Chapter Forty-Two: Slaughter

Under the cover of night, Wei Hua returned to his room in the modest inn and lay on his own bed, pondering what had just transpired. He had killed someone—a living soul ended by his own hand. Yet Wei Hua felt no guilt. He knew Kobayashi Saburo was a villain, a scoundrel, but nonetheless a human being. In his previous life, Wei Hua had been an ordinary person, unable even to slaughter a chicken, let alone take a life. And now, without hesitation, he had dispatched an evildoer. It seemed that the lingering remnant of the Immortal Emperor Xuan Yi had granted him not only formidable spiritual power, but also had deeply affected his character.

Since the plan had begun, it must continue. He would not rest until the Black Dragon Society was destroyed.

Wei Hua’s next target was an elder of the Black Dragon Society: Daigo Nosuke. This old man was in charge of their intelligence network, a vital assistant to Koinotaro, trusted deeply by him, and second only in rank. To kill him would be to sever an arm from the Black Dragon Society.

Early the next morning, Wei Hua settled his bill and left the inn, taking a taxi straight to the outskirts. Today was Saturday—Daigo Nosuke’s fishing day. According to the information provided by the Kinoshita family, Daigo Nosuke enjoyed fishing and came to the countryside every Saturday, always accompanied by only four bodyguards. Given Wei Hua’s current skills, eliminating these five men would be an easy task. As expected, Wei Hua dispatched Daigo Nosuke and his four guards with ease, then returned to Tokyo to hide.

That evening, Koinotaro, the president of the Black Dragon Society, received word: Elder Daigo Nosuke and four bodyguards had been killed in the countryside; enforcer Kobayashi Saburo had been murdered at his own residence. The police had already examined both crime scenes. Daigo Nosuke and his guards had been slain by a professional assassin; Kobayashi Saburo had been killed by a burglar, the scene left in disarray, all valuables stolen. The police concluded it was a robbery gone wrong.

But Koinotaro was an old fox; he did not believe these deaths were unconnected. He called the officer in charge of Kobayashi Saburo’s case and, after inquiring about the details, summoned all Black Dragon Society leaders together.

Koinotaro briefly recounted the murders of Daigo Nosuke and Kobayashi Saburo, then asked:

“What do you think? I believe their deaths are no coincidence. Kobayashi Saburo was a sixth-degree black belt in karate—how could a common burglar kill him? There are no signs of gunfire, which means he was killed with bare hands. Kobayashi Saburo had only one wound—his neck was broken. This proves he was no match for the assailant, with no opportunity to fight back. Would someone with such skills resort to burglary?”

“I agree with the President. These incidents are definitely not accidental. Some force is plotting against us. To mislead us, they made these deaths appear unrelated—but their methods are still immature, leaving us clues. However, we must not underestimate our adversary. Their plan is ruthless. By eliminating Elder Daigo first, they’ve disrupted our intelligence operations, making it harder to uncover who is targeting us,” said Takashita Mokhei, another elder and strategist of the Black Dragon Society.

“President! Elders! Do you think the Kinoshita family is behind this? Recently, their resistance and pressure against us have grown ever more intense. Could this be the work of assassins hired by them?” asked Koino Heijiro. After fleeing wretchedly back to Japan from America with Onozura, he had lied to his father, claiming he found no collaborators of the Kinoshita family in America, citing their strict information protection. However, he had already tracked down Kinoshita Sakurako, who was studying at MIT. As for Yagyu Yan’s injury, Heijiro claimed it was inflicted by a master hired by the Kinoshita dojo, omitting Wei Hua’s name and the matter of losing fifty million dollars; these details were part of his private pact with Onozura and would not be revealed. All those who accompanied him to America were his confidants, so no one would expose his lies. Yagyu Yan, now crippled, was even easier to silence—a little money would keep his mouth shut, as he could not resist Heijiro’s threats. Yagyu Yan understood well the weight of things.

Because he had failed his mission and rendered the Black Dragon Society’s top fighter a cripple, Heijiro had been harshly reprimanded by Koinotaro, and his standing had plummeted. Now, eager to redeem himself, he quickly offered his opinion.

“I don’t think so! We’ve been pressuring and swallowing up the Kinoshita family for a long time. Their situation is much improved now compared to before, yet they never used such aggressive tactics to retaliate, and are even less likely to do so now. They’re an ancient, historic family—not a violent organization like ours; using force to solve problems isn’t their style,” countered Ishida Hideosa, the elder in charge of finances for the Black Dragon Society.

“Do we have any news from our informants within the Kinoshita family?” Koinotaro asked. Daigo Nosuke’s deputy, Kudo Kazuo, hurriedly replied:

“President! Our insiders say the Kinoshita family has made no major moves lately. In the past few days, they’ve been hosting three guests from America. All three are Americans—executives from a private investment firm called Excellence. All are young women. The tape-based gaming console the Kinoshita family represents is produced by a subsidiary of this investment company. However, according to our sources, these women aren’t here to discuss cooperation with the Kinoshita family, but were invited by Matsushita Corporation. The exact reason is still unknown.”

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