As the sun set in the west, golden afterglow spilled across the bluestone slabs of Qingyang County Office, yet it could not dispel the heavy atmosphere.
In the main hall, Li Gang held a cup of tea. He looked calm, but his slightly trembling hand betrayed the agitation in his heart.
He was waiting for news of Lin Feng's failure.
In his view, although Ghost Hand Zhang San and his gang were a rabble, each one was a desperate outlaw skilled in theft and concealment.
For Lin Feng to find them in such a short time was no different from fishing for a needle in the sea.
Even if he found them, a fierce battle would be unavoidable.
Even if Lin Feng won, he would surely have to pay a price.
"Hmph, brat, just keep acting arrogant! Let's see how you clean this up this time!"
Just then, a commotion rose from the entrance to the County Office.
A bailiff guarding the gate stumbled and crawled inside, his face deathly pale, unable even to speak clearly.
"C-Chief! H-He's... he's back! Lord Lin... he's back!"
Li Gang's heart skipped a beat, and he sprang to his feet.
"He came back alone? Is he hurt? Where are those thieves?"
"H-He... he isn't hurt..."
The bailiff swallowed, pointed outside, and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Those thieves... th-they came back too..."
"What?!"
Li Gang was overjoyed. "You caught them? You caught them all? Quickly! Bring them in so this constable can interrogate them!"
His family fortune could not simply vanish!
"N-No, they weren't captured..."
The bailiff was on the verge of tears. "They... they were carried back..."
"Carried back?"
Li Gang had yet to react when Lin Feng appeared at the entrance of the main hall.
He still wore a neat, spotless constable's uniform, his face as calm as an ancient well, as though he had merely gone out for a stroll.
The only difference was the rope in his left hand.
Strung along it like candied hawthorns were eight bloody heads, their eyes still wide in death.
Gulp...
Gulp...
With a casual toss, he sent the eight heads rolling across the floor of the main hall. One of them rolled right to Li Gang's feet.
The eyes belonging to Ghost Hand Zhang San, filled with terror and unwillingness, stared straight at him.
"Holy shit!"
Li Gang let out a strange scream and collapsed back into his chair, as if every ounce of strength had been drained from his body.
The entire hall fell silent.
All the constables present stared blankly at the eight heads on the ground.
Then they looked at the calm and composed Lin Feng, their minds utterly blank.
Half a day?
No, not even two hours!
He had really brought back their heads!
Could a human even do something like this? Wasn't this fucking ghost work?
"Constable Li."
Lin Feng's voice broke the dead silence. "I have fulfilled my mission. The thief leader Ghost Hand Zhang San and his seven accomplices have all been executed on the spot."
"G-Good... good... good..."
Li Gang forced out a few words through clenched teeth. "Constable... Constable Lin... acted with thunderous swiftness. Your... your contributions are immense... Men, reward... reward him with silver..."
"There is no need for a reward."
Lin Feng interrupted him calmly. "Besides reporting back, I came today for one more matter."
"From their mouths, I learned that the reason they committed such a major crime was that they had been directed by the Black Tiger Gang, an underworld force within the city."
His voice was not loud, yet it was like a heavy hammer striking every heart.
"The Black Tiger Gang has entrenched itself in Qingyang County for years, oppressing the people and treating the local villages like fish and meat. Now they have grown so brazen that they dare oppose the authorities. They have become a great cancer upon Qingyang County!"
"As constables of the County Office, we eat the ruler's salary and bear the ruler's worries. We should rid the people of evil and sweep the universe clean!"
"Therefore."
Lin Feng's tone suddenly turned icy, his killing intent shooting into the heavens. "Tonight, I have decided to flatten the Black Tiger Gang and pull this cancer out by its roots!"
The entire hall was shocked by his words!
Flatten the Black Tiger Gang?
Alone?
Everyone thought Lin Feng had gone mad!
The Black Tiger Gang was not a handful of petty thieves. They were a local tyrant entrenched in Qingyang County for years, with more than a hundred members. Their leader, One-Eyed Tiger Wang Ba, was a renowned expert at the Seventh Level of Body Tempering, Organ Refining Realm!
Going alone was nothing but courting death!
Li Gang was even more frightened out of his wits. He understood it now.
Lin Feng's righteous speech had seemed to address everyone, but it had truly been meant for him!
This was a warning!
"L-Lin Feng! Do not act rashly!"
Li Gang shouted with hollow bravado, "The Black Tiger Gang is powerful. This matter... must be considered carefully. We should report it to the county magistrate and gather more men..."
"There is no need."
Lin Feng interrupted him again, a trace of mockery in his smile. "Against a pack of earthen chickens and pottery dogs, I alone am enough."
"Also."
"I hope that while I am purging the Black Tiger Gang, certain people would be wise enough to behave themselves. Do not try to send them word, or pull any other little tricks."
"Otherwise..."
Li Gang felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, his whole body turning cold.
Having said that, Lin Feng ignored everyone, turned, and strode out of the County Office, leaving behind only a lone, resolute back.
The moment he left, the entire hall erupted.
"He's mad! Lin Feng is absolutely mad!"
"Taking on the entire Black Tiger Gang alone? Who does he think he is?"
