Chapter 316

From the moment Li Miao established the rules on the peak of Mount Song, the occurrence of such things was inevitable. No matter how Li Miao established his authority or how much blood flowed on the peak of Mount Song, there would inevitably be people trying to cross the line for profit in this rule that covered the entire Great Ming Jianghu.

Regarding human nature, a very contradictory point is that everyone is afraid of death, but there are always people who are not—whether in a positive or negative sense.

However, according to Li Miao's vision, such people who exploit loopholes shouldn't have appeared until half a year or a year later, when the villains in the Jianghu were no longer sufficient.

Yet, unexpectedly, not even two months had passed, and someone had already started to skirt the rules, and they had happened to bump right into him!

"Little Gao."

Li Miao suddenly spoke, interrupting the old man's scolding.

"Subdue this old man; I have questions to ask."

As soon as these words were spoken, the old man's expression changed abruptly. Thinking to himself that it was bad, he reached toward his waist to draw his sword, while his gaze swept toward Li Miao and the others, his pupils shrinking.

In just an instant, Gao Anyu, who had been scolding him, had disappeared!

Then came a "hum—" sound, and an extremely strange vibration traveled from the hilt of the sword to his palm, followed by intense pain.

"Ah!"

The old man couldn't help but let go, blood spilling from his burst tiger's mouth.

Before he could react, a cold object pressed against his waist.

"Don't move."

"Old man, you scolded me just now, and I actually wanted to kill you, but I am a good lunatic. Considering that your family just had a death, I won't hold it against you."

Gao Anyu's voice came from behind him.

"I don't understand these principles, but my Uncle Li said I could beat you, so you must be in the wrong. If someone is in the wrong, I can kill them—so if you think there's any misunderstanding, don't give me a reason to kill you."

"I am a lunatic; even if I kill the wrong person, I won't feel bad."

"From now on, answer whatever my Uncle Li asks you, understand?"

Having said this, he suddenly withdrew his killing intent and returned to his previous hearty tone.

"Uncle Li, am I right?"

Li Miao nodded with a smile, then walked slowly up the steps and stood still in front of the old man.

"When did the people from the Kongming Sect come to claim the reward?"

The old man knew he was no match for these people, and with his vital points controlled, he had lost the qualifications to bargain, so he could only answer with a livid face.

"At the beginning of the Mao hour."

"When did they leave?"

"Not long ago; they headed toward the city gate."

"What about the head they gave you?"

"It's inside the house."

"Fetch it."

Gao Anyu poked the old man with his iron ruler, making him stumble, and escorted him inside. A moment later, he pushed him back out, reaching out to hand a round package to Li Miao.

Cao Hanyan took it on his behalf, unwrapped the package, and pulled out a head with blood still wet. After just one look, he let out a soft exclamation.

"Uncle, this head really does look sixty or seventy percent like Shu Qingyi, and with the sword wounds on the face, it's really hard to tell at a glance."

Li Miao glanced at the head and asked indifferently.

"What else do you see?"

Cao Hanyan frowned, pondered for a moment, and said slowly.

"This person's teeth are yellow and many are missing, the skin is cracked, and the hair is withered and yellow; he must have lived a very frugal life."

He reached behind the head's ear, rubbed it with his fingers, and said.

"There is quite a bit of dirt behind the ears, and it's all mountain soil."

"There is an old scar on the side of the neck, which looks like it was scratched by a wild animal... this person must have been a hunter."

"Those people from the Kongming Sect most likely ran into this hunter after they left last night. Seeing that he looked so much like Shu Qingyi, they had evil intentions and killed an innocent person to claim the credit."

"They figured Brother Gao would definitely take the head to the Imperial Guard to claim a reward, so they took the head here to claim a reward themselves. By exploiting the lack of communication between the two sides, they wanted to take advantage of this."

Li Miao nodded and pointed at the old man.

"Bring the person out and show him to this old man."

Cao Hanyan followed instructions and pulled the unconscious Shu Qingyi out of the package. He grabbed his hair with his right hand and held the head with his left, placing them both in front of the old man.

The old man had heard everything Li Miao and Cao Hanyan said, and his face had already turned increasingly ugly. Now, looking at the two faces in front of him, his mouth slowly tightened.

After a long while, he let out a long sigh.

And he said something that neither Gao Anyu nor Cao Hanyan had expected.

"Everyone, why must you bring this out into the open?"

