Chapter 234: Not A Single Good Person

Chapter 234: Not a Single Good Soul

Suzaku had originally been propping up her chin with a wry smile, enjoying Zhao Changhe’s theatrical display, but by the latter half, her demeanor turned frostily severe.

Zhao Changhe had been striking here and there in a chaotic scatter, one moment catching adulterers and the next determining who colluded with the Hu barbarians, using a combination of deflection and strikes to lead everyone astray until it seemed as though the identity of the true culprit no longer mattered at all; even Yan Lianping had involuntarily let his guard down a bit, feeling as though it wouldn't particularly matter even if he were discovered to be the true killer.

Yet everyone had forgotten that Zhao Changhe’s true objective was to find out who had spread the rumors.

The significance of identifying the true culprit lay solely in the fact that whoever the culprit was, they were almost certainly the ones who had spread the rumors.

Yan Lianping, led astray and failing to offer a resolute denial for a moment, undoubtedly allowed Zhao Changhe to confirm that he was indeed the rumormonger.

Fabricating the rumor that Zhao Changhe was a Hu barbarian was meant to stir up future turmoil regarding his legitimacy; the Wang family was the most suspect of such a deed. Since Jianhu City was not far from Langya, the Wang family had likely begun planning to erase Zhao Changhe's identity as a "prince" back during the Langya Sword Duel, right when Zhao Changhe explicitly stated he would not cooperate with them, and had ordered the surrounding areas to start spreading the rumor back then.

Whoever spread the rumor was a man of the Wang family.

The Four Symbols Sect had only just formed an "alliance" with the Wang family, and word of this alliance had not yet reached the common disciples. Therefore, if the rumor was spread by Yan Lianping, it was not due to an alliance with the Wang family, but rather because he was obeying the Wang family's commands.

Deducing that Yan Lianping was a traitor followed perfectly in sequence.

Having pieced this all together, Suzaku found it somewhat amusing.

Before this, she had never felt that this matter would cause any harm to her persona as the Fire Serpent of Wing; from her perspective, gang rivalries were utterly low-class, and whoever slandered Zhao Changhe had nothing to do with the Four Symbols Sect, so no matter how confusing it became, what did it matter to her? Even if Yan Lianping were a traitor, there was no reason for him to suddenly strike at her, the Fire Serpent of Wing—wouldn’t that be looking for trouble where there was none? Fool him for two days, send him on his way, and it would be over; what could possibly happen?

Thus, she hadn't even bothered to expend any mental effort, simply watching how Zhao Changhe would perform.

But at this moment, she realized she really might be in trouble.

Originally there was no trouble, but Zhao Changhe’s brilliant deduction had created trouble; the fact that Yan Lianping had defected to the Wang family was exposed right before her eyes, and out of fear that Venerable Suzaku would find out, he would naturally want to silence her, the Fire Serpent of Wing!

The Fire Serpent of Wing was indeed in danger!

Thinking up to this point, Suzaku truly did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, a flash of sword light pierced directly from outside the building, arriving at Zhao Changhe’s throat in an instant.

Suzaku suddenly reached out; the assassin’s assured, lethal strike was lightly flicked on the side of the blade by her single finger, directly deflecting its path so that it grazed past Zhao Changhe.

The assassin was struck with horror.

He, Qin Ruhui, was ranked seventy-first on the Earth Ranking! Yet he was nearly unable to hold onto his sword from a mere flick of a finger! Just what kind of strength did this Fire Serpent of Wing possess?

Suzaku thought to herself that suppressing her strength was rather grueling, otherwise he would already be dead.

Just as she thought this, a sharp wind assailed her waist; it was Yan Lianping, holding a short blade, launching a silent, stealthy strike at her flank: "You truly are having an affair with Zhao Changhe, I shall capture you and hand you over to the Venerable for judgment!"

"Still putting on an act!" Over there, Zhao Changhe drew his saber and slashed at Qin Ruhui, sneering: "Little Serpent was sent by Venerable Suzaku to have an affair with me, what the hell does a traitor like you know?"

With a resonant clang, Qin Ruhui parried Zhao Changhe’s saber with a single sword stroke, and sword light flashed from both left and right as the two old men accompanying Sha Qi suddenly made their move.

Qin Ruhui had no time to pursue Zhao Changhe; he quickly warded off the two swords and barked sharply: "Sha Qi, must you involve yourself in the affairs of the Wang family? Will Ying Wu allow you to act so recklessly?"

