Heaven-Class

After lunch, Lu Chen had just returned to the entrance of Sheep Dung Alley when he ran into Jin Ming, who was waiting there.

The moment Jin Ming saw him, an anxious smile spread across his face. He hurried over, bowing again and again. "Brother Lu! Brother Lu, please wait! I was a fool last time. A few cups of wine went to my head, and I forgot myself. I offended you badly. I deserve to die, truly!"

As he spoke, he even raised a hand and gave himself a couple of light slaps.

Lu Chen said nothing, only watching him quietly.

Jin Ming's eyes darted about. In a hurry, he pointed behind himself and said, "Actually, it was all that blind, useless servant of mine! He thought you and I had really fallen out, so he went behind my back and sought out Boss Mo of the Rat Gang, hoping to teach you a lesson and avenge me... Look, I've had the fool tied up and brought here. You can beat him or punish him however you see fit!"

Lu Chen glanced over. The young brothel attendant from that day was bound and kneeling in the corner, his face bruised.

"Brother Jin, you're making too much of it," Lu Chen said evenly. "It was a misunderstanding. We've cleared it up, and that's that. Take him back and discipline him."

Jin Ming's heart eased. He nodded hurriedly. "Brother Lu, you're so magnanimous! I—"

Lu Chen cut him off. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

"Yes, yes, of course! Please, Brother Lu!"

Lu Chen said no more and went straight into the alley.

Only after that figure had disappeared through the courtyard gate

did Jin Ming finally let out a long breath.

He had never imagined Lu Chen would break through to External Force just the day before yesterday!

Yesterday, he'd sent someone to the Rat Gang to find Boss Mo and ask how things had gone.

But Boss Mo had been furious. Not only had he refused to be civil, he'd beaten Jin Ming's man and cursed him out. "Damn it, you'd dare ask me to mess with an External Force martial artist? Jin Ming, are you tired of living, or do you think I am?"

An External Force martial artist!

Jin Ming had been stunned. In an instant, regret had twisted his guts into knots. He shouldn't have drunk those few cups of pisswater that day. Over a paltry thirty taels of silver, he'd fallen out with an External Force martial artist.

Fortunately, judging by Lu Chen's attitude just now, he had no intention of turning on Jin Ming and demanding an explanation on the spot.

Since he'd accepted the offered way out, there was still room to mend things.

Jin Ming's mind settled a little, then raced ahead. Lu Chen had broken through to External Force and joined Plum Blossom Martial Hall. His future was now boundless. Looking back, Jin Ming's earlier schemes seemed downright laughable. The only thing to do now was make amends twice over, humble himself, and show complete sincerity. Perhaps he could repair their relationship.

Lu Chen pushed open his courtyard gate, his expression unchanged.

He wasn't letting Jin Ming off because he was softhearted.

The Jin Family held considerable power in Wen'an County, and making a move against Jin Ming now would bring plenty of trouble. More importantly, Jin Ming was still useful to him.

That afternoon, Lu Chen summoned all his subordinates.

He began the plan he had drawn up long ago.

That night.

Sun Stone, at Youtiao Alley.

Wang Iron Egg, at Shoulder Pole Lane.

Zhao Big Shoulder, at Butcher Street.

Qian Full Cabinet, at Market Street.

Limping Zhang, at Bench Alley.

Du Shorty, at Brick and Tile Lane.

Gao Tall Guy, at Chicken Feather Street.

Nearly half the gang leaders in South City were eliminated in a single night. The work was clean and swift: no witnesses, no survivors.

The killer remained a mystery.

The only clue was the four blood-soaked characters left on the wall at each crime scene: "Uphold Heaven's Justice."

Word spread quietly among the people of South City that a hero who specialized in executing villains had arrived.

Many who had suffered oppression had bottled up their resentment for years. At last, they could let some of it out. They gave the unseen executioner a nickname: South City Yama.

They said he was a judge who had risen from the underworld to deal with scoundrels.

The yamen runners made no effort to pursue the real culprit. Instead, under the pretense of investigating the case, they arrested a hundred or so people and extorted them one by one, lining their own pockets.

With their leaders gone, the various gangs fell into chaos, each faction scrambling for power and profit.

Lu Chen watched coldly. When he judged the time was right, he finally made his move.

His expansion was astonishingly swift. Within just a few days, all the scattered, disorganized lottery stalls in South City had switched to flying his banner.

The process went so smoothly that he encountered almost no resistance.

The news that Lu Chen was an External Force martial artist had already spread throughout South City.

To the gangs of South City, an External Force expert was the strongest backer they could hope for.

Besides, South City had been in turmoil for days. Gang feuds and killings never stopped, and everyone lived in fear.

Now that Lu Chen had come to bring them under his wing, many didn't just accept him—they were secretly relieved. They rushed to pledge themselves to him, hoping to earn a steadier living under this new boss than they had before.

Soon, the entire lottery business in South City had been gathered under Lu Chen's control.

The stalls were collected, and the people united. Next came the task of managing them—of forging this heap of loose sand into a solid iron plate. Lu Chen knew well that a swift blade could win territory, but rules were needed to hold it.

The first thing he did was set rules and make rewards and punishments clear.

He divided South City into several districts and put Blind Man, Baldy, Er Gou, and the other brothers who had followed him from the beginning and earned his deepest trust in charge of them.

Each district had a stall chief who managed a dozen or twenty stalls below him.

Every stall had to settle its accounts daily and turn over a fixed share of its earnings. No one was allowed to hide any money.

He also gave all his men a fixed monthly salary, with rewards for meritorious service.

But strict rules and generous pay alone were not enough. He also had to set the waters flowing.

Everyone involved—whether stall owners or ordinary folk who scraped together a little money and dreamed of striking it rich—had to see a greater hope ahead of them, so they would protect this new order of their own accord.

So Lu Chen unveiled the new way of playing that he had been planning for a long time.

He had his men post large notices in the busiest places throughout South City and announce the new rules with gongs and drums:

"Listen up! Starting tomorrow, our lottery's getting a grand prize!"

"Every morning when the market opens, Master Lu himself will draw six characters in public. Those will be today's 'Heaven-Class' characters. We'll carve them onto wooden plaques and hang them at every stall! Whoever draws all six characters—"

The man making the announcement deliberately dragged out his words. Seeing the crowd grow larger, the people's eyes shining, he suddenly raised his voice:

"Gets fifty taels of silver! Paid on the spot, not a single coin withheld!"

Fifty taels!

The sum was like a red-hot brand pressed into every listener's heart. For most people in South City, it was enough to change their fate.

Wherever the notices went, the crowd erupted. Talk, shouts of surprise, and heavy breathing blended into one roar.

That was exactly the effect Lu Chen wanted.

The odds of winning the grand prize were vanishingly small. It was all but a prize in name only.

But that seemingly unattainable jackpot was a carrot dangled before a donkey, stirring a buying frenzy among the people of South City unlike anything they'd ever seen.

People who had once bought a ticket for a little harmless fun, just to hold on to a hope, now felt the burning thought of those fifty taels roll through their minds every time they placed a bet. The amount and frequency of their bets quietly increased.

As for the stall owners and subordinates who depended on him, Lu Chen used this new system to bind them even more closely to his side.