Chapter 32: Beheading Ma Biao and Getting a Lot of Gold Coins! Six Thousand Points - A Feast for the Eyes!

The heavy scent of blood permeated the bluestone square of Black Pine Stronghold.

The remaining hundred-plus members of the Black Tiger Gang knelt on the ground in a uniform row.

No one dared to look up at Ma Biao's corpse, which had been split in two.

The crisp sound of weapons clattering against the ground rose and fell.

Lin Chen pointed his blood-dripping long blade diagonally toward the ground and stepped toward a sturdy man kneeling at the very front.

His official boots stepped through the accumulated blood on the ground, making a wet, sliding sound.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, the sturdy man pressed his entire body against the blue bricks, trembling uncontrollably.

"Raise your head."

Lin Chen's voice echoed over the deathly silent square.

The sturdy man flusteredly raised his mud-stained face, his eyes filled with panicked red veins.

"Are you a leader in this stronghold?"

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the ferocious black tiger tattoo on the man's right arm.

The sturdy man swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva mixed with sand.

"This lowly one is Zhao Si. I'm just a minor leader guarding the mountain gate in the front stronghold."

Zhao Si's voice trembled so much he couldn't form a complete sentence.

"Go and find all the hemp ropes in the stronghold used for tying up hostages."

Lin Chen swung his long blade in a half-arc by his side.

Dark red blood droplets from the blade's edge flicked onto Zhao Si's chin, causing the man to shudder violently again.

"Take some men and tie up the remaining gang members one by one to the wooden stakes around the square."

Zhao Si didn't dare to disobey in the slightest and hurriedly kowtowed three times heavily on the ground.

"This lowly one will definitely do it well! I beg the Great Master to spare my worthless life!"

Lin Chen sheathed his long blade, his gaze sweeping over the gang members behind who were shaking like chaff.

"Be quick about it."

Zhao Si scrambled to his feet and called over several equally pale-faced lackeys to run toward the back stronghold to grab hemp ropes.

Soon, the only sound on the empty mountain path was the noise of ropes tightening against flesh.

Lin Chen stepped back two paces, found a relatively clean stone stool, and sat down.

He placed his palms on his knees, and the layer of faint blue halo at the edge of his vision quietly spread out.

Lines of deep blue text scrolled across the bottom of the panel like flowing water.

[Completed time-limited bandit suppression duty.]

[Thoroughly destroyed the Black Tiger Gang headquarters.]

[Killed the Black Tiger Gang Leader Ma Biao and core members.]

Lin Chen looked at those few short lines of text, his fingers slowly tapping on the edge of the stone stool.

[This duty performance is judged as Peerless Rank.]

[Issuing settlement: 3,000 points.]

[Current System accumulated total: 5,800 points.]

Five thousand eight hundred points.

Lin Chen's fingertip drew circles back and forth on the rough surface of the stone stool.

To break through the Xuanhuang Immovable Body to the second layer of Perfection, 3,000 points were required.

This massive influx of points was far more generous than he had anticipated.

As long as he waited until he returned to the County Office for secluded cultivation, he could steadily cross the threshold into the Late Stage of the Blood Refining Realm.

By now, Zhao Si had finished tying up the last few gang members with thick hemp rope, his technique for tying dead knots being very practiced.

This group of evil bandits now all looked like lambs waiting for slaughter, huddling at the edge of the square, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Zhao Si bent his back and shuffled his feet to within three paces of Lin Chen, his hands clasped together and rubbing repeatedly.

"Everything the Great Master ordered has been handled. This lowly one has tied them all up tight."

Lin Chen withdrew his gaze from the panel, his eyes falling back onto Zhao Si's fawning face.

"Where does Ma Biao usually hide the wealth he has amassed?"

Zhao Si hesitated for a moment, then immediately pointed his finger at the stone path behind the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

"It's all in that stone treasury on the back mountain!"

He spoke extremely fast, fearing that a slow answer would bring about a fatal disaster.

"The Gang Leader valued that stone treasury most; he wouldn't let anyone near it except for Old Man Zhou who stayed by his side."

Lin Chen stood up and slid his Ten-Refined Long Blade back into the brass scabbard at his waist.

"Lead the way."

Zhao Si didn't dare to breathe loudly as he bowed his body and walked ahead to lead the way.

The two of them passed through the messy Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness and walked down a moss-covered stone staircase.

Windproof ox-horn lanterns were lit on both sides of the stairs, their dim yellow light making the moisture on the stone walls clearly visible.

At the end of the stairs, a large gate cast from pig iron blocked the path.

Large areas of ferocious beast patterns were carved onto the door panels.

