Chapter 416: Killing Intent as a Lead

Dusk, setting sun.

The last trace of summer heat had not yet dissipated, making it feel even more stifling.

The tea stall's banner fluttered in the wind; it sold not only tea but also wine.

The tea was thin, the wine was cool, both quenching thirst and satisfying the craving; there were also spiced eggs and broad beans to go with the wine—the taste was quite ordinary, but fortunately, it was prepared rather cleanly.

This tea stall had been open for some years, and the owner, Lao Zhang, had white hair and a hunched back.

When he had nothing to do, he liked to drink a couple of cups himself and boast to others about his heroism in his youth.

Lao Zhang was an old veteran of Beiliang; in his youth, he was lonely and helpless, following the Great Pillar Kingdom Xu Xiao to fight for several years.

Logically speaking, during the chaotic Spring and Autumn wars, old veterans who enlisted early could reach the rank of Army Officer or Captain as long as they clung to life, and at the very least, they could receive a Military Official title before retirement.

Lao Zhang was not a man who feared death; he had a desperate drive when fighting and had indeed performed meritorious service several times. It was just that his temper was a bit volatile; once, when he was drunk, he beat his direct superior, and from then on, he was given the cold shoulder everywhere. Living uncomfortably, he simply retired and ran off to open this tea stall.

In his youth, Lao Zhang had seen the majestic Great Pillar Kingdom from afar. Over these years, the guests he had received included peddlers and porters, as well as heroes of the pugilistic world, and occasionally, arrogant young scions on fine horses—he could be said to be well-informed.

But today, these three guests, whether in appearance or bearing, were like gods. Not to mention having seen them, he wouldn't even dare to imagine such people existed. Entering his tea stall, to use the words of a scholar, it was "making the humble dwelling shine."

The two women, white-clad as snow and like celestial beings descended to earth, went without saying.

That black-clad man, however, was beyond Lao Zhang's expectations; he took the initiative to invite him to drink and talk about the customs of Beiliang, and he possessed a strange sense of affinity, not at all like the aloofness of typical pugilistic heroes or wealthy scions.

"Those scholars are always cynical, saying that most of the old veterans who fought alongside the Great Pillar Kingdom died, and none had a good ending, and in the end, only he succeeded in becoming a king of a different surname."

Lao Zhang drank a few mouthfuls of wine, and his voice grew louder, no longer as coy as a young girl.

It was just that, perhaps because he had drunk too much, the three guests before his eyes gave him a hazy feeling; he could not see their True Qi, nor could he clearly discern their specific appearances.

"Those brain-dead scholars don't know a damn thing! Are all the wounds on the Great Pillar Kingdom's body fake?! Were they all smeared on himself with knives, arrows, and spears?! If even the Great Pillar Kingdom couldn't become the Beiliang King, then wouldn't all those old veterans who didn't hesitate to spend their last breath have died in vain?"

Lao Zhang, already quite tipsy, spat and cursed: "Those damn scholars are the most boring; when I was younger, I could slap all the teeth out of their mouths with one palm!"

"If I meet such scholars, I will help you slap them."

The white-clad young master smiled slightly, lifted the wine bowl, and looked at the slightly green liquid with unappealing wine dregs floating on top, fine as green ants: "I traveled thousands of miles to come here, and one of the reasons is that I wanted to taste authentic, local Green Ant Wine. Lao Zhang, you didn't water down this wine, did you?"

"Bullshit, only a black-hearted merchant blinded by greed would drill into the money pit and water down Green Ant Wine; I, Lao Zhang, am not that kind of person." Lao Zhang was so angry he puffed out his cheeks and glared; if someone else had said that, he might not even have sold them the wine.

"Haha, just joking, just joking. It is said that the Beiliang King also likes to drink Green Ant Wine?" The white-clad young master drank the Green Ant Wine in the bowl in one gulp.

Lao Zhang was magnanimous, laughed, and said: "The Great Pillar Kingdom loves this drop of wine; this is the wine that we men of Beiliang should drink. However, the reason this wine sells so well is all thanks to a poem written by the Second Princess, one line of which is Green Ant, Green Ant..."

"Green Ant new brewed wine, red mud small fire stove. Evening comes, snow threatens, can you drink a cup?"

"Right, right, right, you are the ones with culture."

Yu Liancheng poured himself another bowl of wine, and in this crude tea stall, eating simple food, drinking extremely cheap wine, and chatting with such a weather-beaten old man, it was quite interesting in its own way.

Beside him, White Fox Face took a shallow sip of the Green Ant Wine, her eyes lingering on Yu Liancheng.

This was indeed a strange man; his appearance and temperament went without saying, and he often gave her a strange feeling.

