Chapter 185

185. Chapter 182: The Mighty Patrol Guard

"Friend, have you changed your mind? Come to rent a house?"

Ding Huan arrived at the real estate agency, and the clerk immediately smiled and stepped forward.

"I'm not renting. I want to buy a small courtyard—with at least four rooms. Do you have any?"

Ding Huan said.

The clerk looked utterly helpless:

"Friend, I'm not trying to make things hard for you—you're not a resident of Zhuoxing Lordship, so you have no right to buy property. Even if you buy it, someone will take it from you, because the house won't belong to you."

Ding Huan pulled out his appointment letter as Patrol Guard Captain:

"Look, I'm the Patrol Guard Captain now. Can I buy a house?"

"You… really became a Patrol Guard? And a captain?" The clerk stammered, not from surprise, but from fear.

Because joining the Patrol Guard meant at most one month to live. Becoming a Patrol Guard captain meant at most three days.

He feared that if he angered Ding Huan, Ding Huan might just snap and kill him.

"That's none of your concern. Just tell me—do you sell or not?" Ding Huan tucked away his Patrol Guard Captain appointment letter.

"Sell, sell…"

The clerk struggled to control his emotions and said carefully:

"My lord must go to the Xifeng City Household Registry Office to register your household before you can buy property here."

Worried Ding Huan might still cause trouble, he quickly pointed to a red building in the distance:

"That building is the Household Registry Office."

"Thank you. By the way, where's the best location?" Ding Huan worried the guy recorded in the Patrol Guard files didn't know.

The clerk smiled nervously:

"It's in the Great Crystal District."

"How much for a small courtyard over there?" Ding Huan tapped the counter.

The clerk didn't dare delay: "A decent one costs around three hundred crystal stones; a poorer one only needs seventy or eighty."

As Ding Huan left the agency, he thought inwardly: This isn't cheap at all.

If he hadn't had a pile of Zhan Shen Crystal Stones on him, he truly couldn't have afforded it.

No, he couldn't take out the Zhan Shen Crystal Stones—they could only be used for cultivation. And Zhan Shen Crystal Stones seemed to contain more heavenly qi than the crystals used for trade here.

Didn't he have a pile of Level One Talismans on him?

Ding Huan decided to find a cultivation shop and see if he could sell his talismans.

Registering his household was simple. Though the clerk who processed it looked at Ding Huan as if he were already dead, out of fear of provoking someone who had nothing left to lose, he processed Ding Huan's registration at top speed.

When Ding Huan stepped out of the Household Registry Office, he was now an official resident of Zhuoxing Lordship.

…

If there was one street in Xifeng City that was the busiest and most prosperous, it was undoubtedly Shengdao Street in the Dongcheng.

Here, you could find real magical artifacts and genuine Daoist cultivation techniques.

Those who came to Shengdao Street to buy things were all cultivators with some background.

So many people chose to rent shops on Shengdao Street—here, if you had good goods, you'd never struggle to get a high price.

Of course, Shengdao Street wasn't all advantages.

Compared to other areas, Shengdao Street had far more cultivators. So when disputes broke out, killings were common.

Previously, the Patrol Guards died most often on Shengdao Street and Beicheng.

Think about it—even Patrol Guards were frequently killed, let alone ordinary people.

At this moment, Yan Mei, Lao Liu, and three Patrol Guard soldiers followed the woman who filed the report to Shengdao Street.

Shengdao Street remained bustling as ever; no shop's business was affected because another had been smashed.

"Qu Fu…" the woman cried out desperately at a shop whose sign had been completely destroyed.

Inside, the place was in chaos, and four men were rummaging through it, searching for something.

A middle-aged man lay bleeding on the ground, his hands still bound with ropes.

Seeing the blood-soaked man, the woman rushed in and embraced him.

The four men rummaging turned their heads and saw the woman holding Qu Fu.

"You ran away… and dared come back?"

A long-haired man sneered and stepped forward to grab the woman, as if he hadn't noticed the Patrol Guard soldiers.

The three Patrol Guard soldiers shrank back in terror, but then they noticed Yan Mei standing motionless to the side.

Yan Mei didn't move—he merely sneered at the three of them.

The three soldiers shuddered. They were certain: if they didn't act now, they'd be fine for the moment—but once they returned, they wouldn't escape the captain's hand.

Wait for someone above to defend them? Ha—their bones would be cold by then.

Besides, they didn't believe anyone from the City Lord's Mansion would come to defend them over a few dead guards.

"Stop!" One Patrol Guard soldier finally overcame his fear and stepped forward.

Shouting "stop" might still let him live.

If he ran now, unless he left Xifeng City, he'd be guaranteed a slash across the neck from that bloodthirsty captain.

Fleeing Xifeng City meant choosing death.

Seeing a teammate step forward to demand they stop, the other two Patrol Guard members no longer retreated—they advanced two steps, trembling with fear.

"Oh? Patrol Guards? Lately, you've been too scared to come looking for death. What's today's deal? Did you chew too many Huanxi Branches? Dare to pick a fight with my Tie Li Alliance?"

"Don't you remember last year when my Tie Li Alliance killed seven of your Patrol Guards? Are you tired of living?"

