26: Chapter 26 Better to kill the wrong person than let one go free

Outside the city, the Slums!

An abandoned threshing floor.

Hall Master Wang Biao sat on a grand chair covered in tiger skin with a gloomy expression.

Behind him stood two rows of sturdy men dressed in black!

These men were all elite Disciples from the Black Tiger Gang's Killing Hall.

Village Head Li Fugui of the Slums was standing before Hall Master Wang Biao, shivering.

"I do not know why Hall Master Wang has deigned to grace us with his presence today?" Village Head Li Fugui asked, keeping his head low.

Hall Master Wang Biao raised an eyebrow and said viciously, "Village Head Li Fugui, I give you one stick of incense time to gather all the lowly commoners of this Slums here. If you exceed this time, there will be no mercy!"

"Ah? I do not know what Hall Master Wang wants to gather everyone for?" Village Head Li Fugui asked tentatively!

"Enough nonsense. Do as I say immediately, otherwise, be careful that your dog head will not stay on your shoulders!" Hall Master Wang Biao roared angrily.

"Yes, yes, Hall Master Wang, I will go and gather everyone right now!" Village Head Li Fugui shuddered in fear and scurried away.

...

"Boss, you don't suspect that the lowly commoners here killed Brother Wang Ergou, do you?" A subordinate asked tentatively.

"Hmm, Wang Ergou was used to throwing his weight around here. It is not impossible that those lowly commoners grew tired of him and developed murderous intent!" Hall Master Wang Biao replied!

"But Brother Wang Ergou was already a Half-step Martial Artist. Even if those lowly commoners wanted to kill him, they wouldn't have the ability to do so!" The subordinate said!

"Hmph, they could not kill Wang Ergou, but what about the family members they sent to the Inner City to Cultivate?" Hall Master Wang Biao countered!

"Can the lowly commoners here afford to send family members to Cultivate?" The subordinate didn't believe it!

You must know, entering a Martial Arts Hall to Cultivate costs a tuition fee of one thousand taels.

"Hmm, the world is unpredictable. Perhaps some lowly commoners strike it rich one day, or they earn some money doing business outside, or they latch onto some noble in the city, and then they think about sending their family to a Martial Arts Hall to Cultivate, wanting to rise above their station!" Hall Master Wang Biao replied.

"Boss, your words make sense. I have learned something!" The subordinate nodded repeatedly!

During the idle chat.

The commoners of the Slums arrived one after another!

Among them was the family of Foster Father Lin Zhenshan.

Soon, a stick of incense time had passed.

Village Head Li Fugui came to Hall Master Wang Biao and said tremblingly, "Hall Master Wang, except for those who went out to work, all the commoners of the Slums have arrived!"

"Good!" Hall Master Wang Biao nodded and stood up abruptly!

His gaze was like a knife, scanning over the thousand or so commoners before him one by one.

Anyone who met his gaze shuddered and lowered their heads immediately.

Hall Master Wang Biao's eyes were too terrifying, scarlet and filled with bloodlust, like a Vicious Beast about to choose someone to devour.

After scanning the crowd, Hall Master Wang Biao slowly spoke, "Everyone, I presume you already know about Wang Ergou being burned to death in his home?"

The crowd remained silent upon hearing this.

Each of them was secretly cheering in their hearts!

Seeing the crowd silent, Hall Master Wang Biao suddenly raised his voice and changed the subject, "Wang Ergou was my closest cousin. Now that he has been cruelly murdered, as his cousin, I must naturally avenge him! Now, I will give you a chance to be lenient for confessing. As long as you take the initiative to report and tell me who killed Wang Ergou, I will reward you with one thousand taels of silver!"

Saying this, he winked at the subordinate behind him, "Little Dragon, bring it up!"

"Yes, Boss!" Little Dragon and another subordinate quickly carried a box and placed it at Hall Master Wang Biao's feet!