Sometimes when sitting opposite Murong Tonghuang, the two were clearly very close, yet the other party would become ethereal and void, as if coming from another dimension, or like a God residing above the nine heavens, and all sentient beings were nothing but ants in his eyes.

But many times, he could radiate a strange affinity, and even peddlers and porters could get along with him without the slightest sense of abruptness, as if a drop of water had merged into a lake. In the words of Daoism, this was "harmonizing with the light and dust."

Nangong Pushe's eyes flickered, and she suddenly remembered the strange encounters of these past few days.

After Murong Tonghuang killed the Guangling King, the Liyang Imperial Court was shaken, issuing widespread arrest warrants and dispatching Zhao Gou to pursue them.

The Great Pillar Kingdom Xu Xiao had once trampled the pugilistic world and suggested to the Emperor that he establish a secret organization that was half-military and half-martial, which was feared by the martial arts world and called "Zhao Gou," specializing in dealing with pugilistic ruffians who used martial arts to defy the law; once someone caused trouble, they had to deal with the tireless pursuit of the assassins in this organization.

Over these ten-plus years, countless martial artists who prided themselves on superior strength had been killed and their "heads sent to the pugilistic world."

Of course, when facing extraordinary experts, such as Cao Zhangqing who had entered the Imperial Palace three times, Zhao Gou was also helpless and was even killed in disarray.

When the arrest warrant was first issued, it did cause some trouble for the three, but as time passed, this trouble became less and less.

On one hand, this was certainly because Murong Tonghuang showed no mercy, and Zhao Gou suffered heavy casualties. On the other hand, it was because they seemed to no longer attract attention.

Although ordinary people could perceive the three's stunning appearances, very few could associate them with the wanted criminals, as if a strange power was clouding their Perception.

And this power clearly came from Murong Tonghuang.

What a strange method this was, almost bordering on a divine ability.

While Old Man Zhang went to get more wine, Yu Liancheng turned his head and smiled at Nangong Pushe and Murong Wuzhu: "Are you curious why I wanted to drink and rest here?"

Nangong Pushe and Murong Wuzhu nodded one after another.

"I am waiting for someone."

"Waiting for someone?"

"Waiting for the person who can take us into the Tingchao Pavilion." Yu Liancheng's expression shifted, and he pointed toward the mountain road: "Isn't that them coming now?"

Where his finger pointed, it was indeed Lao Huang and that young man. At the same time, he opened a gap in the mental power covering the three, allowing the other party to glimpse their true faces.

"Who are they?" Murong Wuzhu asked, puzzled.

"The world's top-class scion and the world's top-class swordsman." Yu Liancheng raised an eyebrow, a strange smile appearing at the corner of his mouth as he looked toward the mountain road: "Besides them, it seems there are other guests coming."

No sooner had he spoken, before the two women could ask, they heard the sound of horse hooves booming, and a group of more than ten riders came galloping over, shouting, each holding a large saber, their faces full of murderous intent.

The group of people on the mountain road hurriedly dodged, and the leader at the front of the team swept over with a horse whip, the whip covered in barbs, immediately whipping the pedestrians until they were covered in blood.

The group of riders laughed incessantly, praising the leader's "good whip technique." The leader laughed heartily, patted the rump of his mount, and amidst the flying dust, arrived in front of the tea stall.

"Good, Zhao Laosi really didn't lie to me; they are indeed three peerless beauties. This trip was not in vain."

The burly man, clearly the leader of the horse bandits, laughed loudly, his eyes flashing with greedy and lustful light.

Not long ago, the leader of another band of mountain bandits sold them information, saying that three peerless beauties were passing through their territory.

The horse bandit leader didn't believe it at first, but that mountain bandit leader swore to heaven, describing how heart-stoppingly beautiful they were, and that he wanted a share of the spoils after the deed was done.

Thus, the scene before them came to be.

Lao Zhang hurried over from the back, handing out a bag: "Chief Li, these are my guests, please show some convenience." But in his heart, he thought it was bad; this Heiyun Stronghold was not close to here, and they might not visit the tea stall a few times a year, so why did they have to come today of all days.

If it were his younger days, Lao Zhang would have grabbed his weapon and fought the bandits, not even caring about his life. But now that he was old, his personality had become much more peaceful, and with a family to support, he was naturally more worldly and tactful.

"What are you, to deserve me showing you convenience?"

The pockmarked horse bandit leader sneered, held his saber against Lao Zhang's neck, and shook his head: "Considering this is your first offense, kneel on the ground, kowtow three times, and call me 'Grandpa' three times, and it's not impossible to let you go. If not..."

"And if I don't, then what?" Yu Liancheng said with a chuckle.

Seeing that he had captured the attention of the three, Li Mazi puffed out his chest, even more smug: "If you don't, I'll chop your head off and use it as a chamber pot."

