Just one night had passed, and the news of Ryan Ling publicly executing the two top fighters from Wuzhou High School had already spread throughout Harbor City.
Everyone felt a rush of pride and cheered, but beneath the excitement, tension simmered—everyone knew the Wuzhou crowd would never just let this go.
Because the two who were killed—Qiu Hao and Dai Lun—were both famous scions from top Wuzhou families, ranked in the city’s top ten. Their families’ power in Wuzhou totally outclassed Harbor City’s elite clans.
Plus, Wuzhou has been obsessed with martial arts for generations—every major family is packed with experts.
Right now, Harbor City was still calm—but this kind of calm was exactly the prelude to a storm.
At that moment, Ryan was keeping vigil at the hospital. Kevin Lee was still in critical condition—the bastard who attacked him had shattered nearly all his ribs and damaged his organs. Kevin’s parents were crying buckets.
Ryan had lost his own parents long ago. Seeing the couple sobbing so hard, he silently vowed to do whatever it took to save Kevin.
"Ryan, you—you really should leave. This is a huge mess, you should go hide for a while. Here’s some cash, take it—don’t mind if it’s not much!" Kevin’s dad tried to shove a wad of money into Ryan’s hands.
"Uncle, I’m not leaving. A murderer has to pay with his life—justice is justice. What do I have to be afraid of?" Ryan said, pushing the money back.
"That’s all well and good, but this world isn’t fair, Ryan. You should really go—Wuzhou’s people could show up any minute, and if you wait too long, you might not get another chance!" Kevin’s mom said worriedly.
"If they show up, even better—I’d love to see what they can do to me!" Ryan wasn’t the least bit nervous; with the facts on his side and his own strength, the idea of fearing them was a joke. Even if a grandmaster showed up, he wouldn’t bat an eye.
"Yeah, let’s see what they can do to us!" Jason Lin strode in wearing sunglasses.
"Bullshit!" Frank Qin the zombie king walked in right after, still as savage as ever—whoever taught him to talk, it was definitely someone mean.
"Master, you pulled off something this epic—don’t forget to let your disciple bask in the glory!" Warren Yuan laughed as he came in.
"Hahaha, if it were me, I wouldn’t stop at just two—if Harvey Jin does it, he wipes them all out!" Harvey 'Million' Jin shook out his pants and strutted in, grinning ear to ear.
"Heh, you bastards finally dragged yourselves here!" Ryan smirked—he knew at a time like this, these brothers who’d been through life and death with him would definitely show up.
"Hahaha!" The whole crew burst out laughing, nodded hard, and shouted in unison: "Boss!"
As soon as the shout died down, everyone piled into a big group hug.
"Screw it, let those Wuzhou bastards come! If one shows up, I’ll kill one; if two show up, I’ll take out both!"
"Damn right! Real men don’t care about karma—all we love is raising hell!"
"We took down a demon serpent—like hell we’d be scared of some Wuzhou punks! If they dare set foot in Harbor City, I’ll rip out their hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys and use them for bar snacks!"
...
The brothers kept cracking jokes, but their wild talk scared Kevin’s parents pale. Even Kevin, lying in intensive care, seemed to regain a little color from all the macho energy.
...
Night fell. Jason Lin hosted, and the brothers hit up East Lake’s food-stall street for another epic drinking session. Stuffed and tipsy, and seeing no sign of trouble from Wuzhou, Ryan stopped worrying and decided to log into the System to talk more business with Hua Tuo.
But as soon as he logged into the System, a message popped up: Ninth-Grade Spirit Officer slays human-world evil scions—bravo! Awarded: 20,000 Merit Points and one Judge’s Wish-Granting Talisman. Tomorrow, you will personally preside over their trial, then have the little underworld minions escort them to the Netherworld.
Ryan blinked in surprise—the message even had a note: (Punish them harshly to warn others.)
Seeing this, Ryan couldn’t help but grin. He hadn’t worried about killing those guys, but now the Netherworld had officially authorized their trial—even the Heavenly King wouldn’t dare mess with it.
Plus, flipping through their entries in the Book of Life and Death, he saw that besides killing Teachers Zhang and Xu yesterday, each of them had seven or eight innocent deaths on their record. If scum like this isn’t wiped out, even Heaven would want to hack them to pieces.
