I am becoming the ultimate demon.

Chapter 58: Arranged Marriage, Chen Family's Rebellion; Suspicion, New Situation

According to reliable information obtained by Ji Lin, the studio killers are divided into three tiers: gold, silver, and bronze.

Among them, the gold medal killers are the strongest, followed by the silver medalists, and the bronze medalists are the weakest.

Judging from the brass token in his hand and his strength, the assassin sent this time was clearly the weakest of the low-level assassins—a bronze-level assassin.

Fortunately, the photo studio underestimated his abilities this time. If they had hired a silver-level or even a gold-level assassin, it would have been very difficult to deal with him.

He looked at the list, which contained over a hundred names, with dozens of names crossed out with cinnabar.

Among those names that haven't been crossed out yet is his name, Ji Lin.

It seems the crossed-out names are those of people who have already been killed.

To his surprise, the death of Lingyun Village Chief Ling Yunfei was orchestrated by the photography studio.

"Could the eldest sister's death also be related to the photo studio?"

The mystery remains, and more clues are needed to unravel it.

"Brother, we've finally found you! The Li family has already escaped. How's the situation here?"

Before anyone could be seen, Huang Yu's voice was already there.

"I'm fine here, I'll talk about it when I get back."

Ji Lin had just returned to the Ji residence with his night patrol team when he found the county magistrate talking to his father, both of them with furrowed brows.

"Lin'er, you've come back just in time. The master has something to discuss with you." Ji Chang'an said urgently, beckoning to him.

"Young Master Ji, something terrible has happened! The head of the Chen family suddenly died of an illness today, and his son has quickly taken over and married into the Li family." The magistrate sighed.

Ji Lin's expression changed slightly. First, the photo studio assassins were dispatched, and then the Chen family experienced a change in their affairs. It must still be the Li family's doing.

However, the death of the Chen family patriarch was suspicious, and his son quickly sided with the Li family, suggesting there might be more to the story.

The Chen family is considered a powerful local family in Xiong'an County and has always cooperated with the Ji family.

It was expected that the Li family would approach them, but they didn't expect to gain their support so quickly and insist on investigating the matter thoroughly.

The Li family's frantic counterattack and the involvement of the photography studio have made the situation in Xiong'an County extremely tense.

The magistrate's visit was to seek a closer military alliance with the Ji family.

The government could not handle the conflict between the two powerful families on its own and needed the military and financial support of the Ji family.

The Ji family also needs to obtain a certain degree of legitimacy in order to maintain stability in Xiong'an County.

Only by maintaining a stable security environment within the city can the Ji family make money peacefully.

If the Li family succeeds, given their utterly shameless nature...

There's no place left for a county magistrate in Xiong'an County; it's long since become a gathering place for all sorts of people.

To put it nicely, it's a military alliance; to put it bluntly, the government now needs the Ji family's protection.

"Father, sir, this matter is of utmost importance. Leave it to me to investigate," Ji Lin said, bowing.

The wedding between the Li and Chen families was arranged very suddenly the next day. As soon as the betrothal gifts were settled, they immediately started to decorate with lanterns and streamers.

This also gave Ji Lin the opportunity to investigate, so he disguised himself and attended the wedding banquet at the Chen residence.

Everyone offered their congratulations to the new head of the Chen family, only to find that he showed no joy on his face.

"Why does this kid look like that? He looks like a corpse."

"Anyone who didn't know better would think it was a funeral!!?"

"You know what, the old patriarch just died, his body barely cold, and they're already having a wedding? What damn bad luck!!"

"Shh, don't be so loud! We don't even know how the old patriarch died!"

Several guests hid to the side, outwardly enjoying their meal, but inwardly quite dissatisfied with the situation.

Ji Lin seemed to be deep in thought. It seemed that everyone had noticed the clues, but they were only superficially welcoming him.

Taking advantage of the chaos at the scene, he quietly crept to the backyard of the Chen residence to see if there was anything unusual.

Upon arriving, they spotted Li Tianming, who seemed to be talking to the new head of the Chen family.

Li Tianming didn't seem to be having a friendly conversation; rather, he seemed to be reprimanding the new head of the family.

"Why do you look like your father has died? Today is your wedding day, cheer up, don't let people see anything!" Li Tianming said impatiently.

"My father just died, so it's understandable that I'm upset..."

"You... if you ruin everything, you might as well resign as head of the family and join your deadbeat father! Humph!!"

The two parted on bad terms, with Li Tianming walking away grumbling.

Ji Lin also realized that the Chen family did not seem to be cooperating with the Li family voluntarily, but were more likely to be coerced.

After he left the banquet, the night patrol also sent back a message.

"Young master, just two days ago, the head of the Chen family personally practiced his family's martial arts in the martial arts hall. He was full of energy and had a rosy complexion. He didn't look sick at all."

"On the contrary, when Li Tianming visited, he was kicked out, and two days later came the bad news."

Ji Lin's heart tightened. It wasn't hard to guess that the Chen family head had a relationship with the Li family, but how did Li Tianming manage to assassinate the Chen family head?

The Chen family claimed that he died because he was seriously ill and the treatment was ineffective.

If we don't figure out the reasons behind this, it will be very dangerous if we encounter them in the future.

What other method, besides poison, could kill without warning?

......

After the Chen and Li families formed an alliance, they continued to recruit local thugs and vagrants to serve as thugs and laborers in the following period.

Neither of the two companies abided by the rules agreed upon with the government, and they acted recklessly within Xiong'an County.

They secretly threatened ordinary people and forced them to buy and sell goods, which severely damaged the city's business environment and public security.

Ji Lin was shocked when he heard the news from the night patrol team and immediately went to the market to check the situation.

A woman was seen coming out of the Ji family's pharmacy. She had bought some medicine for typhoid fever and colds and planned to go home and brew it for her husband.

As Ji Lin followed her into a small alley, several disheveled men suddenly appeared and blocked her way.

"Where did you buy this medicine? Why didn't you buy it from Master Li's pharmacy?"

The woman was terrified by the group of thugs.

"I'm out of money. For the same price, the medicine sold by the Ji family only requires one dose a day to be effective, while the medicine sold by the Li family...Master Li's medicine... requires at least three or four doses."

As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately fell to the ground and kowtowed, pleading, "Please spare my life, I will never dare to do it again, please forgive me this time."

"Is it too late to realize your mistake now?"

The thugs exchanged glances, their lips curling into smiles, revealing a look of longing.

"I'll let you go, unless... you can give us some fun. Hehe."

The woman looked terrified, her mouth agape, her body trembling, but she dared not resist.

"Young master, should we go up and stop them?" a member of the night patrol whispered.

Ji Lin shook his head. "No, sometimes you have to respect other people's choices."

"Just kill them. Since they chose to be the Li family's lackeys and did such despicable things, they should pay the price for their actions."

As soon as he finished speaking, several round heads fell to the ground.

Seeing this, the woman picked up several medicine packets and hurriedly fled home.

"Young master, the bandits around the city seem to be gathering."

"That damned Li family, they don't even spare the mountain bandits..."