Chapter 24: Heavenly Punishment!

A deafening roar, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, shook everyone on the street into stunned disarray.

For a moment, the entire Ghost Market sank into an eerie silence.

The people kneeling on the street stared blankly at the “immortal” falling from the sky, unable to believe what they saw.

The cultivated immortal who had ascended to heaven had been struck down by lightning… Could this be heavenly retribution?

This was certainly not heavenly retribution!

Su Wuming, who had been standing beside his cousin, saw clearly: it was the “Truth” in his cousin’s hand that had brought down Yin Vice Minister.

But with Su Wuming’s current wisdom, he still could not fathom why this object possessed such power.

He only knew that Su Haoming had simply raised it, and a flash of fire erupted from its iron tip, striking down the so-called immortal above like lightning.

Sensing the mixed glances of bewilderment, shock, and awe from those around him, Su Haoming, who had just been triumphant, immediately began to regret it.

He had acted on a momentary impulse, firing at Yin Vice Minister and feeling satisfied—but the consequences that followed were no joke…

What could he do? The fellow had been so arrogant. Arrogant enough, but he’d also been hovering ten meters above ground, moving slower than a crawling insect—clearly a sitting duck. Who wouldn’t have fired?

Su Haoming first tried to reassure himself, then his mind raced as he scrambled for a plan.

The next instant, he spun around and knelt, throwing his arms wide and shouting fervently, in Su Wuming’s bewildered gaze:

“The heretic lacks virtue, dares to claim ascension—the Immortal has manifested and delivered heavenly retribution!”

“Brother! Commander Lu! A true immortal has appeared!”

At these words, the crowd on the street turned toward him.

“The Immortal has manifested! Heavenly retribution!”

“The Immortal has manifested! The Immortal has manifested!”

Their eyes grew feverish; they rose and surged toward the mansion, as if preparing to enter and pay homage to the true immortal.

They had all just been bowing to the “ascended” Yin Vice Minister; they knew the thunder came from this direction, but had not seen Su Haoming fire.

Taking advantage of this information gap, Su Haoming redirected the gunshot’s origin to the mansion behind him. The ignorant crowd, seeing his actions, naturally assumed the deity enshrined within the mansion had manifested.

The crowd surged forward, prostrating themselves in the three-kowtows-and-nine-bows ritual before even reaching the gate.

Su Wuming’s heart tightened; he quickly pulled his cousin aside and whispered, “What are you doing?”

Su Haoming did not answer, but turned to Lu Lingfeng and said, “Commander Lu, what are you waiting for? The heretic has been struck down by the immortal—go arrest him now!”

“...”

Lu Lingfeng finally snapped back to awareness.

He gave Su Haoming a complex look, then clenched his teeth, raised his hand, and led the other three Gold Guard officers toward the spot where Yin Vice Minister had fallen.

Seeing this, Su Haoming exhaled in relief and whispered urgently, “Brother, let’s slip away while the chaos lasts!”

Though Su Wuming had many questions, the situation left him no choice but to go along.

…

…

Not long after, the three servants of the Su household finally escaped the Ghost Market and returned to the County Inspector’s residence.

Once inside the room, Su Wuming gave Su Qian a meaningful glance.

The latter nodded slightly, cast a worried look at the young master, then turned and exited the room, closing the door and standing guard in the courtyard.

Seeing this, Su Haoming knew it was time to reveal the truth.

Indeed, gazing at his calm cousin, Su Wuming said with a complex expression:

“Su Haoming, do you know what you’ve done?”

“Of course,” Su Haoming replied with a smile. “I saved you.”

This statement referred not only to what had just happened.

According to Lin Yu, in the near future, Uncle Qian would die at Yin Vice Minister’s hands.

Su Haoming had fired at Yin Vice Minister not only because of a momentary impulse, but also because he had long feared this future.

But he could not reveal this to Su Wuming, so he understood his brother’s reaction.

Su Wuming frowned and whispered, “Though I don’t know how you obtained it, possessing such a deadly weapon invites disaster. How could you flaunt it before Lu Lingfeng?”

