Make a Move

A gray, bedraggled figure disappeared beneath the night that had just risen.

After learning the general situation from Liu Qixiang, Du En paid him no further attention. The man felt as if he had been granted a pardon from death and, not daring to linger, turned and fled in miserable haste.

Who knew what someone bold enough to use even that kind of handcart might do?

We can't afford to provoke him. We really can't.

Although the neighbors were already cursing the man to death in their hearts, none of them dared poke their heads out at that moment to sharply question or condemn what had happened!

He was unexpectedly intimidating.

But what Du En was concerned about now was the Green Robe Gang.

This gang had swallowed up the Blood Eagle Gang and Iron Hand Gang's territories, accepted all their former members, and leaped to become the sole tyrant of the area. This gang, which had clearly become something entirely different from before, now appeared especially frightened and uneasy.

The reason they had sent people to collect protection fees—collecting them urgently and at increased rates—was not to distinguish or test those who had just submitted. It was much simpler than that: the gang leader had ordered them to scrape together as many spirit stones as possible!

"He probably wants to obtain some powerful means of self-defense, offer them to the overseers, or recruit some supervisors as helpers. In any case, he's trying to preserve his own life and avoid following in the footsteps of the two gangs' leaders..."

"But if he's really that afraid, how could he act so decisively?"

In any case, the wool came from the sheep, and in the end, it was the masses at the Underlying Layer who suffered.

It was plain as day what a frightened tyrant might do. There was no need to think too hard about it!

The corpse buriers were in the same boat. They had scared Liu Qixiang away today, but tomorrow they might not be able to scare off those hall leaders, and the day after that, they might even attract the Green Robe Gang leader, who was already on edge...

"The last possibility isn't very likely. That fellow looks terrified right now, so he probably won't go running around over some minor matter."

These fellows who were only fierce within their own households were not actually the most important problem.

The Evil Cultivator hiding in the darkness was the real threat!

Yet judging from the current situation, it was obvious that the overseers truly had not done a thing!

"If that's the case... looks like I'll have to take some risks..."

As Du En pondered, an idea had already formed in his mind.

Thus, after finishing his usual daily tasks, when it was deep into the night and everyone had fallen asleep, he quietly began to take action.

The night was deep and still.

At the residence of a Green Robe Gang hall leader.

Though the title of hall leader sounded impressive, in reality, he was merely a member of the Underlying Layer with slightly better circumstances. During the day, he still had to work hard like everyone else.

To say nothing of the tremendous fright caused by the events of the previous night. One of them was now sitting in a chair at home, mentally and physically exhausted, his eyes webbed with blood vessels.

Then, seeing the subordinate gang members who had come to report on the progress of the protection-fee collection, he finally lost his temper and roared, "Useless! A bunch of useless trash! You can't even collect a few spirit stones. What use are you to me?"

His fury was genuine.

It was not because he was loyal to his new master. He was afraid that, as someone who had formerly belonged to the Blood Eagle Gang, he would also be targeted. So now he had to put on a performance to earn the promise his new master had made.

To make the newly affiliated members of the Green Robe Gang work with all their might, the gang leader had directly promised that as long as they collected enough spirit stones, he would reward them with means of self-defense and survival.

Whether it was true or not, it was like seeing a straw while drowning. Naturally, they would do their utmost. They had truly been scared witless!

"My lord, Hall Leader, there's nothing we can do! Those peasants are dirt-poor. There's no more oil to squeeze from them!"

Even though they had a thousand methods at their disposal and had harmed people constantly in the past, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice. Without spirit stones, there were no spirit stones. No matter how they squeezed and persecuted those pitiful people, they could not produce any new ones!

"You still dare to make excuses!"

Bang!

He smashed the teacup to pieces. Shards flew out, cutting the face of the person who had just spoken.

The man immediately kowtowed and fell to his knees, his whole body trembling, yet he did not dare say another word.

Because that was the truth. No matter how things were handled, this was all there was to it.

The hall leader was furious—and somewhat regretful.

Why could they no longer squeeze any more oil from them?

Wasn't it because they had squeezed too hard before?

Now look at them. They had brought it upon themselves!

The hall leader thought about it, still unwilling to accept this, and his gaze gradually turned vicious.

Someone was definitely still hiding extra wealth. As long as...

There was no "as long as," because right before his subordinates' eyes, a hand suddenly reached out from the darkness behind him and directly crushed their hall leader's head.

Splat~

Blood sprayed in all directions, and everyone was horrified.

"Ah!"

"The hall leader is dead!"

"We're all dead, all dead!"

They scattered in every direction amid their screams. Some even wet their pants, completely scared out of their wits.

A short while later.

Elsewhere.

At another hall leader's residence.

This man had originally been a hall leader of the Iron Hand Gang. Now, he had personally come out to carry out a nighttime search and extortion.

It was impossible to collect anything through normal pressure anymore.

Now he was grasping at straws. The moment he heard that someone might still be hiding spirit stones, he would go straight to them. Even if they had no spirit stones, killing someone to vent the anxiety and irritation in his heart was acceptable too.

He kicked open the wooden door of a certain hut and charged inside, grinning savagely. "Run? Where do you think you can run?"

In his eyes, a young man and woman were backing away from the window.

The area outside the window was surrounded by people, all of them this hall leader's subordinates.

"Hand over the spirit stones obediently!" the hall leader said greedily and urgently. Then he paused, looked at the woman, and leered. "And this little lady is pretty good too. Your grandpa's burning with frustration right now, so I need to let off some steam!"

"Hahaha!"

"The hall leader truly has refined tastes!"

"Little lady, you'd better submit obediently!"

The subordinates chattered noisily and burst into wild laughter, lecherous fire flickering in their eyes as well.

If the hall leader had his fun and the little lady was still alive afterward, they could have a turn too.

They had spent the entire day trembling in fear. They needed to vent it somehow!

Seeing themselves trapped in such a situation, the young man and woman turned deathly pale, despair filling their eyes. They retreated step by step until they were forced into a dead end, with no possibility of escape.

The hall leader's mouth stretched wide, and a filthy, hairy hand reached out. The man wanted nothing more than to fight to the death, while the woman wanted to destroy her cultivation and kill herself.

At that moment, the wall suddenly shattered, and another hand emerged. Amid the hall leader's astonishment, it seized his arm.

A surging, overwhelming force struck him. It felt as though he had been hit by a massive mountain boulder. He could not resist in the slightest and was dragged into the wall.

Amid the booming crash, his entire body was yanked out like a radish being pulled from the ground.

He had just opened his mouth to say something, and his magic power was already being rapidly mobilized, intending to strike back after enduring the attack.

But a fist made him shut his mouth and caused his magic power to collapse.

Another headshot!

Seeing the hall leader, who had been so imperious moments ago, killed so easily, the gang members instantly felt as if icy water had been poured over their heads. Their lust died at once, their bladders gave way, and the fear they had suppressed exploded. They screamed and wailed as they fled in all directions.

Du En, dressed entirely in black with his face covered, had no time to concern himself with these small fry.

He continued taking action, continued killing people—specializing in hall leaders!

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