"I bet this fine sword."
The man’s eyes widened as he stared for a long while, his rough voice saying,
"I have nothing that can match that bet."
"But I have this poor life of mine, young brother. If you win, this life will be at your disposal!"
"Bet or not?"
With no money to bet, he was staking his own life, not giving an inch, not backing down by a hair’s breadth.
It was absurd yet brimming with valor.
And all of this was just because of a verbal disagreent.
Wang Anfeng’s heart shook slightly at the crude and wild aura, but his face showed no sign of faltering. Looking around at the surrounding Jianghu underlings, he felt like he was being surrounded by wolves, unwilling to show the slightest weakness in his deanor. Holding his longsword high, he also shouted,
"Bet!!"
Although he was young and had not yet reached his twentieth year, the spirit he displayed at this mont was no less than that of the Jianghu underlings around him. They, who adored bold n, instantly disregarded whether he was friend or foe, and took a liking to Wang Anfeng, cheering loudly,
"Good!"
"Hahaha, that’s a real man!"
Xia Changqing saw the situation spiraling out of his control, and the strange broken blade in his hand hit the bluestone again, slightly faster than before. Yet, for so reason, this weapon, which contained a hint of Divine Weapon power, seed to have t its natural enemy as soon as the young man spoke, and its effectiveness greatly diminished.
But he couldn’t leave at this mont either.
Apart from Zhu Jian’an, there were still five Middle Third Rank martial artists. They did not know that this was Wang Anfeng acting on his own. Seeing him stand with Zhu Jian’an, they assud it was arranged by the Chief Arrestor, so their current positions had Xia Changqing’s path of retreat blocked, making it difficult for him to leave.
So, he could only watch the youngster whisper to soone nearby, see that person nod and quickly walk away, with four or five dozen Patrol Officers dispersing into the distance, and soldiers and townsfolk watching. The bluish-garbed young man, like a drawn longsword, was gazing back at him, and Xia Changqing suddenly felt unease rising in his heart.
Monts later, when he saw that the items the man brought were various dicinal ingredients, his heart gave a slight jolt, and he felt regret.
Wang Anfeng took the dicinal herbs, using borrowed tools to prepare the dicine. Since many of the dicines were already ford, many processing steps were skipped. Shortly after, he produced the dicine that the old man in his mory had taught him. As his fingers touched it, he felt a slight corrosive pain, and the corners of his mouth slightly curled up.
At this mont, it was as if he was waiting to thrust the final sword.
The youth was exuding a sharpness that was difficult to look directly at. He looked towards Xia Changqing and said aloud,
"This dicine can cause the wound to age..."
"If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Xia, you have treated these disciples as expendables, having them fake the wounds of betrayal, to carry out the tasks you commanded, and then personally killing them!"
The scholar’s face no longer bore a friendly color, and he couldn’t smile.
In such a situation, not many could still manage to smile. Being ’questioned and slandered,’ one naturally should not smile. So, he coldly said,
"Young brother, who do you propose to test the dicine on? You should know, the wounds on a living person and a dead person are not the sa."
Testing poisons on a living person is a great taboo for dical families.
Upon hearing this, the crowd’s faces showed a hint of hesitation. Just then, the sa burly man who had wagered his life with Wang Anfeng stepped forward decisively and fearlessly, saying,
"I’ll do it!"
No sooner had he spoken than he drew the dagger from his waist, slicing a large wound on his arm, took the dicine in hand, and applied it directly to his wound.
His expression visibly twisted with extre pain, but he endured without a sound, his temples throbbing with pulsing veins and beads of cold sweat erging, until he could no longer bear it and finally let out a tiger-like roar, releasing his palm.
His entire body was trembling slightly.
And what the crowd saw on his arm was not a fresh wound. It had already stopped bleeding, starting to scab over, and judging by the color of the surrounding skin, it must have been there for at least a year or two. Their hearts were shaken at the sight.
They were not fools, rely prejudiced and unsettled by the sinister weapon. Now that both deceptions were exposed, and seeing this scene, what was there left to misunderstand?
At that mont, his heart filled with both shock and anger, his gaze upon the scholar turned even more hostile.
The latter slightly furrowed his brows and sneered,
"Indeed, that was a clever tactic, but what does it prove?"
"At most, it just shows that you have control over this secret dicine."
Wang Anfeng lowered his eyes and said,
"Could the gentleman prove that you have never used such a secret dicine?"
Xia Changqing’s expression turned slightly ugly.
It was at that mont Wang Anfeng suddenly spoke again,
"Protector Xia claid that the assassin was your scout, but do you know, on the day he was killed, who was he supposed to strike at?"
Xia Changqing felt a jolt in his heart, a sense of unease suddenly arising within him.
Wang Anfeng said softly,
"It was none other than the thirteenth legitimate son of the Murong noble clan from Fufeng of Great Qin."
Suddenly, a commotion arose from the crowd, and a handso young man in a yellow robe leaped up, waving his hands and shouting loudly,
"It’s , yes, it’s !"
"It was I whom Brother Wang saved!"
His voice was filled with excitent, as if he deed being kidnapped a matter worth boasting about. Wang Anfeng had no desire to pay him any heed, acting as if he had not seen him, and turned to look at Xia Changqing,
"Let’s set aside the matter of cleaning your own house for the mont."
"Sowing discord with fallacies, fabricating baseless allegations, and intending to harm those in the Imperial Court is a fact."
"What should be the punishnt for such cris?"
The scholar’s expression turned ugly as he looked at Wang Anfeng in front of him, and at the Jianghu martial artists around with equally troubled expressions. Suddenly, he burst into loud laughter, his deanor wild and unrestrained,
"All these are just claims from your side."
"Just because you say it is so, does it make it so? I am a person of Jianghu, and if my cris are to be judged, it should be by the people from The Number One Manor in the World, not by soone like you..."
Before he could finish his last word, a streak of light suddenly illuminated the sky.
As if silenced, Heaven and Earth fell into dead quiet, with only that streak of light speeding forth.
The grey-robed scholar’s right arm, which held a dagger, was shredded by the ferocious Vigorous Qi, flesh and blood flying in all directions, and it took several breaths of ti before the violent wind and the sound of tearing through the air rose, deafening to the ears.
Xia Changqing’s face suddenly turned pale.
A stern male voice echoed through Heaven and Earth.
"Matters of Jianghu should naturally be dealt with by The Number One Manor in the World."
"But this is Fufeng County."
"The evidence is conclusive, but the cri does not warrant death."
As the voice fell, Xia Changqing, already pale-faced, realized the extent of his injuries, his expression chilling slightly.
Indeed, it was not unto death.
He then raised his eyes again to look at the young man in blue, his plans of leveraging the situation shattered because of him. Although resentnt poisoned his heart for a mont, he also felt a trace of admiration for the other’s resourcefulness and wits. But following the admiration was an ever colder killing intent.
PS: Third update... The plot was hanging in a rather boring spot, so I finished it, and now... I have to kneel.
Reviews
All reviews (0)