Sha Qi hid behind the old men with a smirk: "What Fifth Master wants is Jianhu City and the Ancient Sword Space. With this transaction in place, let alone a lapdog like you, Qin Ruhui, even if Wang Daoning himself arrived, Fifth Master would take him on!"

Just as Qin Ruhui was about to speak, a saber light rose again by his side as Zhao Changhe’s blade momentum swept over.

Qin Ruhui recognized this technique; Fa Qing had just died under the stacked power of this very move.

The Styx River Surge!

How could he have any spare time to babble nonsense? He concentrated fully to meet the attack.

On the other side, Yan Lianping had fallen into the most inextricable nightmare of his life.

He had launched a stealthy strike at the flank of the "Fire Serpent of Wing," and she appeared to be caught somewhat awkwardly by the surprise attack, twisting her serpentine waist to evade while simultaneously striking out like lightning, thrusting toward his eyes.

Her strength was indeed formidable, exceeding Yan Lianping’s estimations. Yet Yan Lianping believed he possessed the hidden strength of a ranked expert and held the advantage of a preemptive ambush; no matter what, he should have held the upper hand, but as the fight went on, he discovered that while the opponent used no particularly bizarre techniques or exceptionally immense power, he inexplicably found himself under increasing strain, entirely unaware of how this situation had formed.

That demonic snake face now looked entirely full of mockery and playful disdain.

An extremely ominous premonition welled up in Yan Lianping’s heart, and he suddenly bellowed in fury: "What are you all standing there staring for! Everyone, charge!"

Around them, a crowd of Pinghu Society members, who had been stupefied by the dizzying succession of events, woke as if from a dream and prepared to swarm forward.

Yet they heard Zhao Changhe sighing even as he swung his saber: "I must apologize to everyone, especially to the late Chief Ji."

The people, who had developed a habit of watching the spectacle, subconsciously stopped their steps and looked toward Zhao Changhe.

"Earlier, I deliberately described Chief Ji as a lapdog of the Hu barbarians solely to make Chairman Yan relax his vigilance, so he wouldn't conceal his true colors as the real culprit; in truth, Chief Ji did not collude with the Hu barbarians."

This time, even Sha Qi, who was watching the show, widened his eyes: "But that was said by the Ji family's butler."

"Correct, Chief Ji was indeed trading with the Hu barbarians originally, and those properties in Taiping Street came from the grasslands. However, ever since the Hu barbarians breached the pass, Chief Ji wanted to sever this connection. When He Lei came here wounded, Chief Ji refused to take him in, so He Lei found another collaborator. It was also because of this that He Lei harbored hatred in his heart, and instigated this collaborator to murder Chief Ji." Zhao Changhe spoke slowly: "This is the true reality of this case; anything about annexing the Xingyi Gang and the like were merely derivative benefits."

Yan Lianping roared in great fury: "You are talking utter nonsense!"

Zhao Changhe said calmly: "The information that He Lei stayed at your place was provided by the Demon Suppressing Bureau, it wasn't fabricated by me."

Not to mention the endorsement of the Demon Suppressing Bureau, at this moment, the credibility of Zhao Changhe's words was already exceedingly high in the eyes of the bystanders; no one believed Yan Lianping’s words anymore.

The old gang members who originally belonged to the Xingyi Gang rose up furiously, instantly brawling with the Pinghu Society members: "Dog thief! Give us back our Chief’s life!"

Yan Lianping’s plan to win through superior numbers collapsed instantly; even if the Pinghu Society was stronger than the Xingyi Gang, with one side completely devoid of morale and the other burning with soaring rage, no one could say what the outcome would be.

Yan Lianping could not understand how things had turned out this way. These words were clearly Zhao Changhe’s fabrications, yet no one questioned them anymore; what he understood even less was that He Lei had actually fucking appeared!

A lion of the grasslands who was injured and had not yet recovered, who under any circumstances should not have appeared, had actually appeared! It was as if he came precisely to solidify the fact that Yan Lianping had colluded with the Hu barbarians, as though there was no longer any need to hide after being exposed.

Taking advantage of the gridlocked battle at this moment, a broad saber rose wildly, hacking toward... the Fire Serpent of Wing.

Even Suzaku was momentarily stunned, but she immediately understood the reason why He Lei wanted to kill the "Fire Serpent of Wing."

