Shock

Ji Fang was somewhat at a loss.

Just as he stared at the Black Water Gang members sprawled across the courtyard and the blood covering the ground, unsure how to react, several people emerged from behind the rows of low houses.

The leader was an enormously obese man who looked to weigh at least three hundred pounds. Yet he did not waddle as he walked; his steps were steady and composed. A chilling gleam flickered in his small eyes.

The Black Water Gang Leader.

Zhang Hai!

With Zhang Hai's appearance, the remaining Black Water Gang members emerged in scattered groups from the low houses and gathered beside him.

Ji Fang naturally recognized Zhang Hai. The moment he saw him appear, he shoved all other thoughts aside and gritted his teeth as he said:

"Where is my sister?"

"..."

Zhang Hai narrowed his eyes and looked Ji Fang over, then glanced at the blood and corpses covering the ground. Suddenly, he looked outside and said in a deep voice, "May I ask where I offended Senior? I humbly request that Senior show yourself so I may offer tea and apologize."

As the Black Water Gang Leader, Zhang Hai had traveled far and wide in his youth. Now, in the Capital, he had witnessed all kinds of situations. Though the scene before him was alarming, he immediately judged that it had nothing to do with the youth Ji Fang.

Someone who could control a weak youth like Ji Fang and slaughter everyone here, even easily killing the two Ninth Rank martial artists under his command, could not be a martial artist.

This was a sorcerer!

And a Seventh Rank sorcerer!

Zhang Hai knew all too well the status and standing of a Seventh Rank sorcerer, so he immediately adopted a deferential attitude.

Never offend someone who must not be offended. That was his way of survival, and also why he had been able to control the Black Water Gang and run rampant across East Forest Street for more than a decade.

It was just that in recent years, he had indulged in wine and women. He had grown fatter, his martial strength had declined, and he had nearly plundered everything that could be taken from East Forest Street. He was about to fall short of satisfying the appetites of the Five Cities Garrison, so the Black Water Gang had gradually begun to decline.

When Ji Fang saw that Zhang Hai was ignoring him, he immediately clenched his fists. But just as he was about to say something else, he involuntarily paused, because he noticed that all the Black Water Gang members were looking behind him.

Tap, tap, tap.

Very soft footsteps came from behind him.

Chen Mu slowly walked forward, taking one step after another from outside the courtyard into it. Each step seemed to overlap with the heartbeat of everyone present, leaving all the Black Water Gang members unable to control their bodies as fear appeared on their faces.

Zhang Hai looked at Chen Mu, a trace of astonishment appearing in his eyes. He had not expected him to be so young, and he had no impression of him at all. It seemed he was not one of the people from the Directorate of Celestial Observation.

Dead silence.

In the oppressive atmosphere, Ji Fang could not speak for a moment either. He simply stood frozen in place.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Chen Mu slowly walked up to Zhang Hai and said indifferently:

"Zhang Hai?"

"Yes."

Zhang Hai answered respectfully.

"Do you remember Mo Zhu?"

"Mo Zhu..."

Zhang Hai showed a hint of confusion. After searching through his memories, a trace of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. He said cautiously, "Are you referring to a woman? May I ask what her relationship with you is..."

Chen Mu said calmly, "Her younger sister is now my maid. Besides, I promised her that I would send you to the Yellow Springs Road to meet her."

"Y-You're joking. She was only a woman..."

Zhang Hai spoke stiffly.

And then, in the very next moment.

Zhang Hai's obese body suddenly erupted forward. His seemingly respectful and harmless face instantly became terrifyingly savage, like a beast opening its bloody maw as he viciously raked a claw toward Chen Mu's face.

"Look out!"

The sudden outburst caught everyone off guard. Ji Fang was horrified and instinctively called out a warning, but before his voice had even faded, Zhang Hai's attack had already arrived!

What kind of person was Zhang Hai? After mingling in the dark underbelly for so many years and witnessing countless deaths, he could tell at a glance that Chen Mu was not joking. He had truly come to kill him.

Moreover, the other party was a sorcerer of noble status. He would never look favorably upon someone like him, so begging for mercy or saying anything else would be useless.

Therefore.

The moment Chen Mu's voice fell, Zhang Hai had already made his decision in the depths of his heart!

Although he had indulged in wine and women in recent years and his martial strength had weakened, he had once been a Seventh Rank martial artist. Even now, he had not fallen below that level!

