After leaving the bar, Qin Ziling leaned against a bus stop, casually smoking, the smoke obscuring his deep eyes.

Dragon Palace!

He had only been back for a short time when he met with these old friends, which was unexpected, yet also quite reasonable.

"I thought I was going to have some easy days, but this is really a headache!"

Shaking his head, Qin Ziling sighed and flicked the cigarette butt in his hand. The cigarette butt landed accurately in the chimney a few meters away.

Ring ring ring!

Just then, the phone in my pocket rang.

Qin Ziling glanced at the caller ID, somewhat puzzled: "Blood Spider?"

"Hello?"

"Master, something terrible has happened! Miss Chu has been kidnapped!" Blood Spider's anxious, coughing voice came from the other end of the phone.

Qin Ziling's expression changed drastically: "What?!"

Half an hour later, at the Chu family villa.

When Qin Ziling arrived at the door, his heart sank upon seeing the scene before him.

The entire Chu family villa was in a mess. The security guards at the gate lay unconscious in pools of blood, the bloodstains originating from their necks, clearly indicating that they had lost their lives.

Inside the courtyard, there were more than a dozen bodyguards in black, but they met the same fate as the security guards at the gate: they were brutally murdered, their deaths extremely gruesome!

"Master!" A beautiful figure ran over from not far away; it was Blood Spider.

Blood Spider was covered in mud, her clothes were torn, and blood was still dripping from her white arm. She was pale and clutching her arm, with blood still at the corner of her mouth.

"What happened? Even you got injured?" Qin Ziling frowned and asked in confusion.

Blood Spider said in a deep voice, "The assassin who came this time is not simple. He is Butcher, who is ranked seventh on the assassin list. He is too strong. I am no match for him."

Seventh on the assassin list!

The previous headhunters were ranked 50th or lower and already possessed Super A-level strength, while the killers ranked even higher were clearly far stronger than the headhunters!

Of course, in the dark world, being ranked seventh doesn't necessarily mean you're among the top. The Assassin Ranking is just a list compiled by the Assassin Alliance based on the assassins who are active on the surface. Some assassins aren't on the list, or even disdain being on it. They are usually very low-key, but their strength is terrifying!

Blood Spider is an S-rank, and not just any ordinary S-rank. So the fact that she was injured like this means that Butcher's strength is far more than S-rank!

"The Butcher? It's him. He actually managed to get into Jianghai?" Qin Ziling's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of murderous intent in them.

The Butcher is a very well-known name in the underworld. He once single-handedly slaughtered an S-class mercenary group, killing more than a dozen S-class mercenaries and becoming famous overnight!

However, he has now offended Qin Ziling!

The waters of the rivers and seas are getting deeper and deeper!

"Master, when the Butcher took Miss Chu away, he told you to take the Philosopher's Stone to the farm seven miles to the south to exchange her," Blood Spider said.

Given Blood Spider's strength, it would have been relatively easy for Butcher to kill her, but he didn't. Instead, he left her alive to pass on a message.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ziling sneered: "Use the Philosopher's Stone to exchange for someone? Let's see if he has the life to use it! Come with me!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

Blood Spider watched Qin Ziling's retreating figure, a strange light flashing in its eyes, and quickly followed.

On his way to his destination, Qin Ziling called Chu Renxiong to tell him what had happened and asked him to come back.

Upon hearing that Chu Xinyue had been arrested, Chu Renxiong and his wife did not dare to delay and rushed back immediately.

About ten minutes later, the car stopped in a desolate place. The weeds around it were as tall as a person, but there was a narrow path in front of the car that was wide enough for one person to pass through, so the car could not go any further.

Qin Ziling and Xue Zhu got out of the car one after the other, and their eyes immediately fell on a farm in front of them.

The heavy rain was still falling, and Blood Spider, the cold-faced beauty, stood beside Qin Ziling, holding an umbrella for him.

"Let's go." Qin Ziling's voice was calm, but those who knew him well knew that this was when he was at his most terrifying.

Once inside the farm, the two had no reservations. According to Blood Spider, the butcher was only one person, and he had always disdained joining any organization, so they weren't worried about an ambush.

Of course, even if there were, Qin Ziling could ignore them!

Upon entering the heart of the farm, Qin Ziling encountered the butcher, who was sitting casually on the ground with a bloodstained pig-slaughtering knife stuck in his side. As his name suggested, the butcher was large and had a fierce expression. A red cloth was wrapped around his head, and he exuded a sense of oppression.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Dragon Countryman. It seems you have some guts, coming here unprepared." The butcher said, holding a wine jug in his hand.

Qin Ziling glanced around indifferently before turning his gaze to him: "Where is he?"

The butcher chuckled: "I'm not stupid. Why would I obediently put the person in front of you? I've hidden the person, but where's the stuff?"

He was certainly not stupid; in fact, he was quite shrewd. Although he was very confident in himself, he kept a backup plan in order to successfully obtain the Philosopher's Stone, just in case.

Qin Ziling was silent for a moment, then took out the Philosopher's Stone.

Upon seeing the Philosopher's Stone, the Butcher's eyes lit up: "This is the divine artifact that countless people desire!"

“Chinese man, you don’t understand the value of this. You’d better hand it over to me.”

Qin Ziling said coldly, "Release them first!"

The butcher sneered, "Do you think you're in a position to negotiate with me right now?"

Qin Ziling's lips curled up: "Whether you release them or not is your business, but if I don't see them within a minute, this thing can just turn to dust."

As he spoke, he slowly clenched his fist.

A glint of cunning flashed in the butcher's eyes, a hint of murderous intent deep within them, but he sneered, "Fine, I suppose you wouldn't dare to play any tricks."

After saying that, he turned and left.

"Master, he's not going to play any tricks, is he?" Blood Spider asked suspiciously.

Qin Ziling wasn't worried at all. Instead, he said, "Don't worry, once we see the person, we don't care if they have three heads and six arms, we'll just kill them!"

Blood Spider had no doubt about Qin Ziling, or rather, the tyrant who killed his master. He was a figure standing at the pinnacle of the dark world. Compared to the Butcher, the latter was like a small star next to the bright moon, merely an embellishment.

A short while later, the butcher returned, carrying a woman who was bound and gagged. He held the rope around her waist with ease.

It was indeed Chu Xinyue, who was now unconscious with her eyes closed.

"The woman is here. Apart from being a bit talkative and being knocked unconscious by me, she's perfectly fine," the butcher said calmly.

Qin Ziling withdrew his gaze from Chu Xinyue and looked at the butcher, saying, "You should be glad you didn't touch her, otherwise, even wanting to die would be a luxury!"

Upon hearing this, the butcher grinned and said, "Is that so? Do you know who I am? I used to kill people like dirt. The people who died by my hand could fill a whole floor of this farm! You think you're so confident just because you killed the one who carried the head?"

"That guy is nothing but trash to me!"