Chapter 31

Although Guan Tong didn't explicitly tell them to keep the news of Chen Mu's innate "master" a secret, Xie Hong and the others automatically kept their mouths shut.

Even Sun Gang chose to remain silent.

Right now, it was just a broken arm; if they really annoyed the Chen brothers and were killed in secret, Guan Tong wouldn't say anything.

This led to the treatment Chen Mu enjoyed, which made the low-level gang members envious, jealous, and even hateful.

A martial artist under sixteen was certainly impressive, but a newly broken-through martial artist couldn't yet make people feel the gap.

But the status of "Inspector General" and the position it represented were what made people covetous.

Wandering the streets, reporting only to the gang leader himself.

This kind of treatment could be said to be "below one person, above ten thousand"—who wouldn't want it?

Unfortunately, no matter how envious, jealous, or hateful they were, it was useless.

No one dared to touch the status of "Inspector General," and no one dared to provoke Chen Mu's strength as a martial artist.

The final result was that as soon as Chen Mu hit the streets, people would immediately flock to him to curry favor and suck up.

"Boss Chen!"

"Brother Mu!"

"..."

There were all kinds of titles, and they were incredibly sycophantic.

At first, Chen Mu would nod, but later, finding it annoying, he simply kept a cold face and chose to ignore them.

The sycophants found it uninteresting and finally stopped.

The status of "Inspector General" made things convenient, but only within the Great Blade Gang's territory.

Going to other gangs would actually be detrimental.

If he were targeted, it might just be an ambush.

For this reason, when Chen Mu entered the territory of other gangs, he covered his face with a human-skin mask.

After finishing a round in the city, he went to the mass grave outside the city.

He didn't pick up many cards, but Chen Mu wasn't discouraged.

After returning to the city, he found a tavern, sat down to eat small dishes and drink wine, and then pricked up his ears to listen to the conversations around him.

Under the "Listen to the Wind" skill, Chen Mu could hear the conversations in the entire tavern and the whole street.

The people drinking were of all kinds, a mixed bag.

Wandering cultivators, local ruffians, gang members...

Some were bragging, some were laughing, some were borrowing money...

The private feuds, fights, and murders that Chen Mu most wanted to know about were nowhere to be found.

However, this was understandable.

Although some blockheads would discuss private matters or plot murders in a tavern, most wouldn't choose to do so there.

Chen Mu was very patient about this.

He sat in the tavern for half a day, and just as he was about to leave, he finally heard some "good news."

"Have you heard? Liang County, Ning County, and Xuan County have joined forces, preparing to head up to Little Cool Mountain to wipe out the 'Red Scarf Bandits'."

"Really? Little Cool Mountain has treacherous terrain and is easy to defend but hard to attack. The 'Red Scarf Bandits' have been entrenched there for over a decade and haven't been wiped out; is Liang County really going all out this time?"

"It's said that the wife of the Liang County magistrate's assistant was kidnapped up the mountain and eventually died, which is why the assistant went crazy, bankrupting himself to persuade the magistrate and convincing Ning County and Xuan County, leading to this joint encirclement by the three counties."

"Tsk tsk, with the three counties joining forces, it looks like the 'Red Scarf Bandits' are doomed this time."

"That's not necessarily true. The 'Red Scarf Bandits' have been able to exist for so many years; their strength is definitely not low. It seems the leader of the 'Red Scarf Bandits' is a ninth-level acquired expert."

"Only ninth-level acquired? It would be different if it were innate."

"Stop talking nonsense; would an innate expert need to be a bandit?"

"Why couldn't they be? There's no shortage of innate experts who have committed crimes and are wanted."

"..."

The conversation soon turned to gossip about innate martial artists.

Chen Mu listened for a while longer, then turned and left.

Walking on the road, joy welled up in his eyes.

"Government troops suppressing bandits?"

"Good thing!"

