Chapter 292: The corpse is speaking

No one would have thought that the Hero Li vouched for by Master Xingchi was actually that Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had never appeared.

In this Jianghu, there are too few people who can jump out of their positions.

Xingchi gave Li Miao such great trust, half because of Li Miao's righteous act of saving the people of Tai'an, and half to use his own reputation to put a shackle on Li Miao—although Li Miao didn't care much.

In the hearts of the vast majority of Jianghu people, Master Xingchi, who had carried the righteous path of the Jianghu for over ninety years, was the least likely person to collude with the imperial court. Compared to him, even the Ming Sect's surrender to the imperial court was not so shocking.

But the current situation no longer allowed for a shred of doubt.

From beginning to end, there was no Hero Li.

There was only the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Li Miao.

And his whereabouts also emerged logically—saving the people of the whole city in Tai'an, subduing the Five Mountains Sword Sects, killing half of the Ming Sect's high-level members; following the Ming Sect to Shaolin, presiding over the ceremony of Xingchi's succession; then going to the Miao Border, annihilating the witchcraft heritage; and finally returning to Shuntian, participating in the annihilation of the Ming Sect.

The matter of that Commander coming down from Hengshan, and Li Miao traveling with the current Hengshan Sect Leader Yin Minjun at Shaolin, all became reasonable together.

Thinking about it, from the Tai'an matter, the Five Mountains Sword Sects had already surrendered to the imperial court as a whole. The remaining four Sect Leaders of the Five Mountains Sword Sects had all retired and vanished—presumably serving in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Everything, everything, became reasonable.

Yet it left people not knowing how to react.

Thus, there was only silence.

Zhou Zijing clenched his fists at his sides, thinking to himself.

"The momentum that was so hard to incite was all interrupted the moment he appeared! Strike while the iron is hot, then it fades, then it exhausts; if it stays quiet for a while longer, it will be difficult to stir up the dissatisfaction of the Jianghu people again!"

"Although this person is shrouded in mystery and I don't know how his Wu Gong is, since I have already stepped out, I am already at odds with the imperial court... there is no reason to retreat!"

So he shouted loudly.

"Hero Li, Lord Li, you have kept us in the dark for a whole year! But I have one thing I don't understand—"

He opened his arms abruptly, scanning the surrounding Jianghu people.

"Why did you hide your identity! Who is the head you just threw down, and who are the two people you just threw on the ground!"

"Are they fellow Jianghu colleagues who are dissatisfied with the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"The day Master Xingchi let you preside over the succession ceremony, was it truly out of his own heart, or... did someone use something to threaten him to achieve their own reputation?"

"Let's not discuss these for now!"

Zhou Zijing waved his hand.

"Let's talk about the present."

"The one who just came down from the high platform seems to be a true disciple of the Hengshan Sect, named Shen Xunning, right? Could it be that it was her sitting in the high position from beginning to end?"

"We traveled thousands of miles to attend your banquet, and the one sitting above us from beginning to end was this wet-behind-the-ears junior—why did the Commander humiliate us so?"

"And the matter of the seats—"

His impassioned speech, using True Energy to boost his voice, and with no one to restrain him, slowly heated up the atmosphere that had originally settled down.

The Jianghu people tentatively shouted a few times, and seeing that the Embroidered Uniform Guard side had no reaction, their voices gradually grew louder.

Zhou Zijing scanned the surroundings with satisfaction, looking at Li Miao sitting in the front, secretly happy in his heart.

"Momentum, the hearts of the people are the momentum!"

"The Emperor was assassinated, the imperial court is weak—that is momentum! The Jianghu people's hearts are in turmoil—that is also momentum! The Jianghu people don't submit to the rules set by this Commander who popped out of nowhere—that is even more momentum!"

"How will you block this momentum!"

He waited for Li Miao's methods, and secretly simulated what the other party would say in his heart, and had already thought about how he should respond.

But, for a long time, Li Miao had no movement.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had no movement.

Even the ten "Peak" forces standing on both sides had no movement.

On one side was the noisy, agitated crowd, and on the other was the inexplicable silence. This strange sense of division caused a trace of unease to well up in Zhou Zijing's heart.

Especially An Ziyang, standing beside Li Miao, was looking at him with a strange gaze. His eyebrows were high and low, and the corners of his mouth were crooked in a haughty manner.

Zhou Zijing frowned, carefully distinguishing the emotions in that gaze.

It seemed to be—pity, tinged with a trace of mockery.

Zhou Zijing was shocked.

Suddenly, a voice came from the front.

"Finished?"

Li Miao leaned on the chair, raising his eyebrows as he looked at him.

Zhou Zijing pursed his lips.

"That's all, how does Lord Li intend to explain?"

A disdainful sneer came from his ears.

Li Miao smiled and slowly raised his hand.

"The corpse is speaking."

Hum—

A harsh humming sound exploded on Zhou Zijing's eardrums, tearing them apart in an instant. A suction force that was hard to resist came from all over his body, scattering his stance. He used all his strength to perform the "Thousand-Catty Drop" method, and even the weapon at his waist was inserted under his feet.

Yet he could only watch himself approach Li Miao bit by bit.

Three deep marks were drawn on the ground.

Creak—

Zhou Zijing's weapon scraped a harsh sound against the mountain rock.

A hand gripped his neck.

True Energy, vigorous beyond words, instantly poured into his meridians, and in an instant, it split into more than ten types of True Energy with different properties, probing into his Dantian and heart meridians—

And then stirred violently!

"Ugh—"

A massive amount of fresh blood surged from his throat into his mouth and nasal cavity, scrambling to leave Zhou Zijing's body and flow onto the ground.

He wasn't dead yet.

But he wished he were already dead.

Because Li Miao was actually healing him, then destroying his meridians again, then healing him again. The tough bones of the Heaven-Man Realm greatly extended the time he survived in this inhuman torture.

"Actually, everything you said just now was nonsense, do you know that?"

"I originally thought that since you jumped out at this time, you might have some reliance and plans, but it seems you are just a fool who was incited to come here to die—I really don't know how you've lived so long."

Li Miao said with a smile.

"Talking about Jianghu morality, about how I don't respect you, about why Xingchi would associate with me."

"Are these important?"

"I don't respect you, I just want to press your heads to recognize my rules, I just want to put the Huanhua Sword Sect on the high platform."

"What can you... do about it?"

The palm slowly tightened, and finally, the fingers closed together.

A round head with wide-open eyes fell down, rolled a few times on the ground, and slowly stopped.

Li Miao shook off the flesh and blood on his hand and said with a smile.

"Talking and talking, it's all nonsense."

He supported his knees with both hands, stood up, and beckoned slowly with one hand toward the Jianghu people who were no longer noisy.

"Whether I have the qualification to not respect you, won't you know if you come and try?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 293 =====