Half-human, half-ghost, the number one divine fist

Lin Fusheng and Xiao Tian stepped out of Jinrong Casino.

The damp, chilly air of the early morning hit me.

The sky was leaden gray, and the clouds hung low, like heavy, waterlogged cotton wool suspended overhead.

It was a gloomy, rainy day.

The two quickly arrived at the agreed location, Ginkgo Park.

The park is dotted with simple stone benches and tables, as well as a peeling octagonal pavilion, which is now crowded with people watching the play.

The air was filled with the sounds of clappers and erhu, as well as a woman's high-pitched and melodious singing with a distinctive Northeastern Chinese flavor.

It's a bouncy game.

This local opera genre is most popular among the people. Judging from the scene, it seems to be some amateur troupe taking advantage of the slightly cooler weather to put on an open-air show and earn some money.

As soon as Lin Fusheng withdrew his gaze, he noticed a dozen or so powerful figures mixed among the people, who should be the skilled stone-skinners prepared by Huai Rentang.

Xiao Tian didn't lead him into the crowd, but instead took him around to the stone benches under a few old locust trees not far away.

This place is relatively secluded, and you can also see what's happening in the pavilion.

Three people were already sitting on the stone bench.

One of them, who appeared to be around forty years old, raised his eyelids and said in a flat, indifferent voice, "Lin Fusheng?"

Lin Fusheng nodded.

The dark-skinned man introduced himself: "Huai Rentang, Wang Benliu. These two are Chen Bao and Zhou Lei."

He pointed to the two people beside him.

Chen Bao and Zhou Lei didn't even raise their heads.

Lin Fusheng sat down on the stone bench on the opposite side, his face calm.

The three iron bars were missing Hua Wendong; it seems Hu Tiannan was reluctant to let Hua Wendong participate.

Xiao Tian silently stepped back a few paces and stood by a tree a little further away, his eyes filled with worry.

Inside the pavilion, the bouncy performance was reaching its climax.

"This humble woman asks for neither silver nor money, but only for the law to overturn this case!"

The high-pitched, indignant female voice on stage suddenly reached its peak, then abruptly stopped, leaving only a trembling trailing note from the erhu, like a helpless sigh.

This was followed by a buzz of discussion among the onlookers, scattered cheers, and applause.

"Sister Yang's grievance has been appealed to the highest heavens..."

"Well sung! That was really great!"

"Let's take a breather. The next act should be 'Sawing the Big Vat,' right?"

The opera troupe seemed to be taking a break.

At this moment, Wang Benliu withdrew his gaze from the pavilion, took out a piece of folded paper from his pocket, and threw it on the stone table in front of Lin Fusheng.

The paper was unfolded, and on it was a simple outline of the terrain near Ginkgo Park in charcoal pencil, marked with arrows and scribbled handwriting, showing a winding route from the Golden Jade Hall gambling den to this place.

"Judging by the time, it's about time."

Wang Benliu's tone became clearly pointed: "The gang's plan is to send Liu Heishou to Jinyulou to 'do some work,' make a big fuss, and leave some clues to lure out their Iron Band. Liu Heishou is a top-notch expert in the underworld, whom the gang has been supporting at great expense. He will be of great use in the future, so we can't afford to lose him."

He raised his finger and pointed at Lin Fusheng: "Your job is to get to the middle of this route, around this location, at Sun's Grocery Store, to meet Liu Heishou there, and then... cover his retreat. Make sure he can safely evacuate to our location."

Lin Fusheng listened quietly.

Let him break through the stone skin, then fight one or two iron bars head-on.

To cover the rear?

They really don't try to hide it at all.

Xiao Tian, ​​sensing the deadly danger in the mission, paled and, disregarding his status, hurriedly stepped forward: "Brother Wang! This... Foreman Lin has only just entered Shipi; I'm afraid he's not up to the task of covering the rear! Why don't we leave Foreman Lin here, and he can handle the rearguard duties..."

Wang Benliu's face suddenly darkened, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes!