Hall Master Wang Biao casually opened the box!

Instantly, bursts of brilliant silver light blinded everyone's eyes.

Inside, there was nothing but gleaming silver.

"Hiss! So much silver!"

"I have never seen so much silver in my life!"

"If only I knew who killed Wang Ergou, then all this silver would be mine!"

...

As the saying goes, wealth moves people's hearts!

Seeing so much silver placed before them, everyone's eyes turned red.

Each of them wished they could rush forward immediately and claim it as their own.

"Ahem... Alright, now everyone can start accusing each other. As long as it is finally verified who the real culprit is, the silver in that box will be yours!" Hall Master Wang Biao shouted loudly!

The crowd remained silent upon hearing this!

"Damn it, the Boss told you to speak. Are you all mute?" Little Dragon saw this and immediately roared angrily.

"My Lord, we don't know!"

"That's right, when the incident with Wang Ergou happened, I was sleeping at home!"

...

The crowd spoke up one after another.

Hall Master Wang Biao frowned slightly and shouted loudly, "Everyone can speak freely and voice your suspicions. Even if you are wrong in the end, it doesn't matter. This Hall Master will not blame you!"

"Hall Master Wang, I will speak!" Just then, a ragged man walked out of the crowd and said loudly, "I suspect this was done by my neighbor. A while ago, his daughter married a wealthy Mr. Wang in the city and obtained quite a bit of silver, and he even sent his youngest son to the Fengyun Martial Arts Hall to Cultivate!"

"Li Erlai, stop your damn nonsense." Soon, a middle-aged man rushed out of the crowd, pointing at the man's nose and cursing, "I see you are just jealous that my family's situation has improved, that's why you are splashing dirty water here..."

"Shut up, drag his family out!" Seeing this, Hall Master Wang Biao roared loudly!

Soon, Hall Master Wang Biao's men dragged the middle-aged man's family out of the crowd and made them kneel on the ground.

"Hall Master Wang, we are wronged!"

"That's right, Hall Master Wang, I have no grudges against Wang Ergou, how could I possibly kill him?"

The middle-aged man's family of six cried heartbreakingly.

Hearing this, Hall Master Wang Biao kicked the middle-aged man to the ground and said sternly, "Shut up for now, speak when you are told to later!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man shuddered in fear and quickly shut his mouth.

"Alright, everyone continue to report and denounce!" Hall Master Wang Biao shouted loudly.

"Hall Master Wang, I suspect this was done by Old Wang's family." Just then, another person spoke loudly!

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Hall Master Wang Biao asked casually!

"I once drank with Old Wang, and Old Wang said that Wang Ergou had beaten his son into serious injury, and he wished he could tear Wang Ergou into ten thousand pieces..."

"Wang Genlai, you are talking bullshit. That was just drunken talk..." Hearing this, Old Wang rushed out of the crowd and started cursing crazily.

"Drag his family out!" Hall Master Wang Biao ordered coldly!

Soon, Old Wang's family was dragged out of the crowd and knelt in the front.

"Hall Master Wang, I report..."

"Hall Master Wang, I suspect this was..."

Soon, one commoner after another stood up and began to report and denounce.

Foster Father Lin Zhenshan's family was also hiding in the crowd, watching as family after family was dragged out, terrified and shivering.

Just then, their neighbor Auntie Wang suddenly stood out and said loudly, "Hall Master Wang, I report Foster Father Lin Zhenshan's family. Their adopted eldest son, Lin Feng, not only reunited with his biological parents in the city a while ago and obtained a large sum of silver, but I also heard that he joined some Jidao Martial Arts Hall. I suspect that Lin Feng killed Wang Ergou!"

After saying this, Auntie Wang couldn't help but mutter to herself in her heart!

Why is it that everyone is poor, but your family suddenly struck it rich?

When she went to visit yesterday, seeing Foster Father Lin Zhenshan's family all wearing new cotton jackets and the new cotton quilts laid on the bed, Auntie Wang's eyes turned red with jealousy!