The long-haired man grabbed the woman's hair and dragged her before the three city patrol guards, his tone dripping with mockery.

"So bold—daring to act so recklessly right before our city patrol guards."

Yan Mei hadn't expected these three cowardly city patrol guards to actually step forward.

"Deputy Captain, hurry and call the Captain…"

The first patrol guard who had stepped forward to stop them dared not move; seeing the long-haired man dragging the woman toward them, he retreated several steps in fear.

As he retreated, he kept pleading with Yan Mei to call for help.

Yan Mei did not call Ding Huan; instead, he turned to Lao Liu: "Lao Liu, what should we do?"

Knowing Huan Ge well, Yan Mei knew that if Huan Ge had sent Lao Liu here, there must be a purpose.

Lao Liu didn't answer Yan Mei at all—he opened his mouth and spat out four streams of water.

"Puff! Puff! …"

Four iron-strength alliance men exploded with blood from their foreheads, then fell down, unable to believe what had just happened.

The only thought in their minds was: how could such a powerful beast be fighting alongside city patrol guards to kill people?

Lao Liu glanced dismissively at Yan Mei, saying nothing.

The meaning was crystal clear: what to do? Of course, kill them and be done with it.

To be beside Huan Ge and still ask what to do about something this small?

"Deputy Captain…" the three city patrol guards were stunned—they hadn't even seen Lao Liu strike; they all assumed Yan Mei had done it.

"Dispose of these bodies," Yan Mei said coolly.

"Yes!" the three city patrol guards hurriedly replied, moving forward to handle the corpses.

By "handle the bodies," they meant looting the corpses of their belongings—the bodies themselves remained piled beside the street.

Shengdao Street remained bustling and lively; when Lao Liu killed the four iron-strength alliance members, those four had still been inside their shops, never stepping out.

Few people had seen the iron-strength alliance members being killed here.

"Thank you, thank you, Captain…" the woman, once freed, immediately kowtowed to Yan Mei, then rushed to check on her husband, Qu Pu.

When the four iron-strength alliance corpses were dumped on the street, the crowd finally realized what had happened.

Upon discovering that iron-strength alliance members had been killed by city patrol guards, the entire street erupted.

City patrol guards had always been easy to bully—no one ever cared. When had city patrol guards ever dared kill iron-strength alliance members?

In this area, besides Alliance Master Pan Qi, the iron-strength alliance and the Dongcheng Guild were the kings.

When the iron-strength alliance smashed shops here, they had definitely paid crystal stones to Pan Qi first.

Since they paid crystal stones, smashing shops was legal—so if they were killed while legally smashing shops, once Alliance Master Pan returns, many will die.

The crowd stepped back; even the violent criminals who regularly killed and robbed on Shengdao Street watched the city patrol guards with cold eyes.

City patrol guards had killed members of other alliances or gangs before—but within hours, they'd always been sent to die in return.

Don't be fooled by the iron-strength alliance being outside the city—they'd receive word and strike within moments, killing without even needing Alliance Master Pan to lift a finger.

And the iron-strength alliance had surely already received word.

Directly across from where the four iron-strength alliance members were killed stood a general store, with a uniquely odd name: Only General Store.

At the store's entrance stood a woman; seeing the scene before her, she shook her head in disbelief:

"These city patrol guards are truly clueless about death—knowing they're doomed, they still dare kill iron-strength alliance members. Uncle Qi, when the iron-strength alliance arrives, should we lend a hand?"

The "lend a hand" she meant was not helping the city patrol guards—it was helping the iron-strength alliance.

In truth, "lend a hand" was just a pretense—would the iron-strength alliance need anyone's help to kill a few city patrol guards?

Saying "lend a hand" meant that when the iron-strength alliance arrived, they'd shout support from the sidelines, to earn the alliance's favor.

The man the woman called Uncle Qi was an old man with white hair and beard; he glanced at the woman beside him and snorted:

"Are you seeing these three useless city patrol guards for the first time? How many times have you seen them come out? When have they ever come out except to pick up corpses with their heads down? Do you think they'd dare kill iron-strength alliance members?"

"Uncle Qi, are you saying…"

"Clearly, it was that new guy who acted. That young man must have just joined the city patrol—fresh out of the gate. He killed four iron-strength alliance members at once—he must have some skill."

"Before this is settled, don't get involved. Besides, if he knew they were iron-strength alliance members and still killed them, he won't stop here."

The old man stroked his beard, calm and composed.

Indeed, no sooner had the old man finished speaking than the crowd saw a young man walk into the center of the street.

Yan Mei was no Lao Liu, a brute who only knew how to kill—he understood perfectly well what Ding Huan had sent him here for; so after Lao Liu killed the four iron-strength alliance members, he immediately stepped into the crowd's view:

"Everyone, from today on, the new captain of the city patrol is Ding Huan. I, Yan Mei, am deputy captain."

"From now on, the entire West Wind City will strictly enforce the laws of the Burning Star Lord's domain. Whoever breaks the law—will be executed without mercy."

The crowd immediately erupted in noise—when had city patrol guards ever become so powerful?

Are they tired of dying too easily—or too slowly?