Chapter 138: Standoff

Jiang Tian heard the Ghost Crying Wolf Howling and was suddenly stunned, feeling as if he were in the Eighteen Levels of Hell; black fog rolled all around him, and countless wronged souls surged out from the black fog, rushing toward him with bared fangs and brandished claws, among whom were many enemies he had killed in the past.

"Return my head, return my head..."

"Jiang Tian, you harmed me so miserably, I want you to pay with your life." Those enemies Jiang Tian had once killed all rushed over to claim his life.

Jiang Tian punched and kicked, sending those wronged souls flying, but just at this moment, a somewhat resentful voice said: "Brother Jiang, didn't you say you loved me the most? Why did you strangle me to death for that slut? Brother Jiang, come, let's live well here from now on."

A beautiful woman, as lovely as a flower, emerged from the black fog, which made Jiang Tian stand frozen on the spot, muttering in his mouth: "Lihua, is it you?"

"Brother Jiang, it's me, don't go, stay and keep me company, okay? I still want to bear you a son." The woman named Lihua had a face like peach blossoms and said with a smiling expression.

"No, Lihua, you are dead, I strangled you with my own hands, this is an illusion." Jiang Tian was a Third-grade Intermediate Martial Artist with a firm Divine Soul and a resolute mind; once he realized these were all illusions, he struggled with all his might, and the entire world was like a shattered mirror, instantly falling to pieces.

Those wronged souls claiming his life and the woman named Lihua all vanished along with the shattering of the illusion.

Jiang Tian saw it very clearly; before the woman disappeared, she gave Jiang Tian one last resentful look, which made his hair stand on end, not knowing whether these were real or fake.

It takes a long time to tell, but in reality, Jiang Tian was only stunned for a split second before he broke free from the illusion and woke up.

"Not good!" As soon as Jiang Tian sobered up, he discovered that Meng Yifan had taken advantage of his split-second daze, his body as fast as a gust of wind, and had already rushed in front of him; the Ghost Head Blade, flashing with blood-red light, made a horizontal cut, intending to sever his neck.

"Clang!" Jiang Tian waved his right hand, his Eagle Claw of True Energy suddenly retracting and grabbing onto the Ghost Head Blade; the violent force made Meng Yifan's right hand tremble, and he couldn't help but retreat three steps again.

Jiang Tian was so frightened he broke into a cold sweat; if he had sobered up a moment later, he would have been decapitated.

The clash just now was very brief, yet extremely dangerous; Meng Yifan had first used the Ghost Crying Wolf Howling of the Ghost Head Blade to disturb Jiang Tian's mind, making him fall into an illusion.

Then Meng Yifan used the Lightness Skill of the Lingbo Microsteps to rush over quickly, wanting to take the opportunity to finish him off.

But Jiang Tian had sobered up too quickly, waking up at the final moment to block the Ghost Head Blade, which caused Meng Yifan's fatal strike to miss; it was truly a pity.

Jiang Tian looked warily at the Ghost Head Blade in Meng Yifan's hand, not daring to launch an attack easily again.

Meng Yifan did not continue to attack either; the Ghost Head Blade's attacks were sharp, but they also consumed a great deal of True Qi. Since Jiang Tian was not attacking, Meng Yifan took the opportunity to recover his True Qi to deal with the upcoming great battle.

Jiang Tian and Meng Yifan stood in a standoff, neither attacking first; at the same time, the members of the Crocodile Gang were rapidly surging toward this area, and soon they had blocked the entire street.

The ordinary commoners nearby, seeing this formation and fearing that both sides would start a war and they would be caught in the crossfire, were all so frightened that they scattered and fled.

Zhou Laohan knew that Meng Yifan had stood up for him, which was why he had clashed with the Crocodile Gang; he wanted to help Meng Yifan, but he was just an ordinary old man, old and frail, and staying would be of no use and would only cause trouble for Meng Yifan, so he could only look at Meng Yifan with gratitude before pulling Zhou Rong and fleeing into the distance.

