Chapter 169: Using violence to control violence, obtaining rewards

"Zhuang Renhe! I have already handed over my wife and children; why do you still not trust me??"

Xiang Ting's eyes were red.

Like a furious wild beast.

But there was still a trace of luck in his heart; his eyes condensed, and then his tone became fierce: "Speak, who sent you? Wanting to sow discord?"

The masked Li Rui looked calmly at Xiang Ting: "Rest assured, soon your wife and children will go down to reunite with you."

Xiang Ting was like a beast touched in its weak spot, his facial muscles twitching continuously.

Only because he understood.

Zhuang Renhe was the kind of person who could do such things; his master's heart was harder than solid rock.

Zhuang Renhe previously had ten capable subordinates.

But now only nine remained; where did the extra one go?

Outsiders all thought he died of illness; only Xiang Ting knew that Zhuang Renhe had him poisoned.

Those who kill are always killed.

Recently, it finally reached his turn.

The hand holding the hilt tightened and tightened, his shoulders shrugged continuously, his mouth pulling:

"Heh..."

"Zhuang, I f*** your mother!"

Almost the moment the word 'mother' was uttered, a snowy white exploded in the room, and the blade light was brilliant.

But Li Rui's blade was faster than his.

Xiang Ting's blade hadn't fully left its sheath when his barrier-blade turned into a phantom and slashed toward Xiang Ting's hand holding the blade.

"Do you feel unwilling?"

"Do you feel abandoned?"

"Poor little fellow, rest assured, I will personally go to South Liang, cut off the heads of your wife and children, and let them find you down below, so you can reunite as a family."

Li Rui swung his blade while his mouth wasn't idle either.

Xiang Ting's eyes became increasingly gloomy, trying his best to suppress the anger in his heart.

He understood that this person in black was deliberately provoking him.

A martial artist.

To be the one who survives in a duel, one must first be calm; once occupied by anger, one will expose flaws, and once flaws appear... death is not far away.

"F***!"

The veins on Xiang Ting's face bulged.

He decisively gave up drawing his blade, then rolled over, pulled a short blade from under the bed, and swept toward Li Rui's knees.

The room was narrow.

The advantage of the barrier-blade was fully utilized; Li Rui swung his barrier-blade, covering his whole body, truly like a barrier, without any flaws.

"What a powerful blade technique; I never knew Zhuang Renhe had such an excellent blade technique expert by his side."

Xiang Ting was secretly shocked.

One strike missed, and he rolled again, attempting to leap out of the room through the window.

He knew that killing the person in front of him wasn't the key; surviving was the key.

Since Zhuang Renhe had already developed murderous intent toward him, it was impossible that there was only one person; he must have left backups.

"Escape!"

Xiang Ting's eyes were firm; he swore that once he escaped, he would definitely make Zhuang Renhe pay the price!

Li Rui naturally wouldn't let him leave easily.

The blade momentum swept past like a gale, blocking the path Xiang Ting was advancing on.

Seeing no way out, Xiang Ting became ruthless.

He operated his whole body's true qi and poured it into the short blade in his hand; the crimson true qi flickered in the dark night.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes:

"Qi Gathering!"

This was somewhat beyond his expectations, slightly different from the situation he had obtained before.

Xiang Ting was not only a Willow Sinew expert, but had even cultivated Qi, already reaching the step of Qi Gathering, just not yet fully formed.

Even so.

The power was not something an ordinary martial artist could compare to.

The power of true qi cannot be underestimated.

Touch it and you're injured, hit it and you're dead!

"Die!"

Xiang Ting was furious, slashing toward Li Rui's chest with a blade wrapped in true qi.

The fact that he had succeeded in Qi Gathering was something even Zhuang Renhe didn't know; if it weren't for Li Rui entangling him so he couldn't escape, he wouldn't have used this trump card today.

Li Rui's mouth lifted slightly.

Ignoring the short blade slashing toward him at high speed, the barrier-blade in his hand faintly had the sound of a dragon's roar.

"Trading injury for death?"

Xiang Ting's pupils shrank violently; he didn't expect Li Rui to be so decisive; this was gambling his life with him!

"Come!"

He became ruthless, also understanding that at this time, if he went forward, there was still a glimmer of victory; if he retreated, he would surely die.

In an instant.

Xiang Ting's long blade fell first onto Li Rui's chest.

A murderous smile bloomed at the corner of his mouth.

But soon, the joy froze, turning into shock.

Clang!

A crisp metallic collision sounded; the scene of the long blade penetrating flesh and splitting the chest, which he had expected, did not happen.

That person in black had actually blocked his blade with his physical body.

"How is it possible?!!"

Tonight, Xiang Ting was shocked again; he couldn't imagine why the opponent, clearly a Willow Sinew expert like him, could be invulnerable to blades and guns!

The next instant.

Li Rui's barrier-blade also fell onto Xiang Ting's chest.

There were no surprises.

Flesh and blood exploded, blood spraying seven steps!

"Ah!"

Violent pain surged from his chest; Xiang Ting only felt his life being sucked dry by that barrier-blade, and his heart was slashed in two in an instant.

It looked like he wouldn't survive.

Thud!

Xiang Ting's body fell powerlessly to the ground, his eyes dyed red by his own blood, and the world was covered in a scarlet hue.

Before dying, he used all his strength to beg:

"Please, let go of my wife and children..."

His mouth kept mumbling; this was his final obsession.

Li Rui heard Xiang Ting's words clearly.

He spoke slowly: "Rest assured, your wife and children will be fine; they should... be able to live very well."

Xiang Ting only felt this voice was incomparably familiar; finally, he remembered:

"So it was you..."

