With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

In a long-abandoned house, Lin Qiang sat on a broken chair. The room was dimly lit, and dust floated in the slanting sunlight.

"Why is the town like this? How many people are left? What's the situation with the Liu family?"

Besides him, there were two other people in the room.

One was Lin Tie, and the other was about thirty years old. He had a black tiger embroidered on his clothes and was the owner of the Black Tiger Martial Arts School in Shitie Town. He came over on his own when he heard that the Lin family was coming.

The owner of the Black Tiger Martial Arts School sighed, "There are probably still about three thousand people in the town, mostly young and strong, with some elderly, weak, women and children, but not many."

The Liu family was originally a prominent family in the town. After the Wang family was wiped out, they killed the steward originally appointed by the Wang family, and now the town is basically controlled by the Liu family.

He paused, then lowered his voice: "As for why the town is in this state..."

Half the reason was the demonic beast, and the other half was the Liu family.

"In the past, most people in Shitie Town made a living by quarrying and mining. But once the trade routes were cut off, the things they mined could not be transported out, so all their work was in vain."

Without any livelihood, the villagers had no choice but to rent land from the Liu family to grow grain. However, they didn't know how to farm, and the Liu family demanded 70% rent and sold the grain at exorbitant prices. The townspeople's savings were gradually eroded.

Lin Qiang frowned deeply. "I remember Shitie Town used to have eight thousand people, right? So the remaining five thousand all died?"

"No, that's not it." The curator shook his head. "Six years ago, when the nest was destroyed, there weren't many monsters. Some of the other wealthy families and townspeople left. Some went to live with relatives, and some made other living outside."

"The remaining five thousand or so are either strong laborers who only know how to quarry and mine and have no other means of making a living, or the elderly, weak, women and children who cannot walk."

"Even so, more than two thousand people died..." Lin Qiang said in a deep voice, his knuckles lightly tapping the worn tabletop.

The owner smiled bitterly: "They've all died of starvation, beatings, and disease. The Liu family is ruthless when it comes to collecting rent, and they also have a group of thugs they employ in the town. If people don't pay rent, they'll smash doors and beat them up. The townspeople live like they're on the edge of a knife."

Lin Qiang was silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to Lin Tie. "Alright, I understand. From now on, you will follow Lin Tie's arrangements, and he will be in charge of managing the town."

Lin Qiang knew that for Shitie Town to come back to life, it was not only necessary to drive away the monsters, but also to dismantle the "Liu Family Mountain" that was weighing down on the townspeople.

However, the young master had already given instructions before we arrived that we could not take action against these local gentry now, as it would arouse misunderstanding and vigilance from other families in Xiang County. We could only proceed slowly.

As soon as the master of the hall came out of the room, Zhao Sanpao approached him with a familiar smile on his face: "Master Wang, how have you been?"

"Zhao Sanpao? What are you doing here?" Master Wang was taken aback and recognized the person.

It turns out that the owner of the Black Tiger Martial Arts School had met Zhao Sanpao once before when he was working at the Black Tiger Gang headquarters in the county town, so they were acquainted.

"I'm working for the guard team now," Zhao Sanpao said in a low voice. "I need to ask you something—what happened to this town? Where did everyone go?"

Seeing that he was also concerned about the situation in the town, Master Wang repeated what he had just told Lin Qiang—after all, it wasn't a secret, and anyone could find out by asking around in town.

After listening, Zhao Sanpao nodded and turned to go back into the house. There were already two people waiting inside, both of whom were his former subordinates from the Kitchen Knife Gang, and this time they had been assigned to the same team.

"Just as we suspected," Zhao Sanpao said in a deep voice. "We're going to make our move tonight."

One of them hesitated: "But the Duke said we are not allowed to lay a hand on the gentry."

"The lord said that the Lin family was not allowed to lay a hand on the local gentry, not that our guards couldn't interfere."

Zhao Sanpao said, "What is the guard team for? They are there to protect the territory and its people! Now the Liu family has driven the townspeople to the point of starvation and death, shouldn't they be killed?"

He paused, his tone slightly inflammatory: "With so many people in the guard, they have to earn merit step by step."