The Crocodile Gang issued a mobilization order, and the commotion was great; the Axe Gang and the Wuyou Gang also arrived one after another, and soon a large number of members from the Three Great Gangs had gathered on this street.

The leader of the Wuyou Gang, Long Guxing, arrived, and the leader of the Axe Gang, Liu Sheng, also arrived; the three leaders were all Third-grade Martial Artists, among whom Long Guxing was the most powerful, being a Third-grade High-level Martial Artist, while Liu Sheng and Jiang Tian were both Third-grade Intermediate Martial Artists.

The Crocodile Gang had the Eight Great Diamonds, all of whom were Second-grade Martial Artists, and two hundred core members, all of whom were First-grade Martial Artists; the strength of the Wuyou Gang and the Axe Gang was similar, and the Three Great Gangs could muster three Third-grade Experts, twenty-five Second-grade Martial Artists, and seven hundred First-grade Martial Artists.

Meng Yifan was secretly shocked as he watched; the Three Great Gangs were very strong, no wonder Xiong Dajiao of the Crocodile Gang dared to say that within Luolong County, the Crocodile Gang was the law.

If the Three Great Gangs wanted to rebel, the original group of yamen runners and constables in Luolong County would be no match for the Three Great Gangs at all; no wonder the County Magistrate Lv Dazhi could only bow his head and submit in front of the Three Great Gangs, allowing them to bully the common people and act recklessly.

Just as the Three Great Gangs were gathering, a series of rhythmic, synchronized footsteps sounded from the other side of the street.

"One-two-one, one-two-one, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four..." Meng Dayong led over nine hundred soldiers, fully armed and equipped, shouting loud slogans, marching in step with high morale.

The synchronized footsteps of the soldiers formed a resonance, causing the ground to vibrate as they stepped.

The people of the Three Great Gangs were gathered in a heap, and the weapons they held were a motley collection—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks, they had everything; while the front row of Meng Yifan's soldiers were all holding Bird Guns, the back rows had Elm Cannons, behind those were Tiger Crouching Cannons, and the soldiers at the very back were pushing the heavy Shenwu Great General Cannon.

If Meng Yifan's soldiers were a regular army, then the members of the Three Great Gangs could only be considered a rabble.

The Three Great Gangs had many experts, and if it came to one-on-one combat, Meng Yifan's soldiers would certainly be no match, but the troops Meng Yifan had organized were a firearm unit, which meant that even if the individual strength of the soldiers was weak, they could use the sharp firearms in their hands to severely injure First-grade and Second-grade Martial Artists; if the two armies were to face off, the Three Great Gangs might not necessarily be the winners.

Meng Dayong led the soldiers forward with big strides, and the members of the Three Great Gangs were squeezed back step by step; soon, half of the entire street was occupied by Meng Yifan's troops, and half by the members of the Three Great Gangs, with both sides at daggers drawn, and a great battle ready to break out at any moment.

Long Guxing squinted his one eye, carefully sizing up Meng Yifan's troops; he truly could not believe that Meng Yifan had gathered a group of refugees and, in only five or six days, had trained such an elite force.

Yesterday's battle had wiped out the entire Thousand-man Unit of the Divine Machine Battalion; if a war started today, even if the Three Great Gangs could win, they would surely suffer heavy losses. Thinking of this, Long Guxing had already decided that they absolutely must not start a war.

The Three Great Gangs were not skilled in such frontal combat; starting a war like this would be very disadvantageous for the Three Great Gangs.

"Halt!" Meng Yifan shouted.

The nine hundred-plus soldiers moved in perfect unison, all legs straightened, right heels brought to left heels, everyone with heads held high and chests out, standing perfectly still.

The entire formation was straight and aligned, all soldiers looking straight ahead, full of fighting spirit, and an aura of might radiated outward, which once again shocked the people of the Three Great Gangs on the opposite side.