Chapter 39: The Oriole Behind, This Official Does Not Eat Food Given in Contempt (Seeking Monthly Votes)

The crowd gathered around the execution ground gradually dispersed.

Zhou Shunqing, who had disguised himself as an old woman to blend in, also put away his sorrow and turned to leave; he did not return to the temporary inn where he was staying, but headed straight for the city gate next to the execution ground.

After resting for two or three days, his injuries had recovered quite a bit; today, he had come both to see his comrades off and to take advantage of the crowded and chaotic situation to leave Tongzhou.

After exiting the city, the number of pedestrians around him grew sparse, and by the time the hour of Shen arrived, Zhou Shunqing was the only one left on the road.

He shed his defenses and disguise; although he still appeared as an old woman, his body was no longer hunched and his gait was no longer unsteady, and he hurried toward the direction of the prefectural city.

Suddenly, bursts of bird calls came from behind him; Zhou Shunqing stopped and looked back, only to see a flock of birds in the distance as if startled, flapping their wings as they flew into the sky.

The next moment, the white-clad Saint Son of Kaiyang and the masked Wang Xianling came galloping over the treetops.

Zhou Shunqing's expression changed abruptly; disregarding the fact that his injuries had not fully healed, he channeled his internal energy, turned, and fled wildly.

"Traitorous thief Zhou Shunqing! Why not quickly hand over the spirit pill and follow this Saint Son back to accept your punishment!" The Saint Son of Kaiyang let out a violent shout; leaping in mid-air, he released his folding fan, which flew out like a sharp blade, slashing toward Zhou Shunqing.

Sensing the rushing wind approaching from behind, Zhou Shunqing did not even dare to look back, instead throwing himself to the ground and rolling; the empty-handed folding fan struck a tree and severed it at the waist on the spot.

Zhou Shunqing had just risen to his feet when Wang Xianling and the Saint Son of Kaiyang landed in front of and behind him, surrounding him.

The Saint Son of Kaiyang caught the folding fan as it flew back like a boomerang and lunged directly at Zhou Shunqing to engage in close-quarters combat.

Wang Xianling also rushed up to assist.

Already injured and without a weapon, Zhou Shunqing was beaten back step by step while facing the odds; vomiting blood as he parried, he gritted his teeth and roared, "You, who are honored as a Saint Son and enjoy all the resources of the sect, yet you poisoned and framed your fellow disciples to swallow the spirit pill for yourself! You will surely face divine retribution in this life!"

Wang Xianling suddenly stopped his hand and looked at the Saint Son of Kaiyang.

"Still trying to shift the blame when death is at your doorstep." The Saint Son of Kaiyang's expression remained unchanged; the folding fan in his hand pierced Zhou Shunqing's shoulder like a sharp sword, and with a kick in mid-air, he sent him flying several meters away. After landing, he looked back coldly at Wang Xianling and scoffed, "Helmsman Wang wouldn't believe his ghost stories, would you?"

"You are the Helmsman of the Tongzhou Branch?" Zhou Shunqing, who was already like a candle in the wind, saw hope; coughing up blood, he said to Wang Xianling, "I swear to the heavens that I speak no falsehoods; if I lie, may I be pierced by ten thousand arrows!"

Wang Xianling did not know who to believe for a moment, but out of the caution of an old veteran of the underworld, he distanced himself from the Saint Son.

"Utterly ridiculous! Though the spirit pill is precious, as a Saint Son, the sect has never treated me poorly, so how could I be so short-sighted?" The Saint Son of Kaiyang was so angry he laughed.

He then took a deep breath to suppress his rage and said to Wang Xianling in a low voice, "If you do not believe my words, then let him hand the spirit pill to you for temporary safekeeping. I will take him back to accept his punishment first, and then I shall return with the decree of the Flame Hall Master to retrieve the spirit pill."

Hearing this, Wang Xianling was already leaning toward believing the Saint Son of Kaiyang, but for the sake of prudence, he agreed to the proposal, "It is not that I do not trust the Saint Son, but the matter is of great importance; please forgive me for having to be discourteous."

"Hmph!" The Saint Son of Kaiyang seemed very annoyed that he truly did not believe him, and he replied with a cold face, saying nothing.

Wang Xianling looked at Zhou Shunqing, "I am the Helmsman of the Tongzhou Branch of our Holy Sect; please hand over the spirit pill."

"The spirit pill is in my bosom." Zhou Shunqing no longer had the strength to stand and looked as if he might stop breathing at any moment, but he laughed with satisfaction, mocking the Saint Son of Kaiyang, "I know that if I follow you back to the Holy Sect, I will only die at your hands halfway there, but what of it? As long as I don't let a cruel and heartless thing like you get your wish, that is enough."

"Sharp-tongued; daring to do it but not daring to admit it, you are truly unworthy of being a man!" The Saint Son of Kaiyang's eyes showed disdain; he looked at Wang Xianling and reminded him in a low voice, "This person is extremely insidious and cunning; Helmsman Wang must be careful of him ambushing you."

"Many thanks, Saint Son." Wang Xianling nodded.

