Tiger One: Did You Kill My Son?

"How could there be a Qi Gathering Realm Tiger Demon?"

"Silence!"

Seeing this, Luo Junfeng shouted loudly, trying to stabilize everyone's emotions.

Kang Ronghao rode his horse forward, turned around after leaving the formation, and cast a cold, sharp gaze at the crowd.

"This time, the Mountain Lord's fury is all because of one person. Chen Bin!"

Everyone's eyes snapped to Chen Bin as Kang Ronghao continued, "In the past few days, he killed the Mountain Lord's third son, and altogether slaughtered twenty-five Tiger Cubs. Naturally, the Mountain Lord came to retaliate.

The Mountain Lord is powerful; even our General Banner cannot match him.

When the Mountain Lord enters the city, our Demon Suppression Division will suffer revenge.

Most importantly, we're in charge of the South City and the southern district—we'll bear the brunt of it. We'll all die.

Now, there is a solution.

That is to quell the Mountain Lord's wrath."

Hearing this, the crowd's faces first lit up with surprise, then tightened with tension.

Luo Junfeng spoke first, a hint of laughter in his voice, clearly already knowing what came next. "Small Banner, what exactly is this solution to quell the Mountain Lord's wrath?"

Everyone's eyes fixed nervously on Kang Ronghao. They already had a vague guess in their hearts—no one wanted to die.

These were all old hands on the scene; they naturally knew what it took to calm a demon's fury.

They just didn't know if they themselves were part of the sacrifice to appease that anger, and that was what made them panic.

"There is only one way to quell the Mountain Lord's wrath." Kang Ronghao's gaze slowly swept over the crowd, finally landing on Chen Bin like a hawk.

He raised a finger and pointed coldly. "Chen Bin. He is the root of all this trouble.

If he hadn't killed those Tiger Cubs, none of this would have happened."

Everyone's eyes turned to Chen Bin again, their expressions filled with complex emotions.

Kang Ronghao delivered the final verdict. "The Mountain Lord said that only by offering him up as a sacrifice will this debt be wiped clean. All of you can live."

"Let him die!" Luo Junfeng suddenly shouted, a trace of ferocity twisting his face.

"Let him die!" The crowd began to chant, voices rising and falling as if bewitched.

Kang Ronghao was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. He raised a hand, and the noise immediately stopped.

"Since everyone agrees," he said softly, "seize him."

"Yes!" Luo Junfeng immediately accepted the order, and the other captains followed suit, moving forward to apprehend Chen Bin.

Chen Bin raised a hand, his expression calm. "May I say a few words?"

The men paused mid-motion, all looking to Kang Ronghao for his instruction.

Before Kang Ronghao could reply, Chen Bin had already ridden his horse forward, facing the crowd as well.

"The Great Zhou Dynasty's law: colluding with demons is punishable by death. What you're doing right now has already violated that law.

The Demon Suppression Division's rule: betraying a comrade is punishable by death! What you're doing right now has already violated that rule."

"What, Captain Chen Bin plans to use these two rules to sentence us to death?"

Luo Junfeng's face twisted into a mocking grin. "Or do you intend to scare us to death with them?"

The crowd joined in the laughter, thoroughly amused. Chen Bin's words were nothing but a joke here.

"I've looked at every single one of you. You're all laughing. I've marked it," Chen Bin said, his expression unchanged. "Plotting with a tiger—what profit is there? Dancing with a wolf—you'll surely suffer for it.

Handing me over—do you think you'll live?"

Chen Bin let out a scornful laugh. "I just hope that when you die, you won't beg those demons for mercy."

Just then, a command rang out: "Seize him!"

Kang Ronghao didn't want Chen Bin to say another word. These words had already made some people's faces flush with shame, and a few had even fallen into thought.

On this matter, once these foolish subordinates started thinking, it would spell trouble.

As a leader, he didn't need subordinates with logic—only obedient ones.

So he had to take Chen Bin first, to stop these subordinates from thinking.

"No need," Chen Bin said with a smile, a hint of carefree ease in it. "It's already too late!"

He turned to look into the distance, where a group of Tiger Demons had already appeared in everyone's sight.

The Tiger Demons' figures flickered in and out of view, slowly drawing closer.

Soon, they entered within thirty zhang.

Chen Bin's gaze locked tightly onto the lead tiger ahead.

Above their heads floated a line of text.

Tiger One: Qi Gathering Realm Tiger Demon, Merit +18

Tiger Two: Qi Gathering Realm Tiger Demon, Merit +14

...: Body Tempering Realm Tiger Demon, Merit +10

He silently calculated in his mind—twenty Tiger Demons in total.

Excluding the two Qi Gathering Realm Tiger Demons, the remaining eighteen were all Body Tempering Realm Tiger Demons.

Killing them all would yield 174 points of Merit.

Chen Bin made a quick tally, adding his own side:

Kang Ronghao: Qi Gathering Realm Martial Artist (Lower Stomach), Merit +16

Luo Junfeng: Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist (Jade Marrow), Merit +9

Fifty-two Red Names in total; killing them all would give 322 points of Merit.

Combined, that came to 496 points of Merit.

As he was pondering this, the Tiger Demons had already arrived before them.

At the very front, the Tiger Demon worth 18 Merit points stood tall and fierce, a full one zhang and two chi in height.

Chen Bin, riding his horse before it, was only half its size.

He narrowed his eyes, privately gauging the situation—it seemed a direct fight was impossible; he could only ambush.

"Lord Tiger One, Lord Tiger Two!" Kang Ronghao urged his horse forward, stopping before the towering Tiger Demon, his face plastered with a fawning smile. "Why trouble the two of you to come out together?"

These two were the Mountain Lord's sons.

Of course, all these Tiger Demons were biologically the Mountain Lord's offspring, but only those strong enough earned his recognition and received a bestowed name.

Tiger One's gaze was vicious, his massive frame looming like a small mountain as he bared sharp fangs, his voice low and furious: "My third brother is dead, hm! That waste dying is no loss! But my son is dead too. You know my father likes eating grandsons—they were the four I fought to keep alive. You and Qian Yu promised me my sons could feast in Wanbao County without any trouble. Especially my eldest son. His strength was only five hundred people short of breaking into the Qi Gathering Realm. Now he's dead. It pains me."

"Lord," Kang Ronghao's Adam's apple bobbed, sweat pouring from his nerves, "the brat who killed your son—we've brought him."

"Who is it?" Tiger One's eyes shot like lightning, sweeping through the crowd.

But Kang Ronghao pointed without hesitation at Chen Bin, standing apart from the group, and said, "It's this brat. He killed Tiger Three and your son."

Tiger One and Tiger Two's eyes blazed with a ferocious red light. Not just the two of them—the surrounding eighteen Tiger Demons instantly turned savage as well.

A murderous aura erupted, a layer of frost settling over the scene, making everyone's hair stand on end.

Fortunately, that bloody killing intent was all directed at Chen Bin.

"You killed my four sons?"