The words had barely been spoken when a large number of soldiers surged in from outside the hall, sealing it off completely.
As the soldiers parted, Lu Jingjun and Zheng Zhishan walked in side by side.
Clad in a crisp military uniform, Lu Jingjun walked to the center of the hall and stopped, his gaze landing on Du Shi’an.
"Assistant Du, my apologies. I’ve come uninvited this time, and I didn’t have a chance to inform you in advance."
Upon seeing Lu Jingjun, Du Shi’an’s expression turned grim. The color drained from his face, as if he’d just been slapped hard.
He glared at Lu Jingjun, his chest heaving with rage. "Deputy Lu, what is the meaning of this? I’m an Assistant in the Yun Port City garrison, for crying out loud! Even if the Military Governor is your father, you can’t humiliate someone like this!"
Du Shi’an had intended to pull rank as an elder and teach this young man some respect for his station.
But coming from him, the words sounded less like an accusation and more like a plea for mercy.
Lu Jingjun’s eyes went cold. "Hmph. You old fool. You used your position to smuggle opium and poison the populace, and you still have the gall to deny it?"
Seeing that the jig was up, Du Shi’an knew words were useless. A savage snarl twisted his features as his right hand shot toward the gun at his waist!
But before Du Shi’an’s hand could even touch the pistol’s grip, six invisible streams of Qi sliced through the air!
Du Shi’an and his five sons were struck by the Qi and sent flying backward before they could even react.
One of them crashed into a chair, another shattered a vase, and a third slammed against the wall before sliding to the floor.
All six of them coughed up blood, their faces deathly pale. They were clearly seriously injured.
A deathly silence fell over the hall. Aside from Zheng Zhishan, everyone stared wide-eyed at Lu Jingjun in utter disbelief.
’Who could have possibly imagined?’ The young man in his twenties, rumored throughout the army to be nothing more than a rich kid who’d ridden his father’s coattails to the top, was actually a Grandmaster of Huajin.
A Grandmaster of Huajin... That was a threshold countless people could never hope to reach, even after a lifetime of effort.
It was a Realm that required decades of bitter training, unparalleled talent, and countless fortuitous encounters to enter.
Du Shi’an struggled to lift his head, his eyes fixing on Lu Jingjun, filled with venom and resentment.
"Lu Jingjun, this isn’t fair! The Lu Family prattles on about equality for all, but do you really think that’s possible?"
"Your Lu Family is the most powerful family in Yun Port City! You enjoy a privileged position, high above everyone else, controlling all the wealth!"
"By what right can the Lu Family act this way, while we, the Du Family, can’t even make a little extra money on the side?"
"To hell with your bullshit ’fairness’! The entire Lu Family is nothing but a pack of hypocrites!"
"Unless the Lu Family starts living on pickled vegetables and rice porridge every day, what right do you have to preach about fairness?"
At this, Du Shi’an let out a cold, sarcastic laugh. "How about this? I’ll be the Governor of Yun Port City, and you can be a cesspool cleaner."
"We’d both be serving the people of Yun Port City! How’s that for fairness? Would you be willing?"
His words were like a stone dropped into a still pond, sending ripples through the crowd.
The soldiers in the hall exchanged glances. Some lowered their heads, not daring to look at Lu Jingjun, while others stole furtive glances, eager to see how the young Deputy Officer would react.
’After all, Du Shi’an’s words were harsh, but... didn’t they make a certain kind of sense?’
The thought flickered through the minds of more than a few soldiers. The Lu Family was, without a doubt, the most powerful family in Yun Port City.
They lived in the largest mansion, commanded the most soldiers, and governed the most people.
They preached fairness, yet they themselves occupied the most unfair position of all.
’Is that fucking fair?’
To the disappointment of many, Lu Jingjun’s expression remained perfectly calm and composed. But then, a moment later, he suddenly smiled. "Impressive. You’re right."
"Unfortunately for you, the Lu Family has the biggest fist. What I say, goes."
Du Shi’an was stunned. ’Fairness and reason didn’t matter.’ What mattered was that the Lu Family had guns, soldiers, and, according to legend, a Grandmaster of Divine Intent watching over them.
Therefore, the Lu Family’s commands were the law in Yun Port City, and the rules they set were the ultimate truth.
Lu Jingjun felt no moral qualms, for he remembered his father’s words.
’Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. Just follow your heart and do what you must.’
’If I want equality for everyone in Yun Port City, then there will be equality. What anyone else says is meaningless.’
"Fire!"
At Lu Jingjun’s command, gunfire erupted like a sudden downpour. Just like that, Du Shi’an and his five sons fell, dying in pools of their own blood.
Lu Jingjun turned and walked out the door, issuing orders as he went. "Confiscate all assets of the Du Family. Take all accomplices back and hand them over to the security detail for processing."
He personally led a team to the vault, while Zheng Zhishan took charge of searching the rest of the premises.
The Du Family’s vault was large, nearly half the size of a basketball court. It was piled high with gold, silver, and other treasures plundered from all over.
Gold bars, silver coins, jewelry, paintings, and antiques were stacked in neat crates. There were also several boxes of opium that hadn’t yet been shipped, wrapped in oil paper and emitting a pungent odor.
Lu Jingjun had his men inventory, register, and seal every item. Once the vault was completely empty, everyone withdrew.
Lu Jingjun was the last one to leave. Just as he reached the doorway, however, he suddenly stopped and looked back.
In the right-hand corner of the now-empty vault stood a silent black shadow, formless and without feature.
Though it had no eyes, Lu Jingjun knew that this ghastly thing was watching him.
To his surprise, it spoke. "Yes, this human body... I will have it."
’Outer Celestial Demon!’
The three words flashed through Lu Jingjun’s mind, and he recalled something his father had told him.
’These intangible, ghastly things... even a Grandmaster of Divine Intent cannot always detect them.’
Lu Jingjun couldn’t believe he’d actually been targeted by one of these fiends. In an instant, the Qi throughout his body began to churn violently. Scorching Qi surged through his meridians, roaring in his veins and exploding through his muscles!
Mountain-Breaking Inch Force Fist! He threw a punch, and a searing wave of Fist Force shot through the air, striking the black shadow with enough power to shatter stone!
But the Fist Force passed straight through the shadow without resistance, slamming into the wooden shelving behind it.
BOOM! The shelving splintered into a thousand pieces, but the black shadow remained standing, completely unmoved.
Seeing this, Lu Jingjun’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. In that single moment of stunned disbelief, the black shadow was upon him, merging into his body!
His mind reeled as if something had exploded in the depths of his consciousness, which was now being compressed, inch by agonizing inch.
Deep within Lu Jingjun’s mind, two consciousnesses stood in opposition: the black shadow and Lu Jingjun himself.
The black shadow looked at Lu Jingjun and smiled, a smug, satisfied expression like that of a hunter gazing at its trapped prey. "Heh heh... such a fragile consciousness. It seems this body is already mine."
It spread its arms, transforming into a surging black tide that rushed toward Lu Jingjun’s consciousness.

Comments

Loading...