Damn Mess!

"Mu Ge'er! Mu Ge'er!"

Leading several patrol inspectors who had come as reinforcements, Xu Yuan called out urgently.

But when they passed through the Dense Forest, Xu Yuan's urgent voice came to an abrupt halt.

The several patrol inspectors who had come along as reinforcements also stopped their hurried steps, looking with varying expressions toward the dim Dense Forest not far away.

In the gloom, they saw a figure covered head to toe in blood, half-kneeling in the Dense Forest, seeming to hack at something again and again.

The distance was not too great, and they could clearly see the body lying beneath that man, as well as the blood splashing with each chop of the blade, equally clear beyond compare.

Then an even more terrifying scene surfaced before everyone's eyes.

A bloody head was lifted by the blade-wielding figure. The head was still dripping blood, echoing that blood-soaked silhouette. In this dim Dense Forest, it carried an indescribable sense of horror.

"Mu... Mu Ge..."

Xu Yuan swallowed, his words coming out somewhat clumsy.

"We won!"

Chu Mu raised the still-bleeding head and grinned. Beneath that face full of blood, the smile undoubtedly could not hide its horror.

One head, Thirty Silver—not much, but without question, it could be counted as a beginning, and gave him something to look forward to.

Five heads, and he could rise from an ordinary patrol inspector to Squad Leader.

Power and status—that would almost be a leap-like promotion.

Though gathering four more heads was somewhat unlikely, having something to think about was undoubtedly good too.

"What's your name?"

One strong man stepped forward. The iron armor he wore undoubtedly made his identity perfectly clear.

"Chu Mu."

Chu Mu answered.

The strong man asked again, "Where is Li Tie, who came over as reinforcement just now?"

Chu Mu replied, "He was injured. I had someone carry him over to find the Thousand Household just now."

The strong man glanced at the corpse on the ground, his gaze fixing for a moment on those blade wounds. Then, as if unintentionally, he flicked a glance at the long saber in Chu Mu's hand.

The strong man did not ask anything else, nor did he care that this head was already in Chu Mu's hand. He nodded, then called for the several patrol inspectors who had followed him to leave.

Chu Mu raised a brow, somewhat surprised. He had thought there would inevitably be some questioning, after all, that Iron Armor Strongman had been seriously injured, and... this head represented military merit!

The newcomer's straightforwardness was undoubtedly something Chu Mu had not expected.

"Mu Ge'er, you killed him?"

Xu Yuan came closer, looking with some fear at the head Chu Mu was holding.

"Probably..."

Chu Mu was not quite certain. After all, that punch from the Iron Armor Strongman had played a rather significant role.

"Mu Ge'er, you're really amazing!"

"I'm hardly anything!"

Chu Mu waved his hand. He still had plenty of self-awareness. The fact that he had been able to kill this man was truly pure luck.

"Let's go!"

Chu Mu looked up at the still-dark sky and let out a long breath. "There'll probably still be plenty to endure tonight!"

Chu Mu was clearly somewhat worried. From what he had seen, the attackers all possessed extraordinary skills.

If they were truly forced into a dead end and, like a desperate dog leaping over a wall...

"You just killed a bandit?"

As Chu Mu was thinking, a voice from not far away instantly pulled his thoughts back to reality.

"Squad Leader."

Chu Mu looked toward Li Gang, who was striding over, and his gaze could not help but narrow.

Li Gang... was injured?

His patrol inspector uniform and armor had been torn apart. Several strips of cloth were wrapped around him as bandages, and the blood seeping out had accumulated, dripping as Li Gang walked.

Ever since they had entered the mountain, his face had been unable to hide his smug success, but at this moment, it was clearly tinged with a sickly pallor.

Li Gang fixed his eyes on Chu Mu, his tone unusually gentle. "I'm still short one head. Give me the head, and I'll give you one hundred silver!"

"As long as you agree, I'll remember this favor."

Then, as if afraid that it was not enough to move Chu Mu, Li Gang added, "I can also be considered to have some understanding of Martial Arts. As long as you agree, you can come to me anytime in the future, and I can also teach you my family's Martial Arts!"

With these conditions thrown down one after another, Chu Mu truly was somewhat tempted.

The fact that he could cut off one head had been luck to begin with. As for gathering four more and meeting the requirement to rise in military rank, though he had the idea, even Chu Mu himself felt it was not very likely.

Being able to sell this one head at that price was, without a doubt, a killing!

Just as Chu Mu was about to open his mouth and agree, a voice from not far away instantly made him shut it again.

"Li Gang, what are you doing!"

"Can military merit be bought and sold?"

"If you want military merit, then go fight and earn it yourself. What do you call sneaking around and playing petty tricks here!"

Wu Shuo strode over with several Patrol Inspectors, his sharp gaze fixed squarely on Li Gang.

Li Gang's originally fairly mild expression instantly turned ugly to the extreme. He stared Wu Shuo down, killing intent surging. "Wu Shuo, are you looking to die?"

"If you hadn't harmed me, would I be injured?"

"Haha, you got injured because your own skill was inferior!"

"Where do you get the face to blame it on me!"

"And is this the tone you should be using with me?"

"Squad Leader Li?"

As the two of them stood with swords drawn and bows bent, Chu Mu silently took two steps back as well, feeling utterly speechless.

He had actually been dragged into this kind of struggle! This was truly a disaster that had flown in from nowhere!

The situation was undoubtedly very clear. Li Gang's smug satisfaction had clearly offended Wu Shuo—probably not only Wu Shuo either. Right now, beside Wu Shuo, there were two squad chiefs as well!

He just did not know what had happened in between to make both sides tear off all pretense, or perhaps before they had even torn off all pretense, Wu Shuo had struck first to gain the upper hand.

Most likely, during the attack just now, he had dealt Li Gang a dirty blow.

Li Gang was badly wounded. If he wanted to go back into battle and fight, he was probably willing but powerless, so he had come to buy the head from him, wanting to scrape together enough military merit...

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Squad Leader Li, you only have the military merit from three heads!"

"The matter of you forcing Li Sang and seizing Li Sang's military merit by force—I have already reported it to the Hundred Household!"

"Seizing military merit is a grave crime!"

Li Gang stared fixedly at Wu Shuo, his face flushing an abnormal red. "Bullshit. It was mutual consent. Where did I force or seize anything?"

Wu Shuo chuckled. "That is not what I said. You should go ask Li Sang!"

"Squad Leader Li, you'd best take care of yourself!"

"You're despicable!"

"You just wait!"

Blood seeped from the corner of Li Gang's mouth. He was clearly furious beyond measure, his fists clenched tight, but in the end, he was plainly helpless.

After glaring fiercely at Wu Shuo, he left behind one sentence, then staggered away.

Chu Mu still said nothing. He silently lowered his head and stared at the bleeding head in his hand, as if flowers had grown on it and he could never tire of looking at it.

It was very obvious that Wu Shuo was clearly a cut above—indeed, more than just one cut above.

That poor Squad Leader of his had undoubtedly been calculated to death. Not only had Wu Shuo caught him by the short hairs, he had also left him badly wounded.

As for what would happen next...

Chu Mu truly did not want to care.

This kind of rotten business—he was even less willing to get involved in it at all!