When will we be rewarded with third-rate spiritual plants and break through to the third-rate level?

Don't forget, the territory will only get better, and the guards will only grow stronger. When will we ever get to stand out? Fortune favors the bold, let's do it!

The other person still frowned: "But even the three of us can't do it? I heard that the Liu family uses the town's wealth to support two third-rate and a dozen or so second-rate martial artists."

Zhao Sanpao continued, "We'll strike first, kill the guards at the Liu residence gate, and then lure the pursuers to the town gate."

There are still twenty guards over there, three of whom are third-rate captains. We need to get this done before Steward Lin finds out!

The night was as dark as ink, and only a few dim lights flickered in the wind, casting eerie shadows on the broken walls and ruins.

Zhao Sanpao and his two men crouched low, pressed against the wall, and quietly made their way to the front of Liu's residence.

The four burly guards at the entrance were dozing off, clutching their knives, clearly showing a lack of vigilance.

"Attack!" Zhao Sanpao shouted, and the three men pounced like cheetahs.

After all, they were three second-rate martial artists, while the gatekeepers of the Liu residence were just strong, ordinary people.

The two guards didn't even have time to utter a sound before their throats were slit and they fell to the ground. The remaining two cried out in alarm, but their throats were also cleanly and neatly sealed, and their blood splattered on the stone steps in front of the Liu residence.

The footsteps and exclamations alerted the people inside the Liu residence.

A third-rate martial artist dressed in tight-fitting clothes and carrying a short axe at his waist rushed out with five or six other unskilled martial artists, shouting, "Who dares to cause trouble at the Liu residence!"

When the people from the Liu family arrived at the gate, they only saw three figures running away.

"It must be those lowly commoners again. They learned a bit of martial arts from the Black Tiger Martial Arts School, and they dare to cause trouble at my Liu family's residence. Chase after them!"

When Zhao Sanpao and his two companions saw that the people chasing after them were coming, they knew that their plan had succeeded.

The three of them led the pursuers straight to the town gate.

The twenty guards left behind by Lin Qiang were on high alert. Three of the third-rate captains saw the Liu family chasing after Zhao Sanpao and his group and were about to ask what was going on when Zhao Sanpao suddenly shouted:

"Manager Lin has ordered that the Liu family's attack on the guards be immediately annihilated, leaving no one alive!"

This is a false order.

Lin Qiang did not issue such an order to attack, but Zhao Sanpao deliberately used the words "Manager Lin" to suppress the situation, speaking loudly so that the guards at the city gate would think it was an official military order.

The three third-rate captains exchanged glances. Seeing the Liu family warriors chasing after them with murderous intent, and seeing Zhao Sanpao and his men covered in blood and exuding an imposing aura, they tacitly accepted the order and immediately led their teams to meet them.

Three figures shot out like lightning, colliding head-on with the third-rate martial artist from the Liu family.

The short axes and long spears clashed, their powerful energy overflowing. Although the Liu family warriors were brave, they were surrounded by the three men, and their moves were constantly restricted.

The mediocre martial artist wanted to go forward to help, but was forced into a dilemma by the crossbow bolts and sword formations of the guards at the city gate.

In just over ten exchanges, two third-rate martial artists from the Liu family were shot in the chest and fell to the ground with a muffled groan. Several other unranked martial artists were either beheaded or pierced through the chest by crossbow bolts, and their bodies lay dead in front of the gate in the blink of an eye.

The fighting at the city gate had just ended, and the stench of blood still lingered in the night air. Zhao Sanpao wiped the blood from his face, immediately bowed to the three third-rate captains, and said urgently:

"Three captains, Manager Lin has given orders."

The Liu family is the culprit; they must be wiped out completely to prevent future troubles! Let's go into the Liu family mansion now and capture everyone inside!

Although the three third-rate captains were somewhat suspicious of the sudden "order," they had managed to quell the situation when Zhao Sanpao falsely conveyed the military order.

He now had an unquestionable demeanor, and with the Liu family warriors dead, it was indeed an opportunity.

Without much thought, he led his guards and followed him straight to the Liu residence.