Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Dongling City, in front of the city gates.

Clang!

Clang Clang!

With the suona and gongs leading the way, ’funeral’ banners paving the path, paper money swirling in the air, and wailing that shook for miles.

A procession resembling a dragon approached from the distance; those driving carriages and walking on foot were all dressed in mourning attire, wailing with great sorrow, with the flags of the Sihai Business Association clearly visible.

”The Sihai Business Association again, they’ve lost someone else?”

”It seems so, and it’s another important figure. Was it Fierce Tiger Village again?”

People near the city gates chattered, some with a schadenfreude smile, holding old grudges against the Sihai Business Association.

However, they still made way, as despite the successive deaths of its core members and the decline of its power, the Sihai Business Association was still not an entity ordinary folk could afford to provoke.

Moreover, death is of great importance, and making way for the deceased was nothing much.

”What’s the Sihai Business Association anyway?”

”Since when did these gates belong to Sihai?”

Someone, fearless, spoke up, recognized by their garb as an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist from the Jinlong Business Association, clamoring: ”Come whenever, enter at will!”

”Yeah, that’s right! Get back there, to the end of the line!”

A bunch of idlers also joined in the jeering.

As the funeral procession drew nearer, their pupils contracted.

The first cart caught their eye, and it wasn’t loaded with goods or a coffin, but rather a severed human head!

Not just any head, but one incredibly well preserved, with advanced techniques and precious materials used so that even long after death, it looked almost lifelike, with even a hint of rosy color left on the face.

This head, with slightly white sideburns and an imposing air, even now caused people to avert their gaze.

”Lu Jingtian!”

The Inner Qi Martial Artists from the Jinlong Business Association screamed, their complexions turning deathly white.

Others might not recognize this powerful figure from Fierce Tiger Village, but how could the Jinlong Business Association not, after their multiple collaborations?

The crowd fell silent.

Then, it erupted, boiling over like a firecracker set off among them, the reverberating roars unceasing in their ears.

”The ’Sky-holding Tiger’ of Fierce Tiger Village? Impossible!”

”This guy must be out of his mind.”

The surrounding people were abuzz with disbelief.

At the front of the procession, Dragon Three’s expression was neither joyous nor sorrowful as he began his oration in an elongated tone.

”The thief who killed the offspring of the Long’s, ’Sky-holding Tiger’ Lu Jingtian, has been executed!”

Lu Jingtian’s solitary head in the prison cart passed straight through the city gates, and along its path all onlookers were horrified, making way, their gazes turning back.

”The thief who killed the offspring of the Long’s, ’Sky-supporter Tiger’ Zhou Kun, has been executed!”

The second prison cart, as the white cloth was unveiled, revealed a large, slightly dark head with eyes wide open in fury, seemingly still filled with unfulfilled ambition.

The preserving techniques were of a lower standard, but the face was still clearly discernible.

Many recoiled, their pupils dilating.

”No mistake, that’s Fierce Tiger Village’s second-in-command, ’Sky-supporter Tiger’ Zhou Kun. He led a raid on our Escort Agency years ago, and with just his bare hands, he broke two long swords.”

”That’s him!”

Several others came forward to confirm, in contrast to the leader of Fierce Tiger Village who rarely made public appearances, this ’Sky-supporter Tiger’ frequently led his men out on raids and to collect protection money, gaining recognition.

”The thief who killed the offspring of the Long’s, ’Scorpion-tailed Tiger’ Xu Erniang, ’Downhill Tiger’ Lang Yi, ’Mountain-splitting Tiger’ Zhou Sheng, has been executed!”

The next cart, as the white cloth was lifted, didn’t offer the luxury of solitary confinement but revealed three heads—seductive, rugged, and handsome, their features distinctly visible.

”I know ’Scorpion-tailed Tiger’; that’s the bitch there!”

”Downhill Tiger...”

Now, the crowd was thoroughly shaken.

Compared to the first two ’tigers’, these lower-ranked leaders were the main forces that led the raids and collected protection money, so nearly everyone who frequently traveled to and from Dongling City knew them, had paid them, or had relatives or subordinates who had died at their hands.

”Fierce Tiger Village really has been annihilated? Heaven does see!”

