Chapter 18 A Land of Corpses

These elite gang members could unleash a force of a thousand *jin* (approximately 500 kilograms), a significant threat to ordinary people. However, before Xu Jingming, they were as weak as lambs. Every move and stance was practically slow motion in his eyes.

Xu Jingming's mental awareness was incredibly sharp, allowing him to sense everything around him.

The scattering rain, the blood-soaked arrows, the weapons slicing through the air, the movement of the gang members…

Everything was reflected in his mind.

Of course, a large number of ants could kill an elephant, so Xu Jingming had to be careful, especially with the sneak attacks from the third-rate experts among them. Therefore, he and his companions had to hold back some of their strength.

With a flick of his spear, Xu Jingming sent seven or eight gang members flying, either dead or injured, as if brushing away grass. Another turn of his spear sent three or five gang members tumbling, throwing the others into disarray.

*Shua shua shua…* The spear shadows flickered, striking the necks of one gang member after another, leaving a bloody hole in each. They clutched their throats in agony, collapsing in despair.

Xu Jingming's spear either swept across with fierce, brute force, or redirected the gang members' own strength to create chaos, or directly killed! His combat followed the philosophy of 'water's flow', guiding the trio to avoid the enemy's most ferocious attacks and seek out their weaknesses!

Like a butcher skillfully carving an ox, he penetrated the weak points of the formation of one hundred and eighty gang members. Wherever he went, gang members died in droves.

"Careful." Skilled in concealed weapons, Miss Zi Teng naturally kept a close watch on the surroundings. Sensing something, she unleashed a barrage of flying needles! Several gang members suddenly threw out blood-colored sand. Fortunately, Miss Zi Teng acted quickly, and most of the blood sand failed to be thrown, or the aim was badly off. Much of it touched the skin of other gang members, causing them to howl in agony.

"Aaaah." The gang members writhed on the ground in pain, disrupting the formation.

"Throw!"

Along with the blood sand, crescent blades flew in close proximity, tracing strange arcs as they attacked Xu Jingming and his companions. The unpredictable trajectories made them much harder to defend against! The gang members, their eyes bloodshot, were using every trick they had.

"Poison," Mr. Lu suddenly said.

Xu Jingming and Zi Teng were a bit slower to react, but immediately held their breath, their killing intent undiminished.

…

"The Hua Yue Gang's blood sand." In a distant teahouse, a girl's eyes lit up. "That's blood sand, isn't it? It's said that touching it causes the skin to fester and become unbearably painful. Even more painful than the caterpillars I encountered when I was little."

"It's sand concocted with various exotic poisons by the Hua Yue Gang. Experts can block concealed weapons, but it's very difficult to block a dense cloud of tiny sand particles thrown at close range," said an old man beside her. "Blood sand, crescent blades, I suppose they've used *hua xiang* (flower fragrance) as well. Those are the Hua Yue Gang's three common methods, known to everyone, but many first-rate experts have fallen victim to them and lost their lives. However… the three experts they are facing this time are extraordinary. It seems the Hua Yue Gang is going to lose!"

…

Xu Jingming and his companions wanted to kill the gang leader, but the gang leader was very cowardly, constantly retreating while loudly ordering his gang members to attack. The leader occasionally launched flying axes, each with a force of tens of thousands of *jin*, a formidable threat.

The gang's series of methods taught Xu Jingming a thing or two.

"Fifth Brother, the brothers can't hold on any longer. Too many have died," said a pale-faced companion beside him.

"Blood sand, crescent blades, *hua xiang*, all used, and still useless." Another henchman was somewhat disheartened. They had initially hoped for some insidious tricks, but after those failed, the gang members' morale plummeted. Many were starting to retreat.

Because too many had died.

One hundred and eighty people attacking! Even with shields and careful maneuvering, nearly half were dead. The only thing holding them together was fear of the Hua Yue Gang's rules and the hope for the 'blood sand, crescent blades, *hua xiang*' trifecta. But with those failing, they had lost all confidence. Morale plummeted, and the gang members were starting to think about how to save their own lives.

"Retreat," the leader gritted his teeth and ordered loudly.

All the gang members immediately breathed a sigh of relief and scattered.

"Young Master orders, kill the leader," came Qing Yu's voice from the carriage.

The carriage was also under attack by another one hundred and twenty gang members, but the fifteen guards beside the carriage formed a defensive formation. The space was limited, so only thirty or forty could attack the carriage at once! The fifteen guards were generally more elite, with several third-rate experts among them! Together, they completely withstood the siege of one hundred and twenty gang members.

