Chapter 120: Dead! All Dead!

Someone's dead!

Murder!

……

Chen Mu's expression turned sharp; without hesitation, his body shot like lightning toward the source of the sound.

A dark alley.

At the alley's entrance, a few nearby civilians, startled by the commotion, had gathered sparsely, peering inside with trembling fear but dared not approach.

A heavy stench of blood mingled with an indescribable, charred odor—as if something had been rapidly drained dry—filled the air.

【Corpse discovered. Pick up?】

"Yes!"

Card acquired. Begin inspection.

A special-type skill card.

Skill: Drunk as a Lord!

Chen Mu used the card, pushed through the crowd, and stepped into the alley.

The next moment, even though he was accustomed to life and death, his pupils contracted slightly as he saw the corpse lying on the alley floor.

It was Zhou Shaoyou!

The Zhou family's legitimate son, who that very day had ridden a fine steed, proudly leading a dragon and lion dance to the Qi family's gate to court Qi Mengjun, now lay like a rag on the cold stone slabs.

His death was horrifying: half his body had shriveled and dried up, skin turned a dull, withered wax-yellow, tightly wrapped around the bones—as if some terrifying force had instantly drained all blood and essence, even his eyeballs sunken into black hollows.

The other half of his body, though relatively intact, was rigid and ashen-gray, forming a chilling contrast with the withered half.

This manner of death was strange and evil—impossible to cause by ordinary swords, blades, or palm strikes.

As Chen Mu observed, nearby Constables and patrol forces from the Town Martial Office were also alerted and rushed over.

Lanterns and torches illuminated the alley brightly, making Zhou Shaoyou's horrific corpse even clearer.

Everyone who saw the corpse drew a sharp breath, faces filled with shock.

"This… what Wu Gong caused this?"

"Demon art! Absolutely demonic Wu Gong!"

"Zhou Shaoyou was still glorious in the daytime—dead by night?"

"Who did this? Who dared murder Zhou Shaoyou so brutally, unafraid of provoking the Zhou family?"

……

The crowd murmured, voices thick with fear.

Chen Mu frowned tightly, his heart filled with profound emotion.

Glorious by day, dead in a filthy alley by night—such is the impermanence of life.

He preliminarily judged this was likely the work of the Zhou family's enemies, using this brutal method to avenge the Zhou family and instill terror in others.

Due to the strange cause of death and the involvement of the Zhou family's legitimate son, the case was immediately reported upward.

The Town Martial Office stayed out of it; the Tai'an Prefectural Office poured in massive resources to investigate.

After his moment of reflection, Chen Mu did not dwell on it. He inspected the scene, memorized the peculiar wound characteristics, then left.

His current primary focus remained on Pei Renguang's lead.

……

The next day.

To gather information and hear the latest whispers from the martial world, Chen Mu went to Hero Hall.

Inside the tavern, voices buzzed loudly; many were discussing Zhou Shaoyou's bizarre and gruesome death.

Speculations multiplied endlessly—from revenge killings and demonic cultivation to provoking hidden forces—each theory growing stranger than the last.

Amid the clamor, a wandering cultivator just returned from outside the city, dusty and breathless, burst into the first-floor hall with an even more shocking piece of news.

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Have you heard?! Not just Zhou's son! Du Gongxian, Elder Du of the Golden Sun Sect… is dead too!" The wandering cultivator's voice trembled, as if he had witnessed it himself.

The bustling tavern fell silent for an instant; all eyes turned toward him.

"What? Elder Du? Which Elder Du?"

"Who else? The one who fought with Wang's Third Master and Wang Zhongyi on the street a few days ago—Elder Du Gongxian!"

"How did he die? When?"

……

Everyone began asking questions.

The shouting wandering cultivator swallowed hard, his face still pale with shock, and gritted his teeth: "Last night! Outside the city, in Du Gongxian's own villa! The death… the death was said to be identical to Zhou's son! Half his body turned into a dried corpse! The Golden Sun Sect only discovered it this morning—now the entire sect is in an uproar!"

Hum~

Hero Hall erupted like a boiling cauldron.

If Zhou Shaoyou's death could still be explained as a spoiled heir provoking a revenge killing, the death of the renowned primordial expert Du Gongxian in the exact same mysterious manner could not possibly be a coincidence!

Chen Mu's hand, holding his wine cup, froze mid-air; his earlier "revenge killing" hypothesis instantly wavered.

Zhou Shaoyou and Du Gongxian… their only known public connection was that both had recently been drawn into disputes over "Qi Mengjun"!

Immediately.

Chen Mu paid his bill, left Hero Hall, and rushed outside the city, infiltrated the Golden Sun Sect, and remotely picked up Du Gongxian's corpse card.

A Training Card!

Though not a Qi Card, a Training Card was still vital; Chen Mu stowed it away for now.

……

The consecutive gruesome deaths of Du Gongxian and Zhou Shaoyou stirred widespread gossip.

No one expected that, by the next morning, yet another explosive piece of news had spread through Tai'an Prefecture even faster!

The Wang family's Third Master, Wang Zhongyi, had met with the same misfortune at his private residence inside the inner city.

The manner of death was identical — half a withered corpse, utterly wretched!

With this, every major and minor faction throughout Tai'an Prefecture was thrown into an uproar!

Three people in a row who had been publicly linked to the name "Qi Mengjun" had all died gruesome deaths in the same bizarre fashion — this could no longer be explained by coincidence!

"A curse! It must be a curse!"

"A beauty who brings disaster! Qi Mengjun is the very incarnation of disaster!"

"Who is it? Who exactly is the one behind this foul deed, specifically targeting those who admire Miss Qi?"

"…"

All manner of rumors ran rampant.

The entire Tai'an Prefecture was shrouded in a haze of suspicion and fear.

The Qi family, even more so, had their gates tightly shut, turning away every visitor.

Yet this terrifying storm showed no signs of stopping.

On the very evening the news of Wang Zhongyi's death spread, Silver-Guard of the Town Martial Bureau, Hu Xiaopeng, was found dead on his way home!

The same manner of death, the same wretched horror!

Although Hu Xiaopeng had never made as grand a show of it as the previous three, within the Town Martial Bureau everyone knew his obsession with Qi Mengjun was no less than Lu Tang's!

In the span of just a few days, four prominent figures had all met violent deaths for being connected to the three characters "Qi Mengjun," their manner of death identical.

Tai'an Prefecture was utterly shaken!

Whether the ten great factions, ordinary citizens, or even those within the Town Martial Bureau — everyone felt a cold grip of fear clutching at their throats.

Those who had once harbored feelings of admiration for Qi Mengjun were now trembling with dread, terrified they might be the next target.

Chen Mu stood at the window of the Hero Tower, watching the noticeably thinner crowd of pedestrians on the street below, and the undisguisable panic on their faces, his expression Solemn.

The initial "vendetta killing" theory had been thoroughly overturned.

This was absolutely a targeted, serial, terrifying murder!

The killer's Wu Gong was bizarre and vicious, and every victim had been someone who had shown admiration for Qi Mengjun.

Chen Mu felt something was off amid his shock and suspicion.

"Why is it that among the dead, not a single one had a true Qi card when they picked up their cards?"