“He’s from the Fan Yang Lu clan, and he’s the Crown Prince’s man—who knows what he might do?”

“Yin Vice Minister ran away—that’s fine, I can catch him again. But you used this thing—how am I supposed to cover for you?!”

“Yan Sheng, you’d better give me a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to send you back home and make you live quietly, out of the world…”

Yan Sheng was Su Haoming’s childhood name, given because he had grasped an inkstone during his “grasp-week” ceremony.

Su Wuming had always called him that, but as Su Haoming grew into adulthood, he stopped using it—only whispering the name when they were alone.

“It’s not that extreme!” Su Haoming laughed. “Brother, you’re underestimating your own wisdom and overestimating the intelligence of those Gold Guards.”

“Do you think they can think as deeply as you do?”

Su Wuming shook his head slowly. “Caution is always best.”

Su Haoming smiled. “When I fired, I confirmed it—only you saw me pull the trigger. The others only heard the sound. If I make up any excuse, I can easily fool them.”

Su Wuming frowned. “Trigger?”

Su Haoming explained: “Not a long spear—a fire gun.”

“Fire gun?”

Su Wuming blurted out: “Is it related to gunpowder?”

Su Haoming was surprised, then praised: “No wonder you’re my brother!”

Gunpowder had already appeared in the Tang era; Sun Simiao’s “Dan Jing” contained the earliest recorded mention of it. Since it was accidentally discovered by alchemists during elixir-making, some called it “huo yao”—fire medicine.

Su Wuming, for the sake of criminal investigations and autopsies, had studied many medical classics, including the “Dan Jing.”

Moreover, he had been closest to Su Haoming and clearly smelled the scent of sulfur—so linking the fire gun to gunpowder was not surprising.

Su Wuming frowned. “But I still don’t understand how it works…”

Su Haoming smiled. “The principle is simple. Do you know blow darts?”

Su Wuming nodded. “Of course.”

Su Haoming explained: “Blow darts use air to propel the dart. This weapon works the same way—except it replaces air with the explosive force of gunpowder to launch something heavier than a dart.”

“Of course, saying it is simple, but making it work is far from easy…”

Su Wuming nodded thoughtfully.

He could imagine that if explosive force propelled a dart, it would create a far more powerful weapon than a blow dart.

But crafting such a weapon must be extremely difficult—at least in Su Wuming’s understanding, Tang blacksmiths could never produce something that perfectly harnessed explosive force.

“How did you get it?”

Su Wuming asked the crucial question.

Su Haoming thought for a moment and whispered: “Do you remember what I said as a child?”

Su Wuming frowned. “You mean the immortal imparting teachings?”

Before the other could respond, he shook his head. “Immortals are illusory. I didn’t believe it then, and I don’t believe it now!”

Su Haoming sighed. “You may not believe in immortals, but you must believe in the teachings—otherwise, how do you explain the knowledge I suddenly acquired?”

“...”

Su Wuming fell into deep thought, then slowly nodded. “I believe that.”

Su Haoming hadn’t expected this—he was taken aback.

Su Wuming spoke calmly: “My master said there are no ghosts or gods—only people pretending to be them.”

“Therefore, the knowledge you learned as a child must have been secretly imparted by a master!”

“I don’t know where this master hides, or how he evaded my master’s guards to teach you nightly—but these insights into the world are unquestionably real.”

Su Haoming stared, speechless. “So you’ve always believed?”

Su Wuming shook his head. “Not me—my master. I didn’t believe it then either, but he was certain you had a teacher. That’s why he refused to take you as a disciple—he respected your hidden master.”

“Wait!”

Su Haoming’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You mean… Master Di refused to take me as a disciple because he thought I already had a teacher?”

Su Wuming looked at him strangely. “Of course. You were the most extraordinary child the Su family had ever seen. If not for that reason, why would my master have refused you?”

“...”

Su Haoming stared dumbly at his cousin.

I’ve been had!

(End of Chapter)