Since we are all poor, we should suffer together.

Your family suddenly struck it rich, I cannot accept it at all!

"Auntie Wang, you... stop slandering people. My son Feng'er did indeed join the Jidao Martial Arts Hall, but he has been Cultivating at the Martial Arts Hall in the city during this time and had no time to come home at all. What grounds do you have to slander him for murder?" Foster Father Lin Zhenshan was so angry that he was fuming, leaning on his cane and roaring angrily!

"Hmph, the night Wang Ergou died, Lin Feng clearly returned home and only left the next day." Auntie Wang said loudly.

"You..."

"Enough nonsense, drag that family out!" Hall Master Wang Biao shouted sternly!

Soon, Foster Father Lin Zhenshan's family was dragged out of the crowd and knelt on the cold ground.

"Is there anyone else who wants to report? Everyone keep talking!" Hall Master Wang Biao shouted loudly, "As long as it is finally verified who the real murderer is, the reporter will receive that one thousand taels of silver."

"I report, my neighbor..."

"I denounce, my brother-in-law's family..."

Immediately, tempted by the huge reward, quite a few more people stood out.

About a stick of incense time later!

The ground in front of Hall Master Wang Biao was densely packed with kneeling people!

Counting roughly, there were no fewer than two hundred!

All of them were families, including many elderly, children, and pregnant women.

Swish!

Hall Master Wang Biao suddenly drew the large blade at his waist and slowly came to the first family on the east side!

"Speak, did your family kill Wang Ergou?"

"Hall Master Wang, we are wronged. My family doesn't even have a single person who practices martial arts, how could we possibly kill Brother Wang Ergou?" The man of that family was pale with fright and answered tremblingly!

Crack!

Hearing this, Hall Master Wang Biao didn't hesitate and chopped off the man's head with one strike!

"Ah!" Everyone screamed loudly in terror!

"Swish, swish..." Hall Master Wang Biao was expressionless and continued with a few more strikes, slaughtering the entire family.

Then, it was the second family's turn!

The second family was still crying out their innocence.

Hall Master Wang Biao curled his lips and continued the slaughter.

The third family...

The fourth family...

"Boss, I think most of them are wronged. Why kill them?" Little Dragon ran forward and asked, feeling somewhat unbearable.

Because his own family was also in these Slums.

Some of the families killed were even his relatives.

"Hmph, what do you know? This Hall Master calls this better to kill the innocent than let the guilty escape." Hearing this, Hall Master Wang Biao curled his lips in disdain and said coldly, "Besides, they are just a group of lowly commoners. Even if they are wronged, if they die, they die, it doesn't matter. But if someone among them is really related to the real murderer, once I kill their family, will they take the initiative to come find me for revenge?"

"Boss, you want the murderer to deliver himself to your door?" Little Dragon suddenly realized!

"Hmm!" Hall Master Wang Biao nodded!

The slaughter continued...

Soon, holding the bright large blade, he came to Foster Father Lin Zhenshan's family!

"Speak, did your son Lin Feng kill Wang Ergou?" Hall Master Wang Biao shouted sternly!

"Hall Master Wang, we are wronged. Although my son Lin Feng joined the Jidao Martial Arts Hall, he has only been there for a very short time, less than a month, and hasn't Cultivated anything of note. With just him, how could he possibly kill Wang Ergou?" Foster Father Lin Zhenshan cried out in grievance.

"Since that is the case, then your family can go die too!"

As the voice fell, Hall Master Wang Biao raised his large blade high and slashed down fiercely towards Foster Father Lin Zhenshan's head.

"No..."

"Please, spare my father..."

Lin Yi and Lin Fang, the brother and sister, were heartbroken!

His wife Wang Xiufeng was so scared that she fainted on the spot...

Watching, Foster Father Lin Zhenshan was about to die.