"That's not a bad idea." The corners of Yu Liancheng's mouth curled up, his gentle smile suddenly taking on a hint of ferocity and terror.

Li Mazi suddenly felt a pain in his neck; his field of vision shot upward, then plummeted rapidly, vaguely seeing the shocked and fearful expressions of his brothers and a headless corpse riding on horseback that seemed strangely familiar.

As the scene before his eyes rapidly transformed from color to black and white, in the final moment of his life, Li Mazi vaguely understood what had happened, and suddenly understood one question.

Why Zhao Laosi had lost an arm, and why the several fierce generals who usually followed him were nowhere to be seen. It turned out they had been bested by these three fellows and had intentionally come to set him up...

It was just a pity that by the time he figured all this out, it was already too late.

"Your head is a bit too ugly; I wouldn't even want it as a chamber pot." Yu Liancheng stepped on Li Mazi's head, bouncing it twice like a ball, his expression calm and composed from beginning to end.

A group of mountain bandits revealed expressions of terror.

In their eyes, their boss's head had suddenly flown off, as if struck by a blade, and came rolling to the feet of the other party with a rumble.

"Trash like you is just a waste of life." Yu Liancheng looked up at the mountain bandits, his gaze indifferent yet carrying a kind of simple malice.

It was as if a naughty child were crushing an ant, purely for the sake of fun.

As soon as the words fell, the group of horse bandits, along with their horses, were shredded by an invisible Sword Qi, reduced to a pile of gore.

"Sister, did you see? For things like mountain bandits, one must be as ruthless as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves; letting even one go is a sin." Yu Liancheng earnestly instructed Murong Wuzhu.

"So disgusting, couldn't you be a bit more refined when you kill people?" Murong Wuzhu stuck out her tongue and made a retching motion, yet she looked both charming and annoyed.

Yu Liancheng shrugged: "Fine, I'll be more disgusting next time."

"You're so annoying."

"Let's go, it's time to head to Lingzhou."

Yu Liancheng placed a silver note of considerable value on the table and patted the stunned Lao Zhang: "The Green Ant Wine is good, but the braised eggs were a bit bland."

Taking the other two, he turned and left; the silver note on the table was enough for Lao Zhang to open a decent inn, which could be considered compensation for him handling the aftermath.

"My dear mother, I really met a God today." Lao Zhang's legs went soft, and he nearly sat on the ground, unable to recover for a long time.

After Yu Liancheng and his group had traveled for a while, there was a rustling in the grass nearby, and two people darted out.

"The three of you, wait." The young man walking in front grinned, revealing snow-white teeth that didn't match his appearance: "May I ask if the three of you are heading to Lingzhou? This little brother is also traveling that way; I wonder if you could let me accompany you?"

Yu Liancheng glanced at him: "Give me a reason."

"I... I have the Demon sect's 'Swallow Gold Precious Record' here." The young man took a yellowed book from his bosom and grinned: "It's only the second half, but please, accept it."

Yu Liancheng flicked his sleeve, and the book flew into his hand of its own accord; he flipped through it quickly: "It's the real thing, but unfortunately, it's of no use to me."

Having said that, he tossed the manual, which ordinary martial artists would treat as a treasure, back to the youth.

Amidst the young man's disappointed expression, Yu Liancheng stroked his chin and asked: "Tell me why you want to travel with us."

The young man knew that when dealing with such top-tier experts, it was best to tell the truth, so he answered honestly: "The road ahead is very dangerous, and I'm afraid of dying."

Yu Liancheng pointed his finger at the toothless old servant following the youth and said: "You have a top-tier expert following you; although he's no match for me, he's more than enough to protect your life."

The young man widened his eyes and said: "You're saying Lao Huang is an expert?"

Yu Liancheng nodded: "Genuine and authentic."

Murong Wuzhu and Nangong Pushe both turned their gazes toward Lao Huang, looking him up and down, but they couldn't see how he was an expert at all.

Lao Huang felt everyone's gaze and gave a "shy" smile, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth with missing incisors, looking honest to the extreme.

The young man said helplessly: "Great hero, let's not joke around, shall we?"

Yu Liancheng said: "Kid, I'm very serious."

The young man patted the servant's shoulder: "Haha, Lao Huang, he says you're an expert, did you hear that?"

Lao Huang grinned and gestured with his hand, indicating he was a little bit taller than the Prince.

Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back, his deep and bright eyes looking at Lao Huang.

In an instant, those eyes were filled with murderous intent, incomparably cold, far more chilling than the wind and snow of the Far North. A sense of great terror and great destruction radiated from his entire body, surging directly toward Lao Huang.

Lao Huang's smile suddenly froze, the Yellow Cloth Bundle behind his back hummed, and a streak of astonishing sword light shot out, brilliant beyond compare.