Infiltration

Successive screams rang out. About ten minutes later, Chen Luo returned carrying an iron rod completely soaked in blood. The sight made the Sha Lake Gang members suck in a breath instinctively, their gazes toward Chen Luo filled with awe.

This was a ruthless man!

He killed however many people he wanted, without the slightest hesitation.

Crippled Ma, who had survived a catastrophe, sat on the steps catching his breath. Upon seeing Chen Luo return, a trace of appreciation flashed through his eyes. No matter what, Chen Luo was his disciple, and he had used the Black Tiger Fist imparted by him.

"Did you kill them all?"

"Not one left."

With a flick of one hand, Chen Luo sent the iron rod flying. It plunged diagonally into the ground. Drops of remaining blood fell bit by bit, displaying the brutality of the previous battle.

"Well done."

A Sha Lake Gang expert nearby could not help shouting aloud.

Upon seeing Chen Luo's gaze sweep across him, he immediately stood straight and said with utmost respect.

"Wang Dajiang, Hall Master of the Sea Sand Hall of the Sha Lake Gang, pays respects to an expert."

Chen Luo glanced at him before turning his gaze back to Crippled Ma.

"How did you end up fighting them?"

"The Imperial Court wanted credit, and people like us happened to meet the conditions." Crippled Ma had already caught his breath. Don't look at the fact that he had lost a leg—ordinary people truly were no match for him.

"Meet the conditions?"

Chen Luo frowned, gaining a fresh understanding of just how utterly devoid of conscience these soldiers were.

"Whether someone practiced martial arts could be seen at a glance." Crippled Ma looked at his disciple Chen Luo, his gaze now completely different from before.

He had seen quite a few geniuses. When he was young, he himself had also been a genius. But no matter how gifted someone was, he had never seen anyone cultivate martial arts to the Third Realm, Bone Forging, in a single month. This was no longer a question of whether someone was a genius, but whether they were even human.

However, Crippled Ma had wandered the jianghu for many years. He knew what questions should be asked and what questions should not.

So he took the initiative to skip over the matter of Chen Luo's strength and began telling him about the origins of these common soldiers and his own conjectures.

"They set up such an enormous scheme. Killing only mud-legged commoners would not fool the people above, so they had to find martial artists to serve as ringleaders."

Just like why people had come to wipe out the mountain stronghold outside before, the people wiping out the gang here were also looking for scapegoats.

As for why they had delayed until now, Chen Luo guessed there must have been dealings involved that he did not know about. Those people had definitely made use of the Sha Lake Gang at first. It was only after they truly could not find enough replacements that they thought of cooking the hounds once the sly rabbit was dead. As local insiders, the Sha Lake Gang naturally could not simply sit and await death. That was why the earlier clash had occurred.

"Where is Junior Sister He?"

"Xiaomin was taken away by those people. They searched Qingya County's household registry for women whose birth years and months matched the requirements. Xiaomin happened to meet the conditions." At this point, Crippled Ma's face was full of gloom.

He had roamed the jianghu for so many years, yet in the end, he could not even protect one disciple.

"Where?"

"I am willing to lead the way for this expert."

Before Crippled Ma could answer, Wang Dajiang, who had been standing nearby for some time, immediately jumped out.

The Junior Sister He Chen Luo spoke of was precisely his niece.

Before, he had lacked the ability. Now that he saw an opportunity, he naturally had to contribute his share.

Chen Luo paid no attention to him and instead looked toward Crippled Ma. Speaking of it, everyone from the Sha Lake Gang was a stranger to him. Only one person present was truly worthy of his trust: his master, Crippled Ma.

"This man can be trusted."

Crippled Ma understood what Chen Luo meant and nodded as he said this.

"What about the rest?"

"No one on the Imperial Court's side is your match. The strongest is a general, an expert at Peak Internal Training who is skilled with a spear."

"Good."

