After finishing his meal, Zhang Rongfang said goodbye to his sister and went home to rest.
He lived not far from the Commerce Affairs Office. He could walk back home.
At night.
On the streets of Wushan Prefecture, First Squad of Official Messenger passed by in haste from time to time.
The team leaders were mostly strong and powerful men.
Passing by a glutinous rice ball shop, Zhang Rongfang looked at the bowls of snow-white and smooth glutinous rice balls, so he simply sat down, ordered a serving, and waited.
Even though we just finished eating, it's nice to have a snack now and then.
Just as I sat down, two people rushed out of the winery on the street in front of me.
One person, wearing a straw hat and dressed in black, holding Kaishan Saber, pointed it at another person.
The other person wore a wide robe with flowing sleeves, but one arm was clearly missing, and he was carrying a whip in one hand.
Upon closer inspection, the whip appeared to be inlaid with gold threads.
Without saying a word, the two started fighting.
They went back and forth, the whips leaving marks all over the walls of the surrounding shops.
The Kaishan Saber also caused onlookers to keep their distance.
However, what caught Zhang Rongfang's attention was that both of them clearly controlled the area of their fight, rather than rushing around randomly.
The shops and stalls they encountered were all small; they didn't touch or approach the ones with luxurious entrances.
"It's started again. It seems like Xu Family Wine Shop is going to fail. People come to cause trouble every few days." A diner at a nearby table chatted in hushed tones.
"Even with only one hand, Xu Chen managed to hold on for three days. That's quite remarkable."
"It's a pity that if he hadn't offended the Huang Family, he wouldn't be in such a difficult situation in Wushan Prefecture."
The group of people were talking in hushed tones.
Zhang Rongfang listened quietly and watched the two fight.
He noticed that there were quite a few people practicing martial arts among the crowd around him.
Many of them showed no fear whatsoever.
In Zhang Rongfang's view, the speed, techniques, and flaws in the two men's fight were at most at the third or fourth rank.
But in the eyes of those around him, he was already considered very impressive.
To the average person, it's impossible to see their fighting techniques.
"Sir, your glutinous rice balls are here: three pork and cabbage dumplings, three red bean paste dumplings, and six five-blessing dumplings."
The boss, wearing a towel around his neck, came over carrying a large bowl about the size of his head.
"Thank you." Zhang Rongfang nodded, looking at the glutinous rice balls placed in front of him, and was about to eat them.
He was thinking about the Sweeping Mountain Tiger, the ones he had encountered when Qing Su here, and now his brother-in-law had encountered them as well.
My brother-in-law is in charge of business affairs, which means that he would only be alerted if Sweeping Mountain Tiger and his gang had already affected the business of the entire Wushan Prefecture.
He originally intended to test the strength of this Sweeping Mountain Tiger himself.
Now that the entire Wushan Prefecture has made a move, it's a good time to see how powerful the experts in this area are.
While he was quietly pondering, the fighting on the other side was becoming increasingly intense.
Xu Chen, wielding the whip, was now gaining a slight advantage. His whip whistled through the air, leaving deep, knife-like scratches on the ground and walls it struck—it was incredibly powerful.
Just as the man wielding the knife was about to be defeated, the distillery door was suddenly kicked open with a bang.
A tall, bear-like black man strode out, holding a boy who looked to be eleven or twelve years old in his hand.
"Xu Chen, look what I found! Hahahaha!!" the black man shouted loudly in a strangely accented Great Ling Language.
"Jing Er!!" Xu Chen, the one-armed man, glanced at her and immediately became anxious.
"Dad!" The boy struggled frantically, his eyes fierce, but he was too weak and no match for the black man. He could only futilely flail his arms and slap the black man's arm.
"Father, don't worry about me! Kill them! Avenge Mother!!" the boy shouted.
"Xu Chen! Look here!" The black man grinned maliciously and slapped the boy hard across the face.
Xu Chen immediately turned around to save the person, but unexpectedly, he was slashed hard in the back by the swordsman.
If he hadn't dodged in time, that blow would definitely have killed him.
