Gao Wu Da Ming: Starting as a military household and ascending to the rank of Martial Saint

Inside the Sanglin Mountains, several men dressed in black stood in four directions, each with a giant wolf of the same size as the one that had appeared in the Tumen Mountains. The difference was that their fur was black.

They paced anxiously around the men in black. With each step, saliva dripped from between their sharp teeth, splashing onto the ground.

In the clearing between them, countless black hyenas lay prostrate, waiting, while dozens of wolf trainers stood maintaining order among the pack. Despite their large numbers, the wolves made no sound; in the silence, a suffocating killing intent permeated the air.

After waiting for a long time, a carrier pigeon fell from the sky, flew past the men, and headed towards the dense forest to the north.

Upon seeing the carrier pigeon, the man standing on the east side smiled and said, "It seems those people from Baode Prefecture have already begun their operation."

The man on the west side said, "These good-for-nothings are so slow and inefficient; they've kept us waiting for ages."

The man on the north side squatted down, stroking the giant wolf in front of him with great affection, and said, "After raising it for so long, we can finally have some delicious food to eat."

The man to the south looked in the direction of Baode Prefecture and said softly, "The timing of this carrier pigeon's arrival is out of sync with the plan; something unexpected might happen."

As they were observing, the carrier pigeon flew out again from the depths of the dense forest, accompanied by a tall, slender man.

The person had extremely long limbs, making them appear tall, but their upper body was unusually short. It looked like an ordinary person walking on stilts, which was indescribably strange.

Beside him followed a gray wolf. This hyena was shorter than the usual hyena, with short, thick legs, and it hopped and bounced when it ran, looking rather clumsy.

Yet, as this bizarre pair of man and beast approached, all the werewolves, both human and beast, knelt or prostrated themselves, displaying utter subservience and loyalty. The entire arena fell silent; you could hear a pin drop. Not a single person dared to breathe.

"Prefect Hu Nan has messed things up again. His subordinates who were planning to drive people up the mountain have all been killed." The man's voice was sharp, but his tone was very calm. "Today's feast is off. Take all the wolves back to the back mountain."

"What?!" The man from the east was the first to lose his temper, angrily saying, "Are these guys from Baode Prefecture deliberately playing us for fools?"

"Boss, why don't we take some men and go ask him what's going on? If that Hu Nan doesn't know what's good for him, then we'll treat him like wolf food. We youngsters haven't even tasted the life of a scholar yet," the man on the west side said angrily.

His shouts ignited the anger of the crowd, and they all stared intently at the leader.

The leader's gaze swept indifferently over the restless crowd. His voice, though still sharp, remained completely calm: "These past few years, you people have lived too comfortably, forgetting that we are bandits. We are here for wealth, not to fight the government to the death. This is my last chance for Hu Nan. If he dares to delay again, he will face his own death."

Upon hearing this, the man from the west immediately became anxious. He stepped forward, pointed at his restless, drooling black wolf, and said with heartache, "Boss, look at my black Qilin. It's been starving for so long, just waiting for today to have its first meal! That Hu Nan has messed things up time and time again. If we don't teach him a lesson, he'll really think we're easy to bully! Why don't we send my men with the black Qilin to the villages of Baode Prefecture to slaughter them, so that Hu Nan will know that we're not easy to bully?"

The leader looked at the man who was still persisting and smiled slightly, saying, "Since your black Qilin is waiting to be deprived of meat, then I will grant its wish."

As he spoke, he slightly raised his hand and pointed at the man to the west.

The next moment, the seemingly adorable little gray wolf with short, thick legs beside him suddenly sprang up!

Its form transformed into a gray shadow, and in an instant it rushed to the man on the west side, as fast as a ghost.

Before the man on the west side could even cry out in alarm, his throat was bitten hard, his cervical vertebrae cracked with a sharp sound, and blood gushed out.

The little gray wolf held him down tightly, its short, thick limbs bursting with terrifying power as its sharp teeth tore wildly.

The man who had been shouting angrily just moments before was now silent, his flesh mangled and a gruesome sight.

The stench of blood instantly filled the entire arena. All the men in black on the field turned pale, trembled all over, and dared not even breathe.

They had never seen this gray wolf attack before, and they never expected it to be so fast. They should know that the man who died was at least at the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm before he went up the mountain, and they didn't even know if he was hiding his true strength.

The ferocious black wolves were so frightened that they lay prostrate on the ground, their tails tucked between their legs, not daring to move.

After the gray wolf killed the man, it obediently walked back to the leader's feet and resumed its adorable appearance.

"Eat up," the leader said with a warm smile to the black Qilin standing next to the burly man from the south.

Upon receiving the order, the black Qilin immediately went to its original owner and began to devour it, the sound of bones breaking being particularly jarring in the deathly silent mountain forest.

The leader lowered his eyes to look at the giant wolf that was still gnawing on it, his tone remaining calm, as if he had merely crushed an ant:

"Hu Nan's score will be settled sooner or later, and he will definitely pay the price. But not now."

He raised his eyes, his cold gaze sweeping over the crowd, and said, "Night Owl and Ghost Calculator, you two go down the mountain, pay a visit to Hu Nan, and present him with my personal letter. Tell him that you are here to fully assist them in solving the case and are at Hu Nan's disposal."

The burly man on the east side and the man on the south side quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Chief."

The leader continued, "While we should prioritize courtesy when descending the mountain, let's not be too rigid in our etiquette. Those officials are bound by rules and there are certain things they can't do. But we're different; we're bandits, and there are no taboos. If anyone is found deliberately sabotaging this operation, kill them without hesitation, understand? In this Baode Prefecture, there shouldn't be anyone stronger than you."

"We will obey the orders of our leader," the two men bowed again.

"Hmm, that's much better." The leader nodded in satisfaction, then looked in the direction of Baode Prefecture and muttered, "That man dared to kill an official; he's got guts. If he weren't targeting us, I'd be happy to drink and chat with him. What a pity... sigh... what a pity he's blocking my path to wealth."

Then he turned and left, disappearing into the dense forest.

After the leader left, the werewolf trainer in the middle of the arena also gradually dispersed with his wolves.

Several giant wolves suddenly leaped up and came to the corpse that had just been killed. They lowered their heads and frantically tore and picked up the pieces of flesh, greedily licking the still-dry blood on the ground, making the stench of blood in the entire forest even stronger.

The man from the east approached the man from the south and asked, "You 'Ghost Calculator,' what did the boss mean by what he just said? It's a bit confusing to me."

The cunning strategist smirked and slowly said, "The chief has made it perfectly clear: Hu Nan cannot be killed, lest it arouse the court's suspicion. But that murderer who dared to kill an official without authorization and ruin our plans must be torn to pieces."

"Oh..." Night Owl nodded thoughtfully, grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and said, "As long as you can kill people, that's a good job."