He suddenly stood up and grabbed Xiao Tian's collar with his large, fan-like hand.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Three heavy, loud slaps landed squarely on Xiao Tian's face! Xiao Tian's head thrashed violently from the blows, his cheeks visibly swollen and red, his lips cracked and bleeding, and he was completely stunned, his eyes glazed over and his ears ringing.

"Fuck you!"

Wang Benliu leaned close to Xiao Tian, ​​spitting almost onto his face, his eyes fierce as if he wanted to devour him. "I'm talking to you, what are you? A watchdog-like thing, you dare to tell me what to do? Huh?"

"Brother Wang, please have mercy."

Lin Fusheng frowned, stepped forward and stood between Xiao Tian and Wang Benliu, his gaze fixed on those eyes that were flashing with a fierce light.

Wang Benliu stared at Lin Fusheng for two seconds, then glanced at Xiao Tian, ​​who was pale with fright. He snorted heavily and released his grip as if throwing away trash.

Xiao Tian staggered back a few steps, covered his swollen cheek, lowered his head, and dared not utter another sound.

Lin Fusheng immediately picked up the sketch on the table and put it in his pocket. "I'll take this on."

Wang Benliu and the other two were slightly taken aback by Lin Fusheng's lack of fear or dissatisfaction.

Immediately, Wang Benliu revealed a playful smile: "Don't worry, you only have this one task. As long as Liu Heishou returns safely, you'll have accomplished a great feat!"

Chen Bao and Zhou Lei grinned, their eyes full of mockery.

If a stone is cut off and the iron bar is directly exposed, can it come back alive?

Lin Fusheng nodded slightly, ignoring them, and pulled Xiao Tian aside, whispering, "I'm fine, you can go back now."

Xiao Tian looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, his voice hoarse: "Foreman Lin, you... please be careful!"

Lin Fusheng said no more.

Hearing the distant sound of the clapper resounding again, he walked alone towards the slope where the Jin Yutang gambling den was located, following the direction shown on the sketch.

His figure appeared somewhat lonely in the hazy light of the sky, blending into the thick river mist and the rising chill.

"He's smart to know his place."

Chen Bao chuckled.

"Do you think Jin Yulou might be being cautious and not send anyone out at all?"

"It doesn't matter if they don't send anyone. My Tongxin Society has plenty of people skilled in gambling. If it doesn't work today, we'll try again tomorrow. Sooner or later, we'll force them to send people to hunt us down. They might be cautious and not act once or twice, but what if they act ten or eight times? Who the hell still goes to gamble at Jin Yu Lou?"

……

In the narrow alley outside the Jin Yu Lou gambling den.

"Grab him! Don't let this conman get away!"

Shouts and shouts rose from all sides.

Boom! Two powerful figures followed, Gao Hansheng and Qian Biao.

Meanwhile, eight other formidable experts from the Stone Skin Realm also appeared from various places and rushed into the back alley.

"Boss," a nimble stone-skin expert whispered to Gao Hansheng during the chase, "Did this guy deliberately lure us out? Could it be a trap set by Jinrong Gambling House?"

"You think I and Boss Qian are blind? You can see that all by yourself?"

Gao Hansheng said coldly, then lowered his voice, "Who will eat whom is still uncertain! You all took the little white cloth bag I gave you before, right? You can't lose this, or you'll all be dead in a moment!"

"Yes, boss!"

"clear!"

Several subordinates hurriedly stuffed the small white bag tightly into the closest place to their bodies, their faces solemn.

Although we don't know what this thing is used for, Gao Hansheng's solemn instruction suggests it must be useful.

"Keep chasing! Don't lose them, but don't push too hard. Stick to the plan!"

Gao Hansheng's gaze was fixed on the frail figure nimbly weaving through the alleyway ahead.

The group chased each other, stopping frequently, gradually heading towards Ginkgo Park and closer to the riverbank.

Side view of Sun's General Store.

