Chapter 149: 144 In for a Penny, In for a Pound

144 In for a Penny, In for a Pound

In the bridal chamber, red candles shone brightly, and the bride sat on the bed wearing a bridal veil.

The Third Master lifted the curtain and entered. At a glance, he saw the girl sitting on the bed; her figure was slender, and she appeared to be a beauty. He could not help but feel a surge of heat, his lust emboldened. He chuckled and said, "Little lady, has your husband arrived?"

The woman did not lift her veil and said in a low voice, "Who has arrived?"

The Third Master laughed, "Your dear husband has arrived!"

Having said this, one of his large hands reached toward her chest, while the other snatched the veil from the woman's face.

As the veil was lifted, the bride's appearance was revealed. Her skin was slightly dark, and her features were quite beautiful. Though not a peerless beauty, she was comparable to the First Master's former mountain-pressuring wife. He could not help but be filled with joy and shouted, "Beauty, come give me a kiss—"

Just as he was about to pounce, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He had practiced martial arts for many years and was quite alert; relying on his instincts, he dodged to the side. A white blade grazed his ribs, leaving a large gash.

He clutched his wound, eyes wide, and saw the bride leap up, holding a blade, cursing, "Who the hell are you? Trying to take advantage of this lady?"

The Third Master clutched his wound and cursed, "Shrew, you really are a woman of the Sang family, daring to toy with your husband. Why don't you lie down for me?" His words showed he was not actually angry; instead, his lust remained unchanged. Fearless of the steel blade before him, he stepped forward and threw a punch.

This punch was powerful and heavy. The woman dared not take it head-on; she kicked off the bed to jump down and slashed horizontally with her blade.

The Third Master was the Third Master of Jilong Mountain. Excluding the First Master, and with the Second Master being the strategist, he was the second-best fighter on the mountain. He possessed natural divine power and had cultivated Internal Energy from the outside in. Among the Knight-Errant level, he was considered outstanding, and his fist techniques were not mediocre either. In terms of raw strength, even with Sang Jialiang's fortuitous encounters, he would have to trade at least twenty moves with him.

Although the woman's blade technique was exquisite and her footwork nimble, her strength was inferior to her opponent's. She fought while retreating, moving from the floor back onto the bed, and reached out to pull down the bed curtains to block him.

Mere gauze curtains could not stop the Third Master, of course. Instead, one could vaguely see her huddled behind the quilt, adding to her grace. This Third Master was truly blinded by lust; his ribs were still oozing blood, yet his face was full of lewd smiles. He shouted, "Beauty, you've chosen a good bed—" With that, he lunged, half his body throwing itself onto the bed.

Suddenly, with a *whoosh*, countless hemp ropes surged from all directions of the bed. Like living snakes, they automatically coiled around him upon contact, and in an instant, he was bound like a rice dumpling. The Third Master had never seen such a thing; in his bewilderment, he was hoisted up by the ropes, hanging in the air above the bed.

The woman jumped off the bed, tore off her red outer garment in a few quick motions, and said, "You really are a lecherous thief. Daring to molest your grandmother, this lady will castrate you first."

The Third Master could no longer care about his lust and screamed, "Someone come! Someone come—"

The woman sneered, "Keep calling. Even if you scream until your throat breaks, no one will pay you any mind."

The Third Master shouted a few times, but it was silent outside. He could not help but truly panic, thinking: *It's over. Could it be that my lackeys are gone too? Did the one surnamed Sang find out? *

Then he heard someone outside say, "Junior Sister, are you alright?"

The woman said, "I'm fine. This evil thief has decent martial arts; I couldn't take him down head-on, so I lured him into a trap and used an Art Tool to bind him. How about you?"

The person said, "No tough opponents. I killed them all."

The Third Master shivered. Even in his muddled state, he knew this was not the Sang girl. He shouted, "Who are you people? Are you old hands on the road? By the rules of the road, those who see it get a share..."

He thought the woman earlier was excessively shrewish, much like the 'mother yakshas' on the road, and was likely a peer, so he switched to underworld jargon.

The woman cursed, "How dare you slander my reputation?! Listen well, this girl is from Liangzhou—"

Before the Third Master could hear clearly who from Liangzhou it was, everything went black, and he lost consciousness.