"Now this will be a show!"
Li Gang, meanwhile, slumped in his chair, his face ashen.
Lin Feng had not been joking.
Those words just now had been his final ultimatum.
Would he stand with the County Office, or be buried alongside the Black Tiger Gang?
This was not a choice at all.
The night was black as ink.
The Black Tiger Gang's main hall was brightly lit, but the atmosphere was terrifyingly oppressive.
One-Eyed Tiger Wang Ba sat in a large tiger-pelt chair, his face so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it.
Ghost Hand Zhang San and the others had failed.
And their heads had been carried back to the County Office.
All of it had taken less than two hours.
"Gang Leader, that Lin fellow... he's a monster!"
One of his confidants said in a trembling voice, "W-We should lie low for now, shouldn't we?"
"Lie low? Where would we hide?"
Wang Ba slammed his hand onto the table and roared, "If the Black Tiger Gang is frightened by some wet-behind-the-ears brat into abandoning our own den, how will we ever keep our footing in Qingyang County again?!"
"But... even Constable Li has sent word, telling us... telling us to pray for our own fortune..."
"Li Gang, that useless bastard!"
Wang Ba spat. "I knew he was unreliable! Pass down my order: gather every gang member! I want to see exactly how he plans to flatten the Black Tiger Gang by himself!"
Just then, the doors of the main hall were kicked open from outside with a violent bang.
A figure bathed in moonlight slowly walked in.
It was Lin Feng.
He still wore that constable's uniform, carrying the utterly unremarkable Hundred Refined Steel Blade in his hand, his face expressionless.
"Wang Ba?"
Lin Feng's gaze locked directly onto the One-Eyed Dragon seated in the place of honor.
"You are Lin Feng?"
Wang Ba narrowed his one eye, and the aura of the Seventh Level of Body Tempering erupted with a boom.
"Brat, there is a road to heaven, yet you refuse to take it; there is no gate to hell, yet you insist on barging in! Today will be your death day!"
"Kill him!"
At Wang Ba's command, more than a hundred Black Tiger Gang members lying in ambush around the main hall surged out from all directions like a tidal wave. Waving gleaming blades and swords, they charged at Lin Feng with strange cries.
Blade light and sword shadows flashed as shouts of slaughter shook the heavens.
Faced with a scene enough to make anyone's heart tremble in fear, Lin Feng wore a pleased smile.
So many Crit Points!
[4x Critical Strike triggered!]
The cry of a blade rang out.
Lin Feng moved.
His body became a bolt of black lightning, a phantom beyond the naked eye's ability to catch.
Flowing Wind Steps, perfected!
He charged into the crowd like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.
No, it was even more terrifying than that.
He was like a merciless meat grinder that had started turning.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Blade light flashed incessantly through the crowd.
Every flash brought forth a dazzling spray of blood and one, or several, heads flying into the sky.
There were no screams, no wails.
Because the blade was too fast.
So fast that, the instant those gang members were beheaded, they did not even feel pain before their consciousness was utterly extinguished.
Lin Feng's footwork twisted and shifted through the crowd, and not a single person could touch even the corner of his clothes.
His saber technique was simple and efficient, consisting of only three moves.
Mountain Splitting Chop, Army Sweeping Slash, White Rainbow Piercing Sun.
Yet under the enhancement of the Critical Strike System, these three most basic moves became supreme killing techniques that harvested lives.
Chop, cleave, stab.
Simple, direct, deadly.
In the short time it took for one stick of incense to burn.
The cries of slaughter ceased.
The Black Tiger Gang's main hall had become a hell of Asura.
More than a hundred headless corpses lay scattered in pools of blood.
Lin Feng stood amid the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, flicked away the blood staining his blade, and slowly walked toward the seat of honor.
Only one person remained standing in the entire hall.
One-Eyed Tiger, Wang Ba.
At that moment, Wang Ba had long since lost his former arrogance.
He stared blankly at the hellish scene before him, then at the young man approaching step by step like a demon god. Endless fear filled his one eye.
"Y-You... you... you're not human! You're a devil! You're a devil!"
Wang Ba broke down. With a terrified shriek, he turned and tried to flee through the back door.
"Only thinking of running now?"
Lin Feng's voice, like a death-summoning curse, rang beside his ear.
"Too late."
A blade light, swift to the absolute extreme, flashed past.
Wang Ba's fleeing body suddenly stiffened.
He lowered his head with difficulty and saw a sharp blade tip protruding from his chest.
"You're not... human..."
He muttered as life rapidly faded from his one eye.
Lin Feng drew his saber, and Wang Ba's corpse crashed to the ground.
[Ding! Successfully killed Wang Ba, an evil bandit at the Seventh Level of Body Tempering!] [Crit Multiplier increased to 8.6x! Obtained 3250 Crit Points!] [Host: Lin Feng] [Realm: Sixth Level of Body Tempering Realm (Marrow Refining Completion)] [Technique: Qi Guiding Art (Completion)] [Martial Skill: Basic Constable Saber Technique (Mastery)] [Movement Technique: Flowing Wind Steps (Mastery)] [Crit Multiplier: 8.0x] [Crit Points: 3900]
"System, add points!"
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