"You're so tough now?! Why aren't you being stubborn anymore?!" The swordsman laughed loudly. "You beat up Huang Family Miss and think you can get away scot-free and go back to running your tavern? How laughable! Do you really think there's such a good thing in this world? Do you think people will just swallow their pride after being wronged?? How naive!"
Xu Chen's back was instantly stained red with blood. He forced himself to continue exchanging a few more blows with the swordsman before lunging at the black man.
"Father! Brother!" At this moment, another girl in a blue dress ran out of the wine shop, grabbed the black man's leg tightly, and bit him.
Ah!!
The black man groaned in pain and kicked the girl away.
The girl crashed into the wall and rolled on the ground, writhing in pain and unable to get up for a while.
"What a tragedy!" At the glutinous rice ball stall, a customer couldn't help but lower his head, unable to bear looking any longer.
Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly.
This is the power and influence of local tyrants. They commit violence in the street, and yet no one has come forward to deal with it for so long.
Where are the Government Office officials? Where are the constables, Official Messenger, City Guard? They're not there when they should be; is this the way of the world?
He lowered his head and continued eating his glutinous rice balls.
He wouldn't easily meddle in other people's business before he knew the truth.
There are too many injustices in this world; he's just an ordinary person and can't possibly manage them all.
Moreover, those who are unaware of the facts don't know who is right and who is wrong in this matter.
"Stop! How could you do such a heinous thing in broad daylight! What kind of skill is it to bully two children!"
Among the onlookers, a Bearded Man with a thick beard walked out carrying a long, thick stick.
Without saying a word, he grabbed his stick and rushed forward to strike the black man.
Before he could even get halfway there, First Squad martial artists in blue uniforms, carrying round shields and iron rods, and wearing black leather vests, rushed toward him from the street not far away.
The group of people were all wearing black hats with large yellow characters embroidered in the center.
What happened next was no surprise.
Upon seeing this, the righteous bearded man turned and fled.
The one-armed Xu Chen fought fiercely, repelling the swordsmen, and rushed towards his children.
"Presumptuous!"
The leader of the group of the Huang Family who arrived was a middle-aged strong man with a fierce face and a scar on his forehead.
Without saying a word, he stepped forward and began fighting with Xu Chen.
It's just three moves.
The long stick knocked the long whip away, then struck Xu Chen in the chest, forcing him to stagger back several steps.
Thud! The swordsman behind him struck at the opportune moment, stabbing him in from behind.
"Father!!" Xu Chen's two children cried out in anguish.
"Shut up!!" The black man grabbed a child in each hand and slammed them against the wall.
"Forgive and forget. You have already punished the ringleader enough; why commit further murder?"
An old Daoist priest came out of a nearby restaurant and sighed as he offered his advice.
Bang! Bang!
After two muffled thuds, the two children rolled to the ground, vomiting blood profusely, their eyes filled with despair.
It was clearly too late.
"Damn it!" Zhang Rongfang heard a suppressed curse coming from the table behind him.
But it was no use; no one dared to step forward.
No one paid any attention to the old Daoist priest.
After the Huang Family finished killing the man, they looked around. The leader of the group exchanged a few words with the swordsman and then turned to leave.
The old Daoist priest quickly walked to the two children, squatted down, and examined their injuries.
They didn't die, but were seriously injured. In this world, with this level of medical care, internal injuries such as internal bleeding and organ displacement would only mean certain death.
Zhang Rongfang sighed softly, finished the last glutinous rice ball, and stood up.
He didn't know what Xu Chen had done wrong or why he had offended the Huang Family.
But he hesitated only slightly about whether to save the two children, and by then it was too late.
After taking one last look at the old Daoist priest and the two children, Zhang Rongfang paid the money and turned to leave.
Before I had taken more than a few steps, I heard the old Daoist priest behind me chanting the Supreme Salvation Sutra in a low voice.
His voice was low and deep, carrying a hint of helplessness and repression.
Zhang Rongfang looked back and saw that the two children were gone too. Their eyes were wide open, their chests were no longer rising and falling, and they were completely still.
This was the first time he had seen the Huang Family Wushan Prefecture.
Back in my little courtyard.
