Chapter 45: The Beginning of the Legend of Qiao's Family
"What happened?"
Many common people ran out on the streets in the inner city, looking towards the direction of the Lord's Manor.
There was a lot of commotion at the Lord's Manor.
The soldiers in Yan City Military Camp were quickly assembled and surrounded the Lord's Manor from all sides.
There were sounds of noisy fighting from inside, and a section of the courtyard wall collapsed. Faintly, the guards inside could be seen besieging someone, engaging in a fierce battle.
For Yan City, what happened at the Lord's Manor was a major event of the highest importance, naturally attracting the attention and speculation of many common people.
"Someone broke into the Lord's Manor?"
"I heard that a bad person broke into the Lord's Manor and committed a crime!"
"How dare they be so bold in broad daylight?!"
"Wait, that person looks somewhat like the young warrior Qiao Mu... He seems to be Qiao Lin, Qiao Mu's older brother who just attended Qiao Mu's funeral this morning before leaving their house. Could it be?"
"Qiao Mu's brother, why did he enter the Lord's Manor right after attending the funeral? Could it be... he believes that Qiao Mu's death is connected to the Lord's Manor?"
"It seems that the person who died is the son of the City Lord. That changes things."
"This is for helping the people and eliminating evil..."
The people talked and talked.
Qiao Mu had a good reputation in Yan City. He became famous for stopping and slapping the City Lord's son in the middle of the street. He later died in a battle against mountain bandits. Over a hundred soldiers were saved because of him, and nearly a thousand people witnessed his brave act of charging alone and sacrificing himself for his comrades.
These many common soldiers, numbering in the thousands, are mostly local people from Yan City. Each of them has a family, so Qiao Mu's reputation spread quickly.
Although Qiao Lin was a newcomer to Yan City, thanks to Qiao Mu's reputation, the locals also had a good impression of him.
However, the soldiers surrounding the Lord's Manor would not let them continue to discuss.
"Don't just stand there and watch! Move along!"
"There's trouble at the Lord's Manor, stop gossiping!"
The soldiers scolded and chased away the onlookers, forcing them to leave.
Even though the locals left, many of them still murmured quietly, curious about what was happening at the Lord's Manor.
After the soldiers had chased away the crowd, the leading Military Officer Zheng suddenly narrowed his eyes, looking up to a high place, where he noticed Swordsman Jiang Chen silently observing from the roof.
"Who's that lurking around?" he immediately shouted.
"Military officer, isn't this the suspicious person who has been wandering around the Lord's Manor before?"
"Maybe he is a bad guy who is responsible for keeping watch!"
"We can't let him go!"
The soldiers scolded and started chasing after Jiang Chen.
But Jiang Chen had a smile on his face at this moment.
These soldiers say he is Qiao Lin's accomplice?
At this time, he didn't think it was inappropriate, only felt honored.
Since the inhuman war, the Great Yan Imperial Court's fortunes have declined, and all the warriors who dared to resist have died tragically.
So someone said that there were no martial artists after the inhuman war, and the surviving martial artists all had broken spines.
Most martial artists after that only knew killing for treasure and fighting for power and profit.
The so-called heroic spirit is like a flower that will fade tomorrow.
When he was young, he also dreamed of travelling the world with a sword, but as he experienced more, his passion gradually cooled.
The youthful spirit faded away, and his martial arts skills quickly reached a plateau at the 9th rank. He also gained a beautiful wife. This was pretty much how things were, just like other martial artists who lived similar lives. No one was more noble than anyone else.
And today, he once again witnessed a chivalrous hero who was willing to sacrifice his life for righteousness.
"People in Yan City say that the young righteous warrior Qiao Mu possesses the chivalrous spirit of the ancient times. But it's not just Qiao Mu who embodies this spirit, there's also Qiao Lin!"
"The Qiao family, with their two righteous warriors, despises evil and values righteousness over life and death. They are worthy of admiration!"
Standing on the eaves all along, he basically witnessed the entire incident of Qiao Mu forcefully breaking into the Lord's mansion. He saw Qiao Mu kill Childe Guo, who was being held hostage, and he saw Qiao Mu bravely fight and sacrifice himself.
As an ordinary 9th ranked martial artist, even though the trouble that Qiao Mu and his brother caused at the Lord's mansion started because of him, he couldn't muster the courage and ability to sacrifice his life for a noble cause.
Unable to join the battle and die alongside the righteous heroes, he could still be a witness.
He quickly jumped off the roof, evading the soldiers' chase.
"Are you going to abandon your companions at the Lord's Mansion and save yourself, you little thief?" Initially suspecting, the soldiers started chasing after Swordsman Jiang Chen when they saw him running away, feeling certain that he had something to hide.
"Save myself? Absolutely! Of course, I want to save myself!"
Swordsman Jiang Chen muttered to himself.
He wanted to stay alive.
Standing on the roof, he not only witnessed Qiao Lin's selfless sacrifice but also saw the soldiers driving away the people.
"Lord Guo Yan is cunning and skillful."
"After Qiao Lin's death, with the Lord's skill, this incident may quickly be twisted to make Qiao Lin look like a villain who brazenly intruded the Lord's Mansion in broad daylight..."
"That's why I want to stay alive."
"Whether it's Qiao Mu or Qiao Lin, your death is definitely not meaningless!"
"How can we uncover the true face of Lord Guo Yan without running away?"
"If we don't stay alive, how can we let the name and deeds of the Qiao brothers be known and not be tarnished by the Lord?"
Afterwards, when his beloved wife left him after City Lord's son openly abducted him, his life shattered into countless pieces. He was depressed for a long time, drinking and living aimlessly.
However, the successive deaths of the Qiao brothers gave him a great shock.
He reached for the sword at his waist.
He almost sold this sword for alcohol, but now he was glad he still had this sword in his hand, glad that he still held onto some dignity as a martial artist.
"I am but a dust, my life as insignificant as a blade of grass, yet my heart soars towards the sky."
"Though I may not reach it, my heart yearns for it."
"Even I have things I should accomplish!"
He jumped up, lightly tapping his toes on the tiles of the roof, and disappeared from the soldiers' sight.
