The Martial Saint begins by collecting corpses.

Qingyun Street, blacksmith shop.

Tieming's son, Tiemu, was young, but he was already gritting his teeth and forging a piece of iron with a hammer.

Watching the sparks fly, a look of despair would occasionally appear in his eyes, and when he looked outside, his elderly mother was in tears.

My father has been missing for many days. We've reported it to the authorities, but there's been no news of him. It's as if he's vanished from the world, neither alive nor dead.

When did the world become like this?

I've heard that quite a few people have gone missing recently.

Why isn't anyone doing anything about this? Tie Mu was indignant, his teeth grinding together.

"Monthly allowance has been paid. Monthly allowance has been paid."

Suddenly, an impolite voice came from outside.

Monthly allowance? When is it due again? Could it be that Lu Ming is here again? Wasn't he supposed to have been kicked out by the county government?

Temu was filled with doubt and stopped forging.

Suddenly, he heard his elderly mother scream in agony, and immediately grabbed a hammer and rushed out.

The old mother was seen sitting on the ground with tears streaming down her face. Two fierce-looking burly men stood in front of her, holding sticks, ready to hit her.

"Stop! Who are you people?"

Tie Mu shouted, his hand holding the hammer trembling slightly, and stepped forward to block his old mother, glaring at the two men.

The two men gave a forced smile and said, "Very good, finally someone in charge has arrived. It's time to hand over your monthly allowance. We're from the Snakehead Gang; once you've paid your allowance, we'll guarantee your safety."

"A smuggling gang? When did another smuggling gang appear?" Tie Mu's heart sank. He asked, "How many?"

The two men laughed and said, "Not much, five hundred coins."

"What? Five hundred? The Fierce Tiger Gang used to only pay four hundred. Get out! Get out! We don't pay monthly allowances, we only pay protection money, protection money for Master Lu."

Enraged, Temu brandished his hammer and roared at the two men.

"Hahaha, what Master Lu? That fame-seeking fellow has already been expelled by the county government. You can shout until you're hoarse, but he won't come."

"Is that so?" Suddenly, a sinister voice rang out from behind them, and a murderous glint appeared in the eyes of the two men.

Just as I was about to see which dared to cause trouble, I turned my head halfway and suddenly heard a hissing sound—the sound of a knife piercing flesh.

One of them stared blankly down at the sight of a knife thrusting into his chest, blood spurting out. Fear finally surfaced in his eyes.

With another hiss, the knife was pulled back in. He felt sore and weak all over and fell to the ground with a thud.

Until his death, his eyes were still wide open, unable to believe that he had been stabbed to death in the street.

The other man turned his head and his face changed drastically. He saw two men, one holding a knife that was dripping blood, and the other already throwing a punch at his face.

Before he could react, he was struck by a fist. He felt a sharp pain in his nose, blood gushed out, and he saw stars. He shouted:

"Murder in the street! Murder in the street!"

These two were none other than Wolf and Monkey. Wolf, upon hearing his words, gave a slight, cold laugh and immediately proclaimed loudly in all directions:

"The Night Watch is investigating a case. All bystanders, please leave immediately."

"The Night Guard?" Many neighbors stared at Ah Lang and Monkey with suspicion, wondering why these two, who were Lu Da Xia's henchmen, were suddenly called the Night Guard.

Many people looked puzzled, not knowing what the Night Town Division was.

Just then, a column of archers, led by a burly man in full armor and exuding an imposing aura, rushed over and surrounded the mansion of the former Tiger Gang, now the Snakehead Gang.

Just then, the mansion gate burst open with a roar, and a zombie-like corpse rushed out, its eyes filled with white, its expression ferocious, and its face ashen—it was exactly the legendary corpse demon.

The people finally vaguely understood what the Night Watch was, and they screamed and ran away.

"Die!" Just as the armored giant's expression turned solemn, one of the Snakehead Gang members leaped out, coldly uttered a word to the corpse demon, and stood before it.

Without him making any move, the ghoul, who was still running wildly, suddenly collapsed to the ground and fell silent.

[Gain martial arts experience.]

[Acquired martial art: Snake-Chasing Fist.]

[Obtained incomplete bone structure.]

A beam of white light flew out from the corpse and was swallowed by him.

Feeling the unremarkable martial arts experience, Lu Ming immediately suppressed these distracting thoughts and smiled at the armored giant:

"Thank you for your help, Lord Zhao. You've worked hard."

The burly man in armor before him was none other than Zhao Dehu, the deputy inspector of the patrol and inspection department, who had come to congratulate him on taking office yesterday.

Zhao Dehu had just witnessed Lu Ming dispose of a corpse demon so easily and without leaving a trace. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he hurriedly said:

"Lord Lu, you're too kind. Cooperating with the work of the Town Night Division is the duty of my Patrol Division."

"Besides, I've only just arrived, and you've already rid the ghost of it. It should be said that Garrison Commander Lu has worked hard."

