Let’s talk about Iron Wolf City. A month ago, the Demon Clan’s army suddenly withdrew from the Sky Demon Forest, and the city’s martial law was lifted a few days later.
Life for the hunters in Iron Wolf City had once again returned to normal.
Of course, there were differences; since Ling Feng had consecutively killed the three brothers of the Guo Family, the Skeleton Gang, which used to dominate the city, now resembled scattered sand.
The Elders within the gang were openly and covertly struggling for power, especially the alliance formed between Elder Tang Lie and Elder Jian (Jian Baizhang, see "Chapter 529: Killing Guo Zhan Again!"), which suppressed the others and had almost become the new helm of the Skeleton Gang.
During this period, Tang Lie undoubtedly showed his despicable and shameless nature, his greed becoming apparent as he went around collecting so-called "protection fees." Naturally, seeing Tang Lie’s actions, the other Elders followed suit.
Suddenly, everyone was paying four or five times the "protection fees," making it even more unbearable than when the Guo brothers were in charge.
The various big, medium, and small forces within the city were indescribably suffering.
As the saying goes, even a rotting ship has three pounds of nails left, and a camel, even starved, is bigger than a horse!
Even though the Skeleton Gang was no longer what it used to be, it was still not something that ordinary forces could compare to, and when faced with the ugly faces of the Skeleton Gang’s Elders, they could only endure in silence.
In the depths of the Sky Demon Forest, a white figure was moving at an extremely fast pace.
Finally, the young man in white stopped, took a long look at the majestic city before him, and slowly exhaled.
Ling Feng stretched lazily, having spent a month in the Demon Clan’s realm, returning to the human realm felt almost surreal.
As for Despicable Donkey and Little Qiongqi, they had already been taken back into the Five Elements Heavenly Palace by Ling Feng.
"It looks like the martial law in Iron Wolf City has been lifted."
Ling Feng touched his nose bridge; on his way back, he had already encountered several hunting teams killing low-level demon beasts around the outskirts of the Sky Demon Forest, and some had even invited him to join their group.
Of course, Ling Feng had no interest in hunting those low-level demon beasts.
He quickly passed through the city gates and walked the streets, where the sight of fellow humans coming and going gave him a sense of closeness.
Suddenly, a troop of horsemen came towards him, about ten men, speeding towards the south of the city.
"It’s him!" Ling Feng touched his nose bridge and a smile hung on his lips.
Along the way, Ling Feng had noticed many such teams heading directly to the south of the city, as if something big had happened.
The middle-aged man leading the horsemen suddenly caught sight of Ling Feng, immediately reined in his horse, jumped down from the saddle, and rushed towards Ling Feng, laughing heartily: "Xiao Feng, I really didn’t expect to see you again!"
"Senior Wang, that’s not a very auspicious thing to say, do you think I died in the Sky Demon Forest?" Ling Feng replied with a faint smile.
The middle-aged man approaching was none other than Wang Tianlin, the President of Tianlin Commerce.
"No, no," Wang Tianlin quickly waved his hand, "It’s just that after you caused a commotion at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, you then delved deep into the Sky Demon Forest. The situation then was extremely dangerous..."
Wang Tianlin sighed, "Never mind, never mind, as long as you’re back, as long as you’re back."
Ling Feng’s eyebrows raised slightly as he said indifferently, "By the way, Senior Wang, where are you heading? A lot of people in the city seem to be heading south. What’s happened, something big?"
"What else could it be but that damned Skeleton Gang!"
Wang Tianlin clenched his fists in hatred, grinding his teeth, "I thought that after Xiao Feng you eliminated the Guo brothers, we small and medium powers in Iron Wolf City could finally have some good days. But now Tang Lie and Jian Baizhang have become even more ruthless!"
"Tang Lie?" Ling Feng sneered, "A centipede dies but never falls down?"
"Exactly!" Wang Tianlin sighed softly, "That’s why, Tang Lie is claiming to have collected Guo Zhan’s bones outside the city and now wants to hold a memorial service for the three Gang Leader Guos."
"His mother, what memorial service! It’s just another way to extort money!"
From behind Wang Tianlin, a burly man stepped forward, his voice full of hate, "In less than a month, those bastards from the Skeleton Gang have extorted over 30,000 Elemental Stones from us! Our commerce association sometimes doesn’t even make that much in a month!"
"Those bastards!" For a moment, the martial artists from Tianlin Commerce were all so furious they itched to curse out loud.
However, as much as they cursed Tang Lie and the Elders daily, they must reluctantly pay up if they didn’t want their groups annihilated.
This world’s law of survival was the survival of the fittest.
Without strength, one either pays up or rolls out of this territory.
"Sigh..." Wang Tianlin glanced at Ling Feng, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes but then he shook his head bitterly, "Never mind, Xiao Feng, this matter isn’t related to you, it’s best you stay out of it. We should be leaving too, if we’re late, Tang Lie will probably slap us with a big hat of disrespecting the former gang leaders again."
If it were just the Skeleton Gang, he might have asked Ling Feng to intervene, but the situation had grown beyond just the Skeleton Gang. Now, the Skeleton Gang was like a lump of fat, with all the large factions within the city inevitably intervening, eager to take a slice.
The Elders, seeking more support, were going to extremes to ingratiate themselves with those factions. If Ling Feng stepped in now, it would be like challenging all the major first-class powers in Iron Wolf City, even the City Lord Mansion!
Though Ling Feng was strong, within those large families and factions, who wouldn’t have one or two King-level Experts?
This was not the time to drag Ling Feng into their troubles.
Ling Feng glanced at Wang Tianlin, knowing well the thoughts in his mind, smiled apologetically and said lightly, "Since it’s the memorial service for those three Gang Leader Guos, how could I not go take a look?"
"This... Xiao Feng, you... it’s better if you don’t go." Wang Tianlin spoke gravely, "You don’t understand; this is no longer just an issue with the Skeleton Gang."
Ling Feng chuckled dismissively, shrugged and said, "The Guo brothers were once respected figures, and since I’m nearly at the doors of the Spirit Hall, how could I not go in to spit before leaving?"
The expressions of Wang Tianlin and the martial artists from the commerce association all changed.
Good fellow, Ling Feng was still Ling Feng, with a level of arrogance unlikely to be matched by a second person in Iron Wolf City!
Ling Feng’s eyebrows furrowed, "I want to see what Tang Lie’s really capable of. The three surnamed Guo are dead, and the troublemakers below them are still restless!"