"That's the one!"
Wang Zhao led the crowd and finally arrived at the alley where Chen Mu's house was located, then pointed to the two houses in the distance.
Wang Zheng's face immediately darkened as he gestured with his hand, leading the crowd over to the door, where he stretched out his hand and fiercely 'bang bang' knocked on the door.
"Chen Mu, come out!"
"Where is he!"
He called out to the inside of the house twice in a row.
But there was no response.
Wang Zhao said from the side, "Chen Mu is probably off on duty, but he has a sister who should be at home, and Ni'er is likely there as well. They have nowhere else to go. Should we wait for someone to come back, or..."
"Hmph."
Wang Zheng snorted and said, "Wait for what, smash the door! If we are going to wait, we'll do it inside!"
No sooner had his words fallen, than the few men beside him darkened their faces in response and picked up their staffs and sticks, slamming hard against the decrepit wooden door in front of them.
The wooden door was already decayed and on its last legs, and even the bolt inside was a piece of rotten wood. After a few intense smashes by the men, it immediately emitted a creaking sound of being overwhelmed, then the bolt was directly shattered by the force!
Bang!
Wang Zhao kicked open the door with his foot.
But just as he rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge in, a cold reprimand came from afar.
"How dare you!"
This cold reprimand brought everyone to a halt as they turned and looked back. They saw Chen Mu, wearing his City Defense Division uniform and carrying his Servant's Knife, appearing at the mouth of the alley, walking toward them with a cold expression on his face.
Even though he was just one man facing twenty or thirty others, he showed no sign of retreat. With each step he took, a faint trace of Evil Qi was revealed - a Momentum born naturally from having personally killed people and having bloodied his hands.
"Who gave you the audacity to cause trouble here?"
Chen Mu walked forth step by step, his gaze coldly sweeping over the people in front of the door, then settling on Wang Zhao.
Wang Zhao's anticipation of having everyone come together to force Chen Mu into submission and hand over the deed and Wang Ni did not occur. Instead, Chen Mu's arrival, with knife in hand and brimming with threatening Qi, intimidated everyone on their side.
But he was quick to recover.
With more than twenty people having come together, what could Chen Mu do alone with a knife? It was nothing more than a bluff.
"Hmph! Don't think that just because you're a constable, you can bully the old and frail! You took advantage of my uncle's old age, seized his house deed, and even snatched away my uncle's granddaughter. Even if we have to make a fuss at the City Defense Division or the district head's office, we must have this dispute settled!"
Wang Zhao stared at Chen Mu and rebuked harshly.
If this had happened in the past, Chen Mu might have had no choice but to yield in the face of such a situation. But now, he was not someone who could be easily forced into submission by the mere summoning of twenty or thirty men – that was nothing but a pipe dream.
As Chen Mu pondered whether to assert his authority or take some other action, suddenly another calm voice came from a distance.
"Oh? For such a trivial matter, I don't think there is any need to trouble the district head. How about you all explain yourselves to me first?"
"Who?!"
Wang Zhao frowned, not expecting someone to meddle. He immediately turned his head to look.
But the sight that met his eyes nearly made him sit down on the ground from shock.
Together with the other twenty or thirty men, including Wang Zheng and the others who were initially full of menace, all widened their eyes when they saw the figure striding toward them from the far end of the street.
They saw a middle-aged man in a dark green flying fish robe approaching steadily, with a square face and large ears, hands clasped behind his back, walking step by step. Behind him, two men in blue City Defense Division uniforms followed.
City Defense Division.
Gray uniforms were for constables, blue for head constables, and the dark green robe could only be worn by one person in the Ninth District's City Defense Division – the Prefecture Chief who commanded nearly two hundred constables... Min Baoyi!
Min Baoyi approached leisurely as if taking a casual stroll, but as he moved forward, the entire scene fell into a deadly silence. Even the onlookers from nearby households and the ruffians who had come for the spectacle stared in fear.
Prefecture Chief of the City Defense Division!
He was a true important figure in the Ninth District. Even the leaders of the local Gangs had to behave respectfully when they saw him, and the local gentry and power brokers had to greet him with a smile. In the current state of affairs, to call him the 'Emperor' of this small territory of the Ninth District was no exaggeration – his word could send someone to hell!
"Goodness, the Prefecture Chief Min actually came. What's going on here..."
Some members of the Red Gold Gang, who were stealthily peeking at the commotion after hearing the noise, looked at each other with faces full of confusion and a sense of dread.
For such a significant figure like Min Baoyi to personally come to this run-down alley was as bizarre as encountering a ghost outside one's own doorstep.
In the deadly stillness.
Min Baoyi arrived with a tranquil demeanor, turning to the petrified Wang Zhao and the others and speaking indifferently, "Well then, am I not qualified enough to hear your disputes, or do you insist on having the district head come over personally?"
Upon hearing these words, Wang Zhao and the others jolted and quickly knelt down en masse, "Prefecture... Prefecture Chief, we wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare..."
"You claimed to have a case to make, so go on, let's hear it."
Min Baoyi stood with his hands behind his back, speaking indifferently.
Wang Zheng and Wang Zhao among others didn't dare mention anything about Wang Ni and Old Man Wang at this time; although they bragged about making a fuss at the City Defense Division or the district head's place, it was merely a bluff to bolster their Blade Momentum. In the presence of an important figure like Min Baoyi, what mattered was not arguments or reason—it would have been a disaster if they misspoke and displeased Min Baoyi.
"This humble one... this humble one was just... some misunderstanding..."
Wang Zhao spoke, trembling with fear.