Zhao Si pointed at the fist-sized keyhole on the iron gate, his legs beginning to tremble again in the cold environment.

"Great Master, this door was made by craftsmen from the Prefecture. The key has always been hanging from the Gang Leader's belt."

Lin Chen stopped in front of the iron gate and looked up to examine the hinges at the door's edge.

"Since you know this is a refined iron gate made by Prefecture craftsmen, you should understand what hidden traps there are if the door is forced open, right?"

Zhao Si pulled in his neck and reached out to wipe the fine cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

"This lowly one doesn't know the inside details, but I once heard Old Man Zhou mention it when he was drunk—there's a mercury trough connected behind this door."

He hurriedly leaned toward the edge of the mossy stone wall.

"If the door panel is smashed open with brute force, a mechanism inside will flip and pour out all the mercury."

Lin Chen stood firm before the iron gate, the surrounding air heating up slightly due to the circulation of his blood and Qi.

"That refers to cases where a hammer or a battering ram is used to attack the center of the door panel."

He slowly pressed his palm against the two rows of thick hinges on the right side of the iron gate.

The earthy yellow True Qi of the Xuanhuang Immovable Body followed his meridians, gradually gathering at his palm.

The halo of True Qi appeared exceptionally heavy in the dark passage.

Lin Chen's five fingers tightened forcefully against the surface of the iron gate, a series of very crisp friction sounds clicking between his joints.

This terrifying force, far exceeding the Middle Stage of the Blood Refining Realm, was entirely poured into the joints of those door hinges.

The bluestone bricks around the door frame couldn't withstand the pressure and began to shed dust and debris.

Accompanied by a dull sound of metal snapping.

The two rows of refined iron hinges used to secure the door leaf snapped apart by force.

Lin Chen withdrew the palm force covering the door panel and followed up by raising his right foot to kick the side of the door that had lost its fixation.

Due to the uneven force, the entire heavy refined iron door tilted inward and collapsed.

It crashed heavily onto the blue bricks of the stone chamber floor, kicking up a cloud of choking dust.

A gust of stale air, mixed with a dull metallic scent and a faint medicinal fragrance, rushed out from the open doorway.

Lin Chen waited for the dust to mostly settle before stepping over the fallen door panel into the stone chamber.

The ram-horn lanterns hanging in the four corners of the stone chamber swayed continuously in the airflow.

They cast flickering silhouettes of the objects piled high all around.

Zhao Si stood outside the door peeking in, not daring to set foot in this Forbidden Ground that even Ma Biao wouldn't let him near.

Lin Chen stopped in the open space in the center of the stone chamber, his gaze slowly sweeping across the rows of wooden shelves around him.

On the left side against the wall, dozens of open red-lacquered wooden boxes were stacked.

The wooden boxes were filled with high-quality silver ingots and gold bars.

The gold and silver shimmered with an enticing luster under the dim yellow lamplight.

Lin Chen walked to the nearest wooden box and casually grabbed a handful of gold leaves scattered on top to weigh them.

"This Ma Biao extorted outside the mountain range for years; his family fortune is actually more substantial than the Qingxi County Office's treasury."

Hearing this outside the door, Zhao Si hurriedly chimed in.

"Great Master, what you don't know is that nearly half of this consists of commissions from fencing stolen goods for the Zhao Family."

At the mention of the Zhao Family, Lin Chen tossed the gold leaves back into the wooden box, creating a series of clattering sounds.

"How much of a cut did the Zhao Family take?"

Zhao Si gripped the protruding rock at the edge of the stone wall, his tone carrying a bit of certainty.

"Seventy percent. Every time the Zhao Family came up the mountain to transport goods, they arrived exactly on time, and they wouldn't leave the Gang Leader a single tael of silver extra."

The gold and silver in this entire row of wooden boxes added up to at least over a hundred thousand taels.

If this windfall could be entirely confiscated and brought back to the County Office, it would undoubtedly be a timely rain for the restructuring of the entire Qingxi County.

Lin Chen bypassed the area piled with gold and silver and walked straight toward the second row of display racks deep in the stone chamber.

On this rack were dozens of blades, spears, swords, and halberds of impressive quality.

Every weapon had its handle wrapped in non-slip sharkskin, and the blades were coated with thick anti-rust grease.

Lin Chen pulled out a broad-bladed longsword.

The sword's edge shimmered with a cold light like autumn water under the lamplight.

"Were these weapons also all plundered from merchant caravans?"

Zhao Si craned his neck from outside the door to look inside.

"A few of them were indeed protection money left behind by passing escort agencies."

He pointed toward several heavy weapons on the topmost part of the rack.