Right now, Qiu Hao and Dai Lun were locked up in Ryan’s temporary Hell Court Branch. The System was solid this time, already ordering four squads of little underworld minions to guard them, and even Granny Soul herself had shown up to lend authority—clearly here to back Ryan up for his first official evil-spirit trial tomorrow.
Ryan felt his blood boiling—he might only be a Ninth-Grade Spirit Officer, a tiny sesame-seed official, but this was his first formal evil-spirit trial. He had to make it showy! According to the System, pulling off a flashy trial would help him get promoted down the line.
He pictured himself suiting up in full official robes, hat, and seal, opening court to judge ghosts—just thinking about it got him hyped.
Having real power in your hands is awesome!
With all that excitement, the night passed in a blur.
Early the next morning, Ryan dressed up sharp, already plotting where to hold the trial for maximum style and intimidation.
Suddenly, a noisy crowd showed up outside. Ryan tensed—were the Wuzhou people here? But when he looked closer, it was just Jason Lin and the brothers, Samuel Su, Sophie Su, Zhang Hu from the school, and a bunch of folks from the Harbor City Martial Arts Association.
Ryan was surprised—why was everyone gathering here today?
"What’s up? Something happened? Did those Wuzhou bastards really come for revenge?" Ryan asked, swinging open the door.
"No, it’s Old Master Hong—Stanley Hong. He just sent an invitation, wants you to attend a banquet!" Jason Lin said right away.
"A banquet? I’ve got no connection to him—why should I go? Not interested!" Ryan snapped. He remembered Liu Yin Hai and Stanley Hong’s shady ties to the Azure Dragon Society, and his impression of Stanley was rock-bottom.
"Ryan, I really think you should go. Stanley Hong is Harbor City’s top figure—everyone here gives him respect. Plus, if he’s inviting you right when he comes back, it’s definitely to mediate the conflict with Wuzhou. He’s played peacemaker plenty of times before, and with him stepping in, plus the fact that Wuzhou is in the wrong, I doubt they’ll dare make trouble!" Samuel Su stroked his beard and weighed in.
[This chapter isn’t over yet~ Please click next page to keep reading!]
"Yeah, Mr. Su’s right. Old Master Hong really is Harbor City’s leader—he knows how to be fair when it counts. He’s got major pull not just here, but all over Jiangdong. If he’s inviting you, he’s probably trying to help our side. My guess is the Wuzhou crew is already here, and if Old Master Hong hadn’t stepped in, we might’ve seen blood last night."
"I think so too. The old man’s got a temper, but he’s definitely on our side. Ryan, you won’t lose out by going—this should get settled smoothly with the Hong family mediating!"
"Agreed. I say go—Stanley Hong rushed back and jumped into this mess, so he clearly cares. Sure, the Hong family has its black sheep like Liu Yin Hai, but I still believe Stanley Hong is a good guy!"
...
After Samuel finished, the Martial Arts Association folks all nodded—they clearly respected Old Master Hong.
Ryan nodded, outwardly agreeing, but inside he knew Stanley Hong was far from simple. This banquet was almost certainly a Hongmen Banquet—a trap disguised as a feast.
Still, with Harbor City’s strongest figure inviting him, Ryan had to give some face.
"Fine, I’ll go!" Ryan said, and the crew fell silent, following him out the door.
The Hong Family Villa sat atop Jade Spring Mountain—a prime spot for health and fortune. Word was, when Stanley Hong bought this land and built the villa, he spent nearly ten billion. No wonder the Hong family was in a league of its own.
From the foot to the peak, the whole mountain road was paved with white marble, outshining even Harvey Jin’s place. Every ten steps was a scenic view, every hundred steps another wonder—stepping inside felt like entering a fairyland.
First-timers couldn’t help but gasp, and even the most jaded guests found themselves awed by Old Master Hong.
"We’re here—the villa gate’s just ahead!" The driver announced, quickly parking the car as directed by the Hong family’s security.
Everyone got out right away.
"Hold up—today’s banquet is for Ryan only. No outsiders allowed!" At the gate, a burly steward blocked the group, his eyes flashing with a dangerous, murderous glint...