Chapter 76: All Parties

Chapter 76 All Parties

As Xu Yue flicked his sleeves and left, the remaining Mianzhou garrison disbanded on the spot. The street, originally teeming with heads, turned empty and desolate in the blink of an eye.

Only now did the sound of survivors gasping for breath after a catastrophe finally drift from the shops and houses on both sides.

Long after, not until the great moon in the dome of the sky had hidden itself, did a figure in a cyan robe slowly appear at the end of the street.

"Second Uncle, I've come to collect your corpse."

Yang Shuo halted before a body shredded by sword light, unfastened his own robe and spread it on the ground, then slowly knelt down.

"Actually, whether the main branch or the second branch, we are all Yangs; we merely seek survival in different ways."

Yang Shuo gently gathered the scattered pieces of flesh, placing them into the robe with a solemn expression.

"Your heart was higher than the heavens, old man, yet what I see is a life thinner than paper. The Yang family is too weak; we cannot afford to contend with others."

Yang Shuo's lips moved, as if he had much more to say, but in the end he only murmured, "Second Uncle, the dead bear no grudges. Father and son, we should reconcile now."

He rose, cradling the robe, and tilted his head to gaze at the pitch-black sky. "The night is truly dark."

Peng County, Danjing Mountain.

An exquisite, ancient Ming-style manor lay hidden deep in the woods.

Though the night was thick, from corners illuminated by lamplight one could still see the meticulously carved beams and painted rafters, the mythical beasts on the flying eaves.

Every detail spoke of fine materials and masterful craftsmanship.

One glimpse reveals the whole; the luxury of the entire manor was evident.

Logically, a manor built in such a wilderness was the favorite target of gun-wielding bandits and prosthetic highwaymen.

But this manor was not constructed with high walls and deep courtyards; its brick-and-stone structure showed not a hint of hidden mechanisms, and no patrolling guards were visible around it.

The confidence to leave it undefended came from the two lanterns hanging before the main gate.

White background, black characters, bearing a single word: "Wu".

Deep within the manor, in an exceptionally vast courtyard, a horrifying slaughter was currently unfolding.

A massive python coiled atop a rockery, head raised high, tongue flickering, hissing.

Prowling beneath the rockery was an emaciated, starving tiger, letting out constant, angry low roars.

Two creatures that should never have appeared in Shu, arranged deliberately, now staged a fight to the death.

Not far off, a handsome young man stood behind a writing desk, quietly appreciating the bloody scene before him.

Two beautiful girls, clad only in a thin layer of red gauze, stood behind him, one holding a lamp, the other grinding ink.

"Young Master Gong, something has happened in Mianzhou County."

A steward-dressed old man hurried into the courtyard, stopping ten paces from the desk, head bowed low, eyes fixed on his toes, not daring to move a fraction.

"Speak."

Wu Gong watched the starving tiger and the dragon python finally pounce on each other, picking up the brush on the desk with great interest and beginning to write.

"Wu Jinfeng is dead. The killer was that Martial Dao Sequence recruited by Shu Dao Logistics, Li Jun."

Wu Gong's wrist paused mid-stroke; a large blot of ink immediately bloomed on the rice paper.

"They didn't get the item either?"

The old man's voice trembled: "N-no."

"What about the Gu family?"

"The Gu... the Gu family seized a quarter of it." Sweat beads on the old man's temples flowed uncontrollably.

"Failed to retrieve the item, and a pet painstakingly trained to perfection was killed. It seems I have lost to Gu Xi by a margin."

A light sigh rang out, but to the old man's ears it was like thunder. His legs gave way, and he crashed to his knees.

Wu Gong casually tossed aside the brush, crumpled the ink-soaked rice paper on the table into a ball, and held it out in his palm like feed.

The red-gauzed maid grinding ink beside him instantly opened her small mouth and swallowed the paper ball.

Wu Gong walked before the kneeling steward and suddenly said, "Do you know which of the Six Arts of Confucianism I favor most?"

The steward's head, hanging before his chest, shook left and right. "This lowly one does not know."

"It is Rites, it is Rules. With rules, the game has pleasure. Otherwise, what difference is there between us scholars and those illiterate brutes?"

A toe tip entered the old man's field of vision; his body instantly trembled violently.

"However, now that the Gu family has broken the rules first, we naturally cannot stick rigidly to convention. Reciprocity is courtesy."

A gentle voice drifted down from above the old man's head. "Go to the private prison and bail out Le Zhong. They Legalists love to lecture on rules, don't they? Let him go lecture the rules back to them."

"Tell him, if the rules are not lectured well this time, I will personally guide him to abandon Law and convert to Confucianism!"

The moment Wu Gong's words fell, the slaughter in the courtyard also reached its conclusion.

The giant python had already coiled around the starving tiger; its body tightened, accompanied by a series of bone-shattering cracks.

The python's head faced the heavens, hissing in fury!

Outside Mianzhou County.

A dragon-headed firearm was stuck in the ground, its muzzle spewing a tongue of flame, roasting a freshly skinned wild hare.

Zhao Qingxia sat beside the exoskeleton armor, cradling a face swollen like a pig's head, asking doubtfully, "Old Ma, why does my face hurt so much? It feels like someone slapped me hard a few times. What's going on?"

"What else could it be? You were beaten by that Wu Jinfeng. I told you not to grapple, not to grapple; now you're beaten into a bear, who can you blame?"

Zhao Qingxia raged: "Damn it, you don't hit a man in the face! How vicious is this old turtle? Where is he now?"

"Relax, he's already dead."

"You killed him? That fierce?"

"It was Li Jun who did it himself."

The armor suddenly turned its head to look at Zhao Qingxia; Master Ma's tone was displeased. "If it weren't for Li Jun today, both of us would be lying there dead!"

Zhao Qingxia fell back dejectedly. "We've lost face big time. Supposed to help, but ended up being saved by someone else."

"Pretty embarrassing."

Red eyes flickered within the helmet, revealing a cunning, calculating glint.

"By the way, I recall your collection has a Seventh-Rank Internal Art, right?"

"There is one."

Zhao Qingxia replied instinctively, then seemed to grasp Master Ma's meaning. He sprang up from the ground, glaring fiercely at the red eyes with a savage expression.

"What are you asking for? Old Ma, I'm telling you, that is my most precious Martial Dao treasure. Don't you even think about it!"

"Face lost clean, what use is a treasure?!"

Master Ma roared: "I'm just asking you, are you going to repay the debt you owe Li Jun or not?"

"Of course I have to repay it."

Zhao Qingxia's momentum weakened. He muttered, "But that's a Seventh-Rank Internal Art. He's only Sequence Eight, he has no use for it. Could he be about to advance to Sequence Seven? More talented than me? Impossible!"

"Never mind whether others have use for it or not; this debt of favor simply cannot go unpaid."

The helmet dipped slightly, gaze falling upon the few egret feathers tucked within the abdominal plates.

"Otherwise, there's no place for the two of us in the Tianzhi Association."