The One Behind the Scenes

"Hehe~ Hahahahahaha~~~"

Wang Tieshan looked at his subordinates kneeling in a circle around them, and a bleak silence welled up inside him.

Why had the three brothers fought so desperately just now?

Wasn’t it to protect these men who had followed them into battle and formed the backbone of their force?

Now that the three brothers had fallen, these bastards had immediately knelt down.

They had even knelt before enemies they had mocked moments ago.

Hadn’t these people considered that the man before them was ruthless?

They had just been spouting off so arrogantly. Did kneeling and begging for mercy really mean he would spare their lives?

"Speak! It’s the same question as before. Who told you the information?"

Gu Sheng tapped Wang Tieshan’s rough face—the Cleaving Mountain Blade’s former owner—with the blade.

He found the Cleaving Mountain Blade fairly easy to use.

And using it against its former owner seemed rather satisfying.

"Ptui~"

Wang Tieshan spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, but Gu Sheng dodged it.

Even on the verge of death, the man still intended to put up a brave front.

"You killed my brothers, and now I’ve fallen into your hands. There’s no way I’ll survive."

"Do you think I’ll let you get what you want?"

"I’m telling you, don’t even dream of learning who spread the information from me."

"The same old routine?"

Gu Sheng’s Cleaving Mountain Blade moved, leaving a bloody mark on Wang Tieshan’s cheek.

"A tough nut. Interesting."

"I like tough nuts like you."

"If you’d told me right away, wouldn’t that have made things boring?"

"Wang Tieshan, tell me—your brothers would do anything to stay alive, wouldn’t they?"

"Shameless! You—"

Wang Tieshan felt a chill run up his spine, and icy cold spread through his entire body.

How could he fail to hear the threat in Gu Sheng’s words?

This man was truly vicious.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk~ Still refusing to speak?"

"Fine. I like tough men like you!"

Gu Sheng’s mouth twitched as he turned and pointed his blade at Wang Tiefeng and Wang Tiehai, who had been beaten beyond recognition.

"Tell me, what do you think would happen to the three of you?"

"You’re despicable!"

Wang Tieshan roared in grief.

At the thought of that scene, the last shred of resolve in his heart slowly began to crumble.

"You can choose not to speak, of course."

"Or you can try killing yourself."

"Why don’t you kill yourself?"

Gu Sheng sneered without mercy.

"You can give it a try. I have plenty of time. We can take it slow."

"I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!"

"I only ask that after I’m dead, you let someone bury the three of us. Don’t leave us abandoned in the wilderness, with our bones left unburied!"

Wang Tieshan could endure no more.

His knees gave way, and he fell directly to the ground, repeatedly kowtowing and begging Gu Sheng.

"You should’ve done that sooner. Then your brothers wouldn’t have had to die, would they?"

Gu Sheng shook his head, somewhat speechless.

These people were a bunch of idiots, throwing away their lives for a little pride.

It was truly baffling.

If they had revealed the person behind it all from the beginning, wouldn’t all this pointless trouble have been avoided?

"I’ll talk. Our information came from the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion."

Wang Tieshan spoke in a heavy voice.

"But the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion is only an information-brokerage organization. After receiving the information, we still didn’t feel entirely reassured, so we specifically investigated its source."

"The one who spread the news that Teng Village possessed enormous wealth was Hong Zhenjie of the White Horse Gang."

"I heard that two days ago, he had an extremely unpleasant falling-out with the Yicheng Li Family’s merchant association, your ally."

"That’s everything I know. Do it!"

After finishing, Wang Tieshan closed his eyes, looking as if he were stretching out his neck for execution.

"Pfft~"

Gu Sheng showed no mercy at a time like this.

With a movement of his right hand, Wang Tieshan’s head rolled away.

His corpse twitched before toppling backward.

Thus, the three leaders of the Yicheng Iron Mountain Gang, which would later stir up Yicheng and gain tremendous renown, all met their ends.

"Hong Zhenjie? I don’t think I’ve provoked him."

Gu Sheng’s expression darkened.

He had been sitting at home when disaster came crashing down from the heavens.

He had clearly suppressed his displeasure and refrained from provoking the White Horse Gang, yet this second-generation heir, Hong Zhenjie, had dared to come after him.

He was practically asking to die.

"Hehe~"

A cold glint flickered in Gu Sheng’s eyes.

There were less than eight days left before he and Chu Xin would leave the Nine Cauldrons World.

Once this mission ended, he and Chu Xin would be leaving.

The Nine Cauldrons World had enormous potential, with countless side opportunities waiting to be unearthed.

He had no intention of giving up on this place, so supporting and managing a local force was imperative.

The strength he and Chu Xin possessed was nothing remarkable across the Nine Cauldrons World, but in Yicheng, absolutely no one could stand against them.

His ambitions were not that great.

For now, managing this territory of Yicheng well would be enough.

Therefore, establishing the Yicheng militia was imperative.

Anyone who dared to obstruct him would be killed without mercy.

"L-L-Lord, p-please spare me!"

A man who appeared to be the bandit leader stepped forward, dropped to his knees before Gu Sheng, and repeatedly kowtowed, hoping to beg for his life.

"Spare you? It seems you were the ones who provoked me first."

Gu Sheng came back to himself and looked coldly at the men kneeling on the ground.

Just as he had said before, killing every bandit in the Nine Cauldrons World would not be wrong.

Anyone who could survive in a bandit stronghold during such troubled times almost certainly had blood on their hands.

The leader mustered his courage and said, "My lord, the chief culprits—the three Wang brothers—have already been executed. The rest of us were forced to come here!"

"Enough. I don’t have the ability to investigate every murder and arson you committed before."

"By my original intention, killing every one of you would not be excessive."

Gu Sheng impatiently waved his hand.

"However, since I’ve promised to spare your lives, I won’t break my word."

"You will pay a price for what happened today."

"Every one of you will leave your horses behind, then surrender one hand in turn and discard your weapons. After that, you may leave."

"Leave our horses, weapons, and one hand? Isn’t that just making us helpless victims?"

The crowd began whispering among themselves.

Some with ulterior motives started stirring up trouble.

They were all warriors who had cultivated Inner Force, and losing a hand would affect them far more severely.

They truly could not accept it.

They did not dare cause trouble directly in front of Gu Sheng.

Thus, these "clever" men tried to inflame everyone’s emotions so they could fish in troubled waters and escape amid the chaos.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes.

Both his hands suddenly shot out more than a dozen hidden weapons, such as stones, directly killing the seventeen warriors who had been making the biggest fuss.

"Urgh~"

A bloody hole appeared in each of the seventeen warriors’ foreheads.

After twitching twice, they collapsed onto the others, nearly causing another commotion.