Chapter 364

Zheng Anqi stood up from the ruins of the collapsed altar, reached out, and pulled the woman who was plastered to his waist off; flesh and blood fell away in a sticky mess, leaving only the upper half of her torso in his hand.

He lifted it up and gave it a glance.

Sure enough, it was the face of a Penglai person, only six or seven parts similar to the "standard template" of Li Miao and Zheng Anqi; she must have been from the "Outer Sect" rather than the "Main Family."

Zheng Qi climbed up, clinging to the broken beams and pillars of the altar, her gaze sweeping over the corpse gripped in Zheng Anqi's hand, and her expression shifted.

"Mingjun..."

The person who had hunted Penglai fellow disciples alongside her, her only companion for these past few decades, had died just like that.

Li Miao drove his true energy to circulate through Zheng Yi's meridians, but when it reached her heart meridian, he let out a sudden, cold laugh.

"A truly 'merciful' mother."

Within Zheng Yi's heart meridian, several strands of foreign true energy were coiled, intertwined like a lock, maintaining a fragile balance—exactly the same as that of the old man who had come to Mount Song to deliver the invitation.

Zheng Qi was actually using this method, typically used to control dead soldiers, to control her own daughter. No wonder Zheng Yi had dragged things out until now before making a move; if she had acted even a moment earlier, Zheng Qi could have taken her life at any time. And the gash across Zheng Yi's heart proved that Zheng Qi would never have shown mercy.

Fortunately, Li Miao already had a way to break it.

"They say that the hearts of parents in this world are pitiful, but this world is certainly not lacking in beasts without blood or tears."

Li Miao's voice carried mockery. Zheng Yi, lying in his arms, pressed her lips together, and a tear fell from the corner of her eye, yet she did not refute him.

The wound at her heart slowly healed as Li Miao's true energy circulated, but the wound in her heart was difficult to mend. From the moment Zheng Qi had poked a finger into her heart, she knew that the bond between the two of them was finished.

Her true energy began to run wild along with her chaotic emotions, and in an instant, she showed signs of going into Qi deviation, only to be forcibly suppressed by Li Miao's true energy.

Li Miao patted her on the shoulder.

"That's enough, Xiao Yizi. You're someone who could open a sect in the Jianghu, so don't be so useless. What does it matter if you have no father or mother? We in the Embroidered Uniform Guard have this tradition; you're nothing special."

"Think of it from another angle: in the future, when you get into a shouting match with someone in the Jianghu, half of what they say to curse you will be useless. Isn't that a benefit?"

"Get down. The matter isn't over yet."

Hearing this, Zheng Yi silently rolled out of Li Miao's arms, did not look at Zheng Qi again, and turned to walk toward Wang Hai in the crowd.

In the center of Tianjie.

The altar, over three zhang high and several zhang wide, had collapsed, burying all the guards in the ruins. The surrounding commoners had also retreated, leaving only three people behind.

Li Miao's gaze first fell on Zheng Anqi, sweeping up and down, followed by a sneer.

"Playing god and acting like a ghost."

Immediately, he pointed at Zheng Anqi and turned his gaze toward Zheng Qi.

"He counts as an attachment; you are the real master."

"Xue Bangzhu, Zheng Huaijin, the water stronghold, the Garrison Commander Eunuch—these were all schemes laid by you, right?"

"Including the fact that after you knew I had arrived, you had this ignorant fellow disciple of yours incite the water bandits to rob and kill commoners everywhere, wanting to delay my entry into the city—that was also you."

"From the beginning of the Xue Bangzhu case, leading me all the way to this Nanjing—that was also you. It's just that you didn't expect me to kill so quickly, and your fellow disciples to die so quickly."

Zheng Qi frowned and did not speak.

"Are you wondering why I arrived so quickly?"

Li Miao tilted his head.

Just as he spoke, the commoners gathered on Tianjie gradually regained their senses and looked over toward this side.

"Master Zheng..."

"Two Master Zhengs!"

"No, that's not right, it's another demon who changed into the appearance of Master Zheng... It's the one in black, that's right!"

"Demon... demon! Get out!"

