Chapter 242

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 242: Boundless Merits

"Li Gongde?"

"Qiao Shui?"

The two men in the compartment glanced at each other.

In Li Gongde’s eyes, the "Qiao Shui" in front of him was the one who had broken into his private residence that night and killed Dao Xu. They had a slight connection between them.

However, the current appearance of Qiao Shui was miserable, covered in injuries, worse than the night he was let go by Li Gongde.

If that night he passed out due to excessive blood loss, then the Qiao Shui standing in front of him today, with a pale face and a broken body, was clearly on the brink of death… If Qiao Shui hadn’t been able to move, think, and speak normally, Li Gongde would have thought he was already dead.

Qiao Mu quickly looked away and focused on the armchair where Li Gongde was sitting.

On the mahogany table next to the chair, there was a clear water globe floating above it.

The surface of the water globe reflected an image, which was the execution ground at the market square of Great Qin Prefecture.

Qiao Shui even saw himself in the reflection on the water balloon, standing on the execution ground just after cutting his own throat.

He looked at Li Gongde doubtfully, feeling more and more that this person’s behavior was strange, and said:

"Are you also a cultivator?"

Li Gongde was surprised when he saw Qiao Shui staring at the water ball, and quickly explained:

"No, this was left by King Qin as a gesture of goodwill."

He pointed to the image of the marketplace on the water ball, and said:

"Qiao Shui, by now you must understand what those who use martial arts like King Qin are truly about. They are no longer just martial artists."

"Especially the leader, King Qin," Li Gongde said.

"The Great Dao Sect is planning to groom King Qin to be their public representative. He is no longer just a martial artist; after special modifications, he can even use a few types of magical talismans."

"Including the disciplined martial artist, the ‘Etching Bone Li Fire Talisman’ fueled by Qi and blood, and the ‘Art of Water Mirror’ in front of him."

Li Gongde saw that Qiao Shui was clearly at death’s door, seemingly wanting to satisfy his curiosity before dying, he sighed deeply in his heart and without much concealment, he revealed the truth.

"Are you really Li Gongde?" Qiao Shui frowned.

His original body lost a leg on the execution ground because of Li Gongde… Although he had a much higher tolerance for pain than ordinary people, pain was still very real.

"The you at Caishikou is fake, and the you sitting here, are you real or fake?" He looked slightly cold, evidently being cautious of Li Gongde.

But now, his body was already at its last breath, despite his cold demeanor and a faint hint of a murderous aura, he posed no real threat, not even being able to draw his sword.

In Li Gongde’s eyes, this threatening appearance was like that of a dying tiger showing its fangs and claws, failing to intimidate him, only stirring up his emotions.

"Don’t worry, Qiao Shui my friend, you are about to die, why would I lie to a dead man?" Li Gongde sympathized.

Qiao Shui: ?

"In fact, all of this was King Qin’s idea," Li Gongde raised his hands in surrender to show he meant no harm.

"He used me as bait to lure a Qiao family member into the Great Qin City, and caught them all in one fell swoop."

"But as Li Gongde was a wealthy person in Zhong Province and quite prominent in the whole Jiu Province, he couldn’t just kill someone without consequences."

"So he found someone who looked similar to me in size, used a magical spell to disguise, and transformed into my appearance."

"To show sincerity and transparency, King Qin imprisoned me in this mansion while also leaving me a symbolic token of the Art of Water Mirror, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the current situation."

Qiao Mu whispered to himself: If King Qin truly saw you as a significant figure, he wouldn’t have considered you as bait.

However, he didn’t argue back.

At this moment, he belatedly realized something: Li Gongde also saw Qiao Mu cutting off his own leg through the Art of Water Mirror. And the body pretending to be "Qiao Shui" was barely hanging on due to trespassing in King Qin’s Mansion.

Perhaps there was a hint of guilt in Li Gongde’s heart, so in front of the dying "Qiao Shui," he seemed to let down his guard and revealed some forbidden secrets.

"So, even a dying person can still deceive others?" Qiao Mu realized this suddenly.

