Chapter 9: Kill One in Ten Steps Without halting the Heart!
"I’m surprised you’re not dead. But since you dared to show your face again, you’re not leaving!"
Brother Fei waved his hand, and more than thirty even more robust men swarmed in, tightly encircling Lin Mu. When Lin Mu had gone on his killing spree earlier, Qi Fei had already notified his most formidable fighters to surround the bar.
Lin Mu’s appearance was a genuine surprise, and the sheer number of people he had killed was shocking.
But so what? This is my territory! When Brother Dao handed this place over to me, he not only granted me tremendous power but also left countless men at my disposal. If Lin Mu didn’t die the first time, I’ll just have to kill him again!
"Get him! Dead or alive!" Qi Fei pulled up a chair and sat down, looking perfectly at ease as he watched the impending show.
"I want to see if he can even make it to me!" A twisted, cold smile played on Qi Fei’s lips, his heart brimming with murderous intent.
THUD! THUD!
Unlike the security guards from before, who were just a bunch of thugs, these thirty burly men all had restrained auras, ice-cold eyes, and indifferent expressions. They showed no reaction to the bloody scene in the bar. They were like a true military unit.
Indeed, that’s what they were. These men were the trump card Brother Dao had used to dominate River City. They were his razor-sharp knives, each one meticulously selected and secretly trained.
How had Brother Dao been able to establish such a firm foothold in River City, even coming close to sweeping through all the city’s underground forces? Aside from his own fortuitous encounters and incredible courage, it was because of the very men standing here.
Two of the burly men strode forward, heading straight for Lin Mu. Their speed was incomparable to that of the previous group. Moreover, they moved without a word, without any communication. They were a silent, powerful force.
Seeing their cold, merciless gazes and their arrogance that treated life as worthless, Lin Mu gave a slight smile as a heroic spirit surged through him.
"In days of old, a hero’s word was his bond!"
Lin Mu stepped forward, moving as casually as if strolling through a garden. His fists flew out, shifting like fallen leaves dancing through flowers, then erupting like a Thunderbolt, effortlessly crushing the two men’s chests. Blood splattered everywhere.
"For the slightest offense, a life I would take; a body lighter than a feather’s down!"
His form blurred into afterimages, lighter than a feather as he weaved past two more thugs, taking their lives as he went.
"With a sword that cuts iron worn at my side, in a flash of rage, I kill!"
Lin Mu’s eyes turned to ice as a piercing killing intent swept from him. His hands became blades, slicing through the throats of two more men.
"We’d carve our own flesh to flavor our wine, with laughter that startled both gods and ghosts!"
The killing intent grew more frantic, and Lin Mu’s speed increased, reaping life after life.
At this moment, he was killing them like weeds.
Qi Fei’s expression changed for the second time, twisting through shock, disbelief, anger, and finally, fear.
How can Lin Mu be this strong? Isn’t he just the Qin Family’s live-in son-in-law? A worthless piece of trash, a pushover anyone can bully! Just this afternoon, I had his limbs broken and his body dumped on a desolate mountain. How has he completely transformed in just a few hours? This is inconceivable!
His back was drenched in a cold sweat of pure terror.
Ninth Brother’s face was ashen, and he trembled uncontrollably. His mind was completely filled with the image of Lin Mu. He himself was cruel, but compared to Lin Mu, he was nothing! He saw toying with people as a game, a way to find amusement. But that man... that man regarded life as trash, treating it with cold indifference. In his eyes, he wasn’t killing people. He was just crushing ants.
The tall, thin man’s eyes glinted as he murmured, "Such terrifying killing intent!"
At that moment, a murderous aura enveloped Lin Mu’s heart. A long-suppressed resentment ignited within him, burning fiercely before exploding outward.
"I’d leave by the west gate at dawn, and return with a head in my hand by dusk!"
As the last word fell, two heads flew high into the air, fountaining blood.
"The carnage of my battles shook heaven and earth, and horrified the courts of the underworld!"
The bloodlust was so potent it seemed to silence the world, leaving only the thick stench of blood mingling with a soaring, heroic aura.
"A man falls every three steps; my heart is still, but my hand never stops."
Word by word, line by line, the verses overflowed with peerless heroism. But behind that heroism lay a killing intent that could make heaven and earth tremble.
A ruthless slaughter unfolded. Lin Mu was like the Grim Reaper descended, claiming a life with every single step forward. In that moment, human life was as insignificant as grass. With every step Lin Mu took, another person died a horrible death. Cries of agony, desperate screams, and pleas for mercy echoed all around.
This so-called military unit was butchered by Lin Mu, one by one, until not a single man was left standing.
Blood stained his clothes red and painted the floor of the bar. The thick, coppery smell permeated the entire space.
His heart seethed with murderous intent. This intent was for the original host, for all his past humiliations—being treated like a dog, having his limbs broken, and being left for dead in the wilderness. It was for an innocent life, framed and betrayed for the sake of love. If he hadn’t taken over this body, that pitiful, tragic soul would have simply vanished from the world, unremembered by anyone. This killing intent was also for the injustice of this world, for the absurd philosophy that all beings beneath the Heavenly Dao were nothing more than ants.
What are the wealthy? What is power? And what of the Heavenly Dao? Know this: when a common man is enraged, blood spills for three paces. But when the Son of Heaven is enraged, rivers of blood flow for a thousand miles! I am the world’s number one assassin, and I am the Grazing Emperor! Once, I killed for justice, robbing the rich to help the poor, vowing to slay every person on earth who deserved to die. Later, I became the Eternal Emperor, shepherding countless immortals and celestials, with billions of the Divine Race kneeling at my feet. The Heavenly Dao? The Heavenly Dao was merely something I am destined to shatter. It is nothing more than a Dao Method I am currently cultivating!
The bar was deathly silent.
Qi Fei and his remaining men stared wide-eyed at Lin Mu. The massacre had chilled them to the bone, searing a permanent shadow into their hearts. A frigid chill shot up from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads. Their minds were filled with nothing but shock, terror, and quaking fear.
Now, Qi Fei didn’t dare speak. Ninth Brother didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. In their eyes, Lin Mu’s figure grew larger and larger until it filled their entire consciousness, branding itself deep into their souls.
He wasn’t just an incarnation of the Grim Reaper.
No... he *was* the Grim Reaper.
Lin Mu walked toward Qi Fei step by step, his gaze as frigid as ever, his fearsome killing intent completely undiminished.
He walked past Ninth Brother, lifted his foot, and brought it down.
Ninth Brother became a corpse. Resist? The thought never even crossed his mind.
He passed by Zhang Da without pausing.
PFFT!
Suddenly, Zhang Da’s head lolled to the side as blood trickled from his nose and mouth, his face a mask of pure terror. He had literally been scared to death.
The two women, still unconscious, were lucky enough to be spared. Even so, the scene that had unfolded would be enough to give them nightmares for the rest of their lives.
Watching Lin Mu advance like a god of slaughter, seeing the corpses and pools of blood on the floor, Qi Fei’s eyes went vacant, his limbs ice-cold. A dreadful premonition surfaced in his mind.
In the next moment, Lin Mu stopped right in front of him.
"I’ve come. I’ll be taking your head now."
He raised his palm, about to strike.
Just then, a cold voice shouted out.
"Enough!"