I'm Just a Beast Tamer

「One week later.」

「That night, at a manor outside Lizhou City.」

"Who are you? The White Jade Gang is backed by the Xu Family!"

In the manor’s main hall, Bai Yuyu and a group of White Jade Gang leaders stared at the man at the door. Drenched in cold sweat, they roared with false bravado.

They knew a powerful enemy had come to their stronghold; the gang members outside had been wiped out, almost to a man, without a sound.

Bai Yuyu and the core members hadn’t dared to rush out. Instead, they gathered in the main hall, lying in wait.

The moment the enemy stepped through the door, more than twenty of them let their arrows fly in unison.

Bai Yuyu was a Bone Refining Martial Artist. Under him were three at the Muscle Training level, and over a dozen more at the Skin Refining level.

Their arrows featured refined arrowheads, and the shafts were crafted from iron bamboo quenched in hot oil, making them incredibly heavy and hard.

But who could have known? The volley of more than twenty arrows, enough to riddle a man like a pincushion, was met by a single punch from the slender, masked figure at the door.

And with that, the arrows shattered in mid-air.

The iron bamboo, as hard as steel, couldn’t withstand a single blow.

Until that moment, Bai Yuyu had felt no fear, even though he sensed the enemy was powerful.

The arrowheads were all poisoned. ’As long as I can just nick him, it’s my victory,’ he thought.

But the enemy’s strength was far beyond his expectations.

In that instant, Bai Yuyu sensed a mortal danger unlike any he had ever known.

"The Xu Family? You mean Xu Wuan?"

"So you know! Lord Xu is a Meridian Passage Martial Artist! The White Jade Gang pays a huge tribute in silver to the Xu Family every year. If you cut off their income, Lord Xu won’t let you get away with it!"

Bai Yuyu said gravely.

These were secrets he should have never revealed, but if he didn’t speak now, he would die here. He couldn’t afford to care about the consequences.

Cutting off a person’s source of wealth was said to be like murdering their parents, and building a gang like the White Jade Gang was no easy task.

A Meridian Passage Martial Artist was the strongest type of fighter in Lizhou. Even if this man was also a Meridian Passage expert, he would have to weigh the gains and losses of his actions.

Unfortunately for them, Jiang Zuo had no such scruples.

With a flick of his wrist, a storm of Embroidery Needles shot out.

After settling by the Li River for nearly twenty years, Jiang Zuo’s skill with this technique had reached the pinnacle of perfection.

With his level of power, anyone struck by them would die instantly.

Although Bai Yuyu was a Bone Refining Martial Artist, he tried to put up a fight before his death.

But the gap in power between him and Jiang Zuo was too vast. He died just like Gong Wanping had, struck down by Embroidery Needles before he could even get close.

’They even went to the trouble of setting up a whole manor. I wonder how much money I’ll be able to find.’

Jiang Zuo glanced at the corpses littering the floor and began to loot them.

Years ago, the Black Fish Gang had been forced to hide out in an underground casino. The White Jade Gang, on the other hand, had built a sprawling manor for their stronghold.

Jiang Zuo was somewhat expectant about how much money he would find.

Although he hadn’t had much use for money over the years, nobody ever complained about having too much.

On his way here, Jiang Zuo had already fought his way through and eliminated several of the White Jade Gang’s smaller hideouts.

However, that had only netted him a few thousand taels of silver. The real prize was likely here.

Jiang Zuo couldn’t be bothered to search himself, so he had brought Great Black along for this very reason.

With a single thought, Great Black leaped out from the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

"Find anything that might be hiding money or treasure," Jiang Zuo instructed.

With the sensitivity of Great Black’s nose, the manor held no secrets from him.

In just over half an hour, with Great Black’s help, Jiang Zuo had completely plundered the entire manor.

’By a rough count, it’s about seventy to eighty thousand taels of silver. That’s a bit less than I expected. I wonder how much they paid in tribute to the Xu Family. If I recall, the Black Fish Gang also paid tribute to them.’