Cao Hanyan frowned.

The old man continued.

"If you need reward silver, I can just go inside and fetch another portion. It was my fault for not knowing your martial arts and wanting to cover this up... I ask you all to forgive me."

Gao Anyu was confused, but Cao Hanyan suddenly understood and looked at the old man, saying in a deep voice.

"You knew all along?"

The old man smiled bitterly.

"How could I not know?"

"Although I left home to wander the Jianghu in my early years, I've made a name for myself over the years. Of course I know what the villain who raped and killed my niece looks like."

Cao Hanyan frowned and said.

"Then just now..."

"Oh, you were afraid."

"You were afraid of the Kongming Sect, so when you said 'the brilliant disciple of the Kongming Sect already delivered the head,' you were reminding us to leave."

Now that the matter was out in the open, clear as day, the old man no longer intended to hide it and sighed.

"Yes."

"I am just a wanderer in the Jianghu, and my family is just a wealthy merchant family. The Kongming Sect is all-powerful in the Jianghu of Guangxin Prefecture; how could I not be afraid?"

"Serving the strong is just the way it is. Even if they are in the wrong, we must do our best to cover for them; even if we know the head is wrong, we can only pretend we didn't notice."

"After all, if this matter were to spread, it might attract the Imperial Guard, which would be a catastrophe for the Kongming Sect. To eliminate this disaster, no matter how much the Kongming Sect claims to be a righteous sect, compared to their own inheritance and lives—"

"The dozens of lives in my family are considered cheap..."

After saying this, the old man closed his eyes and sighed, saying no more.

Cao Hanyan stared into the old man's eyes for a while and sighed.

"Brother Gao, please put away your weapon."

"This is not his fault."

Gao Anyu looked at Li Miao, and seeing that he had no intention of objecting, he sheathed his sword.

Cao Hanyan turned to look at Li Miao.

"Uncle, what should we do?"

Li Miao sneered.

"What else can we do?"

"Those who deserve to die should be killed, and the silver that should be taken must be taken; the logic is clear as day."

"With me here, are you afraid someone won't be reasonable?"

Cao Hanyan realized and offered a salute.

"Yes!"

Having said this, he lifted Shu Qingyi by the neck with his left hand and tapped several points on his back with his right.

With a "huff—" sound, Shu Qingyi suddenly woke up, looking at the old man in front of him with confusion.

Cao Hanyan kicked him in the back of the knee and stepped on him. He grabbed his hair with his left hand, exposing his throat, and drew his blade with his right, slicing it cleanly across.

Ssh—

The old man's expression changed slightly, and just as he was about to speak to dissuade him, the blood spraying from the headless cavity stained the steps beneath his feet red.

"Sigh!"

Seeing Shu Qingyi pay the price, the old man first felt a sense of satisfaction, but then sighed and stamped his feet.

"Everyone, why be so impulsive! You killed someone in the street; not to mention the trouble with the authorities, if the Kongming Sect finds out, they will definitely come to silence you—or even kill you!"

He gritted his teeth.

"Like this, I'll make up an excuse, saying this person was an accomplice of Shu Qingyi, and you were hired by my family—"

Li Miao waved his hand to interrupt him.

"You don't need to worry about it."

"The head of the real murderer is given to you; as for this fake head, you can report it to the authorities yourselves, and you can decide how to explain it."

"The person died because of your family's business; from now on, you will support his family's elderly and young, understand?"

The old man nodded.

"As it should be."

"Everyone, please wait a moment; I will go fetch the reward silver."

But he heard Li Miao sneer.

"I don't want your portion."

"One head, one reward, it's clear and simple. One head exchanged for two portions of silver—that is the truly strange thing. Does an old man like you not even understand this simple logic?"

The old man's face changed abruptly.

The meaning in Li Miao's words was clear. He was also an old hand in the Jianghu; how could he not understand? He immediately tried to dissuade him.

"Everyone, do not act out of a moment of anger—"

Li Miao, however, turned and walked toward the city gate.

Zheng Yi let out a cold laugh, and Cao Hanyan, with a cold face, turned and left with him.

Gao Anyu looked left and right, his eyes darting around. He clapped his hands, a smile appearing on his face, and flashed after Li Miao.

"Uncle Li! Are we going to kill people?"

"Where are we going? Who are we killing? How many?"

The sound of their voices gradually faded away, leaving behind only a headless cavity, a head with eyes wide open in death, and blood covering the steps.

