First Time Wiping Out an Entire Family—Nerves Were Inevitable

"Anyone who thinks the protection fee is too expensive can learn from him. Do you know how much our Black Bear Gang has paid to protect your safety?"

"Is this little protection fee really expensive?"

After killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, the Black Bear Gang members continued down the street collecting protection fees.

Duan Yun had paid protection fees before. Half of the consultation and medicine fees he earned through hard work each month went to those people who "protected" him.

This was an utterly unreasonable charge.

Mainly because they took too much. Not only did they fail to protect anyone, they might even turn around and beat you, kicking you around like a cuju ball.

Duan Yun thought that even if he killed these three now, he probably could not stop this from continuing.

After all, without these three, the Black Bear Gang still had other members. They would come to collect too, and if they could not collect enough, they would beat people.

Those gang members had their reasons too. They were only doing the work; the protection fees were demanded by those above, and had to be handed up layer by layer.

Thus, Duan Yun reached a conclusion: kill every last person in the Black Bear Gang. Wipe them out completely, and naturally no one would collect such unreasonable protection fees anymore.

Yes, that was it!

Before the stall, only the little girl remained, clutching her father's arm and crying helplessly.

The man's face was twisted in pain, tears streaming down it, his eyes incomparably dim.

No one offered a hand, because the Black Bear Gang had beaten him. Many people pointed and whispered with sympathetic yet excited expressions.

Duan Yun walked over, pressed the man's jaw, and pushed.

With a crack, the jaw that had been kicked out of place snapped back into position.

Duan Yun stuffed a silver ingot into the man's hand and said, "Go find a doctor and have it looked at."

"Th-thank..."

Before the man could finish thanking him, Duan Yun had already walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

With eyes swollen so badly that only slits remained, the man had not seen his benefactor's face at all.

Clutching the silver, his heart, once ashes of despair, gained a thread of warmth and hope.

He could not die yet. He still had a family, and he still had to live with them.

Today's protection fee collection had gone rather smoothly, which left Chen Lao'er unable to resist feeling somewhat depressed.

When people obediently paid the protection fee, he could not just beat them for no reason, could he?

As a result, the vicious rage and itch in his hands had not been vented much at all.

Ever since his Black Bear Palm had reached a certain level, this itch in his hands had become somewhat uncontrollable. He wanted to vent it.

He should have beaten that sweet potato seller a little more.

If not for his kind heart, seeing that fellow had a daughter, would he have stopped so easily?

Chen Lao'er had a daughter too. He had once humbly run a roadside stall just like that man, waiting for others to come collect protection fees.

Fortunately, he had later seized a rare opportunity to join the Black Bear Gang, and had even learned this Black Bear Palm. With a shake of his body, he had transformed into one of those who collected protection fees.

After that, his whole family had lived a good life.

He was deeply grateful for everything the gang had given him, so he collected protection fees with exceptional diligence.

Because he knew very clearly that protection fees concerned the gang's development. He could not let his gang or gang leader suffer even the slightest loss or grievance.

Thinking of how the Black Bear Gang had fought bloody battles for so long, driving back many formidable enemies in Riverside City and achieving the position of overlord of the city, Chen Lao'er could not help puffing out his proud chest.

Then, at that moment, he suddenly heard a hiss, like a wineskin being punctured and leaking water.

Only a moment later did the intense pain reach his mind.

Chen Lao'er's proud chest involuntarily bent over.

To his horror, he discovered a bloody hole in his belly, blood bubbling out from within.

He had no idea what had happened. He only felt overwhelming terror and could not help letting out a strange cry.

Immediately after came another hiss. A streak of white light pierced through his belly again, leaving behind a second bloody hole.

This time, Chen Lao'er felt as though even his intestines had been severed.

He instinctively wanted to turn around, but in the blink of an eye, his body trembled, and two more bloody holes appeared.

Enormous pain and terror enveloped him like the blood mist dancing before his eyes. With a thud, Chen Lao'er's body crashed to the ground and began convulsing.

Only then did the two lackeys beside him snap out of their stunned state. They screamed, "Ghost!" and tried to run, but two streaks of white light pierced their hearts, and they fell dead on the spot.

The three people who had been swaggering around moments ago all dropped at once.

Their bodies convulsed and struggled, and soon they died.

Their eyes remained open in death.

"There's a ghost!"

The nearby townsfolk finally reacted and scattered in all directions.

Duan Yun ran along with them.

He had no choice. He had to make his move.

If he delayed any longer, the protection fee collectors would reach his home.

He had just given most of his silver to the sweet potato seller, and with the protection fees he owed from before added in, he did not have enough to pay anyway.

So he could only kill them ahead of time.

This action had clearly disrupted Duan Yun's rhythm somewhat.

After all, with people killed here, the Black Bear Gang would certainly be on guard once they received the news. So after returning to his room and casually disguising himself, he headed for the Black Bear Gang's headquarters.

He hoped to kill everyone in the Black Bear Gang before the news spread through it, so they would not be frightened before dying.

Especially the gang leader and those elite members—they were the priority targets. After all, they were the strongest and the most "bearish."

Yes, he would start by killing the gang leader.

By then, the sky had darkened. As Duan Yun walked down the road, he was slightly nervous.

After all, this was his first time going to slaughter an entire household. Wang Li and the three men he had just killed were actually insignificant nobodies in the Black Bear Gang, hardly worth mentioning.

But the Black Bear Gang's leader and other elites might well be experts.

This should be his first time crossing blades with the Black Bear Gang's experts. It was only natural to be nervous.

The gates of the Black Bear Gang's headquarters were large and imposing, but only a young gang member was guarding them, dozing off to one side.

Duan Yun directly called him awake.

The gate guard asked blankly, "What are you doing?"

"Where is your gang leader? He had someone ask me to come treat his illness," Duan Yun said with a straight face.

The gate guard's expression immediately turned serious. Like a guard at an upscale residential complex spotting a homeowner, he respectfully said, "The gang leader is drinking inside. I'll take you to him."

And so, Duan Yun was led into the Black Bear Gang's headquarters.

Along the way, he looked around. The headquarters was a sprawling residence with four successive courtyards, covering a considerable area. There were pavilions, terraces, towers, clear ponds, and manicured bamboo. In the largest courtyard stood an enormous clay statue of a black bear. In Riverside City, it was truly extravagant.

This had all been built by squeezing the lifeblood and fat from people like them!

Yet the entire gang headquarters was even more slapdash than Duan Yun had imagined. There were only several dozen people scattered about, with fewer than ten dedicated guards.

At this point, the gang member leading the way could not help asking quietly, "Doctor, the gang leader is not seriously ill, is he? I truly couldn't tell he was sick."

Duan Yun pointed at his crotch and said, "Nothing serious. He just caught a bit of something down there. It itches a little."

The gang member guiding him immediately wore an expression of understanding.

The gang leader did like fooling around.

This was a relatively enclosed courtyard, and there were even fewer people here.

At this moment, Duan Yun could already hear the sounds of cups and goblets clinking, along with voices discussing matters inside.

The Black Bear Gang's leader and elites were inside.