Then he noticed that a man passing by seemed a little familiar. He thought perhaps he had seen him somewhere in the streets before, so he let it go. But at that very moment he happened to pick up something shady, and he kept his focus on it while he ate his dumplings. From a distance one man was clearly looking at him.
Time passed and he went on walking through the city. The same man passed him again a little later, trailing after an old beggar, and Han realised that this was yesterday's vagabond, the one who had been beaten.
That annoyed him. Did the man really think plain clothes would hide it? Remembering him, Han understood that something terrible must have happened to the Beggar Sect.
He thought these people might be after him. So he called over a man who was pretending to read a book, and casually asked him what he was doing there.
That sudden move rattled the people following him, and the man got smashed in the groin. Han left in the confusion. The rest ran after him so that he could not escape.
But when they reached the alley he had gone into, he was already missing. The long-haired man wondered whether he had come this way at all.
Then Han set foot on a rooftop above them and asked who he was, and how many men he had after him, and why. He felt that they must want something quite specific. The old man looked up at him, clearly irritated.
Han stood and asked him coldly why they were gathering around him like rats. Then he asked whether these were the same people who had followed him last night. One glance at their faces told him he was right.
He wondered whether this was the remains of the Nine Dragons fortress, or someone who had come after the Virgin Ginseng.
The old man told his man that it would be easy to kill him, but the boy was connected to a former government official. Once the government gets involved, it could become messy.
He asked directly whether this was the Jin Wigong who had taken the Virgin Ginseng.
Han played dumb and asked who that was.
That made the narrow-eyed old man wonder whether he had come to the wrong person after all. If the boy had truly eaten the Virgin Ginseng, he ought to be at the condensation stage at the very least. But he could feel no trace of internal energy in him. Their former fat man had learned to hide himself well enough that the beggar could not understand him.
At the same time Han realised that if they had come for the Virgin Ginseng, then they were certainly connected to the Servants of Chaos.
So he decided he would not waste any more time. He would capture them and find out who had sent them.
The narrow-eyed elder apologised and called it a misunderstanding. But Han stopped him, saying that these people could not leave before being told who he was. The old man dropped the act and gave his men the order to attack.
Senior fighters came charging in. They were known for their deadly techniques. Watching them rush in without using any of them only made him want to beat them harder.
With one hit he dropped two men and blew them into the wall. He told the old man that they must have thought he was weak, since they had attacked without using their skills at all.
The narrow-eyed man was getting nervous. Without any visible internal energy, how had a person done this?
Han brushed the pair of them aside and asked what the old man's plan was now. Did he want to run away? That made the old man angry.
Their former chubby hero knew that he was outnumbered. So he put on an act and asked what they were going to play.
He grabbed one of the men who had already been knocked down. The long-headed old man came after him and attacked from behind. But Han ducked it easily and quickly scanned the area. He had the perfect spot for his plans. He tightened his muscles and hurled the captive man up onto a rooftop. He crashed through it, and the people inside panicked and ran out.
Then Han jumped high and got ready to kick. He took the building apart with a single blow.
The senior fighters moved to regroup, and one of them said that they had got here sooner than expected. Touching his own face, Han wondered whether the old man had known about it beforehand.
Then the old man froze in fear. The man in front of him was someone he recognised.
Now Han, with his changed appearance on show, said that they had followed him right into the centre of the city. He even asked whether they wanted to continue playing, because now they would be dealing with him and with the sects of the city at once.
Realising the trap, the man cursed him for being smarter than expected. He knew that fighting two clans would be impossible. He had to get out of Hefei quickly.
But before that, the senior man gave the order to kill Han.
Han understood at once that he wanted to silence him. He raised his leg, shattered the stone under it, and kicked the pieces into the air. Then he asked whether they had really thought he had run out of tricks. He snatched a flying stone out of the air, and the elder thought that he should have run when he had the chance.
Using the Twelve Executive Cuts technique, he struck all of them together. But at that very moment a man lunged at him from behind. Their hero praised him for having followed him this far. But he said that a real martial artist would never have been caught so simply.
Choking, the man swallowed a pill, and Han realised something was wrong when he suddenly died.
Then he understood the old man's real intention. He turned to look for him, and it was too late. The old man had already killed the comrade who had been caught. A loud disturbance broke out, and Han saw that the others were killing their own men too. He was wiping out his subordinates so that no evidence would be left behind.
The old man ordered a retreat, and the three elders ran immediately. Their hero said that if they wanted to play like this, then he would not stop either, and he tore after them.
That chase spread across the whole city. One of them realised that it was not possible to run away. He stopped and turned around.
Han finished him with the sword in a single move. Whether these people lived or died did not matter to him.
The old man said something quickly to his last man, and he agreed. At the next turn the two of them separated. Han worried that while tracking one he would lose the other.
Only then did the old man look up, his eyes wide with shock. Voices came from ahead of him, calling out to wait. It was the city guard. The perpetrators were members of two clans.
Han thought to himself that they were late. But at least they had come. Now he could keep on chasing the old man.
The old man ran faster through the streets, and Han stayed behind him. Letting go meant ruining everything.
Desperate, he pulled out a strange little ball. He turned and threw it towards Han. But when he looked, the target was missing. The ball went off into empty air and exploded a moment later.
Then Han suddenly appeared. He shouted and punched him straight in the face.
The blow sent the old man across the street and into a brick wall. Han cracked his fingers and told him to leave it, that his men had already been caught.
Angry and defeated, the old man screamed. Who was he? Why had he kept his power hidden?
But the winner asks first. Han asked him where he had come from.