74: Chapter 74 Master, brilliant!

Pingan City, South District.

The third largest property under the Lu Family.

Wanshang Charity Auction House.

Nominally a charity auction, but it was actually a front for fencing stolen goods.

When Su Ming stepped through the front door, it was brightly lit inside.

Over twenty people were sitting around the center of the hall, with several gleaming machetes laid out on the tables.

The air was thick with the smell of alcohol and swirling smoke.

"Clack."

The butt of the spear hit the ground.

Everyone looked up.

A blood-stained young man stood at the entrance, his long spear slung diagonally, the cloth strip on his left shoulder already soaked black with blood, and a thick, pungent smell of blood surged into the hall before he did.

"Who is it?"

A bald, burly man stood up, the gold chain around his neck jiggling.

"Wilderness Suppression Bureau on official business…"

Su Ming lifted his gaze slightly.

His voice was not loud, his tone strangely flat.

"Unrelated personnel, leave the premises. Those who resist…"

"Will be killed without mercy."

The bald man was stunned for a moment.

Then he burst into laughter.

"Wilderness Suppression Bureau? Just you alone?"

He looked around; all twenty-something brothers were there, every one of them a Martial Artist above the Second Realm, all thugs raised by the Lu Family for many years.

"Kid, do you know whose territory this is?"

"The Lu Family."

The bald man picked up a machete and weighed it in his palm.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Since you know, you're here seeking death."

The others stood up one after another.

Eyes filled with malice.

Slowly closing in.

Su Ming was unhurried; he raised his left hand and tapped his tactical watch.

A beam of light projected out.

It was densely packed with names, photos, and positions.

Lu Family household registration.

The Lu Family's network of connections.

Su Ming's gaze swept across the light screen, then he looked up at the people in the hall.

"Zhang Debiao, leader of the Lu Family's peripheral thugs, Second Realm, Late Stage."

The bald man's expression changed.

"Liu San, auction house manager, responsible for the circulation of stolen goods."

A tall, thin man in the corner suddenly stood up, his chair clattering to the floor.

"Zhao Tiezhu, Sun Ergou, Ma Liu…"

Su Ming read them out one by one.

With every name read, the corresponding person's face turned a shade paler.

After finishing the last one, Su Ming retracted the light screen.

"Very good, everyone is here."

He grinned.

He took the long spear off his shoulder, pointed the tip toward the ground, and walked forward slowly.

"Then…"

"Be on your way."

The bald man finally reacted and snatched up the machete from the table.

"Brothers, attack! Hack him to death!"

Twenty-something people surged up simultaneously.

Su Ming did not stop.

He did not speed up either.

He walked toward the crowd with a calm expression.

His demeanor as still as an ancient well.

He raised his hand.

The spear struck out.

"Pfft!"

The bald man's head flew up, a pillar of blood shooting into the sky from his neck; his body maintained the posture of swinging the blade, continuing forward for two steps before crashing to the ground.

The pupils of the rest contracted violently.

But it was too late.

Su Ming's spear was ridiculously fast.

One shot, one kill.

Clean and efficient.

No superfluous movements.

No flashy Moves.

Every time the spear tip thrust forward, someone was bound to fall.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"

The dull thuds were continuous.

Someone turned to run.

—Crescent Moon Sky Piercer!

A blast of Qi swept out, cutting three people in half at the waist.

Someone knelt to beg for mercy.

The spear tip thrust forward, piercing their throat.

Fifteen seconds.

The hall went quiet.

Twenty-something corpses lay scattered on the ground, fresh blood flowing slowly down the steps, pooling into a dark red rivulet at the entrance.

Su Ming flicked the blood droplets off the spear tip.

He lowered his head to look at the list on his tactical watch.

He crossed them out.

"Next one."

...

Pingan City, West District.

The Lu Family's Qingyun Martial Arts Hall.

When Su Ming arrived, the people inside had already received word.

A dozen Martial Artists stood in strict formation, led by a person at the Third Realm, Middle Stage, holding a heavy blade, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

"Kid! The Lu Family isn't something you can touch!"

"You cannot imagine Master Lu's power; you will die without a burial place."

Su Ming ignored him.

He tapped the list.

Checked it.

Hmm, all accounted for.

The spear rose.

Thirty seconds later.

Fresh blood flowed down the stone steps of the Martial Arts Hall, casting a dull sheen under the streetlights.

Su Ming walked out of the Martial Arts Hall.

The blood on the spear had dried in one layer and was dampened by another; the bloodstains on his combat uniform were thick enough to be scraped off.

He looked up at the sky.

Still early.

Continue.

...

Lu Family Mansion.

