Chapter 53 - 51: Swift and Decisive, Only a Fierce Dragon Crosses the River!

Chapter 53: Chapter 51: Swift and Decisive, Only a Fierce Dragon Crosses the River!

At this time, Director Liang Luojun and Vice Chief Zhou Yiren of the Military Staff Department were not the only ones observing this peculiar "scenery" atop the commercial building, whether through binoculars or directly from up close.

Others included Zhao Shijie, the Thirteenth Legion Commander of the Northwest; Lan Tianbao, the newly appointed chief of the City Guard Bureau; and Cai Jianghong, the master of the Jiang Hong Martial Arts Hall—a local Martial Dao faction in Luozhou. There were also numerous foreign sect factions attracted by Liu Zimo’s "Self-Help Guide" before the catastrophe, as well as several Inner Guards directly under the jurisdiction of the Shangjing Military Staff Department. And many others!

The deaths of Jing Yong and Xuanqing had immediately drawn all their attention. It couldn’t be helped; that white silk banner on the commercial building was simply too eye-catching. Furthermore, Jingyong Taoist and Daoist Xuanqing’s identities as disciples of Dragon Tiger Mountain were far too special and sensitive. It would be hard for anyone not to notice.

"Audacious and unbridled!"

"Private execution, total disregard for the law!"

"Execution and public humiliation, even stringing up their corpses! But good riddance, I never liked those two stinking Daoists anyway!"

"This looks like killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, but aren’t the identities of the chicken and the monkey swapped?!"

"Those are disciples of Dragon Tiger Mountain, big shots in the Iron Bone Realm! To think they were slaughtered like mere chickens?! This is too ruthless!"

"Well killed! Drastic times call for drastic measures. Such scum deserves to be punished like this! A true man should act exactly like this!"

These were the thoughts that flashed through the minds of the various factions the moment they saw the corpses of Jing Yong and Xuanqing. Some marveled, some admired, some feared, some grew wary, and some gloated. Minds differed, and so did their reactions. However, regardless of their individual stances, there was one thing everyone agreed on with Liang Luojun of the Military Staff Department: this mysterious master who had suddenly appeared in Luozhou City would inevitably affect the current balance of power. This person was an absolute variable and an unstable factor!

They were all eager to dig out this individual or faction and be the first to rope them into their own camp.

Ten days into the Post-Apocalypse, chaos was already apparent. It was confirmed that Luozhou City had completely become an isolated city, and the military’s weapon systems were entirely paralyzed, leaving only the most basic firearms and artillery functional. In this situation, the people in the city grew restless, and greed began to fester. Many faction leaders, or those who prided themselves on their formidable martial prowess and refused to be mediocre, harbored thoughts of unifying Luozhou and monopolizing all the city’s resources.

Therefore, despite their seamless cooperation on the surface—doing their best to coordinate under the Military Staff Department’s command, accelerating the construction of the outer defense lines, and purging the remaining Demon Beasts in the city—Liang Luojun, Zhao Shijie, Lan Tianbao, Cai Jianghong, and the others all knew the score. Once the Demon Beasts in the city were completely eradicated and the outer security defense lines were fully established, a massive conflict of interest would be imminent.

Everyone wanted to be the boss; everyone wanted to become the de facto ruler of Luozhou City. More importantly, these factions were evenly matched. Either they had plenty of men and guns, or they had one or even multiple Iron Bone Realm masters holding down the fort. If a conflict broke out, no one could be certain they would emerge as the final victor. Thus, this mysterious master who had suddenly popped up inadvertently became a crucial chess piece capable of swinging the entire board.

Under these circumstances, few truly cared whether the crimes written on that white silk banner were true or false, or whether Jing Yong and Xuanqing had actually lost their minds and slaughtered two hundred residents. Almost everyone focused solely on their own interests. As for the lives and deaths of Ordinary residents, what did that have to do with them? In this tremendous upheaval of the Demon Calamity, tens of millions had died. What did a mere two hundred lives amount to?

Meanwhile, inside the Jiang Hong Martial Arts Hall, the master, Cai Jianghong, put down his binoculars, his brows furrowed in a grave expression.

"Master, did you see anything?" His head disciple, Fu Heng, took the binoculars from Cai Jianghong’s hands and asked respectfully.

Cai Jianghong shook his head slightly. "It’s too far to see clearly. Currently, I can only make a rough judgment. It seems Jingyong Taoist was killed in a single strike. Aside from the wound on his heart, there are no other injuries on his body!

"Barring any surprises, the other party is absolutely a master of real combat, with a cultivation base at least at the peak of the Iron Bone Realm! Otherwise, given Jingyong Taoist’s strength at the early stage of the Iron Bone Realm, even if he couldn’t win, he wouldn’t have been deprived of a chance to escape!"

Hearing this, Fu Heng’s expression shifted slightly. A peak Iron Bone Realm master? Wouldn’t that put this person even above his master? After all, even though his master was hailed as the number one Martial Artist in Luozhou, his current strength was only at the mid-stage of the Iron Bone Realm.

"Tell the Disciples in the hall to lay low for a while," Cai Jianghong instructed softly. "If they dare to run amok and provoke someone they shouldn’t, I might not be able to protect them!"

Fu Heng’s heart trembled, and he quickly nodded in agreement.

