Chapter 309: Repeat Offenders, Die!

The next morning, sunlight dispersed the mist over Weizhoucheng.

Chen Mu stepped out leisurely from the inn where he was staying, intending to stroll and feel the morning market's atmosphere of this prefectural city.

Just around the corner, a fierce clamor of shouts and clashing weapons reached him, mixed with several curses.

"Again?"

Chen Mu frowned slightly; he was already accustomed to such daily conflicts under this violent local custom.

He had no intention of getting involved and turned to walk in another direction.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, a piercing woman's scream and the terrified wailing of a child pierced through the battle noise, clear as a bell in his ears.

"Hmm?"

Chen Mu halted, his brow tightening. "Are civilians being caught in this?"

Without hesitation, his form blurred and vanished from the spot; the next instant he stood atop a nearby rooftop, then flashed again, hurtling toward the source of the commotion at astonishing speed.

In a few leaps, Chen Mu arrived above the street where the fight was taking place.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

……

With the card in hand, Chen Mu glanced at it, then looked down to see the street below in chaos.

Two groups, totaling over a hundred men, all martial artists who had cultivated internal energy, were slaughtering each other furiously in the center of the street.

One group had red cloth strips conspicuously tied to their cleavers and axes.

The other group all wore black bands wrapped around their foreheads.

Both sides had grotesque faces, struck with ruthless cruelty, roaring curses as they fought.

"Die, Black Tiger Gang!"

"Bring your lives, you Red Band brats!"

Amid flashes of blades, blood sprayed intermittently, staining the blue stone pavement with speckles.

More horrifying still, pedestrians who hadn't escaped far enough, and shop clerks and customers caught in nearby stores, were all caught in the sudden melee.

More than a dozen innocent civilians lay dead or wounded in pools of blood, their horrific state too gruesome to behold.

A woman clutched her accidentally wounded child, wailing in despair.

"Hmph!"

Chen Mu's eyes flashed with cold light; he no longer hesitated.

He extended two fingers like a sword, instantly converting his true energy into searing flame qi; with a light tap of his fingertips, over a dozen razor-sharp, blood-red flame sword qi, as if alive, shot downward with a sharp "shiiii" sound, striking with pinpoint accuracy!

These sword qi did not target one gang or the other—they struck only those gang members actively attacking civilians or whose blows were descending upon defenseless bystanders.

"Thud! Thud! Thud…"

A series of muffled thuds—over a dozen gang members in the act of or about to commit violence stiffened simultaneously, a charred Kong Dong appearing on their foreheads or chests; not a sound escaped them as they collapsed, lifeless.

At the same moment, Chen Mu's cold voice exploded like thunder in every ear.

"Stop!"

This sharp command, coupled with the sudden fall of over a dozen corpses, finally jolted the blood-crazed gangs into shock; they instinctively froze, turning their heads to search for the source.

Soon, every eye locked onto Chen Mu, who had quietly landed atop a stone lion at the street's edge, his robes fluttering, face icy and stern.

The leader of the Black Tiger Gang, a burly man with a Qi of Post-Heaven Eighth Layer, glared at Chen Mu with bulging eyes and bellowed, "Who the hell are you, brat, meddling in our Black Tiger Gang's affairs? And you dare kill our men? You want to die! Brothers, chop this meddlesome bastard first—"

"Shiiii—!"

Before he finished speaking, a crimson sword qi shot through the air at a speed far exceeding the previous ones, almost unimaginable.

Puff~

The giant had no time to react; he felt only a searing heat at his brow, then his consciousness plunged into eternal darkness.

His furious expression froze; his massive body toppled backward like a mountain collapsing, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The followers who had been cheering and preparing to charge, and the Red Band members nearby who had been ready to join in—all froze like ice water had been poured over their heads; their faces drained of color, filled with terror, not daring to move a muscle.

"Zhenwu Bureau, Chen Mu."

Chen Mu spoke calmly, his voice not loud, yet crystal clear to every ear present, carrying an undeniable authority.

"If you want to fight, kill each other outside the city. If any of you—Black Tiger Gang or Red Band—dare harm innocent civilians inside the city again, one and all, you will be executed."

Silence.

The street fell utterly still.

Members of both gangs, wounded civilians moaning, people peering through door cracks—all who heard this froze, exchanged glances, then their faces twisted in utter shock and disbelief.

Because Chen Mu's words were simply too arrogant! Too tyrannical!

The Black Tiger Gang and Red Band were the two dominant factions in Weizhoucheng, their power deeply entrenched, each with thousands of members, mostly violent and reckless, rumored to have ties to powerful figures within the prefecture.

Even the local government usually gave them some leeway.

This young man dared to openly declare he would wipe them all out if they dared again?

"Wait… wait! I think I know who he is!"

Suddenly, a martial artist with broader knowledge snapped back to his senses and cried out, "It's Chen my lord! The Chen Mu who dropped off the Dragon's Nest List, the one who supposedly broke through to Earth Altar Realm!"

"What? Chen my lord?"

"The one who killed 'Bloody Hand Futo' Bu Nantian?"

"He's come to Weizhoucheng?!"

"Yes! Perfect! Chen my lord is here—now see how these bastards dare to boast!"

"Heh, the Black Tiger Gang and Red Band may be strong and well-connected, but compared to Chen my lord, they're nothing!"

"Chen my lord! I support you! Wipe out these lawless gangs!"

「……」

The scene erupted into chaos, with murmurs, gasps, and even suppressed cheers from civilians long oppressed by the gangs intertwining.

In the center, the members of the Black Tiger Gang and the Red Scarf Gang now had faces as pale as paper, utterly ghastly.

Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down their foreheads; some could not stop trembling slightly.

Before a Ground Altar Realm Grand Master—especially one with such a fearsome reputation—their meager power and connections were as flimsy as paper.

At this moment, no one dared speak, not even breathe heavily, let alone take a single step.

"Get out."

Chen Mu's gaze swept coldly over the two gangs, waving his hand as if shooing away flies. "Remember what I said."

"Yes, yes! Thank my lord for sparing our lives!"

"Thank you, Master Chen! We're leaving now! Right away!"