Chapter 159

Lightning struck, and thunder rolled.

The color of the dark clouds was as heavy as lead blocks; even with the heavy rain, it still couldn't eliminate the thick smell of blood permeating the air.

Liang Qu sat firmly on a wooden stool on the shore, with the bound Zheng Tianfu lying at his feet.

He looked out at the surging Jianghuai Great Marsh in the distance, while two Whale Gang members behind him tremblingly held up straw raincoats to block the rain for him.

The remaining twenty-plus gang members wore straw raincoats, their hands trembling as they used poles to salvage the corpses on the shore.

"Ugh!"

One person vomited and felt dizzy, falling into the water, completely scared out of their wits.

A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood produce soul-snatching evil ghosts.

Even seeing a water ghost wasn't as terrifying as this.

A slight coughing sound mixed into the sound of the rain.

Liang Qu looked up, and several gang members retreated in a hurry to show that they had no intention of hiding.

A bold gang member stepped forward and cupped his hands.

"My lord, there are still people alive!"

"Oh?"

It must be said that martial artists have strong vitality; many of them had broken tendons and bones, and after soaking in the water for so long, they still had a breath left.

"Bring them to me!"

A martial artist with both legs broken was dragged over; as he moved, his consciousness became clearer and clearer, until he was brought before Liang Qu, his eyes full of fear.

It was the person in front of him, it was the person in front of him, he killed the leader!

Under the huge shock, the martial artist was slapped unconscious by Liang Qu before he could even open his mouth.

"Tie them up and put them aside; you go and check again, press the water, see if there is anyone else alive, and bring them all over."

The gang members looked at each other, not knowing who should do the water pressing, who should move the corpses, and who should salvage the corpses.

Liang Qu didn't mean to explain much.

Under the threat of death, these people still quickly divided the work, and some people pressed on the chests of the "corpses" salvaged.

The Great Shun has CPR, especially the fishermen on the shore, many of whom understand it, but they call it "water pressing."

Things like claiming merit of course cannot all be done by carrying heads; that would be chaotic, so some living captives must be left.

This is also why Liang Qu tried his best not to expose his water control ability and didn't kill Zheng Tianfu.

Including the three martial masters who played water monsters at the beginning, except for the one killed on the spot, Liang Qu didn't kill the other two even though they were seriously injured, and hid them in the nearby reeds.

While thinking, Quan Tou had already moved its eight legs, carrying the two dying people over from afar.

The pleasure boat in the water was also dragged over by the Fat Catfish and Bu Neng Dong.

The appearance of several ferocious water beasts made the gang members even more horrified, and their movements became faster, not daring to delay any longer.

Quan Tou put down the two people and extended a giant pincer, on which A-Wei was lying, not having much spirit.

Liang Qu reached out to take it, looked at A-Wei's wound, and cleaned the broken armor pieces on it.

Its eighth and ninth hard armor segments were all broken, and the armor pieces were inserted into its flesh, dripping with wisps of red blood.

A saber strike from an Ultimate Galloping Horse Realm was no small matter; even if A-Wei's whole body scales were harder than mysterious iron, it would still be cut and injured.

Fortunately, it wasn't a major injury, and it would recover after resting for a period of time, and the broken hard armor could also grow back.

Although Liu Jie cut open the wound to release the poison immediately after being stung by A-Wei, and the injection time was too short, it didn't have much actual effect, but this didn't mean A-Wei had no merit.

At least Liang Qu could feel that Liu Jie, who was fighting him, had always been guarding against A-Wei in the dark; this was the greatest merit.

Being able to make a martial artist in a fight distracted and defensive was definitely a huge advantage.

After dealing with A-Wei's wound, Liang Qu put the listless A-Wei into his pocket.

"Someone come and block the rain for me again!"

A gang member closest to him immediately ran over, took off his straw raincoat, and held it up to block the rain in front of Liang Qu.

Quan Tou brought a stack of registers, a brush, and an inkstone from the boat.

Ground the ink well.

Liang Qu recorded what he saw and heard along the way, and what he had done.

