Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 98: Chapter 86: Who Cares About Your Background? Empty the Magazine

”PFFT!”

Just then.

The sound of a silenced gunshot rang out.

Immediately after, someone was shot and fell. Blood quickly spread from the body, staining the carpet red.

”Who’s there!?”

”Assassin! We’re under attack at the entrance! Quick, call for backup!”

The bodyguards’ urgent, sharp shouts echoed down the hallway as more than ten of them reacted instantly.

Some drew their guns, trying to find the assassin.

”PFFT!”

”PFFT!”

”PFFT!”

The rapid cracks of quick, aimed shots followed.

Bullets whistled through the hallway, mercilessly claiming several lives in an instant.

Once the bodyguards were suppressed, Zhai Jia suddenly dropped down from above the elevator entrance. He charged in to kill while everyone was still disoriented.

Like a cheetah pouncing on a flock of sheep, his movements were a blur. He combined the Martial Dao with marksmanship, his actions clean and decisive, without a single wasted motion.

In the span of just a few breaths, he had cleared the hallway of bodyguards.

By now, the alarm was already blaring.

Zhai Jia didn’t even glance at the bodies littering the floor. He gave a hand signal behind him, and Wan Ze darted out from around the corner. One after the other, they rushed forward.

Inside the lounge at the far end of the hall.

The middle-aged man’s expression changed the moment he heard the gunshots. Before he could even change his clothes, the massive glass window to his side suddenly shattered, sending a storm of tempered glass shards flying.

A figure vaulted in from the outside.

”PFFT!” ”PFFT!”

The intruder rolled to break his fall and immediately raised his gun, firing at the most threatening target in the room.

He forced the man with the earring back.

”You!”

The middle-aged man recognized Liu Zhengming almost instantly. A flash of panic crossed his face, but he quickly composed himself and snapped, ”Liu Zhengming, do you know what you’re doing? Are you insane?”

”Li Xun, I think you’re the one who’s insane! Colluding with the Saiya Sect is treason! I suggest you surrender... And while you’re at it, why don’t you think about how I found you?” Liu Zhengming was deliberately trying to bluff him, intending to distract the two of them.

The moment he saw the man with the earring shift his feet, he raised his gun and fired.

But at this range.

The bullets were useless against his opponent.

An expert of the Refining Viscera Realm was incredibly fast, with a Perception of air currents at close range that far surpassed ordinary people. As he moved, the only sound was a vase shattering behind him.

When the middle-aged man heard this, all hope vanished. His face paled with panic, and without looking back, he ordered, ”Kill him.”

The man with the earring immediately lunged forward.

Closing the distance in a flash, he aimed a vicious hand-chop straight at the wrist of Liu Zhengming’s gun hand.

Liu Zhengming was forced to dodge.

The man with the earring was truly a veteran. At such a close distance, he gave Liu Zhengming no chance to fire. Their fists met again and again, creating a series of dull thuds.

Liu Zhengming’s skills were impressive, but the man with the earring was clearly superior. His attacks were fiercer, and in a flash, he forced Liu Zhengming back step by step, making it impossible for him to disengage.

He watched as Li Xun scrambled behind the desk, fumbling to press a switch. A secret door began to slide open from the wall.

Liu Zhengming was burning with anxiety, but he couldn’t break free from the man with the earring.

Just then, a gunshot suddenly echoed from the doorway behind him.

Li Xun, who had just reached the secret door... A spray of blood suddenly erupted from his thigh. He screamed and fell, clutching his leg and writhing on the ground.

When Liu Zhengming saw who had arrived, he was overjoyed. ”You’re just in time!”

”Cut the crap. How long has it been? Your Martial Arts have gotten worse. You can’t even take down a pampered piece of trash like this?” Zhai Jia taunted mercilessly, not slowing his charge in the slightest.

Liu Zhengming’s face darkened at the remark, but he couldn’t refute it. He grunted coldly and put more force into his blows, trying to push the man with the earring back. But his opponent’s Strength was far greater, and he was the one forced to keep dodging.

”This one’s yours.”

As Zhai Jia charged in, Liu Zhengming suddenly exploded with power. He used a feint to force the man with the earring back half a step, then flickered, executing a perfectly coordinated switch with Zhai Jia. He himself then shot out from the side, making a beeline for Li Xun.

The man with the earring tried to stop him but was intercepted by Zhai Jia’s Splitting Fist, which came from an awkward angle.

When Li Xun saw Liu Zhengming coming for him, he knew his end was near. Ignoring the searing pain in his leg, he screamed with bloodshot eyes, ”Liu Zhengming, Captain Liu, you can’t kill me! I confess! Even if I’m guilty, the law should be the one to punish me! What you’re doing is against the rules, you can’t—”

”BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!”

The answer he received was Liu Zhengming standing over him and emptying the magazine.

