A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

"Back then, Jinghai was in complete chaos. Cultivators were fighting each other, and there were even street brawls. Countless innocent bystanders were caught in the crossfire."

"It's all in the industry. Back then, the first person in Jinghai to engrave this rule into an ironclad law and actually dare to risk people's lives was our Third Master."

Liu Ming pointed downstairs, his gaze seemingly penetrating the floor and reaching the bureau chief who was drinking tea in his office.

"He carried a knife and hacked his way from the dock to the west of the city, then from the south to the north. It wasn't to establish his authority, it was to draw lines."

"The inside story is a mess of the cultivation world. Fight it however you want, rob it however you want. The winner takes all, and the loser is condemned. It's all about ability."

"Outside the line, it's ordinary people's lives. Whoever stretches out their claws, he'll chop off their claws; whoever crosses the line, he'll take their head."

"This one unreasonable and overbearing rule actually gave Jinghai, which was in a state of chaos at the time, a chance to breathe."

"In those years, life was actually much better for ordinary people in Jinghai. They dared to go out at night, shops dared to open for business at night, and young women and wives dared to walk in the alleys—because they knew that if anyone dared to steal, there would be several more corpses floating in the moat the next day."

"Ruthless, yes, but effective."

He changed the subject, and that familiar wicked smile appeared on his lips again.

"Later, the wind blew whichever way, and the tree fell whichever way. The higher-ups made up their minds to officially set up the 749th branch in Jinghai and take complete control of this situation."

"When the news spread, the sects in Jinghai were in an uproar!"

"Having 'Bloody Hand Butcher' Zhang San squatting above us is already frustrating enough, and now a bunch of government officials who live off the public purse and are bound by regulations are coming on top of that?! This is outrageous!"

"They didn't dare to openly confront the future 749th Precinct, so they came up with a dirty trick of using one enemy to devour another—"

Liu Ming drawled out his words, keeping everyone in suspense, before finally revealing the answer under Ji Zuodao's urging gaze:

"A group of influential old men went to pay their respects to Third Master. Their message was clear: Third Master, you are the one in charge of Jinghai! 749's coming is an attempt to seize your territory and embarrass you! We must join forces and push them back! At least let them know who calls the shots in Jinghai!"

"These old foxes are really calculating. Ideally, Third Master and 749 will clash head-on and both suffer heavy losses; at worst, they can give the newcomer 749 a warning, and then everyone can continue to be local tyrants behind closed doors."

Ji Zuodao listened intently, and subconsciously asked, "And then? Did Uncle Zhang agree?"

"Should?" Liu Ming scoffed and shook his head. "Third Master is a shrewd man; how could he not see through the wicked schemes of these old bastards?"

"He didn't say anything at the time, he just smiled and saw off this group of 'worried' old folks."

"Then, that very night."

Liu Ming lowered his voice, creating a mysterious atmosphere:

"He went alone, changed into the most ordinary cloth shirt, and without any brothers, strolled around to the temporary office of 749 in Jinghai at that time."

"That night, the lights in the office stayed on all night."

"Nobody knows what was said, what was discussed, or what was exchanged inside."

All I know is that the next day at noon, Third Master hosted a grand banquet at Tingchao Pavilion, the most expensive place in Jinghai at the time.

"The posts are only sent to the sects with the most shady dealings, the most disreputable business practices, and the most unruly behavior."

The post was politely written, only saying, "There have been many troubles recently, so I would like to invite you all to gather together to discuss stability."

"But those who received the invitation knew perfectly well that there was no good banquet to be had."

"Going might mean death. Not going might mean an even faster death."

"That day, Tingchao Pavilion was cleaned up so thoroughly that not even a fly could get in."

"What exactly happened in the attic remains a mystery. Some say it was the Third Master who smashed the cup as a signal, some say the experts from 749 were lying in ambush, and some even more mysteriously say that the Third Master summoned the underworld officials to directly lock the soul..."

Liu Ming waved his hand, dispelling the unreliable rumors:

"Anyway, when the sun begins to set and the attic door opens again—"

"Of all the people who came out, only Third Master did."

"He was still wearing that same cloth shirt, his hands were spotless, and he still had that gentle, but cold, smile on his face."

Behind me, there was a deathly silence.

That night, several mansions in Jinghai caught fire, burning so brightly that it looked like firecrackers were going off during the New Year.

The next day, those sects that hadn't received invitations and were still observing the situation opened their doors early in the morning—

"Outside the threshold, neatly arranged, were rows of heads, and hey, they were all familiar faces."

"They are all the sect leaders, elders, and their most trusted confidants who attended the banquet yesterday."

"His face was ashen, and his eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying and unbelievable before he died."

"From that day on."

Liu Ming's voice returned to its usual tone, but every word carried a heavy weight:

"In the Jinghai area, those shady and immoral shady businesses disappeared overnight."

"Those involved are either dead, scattered, or have fled."

"And it was from that day on."

He paused, looked at Ji Zuodao, and said, word by word:

"Jinghai is missing that infamous underworld tycoon, Blood-Handed Butcher Zhang San."

"There's someone who puts on a stand-up collar Zhongshan suit, picks up official documents, and starts talking about regulations and rules, with a smile that's always as warm and welcoming as a spring breeze—"

"Zhang Yucheng, the official director of the Jinghai Branch of Bureau 749."

The wind blew in through the window, carrying with it the faint sobs from downstairs and the chill of a winter afternoon.

Ji Zuodao held the melon seed in his hand, not moving it for a long time.

In his mind, two images were fighting and colliding fiercely, finally merging little by little with difficulty.

A ruthless tycoon in a cloth shirt, and a bureau chief in a Zhongshan suit.

The butcher's knife that established the ironclad rule of "not disturbing mortals," and the pen that wrote the "Regulations for the Management of Practitioners."

The heads piled on the threshold, and the teacups placed on the desk.

In the end, they all turned into the same person, with a gentle and peaceful smile, who is currently in an office downstairs, perhaps looking at documents, or perhaps thinking about what to eat for dinner.

"hiss……"

Ji Zuodao took a long, deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

He tossed the sunflower seed into his mouth, cracked it open with a "crunch," and chewed it slowly.

Then, he looked down at the slowly moving line of people giving gifts, their faces filled with sorrow, at the trembling legs of the white-haired old men, and at the green-faced fat old man who was queuing up a second time.

Suddenly everything became clear.

He smacked his lips, savoring the lingering salty aroma of the sunflower seeds.

"Hey, the Taibai Jinxing wielding a pen is much scarier than the Taibai Jinxing wielding a white knife."