"But those steel-forged Horse-Chopping Sabers up there are all contraband smuggled into the mountains by the Zhao Family through secret channels."

Lin Chen returned the longsword to the rack, his knuckles tapping a rhythmic beat against the rough wooden edge.

"The Zhao family stockpiled weapons and used your Black Tiger Gang to hide them in the mountains."

He tilted his head and glanced at Zhao Si.

"It seems this charge of rebellion is now firmly established."

Zhao Si was so terrified that he shrank back into the shadows of the passage, even holding his breath in his stomach.

Lin Chen no longer paid attention to the movement outside the door, turning his focus to a mahogany desk at the innermost part of the stone chamber.

Dozens of thread-bound books of various sizes were laid out on the desk.

Beside the books sat several small sandalwood boxes, tightly wrapped in yellow silk.

This was the true foundation of Ma Biao, a Middle Stage Blood Refining Realm Martial Artist.

Lin Chen stepped forward and flipped through a few Secret Manuals stacked on the outermost side.

Most of what was recorded inside were third-rate external fist and leg techniques.

The paper was yellowed, and the handwriting was even somewhat blurry.

He directly bypassed these worthless items, locking his gaze on the wooden box with iron-clad corners at the center of the desk.

Lin Chen used his thumb to flick open the copper latch on the wooden box.

Inside lay three very well-preserved rubbings of scrolls.

On the cover of the top one, the words 'Black Tiger Seven-Kill Blade' were written in cinnabar in a wild cursive script.

The second one was an Internal Skill Mind-Cultivation Technique called the Wild Flame Formula, which recorded the circulation routes of blood and Qi for the Blood Refining Realm.

As for the one at the very bottom, it was a nameless manuscript.

Lin Chen picked up the nameless manuscript and casually flipped through a couple of pages.

The pages emitted a strong scent of mothproof powder.

What was recorded inside was not some profound martial arts Move.

It was all clear, entry-by-entry accounts of financial transactions!

Behind every entry, a bright red handprint was clearly pressed.

Lin Chen's gaze quickly swept over several lines of handwriting on the first page.

The seventh day of the fourth month, the third year of yongan.

With a travel permit issued by County Lieutenant Liu Kun, three thousand catties of crude iron were transported from the south gate of Qingxi County into the mountains.

Priced at one thousand five hundred taels of silver, with seventy percent of the profit delivered to the Zhao Merchant Guild.

Lin Chen looked at that line of extremely detailed small regular script, his fingers slowly tightening on the edge of the page.

This small ledger was the death warrant that Ma Biao had shouted about before his death, claiming it was enough to control the officialdom of Qingxi.

Now, this lethal item had fallen into his hands.

This was a bargaining chip more valuable than the room full of gold, silver, and treasures.

Lin Chen closed the manuscript and tucked it, along with the two Blood Refining Realm Secret Manuals, into the inner layer of his black martial arts attire.

With this ledger, he could directly nail that overbearing Liu Kun to the prisoner's dock in the court after returning to the city.

If Magistrate Pei Qingxue saw this great gift, she would probably wake up laughing in her sleep.

He reached out to unwrap several small sandalwood boxes covered in yellow silk.

The items inside these boxes were the truly good things that made one's blood boil with excitement.

Three perfectly preserved fifty-year-old Changbai Mountain wild ginsengs.

Two Low Grade Blood Tempering Pills refined by an alchemist from the Prefecture.

These were highly sought-after resources used by Blood Refining Realm Martial Artists to break through blood and Qi barriers.

Lin Chen conveniently tucked the wooden boxes into his robes as well.

He carefully inspected the surroundings of the stone chamber once more, and after confirming there were no missed hidden compartments, he turned and walked out.

Zhao Si was still guarding outside the broken iron door, his legs aching and trembling from standing for so long.

"Great Master, have you finished checking everything?"

Lin Chen stepped over the fine iron door panel, unfastening the long blade along with its scabbard from his waist and holding it in his hand.

"All the gold, silver, and weapons in this stone chamber are to be sealed. No one is allowed to step inside."

He used the brass base of the long blade to tap out two dull thuds on the stone wall.

"Once the troops from the City Defense Battalion arrive at the mountain, all these supplies will be loaded onto carts and transported back to the Qingxi County Yamen to complete the mission."

Zhao Si nodded repeatedly, not daring to harbor even the slightest bit of greed for the wealth in the stone chamber.

Lin Chen carried his blade and headed up the mottled stone steps.

Just as he stepped out of the damp, cold passage and returned to the plaza in front of the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness,

A flurry of dense hoofbeats and the clattering of weapons against armor plates echoed from the narrow mountain pass in the distance.