Study.

Lu Shou Zheng sat upright in a rosewood chair, his fingers tapping the armrest rhythmically.

He could hear the commotion outside clearly.

The Wilderness Suppression Bureau had surrounded the mansion, but they were afraid of collateral damage and dared not launch a direct assault.

Good.

Very good.

As long as they dragged the Wilderness Suppression Bureau out, the Lu Family would not fall.

He held a vast number of industries, connections spread throughout Pingan City, and those Martial Artists who had benefited from the Lu Family.

These were the Lu Family's Foundation.

As long as the crisis at hand was resolved, the Lu Family would remain a top-tier Family in Pingan City.

Given a little more time, even Pingan City would have to change its surname to Lu.

"Contact the auction house and the martial arts hall."

Lu Shou Zheng instructed.

"Have them stir up some trouble; I want to put the Wilderness Suppression Bureau on the fire to roast."

The butler's eyes lit up.

"Master, how brilliant."

He lowered his head, took out his phone, and tapped it.

The smile on his face froze instantly.

"Master… there's no signal."

Lu Shou Zheng's eyes narrowed.

He snorted coldly.

"Hmph, I suppose it's been jammed by the Wilderness Suppression Bureau."

"No matter."

Jamming the signal?

A petty trick.

The more violent the people outside became, the more passive the Wilderness Suppression Bureau would be; it was likely a desperate measure taken out of fear that the situation would further deteriorate.

It had to be said, the blade of public opinion was sometimes more effective than a real blade.

"Then I will personally add fuel to the fire."

Lu Shou Zheng stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked outside.

...

Outside the Lu Family Mansion.

Ye Qingluan and the others were in an increasingly difficult situation.

Su Ming's order was to surround without attacking.

Naturally, they dared not act rashly.

The crowd had swelled from the initial dozens to two or three hundred, their jeers shaking the sky, and rotten vegetable leaves were thrown all over the ground.

Several Wilderness Suppression Bureau soldiers had bruises on their faces, yet they dared not retaliate.

With a 'creak,' the Lu Family's main gate opened.

Lu Shou Zheng walked out.

He wore a plain-colored long gown, his hair was gray, his face thin, his back slightly hunched—a perfect image of a kind old man.

He walked to the center of the crowd, looked around, his eye sockets turning red.

"Fellow townsfolk…"

His voice was hoarse and trembling.

"This old man has managed the Lu Family for over thirty years. I dare say I have a clear conscience regarding Pingan City. I have repaired bridges and paved roads, sponsored students, and never once done a wicked deed."

"But today, the Wilderness Suppression Bureau, without evidence, wants to raid my Lu Family!"

Once these words were spoken, the crowd exploded.

The public was filled with righteous indignation.

"Excessive! Too excessive!"

"They only know how to bully an old man!"

"Is there no law in Pingan City anymore!"

Lu Shou Zheng shed tears.

"This old man asks for nothing else, only for justice…"

Ye Qingluan gritted her teeth.

This old fox, his acting was better than the stars on the stage.

"The Wilderness Suppression Bureau is bullying others too much!"

"Abusing their power!"

"Persecuting good people!"

The crowd's jeers came in wave after wave.

Rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs rained down, turning the flagstones in front of the Wilderness Suppression Bureau's defensive line into a muddy mess.

A shirtless thug squeezed to the very front.

His eyes rolled, and he lunged forward, his chest slamming straight into Ye Qingluan's scabbard.

"Murder! The Wilderness Suppression Bureau is killing civilians in the street!"

The thug shrieked at the top of his lungs, threw himself onto the ground, and wrapped his hands tightly around Ye Qingluan's calf.

Ye Qingluan tried to pull her leg away, but it wouldn't budge.

Draw her sword?

The first rule of the Wilderness Suppression Bureau: Strictly forbidden to use lethal force against unarmed civilians.

The defensive line was forced back step by step.

Qin Tian pressed his hand on the hilt of his blade, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, his teeth gritted until they creaked.

Humiliating.

Too humiliating.

On the steps of the main gate, Lu Shou Zheng stood with his hands behind his back.

He lowered his head slightly, but hidden in the depths of his eyes was cold mockery.

So what if it's the Wilderness Suppression Bureau?

As long as this group of soldiers dared not draw their blades against civilians, the initiative would always be in his hands.

If a stampede happened today and a person or two died, that would be even better.

He had already thought of the headline for tomorrow morning—Wilderness Suppression Bureau's Late-Night Atrocity, Innocent Citizens Bleed in the Streets》.

By then, Chen Zhan would also be in big trouble.

"Tsk tsk… what a performance."