The God of the Human Realm!

Chapter 75: Commanding the Canal Gang and True Skill!
"awesomeness!"

Above Shuanglong Gorge, where the group from Wohu Mountain Villa was located, a man in black wearing a half-mask uttered a sentence, his eyes filled with solemnity.

The others were also shocked. These dozens of burly men were nominally under Wu Duxiong's command, but in reality, they were truly under the orders of this masked man in black.

"go!"

The man in black spoke succinctly, adding another word.

"Does the commander intend to meet with Hong Yuan? This man has subdued the Canal Gang. If we can persuade him to join our Crouching Tiger Manor, it will be like adding wings to a tiger..."

The man in black glared at him fiercely: "No! We should go back to the manor and report everything that happened here to the manor lord."

Immediately, the man in black glanced at Wu Duxiong, who was still gazing into the canyon, and said indifferently, "Brother Wu, are you going back to the manor, or staying with your nephew?"

Wu Duxiong withdrew his gaze, though his heart was still churning with turmoil. A smile appeared on his face: "Of course I'll go back to Wohu Manor. There's good wine and meat there, and so many good brothers to keep me company. I won't leave even if you try to drive me away."

"Hehe! Brother Wu, what are you saying? The more heroes like you come, the better. Our manor is more than happy to have you."

The man in black gave a forced smile and made a gesture with his hands behind his back. The burly men then positioned themselves on the left and right, subtly surrounding Wu Duxiong in the center.

"In that case, we can't keep the master waiting any longer. Let's head back now."

The man in black had absolutely no intention of making contact with Hong Yuan.

Even if he had some ideas at first, after seeing how easily the other party defeated the two grandmasters, Han Dingtian and Lei Meng, and forcefully subdued the Cao Gang, he had no more thoughts.

To rashly approach such a ruthless person would be a matter of life and death. As for using Yang Lie to coerce him, ha! The man in black felt that he would probably lose his head on the spot after saying just one sentence.

As the group from Wohuzhuang hurriedly returned, the crowds on both sides of the canyon gradually dispersed. Although the various groups had different thoughts, everyone knew that from now on, the situation in Linjiang Prefecture was completely different.

In the spacious council hall of the Caobang fortress, the lights were on.

Apart from Hong Yuan, who was sitting, everyone else stood there nervously and apprehensively.

Those qualified to enter this council chamber are naturally the core members of the canal gang. Their every move affects the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. In the past, they were proud of this, but now they wish they didn't have this power.

Hong Yuan held a piece of paper in his hand, which was a list of important members of the Canal Gang.

The canal gang had six leaders, and below them were the flag chiefs.

This was the most important force that enabled the canal gangs to dominate prefectures and counties for many years, and no one could control them. Instead, they became more and more prosperous. They were divided into the River Patrol Flag and the Mountain Guard Flag.

The patrol flag consisted of 600 men, mainly responsible for controlling the sluice gates, patrolling the waterways and fighting. They also often acted as river bandits, robbing powerful and wealthy families. There were six flag leaders, each leading 100 men.

Of course, each banner leader can also take the initiative to recruit skilled fighters to his cause.

Chen Jiulang, who was killed by Hong Yuan, was one of the flag leaders of the River Patrol Banner. He was the most famous and powerful, completely overshadowing the others.

The Zhenshan Banner mainly guards the main headquarters, with about four hundred people and four banner leaders.

Yes, they had already been defeated by Hong Yuan, with nearly a hundred casualties.

Below the head of the household and the flag master are the incense masters and deacons, a large number of whom are stationed in the branch offices of the twelve counties to handle local canal transport affairs.

"A small temple has a lot of evil spirits, and a shallow pond has many turtles."

Hong Yuan sighed and glanced at the group of people in the hall.

In fact, the Grand Canal Gang was very powerful, with hundreds of thousands of people following them to make a living, and the number of those affected would be double that. How many positions were there?

Not at all.

If this were an ordinary ancient world, even if Hong Yuan were in a high-ranking position, he would still have to find ways to create multiple positions to check and balance each other, lest he be sidelined. But now that all the power is in his hands, there's no need for so many formalities; anyone who dares to act recklessly can be slapped to death.

Hong Yuan then looked at the old man in brocade robes standing at the head of the group and asked, "Are you the leader?"

"No! Your Majesty..."

"Hmm?" Hong Yuan raised an eyebrow and waved his hand: "Don't call me King, it makes me sound like a bandit. Do I look like a bandit?"

