The Empress has abandoned me? I'll support a new emperor and destroy your kingdom!

"This is tough! Let's go together!" the burly thug roared, swinging a short stick down at Su Che's head, creating a gust of wind. Another henchman drew his dagger and stabbed from the side.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper gritted his teeth and thrust his knife straight at Su Che's abdomen. The three of them worked together quite well, blocking Su Che from the left, right, and front.

Su Che didn't move an inch, until the short stick was about to reach his head, the dagger about to reach his ribs, and the sharp knife about to reach his abdomen—

His figure swayed very slightly.

To the three of them, it seemed as if only a shadow swayed in the moonlight.

Then, the burly man's short stick slammed into the empty bed, cracking the bed frame with a crack; the waiter's dagger pierced the air, and his body staggered forward due to the excessive force; the shopkeeper's dagger missed its mark, and he almost fell over because he couldn't stop his momentum.

Su Che had already appeared beside the shopkeeper like a ghost, his right index and middle fingers joined together, and with lightning speed, he lightly poked a spot on the outside of the shopkeeper's wrist where he was holding the knife.

"Ah!" The shopkeeper screamed, his entire arm instantly going numb and powerless, the boning knife clattering to the ground. Su Che took the opportunity to push and pull, and the shopkeeper involuntarily bumped into the waiter who had just regained his footing, the two rolling into a heap.

The burly man reacted faster, roaring as he turned and swung his club horizontally. Instead of retreating, Su Che advanced, closing in on him, his left hand supporting and pressing down on the man's elbow joint, while his right toe silently tapped the back of the man's knee.

"Ugh!" The burly man felt a numbness in his arm, the stick slipped from his hand, and at the same time, his knees buckled, and his 200-pound body collapsed to the ground with a thud, shaking the floorboards.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. From the moment Su Che got up to the moment the three of them collapsed and lost their fighting ability, only two or three breaths had passed.

The commotion downstairs clearly alerted the "guests" in the other rooms. Immediately, Zhao Jianing's low shouts, short bursts of fighting, and muffled groans came from next door, but quickly subsided. Clearly, Zhao Jianing and his men were more than capable of dealing with ordinary petty thieves.

Su Che walked to the table and lit the oil lamp. The dim light illuminated the room and the three thieves on the floor, their faces filled with terror as they struggled to get up.

"Hero, spare my life! Hero, spare my life!" The shopkeeper was the first to react. Ignoring the numbness in his arm, he kowtowed repeatedly, "I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness! I've offended you, esteemed guest! All the money is in the hidden compartment under the counter. Please take it, just spare my life!"

Su Che ignored him, walked to the window, opened it, and made a gesture into the darkness of the backyard. Soon, Zhao Jianing came up with two guards, carrying two men who were tied up like dumplings and had rags stuffed in their mouths. These were the other two accomplices who were responsible for raiding the other rooms.

"Sir, there were three lookouts downstairs, but they've all been dealt with. The brothers are all fine, just a few of them were slightly dizzy from inhaling some sleeping pills, but it's nothing serious," Zhao Jianing reported, his gaze towards the three men on the ground icy.

Su Che nodded, pulled over the only intact chair in the room and sat down, calmly watching the ashen-faced shopkeeper.

"name."

"I am Zhang Laoliu..." the shopkeeper stammered in response.

"How many years has this shop been open? How many people has it harmed?"

"Five, five years... I had no choice. In this world... I haven't harmed many people, just robbed some money, I've never dared to take lives, my good man!" Zhang Laoliu's eyes flickered.

"Oh?" Su Che glanced at the corner of the blood-stained old handkerchief peeking out from the burly thug's waist. "Then the bloodstains on your companion, are they pig's blood?"

Zhang Laoliu was speechless, cold sweat pouring down his face.

"Tell me about the situation in town. Tell me everything—the government, the gangs, the bandits. If you tell me well, you might live." Su Che's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable pressure.

Knowing he had encountered a jinx, Zhang Laoliu dared not hide anything any longer and spilled the beans.