Jiang Zuo recalled Great Black and slipped back into the darkness.

Jiang Zuo was no stranger to the Xu Family of Lizhou.

The Xu Family was a Martial Arts Family in Lizhou with a legacy stretching back hundreds of years. Many of its members served as Military Officers in the Cao Kingdom. In addition to Xu Wuan, a Meridian Passage master, the Xu Family also had several Blood Exchange Martial Artists.

As for those below the Bone Refining realm, their numbers were unknown.

Given the Xu Family’s influence, even high-ranking officials in the Cao Kingdom’s imperial court dared not offend them lightly.

It was perfectly normal for the Xu Family to control some of the gangs outside Lizhou City.

Even knowing that Xu Wuan was the White Jade Gang’s backer, Jiang Zuo didn’t plan to do anything about it.

’Xu Wuan is a Meridian Passage expert, and my own strength is probably equivalent to that of a Meridian Passage Martial Artist.’

’If I can’t kill him in one shot, that means there’s risk involved.’

’I know the Xu Family is a bad lot, but the world is full of injustice. Even gods can’t fix everything, let alone an ’ordinary person’ like me.’

’As long as they don’t come looking for trouble with me, we won’t have a problem.’

...

The White Jade Gang had nearly three hundred members, but Jiang Zuo had no interest in hunting down and eliminating every last one.

He had only targeted the gang’s various hideouts, and in one night, he had probably killed a little more than half of their total members.

But with their leader, chieftains, and core members almost completely wiped out, the surviving grunts who were lucky enough to be elsewhere wouldn’t dare to operate under the White Jade Gang’s name any longer.

So, even though Jiang Zuo hadn’t killed them all, by the next morning, the White Jade Gang was effectively finished.

The White Jade Gang was no more.

As the news spread, many areas outside Lizhou City erupted in celebration, as if it were the New Year.

This time, the constables of Lizhou City didn’t just go through the motions; they actually arrested quite a few people for interrogation.

However, upon discovering that the manner of death throughout the entire White Jade Gang was identical to that of the Black Fish Gang years ago, the constables actually breathed a sigh of relief.

This person had wiped out the Black Fish Gang over a decade ago and hadn’t made a move since.

The only two times he had ever acted, it was to annihilate a gang.

Even if they investigated with all their might, as long as they couldn’t find the culprit, they wouldn’t have to worry about retaliation.

He had acted twice and destroyed two major gangs.

By noon, as the news spread, the mysterious killer had quickly earned a new moniker: the Gang Assassin.

For a time, the other gangs outside Lizhou City were in a state of panic, seeing shadows in every corner.

After all, none of them knew if their own gang had somehow offended this figure.

Several gang leaders hastily reined in their subordinates, ordering them not to cause any trouble for the time being, lest they attract the attention of that Killing God.

「Inside Lizhou City.」

「Xiangshan Martial Arts Hall.」

When Fangxiang Mountain heard the news, he was reminded of the late Gong Wanping.

"Is there really such a person in or around Lizhou City? Could it be someone acting under a hidden identity?"

"Forget it. No matter who did it, in a few more years, they’ll be a dead man walking anyway."

Fangxiang Mountain sneered.

’There shouldn’t be any Martial Artist in or around Lizhou City that I don’t know, especially one this powerful. It’s impossible.’

’But it doesn’t matter who it was. No matter how strong they are, they’ll die by my hand sooner or later.’

...

’Zhao is becoming more and more unfathomable!’

Ruan Jianglan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly when she heard the news.

When the Black Fish Gang was suddenly wiped out, Ruan Jianglan had wondered if Jiang Zuo was behind it.

But the thought had only been a fleeting one.

Back then, Jiang Zuo was just a young fisherman; he didn’t seem like the type of person capable of such a feat.

But as she got to know Jiang Zuo better over time, the more mysterious he seemed.