Blue smoke drifted from the muzzle.

After the volley of bullets made Li Xun’s body convulse a few times, he went completely still.

Liu Zhengming stared at the middle-aged man’s corpse without a shred of pity, cursing in disgust, ”If it weren’t for you, Old Four and the others wouldn’t have died! Ptooey, you traitor!”

Without any hesitation, he spun around, took a deep breath, his qi and blood surging, and with a roar, he joined the fray, teaming up with Zhai Jia.

When the man with the earring saw Li Xun killed, he flew into a rage. Dropping all pretense, he snarled viciously in the Ancient Iloco Language, ”You dare challenge the authority of the God of the Century! Foolish mortals, you are courting death! Your souls will be damned for eternity!”

”Gibberish, what the hell are you saying? I don’t understand a damn word!” Zhai Jia impatiently cut off his curse.

’Can’t speak like a normal person, huh?’

But he couldn’t be bothered to listen. He charged forward, his fists ferocious, every strike aimed at his opponent’s vitals.

With Liu Zhengming joining in, it became a two-on-one fight.

At first, the man with the earring managed to hold his ground with his formidable Strength, even launching counterattacks from time to time.

But he soon found himself struggling.

After all, neither Liu Zhengming nor Zhai Jia were ordinary Martial Artists. The Martial Arts they cultivated were legacies from genuine Grandmasters who had transcended the Body Refining Realm.

So when the pressure mounted.

The man with the earring was quickly overwhelmed, taking one hit after another, his qi and blood in turmoil.

Sensing things were bad, he knew he would surely die if this continued.

He threw a feint and decisively tried to escape.

”Trying to run?” There was no way Zhai Jia and Liu Zhengming would let him get his wish. They exploded into motion almost simultaneously, one on the left and one on the right, completely sealing the man’s escape routes and forcing him back into the fight.

The three of them became a tangled mess of a brawl, their fight sending plaster and debris flying throughout the room.

Wan Ze wasn’t idle, either.

He had found a leather bag somewhere, and just by the feel of it, he could tell it was expensive.

He unzipped it and, without a second thought, started stuffing anything valuable inside. He’d occasionally glance over at the fight and condemn corruption.

”Damn, a solid gold cigarette case. Some people have money to burn! Fucking rich bastard!”

...

Soon, the three-way battle was nearing its end.

With a THUD.

Zhai Jia exploited an opening, grabbing the man with the earring’s head and slamming it violently against the wall.

Where he hit, the plaster crumbled away, leaving a bloody dent.

The man’s face was covered in blood, but he was still ferocious, trying to fight back like a cornered beast.

In a flash, Liu Zhengming appeared with a golf club, swinging it with both arms in a wide arc and bringing it down hard on the back of the man’s head.

”CRACK!”

It tore off a chunk of his scalp!

The man with the earring screamed, his body stiffening violently.

Zhai Jia seized the opportunity, putting power into his core and punching the nearly unconscious man so hard he was practically plastered to the wall. He yelled urgently, ”Finish him! Finish him!”

The words had barely left his mouth.

Liu Zhengming had already lunged forward. He grabbed the man’s chin with his left hand and pressed down on the back of his neck with his right. He crossed his arms and twisted with sudden, immense force!

He snapped the man’s neck!

”THUMP.”

The body fell heavily to the floor and was silent.

The two of them gasped for breath. They looked at each other, saw their bruised and swollen faces, and both pointed at the other and burst out laughing.

”Hahaha, and you called me trash? Look at your face, it’s beaten to a pulp! You’re not so great yourself!”

”Bullshit! It’s because you were holding me back!”

”We’re six of one, half a dozen of the other. Neither of us has room to talk.”

After a few moments of laughing and cursing, the atmosphere lightened up a bit.

Liu Zhengming fell silent for a moment before saying, ”Thanks for this. I owe you guys again... I won’t say more. You should go. I’ll handle what comes next.”

”Handle it? Handle my ass! This is a gang war, infighting between evil cultists, you get it? Are you really planning to stay here and explain? Explain what? Do you have an authorization warrant?” Zhai Jia said irritably.

Liu Zhengming’s expression froze.

’He had a point.’

”So... I should go?”

”Duh, of course you should go!”

”Right, okay then...”

”Ah Ze, let’s go!” Zhai Jia called out instinctively, but when he turned to look...

’Holy shit, Wan Ze is gone!’

His expression changed.

He thought there might be another expert hidden in the room. He and Liu Zhengming exchanged a sharp glance.

Both of their hearts sank. They hurriedly got to their feet and started searching.

But just then, they heard the sound of something heavy being moved from inside the secret room.

”Ah Ze?”

Zhai Jia was instantly on alert, calling out in a low voice.

Wan Ze’s voice came a second later: ”Get in here, you two! There’s good stuff!”