Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 210 - 203: Either Admit the Penalty or Take the Beating!

Chapter 210: Chapter 203: Either Admit the Penalty or Take the Beating!

Today was an extremely irritating day for Tian Xiamian, the Sect Master of the Corpse Nether Sect.

Previously, he had sent his junior brother, Tian Yindi, to try to obtain the design plans for the Seven-Star Repeating Crossbow, but neither his junior brother nor any of his disciples came back alive.

Not only were the people gone, but also the gold and silver they took with them were missing, which really infuriated him.

This time, he had hoped to capitalize on the aftermath of the battle between the Dragon Slaying Alliance and the Dragon Serpent Gang.

Along the way, he encountered a fat man in disguise who seemed to possess valuable treasures. Despite a long chase, he couldn’t catch up and had to give up, then tiredly rushed to Eighteen Moon Lake.

He just wanted to be an opportunistic "Backhand."

Only upon arriving did he discover that the Dragon Slaying Alliance had unexpectedly crumbled overnight.

The Dragon Serpent Gang hadn’t lost many people either.

Moreover, because the Town Martial Office intervened, quite a few martial artists who had joined the Dragon Slaying Alliance had been captured.

What seemed like a sure gain as the "Backhand" had somehow turned into a fruitless endeavor.

Even more so, Tian Xiamian learned that the remaining eleven Pond Masters of the Dragon Serpent Gang were on good terms, apparently agreeing to manage the gang collectively, moving forward without a gang leader and only having Pond Masters.

It was absolutely unreasonable.

A frustrated Tian Xiamian, not willing to give up, waited another day and night outside the Dragon Serpent Gang.

Eventually, through bits and pieces of information from martial artists of the Dragon Slaying Alliance who had previously hidden in the nearby rivers, ditches, and bushes, he learned that the Dragon Serpent Gang really hadn’t lost many people.

Tian Xiamian knew that even if they attacked the Dragon Serpent Gang now, they might not win.

Reluctantly sighing, Tian Xiamian could only order all disciples of the Corpse Nether Sect to take their Iron Corpses and return to the Sect.

But just as everyone was retracting their hidden Iron Corpses and preparing to leave, the road ahead was blocked.

Tian Xiamian’s eyebrows furrowed.

Although the opponent had not yet approached, he had already sensed the aura of the True Core Realm emanating from them.

Strong as it was, after all, it was just the True Core Realm.

"Who dares to block the path of the Corpse Nether Sect? Do you have a death wish?"

As the misty night fog cleared, a tall, sleek black horse appeared from the opposite side, ridden by a graceful young man.

"I am Acting Military Chief Zhang San of the Town Martial Office."

Upon hearing the words "Town Martial Office" and "Zhang San," Tian Xiamian’s expression turned serious.

Although he hadn’t been out recently, the reputation of Town Martial Office’s Zhang San was well known to him.

The first instance was the return of the Book and Sword Hall to the Pure Stream Sword Sect; the Book and Sword Hall had once frequently sold corpses to them, the Corpse Nether Sect.

Such a good partnership had vanished, apparently because of Zhang San.

But after all, the Hall Master of the Book and Sword Hall, a powerful figure from the Purple Mansion Realm, falling at the hands of a well-known True Core Realm martial artist like Zhang San, didn’t seem logical, so at the time, Tian Xiamian had not paid it much mind.

But then the Mysterious Soldiers Sect was annihilated by Zhang San!

Xie Dezhao even came to him for travel expenses.

This time stopping the great battle between the Dragon Slaying Alliance and the Dragon Serpent Gang was also because of Zhang San’s intervention.

And now such a person blocking the path of the Corpse Nether Sect truly alarmed Tian Xiamian from the bottom of his heart.

"So it’s Military Chief Zhang. Rest assured, our Corpse Nether Sect follows the law and everyone upholds the duties prescribed by the Great Sui Kaihuang Law."

