The tide turned so fast. Just like the old saying went, life's wild swings from peak to pit were a real thrill.
One moment, he was a little lamb with a blade at his throat; the next, he was a tyrannosaurus in sheep's clothing.
The three men in black looked at one another, the killing intent in their eyes already replaced by fear.
Run!
The thought burst into all three of their minds at almost the same time.
Fight a monster who could punch a hole through a companion's chest? They'd have to be tired of living!
"Split up!"
One of them shouted and turned, scrambling for the wall around the City God Temple.
The other two reacted with perfect understanding, sprinting in opposite directions.
As long as one of them got away and returned to the Punishment Department to report, even if this kid had three heads and six arms, the Imperial Punishment Department would hunt him down and kill him!
The idea was beautiful.
Reality was harsh.
"Trying to run?"
Fang Mo sneered.
He stamped down, and the bluestone bricks beneath his feet shattered.
He shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, kicking up a gust of wind as he charged straight at the man in black heading for the wall.
The explosive strength of the mid Qi and Blood Realm, combined with the physical enhancement granted by his iron bones, pushed his speed to the limit.
The man in black had just leaped onto the wall and hadn't even had time to celebrate.
A hand like an iron pincer had already clamped around his ankle.
"Down you come!"
Fang Mo yanked hard.
Thud!
The man was dragged bodily off the wall and slammed into the ground, left seeing stars.
Before he could get back up, Fang Mo planted a foot on his chest.
Crack.
Quick and clean.
His breastbone shattered, and his heart stopped.
Another one down.
The two remaining men had already run dozens of meters.
Fang Mo didn't chase them.
He stood where he was, drew a deep breath, and slowly raised his right hand, clenching it in midair.
He sensed the Record of Punishing Crimes turn another page.
[Summoning Sin Prisoner: Liu Tiegu.]
"Go!"
Fang Mo barked.
An eerie wind invisible to ordinary people burst from his body, wailing like a ghost as it rushed after the two fleeing men.
Though this Sin Prisoner's soul was weaker than he'd been in life, the dead of night made him more than capable of frightening people or slowing them down a little.
The man in black running to the left was sprinting at full speed when he suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck, as if something had climbed onto his back.
Then a ghastly white face poked over his shoulder and breathed a cold gust into his ear.
"Brother, why are you running? Come down and play!"
It was Liu Tiegu.
"Ah—ghost!!!"
Scared out of his wits, the man in black stumbled and pitched forward, landing flat on his face.
Before he could get up, a freezing hand was already clamped around his throat.
As for the other man.
Liu Tiegu's soul went straight for him.
He had lost his iron bones, but the grievance in him was still immense.
He turned directly into a cloud of Black Mist and wrapped it around the man's legs.
The man felt as if his legs had been filled with lead. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move them. All he could do was watch in despair as Fang Mo approached, step by step, like the god of death.
Three minutes later.
The rear courtyard of the City God Temple had fallen silent as the grave.
Four more corpses lay on the ground.
Fang Mo dusted off his hands, recalled the soul, and strolled back to Gu Yichuan.
Gu Yichuan wasn't dead yet.
But he was close.
Seven or eight ribs were broken, his internal organs were badly damaged, and he lay on the ground coughing up mouthfuls of blood clots.
He looked at Fang Mo, his eyes full of despair and resentment.
"Who are you?"
"There can't be an expert like you in the Heavenly Prison!"
Fang Mo crouched down and looked at the face twisted with pain.
He reached out and removed Gu Yichuan's mask.
Beneath it was an unremarkable middle-aged man's face, even with a touch of scholarly refinement.
Who would have thought this was the Junior Officer of the Punishment Department who killed without batting an eye?
"Who I am doesn't matter."
Fang Mo toyed with the mask in his hand, his voice so calm it was frightening.
"What matters is that you know too much."
"And you tried to kill me."
Gu Yichuan gave a bitter laugh.
"The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit..."
"But don't get too pleased with yourself..."
"You won't get away with killing someone from the Punishment Department..."
"Not necessarily."
Fang Mo shook his head and pointed at the dry well beside them, then at the corpses on the ground, and finally at the box of Blood Spirit Pills.
"Look, the story could go like this."
"Officer Gu led his men in pursuit of stolen goods, fearless and undaunted as he ventured deep into the enemy's lair."
"Then they encountered the vicious traps Iron Bone Liu had left behind, along with his accomplices lying in wait."
"The two sides fought a fierce battle."
"Officer Gu and his brothers fought to the bitter end and wiped out every bandit, but tragically, not one of them survived."
"As for me..."
Fang Mo pointed at himself.
"I was just a prison guard showing the way. As soon as the fighting started, I fainted in the grass outside the temple."
"When I woke up, this place had become an Asura Field."
Gu Yichuan's eyes widened.
"You—you're vicious..."
"A man without ruthlessness cannot be a true man."
Fang Mo shrugged.
"Goodbye, Officer Gu."
Then.
He reached out and gently wiped a hand across the terrified face.
Crack.
The neck bone snapped.
Gu Yichuan's head lolled to one side. His breathing stopped for good.
Several dark-red shadows surged into Fang Mo's body.
Before you continue