Even from far away, you could hear this guy spouting brain-dead nonsense.
Saying stuff like “inside the site this, outside the site that.”
What, he think he’s in a movie or something?
Seeing one of their own get hit, the rest of the Bai Family Cultivators were about to make a move.
One of them rushed in too fast.
Lu Ding turned and slapped him mid-air, then grabbed his hair and slammed him straight into the ground.
Then he yanked him back up by the hair, blood covering his face.
Raised a hand and slowly pointed across the group, his contemptuous gaze following.
Those words, paired with the brutality that came before, immediately froze everyone in place.
Bai Hemen and Cao Ying arrived just then.
The young man who had been kicked first struggled to his feet.
Stumbled over, still dizzy,
Shook his head trying to clear the fog.
He’d only gotten a few meters from Lu Ding when he muttered: “You motherf—...”
This time, Bai Hemen moved faster—and harder—than Lu Ding.
The guy went flying again, dozens of meters away, slamming into the rubble, head bloodied.
“Stay down. Get up one more time, I’ll kill you.”
This had nothing to do with the mission. Purely personal grudge.
Just the thought that these people shared his last name made Bai Hemen sick.
He tossed the Bai Clan member in his grip aside.
Lu Ding glanced at them, then pointed to an empty spot nearby.
“Didn’t you want to show your sincerity? Go. Kneel over there. Stay until sunrise.”
The moment he said that,
Every Cultivator with the Bai surname turned pale.
A tall man stepped forward from the group,
Eyes landing on Lu Ding’s shoulder insignia.
“Investigator, we were in the wrong today. But asking us to kneel—that’s a bit outside the 749 Bureau’s Cultivator regulations, isn’t it?”
“Besides, the one who caused trouble was him.”
He pointed to the unconscious guy in the rubble. “He’s already been punished. This has nothing to do with us, right?”
Lu Ding stepped forward.
“Seems like you know the Cultivator regulations pretty well.”
The man gave a noncommittal nod.
Lu Ding took off his shoulder insignia and waved it in front of him.
“Maybe you know the law—but you clearly don’t know me. This is how I operate. If you’ve got a problem, go report me.”
“If you’re not happy, come challenge me.”
He was setting up for what he was about to say next.
“They’ll kneel over there until sunrise. As for you, you’re the bird sticking its head out.”
Lu Ding pointed at the ground underfoot. “You’ll kneel right here, until I’m satisfied.”
The man frowned. “We don’t have any grudge, do we?”
Lu Ding shook his head. “Nope. None at all. I just don’t like you. I want to humiliate you.”
“If you don’t kneel, I’ll smash your face right here.”
“If you so much as flinch while kneeling, I’ll make you watch your own brains spill out.”
With straightforward enemies, words were unnecessary.
But with the kind who played clever, didn’t know their place,
You had to throw some trash talk their way—make them sick to their stomach.
If they were too weak to fight back, but still couldn’t stand you, it only made them more miserable.
Right now, Bai Baoquan was exactly that.
Anger stuck in his throat like a mouthful of dead flies.
But he didn’t dare spit it out.
Because he saw Lu Ding casually turn off his law enforcement recorder.
His heartbeat went erratic that very second.
Then he glanced sideways—Bai Hemen had also turned his recorder off and was blocking the view of the two site investigators.
Bai Baoquan: Crap. They’re serious!
Let’s be real—why did they dare to kill Cripple Li’s little brother-in-law?
Because they were in the mountains.
In the mountains, Cultivator grudges rarely get policed.
Hack someone to pieces? Whatever.
Murder over treasure? No one cares if no one reports it.
Why’d they dare push around the investigators here? Same reason—it’s the mountains.
The difference is, they could toe the line, but 749 investigators had to follow the rules.
If a conflict broke out, there was no 749 backup out here.
And with only two investigators on site, they’d be outnumbered and overwhelmed.
Bottom line—they weren’t strong enough.
But now someone strong had arrived. The Bai Cultivators had just been flirting with the line.
Lu Ding? He was straight-up telling them—
I’m not gonna reason with you.
Either cooperate, or I’ll wreck you.
The bold fear the reckless.
“No response? Cat got your tongue? Fine, I’ll give you a three-count and three options. Either kneel before I finish counting—”
The second the word ‘three’ left his mouth,
Bai Baoquan dropped to his knees, looked up at Lu Ding.
His smile was forced, tongue nervously swiping his cheek.
“You win, boss. I yield.”
The situation was clear—Lu Ding was stronger. Bai Baoquan’s heart burned with humiliation,
But he didn’t dare show a flicker of it.
Because back when he was running jobs in the mountains, anyone who dared disrespect him had ended up dead.
He knew exactly what kind of posture a weakling needed to survive.
Still, he couldn’t quite play the part perfectly.
Didn’t hurt much—but it was humiliating as hell.
“If you can’t keep your tongue in check, I’ll cut it out and stuff it down your gut!”
Blood trickled from Bai Baoquan’s lip. He raised his hand and slapped himself hard: “Got it. Thanks for the lesson, boss.”
Lu Ding nodded in satisfaction, turned,
And walked into the construction site, flashing his badge to the two stationed 749 investigators.
When Wu Yishuang and Yu Qingli saw the ‘Formal Investigator’ designation on Lu Ding’s credentials,
They exchanged glances, both visibly surprised.
Within the 749 system, field investigators were split into three base levels: Intern, Formal, and Senior Investigator.
They handled most special incidents—arrests, detainment, probing, special missions, and urgent cooperation.
Above them were Special-Grade Investigators and Investigation Specialists.
Five levels, corresponding to the five points of a star.
The two investigators at the Ba’er Mountain site were both Formal Investigators.
In their minds, it would’ve taken at least two Senior Investigators to handle this situation.
And yet here came just one Formal...
Then Bai Hemen walked up and flashed his badge too.
Wu Yishuang and Yu Qingli both had the same thought:
Two Formal Investigators... this...
No way headquarters would’ve miscalculated. There was only one possibility.
These two, while technically just Formal Investigators, had strength on par with Seniors.
Maybe in some areas, even better than Seniors.
Otherwise, no way they would’ve been sent here.
Thinking that, Wu Yishuang and Yu Qingli both reached the same conclusion—
No matter which it was, this mission was solid!
They both stood straight and saluted: “Greetings, sir!”