Chapter 181: Impossible!

Ba Dao Martial Arts Hall.

On the spacious training ground, shouts echoed intermittently.

A middle-aged man with a burly frame and a fierce expression walked steadily, hands behind his back.

He was none other than Qiu Lie, the master of Ba Dao Martial Arts Hall.

At this moment, his face wore an air of authority as he inspected the sword techniques of several direct disciples.

"Remember, keep your hand steady, strike with full force…"

"Xiao Wu is doing well—recent progress is significant."

"Again!"

"…"

Qiu Lie occasionally spoke up to correct them.

After all disciples had gone through their forms, he gave a slight nod, seemingly satisfied.

"Keep training!"

Qiu Lie waved his hand.

"Yes!"

The disciples responded, some sparring in pairs, others practicing alone.

Suddenly, a man dressed in the martial hall's uniform rushed over and whispered urgently into Qiu Lie's ear.

Qiu Lie's face instantly turned ghastly, his eyes flickering wildly with conflict and hesitation.

He unconsciously gripped the hilt of his waist blade, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

Several direct disciples noticed Qiu Lie's anomaly and halted their training, exchanging uneasy glances but daring not to ask.

The atmosphere on the training ground grew suffocating.

Qiu Lie no longer cared for anyone else.

At this moment, his mind was in turmoil.

Should he fight to the death, or flee immediately?

Lin Kuan's situation was unclear; Xie Ning had been captured; the Zhenwu Bureau had launched a sudden strike, catching him off guard.

Yet before he could decide, a clamor and cries of alarm erupted outside the martial hall's gates!

Immediately, a large group of warriors clad in Zhenwu Bureau uniforms, wielding blades and crossbows, stormed in under the leadership of a cold-faced boy in black flame-patterned robes.

It was Chen Mu and his men!

The ordinary students inside the hall had never seen such a scene; they screamed in terror and scrambled to the corners, watching the intruders in dread.

Huh~

Looking at Qiu Lie, Chen Mu waved his hand; Wang Jianzhong and Zhang Yaoqi swiftly stepped forward from the crowd.

"Qiu Lie!"

Wang Jianzhong's voice boomed like a bell, "You conspired with Xie Ning of the Zhenwu Bureau's Jin Shi Division to massacre 137 people in Qingshi Village for control of the Yuan Iron Vein! Afterwards, you murdered Zhenwu Bureau guard Zhang Heng to silence him! Evidence is conclusive! Surrender now, and you may receive leniency! Otherwise…"

Qiu Lie's heart trembled violently, but he forced calm, his voice sharp but hollow: "Lies! This is slander! My Ba Dao Martial Arts Hall stands upright and honest—what proof do you have that I committed murder and silenced witnesses?"

"Proof?"

Zhang Yaoqi sneered, raising the ledger high, "This is your ledger of illicit dealings with Xie Ning! Irrefutable evidence—dare you still deny it?!"

Ledger?

Who kept this ledger!?

Qiu Lie's pupils shrank sharply; his face drained of all color; his last shred of hope vanished.

Damn it—who kept this ledger!?

"Fake!"

Qiu Lie cursed inwardly, roaring aloud, "You're framing me!"

As his words ended, he violently drew his waist blade—not to attack Wang Jianzhong or Zhang Yaoqi, but to feint, slashing three sharp blade qi strikes to block them, then lunged backward at high speed toward the rear gate of the hall.

"Trying to run?"

Wang Jianzhong and Zhang Yaoqi had anticipated this; they easily dispersed the blade qi, shouted in unison, and leapt into the air, chasing after him.

Chen Mu's face was expressionless as he coldly ordered, "Core members of Ba Dao Martial Arts Hall, aiding evil, are guilty of treason! Kill them all! Fire!"

"Yes!"

The Zhenwu Bureau crossbowmen, already primed, immediately pulled the triggers.

