“Grab him and take him back to the Lord’s Mansion, seal the shop for me.” The burly man frowned and waved his hand directly.

As soon as he finished speaking, his men immediately started to move around. The guests in the shop had already fled, and the waiters had all hidden in the crowd outside. Hu Tu’s face turned pale, and he was at a loss.

Seeing people coming to arrest him, he instinctively struggled, but before he could break free, he was struck on the back. He staggered, feeling dizzy, and stumbled to the ground.

Fortunately, a man came down the stairs and caught him. “It’s just a matter of losing some silver, why resort to violence? If you lost money, just compensate. There’s no need to resort to violence,” Yuan Ming said as he helped Hu Tu to the side, looking at the fierce leader.

“Nonsense, did our Lord lose silver? It’s about losing face! Where did this troublemaker come from? Get lost, mind your own business, and if you interfere further, you’ll be considered an accomplice and taken away,” the burly man scolded angrily, glaring.

Although Hu Tu was flustered, he didn’t want to drag Yuan Ming down, so he quickly pulled at his sleeve and said, “I’ll go with you, this has nothing to do with him.” He was about to step forward, but was stopped by Yuan Ming.

“Alright, we have a fearless one here. Do you want to resist arrest?” The burly man was getting angry, and when he saw Yuan Ming’s little movement, he laughed instead of getting angry. “I didn’t mean that. You’re looking for an artist, right? That’s me,” Yuan Ming said with a smile.

“Are you making fun of me? I’ll take you down first!” The burly man was really losing his temper. As he finished speaking, he suddenly drew the curved knife from his waist and swung it at Yuan Ming.

Hu Tu reacted quickly and tried to pull Yuan Ming away, but found that it was like pulling a bronze statue, he couldn’t move him at all.

Yuan Ming simply waved his hand, and the iron curved knife was twisted into a spiral, and the burly man also spun in mid-air a few times before the force was removed, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Yuan Ming’s move truly shocked the onlookers, and they couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. The Lord’s Mansion guards saw this and drew their swords, but they only surrounded them and no one dared to step forward.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming took a step closer to the burly man with a smile. The latter, who was in a mess, was so scared that he kept retreating.

“Don’t come near me, I know you’re a cultivator… Our Lord’s Mansion also has cultivators. If you dare to kill, you won’t escape punishment,” the burly man, who had seen the world, said.

In the Lord’s Mansion, those cultivators who were worshipped could easily kill people, and he had never seen one who didn’t respectfully call them “Immortal.”

“Let’s go, take me to the Lord’s Mansion, it’s just a matter of painting, right?” Yuan Ming said with a light smile. As he spoke, he reached out and helped the trembling burly man, and a stream of energy quietly entered, restoring the dislocated meridians in his injured arm.

“Are you… really an artist?” The burly man felt a significant reduction in the pain in his arm, steadied his mind, and asked. “Stop talking nonsense, show me the way,” Yuan Ming scolded. The guards of the Lord’s Mansion came to investigate, but they were almost taken back.

As they left, Yuan Ming looked back at the completely stunned Hu Tu and said with a smile, “It’s nothing, just keep doing business as usual.” Hu Tu forced a smile and watched them leave, sitting dejectedly on the steps. “Is he really the same Yuan Ming?” Hu Tu felt a mix of emotions.

On the other side, Yuan Ming followed the guards to the Lord’s Mansion. “You, wait here… I’ll go report first,” the burly man led Yuan Ming to a courtyard in the Lord’s Mansion, rubbed his shoulders, and hurriedly left.

Yuan Ming sat calmly at a stone table in the courtyard, looking around. He found that many of the furnishings in this small courtyard had a strong Central Plains style, which was very different from the architectural decorations commonly seen in the Southern Frontier.

Yuan Ming was lost in thought when the burly man returned. “The Lord is entertaining guests, I’ll report later,” the burly man said.

Yuan Ming didn’t mind and casually asked, “Have there been any visitors from the Central Plains to your Lord’s Mansion recently?” Upon hearing this, the burly man was visibly startled. “Yes, there have been. How long have they been here, and have they left?” Yuan Ming asked.

The burly man clearly didn’t want to answer, but intimidated by his identity as a cultivator, he couldn’t pretend not to have heard, so he could only say, “Indeed, some people have come from the Central Plains and have been staying in the Lord’s Mansion’s side courtyard, and they haven’t left. Do you know where in the Central Plains they came from?” Yuan Ming asked.

