The Martial Saint begins by collecting corpses.

A state of armed conflict?

Upon hearing this, everyone applauded and cheered.

"Good! What a mighty hero!"

"Now that this scourge has been eliminated, Qingyun Street is at peace."

"Good sir, I'm willing to pay protection money."

Just then, the old carpenter at the end of the street, who had just said that Lu Ming was a pretentious scoundrel who refused to pay protection money, came running over and offered two hundred coins with both hands.

Lu Ming told Ah Lang to accept it.

Seeing this, the carpenter secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then shouted loudly:

"Gentlemen, although Li Hu has been eliminated, another gang has entered the scene at some point, disregarding human life and causing harm to us."

"Right now, why not pay this hero two hundred coins a month? This amount is something you can all afford."

"This hero is from the county government. He stood up for his brothers today, showing great righteousness. He probably wouldn't harm us."

Upon hearing this, the blacksmith chimed in, and immediately, everyone rushed over to pay.

[Gain martial arts experience.]

[Acquired martial art: Fierce Tiger Fist.]

[Obtained incomplete bone structure.]

As they were speaking, Lu Ming had already seen a gray light flash on Li Hu's corpse, which he then swallowed.

Martial arts experience and the Fierce Tiger Fist flashed through his mind, directly reaching the minor completion level, making him feel a jolt in his body and his strength increase significantly out of thin air.

He remained calm, while having Ah Lang carry the sack to put the money in, all the while he seemed a little puzzled.

Li Hu was also a martial artist, but he did not turn into a zombie like Sun Dazhi.

It seems that not all martial artists turn into zombies after death.

While he was thinking, all the gang members had run away, and the leader Chen and the others on the ground also limped away.

Lu Ming watched quietly without interfering; killing them in front of so many people was unrealistic.

After collecting the protection money, he led Ah Lang and the other three into the Tiger Gang's mansion, where they found more than twenty taels of silver. They also found more than twenty taels of silver on Li Hu, for a total of forty-five taels.

Big Tiger exclaimed with delight, "Brother, we're rich again! You can each drink a bowl of Qi-boosting powder every day!"

Lu Ming shook his head and said:

"Two hundred coins, thirty households, that's six taels of silver a month for protection."

"Since we've collected protection money, we naturally have to protect them."

"We just killed Li Hu for them, so naturally the money Li Hu squeezed out of them should be distributed to them as well."

Ah Lang was taken aback: "Give it all to them? So much money, all of it to them?"

Lu Ming smiled and said:

"Of course not all of it. There are a total of forty-five taels here, divided into three portions."

"We keep fifteen taels for ourselves and give another fifteen taels to each household, five hundred coins each."

"I have a use for the rest."

The monkey asked, puzzled, "Five hundred coins per household? Isn't that more than the protection money we collect? They're making a profit?"

Lu Ming's eyes flickered as he said, "Are we only going to take this street? Alright, do as I say."

Lu Ming instructed them to have each of the thirty households on Qingyun Street send a representative to collect the money. Seeing their incredulous expressions as they received the money, Lu Ming nodded in approval.

He never wanted just money; he also wanted corpses.

He can't collect corpses from other parts of Heishui County right now, but he's determined to collect the bodies near the county government office.

Even the corpses of ordinary people are of great use to him, as he can obtain incomplete bone fragments, and bone fragments... determine the speed of cultivation.

Besides making money, another important reason he collected protection money was to establish a channel for collecting corpses. For example, he could use it as an excuse to stand up for them or collect their bodies after they died.

Otherwise, if someone from Qingyun Street dies and goes directly to the yamen to report it to the authorities, the body will be taken away by Zhao Meng.

Firstly, he didn't have enough manpower to keep an eye on things all day, and secondly, given the current situation, he couldn't directly try to take it from Zhao Meng.

After the craftsmen had all received their money and left, Ah Lang emerged from a room and said:

"Brother, this is the roster of the Fierce Tiger Gang. It contains not only the names of the gang members, but also their home addresses."