Shh! Shh! Shh—

A dense hail of crossbow bolts rained down like death, instantly engulfing the instructors dressed in the hall's core uniforms and Qiu Lie's few direct disciples.

"Ahh~!"

"Run!"

"Fight them to the death~!"

Screams, roars, and clashing weapons erupted in chaos.

Some fell pierced by bolts; others tried to resist—but under the disciplined assault of well-equipped Zhenwu Bureau guards, they were swiftly cut down.

【Corpse detected. Retrieve?】

"Yes!"

…

Chen Mu moved swiftly, collecting cards from each corpse, finally appearing atop the highest roof of the hall, gazing coldly down at the entire scene.

Whenever a martial hall core member with considerable strength or one attempting to scale the wall tried to escape, he casually unleashed a flame blade qi, precisely killing them like crushing ants, while collecting cards.

The battle was utterly one-sided.

The Tyrant Blade Martial Hall had long bullied its way through the market, looking imposing on the surface, but in truth it lacked real experience in bloody combat, and under Lei Ting's thunderous strike from the Town Martial Office, it collapsed in no time.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the training ground was already littered with corpses, blood flowing like a river.

Apart from the ordinary disciples cowering and trembling in the corners, every formal member of the Tyrant Blade Martial Hall, including all of Qiu Lie's personally-taught disciples, had been executed to the last.

At the right moment, Wang Jianzhong and Zhang Yaoqi returned escorting Qiu Lie.

Qiu Lie was in a wretched state — both arms and shoulders had been broken clean through, hanging limp at his sides; several wounds on his chest and back were deep enough to show bone; his face was a deathly white, his breath listless. Clearly, after a fierce struggle, he still hadn't been able to escape.

Whoosh~

Chen Mu drifted down from the rooftop, glanced at Qiu Lie who looked like a dead dog, and said calmly, "Leave a portion of the men to clear the battlefield and seal all the martial hall's assets. The rest of you, escort Qiu Lie back to the Town Martial Office's prison, hold him separately from Xie Ning, and keep him under strict watch!"

"Yes!"

The men accepted the order.

A portion of the men stayed behind to handle the aftermath.

Chen Mu took Wang Jianzhong, Zhang Yaoqi, and the rest of the men escorting Qiu Lie, and returned to the Town Martial Office.

……

At the same time.

Lin Kuan was also killing people!

"Speak! Was it you?"

"Or was it the ledger you kept!?"

"Puchi~" "Puchi~!"

Lin Kuan swung his blade and lopped off two martial artists' heads in succession; the skulls dropped to the ground, rolled twice, their faces still wearing shock and unwillingness.

"Mercy, my lord! It wasn't me, really wasn't me!"

"It was Old Wang! It must've been Old Wang!"

"Bastard, at a time like this you're still slandering! My lord, it wasn't me, it was Old Liu! Last time I saw him meeting privately with Qiu Lie!"

"……"

In the courtyard, over a dozen people knelt on the ground, kowtowing nonstop, begging for mercy while biting at each other.

Lin Kuan's face was dark as iron, murderous aura clinging to him, his eyes blood-red.

Behind him, his most trusted confidant likewise wore a face full of fury, gripping a long sword dripping with blood.

Yet deep in his eyes, a flash of suspicion and panic.

The ledger was lost?

When had it been lost?

That's right — the ledger was one he had secretly kept!

It was supposed to be the escape route he'd left for himself; he hadn't expected it to be lost, and even fall into the hands of the newly arrived Inspector.

The confidant was very panicked now.

But he forcibly held back his fear, thinking over who could have stolen the ledger.

No matter how he turned it over in his mind, there was no chance — two of them had just died.

Surely it couldn't be Mei Niang, right?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Although he was so obsessed with Mei Niang it was ridiculous, and finished quickly during their intimate moments, falling asleep not long after, that was due to his own body's reasons and had nothing to do with Mei Niang.

Mei Niang didn't even know the ledger existed!