The middle-aged man, dressed like a beggar with his chest exposed, touched the silver ingot in his bosom and felt his whole body burning. Whatever the government, the Emperor, the Great Dashuo, or even gods and ancestors—at this moment, none were more worthy of his reverence than Zheng Anqi. Who else could scatter silver directly into his hands!

Moreover, this art of turning stones into gold might not be a one-time thing! At the thought of the scene where Master Zheng would scatter gold and silver again in the future, all fear was cast to the back of his mind.

He picked up a stone and threw it at Li Miao.

"Get out! Even if I die, I won't allow you to offend Master Zheng!"

His aim was off, and the stone landed at Li Miao's feet.

But this also gave a reminder to the others.

"That's right! Demon, you are not allowed to offend Master Zheng!"

"Get out! Beat you to death!"

"Neighbors! Smash him to death! Smash him to death!"

The hands that had just picked up gold and silver now picked up various bits of debris from the ground and threw them at Li Miao.

The densely packed companions at their sides gave them immense courage; fanatical expressions climbed onto their faces once more, and after throwing a piece of rubble, they would fiercely bend down to pick up the next one.

"Smash him to death!"

"Smash him to death!!!"

The sound of human voices gradually boiled over again.

But the next instant—Boom.

Red and white matter splashed out, splattering onto people's faces.

The middle-aged man who had first thrown a stone at Li Miao had his head vanish. The headless corpse swayed twice and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Smash him to death! Smash... death..."

The shouting was abruptly choked off by fear.

Li Miao turned his head to scan the crowd, then smiled and looked at Zheng Qi.

"Where were we... Oh, why I arrived so quickly."

Li Miao reached out and pointed at the half-corpse under Zheng Anqi's feet.

"You had this fellow disciple of yours collude with twenty-eight water strongholds to attack surrounding villages and towns simultaneously, using hostages to threaten and coerce the commoners into rioting together."

"Did you think that no matter how high my martial arts are, it would be difficult for me to distinguish in a short time who was coerced, who was complicit, and who was a real water bandit, and that I could only cleanse and identify them bit by bit, buying you time, right?"

Li Miao's finger lifted toward his back.

Boom!

Blood bloomed, and another corpse fell in the crowd.

"Understand now?"

Zheng Qi slowly exhaled a breath.

"You didn't distinguish at all."

Li Miao smiled.

"You guessed right."

Zheng Qi said in a deep voice.

"You have already mastered the imperial court; by doing this, aren't you afraid of leaving behind a pretext and being unable to sit firmly on this world? This... is the auxiliary capital. Under the eyes of the public, what you have done will spread throughout the world in less than a month."

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think I would be afraid?"

"Oh, could it be that because I saved people in Tai'an City, didn't kill righteous figures at the moon-viewing banquet, and let those Outer Sect disciples go at the Kongming Sect... it made you misunderstand, thinking I am a great benevolent person?"

"That really is a huge misunderstanding."

Li Miao turned to the side, looking at the crowd that had already cooled down. The corners of his mouth hooked up, revealing his stark white teeth.

"Just now, someone said that even if they died, they wouldn't let me offend Master Zheng; he has already had his wish fulfilled."

"What about you all? Are you also willing to die?"

Ding—

A piece of jade slipped from a hand and shattered on the ground.

The row of people closest to Li Miao at the front of the crowd suddenly took a step back.

Li Miao laughed out loud.

"It seems you are not willing, then that makes things easy."

"Get out or die—you have the time it takes to brew a cup of tea."

One person at the very front of the crowd trembled, touching the wealth filling his bosom, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"He, he wouldn't dare... We have so many people, could he possibly—"

Boom!

The corpse fell.

The crowd stalled for an instant.

And then they retreated violently!

Wang Hai and Zheng Yi chased behind the crowd, carving non-fatal wounds on the backs of everyone who lagged behind, and so the speed of the surging crowd accelerated again, clearing a huge space in the center of Tianjie.

Cao Hanyan sighed, jumped down with the excitedly smiling Gao Anyu, and joined the ranks of driving the crowd away.

Li Miao turned to look at Zheng Qi and Zheng Anqi.

"Alright, the place is cleared."

"Are you two ready to die?"

(End of chapter)