This is just an inconspicuous little shop on the edge of a messy shantytown by the river. The wooden door is crooked, and there are broken baskets and old fishing nets piled up at the entrance. The words on the sign are already blurred and illegible.

Lin Fusheng stood to the side and behind the shop, his breathing subdued.

He arrived here a little earlier than scheduled.

Not long after, hurried footsteps came from the alleyway in the distance.

coming.

Lin Fusheng stared intently and saw a middle-aged man in a silk shirt, thin and stumbling out of the alley. His face was pale and his forehead was covered in sweat. It was Liu Heishou.

He was panting heavily and his steps were unsteady; clearly, this desperate escape had taken a heavy toll.

At the alley entrance less than thirty feet behind Liu Heishou, Gao Hansheng, Qian Biao, and seven or eight Shi Pi men were hot on their heels!

Lin Fusheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

Two iron bars, and seven or eight pieces of stone skin.

This lineup, is it meant to cover the rear?

However, escaping might not be a problem.

The Iron-Muscle Warrior was slightly faster than the Stone-Skinned Warrior, but not by much.

Lin Fusheng felt the surging blood and qi within his body, which was several times more powerful than that of ordinary stone skin.

The perfected Iron Armor Stance, combined with the foundation gained from breaking through the Stone Skin barrier, gave him a level of health and endurance far exceeding those of his peers. In terms of stamina for prolonged escapes, he might not be inferior to those two Iron Tendons.

In the eyes of Wang Benliu and others, there was only one option to successfully help Liu Heishou.

To cover the rear.

Only in this way can we break free from time.

Bringing Liu Heishou along will drain your stamina; even the iron bars won't hold up.

But they didn't realize that with their robust health, even with Liu Heishou by their side, they would be able to escape to the park.

Before being completely caught, they escaped to Ginkgo Park. Even if Wang Benliu and his men wanted to die, they had no choice but to fight back against Jin Yutang and Tie Jin, who were chasing them, in full view of everyone in the park.

Lin Fusheng took a deep breath and stopped hiding it.

He stepped out from behind the earthen wall and shouted in a low voice at Liu Heishou, who was staggering towards him:

"Over here!"

When Liu Heishou saw Lin Fusheng, a look of relief appeared on his ashen face, and he ran towards him desperately.

My heart skipped a beat.

This person looks unfamiliar and is far too young.

But in this life-or-death situation, he couldn't worry about anything else; he gasped for breath and managed to squeeze out the words:

"Brother! Thank you so much... for covering our retreat! I'll repay your great kindness later, I'll take my leave now!"

He was about to turn onto a side road, intending to have his backup cover his retreat while he made his escape.

Before he could even take a step, Lin Fusheng had already swept up to him like the wind and grabbed his arm:

"What do you mean by 'break'? I'm only at the Stone Skin Realm, how can I withstand the Iron Tendon? I'll take you away directly, hurry up!"

Before he could finish speaking, a strong and steady force came, and Liu Heishou was suddenly accelerated, rushing towards a muddy path deep in the riverside shantytown!

"Huh? You..."

Liu Heishou was pulled so hard he staggered, his mind going blank.

This isn't what we agreed on!

The guild clearly promised to send enough men to cover the rear, so why did they only send one Shi Pi?

In a flash, a name popped into his mind.

Lin Fusheng!

The young boss of Jinrong Casino, who had just risen to power and was caught up in the power struggle at the top, was named to participate in this life-or-death operation.

A pawn that was decided to be killed by the higher-ups!

Liu Heishou immediately understood and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"Hu Tiannan, you bastard! It's none of my business if you want to kill Lin Fusheng, but sending him to cover our retreat is just asking for trouble. Normally, we should send someone else to cover our retreat so I can escape further! Now this kid wants to live and doesn't want to die, isn't that making me a target too?"

He struggled for a moment, then lowered his voice and said urgently, "Lin, right? You've only just entered the stone layer! How can you compare your leg strength and endurance with those two tough guys behind you? Besides, you're dragging me along! Put me down, let's run separately!"