Before Che Sha could finish, she saw Wusun Tong had already stepped forward to knock the evil thief unconscious. She shook her head and said, "I hadn't even let this fellow know my name yet. You didn't kill him, did you?"

Wusun Tong said in a deep voice, "I knocked him out first; there are still things to ask him later. We are the ones asking him; he is not worthy of asking us, nor is he worthy of knowing our names. Where is Sang Girl?"

Che Sha opened the wardrobe nearby and saw a girl standing inside, covering her mouth. She said, "I originally wanted her to go outside and hide first, but I was afraid she might run into any escaped thieves. This is a village that has colluded with bandits; who knows who can be trusted? It's better to keep her by my side."

Wusun Tong said, "That is the right thing to do. The lackeys outside have all been dealt with. I will go interrogate this thief. You keep looking after this girl, and make sure to hand her over to her brother before leaving this village."

Che Sha agreed. Wusun Tong picked up the Third Master and left. Che Sha helped Sang Girl out and said, "Alright, it's fine now. Your brother is in the front courtyard protected by our eldest brother, so he is perfectly safe."

Sang Girl nodded and shed tears again.

The front courtyard was a mess. Tang Zhao had flipped the tables, locked the main gate first, and then subdued the people in the courtyard one by one. By now, the ordinary guests had all left; those remaining in the courtyard were all people in the know.

There was nothing to say about the fight. Manor Head Hu was just a manor head; he had some spare money in his own manor, but he couldn't even afford to hire guards, having at most two or three strong farmhands. Once Tang Zhao made his move, they all went down. Tang Zhao captured them all, including Manor Head Hu's wife and children—only seven or eight people in total. It wasn't even as intense as the battle between Wusun Tong and the lackeys.

After the fight, Sang Jialiang finally reacted. He sat by the table, feeling miserable—he himself was fine, but thinking of his sister's affection being fed to a dog, and thinking of Wushu Bao nearly suffering a great disaster, he felt both lingering fear and anger.

Tang Zhao asked Hu Laotou to identify the people in the know. Indeed, there were only a few in the manor, and no one had escaped. He asked Sang Jialiang how he wanted to deal with them.

Sang Jialiang was full of anger, glaring at Old Hu. Old Hu was so scared he lowered his head. Looking at the others, besides his wife and the groom, the rest were long-term laborers and servants who were just following orders. He said, "Old Hu is the mastermind. He wanted to harm me for no reason; I wish I could kill him. And his son, actually offering his own wife to... truly a bastard father and a scoundrel son! These two must absolutely not be spared! The rest were just following their orders."

This meant the prime culprits would not be spared, and the followers would not be questioned.

Tang Zhao thought for a moment and asked, "If these people who colluded with bandits are sent to the officials, will the government handle it?"

Sang Jialiang said, "There is still a magistrate in the county. If commoners collude with bandits, of course, someone will handle it."

If they were real outlaws, that might not be the case.

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "Then send them to the officials. I'll leave the aftermath to you; I'm going to support my senior brother."

Sang Jialiang agreed. Tang Zhao went out, whistled to call the owl to lead the way, and happened to see Wusun Tong also walking out with his blade. The two met and asked each other about the situation; neither had encountered any risks.

Wusun Tong said, "That thief confessed about the situation in the mountain stronghold. He said their Great Chief recently made a breakthrough, cultivated Gang Qi, and became a Loose Practitioner."

Tang Zhao's heart stirred, and he said, "Is that so? That's a bit troublesome."

Just now, when he and Sang Jialiang were discussing the aftermath, Sang Jialiang's intention was to swallow this bitter pill and pretend it never happened.

Wushu Bao was close to Jiming Mountain and its military strength was inferior to Jiming Mountain, but Sang Jialiang's strength was only slightly less than the Great Chief's. Relying on the high walls and deep moats of Wushu Bao, he could protect himself. Jiming Mountain would have to take risks to break through Wushu Bao. Therefore, the two sides maintained a fragile balance. Jiming Mountain did not provoke Wushu Bao, and Wushu Bao had to pay tribute.

This time, Jiming Mountain used underhanded means to harm Sang Jialiang. This was pulling the firewood from under the cauldron; once Sang Jialiang was dealt with, Wushu Bao would be no different from other villages and towns—all fish and meat for Jiming Mountain.

