Chapter 258: Bloodstains

Qianzhou Province, Sinan Prefecture.

Outside the city gate.

Several Jianghu people were sitting cross-legged at the base of the wall, chewing on dry tobacco pipes, with rusted scabbards hanging from their waists, chatting idly. Seeing someone enter the city, they looked up, and seeing it was ordinary commoners, they lowered their heads to chat again.

Since Li Miao entered the Jianghu, those he had come into contact with were already considered the upper echelons of Jianghu people. At the very least, they were second-class experts, which were figures of note in a prefecture.

Therefore, they all had more or less that kind of "unrealistic Jianghu air" described in the storybooks Li Miao read in his previous life.

In fact, most of the bottom-tier Jianghu people without backgrounds in this Jianghu were like this—holding weapons that had already been worn thin, squatting outside the city gate, seeing if there was any work to do.

Guarding houses, escorting merchants, even loading and unloading goods, serving tea and water—they would do any job that could keep them fed. It was not uncommon for them to accept money to escort someone home, only to slaughter the employer in a deserted place.

As the saying goes, "He who carries a sharp weapon will have a murderous heart"; requiring Jianghu people to abide by the law is about as difficult as getting a dog to stop eating feces. Having walked the Jianghu for a few years, few people could say they were clean.

After all, the chivalrous use martial arts to violate prohibitions.

Therefore, when the sound of violent horse hooves came from the official road in the distance, the first reaction of these Jianghu people was to pull their bamboo hats low, put their weapons behind them, and half-grip the sword hilts, peeking cautiously.

When the dust grew closer, the people on the horses gradually revealed themselves.

As soon as they saw clearly, their souls flew out of their bodies.

"Hiss—"

"Holy shit!"

"Your mother!"

The dry tobacco pipes in the mouths of several Jianghu people fell to the ground, scattering sparks everywhere.

"Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"My own mother! Who the hell provoked them!"

Several people kicked off the ground and scurried away like rabbits. They didn't even have time to take their weapons. One of the Jianghu people, who had a murder case on his back and was hiding here, seeing the team of Embroidered Uniform Guards getting closer, actually smashed his scabbard against his companion's knee while fleeing.

"Sorry, brother! You drag these court eagles for a while; I will definitely come to save you later!"

"Fuck your mother!!!"

That person lunged and tackled him to the ground, hands gripping his throat tightly.

"If you harm me, you don't get to live either!"

"Ugh ahhhhh!"

The two fought on the ground like this.

By the time Li Miao and Shen Xunning arrived outside the city gate, the two were already fighting in blood, one gouging the other's eyes with his fingers, the other gripping the other's crotch, both grimacing and in a sorry state.

Li Miao swept a glance, beckoned, and several Embroidered Uniform Guards went up, each smashing them unconscious with a scabbard, binding them with practiced ease, and throwing them onto the horses, as skillfully as a farm woman slaughtering a chicken.

Shen Xunning opened her mouth, unable to speak.

She had been walking the Jianghu with Li Miao for some time now.

She had seen this scene several times already.

But no matter how many times she saw it, she couldn't adapt. This was too far from the scene she had imagined when she thought of walking the Jianghu within the mountain gate.

Question: What is the experience of walking the Jianghu with the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Chaos, being hated by people and dogs, people avoiding them with their eyes, unable to escape. Even the most vicious demon in the Jianghu was just like this.

Shen Xunning looked at Li Miao, wanting to say something, but didn't dare.

Li Miao didn't care, waved his hand, and the group entered the city.

Another scene of chaos.

Some jumped onto roofs to escape, only to collapse the roof and fall down; some turned to flee, only to knock themselves unconscious against pillars; others, like the two outside the city gate, started fighting among themselves first.

Li Miao's Embroidered Uniform Guards were also capable, all knocking them unconscious with scabbards, binding them in two or three moves, and throwing them directly onto the horses.

By the time the group arrived at the entrance of a restaurant in the city, the horses of several Embroidered Uniform Guards were already densely piled with people, among whom several injured Jianghu people were dripping blood, drawing a hideous trail along the path Li Miao and the others had come.

"Don't move!"

An Embroidered Uniform Guard shouted, stopping the diners from fleeing.

"Eat your food, drink your drink!"

The diners trembled, picking up their chopsticks shakily, trying hard to deliver the food on the table to their mouths.

The restaurant owner had long since fled to the back kitchen, and the waiter walked over tremblingly.

"Official…"

"Just serve the food; we will leave after eating and won't delay your business."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard said.

"Hey…"

The waiter tremblingly wiped a few tables and pushed them together, then slowly left.

Li Miao and the others sat down.

"How much further to Emei?"

Li Miao asked.

"About ten days' journey; if we change horses along the way, we can arrive in six or seven days. If we use light-body technique to rush, we can be one day faster."

One person replied.

"Forget it, rushing is tiring; let's just stroll slowly."

Li Miao waved his hand.

The matters Wang Hai discussed with Li Miao on Hengshan could actually be summarized into three things.

Retainers, hidden sects, invitations.

Coincidentally, the Emei Sect where the retainer Ruan Mei originated, the Sword King Pavilion, the Dali Duan family, and the Tang Men who could verify the news of the poison on the invitation deliverer, were all in the southwest direction of the Great Shu territory.

So Li Miao simply let Wang Hai and the four others go to each major sect to verify the invitation matter, while he took over a dozen people to travel west, first heading to Emei, then entering Bashu to find the Tang Men and Sword King Pavilion, and finally heading to Dali to see what the Duan family was about.

At this moment, they were not far from Emei.

One could see from this journey that ever since Ji Tianrui made that scene, the Jianghu had indeed become much livelier.

Major sects were the first to notice something wrong, withdrawing their personnel to defend, leaving a huge vacuum.

Then mid-tier sects flooded in, attempting to take a big bite before the major sects could react; at the same time, bottom-tier sects and Jianghu people also began to make a scene.

During this period, naturally, many murders for goods and Jianghu vendettas emerged, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard naturally had to step in to regulate; after half a year of killing, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's reputation had become worse and worse.

Along with Li Miao, this never-before-seen Pacification Commissioner, who was already notorious.

When they first set out, a greenwood bandit saw his waist token and directly raised his hand to shatter his own heart pulse, looking at Li Miao triumphantly.

"A scholar can be killed but not humiliated!"

Heaven have mercy, Li Miao had only swept a glance at him and hadn't recognized this small fry at all.

Having no choice, Li Miao had to put away the waist token.

Even so, he still couldn't avoid the trouble along the way.

However, several people were mostly used to it, all waiting for the food to be served in a leisurely manner.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door.

"Where did the waiter go? Don't you know how to receive guests!"

Immediately, several people filed in.

Li Miao swept a glance casually, his eyes narrowing.

There were five people who entered, with different forms, all carrying weapons at their waists, dressed in tight clothing, and one could tell they were old Jianghu hands just by their demeanor.

The most critical thing was that the windows on all four sides of the restaurant were open, and these people should have been able to see Li Miao's group from outside, yet they still dared to walk in.

In this Jianghu, those who dared to approach the Embroidered Uniform Guard were either major sects with foundations or lawless criminals.

And they were definitely not the former.

Because Li Miao saw the undried bloodstains in the gaps of their weapons.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 259 =====