Lu Ming chuckled:

"This snakehead gang usually preys on the common people, but somehow they've created a ghost."

"I think these gangs are potential threats."

"Since Lord Zhao is already here, why don't we have him take the lead and sweep through the East District today?"

"Everything is up to Lord Zhao. I'll just stay by his side, in case we encounter any ghosts or monsters that we can't handle. How does that sound?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dehu stared intently at Lu Ming. "A new broom sweeps clean!" he thought. "Lu Ming actually wants to purge all the gangs as soon as he arrives."

In fact, as the deputy inspector of the patrol department, how could he not know about the existence of these gangs?

The gang usually makes offerings, so no one really cares.

Lu Ming wanted to wipe out all the gangs as soon as he arrived. Although he was asked to take the lead and was intentionally given some face, it still made Lu Ming unhappy.

But then Lu Ming laughed:

"Forty taels of silver were just found in this snakehead gang."

"Twenty taels of it were given to Lord Zhao to reward the soldiers."

"The remaining twenty taels are the hard-earned money of the common people; how about we return them to them?"

As he spoke, he took out a 20-tael silver ingot and handed it to Zhao Dehu.

The heavy silver coin stirred something in Zhao Dehu's heart.

Dealing with one gang costs twenty taels of silver. If you deal with ten gangs, wouldn't that cost two hundred taels?

Of course, there aren't that many gangs in Dongcheng District, especially since they were just dealt with by Lu Mingqing a few days ago.

But that is definitely a considerable income.

It should be noted that the deputy inspector's monthly salary was only three taels of silver.

This deal is worthwhile. After all, those small gangs are like weeds, they just keep growing back. If we get rid of them now, they'll just pop up again in a while.

Lu Ming might not live much longer, so we'll give him some face.

His expression softened slightly, and he nodded, saying, "Very well, but in that case, wouldn't Garrison Commander Lu return empty-handed?"

"Master Lu! Master Lu!"

At this moment, the people on Qingyun Street saw him and killed a ghost in one go. They were excited and shouted excitedly, and some even said they wanted to pay him protection money.

If it weren't for the archers in front, preventing them from making any rash moves, they probably would have rushed over.

Lu Ming smiled at them:

"I don't collect protection money anymore. Now I sell some tea, peace tea. You can buy it from me if you need it."

He then turned to Zhao Dehu and said, "Lord Zhao, you've seen it too. Sometimes they're so enthusiastic that they naturally patronize my business. How can you say that's not a gain?"

"I admire the noble character of Garrison Commander Lu," Zhao Hu said, a hint of admiration on his face.

The two of them then distributed the remaining twenty taels of silver to the people of Qingyun Street, and immediately the crowd shouted Lu Daxia's name again.

Following that, under Zhao Dehu's leadership, they wiped out the remaining three gangs in the East District, and another gang had already fled before they arrived.

[Gain martial arts experience.]

[Acquired martial art: Iron Sand Palm.]

[Obtained incomplete bone structure.]

......

[Gain martial arts experience...]

【get……】

By the end of the day, Lu Ming had gained martial arts experience from more than a dozen people, and his physical constitution had subtly improved again.

As evening fell, Zhao Dehu, who had made a fortune, looked satisfied. He parted ways with Lu Ming at a street corner and went home.

On his way back, many people looked at Lu Ming with awe.

Now, almost everyone in the eastern part of Heishui County knows that a new leader has arrived.

Even the deputy inspector of the patrol office treated this new official with utmost respect. This new official was none other than the renowned swordsman, Master Lu.

Each time a gang's headquarters was destroyed, Lu Ming would still take out a portion of the money and distribute it to the people on the street.

Those who received the money were naturally extremely grateful, while those who didn't were wishing a gang would suddenly appear on their streets to attract Lu Ming to come and fight.

As for Lu Ming's Ping An Tea business, they naturally vied to take care of it, and were even unhappy if they didn't sell to him.

In an instant, Lu Ming's reputation soared.

All of this was thanks to the ghoul that broke through the door when the first gang, the Snakehead Gang, was wiped out.

If that ghost hadn't confirmed the righteousness of Lu Ming's annihilation of the gang today, Zhao Dehu probably wouldn't have cooperated so much, and might even have held Lu Ming responsible for the murder.

Back at the Lu residence, Monkey was still excited about today's gains, not only the annihilation of the gang, but also the tea money they collected on their way back.

People from more than a dozen streets, big and small, came to order tea, which totaled a little over fifty taels of silver.

Fifty taels a month is quite a sum. As a New Moon-level night patrolman, Lu Ming's monthly salary is only ten taels of silver.

However, at this moment, Ah Lang looked at Lu Ming in surprise, as if he could no longer hold back, and asked:

"Big brother, how did you guess that the snakehead gang would turn into zombies today?"

Lu Ming smiled slightly upon hearing this; it wasn't a guess...