However, Sang Jialiang did not die, so the balance of power between the two sides remained. Wushu Bao was the weaker party, so it had to swallow this insult, retreat into the fortress, and continue as before, only with stricter defenses.

Tang Zhao mentioned that he could help take down Jiming Mountain, but Sang Jialiang shook his head and said, "The bandits in Lingzhou can never be killed off. If Jiming Mountain is gone today, other strong bandits will come tomorrow. Jiming Mountain are old acquaintances, and I know their roots. Who knows what kind of strongmen will come in the next wave? Better not to take the risk."

He was planning for the long term, and Tang Zhao also knew that he and his companions were just passing through, so he should prioritize respecting the person involved.

However, if the Great Chief had broken through, the balance of power between the two sides would no longer exist...

A catastrophic disaster would come sooner or later; why not strike first?

Wusun Tong said, "He boasted to me, saying his Great Chief's martial arts are astonishing, having cultivated in seclusion at Baixiong Mountain for several months. It's not as simple as an ordinary Loose Practitioner, but that he received the true teachings of the General Chief and cultivated a Great Divine Ability."

Tang Zhao was half-believing. He didn't know what kind of judgment the Third Master had; what level was his so-called Great Divine Ability? It couldn't be that he soared into the sky and became a Sword Guest, could it?

But for now, he had to go support Jiang Shenyi first.

He had to be quick.

Otherwise, he would be finished fighting.

————

In the end, he was still too late.

Tang Zhao and his companion passed through a thin film formed by a refractive mirror and entered the battlefield. They saw the ground covered in scorch marks from lightning, with vegetation twisted and tangled as if a great gale had passed through.

As for the mountain bandits who had been lying in ambush here, they were strewn across the ground in every direction. The leader, the Fourth Chief, looked particularly unsightly. If not for Jiang Shenyi pointing him out, it would have been truly difficult to identify him amidst the charred wood covering the ground.

Jiang Shenyi said, "When I arrived, this gang was lying in ambush here, waiting for a signal from the village to go in and kill. I struck a bolt of lightning from the sky, first zapping the leader, then surrounded them to mop them up; not a single one escaped."

Wusun Tong looked at the mountain bandits covering the ground—there were more of them than all the ones he and his fellow disciples had killed combined—and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Fine skill."

Tang Zhao was not surprised at all; not to mention the dimensional-reduction strike from the air to the ground, even judging by martial arts alone, Jiang Shenyi should be the best among them. If Tang Zhao were to face him in a duel, he could not win without using an Art Tool or imitation.

Moreover, unlike Tang Zhao, Jiang Shenyi had no intention of developing in the direction of a Sword Guest; he had designed his combat system from the very beginning with his Wind and Thunder Wings as the core. For these years, more than half of his energy had been placed on this pair of Art Tools, and his combat style had already taken shape over so many years; his application of Wind and Thunder Qi was handled so well that it was catching up to those Martial Venerables.

The three of them compared their respective situations and roughly pieced together the entire layout. Old Hu lured the mountain bandits, intending to kill Sang Jialiang; the bandits sent two chiefs and over a hundred lackeys, with a small portion lying in ambush inside the village and the majority waiting outside for the signal. This lineup could be considered luxurious; without the defensive fortifications of Wushu Bao to cover him, even if Sang Jialiang were not poisoned, he would have found it hard to escape a forced killing. Even if he had escaped, all the relatives and sisters who came would have died.

As luck would have it, Tang Zhao and the others followed along to the wedding to eat at the banquet, and even more coincidentally, they released an owl on the way and discovered the lackeys lying in ambush outside the village. Jiang Shenyi arrived on the scene a step early and crippled a large portion of their combat power. Tang Zhao entered Hu Zhuang and discovered many flaws, and once the few of them divided the work, they solved the remaining small group of thieves as well.

This was also because Sang Jialiang's fate was not yet exhausted, despite the baleful star crowning Jilong Mountain.

Jiang Shenyi said, "Now that two chiefs of Jilong Mountain have died, they will definitely seek revenge. In for a penny, in for a pound—let's go kill our way up to the mountain stronghold first and raze the place."

Tang Zhao felt that "in for a penny, in for a pound" did not sound like something a good person would say, so he changed the phrasing and said, "We really ought to root out the evil completely. Brother Sang originally intended to endure it, but I have just learned that the situation has changed; let us go and discuss it with him."