Bodhisattva, please help me in my spiritual practice!

Inside the Xu Hong Guild Hall in the French Concession, the atmosphere was somber.

As the sun gradually set, more than a dozen gas lamps were already lit in the spacious lobby.

Xu Hong, dressed in a brocade robe embroidered with a spirit deer gathering lingzhi and prolonging life, sat in front of a traditional Chinese ink painting of a tiger climbing a mountain. However, he did not appear as composed and confident as usual.

As he held the sandalwood prayer beads given to him by the monk Yuanqi, his mind became increasingly uneasy.

Suddenly, he paused in his prayer beads and asked the clerk beside him, "Why haven't Yuanhua and the others returned yet? Has something happened?"

The advisor smiled inwardly. Xu Hong was just worried and confused today. Yuan Hua and the others had only been gone for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn since they set off from here. They had probably only arrived at Guo Wu's house by now. Moreover, the other party knew sorcery. He didn't know how he had managed to gather more than a hundred of Guo Wu's men.

Even slaughtering a pig takes one or two hours!

However, the advisor naturally wouldn't refute Xu Hong's words. He went along with Xu Hong's suggestion, saying, "Then how about I send someone to inquire about it?"

Xu Hong quickly said, "Go and see for yourself."

At this moment, he became increasingly disoriented and wanted to sit on the prayer beads again to calm himself down.

However, he had barely finished one round when the clerk turned around, and somehow the thread of the prayer beads broke. One by one, the finest sandalwood beads, worth a fortune, rolled to the ground, and no matter how hard Xu Hong tried to retrieve them, he couldn't get a single one!

Got it!

Xu Hong himself believed in ghosts and gods, and at this moment, an ominous feeling had enveloped him like a mountain haze.

He himself practiced Eagle Claw Kung Fu. Although he was nearly seventy years old, he still possessed the skill of becoming a virgin. How could he possibly not be able to get even a single bead?

Xu Hong's face turned ashen, and he was about to give the clerk another order.

However, the dozen or so gas lamps that had been illuminating the entire lobby suddenly began to flicker, like candles in the wind!

The gas lamp was covered by glass, so even in a strong wind, it should be fine. But now it was shaking terribly, and Xu Hong suddenly stood up and wanted to leave.

The thugs around them also noticed something was wrong and quickly grabbed the knives at their sides.

But the next moment, the courtyard went dark, without light or sound!

Fortunately, this courtyard gets dark quickly and light quickly.

In just over ten breaths, the flickering light of the gas lamp pierced the darkness.

Everyone saw the scene before them clearly.

A tall and imposing young man suddenly took Xu Hong's place. He was leaning on a knife, wearing a black cloak, and sitting upright in the main seat. He had a straight nose, thin lips, and eagle-like eyebrows. His eyes were clear and bright, and the light in his eyes was like the ink of a landscape painting, almost shining through his eyebrows.

He stood on a headless corpse, holding a head in his other hand.

It was Xu Hong, whose face had just shown signs of fear!

This leader of the Tianjin Green Gang had no idea what was happening before his head was ripped off, even under the protection of hundreds of people!

The ink painting of the tiger climbing the mountain behind them was now stained with a three-foot-long plum blossom made of blood, blocking the way up the mountain. The tiger looked back and stared at the crowd, making it impossible to tell whether the tiger wanted to go up the mountain or go down again.

A tiger's heart is hard to fathom!

"Ao...Ao Peng!"

The knife-wielders nearby also knew that the only person capable of killing Xu Hong at this point in such a peculiar way was Ao Peng, who possessed sorcery!

They wanted to scare Ao Peng with a low growl.

Even with a knife in his hand and hundreds of brothers around him, the chill in his heart spread like frost, and he lacked confidence, instead showing a hint of dejection.

Ao Peng slowly placed Xu Hong's head on the table.

thump.

The sound was very soft.

But in this deathly silent courtyard, everyone seemed to be able to hear the sound of blood dripping from the edge of the table onto the ground.

Like a tiger that has successfully hunted its prey, Ao Peng looked at the swordsman who had called his name, and lazily chuckled, "What did you call me?"

He moved his hand as if he were about to stand up again and raise his knife.

The knife-wielder instantly felt his brothers around him take a step back, leaving him standing naked in the same spot. When Ao Peng swept his eyes over him with a smile, he felt like a fawn being swept by a tiger.

Even though it is surrounded by its companions, how can a deer fight a tiger?

He swallowed hard and said in a trembling voice, "Master Ao... Master Ao."

Ao Peng stopped raising his hand and got up, and burst into laughter, which echoed throughout the courtyard, bringing a touch of warmth back to the cold space.

A tiger killing a herd of deer does not mean that one tiger can contend with the entire herd, but rather that one tiger can shatter the deer's courage!

However, the current deterrent effect is not enough!

Ao Peng glanced at the clerk beside him, who was so frightened that he knelt on the ground.

Because it's just too terrifying.

In the blink of an eye, the lights went out inexplicably, and then Xu Hong's head was held in Ao Peng's palm!

"Go and count all of Xu Hong's cash, then move it to this courtyard."

Upon hearing that Ao Peng wanted to use him, the clerk immediately kowtowed repeatedly, his life saved.

The advisor stood up, but after taking only two steps, he heard Ao Peng say leisurely from behind, "You wouldn't be embezzling money, would you?"

The advisor was so frightened that his legs went weak and he fell to the ground. He scrambled to Ao Peng's side, pleading, "Sir, even if you gave me two lives, I wouldn't dare!"

Ao Peng chuckled.

As the saying goes, a ruler's heart is hard to fathom. If he wants to subdue these vicious people in front of him, he must learn from Cao Mengde!

He remembered reading in a book about the simplest method of governance.

Throughout history, if a monarch wants to govern the people, he must instill fear and respect in them.

If you can't command respect, at least command fear.

Human beings’ most primal fears stem from the unknown.

A ruler's heart is unfathomable; it is also a kind of unknown!

After uttering his cold words, Ao Peng patted the advisor's shoulder affectionately, "Of course I trust my brothers, this villain..."

He swept Xu Hong's head forcefully into the hall, saying, "There's only him left, along with that bunch of good-for-nothings who came to kill me today!"

After Ao Peng finished speaking, he sat quietly for more than ten minutes, intimidating everyone in front of him, while the clerk counted the money.

A dozen minutes later, Chen Xiaodao and Yi Yuan arrived at the courtyard with more than a dozen people.

They rushed into the courtyard and saw Ao Peng already sitting in the central hall, with a majestic ink painting of a tiger descending a mountain behind him!

"elder brother!"

Seeing that Ao Peng had taken control of the situation, Chen Xiaodao quickly stepped forward!

Ao Peng nodded. "Did you bring the heads of those good-for-nothings?"

Chen Xiaodao patted the large burlap sack in his hand, which was still dripping blood, and said, "I brought it all!"

"Pile up these idiots' heads in the yard and let everyone see what happens to fools and good-for-nothings."

They're going to build a mound of corpses!

This was the first time Chen Xiaodao had done something like this, but after witnessing Ao Peng kill someone, he felt more confident.

With a fierce tiger leading the way, even a fox can intimidate all other beasts! That's the source of their confidence!

Then, with a slightly stern laugh, he answered loudly, "Yes!"

After saying that, he and Yi Yuan opened several sacks, took out dozens of heads, and placed them in the center of the courtyard, stacking them up so that everyone could see them clearly!

Each head was bleeding, its face deathly pale, still bearing the bewilderment of its dying moments, seemingly unaware of why it had been killed. Xu Hong's head was placed on top, silently watching everyone present.