After the master and disciple exchanged a few simple words, Chen Luo prepared to save her.

He had returned this time in order to find more brains similar to the Royal Family Brain. Killing people was definitely unavoidable. He had already taken away the brains of the people he had beaten to death earlier, replacing a batch of jianghu wanderer brains he had first collected at the Mass Grave. It can be said to be a bountiful harvest.

He grabbed Wang Dajiang by the shoulder, and the Internal Qi inside his body instantly poured in.

Wang Dajiang was startled. Before he could react, he discovered that someone was carrying him as they shot through the air in another direction. A man weighing over two hundred jin seemed as weightless as a child in this person's grasp. This move alone was enough to make Wang Dajiang thoroughly convinced.

"You passed it. Willow Street is on the right."

While flying along, Wang Dajiang swiftly corrected their direction.

Chen Luo quickly adjusted his body and changed course.

"It's here."

Twenty minutes later, Chen Dahe pointed at a large courtyard ahead and spoke in a low voice.

"The County Yamen?"

Chen Luo carried Wang Dajiang down from the wall and frowned slightly at the buildings before them.

Compared to ordinary residential houses, the County Yamen was far more troublesome.

Not only were its walls high, but the guards inside were much more formidable. The moment he fell outside the wall, Chen Luo sensed several powerful auras. One of them made even him, who had already broken through to the Bone Forging Realm, feel threatened. It must have been the Imperial Court expert his master Crippled Ma had mentioned.

This was the Imperial Court, the nation's official power. It was not strange for it to have so many experts. This was already because Qingya County was remote, and not many experts had come here. If there were even a few more people, Chen Luo would definitely have turned around and left without even trying.

"I watched Xiaomin and Eldest Brother He get captured and brought here. At first, those corrupt officials promised they would not touch our Sha Lake Gang." As he spoke, a flash of hatred passed through Wang Dajiang's eyes.

The Imperial Court had gone back on its word, causing the Sha Lake Gang to lose quite a few capable fighters. Wang Dajiang's relatives were among them.

"Words from the Imperial Court are fine to listen to, nothing more."

After confirming the location, Chen Luo prepared to go in and kill people.

With so many experts, the brains he harvested after killing them would definitely be even more useful!

"You should leave first. You will not be able to help with what comes next."

Chen Luo reached back and took the iron rod from behind him. He had picked up this rod beside another soldier's corpse when he left earlier. It was cleaner than the previous one. That rod had killed too many people and smelled too strongly, making it unsuitable for infiltrating and killing.

"I'll wait for you outside."

Wang Dajiang was no fool. He knew his own limits.

Chen Luo ignored him. He took two steps along the outside of the wall, found a spot where there was no aura behind it, pressed down with his feet, and vaulted over in a single leap.

Such an effortless method of exerting force made Wang Dajiang envious beyond measure.

He was merely a martial artist in the Qi and Blood Realm and had not even cultivated Internal Qi. He could deal with a few ordinary petty thieves on normal days, but in a place like this, he was not worth looking at.

After vaulting over the courtyard wall, Chen Luo discovered that the inside was a rear garden.

The garden was exquisitely arranged, with paths paved in pebbles, pond fish, and artificial rockeries. At the far end stood a pavilion. Beside it was a bamboo waterwheel. Water flowed down from the rockery and fell into bamboo tubes, driving the waterwheel to turn slowly. Crisp sounds rang out from the bamboo tubes from time to time.

"These bandit soldiers really know the way. There is not a trace of having been looted inside the Prefectural Yamen." Chen Luo sneered and tightened his grip on the iron rod.

He had previously guessed that Qingya County's magistrate was colluding with those people. Now it had been confirmed.

"First, find someone to ask for directions."

Chen Luo picked a direction and walked in along the path.

Past the small garden were side rooms. Several maidservants inside were washing clothes for the master's household. Compared to the purgatory outside, this yamen residence was like another world, utterly untouched by the outside world.