Chapter 102 An Unforgivable Sin
“Magical… magical power?”
Zheng Cunjian stammered in disbelief. He was as appalled as he had just seen a ghost in broad daylight.
“What on earth is happening?”
“This slow-witted and unscrupulous magistrate of Taibai County also has magical power?”
“He is a warlock?” The scholar could not believe what he just saw.
“Ah… Damn it, you dare to… Aaah!”
Painful shrieks came out from the net of the lightning sparks.
The figure wrapped in the black fire was flailing about violently.
Li Mu flicked his wrist.
At once, the purple net of lighnting sparks cracked and squelched, as if it was whipping something around. A moment later, a person was revealed behind the net.
It was a long-faced man in his 30s. He was wearing a long black robe. His black hair more than one meter long was hanging down loosely. Twisting and screeching, he was being lashed by flashes of the purple lightning as sparks burst out and a burnt odor pervaded the place.
After quite a while, the net of the lightning sparks dimmed and eventually disappeared.
The long-faced man was thrown to the ground.
But he bounced up the moment he fell on the earth as if he had springs installed in his body. Clutching a sharp dagger, he flung himself upon Li Mu with all of his strength.
“No…” Shouted Zheng Cunjian desperately.
He was very clear that no weapons could harm this magistrate of Taibai County.
But it was too late.
“Humph…” Li Mu sneered. He nonchalantly raised a hand and gripped the blade of that dagger. Sure enough, the blade did not cut his fingers at all. Then, with a soft squeezed, he melted the sharp blade and the liquid steel overflew through his fingers.
“It can’t be!” The long-face man found that rather difficult to believe.
“Why it can’t be?” Li Mu briskly slapped him with that raised hand before he continued, “Seems that you’ve come here to play the hero but failed to pry on my strength beforehand.”
Another slap landed on the man’s face!
One side of his face immediately swelled up.
“How dare you slap me, the supervisor of the Supervisory Department! Hahaha, interesting! This is fu*king interesting! Little county magistrate, you’re doomed! I’ll report all of this to the Supervisory Department. You, your family, and your friends are all dead meat…” Hollered the long-faced man menacingly, “I swear, I will make you regret this for the rest of your life… Hahaha, this is freaking interesting. Wow, I’m thrilled by just imagining it.”
Li Mu scowled at him.
“Well then… Drop dead!”
The angry warlock gave the long-faced man another hard slap.
Wham!
The head of the latter instantly vanished from his neck.
In the wall about 20 meters away from his body, a dent shaped like a skull emerged.
In the very middle of the dent, thick red and white liquid slowly dripped down the surface of the wall.
Flop!
The headless corpse landed on the ground.
“I figure, from now on, you won’t find anything interesting.”
Li Mu muttered to the corpse before giving it a pull and let it fall down to the ground like a puppet with broken strings.
“In the days to come, no one can threaten me… or my friends anymore.”
Li Mu muttered to himself as he withdrew his palm unhurriedly.
In truth, when he was taking on Zheng Cunjian, Ning Zhongshan, and Chu Shufeng at an earlier time, he deliberately reserved part of his strength.
Because he didn’t like to be a killer.
However, just now, when that long-faced man malevolently threatened him after being thoroughly defeated, Li Mu suddenly understood something.
It dawned on him that on this planet and in this world of martial arts, mercy, tolerance, and forgiveness were practically meaningless, especially when he was confronting those in power who regarded other people’s lives as trifles. If he tolerated them, they would think him a coward; if he forgave them, they would reckon him dumb; if he showed them mercy by reserving his strength, they would take it that he was afraid of them.
Thus, to protect his loved ones, he had to eradicate those he hated.
To safeguard the good, he had to wipe out the evil.
Li Mu then cast his eyes on Zheng Cunjian.
“Don’t, don’t… don’t kill me. I… I’m sorry, I…”
By this point, the Heartless Scholar was totally scared out of his wits. He watched Li Mu as if he was staring at a demon crawling out of the hell. His ace card, his backup, his sense of superity, and his distinguished status were all thrown to the winds at this moment. The only thing he could feel and think about was the fear of this county magistrate.
