Chapter 82 : Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Who Says I Slaughtered the Innocent? We of the Jinyiwei Kill Only the Guilty!

At the Jiannan City gate.

“Out of my way!”

A woman’s furious roar rang out, startling the passersby into hurriedly stepping aside.

A powerful figure, brimming with rage and killing intent, charged out through the gate.

The people nearby recognized her at once as Li Jianying.

“Why is the Gao Family madam hurrying off like she’s going to kill someone again? Don’t tell me she found another beauty Lord Circuit Intendant has hidden away?”

“Watch your mouth. If people from the Gao Residence hear that, you’ll be in serious trouble!”

“It’s fine. You can say whatever you like in Jiannan City now. The new Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Commander, Lord Cheng, is backing us.”

As the crowd buzzed with speculation, a sudden thunder of hooves broke out.

At that very moment, Gao Song appeared as well, dressed in official robes and leading a group of martial artists from the Circuit Office as they rode out of the city.

At the sight of this, the expressions on the crowd’s faces grew even stranger.

Not long ago, Circuit Intendant Gao had suffered a loss at the hands of the newly arrived Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Commander, Lord Cheng, and had kept his doors shut for days.

Yet now he was rushing out of the city with men in tow.

Could something major have happened?

On the back mountain of the Gao Family Ancestral Residence.

In the clearing before the ancestral graves.

Dozens of female family members, young and old, dressed in fine and splendid clothing, had been bound and were being held there.

The thick stench of blood in the air made them tremble from head to toe.

The moment they thought of the dreadful fate that might await them, they all began wailing and crying out.

“Don’t kill me! I don’t want to die!”

The martial artists who had knelt and surrendered to the Jinyiwei were also off to one side, heads lowered as they panted heavily, grateful to have survived the ordeal.

These people had enjoyed lofty status and lives of ease all their days. When had they ever fallen into such terror?

They nearly fainted from fright after lifting their heads for even a single glance at the Jinyiwei.

In contrast, gathered not far away was a group of plainly dressed, sallow, emaciated people.

The Gao Family’s slaves.

The Jinyiwei were not guarding them too strictly. They had merely ordered them to stay together and not run around.

As they watched their once lofty masters reduced to such misery, fear remained in their hearts, yet a flicker of relief flashed through their eyes.

After counting the numbers, the Jinyiwei stepped forward and reported to Cheng Yu.

“My lord, the Gao Family Ancestral Residence holds more than six hundred slaves with neither household registration nor legal status! Most of them were local farming households who could not pay their land rent and were seized and enslaved!”

Cheng Yu nodded. It was more or less what he had expected.

Ever since Gao Song had risen to power, the Gao Family had used its influence to forcibly buy tens of thousands of mu of farmland at dirt-cheap prices.

Then they turned around and leased that land back to the farmers, charging exorbitant rent and making easy money while lying back in comfort.

The farmers had no power to resist, and for the sake of survival, they were forced to endure it.

Whenever the weather turned bad, they could no longer pay the crushing rent.

And when they could not pay the rent, the Gao Family would forcibly take something else.

Young women were seized and violated.

Children were forced into slavery.

Cheng Yu looked toward the tearful members of the Gao Family.

Then he said coldly to his subordinates, “Do you see now? So long as we are willing to arrest them, Great Qian does not lack guilty men. We of the Jinyiwei bear a heavy burden, and the road ahead is long!”

“We will heed your instruction, my lord!” the Jinyiwei answered in unison.

At that moment, a voice full of grief and fury rang out from not far away.

“Father!”

“Second Brother, Third Brother! I swear I’ll avenge you!”

It was Gao Song’s voice!

“Eldest Master and Eldest Madam have come to save us!”

The Gao Family members who were being held by the Jinyiwei froze for an instant, and hope flared anew in their eyes.

Gao Song had come to save them!

“They came rather quickly,” Cheng Yu said with a cold smile, turning his gaze toward the main compound.

In the next moment, Gao Song, Li Jianying, and the others appeared.

“Cheng Yu! You madman! You actually dared come to my Gao Family Ancestral Residence and commit such slaughter!”

Gao Song’s face was twisted with rage, his finger trembling as he pointed at Cheng Yu.

“This time, there are no Jinyiwei masters here to shield you. No one can save you today!”

