The glaring fire rushed up in the dark night and was quickly noticed.
"Fire! Fire! Hurry and put out the fire!"
"Wait, that direction is Uncle Ba's house!"
"Eh? It really is. Are we still going?"
The town was in chaos. Many townspeople were ready to rush out to put out the fire, but they stopped in their tracks.
"Uncle Ba has many valiant generals under him, he shouldn't need us, right?" An old man muttered. He threw down the water bucket and pulled his grandson back into the house. "What are you looking at? Let's go to bed and sleep."
"Maybe it's because Uncle Ba is happy during the new year, so he lit a fire to liven things up." In another family, someone pretended to be serious and speculated, but there was unconcealed glee in his voice.
And so, a strange scene appeared. Not a single person in Peace Town went to put out the fire. Countless eyes watched as the fire grew bigger and bigger, enshrouding the entire courtyard.
The area within the vicinity of Uncle Ba's house was empty. No one dared approach it on normal days, but now it did not affect other families, so everyone was even less anxious. They just treated it as if they were watching fireworks on new year's day.
In the Li family's courtyard, Jiang Ming passed by outside and glanced at the empty courtyard. Only a few bodies were lying quietly in the snow.
It seemed that Elder Li's family had already left this place.
"Whether you can live or not will depend on your own fortune." Jiang Ming's expression did not change. He turned around and went home.
He had already done everything he could. People had to rely on themselves in order to live, and no one could help them for the rest of their lives.
After washing the blood off his body, Jiang Ming lay quietly on his bed and finally felt much more comfortable.
After this incident, he finally understood what he wanted.
Longevity was good, but unhappy longevity was unbearable. What was the point of it?
"I can live for a very long time. Even a century is just a fleeting moment for me. But even so, I have to live every day to my heart's content. However, I'm not strong enough. Only by becoming stronger can I settle the score faster. If I were a first-class martial artist, I could directly annihilate the Old Snake Gang and the Shi family. I could kill anyone who might come to find trouble with me. I would be much safer this way."
Jiang Ming reflected on himself and finally fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
The next morning, the noise outside woke Jiang Ming up. He knew what was going on, but he still opened the door and walked out with a blank face.
A group of people gathered in front of the Li family's courtyard, pointing at the corpses that had died miserably. Their faces were red with excitement as if they had discovered a gold mine.
Jiang Ming was a little stunned. This was different from what he had imagined. He thought that everyone was in danger and was terrified.
"This scene is so weird!" He shook his head in disbelief.
"Ming, how can you sleep?" Ah Fei rolled up his sleeves and stood outside the door.
"What do you mean?" Jiang Ming's face showed an appropriate dumbfounded expression.
"Uncle Ba and his gang of punks— they're all dead!" Ah Fei lowered his voice and grinned. "Three people died in front of Elder Li's house, and each one was more miserable than the last. Uncle Ba's yard was also burned down and swept clean."
Jiang Ming was shocked.
"I was wondering why no one put out the fire last night. It turns out that they've been roasted whole. What a pity! What a pity!" an old herb gatherer sighed.
"What are you so regretful about?" Ah Fei was confused.
"It's a pity I didn't see such a happy event with my own eyes!" The old man slapped his thigh in regret.
Jiang Ming was speechless.
Soon, a minor official, who was not even dressed in black, rushed over in a hurry, his face unsightly as he shouted, "Go away, go away. I'll arrest whoever stays here as the murderer."
"If you have the ability, catch the real murderer!" The townspeople gradually dispersed, but a festive atmosphere quietly spread in Peace Town.
Some families hung up red paper lanterns to celebrate the new year. Some people even put up red packets in advance. Some people even walked around in advance and paid their respects to their ancestors.
Jiang Ming wanted to keep a low profile, but even the fat woman beside him had two big red lanterns hanging up and was wearing a red dress. Obviously, Uncle Ba's fuss that day had caused her a lot of harm.
"If I don't do something, I won't get along with the crowd." therefore, Jiang Ming also bought a pair of red packets and pasted them on the door in advance.
Looking at the few people cleaning up the bodies next door, Jiang Ming thought, "They should be here soon, right? Uncle Ba is the Old Snake Gang's manager here, after all. Besides, that Elder Tong or whatever also died."
As expected, a group of Old Snake Gang members rushed to Peace Town that afternoon. They knocked on each door and sternly asked about what had happened last night.
However, no matter how much they threatened the townspeople, they did not find anything.
During the cold winter night, no one dared walk around blindly, and no one dared get too close to the punks and Uncle Ba, so no one saw the murderer.
In the end, the only information they had was that the Li family had disappeared.
"Damn it!"
The Old Snake Gang's leader's face was as dark as stone. His eyes were burning with rage. Not only did he fail to capture Li Zhuang, but he also lost an expert who could sense blood Qi, Elder Tong. It was a double loss.
However, when he saw those corpses, his anger seemed to have been doused by a basin of cold water and was instantly extinguished.
"A martial artist definitely caused this wound! Perhaps there's more than one of them. Even if they were martial artists, it would be difficult for them to kill Elder Tong and Uncle Ba simultaneously." The leader was shocked.
"Maybe it's one of the gang's enemies." The leader felt a chill run down his spine. The Old Snake Gang was used to being arrogant and had made countless enemies.
To the Old Snake Gang, a martial artist might not be considered a threat. However, if the other party had made up their mind to constantly plot behind the scenes instead of directly confronting them, even the Old Snake Gang would have run into trouble.
"I have to report this to the gang. I can't be so arrogant in Peace Town anymore." the leader thought to himself. It was fine in the prefecture since no one dared do anything to the Old Snake Gang, but if their enemies targeted Peace Town, then there was really nothing they could do.
That night, the Old Snake Gang retreated like the tide as if nothing had happened. The townspeople were amazed, unable to figure out what had happened.
"They're scared."
Only Jiang Ming and Old Jiang were left in the bar late at night.
"Are you scared?" Old Jiang was stunned and muttered. "The old men in the city are also afraid of this person."
"From now on, even if the Old Snake Gang sends someone to manage Peace Town again, life will be much better." Jiang Ming smiled faintly.
Old Jiang poured a glass of wine for Jiang Ming and said with emotion, "I still have to thank that unknown hero."