These were all merits, and naturally, the more detailed the record, the better.

When everything was recorded, the gang members had also salvaged all the scattered things, and there were several dying core gang members at Liang Qu's feet.

Finally, it was time to count.

Liang Qu stood up and looked at the things salvaged one by one.

Most of them were broken weapons, including sabers, spears, swords, and sticks, as well as several big bows.

Besides that, there were broken wood, ceramics, silver, and utensils.

Liang Qu regretted using too much force and ruining good things.

Most of the weapons were fine ordinary weapons, and only the weapons of the three leaders were a bit particular, but they were only made of good materials.

Just like Liu Jie's broken saber, it was a hundred-refined mysterious iron saber.

Usually, one portion of mysterious iron can forge a good saber, and hundred-refined means a mysterious iron saber that has been melted and folded a hundred times, which is worth a lot.

The number of people in the entire Fengbu County who can afford such a saber won't exceed five.

It's a pity it's not a spirit weapon.

When it collided with the Fubo that absorbed the remnants of the dragon bone, it was almost one gap after another.

Not to mention that the whole saber broke in the last strike; even if it hadn't broken, it would have been a saw-toothed saber.

Liang Qu picked up the broken piece and knocked on it; the material was good material, but it was a pity it didn't belong to him.

Having an official status has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that resources from all sides are abundant, and because he has a backer, he can exchange for anything with merit, without any obstacles.

This time, it was a nailed-down Great Merit, and the things he could exchange for included but were not limited to various heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

If he exchanged for water-attribute treasure plants, Liang Qu conservatively estimated that his Ze Rong fusion degree could be like a small section of pseudo-dragon tendon, rising by nearly one-tenth!

Not to mention that heavenly materials and earthly treasures of this level are very precious, and are already similar to dragon tendons that can change aptitude, mostly having additional permanent attribute bonuses!

Ordinary people would never have such treatment.

Furthermore, official status has a hidden benefit, which is that except for within the Great Shun imperial court system, few people outside will come to provoke him, saving a lot of trouble.

Dealing with the Whale Gang, if he were just an ordinary strong person without official status, slaughtering the entire Whale Gang would not only have no reward, but he would mostly be labeled with the charge of rebellion.

The county magistrate wouldn't just watch his money bag be dug empty by some mud-legged person who popped out of nowhere.

If it were Liang Qu, he would just mention it, and otherwise, he wouldn't help either side.

For no other reason, it's not worth it.

The only drawback is that as an official within the system, Liang Qu cannot directly occupy all the property of the Whale Gang.

Although a portion of the proceeds from the confiscation will belong to the River Patrol Office, Liang Qu can also get a portion afterward, but it must be handed over and registered first.

For this reason, Liang Qu didn't feel too sorry about the pleasure boat being destroyed; anyway, it didn't belong to him; if he used the subsequent proceeds to exchange for a boat, it would be a loss.

"This bow is not bad..."

Liang Qu crossed the messy various weapons, lifted his toes, and kicked up a big bow that was strung; it felt slightly heavy in his hand.

Someone behind him immediately explained.

"My lord, this is the big bow used by our former leader; it is made entirely of mysterious iron, although it is not hundred-refined, it is over sixty-refined; he usually cherished it very much and didn't even string it."

Liang Qu raised his eyebrows.

Senior Brother Hu also used a big bow, so he knew that to preserve the bow's power, the bow should be unstrung when not in use.

"Usually it's not strung, so is it strung now to deal with me?"

No one dared to answer.

Liang Qu observed the big bow, his eyes shining; he had always been very interested in archery.

Ape arms are good at shooting.

Leaving aside martial bones, just in terms of body proportions, he was a standard ape-armed and wasp-waisted person, having a great advantage in drawing a bow and shooting arrows.

Having long-range attacks and not having long-range attacks are two different things.

Liang Qu adjusted the bow, raised his hand to pull the string, and astonishing resistance came from the bow arms; with his dragon-tendon and tiger-bone strength, he actually found it difficult to pull it open completely!

This is a bit terrifying!