————————

In a tea stall by the main road, three disciples of the Kongming Sect were resting. Their bags were placed on the table, bulging. Anyone could tell from the bulge that they were filled with silver.

Many people cast furtive glances, but seeing their swords and blades on the table, and the way they walked and talked with such imposing strides, they knew they were disciples of a major sect and gave up their thoughts.

Suddenly, the youngest of the three disciples drank his tea in one gulp and said with a bitter face.

"Senior brother, I still feel... a bit uneasy."

The leading disciple narrowed his eyes and said.

"It's already done, what's the use of saying this now?"

"Besides, wasn't it you who discovered that the woodcutter looked like Shu Qingyi and called us to see? And now you regret it?"

The young disciple pursed his lips and said hesitantly.

"No, senior brother, I don't mean anything else, I'm just afraid."

"If it were before last year, doing this would be fine. But now, this matter involves the rules of the Imperial Guard... given the temperament of that 'Death-Dealing Pacification Commissioner,' if the Imperial Guard finds out, our Kongming Sect might suffer."

The leading disciple let out a cold snort.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Not to mention that the silver we claimed isn't from the Imperial Guard, so there's no question of provoking them. And let's not even mention that Shu Qingyi is just a mid-tier villain in the Jianghu who wouldn't even catch the eye of that Pacification Commissioner."

"Just look at that wealthy family—even if they found out, so what? We can't afford to provoke the Imperial Guard, but can they afford to provoke our Kongming Sect?"

He raised his tea and said persuasively.

"Junior brother, today I will teach you a principle."

"The affairs of this world are nothing more than 'power'! Unless one reaches the level of that Imperial Guard Pacification Commissioner, who can suppress the entire Jianghu with his fists, then he himself is 'power' incarnate."

"All of us must act according to the trend."

He said proudly.

"You and I went through all the trouble to join the Kongming Sect, for what? We can't reach the Heaven-Man Realm, our aptitude only goes as far as second-rate, and we have to follow so many sect rules—what for?"

"Isn't it for the 'power' of our Kongming Sect? Using power to suppress others, using power to profit—otherwise, why do we practice martial arts and take masters?"

The young disciple was stunned.

This was the first time he had heard such words, which were completely different from the Jianghu morality his master had taught him in the sect, making him instinctively want to refute it.

But the words died on his lips.

Because he noticed that the eyes of his two senior brothers were no longer gentle, but were gradually becoming cold.

His heart trembled violently.

These rebellious words were not only a reminder to him but also a warning. The three of them had already committed this act together; if it were exposed, he feared all three of their heads would be cut off by their master and sent to the Imperial Guard.

Neither of his senior brothers would keep a bomb that could explode at any time by their side.

He could be an accomplice and share this silver... or he could be a hero, sacrificing himself and dying at the hands of Shu Qingyi.

Whether he lived or died depended on his next answer. Being able to commit the act of killing an innocent person to claim credit, his moral standards were clearly insufficient to support him in giving a negative answer.

A fawning smile appeared on his face.

"Senior brother, after hearing what you said, I am truly enlightened! If I had wandered the Jianghu with you earlier, why would I have been foolishly polishing my bones and wasting my time in the sect?"

"Thank you, senior brother, for telling me this; I understand everything now!"

Under the satisfied gazes of his two senior brothers, he lowered his head, diligently picked up the teapot, and prepared to pour tea for them.

"You two senior brothers have cultivated me so well; I am deeply grateful. Today, I use tea instead of wine to thank you—"

Splash.

A scarlet liquid splashed into the teacup, creating ripples and spreading across the back of his hand.

A round object fell onto the table, rolled off, and hit the ground with a dull thud.

Screams rang out in his ears; tables and chairs were knocked over by panicked footsteps; tea splashed everywhere, steaming hot.

Figures ran past him in confusion; time seemed to have frozen.

The sounds seemed to become distant, and then slowly approached. He shuddered violently and slowly shifted his gaze from the tabletop.

An overturned teacup, blood spreading through the tea; a shirt stained scarlet, a long sword that had fallen halfway out of its scabbard; quivering flesh on the severed cross-section; a headless corpse slowly falling to one side.

A pitch-black iron ruler that had pierced through his senior brother's skull.

Gao Anyu's excited smile.

"Uncle Li, it's these three, the silver has been found!"

(End of chapter)