Lu Ming said, "Very good. Find out who is an orphan, without brothers or sisters, and all alone. I need their help."

Upon hearing this, Ah Lang's pupils contracted slightly, and he lowered his head and said:

"Yes."

"Let's go." Lu Ming stood up and led the three back to the county government office.

He left penniless, but returned with twenty-one taels of silver, plus another fifteen taels, which Lu Ming had other uses for.

Upon returning to his residence, he told Da Hu and the other two to rest first, and then immediately went to find Li Xiu.

"Haha, I heard that Brother Lu really showed off his prowess today!"

In the side hall, Li Xiu sat in the main seat, pointing at Lu Ming and chuckling.

"Now, the craftsmen in the backstreets and Qingyun Street are all praising Brother Lu for his benevolence and righteousness."

"Hey, what's with the talk of benevolence and righteousness? Everyone knows that Steward Li is the one who truly hates evil!"

Lu Ming smiled.

"The reason I was able to defeat Li Hu by surprise this time was because he was wary of the Duke's authority and Steward Li's reputation."

"The Fierce Tiger Gang has committed numerous evil deeds and disregarded human life..."

"My accidental killing this time might actually be a good thing. Good things will be rewarded."

"I received some silver from the Tiger Gang's mansion this time, and I returned most of it to the craftsmen."

"Here are fifteen taels, which is what Steward Li deserves. If he hadn't known that I was brought into the mansion by Steward Li, he probably wouldn't have been so restrained in the fight."

"I hope Steward Li will not refuse. Otherwise, I will not feel at ease accepting it."

Li Xiu couldn't help but smile, somewhat surprised and somewhat satisfied, and nodded, saying:

"In that case, it would seem like I'm in the wrong if I didn't accept it."

He immediately slipped fifteen taels of silver into his sleeve and said with a smile:

"However, Brother Lu, you should not wander around too much. Just stay near the county magistrate's mansion. After all, it's hard to guard against a sneak attack."

"A hidden arrow?" Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately thought of Zhao Meng.

Judging from Zhao Meng's methods, if he still intends to kill him, he will likely have set up sentries near the county government office.

Lu Ming quickly asked, "I'd also like to ask Steward Li, which road is safer?"

Li Xiu laughed and said, "I'm not a road builder, how would I know about such things?"

Lu Ming's gaze sharpened, but he didn't ask any more questions. After chatting for a few more minutes, he got up to take his leave.

Li Xiu watched him leave, took out the fifteen taels of silver from his sleeve, weighed it in his hand, a hint of satisfaction appearing in his eyes, but then he shook his head and sighed:

"Lu Ming is indeed a talented person, it's a pity that he has a martial arts genius like Da Hu by his side, what a pity..."

That evening, after dinner, Ah Lang returned and handed Lu Ming a list with seven names on it.

Ah Lang whispered, "All the people on this list are lone members of the Fierce Tiger Gang, and their addresses are listed here."

Lu Ming glanced at it and nodded:

"Thanks a lot."

Ah Lang asked, "Big Brother, are you planning to do this alone?"

Lu Ming shook his head, put the list away, and said:

"Let's stop for a while and not take any action for now."

"Zhao Meng has planted spies nearby, so let's practice slowly for a while."

"You can stay within the area around the streets in front and behind you, just don't go outside this area."

Upon hearing this, Ah Lang gritted his teeth and said:

"Damn Zhao Meng! So we're not collecting protection money from other places anymore?"

Lu Ming asked, "Qingping Street in the front street can still be taken over, but what gangs are entrenched there?"

Ah Lang said, "It's the Giant Strength Gang."

Lu Ming nodded: "We'll go tomorrow."

"Okay." Ah Lang said, about to leave, but then hesitated and stopped, saying tentatively:

"Brother, are you really alright? Aren't we being a bit too arrogant? The county government..."

Lu Ming smiled and said:

"Power not used will expire."

The extent to which others tolerate you depends on your value.

"Think about these two sentences before you do anything."

Ah Lang seemed to understand something and left, but didn't quite get it.