Legend Management Bureau Chapter 195

[ … words ]

In a street filled with slaughter, a massive figure suddenly crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The crowd looked over to see a burly, overweight man. He wielded a stone club and wore a fierce expression.

“An Lushan, you actually resorted to a sneak attack?” Niulang coldly shouted at the fat man. “Aren’t you afraid of Sister Meng blaming you?”

“Sneak attack?” An Lushan sneered. “Your people marched over here radiating killing intent, and my people just happened to be strolling around you. We simply launched our attacks at the same time. How is that a sneak attack?”

“Ridiculous. Do you really think such a petty trick can take us down?”

Niulang took off his mink coat as he stepped forward. “Today, we’ll settle both our old and new scores. I still vividly remember how you injured Luan Tong, blinded Sang Gui, and robbed three of my shops back then. Don’t expect me to show you any mercy.”

“What a joke. How dare a rogue cultivator who just formed his Core bark at a High Immortal like me?”

An Lushan gripped his stone club and strode toward Niulang.

With twin roars, the two men collided in a bloody melee.

Zhinü’s two machetes were already stained with blood. Her expression was exceptionally cold and stern. “Niulang hasn’t asked, so I won’t intervene. This is a battle he must face as a man.”

Du Yu watched Niulang with concern. Sure enough, neither his cultivation nor his physical body was as strong as An Lushan’s, and he quickly sustained injuries. However, Niulang possessed a unique aura. Even though he was knocked down time and time again, he didn’t reveal a single trace of fear.

“Niulang, you brought so many people here, but I want to see how you’re going to clean up this mess,” An Lushan said as he swung his stone club.

Niulang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked, “An Lushan, why don’t I see your capable right-hand man this time?”

“Do I even need to dispatch my best general to deal with your Lang Group?” An Lushan sneered. “Who do you think you are? Qiang Nü? Li Lianying?”

“Hahahaha!” Niulang suddenly burst into loud laughter. “An Lushan, I really overestimated you. If I am not mistaken, your subordinate is currently leading men to sweep through my territory, right?”

An Lushan snorted coldly. “So what if he is?”

“In your eyes, there’s absolutely no need to mobilize your entire force to deal with our Lang Group. You only needed to bring a fraction of your lackeys to hold us off here, while the rest go to invade West Street. This way, even if we are defeated, we’ll have nowhere to run. No matter what happens, the Lang Group’s power will vanish from the Inner Underworld tonight.”

“And?” An Lushan smiled at Niulang. “You knew full well that I would seize West Street, yet you still brought your forces to attack in full scale. It seems your foresight is nothing more than this.”

Niulang stood back up and assumed a fighting stance. “An Lushan, if I wasn’t absolutely confident, how could I risk it all on a single throw of the dice?”

As soon as his voice fell, waves of agonizing screams echoed from afar. An Lushan turned his head and saw a woman clad in black leather, wielding dual machetes, erupting with astonishing combat power. The lackeys before her were cut down like stalks of wheat, completely unable to parry her strikes.

Turning his head again, he spotted a man moving through the crowd with ghostly agility. An Lushan found his footwork remarkably familiar as he watched the man pierce through his underlings one after another with a rapier.

“So you hired helpers?” An Lushan sneered. “Do you think this guarantees your victory?”

“At the very least, this is the highest chance of winning I’ve ever had.”

After speaking, Niulang clashed with An Lushan once more. Relying purely on his bare fists, he engaged in close-quarters combat with An Lushan, whose cultivation base was far superior. This dauntless momentum greatly inspired the subordinates around him.

…

Inner Underworld, West Street.

A troop of men was advancing swiftly through the area. They had been ordered by An Lushan to take over West Street.

Yet, to their bewilderment, every door and window in the neighborhood was tightly shut, and not a single soul could be seen.

The squad had been roaming around for over twenty minutes without spotting a single member of the Lang Group.

Was it really as Niulang said? Had they abandoned their headquarters and mobilized their entire force?

“Boss, what should we do now?” a lackey asked the man leading the group.

The leader pondered for a moment before replying, “If we return empty-handed like this, Brother Shan will probably fly into a rage…”

“But there really isn’t anyone from the Lang Group here…”

The leader glanced around and declared, “We need something to show for our efforts no matter what. Let’s go take down Niulang’s bar! If they really moved out in full force, the bar’s defenses must be incredibly weak. As long as we capture Niulang’s headquarters, Brother Shan shouldn’t blame us.”

With their target confirmed, hundreds of thugs rushed hurriedly toward Niulang’s bar.

Even if there were still people defending the bar, their numbers would surely be sparse.

“Boss, we’re here!” a lackey shouted.

The leader looked over and saw that the bar truly lacked any defensive forces. The entire building was terrifyingly quiet. There was even a drunken scholar fast asleep at the entrance, hugging a wine jar.

“Let’s go.”

Just as the leader and his numerous underlings were about to march into the bar, someone tugged at his pant leg.

He turned his head and saw that the drunken scholar at the door had actually reached out and grabbed him.