That once-fleeting thought began to resurface in her mind again and again.

So this time, when Jiang Zuo said he would handle the matter, Ruan Jianglan couldn’t help but wonder if something was about to happen to the White Jade Gang.

And just as she’d suspected, the White Jade Gang was annihilated, in the exact same manner as the Black Fish Gang.

After offending Jiang Zuo, the Black Fish Gang had lasted for another month.

Now, over a decade later, the White Jade Gang had survived for barely a week.

And the White Jade Gang’s leader had been far stronger than his Black Fish Gang counterpart, yet the outcome was exactly the same.

...

Having eliminated a public menace and earned nearly eighty thousand taels of silver, Jiang Zuo returned to the riverbank.

A few days later, Great Black finally had a breakthrough. Through advanced training, it mastered an ability called "Roar."

When it activated the ability, Great Black’s strength increased by about twenty percent.

Furthermore, its two effects—increasing strength and intimidating weaker enemies—could be activated separately at will.

Activating the strength-boosting effect left Great Black feeling a bit tired, so it wasn’t particularly fond of using it.

The intimidating roar effect, however, it absolutely loved.

After mastering it, it ran into the woods, let out a roar to the sky, and immediately sent a flock of birds scattering with frightened cries.

Any insects or cockroaches on the ground would also flee in a frenzy.

「More than half a month later.」

「Inside the Lizhou shop.」

Jiang Zuo stared at an object resting in the corner of the consignment cabinet.

Once a consignment contract was signed, items were put on display in the shop; they didn’t specifically wait for Jiang Zuo to come and appraise them.

However, most consigned goods were expensive and rarely sold within half a month.

"An old man brought this in," Ruan Jianglan explained. "He found it a few days ago in a hideout belonging to the White Jade Gang’s Vice Gang Leader. He claims it can be soaked in wine to boost virility, so he’s not willing to sell it cheap. He’s asking for at least 500 taels of silver."

This so-called virility-boosting ingredient was actually the carcass of a plump gecko.

Ruan Jianglan didn’t really believe the claim, but the gecko carcass was certainly strange. Though it had clearly been dead for a long time, the body showed no signs of rot or decay, gave off no odor, and even looked as if it had only died a few days ago.

But Ruan Jianglan was no naive girl. She knew the world was full of strange and wondrous things, and that perhaps someone possessed the means to achieve such preservation.

She certainly wouldn’t buy such a thing herself, but she had no problem agreeing to sell it on consignment.

In any case, it wasn’t an ordinary item. By displaying it in the shop, perhaps someone would recognize it, and it would be a learning experience for her regardless.

"I’ll take it," Jiang Zuo said.

Jiang Zuo reflected on the turn of events. ’It seems doing a good deed once in a while pays off. If I hadn’t destroyed the White Jade Gang, this thing would never have fallen into my hands.’

A full ten years had passed since he found the Sea Turtle Shell. Finding a second Obsession Relic had been incredibly difficult.

But his persistence had finally paid off.

Moreover, the gray light emanating from the gecko’s carcass was significantly stronger than the light the Night Cat’s Eye had given off.

’This could very well be a Tier 3 Obsession Relic!’

Jiang Zuo told Ruan Jianglan to deduct the cost of the item, along with her promised reward, from his year-end share of the profits.

Then he left with the gecko carcass.

Just as he stepped outside the city, the gecko carcass was absorbed by the Beast Taming System.

[Gecko Carcass: A Tier 3 Obsession Relic containing the intense desire of a casino gecko.]

It was a gecko born in a casino, where it lived its entire life, and where it eventually died.

Every time it watched from the rafters, looking down as the gamblers cheated, lost their money, and went mad, it couldn’t help but think how foolish mortals were.

If it were in their place, it would have won an unimaginable amount of money by now.

Go to a crowded, bustling casino and gamble. Offer the winnings to it to obtain the Beast Soul Power contained within.