Though sorcerers possessed exalted status, and sorcerers above the Seventh Rank were said to crush martial artists of the same rank...

Chen Mu was too young!

Young, arrogant, and conceited—to the point that he actually dared to approach within seven steps of a Seventh Rank martial artist while relying on his identity as a sorcerer!

He could sense that Chen Mu's blood energy was weak. Clearly, he had never practiced Martial Arts. At such close range, within seven steps, so what if Chen Mu was a Seventh Rank sorcerer?

Youthful arrogance would be Chen Mu's cause of death!

As for what he would do after killing Chen Mu, Zhang Hai had also decided in an instant. He certainly could not remain in the Capital. He would immediately abandon everything and leave the Capital, fleeing a thousand miles away. No matter how deeply Chen Mu was connected to others, as a sorcerer, Zhang Hai would still have a chance to survive.

How ferocious was the strike of a Seventh Rank martial artist?

Though that palm was fat and bloated, the claw was powerful enough to tear apart the skulls of tigers and leopards. It could even forcibly squeeze steel until it bent and warped. The gale alone made breathing seize up.

Not to mention Ji Fang and the others—even the Black Water Gang's Deputy Leader, a martial artist of the Eighth Rank who stood closest to Zhang Hai, had failed to react in time. He could only stare at the scene in horror.

No one had expected Zhang Hai to dare attack a sorcerer.

And with such fierce decisiveness!

Yet at such close range, a blow like this might truly kill that sorcerer!

The Black Water Gang's Deputy Leader could almost see Chen Mu failing to defend himself, his entire head crushed to pieces by Zhang Hai.

But.

Facing Zhang Hai's sudden, explosive strike, Chen Mu's expression had not changed from beginning to end. His indifferent face showed that he had never taken Zhang Hai seriously.

Zhang Hai's suddenly erupting body crossed six steps in an instant, but when he was still one final step away from Chen Mu, he froze in midair.

A bloody hole had appeared in his forehead.

The hole pierced straight from his brow to the back of his skull. Through it, one could even see the Black Water Gang members behind him, still standing there in a daze, as well as the Black Water Gang's Deputy Leader.

"..."

The savage, ferocious expression on Zhang Hai's face completely froze at that moment.

He looked at Chen Mu. Dull disbelief flashed through his eyes, followed by a thread of despair that he could not accept. Then his fat, bloated body crashed heavily to the ground.

A heavy, muffled thud rang out,

as if even the ground had trembled.

Chen Mu slowly lowered his gaze and met Zhang Hai's unseeing eyes.

"You were indeed something of a character, but you had only ever heard of a sorcerer's methods."

The one that had pierced through Zhang Hai's skull was naturally the Flying Sword Heavenly Question. Activated with the methods of a Sixth Rank sorcerer, the flying sword was so fast that Zhang Hai had not been able to react at all. The others had not even been able to see it.

In fact, even if Chen Mu had only been a Seventh Rank sorcerer, Zhang Hai's attack would still have failed. The saying that sorcerers crushed martial artists of the same rank was no empty boast. Clearly, Zhang Hai had never truly witnessed a sorcerer's methods.

Beyond seven steps, the flying sword was fast.

Within seven steps, the flying sword was both accurate and fast!

Distance was utterly meaningless.

Only martial artists of a higher rank, whose defenses could withstand a flying sword or whose speed could evade one, would make distance meaningful in such a situation.

Still, Zhang Hai had dared to suddenly erupt under these circumstances and decide to assassinate him. He could indeed be considered a character, making Chen Mu regard him slightly more highly.

The courtyard fell deathly silent.

When Chen Mu's gaze shifted toward the Black Water Gang's Deputy Leader and the other gang members, everyone finally reacted. Horror and fear appeared on their faces.

"Spare..."

The Black Water Gang's Deputy Leader immediately tried to kneel before Chen Mu and beg for his life.

But before he could finish uttering the word "spare," another bloody hole appeared in his head.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!!!

Under Ji Fang's somewhat shaken gaze, the dozen or so remaining Black Water Gang members in the courtyard nearly all developed bloody holes in their heads at the same time, their skulls bursting open into clouds of blood mist.

All their fear and horror froze on their faces. Then they collapsed one after another with a series of thuds, becoming corpses.

Only Chen Mu remained standing there calmly,

like an immortal descended into the mortal world!