"This..." The old man in the brocade robe felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He bowed even more respectfully, carefully changing his form of address: "My lord..."

Seeing that Hong Yuan did not object, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "I am Qian Shanzhi, the fourth in the canal gang. As for the chief, the position has actually been vacant for more than ten years."

"What happened?" Hong Yuan asked.

"More than ten years ago, Lei Meng hosted a banquet for the chief leader. That night, someone heard a commotion, and the chief leader 'died' the next day. Since then, the canal gang has been without a chief leader. We thought Lei Meng would take over, but he didn't even want the title. In fact, he has been acting as the chief leader for the past ten years."

"The Shadow of the Candle and the Sound of the Axe!" Hong Yuan nodded, uninterested in delving into the grudges and feuds of the previous generation, and looked at the fourth leader: "How many leaders does the Canal Gang have now?"

“Jin San has offended the Lord and deserves to die! The Second Leader He Lin and the Fifth Leader were also ignorant of fate... Now only the old man and the Sixth Leader are left.”

Hong Yuan looked at the group and asked, "Who is the sixth leader?"

Fourth Master Qian Shanzhi hurriedly said, "Sixth Brother is the youngest among us, not yet thirty years old, but he has connections in the city. A month ago, for some unknown reason, he went to Longyuan Prefecture in the city and has not returned since."

"Our gang has encountered a formidable enemy. When it was his turn to step up, he was nowhere to be found. This is utter dereliction of duty."

Hong Yuan shook his head, as if he had forgotten that the great enemy was himself, and sighed, "It's better to be without a leader like that."

He slammed his hand on the table, slowly rose, looked at the group of high-ranking members of the Canal Gang in the hall, and calmly said: "From now on, the Canal Gang will no longer have a leader. Instead, there will be two chief stewards, one on the left and one on the right, below me."

He patted Qian Shanzhi on the shoulder and said, "You will be the left steward."

Qian Shanzhi trembled, his face showing a mixture of fear and excitement. He lowered his head even further and hurriedly said, "Thank you for your high regard, my lord. I will do my best to serve you."

Hong Yuan ignored him and continued, "We have the left steward, but we are still short of a right steward. As for the patrol flag and the mountain-guarding flag, they will remain the same, but there are too many flag lord positions. Each flag will only have two flag lords. As for who will be the steward and who will be the flag lord, you can discuss it yourselves!"

Looking at the shocked expressions of the crowd in the hall, he smiled and asked Qian Shanzhi, "Manager Qian, take me to the place where Lei Meng is being held."

"Yes!"

As they were talking, Qian Shanzhi led the way. Just as Hong Yuan was about to step out of the main hall, he suddenly turned back and smiled: "I hope that before you come back, you can decide on the steward and the flag master. If you feel that it is too difficult to choose with too many people, you can reduce the number of people."

His voice was gentle, and his smile had an indescribable charm, but to the people in the hall, it only made them feel a chill in their hearts, a coldness rising up.

Lei Meng was imprisoned in a dark stone chamber not far away. Hong Yuan first used his spiritual sense to confirm that no one was playing tricks on him before entering the stone chamber himself.

The former supreme leader of the canal gang lay slumped on the ground, his gray hair disheveled and his face filthy. His limbs had been broken, but they weren't even bound by chains. Hearing the noise, he looked over with a pair of empty, bloodshot eyes.

Qian Shanzhi was startled, but when he thought that Lei Meng was now not only a prisoner but also had his martial arts skills ruined, making him a paper tiger, he straightened his chest again.

"Lei Meng, the Lord has come to see you!"

Qian Shanzhi shouted loudly.

“My lord?! Heh!” Lei Meng’s voice was hoarse as he sneered, “Fourth brother, you old dog, you call out quite fluently. That’s right, you’ve been just as obedient to me all these years. Otherwise, a piece of trash like you wouldn’t deserve to sit in the head of the family.”

"Alright!" Hong Yuan waved his hand, looked at Lei Meng, and said indifferently, "Enough with the nonsense. What method did you use to sneak attack me earlier?"

Upon hearing this, Lei Meng seemed enraged. He struggled fiercely, but ended up collapsing to the ground, his face hitting the mud. He still shouted, "Kill me if you want! Don't humiliate me! How could a master like you not know the true essence of martial arts? It's just a pity I've only touched the threshold of true skill, otherwise, otherwise..."

(End of this chapter)