Qing Su was already sweeping up the fallen leaves in the courtyard.
Since she couldn't find anything to do for the time being, she disguised herself as a guard and stayed here.
"Young master, you're finally back." Suddenly, another soft voice came from the inner room.
A fair-skinned girl with braided pigtails, wearing a dark blue cotton-padded jacket with white flowers, had big, round eyes.
"Wei Li?" Zhang Rongfang was slightly surprised, but he quickly realized what was going on.
Since Wei Li is his personal bodyguard, it's normal for her to come along now.
"When did you arrive?" He came in, took off his coat, and handed it to Qing Su to hang up.
"I just arrived today, and I was almost kidnapped by the Sweeping Mountain Tiger on the way. It was terrifying!" Wei Li patted her chest, looking timid.
"It's that Sweeping Mountain Tiger again?" Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly.
"Yes, recently many caravans and Escort Agency have been robbed by them. If they lose money or goods, they kill and rob people. If there are only a few people, they arrest them all. They are extremely ruthless."
"What is Wushan Prefecture's response?" Zhang Rongfang walked into the courtyard, slowly exhaled, and began to slowly cast Talisman Art, continuing to hone his martial arts skills.
If you don't practice martial arts for a day, you'll gradually become rusty.
Even if he has the Attribute Panel to help him and can fully master all martial arts, his reaction speed will decline over time.
A slow response time can make all the difference in a life-or-death battle.
Wei Li glanced at Qing Su, who was looking a little nervous, and smiled.
"We already have some clues. According to the intelligence on the surface of Wu Mountain, Sweeping Mountain Tiger has been surrounded and attacked several times before, but he has escaped each time."
This should be seen as a retaliatory strike.
The Three Great Families and Government Office offices within Wushan Prefecture were all embroiled in factional strife, and any attempt to eliminate them would only result in significant losses for the government.
When the damaged forces engage in internal power struggles within the government, they will be at a disadvantage.
This is also the key reason why the Sweeping Mountain Tiger has not been eradicated but has instead grown stronger.
"Even the government troops couldn't wipe them out? Is this 'Sweeping Mountain Tiger' that strong?" Zhang Rongfang asked in surprise.
He knew how strong Spirit Army was.
Even they were powerless and failed twice. It seems that these robbers are quite strong. "Yes, sir, after I came here, I also found that the Black Eagle White Eagle here do not seem to be mainly engaged in our Golden Wing Tower business."
They already have close ties with the Three Great Families. They often use the information gathered in the building to benefit themselves. Wei Li smiled slightly.
"That's normal. Now that you're here, go with Qing Su to Duan Gu and take over the forces of the assassins."
Zhang Rongfang gave the instructions.
After discovering that Duan Gu was not entirely convinced, he realized that the Death Warrior System here was no longer the assassins in the literal sense.
Rather than calling them suicide squads, it would be more accurate to describe them as a purely military force.
What happened on the street today made him realize that he must acquire sufficient power of his own.
Otherwise, even if you are Super Grade, you will only be surrounded and killed by experts if you go up alone.
Moreover, he still has his Elder Sister and Brother-in-law's family to rely on. He can't easily use his apparent identity to take action.
"Yes!" the two replied in unison.
"Go." Zhang Rongfang also sensed at this moment that the Golden Wing Tower system was vast, and its structure was likely to differ in different places.
The Double Eagle here outwardly show him respect, but it's really hard to say how they actually view him.
Just like the suicide squad Duan Gu.
Before his arrival, this group of assassins had clashed with the Huang Family several times. So how did they clash? And what were the reasons for these clashes?
I have no idea.
Therefore, Qing Su and Wei Li need to investigate these things for him and then take control of the powers that should belong to him.
After the two women agreed, they took the military tally and left.
After practicing the Talisman Art for a while, Zhang Rongfang focused his attention on his Attribute Panel.
These days, he has gained some more attributes.
However, for Guanxu Skill, who is currently only at the Third Turn Core Formation, one point can only advance him by one stage at most.
After resting for a while, he didn't hesitate and directly put the attribute points into the Guanxu Skill.