When Li Jianying saw her father’s corpse, tears streamed down her face. She glared at Cheng Yu and roared, “You’re Cheng Yu? You’re the one who killed my father?”

Blinded by the hatred of her father’s murder, she could no longer restrain her anger. The keen Internal Energy of a Seventh-Rank martial artist erupted from her body.

The golden ring saber in her hand shone brilliantly, and behind her appeared the phantom of a fierce tiger formed from Internal Energy.

Cheng Yu frowned slightly and rested his hand on the Xiuchun Saber at his waist.

The materialization of projected Internal Energy!

A power that belonged solely to martial artists of the Upper Three Realms, and one that completely widened the gap between them and those below the Seventh Rank.

It raised the wondrous use of Internal Energy to an entirely new level.

With projected Internal Energy, a martial artist could unleash power far beyond the limits of flesh—shatter solid stone with a fist and split giant timber with a palm.

If a Third-Rank martial artist capable of defeating a Fourth-Rank opponent was already considered a genius, then for a martial artist of the Middle Three Ranks to face a Seventh-Rank expert and merely escape alive would be enough to prove peerless talent.

Because the gap between them was far greater.

Under projected Internal Energy, the weaker party could not even draw near.

At this sight, the spirits of the Gao Family soared, and they broke into wild delight.

Li Jianying, the Eldest Madam of the Gao Family, was about to make her move!

A dignified Seventh-Rank martial artist could absolutely kill those vicious, hateful Jinyiwei.

“Eldest Master, Eldest Madam, these Jinyiwei killed Second Master and the others! You must avenge them!”

Gao Song swayed, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Cheng Yu.

“The Gao Family had no grievance with you. I myself already suffered every humiliation at your hands. Why did you still have to kill my brothers?”

“Having committed monstrous crimes, you villain deserve to be executed by us on His Majesty’s behalf!”

Even at this moment, with hatred nearly overwhelming his mind, Gao Song still understood that killing Cheng Yu required a fully justified reason.

Now he had that reason, but it had come at the cost of his family’s lives.

He was filled with endless regret. He had never imagined that Cheng Yu, this lunatic, would be so lawless as to charge into the Gao Family Ancestral Residence and bring about such a calamity.

No matter who came today, Cheng Yu’s crimes could not be explained away.

Li Jianying whirled the saber in her hand and charged at Cheng Yu to avenge her father.

“Today I’ll kill you, you butcher of the innocent!!”

But Cheng Yu, seeing her charge over so fiercely, was not the least bit flustered. He merely glanced at the Gao Family slaves, who had all been frightened senseless.

Then he stood there calmly with his hands behind his back.

“Who says I slaughtered the innocent? We of the Jinyiwei kill only the guilty!”

“What glib nonsense! What crime had my father and the others committed?!”

Li Jianying flew into an even greater rage. To her, Cheng Yu’s arrogance was simply unbearable.

Her golden saber struck out, and the tiger pounced straight toward Cheng Yu.

“Die!”

But at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

“Stop!”

Gao Song suddenly let out a shrill scream.

He looked toward the several hundred raggedly dressed slaves to one side.

His heart pounded wildly, and his entire body began to tremble.

A desperate thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Cheng Yu had grounds to raid and confiscate the household.

And those grounds were more than sufficient!

If they attacked Cheng Yu now, then he and Li Jianying would be guilty of rebellion...

The instant that thought arose, he instinctively stopped Li Jianying from making her move.

Li Jianying halted, the force of her presence cutting off abruptly, and turned her furious gaze on her husband.

“What did you just say?”

The corners of Gao Song’s eyes twitched. He swallowed hard in despair.

“Wife... we cannot make a move today...”

“Why not?! He killed my father and slaughtered your Gao Family. He deserves to die ten thousand deaths!”

Li Jianying roared.

But Gao Song only shook his head. He looked like a man who had lost his soul.

All the vicious determination to avenge this blood debt was gone without a trace.

Like a man utterly broken, he said, “We can’t kill him. If we do, we’ll all die...”

“Lord Gao is at least clear-headed.”

Cheng Yu let out a cold laugh and walked over to the crowd of Gao Family slaves.

Then he reached out and patted a young slave boy on the head.

“Under Great Qian Law, keeping slaves is a grave crime. Forcing free commoners into slavery is a crime on top of a crime. Lord Gao, do you understand the heinous offense the Gao Family has committed?”