The spacious inner courtyard, originally a storage area for some restaurant, had now transformed into an inescapable iron cage. The night wind howled across the surrounding rooftops, carrying the clamor and hubbub of the City of Chaos, but within this courtyard, the atmosphere was so thick and deathly still that one could hear their own heartbeat.
In the four cardinal directions, four factions—four distinct streams of killing intent—had firmly locked onto the silhouette of the youth standing in the center.
Old Eccentric Black Heart, the old bronze stall owner, stood right at the breach in the wall that Tran Kien had just smashed open. He no longer possessed his lethargic demeanor; his aged eyes gleamed like a hawk's, his aura unfathomably deep and steadfast as a mountain, sealing off every path of retreat for Tran Kien.
The Phantom Shadow Pavilion woman wearing the silver fox mask stood on a nearby awning. Her figure was graceful and alluring, yet the short sword in her hand radiated a deadly, freezing aura. Her Foundation Establishment Realm aura descended from above like an invisible net.
The fat Kim Bao and the Black Dragon Stronghold youth blocked the remaining two directions. Although they were the weakest among the four factions, behind them stood over a dozen elite subordinates.
A desperate situation. A true dead end with no path to survival.
Tran Kien stood there, his back leaning against a pile of empty wooden wine barrels, his breathing slightly ragged. The previous clash with Old Eccentric Black Heart had left his qi and blood churning. He knew that facing even one of these four factions, his chances of winning were slim. Let alone facing all four at once.
But within his eyes, there was no despair. Only a terrifying calmness. He was thinking; his cold mind frantically analyzing the chessboard before him.
Four factions, seemingly forming a temporary alliance. But what was their true nature? He quickly glanced at each of them. Old Eccentric Black Heart was a lone, old wolf; his target was the relic and the secrets on Tran Kien's body. He was the strongest, and also the most arrogant. The Phantom Shadow Pavilion woman was cunning and cautious, definitely unwilling to be the vanguard. Kim Bao and the Black Dragon Stronghold were weaker; their cooperation was merely temporary, and they undoubtedly harbored their own ulterior motives.
This alliance, seemingly solid, was actually as fragile as a sheet of paper. They did not trust each other. Every single wolf wanted to swallow the prey whole. This was the sole flaw!
A maddening scheme, a final gamble, took shape in his mind. He would not break their alliance. He would use their own greed to make them slaughter each other.
This was the stratagem "Driving the Tiger to Devour the Wolf" recorded in ancient military texts.
"Everyone," Tran Kien suddenly spoke, his voice completely devoid of tremors, shattering the deathly silence. "You want the Lac Viet relic, right?"
"Cut the crap, brat!" Kim Bao roared. "Hand it over obediently, and we can leave you with an intact corpse!"
"Hand it over?" Tran Kien laughed, a smile full of mockery. "To whom? To you? To the Black Dragon Stronghold? To this beautiful fox lady? Or... to Senior Black Heart?"
He deliberately emphasized each name, sowing seeds of suspicion in their hearts. "There is only one relic. Yet there are four of you. Tell me, who should I give it to?"
The expressions of Kim Bao and the Black Dragon Stronghold youth instantly changed. They exchanged glances, then warily eyed Old Eccentric Black Heart and the Phantom Shadow Pavilion woman. Indeed, once they caught this brat, who would the treasure belong to?
"No need for you to worry," Old Eccentric Black Heart said coldly; he had seen through Tran Kien's intentions. "Once we kill you, the treasure will naturally find its owner."
"Is that so?" Tran Kien smiled. "Senior, do you truly believe that after I am dead, the rest will simply let you walk away with the treasure in peace?"
He didn't give the old man a chance to reply. He suddenly made a move no one could have anticipated.
He took out the green bronze Lac bird fragment from his robes.
"You want it, right?"
Then, he didn't throw it toward the strongest, Old Eccentric Black Heart. He didn't throw it toward the cunning Phantom Shadow Pavilion woman either.
He threw it right at the two weakest parties: Kim Bao and the Black Dragon Stronghold youth!
"It's yours!"
The fragment flew out, drawing an arc in the air.
In that fleeting moment, the rationality of Kim Bao and the Black Dragon Stronghold youth was completely clouded by greed. They stopped thinking and instinctively lunged toward the fragment.
And that was the very spark that Tran Kien had ignited!
"COURTING DEATH!"
Old Eccentric Black Heart and the Phantom Shadow Pavilion woman were not fools. How could they let those two miscellaneous fishes snatch the treasure? They attacked simultaneously!
Old Eccentric Black Heart lost his unhurried demeanor. He let out a roar, his body lunging forward like a hawk, his two bony fingers clawing straight for Kim Bao's throat.
The Phantom Shadow Pavilion woman was like a butterfly, her figure skimming through the night, the short sword in her hand transforming into a streak of silver light, stabbing straight toward the Black Dragon Stronghold youth's back!
"Ah! You dare!"
Kim Bao and the Black Dragon Stronghold youth were horrified. They hurriedly abandoned their scramble for the fragment and turned to defend themselves.
BOOM! CLANG!
An earth-shattering melee broke out in the small courtyard without any warning. The four factions, four fierce tigers, tore into each other.
And what about Tran Kien, the mastermind who had orchestrated it all?
The moment he threw the fragment, he didn't hesitate. He didn't run outside. He did something no one could have predicted.
He dashed straight into... the pile of wooden wine barrels he had been leaning against!
He circulated his Primordial Chaos Qi, unleashing his Saber Intent - Thousand Tempers, Hundred Refinements—not to attack, but to destroy!
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Dozens of wooden barrels were smashed open by the hilt of his saber. Inside was not wine, but a pungent-smelling fish oil used by restaurants to fuel their lamps. The thick, pitch-black fish oil flooded the floor, flowing straight toward the center of the chaotic melee.
While those fools were entirely absorbed in slaughtering each other, Tran Kien brought out a flintstone.
He did not smile. His face, under the flickering light, was as cold as ice.
He struck the flint and tossed the sparking stone into the pool of fish oil.
"FWOOSH!!!"
A true fire dragon awakened. A sea of flames surged towards the heavens, engulfing the entire courtyard, swallowing all those fighting madly within. Miserable shrieks, furious roars, and curses rang out endlessly.
As for Tran Kien, the one who had ignited the fire, he had already used the shadows and the chaos to slip through a narrow gap between two buildings, vanishing without a trace.
He left behind a sea of fire, and a chessboard that had been completely overturned.
The fisherman did not just haul in the net. The fisherman burned the boat as well.