Min Baoyi glanced indifferently at Wang Zhao and the others, and seeing that their speech had become unsteady, he finally shifted his gaze. He then looked towards Chen Mu, who stood aside, and a genial smile finally appeared on Min Baoyi's indifferent face: "Young Chen, you truly hide your light under a bushel, such that even I, the Prefecture Chief, had not the slightest inkling."
Chen Mu bowed to Min Baoyi and said, "Prefecture Chief."
By now, he had realized that probably after receiving Xu Hongyu's message, Min Baoyi had immediately started investigating his case, and then just happened to catch wind of the news about Wang Zhao and his group assembling to cause him trouble. After some consideration, Min Baoyi had personally come.
On the one hand, the gesture from Xu Hongyu held significant weight; on the other hand, perhaps Xu Hongyu had also revealed some details about his abilities. For him to have mastered the Blade Momentum at his age, it wouldn't be difficult to achieve Body Refinement by the age of thirty. Once he reached that standard, he would be fully qualified to hold the position of a Prefecture Chief. It was not surprising that he was being groomed by Xu Hongyu as a prospective Prefecture Chief.
This status naturally warranted a personal visit from Min Baoyi.
"Heh heh, no need for such formality; from now on, just call me Big Brother Min," said Min Baoyi as he walked over, reached out to pull Chen Mu's arm, and patted his shoulder.
The two blue-clad Head Constables who followed Min Baoyi glanced at Chen Mu with hints of envy in their eyes. They had been close to Min Baoyi for some time and had thus come to know a bit about the situation.
Although Chen Mu currently only had the status of a servant, even the Head Constables, who followed Min Baoyi around, did not have the privilege of being treated so intimately by him, let alone the honor of addressing Min Baoyi as 'Big Brother'. Such an honor was extraordinary.
Meanwhile.
Watching this scene, Wang Zhao, Wang Zheng, and the rest were petrified.
Two or three dozen men stood rigid, their eyes wide open as if they were turned to stone. Some of them sweated profusely, and Wang Zheng even felt his back turn ice-cold as if winter had suddenly arrived.
However, at this moment, neither Chen Mu nor Min Baoyi paid them any attention.
Chen Mu looked at Min Baoyi: "Prefecture Chief, this..."
"Hmm?"
Min Baoyi intentionally put on a stern face.
Chen Mu had no choice but to say helplessly, "Big Brother Min... this is just a small matter, it's really troubling that you had to come all this way."
"Hahaha, I had nothing else to do, so it's no bother," Min Baoyi laughed heartily and then took a look at Chen Mu's humble abode. "This dwelling place is a bit unfit for living. I have a spare compound behind Zhengli Street, with two courtyards and three rooms. Although it's not spacious, it's clean enough. I'll give it to you as a gift, little brother. It's conveniently close to the City Defense Division too, making it easier for me to find you for a drink or a chat."
"This..."
Chen Mu hesitated for a moment.
But Min Baoyi didn't give him a chance to refuse and insisted on giving the gift, leaving Chen Mu no choice but to reluctantly accept.
It seemed like he had just gained a two-courtyard compound, but in reality, it was a favor from Min Baoyi. In the future, if Min Baoyi asked him for anything, it would be hard for him to refuse. This Prefecture Chief, as genial as he might seem, was also a man of subtle calculation.
At this point.
Min Baoyi finally glanced at Wang Zhao and the others, smiling as he said, "These people are so rude and offensive; I think grabbing them and giving each thirty strokes at the yamen should suffice. If little brother is not satisfied, we can also throw them in jail."
Though he spoke casually of throwing them in jail, it was essentially an off-handed sentencing of twenty or thirty lives.
In the current times, twenty or thirty lives really didn't mean much to someone like Min Baoyi—an issue resolved with a single utterance.
Hearing Min Baoyi's words, Chen Mu inwardly sighed; a year ago, he was nothing but a lowly servant whose life hung by a thread, and now, with just a single word, he could easily determine the life and death of twenty or thirty people.
"Mercy, my lord, mercy..."
Wang Zhao and the others had gone pale, collapsing on the ground one by one, knocking their heads on the floor until they bled without daring to stop, bereft of any prior bluster.
A servant with no connections or powerful background wasn't intimidating to them, but a Head Constable was an entity they couldn't afford to provoke, let alone the Prefecture Chief. In Ninth District, the Prefecture Chief was among the most powerful figures, second only to the district head.
The crowd of men cursed Wang Zheng and Wang Zhao to their core—if only they had known Chen Mu could call the Prefecture Chief 'brother', not even ten times the courage would have made them dare to make trouble.
Chen Mu indifferently glanced at the crowd and then bowed to Min Baoyi: "I'll leave them to Big Brother Min to deal with as he sees fit."
Min Baoyi chuckled and said, "Good, the repairs on the South City wall are in need of laborers soon, so let's put them to good use."
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhao and the others immediately collapsed weakly to the ground, their faces ashen, with only one thought rising in their hearts.
It's over.
Wall repairing was infamously the most burdensome corvee labor in the whole city. Hardly anyone sent to do it ever returned—a task not meant for living souls, with most laborers being sentenced prisoners.
Min Baoyi, however, didn't care at all. He signaled with a look to the Head Constables behind him to take care of it and then turned to Chen Mu: "The day is still early, little brother. How about you accompany me to the City Defense Division?"
"I obey Big Brother Min's order. However, my sister was probably frightened; I must console her a little," Chen Mu bowed to Min Baoyi.
Min Baoyi waved his hand, saying, "All right, then I'll go ahead and wait for you at the City Defense Division."
Having said that.
He turned and strolled away.