Chapter 165: You Wish to Compare Military Might?

"Who beat the person under my command?"

Standing in the main hall of the Meng family estate, Qin Mu’s gaze was cold and piercing as he swept it across everyone present.

"You! How dare you ignore me!"

Meng Qing was left speechless and frozen in place by Qin Mu's single sentence. He had originally intended to give Qin Mu a harsh warning to establish his dominance. Instead, Qin Mu bypassed all pleasantries and launched straight into a direct interrogation, overwhelming him so completely that he did not know how to respond for a moment.

"This is the Meng family! Who gave you the right to bark so wildly here? I'm asking you, are you deaf? What the hell are you playing dumb for?"

The man sitting next to Meng Qing slammed his palm down on the armrest in fury and stood straight up. A surge of inner energy erupted from his body, sending faint, visible ripples through the surrounding air in an extremely overbearing display.

"Was it you?"

Qin Mu shifted his gaze, locking his eyes onto this member of the Meng family.

In an instant, the man felt as though he had been targeted by the God of Death himself. The inner energy he had just unleashed collapsed and shattered on its own accord. He slumped back down into his chair, his back instantly soaked in cold sweat.

What—what kind of gaze was that?!

"N-No, it wasn't me..."

The man shook his head frantically like a rattle-drum, eager to distance himself from the situation out of sheer terror that Qin Mu might come after him.

Meng Xianglong sat high in the master's seat. Seeing Qin Mu exert such terrifying pressure, he could no longer remain seated and shouted sternly, "Boy, Meng Feng got what he deserved! The Meng family was merely enforcing our family discipline!"

As expected of a family head, Meng Xianglong's words served as an instant pillar of support. The younger generation, who had been thoroughly suppressed by Qin Mu's aura, straightened their spines once more and glared at him defiantly.

Meng Qing stood up openly, fully embodying the demeanor of a proud young prodigy of the clan. With a grand sweep of his arm, he interrogated Qin Mu: "I heard that Meng Feng's ambush in White Emperor City was arranged by you? What gave you the audacity to allow anyone to lay a hand on the Japanese?"

"Don't you know that the Japanese are honored guests of our Huaxia nation?!"

Hearing this, Qin Mu cast a cold glance back at Meng Qing.

"Was it you who beat him?"

Hearing these words, Meng Qing let out a mocking click of his tongue. Ever since Qin Mu had stepped through the door, he had simply been repeating the exact same question.

He suddenly felt that this figure who had been creating such a massive stir in the outside world was nothing special after all!

With that thought in mind, he strode forward, stopped right in front of Qin Mu, raised his chin arrogantly, and laughed as he confessed, "That's right, I hit him! So what?"

"Our family head originally assigned a few men to deal with him, but he was too weak! He couldn't even withstand a few moves against just me before being beaten into a complete retreat!"

"What's even more laughable is that when I demanded to know who gave him his orders, he still put up a stubborn front and refused to speak."

"As the leader of the younger generation of the Meng family, it was only natural for me to enforce our family rules and beat him half to death to teach him a profound lesson! It is entirely justified and reasonable!"

Meng Qing held his head high, rattling off his speech fluently and without a shred of hesitation. His words earned him silent nods of approval from the surrounding Meng family members.

Even Meng Xianglong nodded slightly, a look of admiration flashing in his eyes.

He truly lives up to being the successor to the next generation of our Meng family. He is countless times stronger than that traitor Meng Feng!

"Good."

The moment Qin Mu's voice fell—

Before Meng Qing could even register what it meant, he suddenly lost all control of his body as a devastating blow struck his head, driving him violently straight into the stone floor!!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Everyone stared in absolute shock.

The movement was far too fast; none of them had even managed to see what happened!

In the blink of an eye, Meng Qing, who had just been standing proudly before Qin Mu, had his head smashed deep into the ground!

How could this possibly be?!

"What a wonderful justification!" Qin Mu said coldly. With another sudden, ferocious stomp, he slammed his foot right onto Meng Qing's head, driving half his face completely into the shattered pavement!

Thud!

Fresh blood continuously poured from Meng Qing's mouth. Though he remained conscious, he was utterly powerless to move beneath Qin Mu's heavy foot!

"Scoundrel! Let go of my Qing'er right now!" Meng Xianglong roared in fury.

The designated heir of his Meng family was being trampled under the feet of an outsider—how could he possibly tolerate this?!

"You just said that crippling Meng Feng was upholding your family's discipline?" Ignoring Meng Xianglong's demand, Qin Mu instead raised his eyelids and fixed his gaze upon him.

"That's right!" Meng Xianglong replied rigidly.

A cold sneer played on Qin Mu's lips as he asked, "Is the discipline of your Meng family so extreme that merely injuring a Japanese person warrants such brutal punishment?"

Meng Xianglong's expression stiffened for a fraction of a second, but he quickly regained his composure, putting on a righteous and imposing facade. "He injured honored friends who came from Japan! This threatens the friendship between our two nations and is an unforgivable crime! My Meng family acted on behalf of the nation, and there is no need to question it!"

With that declaration, Meng Xianglong swept his wide sleeve, radiating an unangered authority.

He had expected that this speech would be more than enough to cow someone of Qin Mu's age.

However, Qin Mu did not hesitate for even a single second. He pointed a single finger directly at Meng Xianglong and shouted with thunderous rage, "Honored friends from Japan?!"

"Did you use your brain at all before speaking, you old dog?!"

The corner of Meng Xianglong's twitched violently. As the dignified head of the Meng family, he had actually been called an "old dog" right inside his own ancestral hall!

"Those Japanese bastards attempted to trample all over my White Emperor City! They threatened to slaughter every single employee in my city and abduct all the women!"

"Come here, you old dog, and tell me: do you call that being 'friends'?"

The entire assembly of the Meng family fell into a dead silence.

Meng Xianglong's face turned a mottled shade of blue and purple as he stammered, "This..."

With a sudden flick of his leg, Qin Mu kicked Meng Qing's crumpled body away, sending him crashing heavily to the ground beside Meng Xianglong. Then, standing tall and projecting a dignified yet fierce aura, Qin Mu declared:

"By your logic, if I were to slaughter every single member of the Meng family from top to bottom today, would I also be considered your 'friend'? And if any of you dared to resist, should I sentence you all to execution according to your precious family rules?"

"You! You—!!"