The crowd parted like a tide, and from its center emerged a slender young man with a gaunt face and refined features. The aura of blood qi and killing intent that enveloped him sent a chill through everyone present.
The three powerful figures standing before the chairs, upon seeing the gaunt youth, were struck as if by lightning, their bodies going numb.
"You... are Xu Mu?" Li Fengtian, at this moment, could scarcely believe that the person standing before him was the Xu Mu his entire village had yearned for.
He hadn't died; he had truly returned!
"It is I. You sit down first, leave this to me." Xu Mu fed Li Fengtian a pill and helped him to his seat. Then, his gaze fell upon Li Ancheng, who lay on the ground spitting blood, his eyes growing cold.
"You goddamn told me Xu Mu was already dead!" Liang Jue, enraged, grabbed the collar of the man beside him and roared.
"I... I don't know. That person told me. With his status, he shouldn't have lied to me." The man was also bewildered. Was this the Xu Mu spoken of in legends, the demon-slaying genius of the Exorcism Division who had killed a demon god and become a Domain Lord at such a young age? How could he still be alive?
"Dead? Then tell me, who the hell is this? Is he an infected ghoul!" Liang Jue pointed a trembling right hand at the slightly thin figure.
The villagers of Fengqing Village, who had already despaired and resigned themselves to their fate, felt a flicker of hope rekindle in their hearts upon seeing Xu Mu's appearance. As members of the Gloomy Night Domain, they had long since memorized hundreds of versions of Xu Mu's deeds in the Western Mountains. In every single version, Xu Mu was, without exception, the great hero who had saved the world!
"Who did this?" Xu Mu turned and asked the three men.
"A misunderstanding... it's all a misunderstanding." Liang Jue, gazing at the familiar yet strange eyes of the youth, which seemed to brim with killing intent, felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as if an electric current had passed through it.
"Liang Jue of the Jin Yin Merchant House, what brings you to my Fengqing Village?" Xu Mu took a slow step forward, asking indifferently.
"I was just passing by and happened to see some excitement here, so I came to take a look..." Liang Jue said with a forced smile, subtly backing towards the courtyard entrance, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
"Looking at the excitement, and you even brought out an axe?" Xu Mu had already reached the man, pointing at the axe in his right hand.
"I... I'm a woodcutter, I use it for chopping wood. This has nothing to do with me; it's them!" Facing Xu Mu's icy gaze, Liang Jue could bear it no longer and dropped to his knees with a thud.
"I apologize, Lord Xu, I was wrong. Please give me another chance. I promise I will never do it again!"
"Liang Jue, for someone from the Jin Yin Merchant House, you've got no spine!" The man beside him, slightly more composed, cursed him and then turned to face Xu Mu. "This entire affair was orchestrated by me."
"It's just business, you know, deceit and trickery. You don't need to worry too much about it..." The man trailed off, finding himself suddenly suspended in mid-air.
"Ugh... ugh..." Xu Mu held the man by the throat, lifting him. His feet flailed uselessly, and before he could even comprehend what was happening, with a *snap*, Xu Mu broke his neck.
*Bang!*
Xu Mu casually tossed the man's corpse aside. The remaining individuals felt an bone-chilling cold, and even the people of Fengqing Village were startled by Xu Mu's actions. Wu Peihuan, her face pale, gazed at Xu Mu's retreating back, suddenly feeling he was a stranger.
"How dare you? His son is the son-in-law of the Xiao family in the Imperial City! You actually offended the Xiao family for some commoners!" The man with the small mustache, his expression terrified, tried to reason with Xu Mu, as the latter had already turned his head towards him. In his eyes, the lives of mortals were no different from livestock; Xu Mu had no reason to kill him over this matter!
"What role did you play in this?" Xu Mu asked him coldly.
"I..." The man was about to say he played no role, just came to provide support, but before he could explain, Xu Mu grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air.
The man's expression was one of terror. He tried to use his abilities to struggle, but his second-stage abilities were no different than a tickle to the current Xu Mu. Despite his full exertion, he only managed to add a few scratches to Xu Mu's robes.
*Crack!* With a slight bulge of his forearm muscles, Xu Mu tightened his grip and snapped the man's neck, killing him.
Two of the three second-stage ability users were dead. The remaining few ability users on the field, along with their accompanying thugs, were all aghast. Did this young man not even inquire about their origins before acting? Lord Tan had connections with the Wang family, and he killed them just like that?!
"I really didn't do anything, truly!" With the corpses of the other two lying nearby, warm blood flowing near his knees, Liang Jue could only keep kowtowing, his hair becoming matted with blood, begging Xu Mu for forgiveness.
Liang Chen also knelt on the ground, trembling, not daring to utter a word.
"I really did nothing. Just treat me like a fart and let me go! Lord Golden Horn will thank you!"
"You can't let him go! Li Ancheng was injured by him!" Wu Peihuan interjected, pointing at Liang Jue and saying furiously.
"Anything else?" Xu Mu asked.
"Yes, I previously, due to contract issues, teamed up with classmates to report him to the authorities multiple times, but each time it was secretly suppressed. It seems he was behind it all, because when I tracked the judge, I saw him interacting with people from the Jin Yin Merchant House!" Wu Peihuan continued, gritting her teeth as she recalled that experience.
"Oh, abusing power for personal gain, bribing officials, committing assault in public, deceiving the populace..." Xu Mu calmly enumerated Liang Jue's crimes and then looked at him, asking softly, "Is that enough to warrant death?"
Sensing the hand slowly descending towards him, Liang Jue's face hardened. He gripped the giant axe in his hand, unleashed his strongest ability, and instantly swung it at Xu Mu.
"Be careful!" Wu Peihuan cried out in alarm, fearing Xu Mu might be harmed.
"Seeking death." How could Xu Mu not anticipate the opponent's intentions? The moment Liang Jue tightened his grip on the axe, Xu Mu had already raised his foot.
*Crack!* Xu Mu met the blow with a raised knee. With a loud impact, both Liang Jue's axe and his own body shattered under the force of the knee strike, accompanied by the sound of cracking and splintering.
"Father!" Liang Chen's eyes turned bloodshot as he saw Liang Jue's body fly out, knocking down a group of black-clothed thugs.
But before he could do anything, a strong hand had already grasped his neck.
Xu Mu slowly lifted him, asking indifferently:
"And you, what role did you play?"
"And you people... what are you all here for?"
He surveyed the entire scene. The supervisors or thugs who had been so arrogant moments before were now in a panicked state, screaming and trying to flee the courtyard.
Xu Mu did not kill Liang Jue but, looking at the chaotic crowd, spoke coldly:
"How they bullied you before, you will now return it to them!"
"After we've dealt with this group, I will hunt down the masterminds behind the scenes. No one will escape!" Under these words, the villagers of Fengqing Village, who had suffered humiliation for days, from the strong to the weak, young and old alike, without exception, turned their weapons towards the group of black-clothed thugs. Instantly, screams erupted throughout the courtyard.
"I don't believe Golden Horn would do this on his own. Who else is there?" Xu Mu turned back, his eyes narrowed as he asked.
"The Wang... Wang family. You killed someone from the Wang family. The Wang family's shadow is behind this matter as well, and they were planning to massacre the village tonight!" Liang Chen's face turned purple. In his desperation to survive, he could only spill whatever he knew, hoping to save his own life.
"The Wang family again. They are truly persistent." Xu Mu sneered, slightly tightening his right hand.
"A massacre tonight? I don't have that kind of patience."
"Senior Wine Immortal, please accompany me to the Fallen City!"