Li Gongde and King Qin schemed to deceive him into taking on a dead body… whether intentional or not, Qiao Mu had been preparing for five years to confront this situation.

It was impossible for him not to feel any anger towards Li Gongde or have any guard up.

So, with a sudden idea, he calmly started acting in front of Li Gongde, ready to gather information before his impending death.

"Cough, cough…" Qiao Shui’s face turned paper white, he coughed up a large amount of blood, with even a few pieces of internal organs in it, and his body almost falling to the ground.

Quick to react, Li Gongde promptly helped him up and seated him on another chair.

"Why are you helping me?" Qiao Shui glared, blowing his mustache.

"I, Qiao Shui, barged into King Qin’s Mansion, and now have one foot in the grave."

"My elder brother Qiao Gui caused chaos at the courthouse and lost a leg."

"And now I realize this was all a scam you conspired with King Qin… cough." He kept coughing up blood, spraying it everywhere like it was cheap.

"Li Gongde!" Qiao Shui widened his eyes, reached out and grabbed Li Gongde’s wrist, leaving a bloody mark on it.

"As you wish, I am close to death. Before I die, I have one wish…"

Li Gongde looked serious and asked, "What is your last wish?"

My dying wish is to give Qiao Mu 50 KFC meals… Qiao Mu struggled to speak, his breath weak, but he kept his eyes wide open and said hoarsely:

"Even in death, I want to die with clarity, as a ghost who understands!"

"Li Gongde! Tell me, was our deaths in vain, did you conspire with King Qin to deceive me?"

"What is the truth about the man with the sticks at the market, Li Gongde?"

Being truly sincere with hidden intentions is like a suicide move, but Qiao Shui, with the added power of "last wish" and "dying wish," is a super finishing move.

"Friend Qiao Shui, don’t get too worked up," said Li Gongde as he wiped his sweat, feeling a bit impatient.

"I didn’t lie to you. I really don’t know who this ‘Li Gongde’ at the market is. Maybe King Qin set up an innocent person…"

He shrugged his shoulders, feeling somewhat helpless.

"Is that so?" Qiao Mu frowned.

"But you, Li Gongde, also behave strangely. As a wealthy person from Zhong Province, you often donate money, provide porridge to help refugees, do good deeds, and people call you a great person."

"Now you’re telling me that all of this has nothing to do with you, that you are a completely innocent victim, and all the dirty work was done by King Qin? You were just forced to do it?"

This question seemed to leave Li Gongde speechless for a moment, making him silent.

But it wasn’t long before he pointed to the scene in the water mirror where Qiao Mu, who had lost a leg, was fighting fiercely with King Qin, with a deep meaning in his words:

"My usual good deeds have a reason behind them," said Li Gongde.

"Because… I don’t want to be a good person," said Li Gongde deeply.

"In today’s world, the fate of being a good person, like a Qiao family member, will be entangled by moral righteousness and won’t last long."

"Doing good deeds may not always lead to good outcomes. Instead, it may attract danger by exposing one’s kind intentions."

"Revealing kindness is like exposing a weakness."

Qiao Shui was even more puzzled in his heart, not wanting to be a good person, yet still doing good deeds and charity actively?

Li Gongde seemed to sense Qiao Shui’s deep confusion and continued to explain.

"My dear Qiao Shui."

"You just mentioned that I frequently give to charity, and the people see me as a great philanthropist, but when you first heard of my reputation as a philanthropist, did you truly believe I was a genuinely good person both inside and out, a rare saint in this world?"

"Do you secretly think…that I, Li Gongde, might be a hypocritical rich man, possibly having a guilty conscience from past wrongdoings, so I adhere to the belief in accumulating merits and seek a good reputation, hence building this facade for myself?"

Qiao Shui was at a loss for words.

"I’m not saying that your thoughts are wrong," Li Gongde said.

"Many people think this way because in this world, there are indeed many wealthy people who are unkind, but pretend to be generous and kind-hearted."

"As for me, Li Gongde… Don’t look at me like that, Qiao Shui, I am not a truly good person either."