The Left Commandant of the City Defense Battalion was wearing a suit of shimmering silver fish-scale armor.

Leading over two hundred armored soldiers of the City Defense Battalion, he ran up the path littered with severed limbs and corpses, panting heavily.

These soldiers, who usually only set up checkpoints at the city gates to collect entry fees,

Mostly stopped breathing in shock when they stepped into this plaza that looked like Avici Hell.

Shreds of flesh and broken weapons were mixed together on the ground, dyeing the entire plaza into a startling dark red carpet.

The Left Commandant took off his helmet and held it at his left side, passing by the massive body that had been split in two.

He walked to a position exactly five paces in front of Lin Chen and gave a very formal military salute.

"The City Defense Battalion follows the orders of Magistrate Pei to take over the external defenses of Black Pine Stronghold!"

The Left Commandant's voice echoed in the dead silence, faintly carrying a hint of awe and caution.

Lin Chen hung the long blade back on his waist and pulled out the clearing mobilization order stamped with the Magistrate's private seal from his inner garment.

"You arrived just in time."

He unfolded the order with his fingertips and raised it toward the sun.

"The Black Tiger Gang leader Ma Biao and over a hundred resisting gang members have all been executed."

He pointed his hand toward the dejected survivors tied to wooden stakes nearby.

"Escort the remaining people back to the city and hand them over to the county prison for a unified interrogation."

Looking at the black-clad youth in front of him who didn't even have a single nick on his clothes, the Left Commandant felt a layer of dense cold sweat break out on his back.

"Please rest assured, Chief Constable Lin. I will have the men tie up all these scumbags and take them down the mountain immediately."

He quickly turned his head and shouted orders to the soldiers behind him who were still in a daze.

Lin Chen refolded the mobilization order and put it back in his robes.

"Furthermore."

Lin Chen's gaze turned toward the position of the stone-paved road behind the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

"In the stone chamber on the back mountain, there are over a hundred thousand taels of gold and silver loot, as well as a large batch of smuggled military contraband."

He held his hands behind his back, the hem of his black attire fluttering slightly in the autumn wind.

"Since the Left Commandant has brought so many people up, it's perfect to use your City Defense Battalion's carriages."

Hearing this, the Left Commandant immediately sucked in a breath of the late autumn cold air.

Over a hundred thousand taels of loot.

In a border town like Qingxi County, this was an astronomical figure that one wouldn't even dare to imagine.

His peripheral vision glanced toward the back of the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness, and his fingers scraped against his armor plates twice.

"Chief Constable Lin, the amount of this windfall is too large. Should this humble official first send a few trusted aides inside to conduct a count?"

The Left Commandant tried to use a businesslike tone to hide the greed buried in his words.

Lin Chen did not answer immediately, but simply pressed his gaze down flatly.

The iron-blooded Killing Intent belonging to the Middle Stage of the Blood Refining Realm, which had just completed a hundred-man slaughter, surged out without reservation.

Pressed by this aura, the Left Commandant felt his breathing hitch, and his lips immediately lost their color.

"The stone chamber has been personally sealed by me, and I have a ledger in my heart for all the amounts."

Lin Chen let his right hand hang naturally, his thumb resting on the edge of the blade's crossguard at his waist.

"The Left Commandant only needs to be responsible for transporting the sealed boxes of wealth back to the yamen. If a single tael of silver is missing along the way..."

His thumb pushed the crossguard open half an inch, and the friction between the long blade and the scabbard made a crisp sound.

"These headless corpses all over the ground will be your best example."

The Left Commandant hurried to straighten his posture, cold sweat dripping from the shadow of his helmet into his collar.

"Chief Constable Lin must be joking. The City Defense Battalion will definitely not let even a single fly escape, and everything will be delivered to the yamen completely untouched!"

Only then did Lin Chen release his thumb, letting the long blade fall back to the bottom of the scabbard.

"Then I shall trouble the Left Commandant. Remember to take Ma Biao's remains back as well."

He crossed the blood-drenched path filled with the stench of gore, walking step by step toward the way down the mountain.

This battle to suppress bandits that shook the entire Qingxi County finally came to an end.

He went up the mountain alone, and in just one hour, he had uprooted this bandit den that had been entrenched for many years.

With this world-shaking merit that was enough to leave the entire county speechless,

That self-righteous Liu Kun was not far from the day he would hang from a beam.

Lin Chen walked out along the mountain path he had come from.

The mottled pine forests on both sides cast long, dark-gold shadows in the light of the setting sun.

The first strike belonging to the new order had already carved out a clean and bright world.

As for the next stage of the game, it was time for the various people in the city to make their entrance.