“Now that he dared to kill a Supervisor of the Supervisory Department, who in this world does he dare not murder?”
At this point, Zheng Cunjian finally came to realize what kind of situation he was in.
He now learned what kind of man his opponent was.
His opponent was a 100% lunatic, who had no scruples and followed no rules.
Such a crazy man could have killed him as easily as killing a chicken or a bug.
“Tell me a reason why I should leave you alive.” Li Mu inquired the scholar patiently.
Shaking wildly, Zheng Cunjian faltered, “I… I… Second Young Master, I’ll tell you the truth… The truth is… it’s his honor who sent me here. I had no choice. Please, Second Young Master, given… given the fact that I looked out for your mother and you when you were young, don’t… don’t kill me…”
“What?”
Li Mu went speechless upon hearing his pleading.
“Is this bloke off his nuts because of fright?”
“What nonsense did he say?”
“What the heck that Second Young Master is?” Li Mu was puzzled.
“What are you talking about?” Li Mu waved his fist threateningly and pressed, “Are you playing the fool now?”
“No no no. Second Young Master, please hear me out. Before… I pretended that I didn’t know you, and so did you, right? I figured… it’s because you wish to keep your real identity a secret. I… Actually, I know your mother’s whereabouts, so don’t kill me…”
Zheng Cunjian answered wobbly, his soul nearly flying from his body in fear.
“Huh?”
An inspiration hit Li Mu.
“Hang on. This brat said he pretended to not know me before. That means he actually knows me… No, he knows the real Li Mu who belongs to this world but has fallen down the cliff and hasn’t returned yet, doesn’t he?” Li Mu deliberated his words and gradually caught on what was going on.
“Second Young Master?”
“If thinking about it in that way, the identity of the real Li Mu perhaps is not that simple as I thought. He must be someone from a powerful family.”
Li Mu was overwhelmed by the flood of new information.
“But how come the two little attendants never mentioned that before?”
Li Mu gave it a thought and then launched a Blade Punch at the scholar.
Hit by the punch, Zheng Cunjian spilled a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, his body as still as a stone.
At that scene, Ning Zhongshan and Chu Shufeng’s blood ran cold.
“Li Mu has killed Zheng Cunjian. Does it mean he is already seething with rage and going to massacre all of us?” The two could not even think about what would happen next.
Therefore, when Li Mu headed for them, they almost had a breakdown.
“Your honor, don’t kill me, please…” The round-faced and hook-nosed fatty Chu Shufeng started to squeal first, “Listen, Zheng Cunjian forced us to do all that… I will tell you everything, literally everything. This time, the magistrate of the Chang’an government sent us here precisely to turn you into a figurehead and then do away with you when the time comes. We’re all forced into this…”
One step after another, Li Mu advanced on him as he tried to defend himself.
“Look at you, where did that arrogant deputy county magistrate go? Why do you have no guts at all?” Li Mu shook his head disapprovingly. “Weren’t you trying to threaten me just a moment ago? Now, you’re less dignified than a pig. Do you think it’s interesting to live like this?”
“I… Don’t kill me,” Chu Shufeng burst into tears and howled, “I had no choice. I just followed the orders of the magistrate of the Chang’an government. Your honor, I’m sorry. I was blind to your power. I shouldn’t have gone against you. Please spare me!” He crawled over in an attempt to cling to Li Mu’s ankle and beg for his mercy.
Li Mu, however, lifted his foot and sent him flying with a kick.
The new Deputy county magistrate of Taibai County crashed into a rock nearby. With all his bones broken, he slowly slid down to the ground, leaving a strip of blood on the rock. And then, he flopped to the earth and his head tilted to one side as his breathing stopped forever.
In fact, at first Li Mu intended to let those culprits keep breathing so as to give the victims a chance to avenge themselves. But now, he changed his mind and decided not to waste even one more second on those despicable villains.
After finishing off Chu Shufeng, Li Mu turned and set his eyes on Ning Zhongshan.
The guilty target could almost jump out of their skin any moment now.
