Purple Flame County

The scar-faced man swallowed hard, cold sweat trickling down his cheeks.

He'd picked the wrong fight.

If this guy could casually crush silver ingots with his strength, it probably wouldn't take much effort to snap their necks.

Just as he was about to admit defeat, one of his underlings behind him let out a snicker.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing the scar-faced man turn around with a puzzled look, and wanting to impress his boss, he quickly trotted over and said to the scar-faced man, "Boss, I've seen this trick before. That thing looks like a silver ingot, but it's actually something else. Even a child can leave fingerprints in it."

Upon hearing this, the scar-faced man's face turned bright red, and he kicked the underling away impatiently.

After all these years on the streets, he'd almost been fooled by a charlatan today.

Both embarrassed and enraged, he walked directly up to Kong Wu and said angrily, "You damn..."

Before he could finish, Kong Wu sighed and crumpled a small piece of silver into a ball, casually flicking it away.

The cursing scar-faced man took two more steps before suddenly falling heavily to the ground.

Sss!

Under the internal pressure, blood sprayed out from the hole in the back of his head like a fountain.

The scene fell silent for a moment, then the scar-faced man's underlings scattered.

Kong Wu didn't get up, the silver ingot in his hand slowly shrinking.

He flicked out one small silver ball after another. As the last person, who had run a hundred paces away, stumbled to the ground, Kong Wu tossed the remaining half ingot back into the sack.

What a hassle. Can't I just have a quiet cup of tea?

Kong Wu irritably shouted, "Waiter! Where's my tea?"

The waiter, who had long since run off to hide, nervously trotted back, his hands trembling as he scooped tea from the large vat.

After serving the tea, Kong Wu took a sip and spat it out.

"Pah! It's so weak, how am I supposed to drink this???"

He glared at the trembling waiter and said, "Where's that poison from before? Hurry up and add it for me!"

With a thump, the waiter immediately knelt on the ground and began to beg for mercy.

"My lord, spare this humble servant. I have a seventy-year-old mother and five children to support. I..."

Kong Wu splashed a bowl of tea in his face and yelled, "Why are you babbling? Just add it when I tell you to!"

Seeing that Kong Wu wasn't joking, the waiter scrambled to the counter, took out a small paper packet, and carefully sprinkled a bit of the white powder into Kong Wu's bowl.

"Why are you being so stingy? Pour it all in!!!"

Kong Wu roared, startling the waiter, whose hand shook and dumped all the powder in.

Seeing this, Kong Wu directly reached for the bowl, tilted his head back, and drank it down.

"Hah!"

Satisfied, he wiped the moisture from the corner of his mouth and asked, "Anything else?"

The waiter's mouth hung slightly open, staring at him, frozen in place.

The amount of poison he had just poured in was enough to take down several cows.

Yet Kong Wu seemed completely unaffected, his complexion normal.

After Kong Wu asked again, he finally snapped back to reality and quickly said, "Yes! There's more!"

He then ran back and retrieved several packets from behind the counter.

Kong Wu pointed to several bowls of tea in front of him.

"Here, distribute them evenly."

After the waiter added the poison, Kong Wu picked up a bowl of tea and handed it over, saying, "Here, drink with me!"

The waiter looked like he was about to cry and quickly shook his head, "I... I..."

Kong Wu frowned, "What? You look down on me? You won't give me face?"

Coupled with his ferocious expression, these words were quite convincing.

The waiter hastily took the bowl of tea, spilling quite a bit as his body trembled uncontrollably.

"Hm?"

Kong Wu's gaze swept over him, and the intense pressure forced the waiter to suppress his body's instinctive reactions, his arms gripping the bowl like iron clamps.

Nodding with satisfaction, Kong Wu picked up another bowl of tea and clinked it against the waiter's, saying, "Cheers!"

The waiter watched Kong Wu swallow the entire bowl of tea, his throat bobbing, then looked down at the clear tea in his own hand, filled with confusion.

Did I buy fake poison?

As he pondered, Kong Wu finished his tea. Seeing that he made no move, Kong Wu's expression darkened.

The waiter noticed this and shivered, thinking that since Kong Wu was fine after drinking so much, there must be something wrong with his poison.

With a gritted teeth and a tilted head, he downed the entire bowl of tea filled with poison.

"Good!"

Kong Wu's complexion improved, and he picked up another bowl of tea.

But when he turned around, he found that the waiter had already collapsed on the ground.

Black blood flowed from his seven orifices, and his body was still twitching.

Pursing his lips, Kong Wu took a sip of tea, feeling the cool sensation as the poison entered his throat, and let out a contented hum.

He slowly finished the tea in front of him, packed his things, and left the tea stall.

As the scorching sun moved over the mountaintop, the stifling heat finally cooled down a bit.

Leaving the tea stall and countless corpses behind, Kong Wu set off on his journey.

Before nightfall, a tall city wall appeared before his eyes.

"Purple Flame County"

Three large characters were inlaid directly above the city gate, and a long queue had formed below the twenty-foot-high gate.

Kong Wu had heard of this county before. In terms of population size and other aspects, Purple Flame County could be considered the foremost county below the prefecture.

Scratching his shoulder, his mood improved considerably.

While traveling and sleeping outdoors for this period had no effect on him, the cold ground was ultimately not as comfortable as a soft mattress.

He decided to have a good meal, take a bath, and rest.

Kong Wu stood in line with the crowd. His robust muscles and imposing height made him stand out like a sore thumb. The commoners in front of and behind him kept their distance, occasionally glancing at Kong Wu.

As expected, the soldiers on duty also noticed Kong Wu. A man who looked like an officer, along with two soldiers, walked over.

"May I ask the strong warrior's surname?"

Although the two subordinates behind him watched Kong Wu warily, the leader appeared exceptionally respectful.

"Kong Wu! What is it?"

His indifferent attitude did not change the leader's expression. The man simply cupped his fists and said, "Seeing as you are not an ordinary civilian, sir, queuing like this must be inconvenient for you. Would you please step out of the line, and I will conduct a separate inspection for you?"

Kong Wu nodded and stepped out of the queue.

Although the man's tone was gentle, his hand remained on the long saber at his waist.

It was likely that Kong Wu's extraordinary appearance made him somewhat concerned, which is why he wanted to conduct the inspection himself.

Stepping away from the queue was probably to avoid implicating innocent bystanders.

After taking a few steps, he took out a book from his bosom, flipping through it while looking up at Kong Wu.

After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you for your cooperation, sir. I will need to open and inspect this sack of yours."

Kong Wu nodded and threw the sack onto the ground.

A soldier stepped forward and opened it.

With a clatter, gold, silver, and jewels spilled all over the ground.