"Alright."

Xu Jingming and his companions suddenly increased their speed.

The gang members had scattered, everyone hiding far away, no longer hindering or obstructing them. Xu Jingming and his companions felt much easier, heading straight for the leader.

"Block them for me!" Seeing this, the leader panicked. Besides two gang members who tried to earn merit by holding up their shields to block, instantly losing their lives, the others hid even further away.

The combined attack of one hundred and eighty people, including the leader's attempts to launch concealed weapons, had failed. Going to block those three killing gods was suicidal! They had joined the gang to live a good life, not to die.

"Chang Yi, I am Qin Wu of the Feng Hu Hall of the Hua Yue Gang! Do you dare kill me?" the leader shouted angrily as he fled.

Xu Jingming, Mr. Lu, and Miss Zi Teng quickly approached.

In terms of speed, Miss Zi Teng and Xu Jingming were faster, while Mr. Lu was slightly slower.

*Shua*.

During the pursuit, Zi Teng launched a series of flying needle attacks. The leader, Qin Wu, hurriedly dodged, while also turning to use his shield to defend. He was also a third-rate expert, and his shield skills were decent. Killing him with concealed weapons? Not so easy.

As he blocked the flying needles, Xu Jingming's spear arrived.

*Clang!*

At the instant the spear and saber collided, the spear rotated, its speed undiminished, as natural as flowing water, directly piercing the throat of the leader, 'Qin Wu'.

Qin Wu's eyes widened as he stared at Xu Jingming before him!

He still couldn't believe that he would die here.

Gone in a single exchange?

Scenes flashed through Qin Wu's mind like lightning. The poor kid from the blacksmith shop, saving enough money to join a martial arts school, killing someone on the street after eight years of training, joining the Hua Yue Gang to survive, licking blood from the edge of a knife, finally breaking through to the third-rate expert level, and becoming the so-called Qin Wu! Finally, on a rainy day, on the street, he died under a spear…

"It's over." Qin Wu's consciousness sank and dissipated.

At the same time, in reality, in a distant star system, within a massive star ring structure, a consciousness awakened!

After killing Qin Wu, Xu Jingming, Zi Teng, and Mr. Lu stopped. The remaining gang members wished they had been born with extra legs, desperately fleeing, some climbing walls, some burrowing into alleys, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Xu Jingming and his companions turned and walked towards the carriage, looking at the ground, a mixture of rain and blood, littered with corpses.

"These gang members are quite resilient. They only collapsed after nearly half of them were killed," Mr. Lu sighed.

"These should be the elite of the Hua Yue Gang. Ordinary gang members aren't this strong," Zi Teng said. "Our employer hired pretty good guards too. They withstood the attack of over a hundred gang members."

Xu Jingming smiled, "Young Master Chang is willing to spend money."

The three walked to the front of the carriage.

At that moment, Young Master Chang Yi and Qing Yu stepped down from the carriage, smiling as they greeted Xu Jingming and his companions.

"Thanks to the three of you, otherwise I would have been in danger today," Young Master Chang Yi said with a smile.

"We barely managed to hold off the siege of over a hundred people. Those guys were afraid of you three turning around and killing them, so they all ran very fast," the guard captain said with a simple smile. The other guards were also smiling. Although they had taken the silver and were prepared to fight to the death, they were still scared today. Luckily, there were three great experts!

"Let's go, we'll head back," Young Master Chang Yi said with a smile, Qing Yu holding an umbrella beside him.

The group began to return, with two guards pulling the carriage behind them.

…

In the distance, many people watched from afar.

"Those three experts are so powerful. How many people did they kill? The Hua Yue Gang was scared into fleeing."

"The three experts are unharmed."

The people chattered. Three people defeating several hundred elite gang members was a very rare sight for these commoners.

In the teahouse, the girl watched from afar, her eyes filled with excitement, and instructed, "Uncle Zhang, those three experts are quite powerful, especially the one with the spear! He killed the Hua Yue Gang's leader with one strike."

"He is indeed not bad," the old man nodded.

"Help me investigate. Who is the one with the spear, and what is his background?" the girl asked eagerly. "Didn't my brother write to me asking me to go to the imperial capital? The family also said they would arrange guards for me. I think the one with the spear is pretty good."

"Good?" The old man was a little puzzled.

"At least he looks good," the girl smiled slightly.

The old man's eyes twitched, and he nodded in response, "Alright, Miss, I will arrange for someone to investigate."