"They say that kindness doesn’t wield power, and righteousness doesn’t accumulate wealth. For me, Li Gongde, to become the second richest person in Imperial Capital, my hands must have been dirty a long time ago."

Li Gongde said lightly,

"The common people think I’m a good person, while those more discerning see me as a fake kind-hearted wealthy man… And what I need is precisely this kind of image."

"People hear rumors about my good deeds, which is actually a weakness of mine exposed to the public. With this weakness, whether it’s the Great Yan Imperial Court, Immortal Gate, or King Qin, they all think I, Li Gongde, are just so-so and easy to deal with, considering it as a way to show my vulnerability to enemies."

The first layer of persona is a kind person named Li, and the second layer is a wealthy person with a good reputation but pretending.

"Without these two layers of disguise, could I, Li Gongde, have survived in a world surrounded by wolves and still be wealthy now?" Li Gongde chuckled.

Li Gongde is a very skillful actor.

On the outside, he appears to be doing good deeds, but in reality, he is truly doing good deeds and successfully deceiving people into thinking he is a typical hypocritical wealthy man.

"Are you tarnishing your own reputation?" Qiao Shui asked, frowning.

Li Gongde didn’t deny it, nodding in response.

"The world is like a big dyeing vat, if one doesn’t tarnish themselves, are they supposed to remain untouched by the mud?"

"Indeed, there are people in this world who remain untainted by the world, like the three hundred old soldiers who emerged from the Hundred-mile Desert, or the Qiao family members who bravely sacrificed themselves. However, you are indeed a rare few among a rare few, hardly seen throughout the entire Jiu Province." Li Gongde said seriously.

"I, Li Gongde, admire such people, but I myself will not become one."

"Those who remain untainted by the world, don’t live long."

"I may be stained, rising from the dirt, my hands tainted with filth, but I can still do some good in this dirty world, helping the struggling people have slightly better days."

"But I cannot sacrifice myself like a member of the Qiao family or like one of the three hundred white-headed soldiers, to fight and die in order to save the people."

In front of the dying Qiao Shui, Li Gongde showed great honesty.

From his words, it is easy to see his respect for the elderly soldier in the lonely city and the Qiao family member, which may also be one of the reasons why he released Qiao Mu in the first place.

But when they first met in private, Li Gongde didn’t reveal his true feelings at all, he only opened up to the dying Qiao Shui.

"I don’t want fame, just doing good deeds is enough for me. As long as I do good things with a clear conscience, that’s all that matters."

Speaking of this, Li Gongde looked again at Qiao Mu in the water mirror with mixed feelings on the execution ground.

"Although I, Li Gongde, have good intentions, my first thought was to protect my own life and fortune."

"Qiao family member can challenge strangers like Li Gongde and King Qin, showing great righteousness that I cannot match."

Li Gongde didn’t want to be seen as a good person because good people might be threatened with a spear.

In his eyes, the Qiao brothers were brave heroes who knew the risks but still faced danger to confront King Qin’s traps.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself," Qiao Mu said decisively.

"We didn’t come here for you," the two brothers stated firmly.

He stopped pretending and revealed his true intentions.

"All I seek is to settle a score with King Qin. I came here to take revenge for myself, nothing more."

"King Qin has you captured. Your fate is in his hands. Even if Martial Saint were alive and tried to save you, it might not be possible."

"I came here not to save you, but to take a life."

If King Qin wanted to kill Li Gongde, with his cunning ways, Li Gongde’s fate would be sealed long before any rescue attempt.

Just like the innocent chubby guy whose name we don’t know, he was cut into a stick by King Qin even before Qiao Mu entered the city, and made into a tool for the surprise attack called "Etching Bone Li Fire Talisman", not even immortals could save him.

If Martial Saint comes to rescue me… Li Gongde’s eyes flickered for a moment, and he continued:

"So, Qiao Shui, my brothers, actually didn’t come to save me? They just came to kill King Qin?"

"That’s right," Qiao Shui nodded.

