Chapter 19: Journey to Mingdu
"Are you not afraid this will ruin your reputation if it gets out?!"
Su Hongyuan questioned angrily, staring at Jiang Li with bloodshot eyes, as if he wanted to tear him apart alive.
Jiang Li merely chuckled lightly and replied indifferently, "Simple. Just don't leave any witnesses."
After all, his claim of completing every commission with a 100% success rate was not a joke.
As for why he could guarantee it—don't ask.
The moment his voice fell, a chilling killing intent erupted from Jiang Li's body. The playful smile in his eyes instantly turned cold.
In the next instant, he stepped forward lightly, and his figure vanished like a ghost, reappearing directly in front of Su Hongyuan.
Su Hongyuan's pupils shrank. Hastily, he circulated his soul power, forming a yellow earthen soul shield.
But that seemingly indestructible shield shattered like paper under Jiang Li's fist.
The fist wind howled as it slammed heavily into Su Hongyuan's chest.
"Crack—"
The sound of bones shattering was piercing.
Su Hongyuan's body flew backward like a broken kite, blood spewing from his mouth, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror.
Even in death, he could not understand how a man without soul power could possess such terrifying strength.
The surrounding bandits panicked instantly, screaming and fleeing in all directions.
Jiang Li's lips curved into a cold smile.
His figure blurred, leaving an afterimage, and in the next moment he appeared behind the fastest fleeing bandit.
He grabbed the man's neck and twisted lightly.
"Crack."
The bandit collapsed instantly, not even managing a scream.
"Not a single one gets away."
Jiang Li's voice was calm, but filled with bone-chilling killing intent.
His movements were fast beyond comprehension, like a reaper harvesting lives.
Punches, palms, elbows—every strike was simple, direct, and lethal.
Screams rose and fell rapidly, then ceased just as quickly.
In only a few breaths, all the ferocious bandits lay dead in pools of blood, no longer breathing.
Jiang Li shook the blood off his hands and looked at the corpses with a relaxed, playful expression.
He bent down and picked up Su Hongyuan's storage soul device, whistling in satisfaction.
"Another commission completed."
With that, he turned and left. His robe fluttered gently in the wind, as if the massacre had been nothing more than a trivial task.
—
Three days later, Mingdu.
The streets were crowded with people as Jiang Li walked slowly among them.
Outwardly ordinary, yet his mind was calculating his next move.
Although Du Bu Si had given him target portraits, Mingdu was far too vast.
Finding a few people here was no different from searching for a needle in the ocean.
However, Jiang Li quickly came to a conclusion.
Since those evil soul masters had come to Mingdu, they were most likely hiding in the Sunken Water Alliance.
If he remembered correctly, that place was the main gathering point for most evil soul masters in Mingdu.
As for whether he could find his targets—
Jiang Li didn't care. In his view, as long as he wiped out everyone in the Sunken Water Alliance, the commission would naturally be completed.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
At that moment, commotion arose behind him.
He turned and saw a figure recklessly charging through the crowd.
The person looked panicked, as if something terrifying was chasing him.
Jiang Li's gaze shifted past him and landed on a slender figure in pursuit.
Silver hair, blue eyes, delicate features, wearing an academy uniform.
One glance was enough for Jiang Li to identify her.
The eldest miss of the Red Dust family—Meng Hongchen.
"Stop, thief!"
Her voice was clear yet filled with anger. Four soul rings—two yellow and two purple—floated beneath her feet, revealing her strength.
However, the fleeing man clearly knew Mingdu's streets well and kept weaving through crowds, narrowly escaping capture.
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow and leaned against a roadside tree, watching the scene casually.
A thief, a chasing young lady—an ordinary street drama.
Not worth interfering.
His target was still the evil soul masters of the Sunken Water Alliance.
But the fleeing man, in panic, suddenly rushed straight toward Jiang Li.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Li leaning against the tree. Seeing no soul power fluctuations, he assumed Jiang Li was just an ordinary passerby.
Without hesitation, he shifted and rammed forward, trying to use the impact to escape.
"Get out of my way!"
The man growled, his muscular arm wrapped in faint soul power as he aimed to knock Jiang Li aside.
Jiang Li's eyes turned cold. He did not move his feet at all, only casually raised a hand.
Bang!
A dull impact sounded. The man felt as if he had crashed into iron, his arm exploding in pain.
Before he could react further, a hand had already grabbed his neck.
Meng Hongchen arrived moments later and was slightly pleased to see the thief stopped.
But her gaze then drifted toward Jiang Li.
Just one glance, and her expression turned serious.
Although the young man was handsome, the aura around him gave her an inexplicable sense of danger.
Even more troubling—he had no soul power fluctuations at all, like an ordinary civilian.
"Big brother, what's your name?"
After a brief pause, Meng Hongchen asked.
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, looked down at the dying man in his hand, and made a decision.
His fingers tightened slightly.
Crack.
The man's neck went limp, life extinguished instantly.
Then Jiang Li looked at her and smiled.
"No need to thank me. I was simply doing justice."
Meng Hongchen fell silent.
She looked at the lifeless body, then back at Jiang Li's smiling face.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
He was ruthless, decisive, yet had just helped her.
After a pause, she lightly snorted.
"Even though I could've caught him myself… thanks anyway."
Jiang Li nodded, then shamelessly said, "Since I helped you, shouldn't I get some reward?"
Meng Hongchen froze slightly. She did not expect such directness.
"What do you want?"
"I just arrived in Mingdu and haven't eaten yet. How about you treat me to a meal?"
Meng Hongchen was momentarily confused, but eventually… she nodded in agreement.