Chapter 35: Who Is Unwilling?

"Pfft..."

A dull, rotten sound, like slicing through a pig's bladder; in the blink of an eye, a narrow blade had pierced through Gu Laosan's neck as if by magic,

the blade tip entering the throat and exiting below the back of the skull. Gu Laosan was still savoring the bliss... when suddenly a chill ran through his neck, and blood sprayed out as if it were free...

"Ugh... Li... cough..."

Gu Laosan's eyes bulged, wanting to call out Li You's name, but the blood gushing like a waterfall had long since drowned his vocal cords!

"Thud..."

With a thud, Gu Laosan fell backward. A memory of Tian Si flashed through his mind; a thought of regret had no time to spread before his consciousness turned chaotic.

His fall startled the yellow-haired man and others before him, who jumped up as if seeing a ghost, instinctively retreating. They pointed fingers at Li You, stammering "You... you... you..." for ages, yet no words came out.

Li You struck fast, with a knife, and was ruthless; catching them off guard with a sudden cold blade, even a master, at such close range, could not react.

"Is this what a scholar does? This damn bastard is a killer!"

Gao Conglong swallowed a huge mouthful of saliva; he was thoroughly convinced. Was this Li You really here to become a bandit, or to suppress bandits?

"Damn it... are all scholars this tough?"

Zhou Yin felt a strange excitement, suddenly recalling the scenes of killing northern barbarians in Ningxia with him; unconsciously, his impression of Li You changed greatly.

After all, Li You drew his blade to share a mouthful of meat with them, these mine slaves and salt slaves; how could this not move him?

Li Qinxiang watched Li You, seeing a gleaming light in his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking!

"Oh my god, Brother You, has a killing god possessed you? Damn, that's so satisfying!"

Wu Dading, who had been so angry he wanted to fight, was also startled by Li You's sudden strike. Hating evil as he did, with a simple mind, he now felt only relief!

Li You stepped on Gu Laosan's chest and slowly drew his blade. At that moment, someone shifted; the torchlight illuminated Li You's entire face...

That face, usually as smooth and warm as jade, was now cold and fierce. The bloody wolf blood on his body, and his already disheveled topknot, made his shadow flicker constantly in the firelight, instantly stretching larger and taller, like the Demon King from "Journey to the West: The Release of Suffering," or like the Monkey King who caused havoc in Heaven.

"I hate it when others snatch my things, and I am a bandit now too. If I'm a bandit and still get robbed, don't I need to save face?"

Li You's voice was not loud, even quite small. Ignoring the yellow-haired man and his gang of minions, he looked lightly at Wang Qiong, a faint smile hanging on his lips, and spoke to him.

Wang Qiong had indeed been frightened by this sudden turn of events, but he had followed Wu Nai down the mountain for a spring outing and seen large-scale battles with blades. Though only twenty-one, he was far from comparable to the yellow-haired man and those eggless loudmouths.

He silently wiped the blood splattered on his face. The reason he had not moved was that Gu Laosan was not his man, but directly under Cao Er.

Besides, he truly could not figure out Li You's exact position in the Shanzhai. That day, he had seen the Great Leader come specially to Nanshan and walk and talk cheerfully with him.

Wang Qiong pondered for a moment, then spoke: "Scholar Li, whether you are currently part of our bandit group, I truly do not know. But the bandit path has the 'Four Alliances,' the 'Eight Reward Rules,' and the 'Eight Execution Clauses.' Among them, the seventh clause is 'Those who bully their own kind shall be executed.' I do not know if the Scholar knows this?"

"Yes, of course I know. Precisely because I understand our mountain rules, when Gu Laosan bullied me, I executed him. Is this not fulfilling my duty and upholding our mountain gate's rules? Come, speak up, who is not willing?"

Wang Qiong truly did not expect Li You to answer so, and with such righteous confidence!

He was stunned for a long while, then spoke: "Scholar, truly a man of letters; you remember the mountain rules very fluently!"

Li You pretended not to understand and smiled: "What is the purpose of studying? To read more and cultivate courage!"

Actually, after Li You killed Tian Si, Wa Qingyun had told him these mountain rules. However, these rules were quite "double-standard"; after the seventh clause, there was another: "Those who harass women shall be executed." If this were truly enforced, then five or six tenths of the bandits in Longmen Shanzhai would have to die!

As for killing Gu Laosan, would Cao Er use this as an excuse to attack and demand his life?

He was not too worried. Whether in the high halls of the court or the distant rivers and lakes, as long as it is among the myriad beings, all have desires and all have preferences.

Just as great officials must be able to gauge their superiors' intentions, understand their colleagues' desires, and grasp their subordinates' thoughts. Doing all of this naturally leads to a flourishing official career and rapid ascent. Similarly, being a bandit is just a different environment; the principles are the same. When Cao Er returns, he will naturally find a way to resolve it.

With his mind clear, Li You turned his head and spoke to the seven bandits of the yellow-haired man: "You should not eat this wolf corpse, or I will be very unwilling!"

The yellow-haired man, Xu Lifang, Zhang Zhengxiong, and others, at this moment, cared even less about wolf meat. Seeing that even Wang Qiong did not move against Li You, what else could they hope for?

As for Fan Fei, Wu Zhaodi, Shi Youchun, and others who joined the yellow-haired man's clamor, their eyes were full of regret. However, the outcome was decided, and they dared not argue with Li You, that killer. Only Fan Fei, walking away, said: "When Second Master returns, I will make you pay! All of you who ate wolf meat will be whipped until you shit out wolf dung..."

"Yes, this Wang Qiong is Wu Nai's man, a dog from the Beizhai faction, a damn bastard who wishes Second Master would not do well!"

"Exactly, what's so proud? When Second Master and Master Shi return, let this dog-shit-eating Li *** see!"

Only Xu Lifang kept his head down, saying nothing, as if pondering something.

Minions have their own spiritual victory method; Li You naturally did not hear it, and even if he did, he was too lazy to care. At this time, Yu Zhengchun arrived with Liu Quezi, Guan Baoning, Qian Chengzhi, the Wang family, Song Man, and others. Moreover, Qian Zhong and Qian Yong were carrying two large iron pots from the kitchen.

"Come, light the bonfire, let's eat meat!" Li You shouted cheerfully to everyone.

"Good! Very nice!"

"Alright!"

"Good, let's eat meat!"

All the mine slaves and salt slaves became excited, as if the bloodthirsty scene just now had vanished under the anticipation of eating meat.

Wa Qingyun and Liu Longjin led people to skin the wolf, but there were not enough hands. The few bandits left by Cao Er had been driven away by Li You. The people who came with Wu Nai were only three; they could not ask Wang Qiong to skin it. Besides, Liu Longjin worried they would be clumsy and ruin the wolf skin.

"Qinchen, Hongxin, Conglong, let those three help skin it!" Li You shouted to Liu Longjin.

"Them?" Wa Qingyun was stunned. He knew these few had once been highway robbers in the Mount Daba area; they had a record of defeating eighteen men from a small Shanzhai. What if they were given blades and, instead of skinning the wolf, wanted to skin human skin?

Liu Longjin did not think so much; he first threw his own hand-blade over, then picked up Gu Laosan's single-edged blade and dagger, and threw them to Guan Hongxin and Li Qinxiang.

"Heh... damn, it's been so long since I touched a flat-handled blade!"

Guan Hongxin took the single-edged blade, touched the hilt, and smiled as he spoke to Li Qinxiang, his gaze very clear...