Originally, Blackwater Town was nominally under the jurisdiction of Linchuan Prefecture in Jiangqiong, but in reality, the emperor was far away and the prefectural city didn't care about this poor, remote place at all. There were three forces in the town: First, there was the town mayor, Liu Bapi, who was related to the county magistrate by marriage and controlled the officialdom, extorting money from everyone; second, there was the local gang, "Di Tou She," whose leader was called Scarface Liu San, who had dozens of hooligans under his command, collecting protection money and running gambling dens; and third, there was a group of mountain bandits, about a hundred strong, who were entrenched in Black Wind Ridge, thirty miles outside the town. Their leader was nicknamed "Zuo Shan Diao," and he was extremely fierce. Even Liu Bapi and Scarface Liu San had to pay tribute to him regularly.

These three parties colluded with each other while remaining wary of one another, treating Blackwater Town and the surrounding villages as their private property, ruthlessly exploiting them. Merchants who tried to make a profit were often wiped out by one or even several of them working together. Zhang Laoliu's shady inn had some connection with Scarface Liu San, and specifically targeted "fat sheep" who seemed to have some wealth but no real connections.

"Are there any skilled blacksmiths or carpenters in town? Are there any vacant houses or farmland?" Pang Xiaopan, who had also come up at some point, chimed in with his question, as this was what he was most concerned about.

"Yes, yes! Old Wu the blacksmith, his skills are alright, but he's stubborn. He owes Liu Sanye a loan shark debt, and his shop is almost gone. There are also two carpentry shops... vacant houses... There's an abandoned ancestral hall at the east end of town, quite large, but it's said to be haunted, so nobody dares to go there. As for the farmland... it's all been seized by Liu the Skinflint and a few big landlords. The small farmers can't survive, so they either flee famine or become bandits in the mountains..." Zhang Laoliu told everything he knew in order to save his life.

Su Che listened quietly, a preliminary outline of Blackwater Town's structure forming in his mind. Chaotic, disorderly, a dog-eat-dog world. Perfect.

"Where have you hidden the loot?" Su Che asked.

Zhang Laoliu's face turned pale, and he stammered, unwilling to speak. Zhao Jianing snorted coldly, pressing the tip of his knife against Zhang Laoliu's throat.

"Under the third stone slab under the manger in the backyard...there's also a hidden compartment under the bed in the bedroom of a little man..." Old Zhang collapsed to the ground.

Zhao Jianing led his men down and quickly returned, carrying a heavy bundle and a locked wooden box. The bundle contained loose silver coins, copper coins, and several pieces of gold and silver jewelry. The wooden box was forcibly pried open, revealing several silver notes, land deeds, and IOUs. The silver notes were of small denominations, but added up to three or four hundred taels of silver, and the land deeds were for some wasteland near the town.

"Sir, what should we do?" Zhao Jianing asked.

Su Che glanced at Zhang Laoliu and the others, whose faces were ashen, and pondered for a moment: "Cripple their tendons and throw them into the mass grave outside the town. Whether they live or die depends on their fate."

It wasn't that he was soft-hearted, but rather that as a newcomer, it wasn't wise to immediately commit a major murder and attract excessive attention from local powers. By crippling them, he effectively cut off their ability to commit evil and retaliate, leaving them to fend for themselves. This was more deterrent than killing them and also avoided unnecessary trouble.

Zhao Jianing obeyed the order and dragged the wailing and begging men away like dead dogs.

"Xiao Pan, take stock of our belongings and see how long they can last. Tomorrow, go and contact that blacksmith, Old Wu, and also check on the condition of the abandoned ancestral hall," Su Che instructed.

"Yes, sir." Pang Xiaopan replied, looking at the silver notes and land deed in her hand, and smiled bitterly, "This shady inn... has at least given us our first settlement fee."

Su Che walked to the window and looked once more at the deep night of Blackwater Town. In the distance, scattered lights flickered dimly, and further away lay an all-consuming darkness.

Here, there is no Tianming prosperity, no strict laws, no Lin Chu and Gao Tianci's pursuit. There is only the most primal greed, chaos, and...opportunity.

"Right here," he said slowly, his voice calm yet firm, "we'll place our first piece."

Zhao Jianing and Pang Xiaopan exchanged a glance, both seeing a gleam of eager anticipation in each other's eyes.

Yes, the chessboard has been set up. Though it is a remote, desolate town, it is the starting point of their new journey.

The night was still deep, but dawn was approaching.

In this chaotic land, a seed called "revenge" and "rebirth" has been quietly planted.