“Your honor… show some mercy, please! I can expose a crime! Qian Cheng, one of the deputy generals of the black-armored soldiers, knocked off Qing Feng’s teeth with the handle of his broadsword and bundled him up with very thin strings on purpose before hanging him up. That’s why the attendant is so badly injured…” Ning Zhongshan moaned. Although he was a martial arts practitioner, he had no will to fight at that moment. Like a mangy dog with no self-esteem, he whined, pleaded, and begged.
Li Mu froze after he heard his confession.
“Which one is Qian Cheng?” He glowered at the three deputy generals.
Two of them also flickered their eyes on the third one.
The third deputy general felt his heart hammering.
“Looks like you’re the one.” Li Mu said as he walked towards the general deputy.
“Aaaah! I’ll fight my last fight!” Qian Cheng growled and instantly drew out the broadsword fastened on his waist. “I am Qian Cheng, hahaha. This is the broadsword I used to smash that little kid’s teeth. Hahaha, what can you do to me? I’m the general of the empire army. How can I be afraid of you, a county magistrate? Go to hell!”
Hauling his broadsword, he lunged at Li Mu.
His internal qi was entwining his body.
This Qian Cheng certainly lived up to his title— he was already at the peak of the Joint-thoughts level.
Another whack sounded!
Li Mu gave him a hard slap in the face, which made him turn round and round on the spot like a spinning top.
After all, the deputy general’s strength was a far cry from Li Mu’s.
“What can I do to you?” Li Mu repeated. Then, he raised a hand and threw him another slap.
Qian Cheng spun faster.
After taking the two slaps, his face turned as colorful and swollen as a smashed ripe peach.
“What can I do to you?” Li Mu added one more slap.
Immediately, Qian Cheng felt his face, no, his entire head went numb.
Another whack sounded!
“I reckon I have to demand an eye for an eye!” Li Mu bellowed as his palm whirled over again.
After the four strikes, Qian Cheng’s features were all twisted. His nose and mouth were bleeding, his face almost out of shape.
Li Mu then stamped on him two times.
Two loud snaps sounded.
Qian Cheng’s legs were broken.
“Ow…” He groaned like a pig about to be slaughtered and quickly fell onto the ground.
Li Mu lifted his foot and then tramped hard on the deputy general until his legs were minced.
“No…” Qian Cheng howled wildly and miserably, “Kill me, kill me now!”
“Death is too little punishment for you.” Li Mu told him, his voice void of emotions.
When Li Mu thought of Qing Feng’s injuries, he could not contain the wrath and murderous intent he felt. This Qian Cheng had done such an atrocity to a 10-year-old child. The crime he committed was inhuman. Therefore, Li Mu was determined to let such a criminal have a taste of losing his own legs.
“Aargh, I’m sorry. I admit, what I did was savage. Please forgive me!” Qian Cheng wailed in terror.
“Now you know you’re sorry?” Li Mu looked down at him, flames of fury dancing in his eyes. “Why scumbags like you always have the power to decide other people’s fate? Your sin is unforgivable. You should die 10,000 times!”
He put his foot down again.
Qian Cheng’s body split into many parts.
Then, Li Mu wheeled around and stepped towards Ning Zhongshan.
“No no no, your honor, listen to me, I…” Ning Zhongshan implored, wriggling backward in alarm.
Li Mu scooped up Qian Cheng’s broadsword with his toes, tossed it to the air, and then caught it neatly.
“This one is for Ma Junwu!” Li Mu snarled as the broadsword hacked upon Ning Zhongshan.
“Aaah… your honor, please spare my life…” With the entire left arm chopped off, Ning Zhongshan stumbled back and struggled to justify himself, “Look, I’ve paid for my crime. I swear, from now on, I’ll work for you. I’m the new Dianshi janitor. I can be your henchman. Please don’t kill me…”
“I don’t want a henchman like you.” Li Mu hacked again. Then, he added, “This one is for Ma Junwu’s dashed dream of becoming the top archer of the Control Battalion!” Li Mu was very clear that after losing one arm Ma Junwu could not practice archery anymore. That must be much worse than simply killing the talented archer.
Snap!
A shining blade flew past.
Ning Zhongshan’s head was thrown off his body.
…