I don’t know where in the Central Plains they came from, they’re all very secretive, only dealing with the Lord’s trusted aides, we can’t see them,” the burly man said, shaking his head. “After they arrived, did they do anything unusual?” Yuan Ming asked.

The day after they arrived, the Lord ordered the closure of the Shanhe Gambling House and a guesthouse under the name of a certain innkeeper. They were both businesses that had been supplying the Lord’s Mansion,” the burly man said after some thought.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming had a clue in his mind. After waiting for a short while, he urged the burly man to report again. This time, however, it was not the burly man who came, but a large group of well-armed soldiers and two cultivators supported by the Lord’s Mansion.The burly man from before was dragged back, already beaten black and blue. “You scoundrel, wasn’t it enough to deceive us once? You want to bring another one?” A bald, middle-aged man with a burly figure and black tattoos shouted.

The burly man was so beaten that he was barely breathing, unable to utter a word in his defense. Yuan Ming frowned upon seeing this.

“You blind fool, thinking you can swagger into the lord’s mansion with your half-baked tricks. Are you tired of living?” Another man, skinny with a sharp chin and monkey cheeks, screeched.

Yuan Ming glanced at the two, noting they were around the fourth or fifth level of Qi refining, and had an idea of the situation. “I’m just here to paint a picture for the lord; is there a need for such a commotion?” Yuan Ming said with a helpless expression.

“Shall I, Garu, handle this, or will you, Hulada?” The sharp-chinned man ignored Yuan Ming and turned to the burly middle-aged Garu with a smile.

Hulada nodded, then sneered at Yuan Ming, “Today, you’ll learn how to write the word ‘death’!” As his words fell, he pulled out a short spike from his waist, muttered a few words, and with a flash of spiritual light, the spike flew out, transforming into a long black cord, slithering like a snake.

But in a few breaths, a scream rang out. Hulada was sprawled on the ground, motionless, and the short spike lay on the ground. “I may not know how to write ‘death,’ but it seems I’ve written ‘big’ quite well,” Yuan Ming said with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, a bear’s roar erupted. The tattoos on the burly man lit up, his body shrouded in a green malevolent aura, forming a vague bear shadow that charged at Yuan Ming. With each step, the ground shook, his momentum fierce.

In an instant, he too lost consciousness, lying next to Hulada in the same posture, neatly arranged. Seeing these two cultivators fall in the blink of an eye, the remaining soldiers were terrified, none daring to step forward.

Suddenly, a low shout came from outside the courtyard: “Who dares to cause trouble in the lord’s mansion?” As the voice fell, a streak of golden light leaped over the courtyard wall.

Following closely, seven or eight figures walked over from outside the courtyard, half of them dressed and looking like people from the Central Plains.

At the center was a lavishly dressed, corpulent middle-aged man with the appearance of a Southern Border native, none other than the master of Iron Tiger Town, Lord Ba Yin. “Someone explain to me what’s going on here?” Lord Ba Yin demanded angrily upon surveying the scene.

“Lord Ba Yin, please calm your anger. With our commander here, there’s no need to worry.” Everyone’s gaze shifted to the first person who had leaped over. The golden light on him had dissipated, revealing a set of leather armor. His shoulders trembled slightly, as if he too was on the edge of anger.

They had been troubling the lord’s mansion for a while, coinciding with Lord Ba Yin’s banquet today. Unexpectedly, they encountered someone causing trouble, and it was a cultivator no less. Seeing that the mansion’s cultivators couldn’t handle it, they decided to intervene, repaying a favor in kind.

“Commander Fu, take care of him,” someone in the crowd jeered. The other Central Plains people also shouted along, and although most of the Southern Border natives didn’t understand, they joined in the clamor. Amidst the crowd’s expectation, Commander Fu, confronting Yuan Ming, suddenly bellowed, “Silence!”

His shout startled everyone. Even the host, Ba Yin, trembled with his fat. Before the crowd could comprehend what had happened, Commander Fu at the forefront suddenly “thump” knelt on the ground, eliciting another cry of surprise.

“Young Master, I’ve finally found you,” Commander Fu’s eyes reddened as he clasped his hands towards Yuan Ming and called out with a trembling voice.

“Young Master?” His shout made the others stiffen, and they were no fools. After a moment of shock, they quickly ran over and knelt down one after another.