”Father, your vengeance has been served!”

Many people wept bitterly, letting the way open on their initiative, with some, so overcome with emotion, cutting off their indecent clothes with sharp blades to make mourning headbands, wrapping them around their heads and crying ceaselessly.

Most people had already believed it.

”Old thief Lu blinded himself to reason, of all people to provoke, he had to stir trouble with such a widespread and powerful force in Yue Country; I said from the start that he’d come to no good end!”

”Come off it, when did you ever say that!”

More and more people gathered around, utterly shocked.

”This is fake! The Sihai Business Association found someone skilled in the art of disguise to fabricate this!”

Someone screamed as if they had lost their sanity.

Such people were either deeply entangled in self-interest or had unresolvable hatred with the Sihai Business Association and refused to believe it.

”The thief who killed the descendants of Long’s, three hundred forty-seven thieves of Fierce Tiger Village, has been executed!”

One by one, the covers on the prison carts were lifted, revealing stacks of heads that had been crudely salted; their faces smeared with white ash and bloodstains, nearly filling the cage-like prison carts.

One after another, the prison carts filled with heads passed by.

The crowd was as silent as the grave, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Some clenched their teeth, shivering with the effort of suppressing any sound.

”Zhou Wu’s head... I recognize him; he used to dominate our village, and a few years ago, he talked about making his way in Jianghu.”

”Li Neng, I recognize him too; he came to the Chunfeng Building every ten days or so to drink and be merry.”

”And this one...”

One by one, heads were recognized, yet no one dared to be noisy, instead speaking in hushed voices to their companions.

The last prison cart, however, held a single cell, similar treatment to Lu Jingtian and Zhou Kun, except that the face had been violently gouged out, unrecognizable.

”The thief who killed the descendants of Long’s... a nameless person, has been executed!”

Dragon Three announced coldly.

What he hated the most were those who claimed to uphold ’Righteousness Over Clouds’ but disguised themselves to partake in killing his children and kin!

Unfortunately, his uncles did not allow him to act on impulse.

Yiqi Gang had deep roots in the city, and with someone backing them, even with Yang Dongsheng’s death, it wouldn’t necessarily collapse. Furthermore, Sihai Business Association was not a sect that relied on martial strength, so matters were left as they were.

Everyone’s expression changed hearing the anger in his words, secretly guessing whose head occupied that solitary prison cart.

At the same time, a large number of people and horses set off in all directions, spreading the shocking news.

After the prison carts had passed, the spectators’ breathing suddenly became rapid.

The next cart, astonishingly, was one filled with gold and silver treasures!

Gold, silver, pearls, and jade piled up like little mountains on the carts!

Under the sunlight, they glittered with different hues of radiance, and they weren’t just one cart but the second, and the third, all laden with gold and silver treasures, without a hint of anything else.

”How much silver has this damned Fierce Tiger Village robbed over the years?!!” someone exclaimed, staring intently at the three dazzling carts, shaking as he spoke, his eyes filled with a greed that nearly drove one mad.

Yet, in the end, no one went mad; not a single step was actually taken.

Following the gold and silver treasure carts were carts of iron weapons: seven or eight of them, with swords and halberds bound like firewood, piling up high.

After that came carts of fabrics, grains, livestock, and so on.

All held their breath, watching this tremendous wealth pass by, yet none dared to step forward to touch even a bit of it.

Fierce Tiger Village must have been annihilated.

”Of the ’Seven Tigers,’ only ’Gold-touching Tiger’ Zhou Sheng and ’Ground-stamping Tiger’ Lu Hou remain. Does any brother have knowledge of their whereabouts?”

Someone, unable to bear the suspense any longer, asked.

The people around brightened up.

Kicking someone while they’re down!

In the past, Fierce Tiger Village was too powerful for them to dare make a move, but now that only big cats and kittens were left, what was there to fear?

If they could catch them, and extract information about the deeply hidden treasures of Fierce Tiger Village...

”I don’t know about ’Gold-touching Tiger,’ but I saw ’Ground-stamping Tiger’ Lu Hou in the Chunfeng Building a few days ago!”

The surrounding martial artists’ eyes suddenly blazed with excitement.