Recently, many Disciples in the sect had grown restless, emboldened by their martial prowess. They often used scouting for Demon Beasts as an excuse to force their way into private residences. Plundering wealth, water, and food was considered getting off lightly. A few had even forced themselves on other people’s wives and daughters, silencing them afterward and throwing their corpses into the hordes of Demon Beasts.

Both Cai Jianghong and Fu Heng had heard of such incidents, but they had never truly taken them to heart. They weren’t a regular military unit, after all, and their cohesion was average at best. If they enforced overly strict discipline, those Disciples might not be willing to follow them anymore. Moreover, the Post-Apocalypse was upon them, and a few human lives were worthless. It wasn’t worth going to great lengths to punish them and risk losing their loyalty.

BOOM!

Before Fu Heng could head out, a disciple smashed through the front doors, spitting blood. He flew backward and crashed into the main hall, shattering the floor tiles into a spiderweb of cracks.

"Who is it?! How dare you run wild in my Jiang Hong Martial Arts Hall?!" Cai Jianghong roared furiously, his expression shifting.

At the same time, the Martial Dao aura around him erupted, and his body swelled to more than twice its size in an instant! This was the hallmark of approaching Great Success in the Iron Bone Realm, and it was the capital that gave Cai Jianghong the courage to establish his own faction and challenge the city’s garrison.

SWISH!

A dark blur flashed by. Before Cai Jianghong could react, he felt a slight pain in his Dantian. His body stiffened, and he uncontrollably collapsed to the ground, completely limp.

"This is the first house! Sisi, tie him up tight and grab him. Let’s move on to the next one!"

"Yes, Advisor Liu!"

With just two sentences exchanged, Cai Jianghong, the grandmaster of the Jiang Hong Martial Arts Hall, was tied up like a dumpling and effortlessly hoisted up by a young woman.

Nearby, Fu Heng was completely dumbfounded. He stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him, feeling as though he were dreaming. He never imagined that his master, who he saw as powerful as a god, would be reduced to a prisoner without even surviving a single exchange!

Where did these two come from? Did they have to be this ridiculously overpowered?!

"Advisor Liu, this looks like the head disciple of the Jiang Hong Martial Arts Hall—the thug who brutally murdered eleven households!"

"Since you’ve confirmed his identity, what are you waiting for? Just kill him. We still need to rush to the next house!"

"Wait! I—"

Hearing this, Fu Heng felt a wave of terror. Just as he was about to speak, a fist blurred before his eyes.

BANG!

His brain matter splattered, killing him beyond dead.

By the time the Disciples outside heard the commotion and rushed in, the hall was already empty. Only a heavily injured disciple and their head martial brother—whose head had been smashed to a pulp—remained.

Two minutes later, Zhao Shijie, the Thirteenth Legion Commander, was abducted from the military camp, his whereabouts unknown.

Five minutes later, Lan Tianbao, the newly appointed chief of the City Guard Bureau, was kidnapped in broad daylight.

Ten minutes later, all foreign Martial Artists above the Iron Bone Realm—including those from the Li Family in the Eastern Domain, the Zhao Family in Gansu Province, the Tang Sect in the Shu Region, and several Inner Guards from Shangjing—were captured.

By the fifteenth minute, Liu Zimo and Yang Sisi reappeared at the Military Staff Department base in East City. Behind them trailed over a dozen tightly bound leaders of various factions, along with all the Iron Bone Realm Martial Artists under their command.

When Liang Luojun and Zhou Yiren received the news and rushed out of their offices, they were met with a stunning sight. They saw these old rivals and friends being herded into the only conference room in the camp. A tall, delicate-looking young woman stood upright at the entrance to the conference room, waiting leisurely for Liang Luojun and Zhou Yiren to arrive.

"Director Liang, Vice Chief Zhou, we’ve just been waiting for you two! Since you’re here, hurry up and take a seat! The meeting is about to begin!" Yang Sisi politely made an inviting gesture toward the two men, completely ignoring the group of guards trailing behind them.

Liang Luojun and Zhou Yiren exchanged a glance. They looked at the other attendees tied to their chairs, and then at the other young man sitting tall in the seat of honor. Their hearts couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

Who was this person?

In a single move, he had forcibly abducted all the faction leaders in Luozhou City. Now, completely unfazed by the threat of firearms on the Military Staff Department’s own turf, he was acting like the host and inviting them to the meeting. It was the height of domineering arrogance! He wouldn’t dare barge into their territory if he weren’t a formidable force; he clearly didn’t come with good intentions!

Liang Luojun took a deep breath and waved his hand, stopping the guards behind him from raising their guns to defend them. The other party had easily captured Cai Jianghong, the acknowledged number one Martial Dao master in Luozhou, which naturally meant his strength was extraordinarily formidable. Even armed with guns, the guards behind them might not be a match. Rather than risk it, it was better to face the situation head-on and see exactly what the other party wanted to do.

In fact, after seeing the state of Cai Jianghong, Zhao Shijie, Lan Tianbao, and the others tied to their chairs, Liang Luojun knew the score. He knew that the other party not forcibly tying the two of them up to attend the meeting was already giving them a lot of face. If they refused to cooperate—or even let the guards open fire—they would be refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit. They would just be asking for trouble.