He then stepped toward Zhou Shunqing, full of vigilance; upon approaching, he crouched down, staring fixedly at him while reaching into his bosom to search for the spirit pill.

He soon felt a small bottle.

Zhou Shunqing let out a loud roar: "Watch out!"

Wang Xianling had just pulled out the jade bottle and, before he could react, was struck from behind; his body lunged forward and he spat out a mouthful of blood, while the jade bottle flew out of his hand and landed in a pile of dead leaves in the distance.

The fallen Wang Xianling struggled to turn around, looking at the Saint Son of Kaiyang with a face full of disbelief, "It was you!"

"I told you to watch out for an ambush." The Saint Son of Kaiyang was no longer the irritable and angry person from before; he snapped his folding fan open and said with a smile, looking light and airy.

Wang Xianling's face was full of confusion, "Why? Just as you said yourself, you are honored as a Saint Son, and the sect's resources are inexhaustible; how could you be so short-sighted?"

"Why would I, the Saint Son, need to explain my actions to fools like you?" The Saint Son of Kaiyang chuckled, stepped toward the jade bottle, and said casually, "Zhou Shunqing poisoned his fellow disciples to seize the pill, Helmsman Wang failed to intercept him and was killed by him instead, and I, the Saint Son, killed Zhou Shunqing but did not find the spirit pill on him—what a wonderful script this is!"

"Just as Helmsman Wang couldn't believe I would do such a thing, the others in the sect won't think I would do it either, so the truth is entirely up to me to decide! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

The Saint Son of Kaiyang laughed heartily, looking very pleased with himself.

"So that means the extermination case at Wangjiawan was also your doing!" Wang Xianling questioned through gritted teeth.

"That's right." The Saint Son of Kaiyang stopped and looked back, revealing a brilliant smile; his eyes were half-closed as if he were reminiscing, "It is the good fortune of those lowly commoners to have the honor of becoming nutrients to help my cultivation reach a higher level."

"Besides, those two village girls, while not beauties of peerless charm, were still quite pretty; they had a unique flavor when toyed with. That they could be favored by me before they died is not a life lived in vain, hahahaha!"

"Beast! The reputation of our Holy Sect has been ruined by scum like you!" Wang Xianling's eyes were red with rage.

"And so what? Who would know?" The Saint Son of Kaiyang did not care; he was quite proud. He walked to the pile of dead leaves and bent down with excitement to pick up the jade bottle, "The spirit pill is finally mine to..."

"Whoosh!"

An arrow pierced through the air and embedded itself three inches deep into the ground next to the jade bottle, startling the Saint Son of Kaiyang into immediately withdrawing his hand and leaping backward; he looked up in shock and uncertainty.

Three women with outstanding grace, each beautiful in her own way, leaped through the forest and arrived before them in the blink of an eye.

Among them, the white-clad woman with an extremely tall figure once again drew her bow and notched an arrow in mid-air, like a full moon; the arrow left the string with bursts of air explosions, shooting toward the Saint Son of Kaiyang.

"A petty trick, daring to show off before an expert!" The Saint Son of Kaiyang waved his folding fan and easily deflected the arrow.

The three women stood on three sides, surrounding him.

At the same time, accompanied by the sound of rapid hoofbeats and clouds of dust, Pei Shaoqing arrived on horseback with dozens of Jing'an Guards; after closing in, all the Jing'an Guards dismounted and held their Broken Gang Crossbows aimed at the three people in the field.

The sudden turn of events left both Wang Xianling and Zhou Shunqing stunned; Wang Xianling subconsciously touched the mask on his face, and seeing it hadn't fallen off, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Saint Son of Kaiyang, however, had a grave expression; he had never even dreamed that such a situation would arise.

"Meow!"

Just as the atmosphere in the field was heavy and silent enough to hear a pin drop, an orange cat jumped down from a tree, picked up the jade bottle, and ran toward Pei Shaoqing; upon reaching the horse, it gave a light leap, landed on the horse's back, and spat the jade bottle into his hand.

"Good cat." Pei Shaoqing caught the jade bottle and reached out to stroke the cat's head; the orange cat meowed and flipped its belly over to let him pet it, making a purring sound.

Looking at the little flirtatious cat twisting its body to beg for pets, Pei Shaoqing had a sudden thought: did this count as cuckolding Li Jiangjun? He quickly petted it a few more times.

Everyone watched Pei Shaoqing pet the cat, and not a single person dared to speak rashly to break the silence in the field.

Pei Shaoqing stopped petting the cat and opened the jade bottle; in an instant, a burst of pill fragrance hit his nose. He took a deep breath and sighed sincerely, "Truly a fine spirit pill."

"You also came for the spirit pill; since that is the case, I shall gift this spirit pill to you." The Saint Son of Kaiyang raised his hands in a salute and said quite decorously.

"Ha! Hahahahaha!" Pei Shaoqing capped the jade bottle and burst into laughter; as he laughed, the smile gradually evolved into coldness, "Using my own official's property as a favor to gift to me—you truly have a clever plan."

"Furthermore, I do not eat food given in contempt; when I want something, I never need others to gift it to me—I always rely on my own strength to seize it. You, gift it to me? Are you even worthy?"

(End of chapter)