But Li Gongde’s gaze landed on Qiao Mu, who had lost a leg in the water mirror, and he said softly:

"You can say that."

"But before Qiao Shui, did you consider the feelings of your older brother Qiao Gui?"

Qiao Shui wanted to say something, but Li Gongde waved his hand to interrupt:

"I don’t understand why Qiao Shui doesn’t want to admit…but everything your Qiao family members have been doing, isn’t it similar to what I, Li Gongde, have been doing?"

"The difference is that the Qiao family members have helped more people and done greater things than me. My small actions cannot be compared to theirs…"

Li Gongde thought to himself: Was he ashamed to admit his good intentions? Or like me, did he feel that having a good reputation was not beneficial and could attract trouble instead, becoming a tool for those with ulterior motives?

With this thought in mind, he suddenly felt that the barely breathing Qiao Shui in front of him seemed to grow larger out of thin air.

"Qiao Shui my friend, please hold on a little longer. It’s good to stay alive in this difficult world. We need more people like you, Qiao Shui," Li Gongde said.

"Actually, I have a miraculous medicine that is highly effective for healing both internal and external injuries."

Saying this, Li Gongde took out a beautiful box from his pocket.

It’s not that he didn’t want to take out the medicine earlier, it’s just that the earlier Qiao Shui seemed wary of him. If he had offered the medicine to save him, he might have been seen as having bad intentions.

Also, the medicine in his hand was truly unbelievable.

Upon opening the box, Qiao Shui looked closely and found that inside the box was a fist-sized… chunk of meat?

This meatball looks round and squishy, like jelly. If you look closely, you can see it slowly expanding and contracting, as if it’s breathing like a living creature.

Qiao Shui: ???

Do you call this a magical pill for healing wounds?

"This thing is called the Spiritual Meat Pill. Although it looks a little strange, it’s indeed very effective," said Li Gongde with conviction.

In fact, when Qiao Shui was unconscious before, Li Gongde also used a small amount of Spiritual Meat Pill to help his wounds heal faster.

Just by looking at this one Spiritual Meat Pill, Qiao Shui suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. Memories from years ago in Nan Province surfaced in his mind:

"Wuji Association?"

He looked up at Li Gongde in front of him.

This so-called Spiritual Meat Pill is clearly just a lump of meat.

This is probably the same kind of thing as the blood and flesh that Wu Qizheng left in his body before.

Li Gongde was a little surprised, but he didn’t deny it in front of the dying Qiao Shui.

Saving the dying Qiao Shui seemed like a risk worth taking to him, even if it meant revealing the identity of the Wuji Association.

Ever since the incident in Gu Cheng Desert, the reputation of Qiao family members in Zhong Province has surpassed that of Qiao Sen and his son in Nan Province.

This old man named Qiao Shui had killed the Great Dao Sect disciple Dao Xu in the late Foundation Building stage right in front of Li Gongde’s eyes using martial arts to defeat immortals.

To him, this was a different kind of hope from the Martial Saint.

Li Gongde admired the idea of merit, thinking that the Martial Saint had become increasingly radical over the past forty years, so different from the pillar of the court, General Li. He felt like he was trying to rise above his circumstances.

In his eyes, the Martial Saint had already become a marsh of his own making.

He was in the Wuji Association only because he had no other choice… Otherwise, would he join the Great Yan Imperial Court, or stubbornly raise his own flag and go it alone?

The renowned Qiao family member, whose reputation has been soaring lately, has long been an object of his admiration.

What’s more crucial is… The Wuji Association actually no longer has a reason to remain low-key.

The former Martial Saint’s fake death was largely due to his need for time.

But now… the Wuji Association has been dormant for a long time, the time has come.

This is also the reason why he appeared in Great Qin Prefecture.

Just as he thought about it, Qiao Shui, who was barely breathing, tilted his head and took his last breath at that moment, leaving only the lump of meat in the brocade box in his hand still moving.

"Is he dead?" Li Gongde hesitated for a moment as he reached out, adjusted Qiao Shui’s body, and then looked into the water mirror.