The atmosphere had built up to this point; if he truly killed this Fire Serpent of Wing, Yan Lianping would be left speechless and could only walk down this dark path with them until the end. The Hu barbarians would gain a core member of the Four Symbols Sect, an benefit of self-evident value. At this moment, among all the gridlocked factions, absolutely no one had the spare strength left to stop He Lei.

Suzaku fell into a dilemma.

If she were willing to expose her true strength, He Lei would simply be coming to his death... but could she expose it?

Before she could make a decision, having just turned to parry a stroke of He Lei’s saber, a sword light flashed out, and Han Wubing’s voice calmly echoed: "Just now, this Han said that the Mad Lion He Lei should come out to meet his death."

The spectating crowd watched with dumbfounded expressions. Wasn't Han Wubing over at the Ji residence holding Madame Ji hostage? How did he get here?

This meant Han Wubing was never at the Ji residence at all, and the messenger from just now was merely an actor who came to report false military intelligence? Who was that?

People's gazes fell upon that disregarded messenger, only to see the messenger suddenly strike as well, displaying an extraordinary strength that was even a few notches higher than Han Wubing's, flanking He Lei together with him: "Wei Zicai of the Demon Suppressing Bureau is here, Hu barbarian, meet your death!"

Along with his voice, shadows loomed outside the building, and countless powerful bows and heavy crossbows emerged from nowhere, pointing at He Lei in mid-air.

He Lei: "..."

The crowd: "..."

The Earth Ranking was indeed the Earth Ranking; even if he was injured and unrecovered, he was not someone who could be slain by an ambush of this caliber. He Lei swept his saber wildly, and an incomparably thick wall of qi surged forth furiously; all the incoming arrows flew in distorted, scattered directions all around him, and he subsequently struck Wei Zicai’s sword with a single blow, fleeing into the distance.

His back ultimately failed to ward off Han Wubing’s single strike, his shoulder blade being pierced through as blood soaked his garment. The injuries he had managed to nurture with great difficulty over so many days were not only completely undone, but had become even more severe.

From the distant sky came his howling roar: "Central Plains people are indeed insidious! Zhao Changhe, this grandpa will remember you!"

Taking advantage of the chaos stirred up by He Lei, Qin Ruhui executed a feint with his sword over there and also retreated rapidly. There was truly no Earth Ranking expert present; if he insisted on leaving, no one could truly detain him.

What a joke, if he didn't retreat now, he would truly die here! Moreover, he had inexplicably been splashed with a bucket of filth; Yan Lianping was firmly established to be in league with his Wang family, and as a result, Yan Lianping was splashed with the filth of colluding with the Hu barbarians, so what of his Wang family?

How had this matter turned out this way? Qin Ruhui could not understand it no matter how he thought.

The one who understood it even less was Yan Lianping himself; he also wanted to retreat, but who was his opponent?

How could he possibly retreat?

Just as Qin Ruhui retreated, Suzaku’s hand had already gripped Yan Lianping’s neck, her voice as cold as though it were ground out from between her teeth: "Thanks to you, this old lady truly must rely more on his assistance now."

Yan Lianping didn't even know what she was saying, feeling as if the world had lost all color, muttering to herself: "I never colluded with the barbarians…"

"I know." Zhao Changhe did not chase after Qin Ruhui, but instead slowly approached Yan Lianping, lowering his voice: "That last part I said was pure nonsense. How would I know whether Ji Yinan had traded with the barbarians before and now refuses to? I never interviewed him. I said that just to get the Xingyi Gang to side with us. It was an unexpected bonus that He Lei took the opportunity to reveal himself."

Yan Lianping: "…"

Zhao Changhe slowly turned around, looking at Wei Zicai: "So, Mr. Wei, can you tell me why, when He Lei was clearly staying at the Ji residence, you told me he was at the Pinghu Society?"

Wei Zicai said with an ingratiating smile: "It was only to remind you to pay more attention to Yan Lianping. Yan Lianping's matter is more significant. After all, Ji Yinan is already dead; it's meaningless to dwell on whether he colluded with He Lei."

"In essence, you were just helping Master Sha deal with the Pinghu Society. From the moment you hemmed and hawed when I asked about the backer of the Kangle Gambling House, I understood. You too have betrayed the First Seat and are one of Ying Wu's men." Zhao Changhe sighed: "Small temple, strong demon winds; shallow pond, many turtles. In this wretched Sword Lake City, there isn't a single good person."

Zhuque suddenly recalled a previous remark of Zhao Changhe's: they were all lying.