Zhang San dismounted and walked up to Tian Xiamian, sneering coldly in front of him.

"Yet, how come I heard that someone reported you for instigating martial artists to form the Dragon Slaying Alliance, intending to attack the Dragon Serpent Gang and harm innocent martial artists?"

Just as Tian Xiamian was about to explain, his disciple Ye Longchen stood up courageously in front of his master and righteously said, "Nonsense! The Dragon Slaying Alliance had even invited us to join, and my master sternly refused..."

Slap!

Before Ye Longchen could finish, Zhang San slapped him across the face, sending him tumbling to the side.

"It’s not your turn to speak here!"

Enraged, Ye Longchen was about to get up and confront Zhang San but was stopped by a look from Tian Xiamian.

Then, with a smile plastered on his face, Tian Xiamian turned to Zhang San and explained, "Military Chief Zhang, calm your anger, please. This is my disciple, just a child, and he doesn’t understand."

Zhang San couldn’t be bothered dealing with such a sudden minor character, pulling out a thick stack of testimonies from his Gluttonous Bag and handing it to Tian Xiamian.

"These are the testimonies of martial artists who reported you, have a look."

Tian Xiamian initially thought it was just some people making baseless accusations.

But upon reading the content, which was detailed and vivid, he knew it was false, yet if one did not know the truth, it would be easy to take it seriously.

"What nonsense, this is simply alarmist! Military Chief Zhang, you must believe that our Corpse Nether Sect would never engage in such acts."

Zhang San sighed resignedly and patted Tian Xiamian’s shoulder.

At this moment, their postures were such that Zhang San looked like a Sect Master of the Purple Mansion Realm while Tian Xiamian seemed like a mere True Core Realm martial artist.

"I’ve dealt with Tian Yindi, and I know that the people of the Corpse Nether Sect are good. But..."

"The Town Martial Office works based on evidence! Look at these statements, it’s hard for me to help you. And..."

"The recent murders were committed by your four families. Pure Stream Sword Sect has just suffered a mishap and is greatly weakened; Mysterious Soldiers Sect is gone; and Gluttonous Mountain originally had few people; so it’s plausible that your Corpse Nether Sect instigated others to take revenge on the Dragon Serpent Gang, with your sect playing the ’Backhand’ role, right?"

Tian Xiamian immediately shook his head, struggling to say, "That’s unreasonable! We... our Corpse Nether Sect... are all law-abiding people!"

Zhang San smirked and pointed toward a river not far ahead.

"Over there is Eighteen Moon Lake, where the Dragon Serpent Gang resides, and here you are, appearing right in this location. How do you expect me to believe that your Corpse Nether Sect is innocent?"

At this moment, Tian Xiamian nearly cried.

"Military Chief Zhang, you must believe me! I came here after hearing they were about to fight, hoping to scavenge. I... I just have a scavenger’s mentality, how could I possibly instigate a large-scale battle between martial forces?"

Tian Xiamian knew that scavenging bodies would at most earn him a few scoldings.

But if the accusation of instigating other martial forces into chaos was confirmed, then the Corpse Nether Sect would be doomed.

Zhang San took back all the statements from Tian Xiamian’s hands and put them back in his Gluttonous Bag.

"These statements, as you’ve seen, are from twenty or thirty martial artists pointing out that your Corpse Nether Sect was behind this. And here you are, right next to the Dragon Serpent Gang where I happened to find you. I might believe you, but do you think anyone else in Chuan-Yu, other than as kind-hearted a person as myself, would believe you with even a slight hint of a dark thought?"

Tian Xiamian bowed his head, feeling like he had truly fallen into misfortune recently!

"Well, since I’ve come across this matter, I’ll try my best to help your Corpse Nether Sect. So tell me, will you accept the beating or the fine?"

Tian Xiamian curiously asked, "What do you mean by accepting a beating? And what about accepting a fine?"