic.
Without any evidence, the Martial Suppression Office wouldn't be able to do anything to them.
On the other hand, through this power play, the Wei Family Dojo could fully exert its dominance!
The message was clear: from now on, anyone who covets the Wei Family's businesses would suffer the same fate as the Dagger Gang.
That's right—whether or not Wei Jiajia had anything to do with the Dagger Gang's annihilation, the Wei Family would be the biggest winner out of this!
The person who stands to gain the most is likely to be the murderer.
Going by this rule, Wei Jiajia was inevitably the prime suspect.
Even Su Jingxing had his suspicions about her on the way there, let alone Qi Zhaochen.
Wei Jiaping didn't think that much, but Wei Jiajia more or less figured it out.
How frustrating!
Wei Jiajia was stressed out of her mind.
Su Jingxing's direct question and Qi Zhaochen's reaction made her so frustrated that she wished she could jump down a building and end it all.
Their suspicions wouldn't have bothered her as much if the Dagger Gang's annihilation had really been her doing—but the problem was, it wasn't!
She had no idea that Dagger Gang would get taken out so quickly!
Heck, Chen Xiaodao was a seventh-grade martial artist, and his subordinates included two eighth-grade "Guardians" and nine ninth-grade "Heavenly Kings"!
Apart from them, there were close to a hundred syndicate members.
She wondered how it was possible for the murderer to kill so many people without even making a sound.
These were a hundred people that's being talked about, not a hundred pigs.
It was impossible to even kill a hundred pigs without making a din.
Yet, the murderer was capable of all that.
How could a little girl like her get such a person to do her biddings?
Silence.
Wei Jiajia was silent throughout the journey.
Su Jingxing was taciturn as usual.
Seeing that no one was conversational, Wei Jiaping kept quiet as well.
[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]
"Yes!"
[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]
"Yes!"
…
A series of notifications popped up in rapid succession as Su Jingxing followed Qi Zhaochen into the building.
He extracted cards from the corpses as he walked.
Dead people…
Dead people everywhere.
Starting from the hall of the first floor, everywhere they went was strewn with corpses.
The corpses weren't complete either; pieces of flesh, severed limbs, and various organs were scattered all over the place.
That, combined with the overpowering smell of blood, made Wei Jiaping go on all fours and throw up.
Wei Jiajia puked too, but she soon managed to hold the vomit down. Suppressing her discomfort, she followed Qi Zhaochen to the third floor.
She wanted to see Chen Xiaodao's corpse for herself!
If he was dead, she had to verify it with her own eyes; even if she was the prime suspect at the moment.
Su Jingxing's reason was simpler.
Chen Xiaodao was a seventh-grade martial artist; Su Jingxing was curious about the kind of reward that could be extracted from the corpse.
He looked forward to it.
…
They climbed the stairs to the third floor.
Su Jingxing and Wei Jiajia followed Qi Zhaochen into a spacious office. There, Wu Shouhan was hunkered down guarding a corpse.
On his side stood Huang Boyi, the long-bearded old man, and a few others.
They looked at the corpse's face… it was Chen Xiaodao!
"What's going on here?" asked Wei Jiajia, confused.
"Chen Xiaodao is still alive," said Qi Zhaochen indifferently. His sharp eyes were fixed on Wei Jiajia and Su Jingxing.
"What?" exclaimed Wei Jiajia exclaimed, "He's not dead yet?"
Su Jingxing raised his eyebrows, pretending not to notice Qi Zhaochen's gaze.
With the human skin mask on, he could not freely change his expression even if he wanted to.
In that case, he might as well maintain his indifferent facade and remain silent.
Qi Zhaochen noted their reactions. He was no longer paying attention to Wei Jiajia, and his eyes were on Su Jingxing.
"Luckily for him, he had this Dark Iron Chainmail on," said Wu Shouhan. "The prized chainmail had mitigated most of the impact from the palm strike. Still, some of the force went through and broke most of his bones, shattered a number of internal organs, and inflicted severe internal injuries.
"Anyone else would have died under such circumstances, but Chen Xiaodao practices a special internal exercise that allows his internal force to envelop his heart. That managed to preserve his final breath.
"Chen Xiaodao lost consciousness before his final breath dissipated, which resulted in suspended animation."
"When will he wake up?" asked Huang Boyi.
"Beats me." Wu Shouhan shook his head. "I'm only capable of performing minor surgeries. The medical specialists would be more qualified to answer your question, but we'd have to wait for their arrival."
Wu Shouhan wouldn't even have bothered to examine Chen Xiaodao if not for the sake of finding out who his assailant was.
"I've already called. They'll send someone over soon," said Qi Zhaochen huskily.
"I hope they hurry," said Huang Boyi anxiously. "If Chen Xiaodao couldn't make it through…"
"Duan Feihong!"
Suddenly, Chen Xiaodao—still laying on his back—let loose a furious roar. His eyes snapped open. "Duan Feihong! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!"
After the roar, Chen Xiaodao shot up to a standing position—despite his sternum being mostly broken.
He scanned around with bloodshot eyes. When he saw Su Jingxing, he roared again.
"Duan Feihong! I'm gonna kill you!!!"
Huff…
His internal force stirred up a gust that carried the smell of blood.
With his hands curled into the shape of sickles, Chen Xiaodao charged at Su Jingxing.
Swish!
Su Jingxing took a backstep to avoid the blow.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
With the swiftness of a tiger, Chen Xiaodao chased after Su Jingxing while launching crazed attacks with his claw-like hands that cut like knives.
He was not only fast, but also terrifying-powerful too.
Skrrreeek! Skrrreeek! Skrrreeek!
His claw-like hands left deep scratch marks on the walls whenever he missed.
The space inside the office was limited, and Su Jingxing soon found himself forced into a corner.
Danger alert!
With his back to the wall, Su Jingxing realized that his life would be in danger if he didn't fight back!
When Chen Xiaodao pounced at him again with his sharp claw-like hands aimed at his throat and chest, Su Jingxing immediately stopped holding back and took a step forward. Facing Chen Xiaodao, he executed the Seven Steps Fist.
Thump!
"No!"
The cry sounded at the same time as a dull thud.
The blow instantly caused Chen Xiaodao's arms to snap and his chest to cave in completely. Following that, he flew backward and crashed into the wall with a loud bang.
Then, his body slid limply down the wall and to the ground. All was quiet again.
"Great, now we don't have to wait for the specialists to come. He's dead for real now," complained Wu Shouhan, throwing his hands up. He was giving Su Jingxing an odd look.
Qi Zhaochen, Huang Boyi, Wei Jiajia, and the others all stared at Su Jingxing with varying expressions.
Everything had happened too quickly.
Less than three seconds had elapsed from the moment Chen Xiaodao suddenly woke up and attacked Su Jingxing to when Su Jingxing's punch killed him.
In such a short amount of time, Qi Zhaochen and Huang Boyi couldn't have interfered even if they wanted to.
Truth be told, Chen Xiaodao's death would not have mattered much if not for his last words.
After waking up, he shouted the name "Duan Feihong" repeatedly as he attacked Su Jingxing madly.
From his expression and behavior, he clearly wanted to take revenge—revenge on Duan Feihong for wounding him and killing everyone in the Dagger Gang!
Did that mean…
Su Jingxing was the murderer?!
…