"No matter who wins, once the fighting starts, there will be no shortage of deaths."

When people die, there are corpses, and he can pick up cards!

Chen Mu immediately returned to Changping Ward, found Huang Feiyang, and informed him that he had something to take care of and would be gone for two days.

Huang Feiyang didn't ask, only urging him to take care.

In his mind, Chen Mu was likely being taken by his "master" to see the world.

Or perhaps he was going out for training.

After all, Nanyun Prefecture was too small.

Chen Mu naturally wouldn't explain this misunderstanding.

That afternoon, Chen Mu left the city and hurried toward Liang County.

Nanyun Prefecture governs nine counties.

Liang County, Ning County, and Xuan County are three of them.

At the intersection of the three counties, there is a treacherous mountain peak called Little Cool Mountain.

A group of "Red Scarf Bandits" is entrenched on the mountain.

The government troops of the three counties, along with the guards sent by the wealthy families of the three counties, formed a coalition army and began surrounding Little Cool Mountain two days ago, then gradually tightened the perimeter, moving toward the mountain.

The "Red Scarf Bandits" occupied Little Cool Mountain, guarding the main traffic routes of the three counties and plundering passing merchant caravans, which had long made the wealthy families of the three counties hate them to the bone.

In the past, they couldn't do anything about the "Red Scarf Bandits" on their own.

This time, with the three counties' government troops encircling them, they were naturally extremely excited and sent their guards to participate one after another.

Thus, the number of people in the coalition army reached over a thousand.

These people surrounded Little Cool Mountain, starting from the foot of the mountain and gradually encircling it step by step toward the top.

Although slow, the plan was proceeding very smoothly.

By the time Chen Mu arrived, it was already dark.

Nighttime is very unsuitable for action for others.

Chen Mu has "Night Vision," so he was completely unaffected.

He bypassed the coalition army's camp outside the mountain and several sentry posts, then headed straight for the place where the corpses were piled.

After all, with the unfavorable terrain, the coalition army inevitably suffered casualties; the bodies of those who died in battle today were temporarily placed together to be taken back to the city tomorrow or burned on the spot.

Besides that, there were the corpses left behind by the "Red Scarf Bandits" who died in battle, which no one cleaned up and were left lying where they fell.

Chen Mu was now picking up cards from these corpses.

[Corpse discovered, do you wish to loot?]

"Yes!"

[Corpse discovered, do you wish to loot?]

"Yes!"

Under the cover of night, Chen Mu's figure was like a swimming snake, weaving through the piles of corpses, picking up card after card.

Energy Card! Energy Card! Stamina Card!

Strength Card!

Internal Force Card!

Starting from picking up one Internal Force Card, he subsequently picked up thirteen more.

The cultivation gained from these Internal Force Cards was mostly half a month to a month's worth.

There were also five Skill Cards, all martial arts, but none were any good.

They were unranked martial arts, and their level wasn't very high either.

By comparison, Chen Mu preferred Internal Force Cards or Strength Cards.

Internal Force Cards go without saying; as for Strength Cards, don't look at the strength generated—the increase is limited, especially as Chen Mu breaks through realms, the strength generated by a single Strength Card becomes less and less.

To the point where it's not as great as the strength increase brought by a breakthrough in realm.

But Strength Cards don't just generate strength; they also strengthen the physique!

Although the strengthening process is slow and the effect of a single Strength Card is negligible.

But the continuous strengthening effect is always ongoing.

This is equivalent to Chen Mu practicing a hard-body martial art!

Without having to endure the pain of tempering tendons and bones or toughening the body, his physique can constantly strengthen.

And there are no side effects.

With such a good thing, Chen Mu naturally wouldn't leave the Strength Cards unused.

[Corpse discovered, do you wish to loot?]

"Yes!"

After circling Little Cool Mountain, he picked up dozens of cards.

Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, within his field of vision, a giant snake over thirty meters long suddenly crawled out from a corner...