Only upon dying did he understand that the person killing him was actually Li Rui, whom he wanted to kill.

"Very good."

Xiang Ting actually felt a trace of relief.

He wanted to kill Li Rui, and Li Rui came to kill him; this was a matter of course. As Zhuang Renhe's guard, he had long been prepared to die.

Being killed by Li Rui meant that his wife and children didn't have to die, and could even live quite well, as Li Rui had said.

"Not bad."

His head tilted, and his life force was severed.

Li Rui looked at the corpse of Xiang Ting on the ground, his heart without ripples.

The smoke in his Wisdom Eye had become so thick he couldn't bear it, so he had to manually reduce the danger coefficient.

He was a person who didn't like danger.

Killing Zhuang Renhe was naturally impossible.

But killing the subordinates helping Zhuang Renhe do things was more than enough.

As early as at Chunyan Pavilion, he had already noticed a name he heard from the madam's mouth—Xiang Ting.

Zhuang Renhe befriended Qu Chengfeng, but the specific matters were all handled by Xiang Ting.

=9+Book_Bar

He had been secretly observing the situation at the county government office.

Ever since that man in the bamboo hat died, the number of times Xiang Ting entered and left the county government office had increased greatly; this was enough reason to kill him.

Zhuang Renhe was what kind of person; to deal with him, one would deal with Jiang Linxian of the same level, and he wouldn't personally take action against a small person like Li Rui.

By the same token.

Zhuang Renhe's plan might not stop, but killing the person executing the plan to deal with Li Rui could temporarily delay the crisis.

If you can't solve the problem, the best way is to solve the person executing it.

Li Rui determined through his Wisdom Eye.

Part of the crisis came from Zhuang Renhe, and the rest came from Xiang Ting.

Since he couldn't kill Zhuang Renhe, he had no choice but to kill Xiang Ting.

Turning passive into active, nipping the danger in the bud.

"Hoo..."

Li Rui let out a long breath; the smoke seen in his Wisdom Eye faded a lot, no longer the scarlet it was before.

He didn't like the plot of being forced to counterattack after being sought out by bad guys.

If he sat and waited for Xiang Ting to prepare and kill his way to the door, who knew what murderous intent the other party was hiding; by then, it would be hard to say who would win.

Erasing the crisis in advance, guarding against it in the micro, was the best strategy.

It's just a pity that Zhuang Renhe's own strength was extremely strong, and he had experts guarding him; otherwise, killing them together would be truly peaceful.

Li Rui looked at the corpse of Xiang Ting on the ground, his heart without ripples.

Acting as a running dog to help the evildoer, he deserved to die!

He took out the corpse-dissolving liquid he had prepared long ago from his bosom.

This corpse-dissolving liquid was refined from special spiritual medicine, even more overbearing than the aqua regia or sulfuric acid of his previous life; it was something he specifically ordered Jiang Cheng of the Qinghe branch's medicine hall to refine.

Except for Jiang Cheng, no one else knew.

It was very reassuring to use.

He sprinkled it on the corpse.

With a 'chi-la' sound.

Then a foul-smelling, corrosive, burnt odor rose up.

Looking again.

Where was there any corpse on the ground; even the floor tiles where the corpse was had been completely corroded.

Li Rui raised his eyebrows:

"Good stuff!"

"Wait a few days and go find Jiang Cheng to refine some more."

Completely corroded, even the most experienced coroner couldn't analyze any useful clues.

Having done all this.

Only then did Li Rui clap his hands with satisfaction.

Just as he was about to push the door and leave—

Lines of small characters appeared before his eyes.

【Congratulations to the host for completing the achievement 'Famous in the Jianghu' beginner plot—Using Violence to Control Violence 3.】

【Walking in the Jianghu, erasing danger in advance is the only way to be as stable as a rock. Congratulations, your corpse-burying skill has been strengthened again; you have mastered one-third of the true essence of the Jianghu: killing doesn't matter, not leaving clues is the key.】

【Task 'Using Violence to Control Violence 3' completed, reward settling...】

【Task rating: C.】

【Obtained 20 achievement points!】

【Achievement points reached 100, reward acquisition in progress...】

【You can be like a fish in water upon entering the Jianghu, showing that your comprehension is excellent.】

【Comprehension improved!】

【Young hero, please begin your perfect Jianghu journey!】

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 10】

【Talent: Martial Bone, Superb Comprehension, Wisdom Eye】

【Cultivation Method: Long Chun Gong, Dragon Wandering Nine Heavens Painting】

【Achievement: 0/100】

Li Rui's eyes lit up.

Comprehension improved again!

"Very good."

He had enjoyed the benefits brought by outstanding comprehension; if his comprehension wasn't good, he would never have been able to create his own cultivation method.

It was precisely because he created his own cultivation method.

The fit was high.

He was able to gather Qi and form it faster than ordinary martial artists, almost invincible among the same rank.

Now that his comprehension had improved again, perhaps it could have miraculous effects.

Li Rui's mouth lifted slightly, aiming at Xiang Ting, who had been dissolved into nothing even to the dust on the ground.

"Many thanks."

After saying that, he leaped deep, jumping over the courtyard wall.

Perfectly blending into the night.

Showing his light-body technique, he moved several zhang in an instant, and before long, he returned to the Anning Guard station.

Returning home.

Li Rui took off his night clothes and put them into the secret passage.

Having done all this.

He even had the heart to run the Dragon Wandering Nine Heavens Painting for a great cycle, and only then did he burrow into the quilt and fall into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning.

Li Rui got up early as usual and practiced his blade technique in the courtyard.

Killing Xiang Ting last night didn't cause any ripples in his state of mind.

"Just killing a running dog, why think too much."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 170 =====