“Hey, do you want to die?” the leader asked coldly. “This has nothing to do with you. Get lost.”

The drunken scholar struggled to open his eyes. “No… nothing to do with me? No, no, no…”

The scholar stumbled to his feet, staring at An Lushan’s men with bleary eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly lost his balance, slumping right onto the leader.

A look of displeasure crossed the leader’s face, and he shoved the drunken scholar away violently.

This shove seemed to sober the scholar up slightly. He gradually steadied himself and slurred, “Niulang asked this humble scholar to stand guard here. There are two important people inside who need protection. You all should leave quickly, otherwise, you’ll die…”

“Niulang?!” An Lushan’s subordinates gave the scholar a baffled look. “You’re from the Lang Group?”

They couldn’t understand why Niulang would assign a drunkard to guard the door.

“Hey, if you’re with the Lang Group, then don’t blame us for not holding back!” a lackey yelled. “We’ll scatter your soul to the winds today!”

The leader nodded in agreement. “We’re taking this bar, too!”

The scholar scratched his head in a troubled manner. “So… you refuse to leave?”

“So what if we don’t leave?!” the leader cursed irritably. “You underestimated our Brother Shan, thinking no one would attack, so you got yourself dead drunk. Did you really think a few words could scare us off? If your soul gets annihilated today, you brought it upon yourself!”

The drunken scholar didn’t answer. Instead, he peered at them through drowsy, intoxicated eyes and asked:

“Do you gentlemen like listening to Pingju opera?”

“Ping… Pingju opera?”

They watched as the drunken scholar slowly smoothed his sleeves, swaying back and forth as he began to sing:

“I can only escape disaster and seek refuge in drunkenness, even if others mock my wild and crazy ways!”

His singing voice was melodious and graceful. Although laced with drunkenness, it possessed a captivating magic.

Upon hearing this, one of the lackeys couldn’t help but take a step back. “B-boss, something doesn’t feel right…”

The leader hadn’t yet grasped the meaning of his words when the scholar suddenly vanished from sight. However, that melodious operatic voice continued to echo in his ears:

“Drinking east to the Dongyang Sea, drinking west to old Sichuan. Drinking south to the lands of Yunnan, drinking north beyond the Great Wall.”

“Playing the devil! What the hell are you singing!?”

The leader hurriedly turned his head to search for the scholar, only to see his numerous underlings getting decapitated one by one amidst the faint, lingering notes of the Pingju opera.

In the very next second, the scholar appeared directly in front of the leader. Carrying a pungent stench of alcohol, the scholar sang slowly, “Drank through the north, south, east, and west, yet never have I been drunk for half a day.”

At this moment, the man finally felt an aura of absolute terror creeping up from the soles of his feet. His legs desperately wanted to flee, while his hands scrambled to protect himself. This resulted in a bizarre display as he hopped backward while blindly throwing punches at the drunken scholar.

The scholar smiled faintly. His body twisted left and right in a grotesque manner, easily evading the leader’s attacks before drunkenly slumping against him once again.

This time, the man didn’t dare to touch him. Retreating continuously, he bellowed, “Who are you?!”

Before the scholar could answer, the last surviving lackey screamed, “Boss, run! The Pingju he’s singing is ‘Liu Ling Gets Drunk’! He is Liu Ling!”

Liu Ling waved a hand behind him, and that lackey’s head went flying into the air as well.

“Liu Ling?!” A complex expression surfaced on the leader’s face. “Isn’t Liu Ling one of the Lang Group’s ‘Four Fiends’ who has never shown his face? He actually possesses such strength?! If the Lang Group had someone like this, why were they suppressed by our Barren Mountain?!”

The hundreds of subordinates he had brought along were all completely decapitated in just a few short moments. Even Niulang himself might not be capable of such terrifying power.

Liu Ling swayed back and forth, smiling as he said, “This humble scholar simply dislikes fighting and killing, yet you all came marching here to kill. What am I to do…”

The leader dropped to his knees with a loud thud, his voice laced with sobs. “I deserve to die! I had eyes but couldn’t recognize Mount Tai! Brother Ling, please be magnanimous and spare my life… I was only following orders!”

Liu Ling smiled and helped the man to his feet. “Relax, relax. This humble scholar won’t kill you.”

The man stood up, trembling violently, absolutely too terrified to speak.

“If this humble scholar kills you, subsequent forces will just keep coming to attack, won’t they?” Liu Ling said with a smile. “Therefore, this humble scholar will let you return alive to tell them what happened here. That way, they won’t come back, and this humble scholar can drink to his heart’s content, right?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” The leader nodded frantically.

“But this humble scholar is also in a difficult position. If you go back completely unharmed to deal with Niulang, that would just add to his troubles,” Liu Ling continued. “So I need to make sure you can’t lay a hand on Niulang. Makes sense, right?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Rest assured, Brother Ling! Once I get back, I absolutely won’t do anything to Brother Lang…”

Without waiting for the man to finish, Liu Ling casually waved his hands twice, and both of the man’s arms were cleanly severed.