Chapter 20: Silent Hint
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Chapter 20: Silent Hint
Xu Yan’s intervention did not ease the crisis facing the Cheng family. His shameless self-preservation made Cheng Linwan in the carriage almost grind her silver teeth to powder.
Cheng Linwan hated Xu Yan for being as cowardly as a mouse and consorting with wolves, but Cheng Yu felt no blame toward the young Taoist in his heart.
Because not long ago, he had warned Xu Yan that killing a pig that had saved one’s life was not good—keep it if possible. The implication of that warning was that if one were about to starve to death, the pig should still be eaten.
The old lady Cheng’s explanation had unexpectedly become reality just two days later, except that in the face of death, Xu Yan wasn’t eating the pig but was about to devour their Cheng family.
The two elderly people’s gazes met, and both saw a kind of helplessness in each other’s eyes, but not a trace of hatred.
The Cheng family was doomed to die, but Xu Yan truly was just a passerby. Without Cheng Yu’s invitation, he would still be outside the mountains roasting the game he had caught, eating contentedly.
Using the Cheng family as a dying pig, if he could save his life, it would be quite a stroke of fortune.
“Kill someone?”
The young Taoist’s terrified voice came from outside the carriage: “I, I’ve never killed anyone!”
The two elderly people in the carriage slowly closed their eyes. Cheng Yu sat upright with proper posture, his back straight, while the old woman held her granddaughter tightly. They had already prepared themselves for death.
Since ancient times, life has only ended in death.
Low sobbing sounds arose. Two young maidservants huddled together trembling, not daring to cry aloud, desperately covering their mouths while tears flowed. Once their masters met disaster, they too would not survive.
“Never killed before? Just stab the knife down—it’s simple!”
“Kill him, and you’ll have killed someone. If you want to follow our Yuanshan Stronghold and enjoy good wine and meat, you can’t do it without a pledge of loyalty. Kid, make your move!”
“Kill him! Kill him!”
The clamor outside the window seemed to grow more distant. Cheng Yu took a deep breath, and events from six years ago gradually appeared before his eyes.
Back then in the imperial court, it had been just as clamorous. The censors and officials shouting to kill him, the Left Prime Minister, had been like mosquitoes and flies—impossible to drive away or eliminate.
All because he, Cheng Yu, was the chief culprit in instigating military conflict between the Qi and Pu kingdoms.
He had borne the reputation of a treacherous minister who misled the country for a full six years, but the late emperor’s promise had actually been for only three years.
Three years ago, he should have been restored to his position as Left Prime Minister. For some unknown reason, that imperial edict, delayed by three years, had been buried in dust with the late emperor’s death and only now reached his hands.
It was already too late.
Too much had happened in these six years. The barbarian cavalry had trampled over half the territories of the sixteen southern kingdoms and had already begun to rest and recuperate. The military conflicts between Qi and Pu had turned from their original purpose of training troops into mere formalities, leaving behind some soldiers’ corpses and nothing more. The desolate Qiyuan Mountain had also become a den of bandits and thieves…
Clenching his hands tightly, the former prime minister suddenly felt great hatred.
He hated that the late emperor had died too early, hated the treacherous ministers who had thrown the court into chaos, hated that the people of Pu had been numbed by years of prosperity, hated that there were no longer any capable warriors in the military, and even more hated those so-called righteous Taiqing Sect Taoists and the mountain bandits outside the window.
He hated himself for being too impatient. If he had waited a few more days, his youngest son guarding the border would have already dispatched troops to Linshan Town to escort his old father to the capital.
The Taiqing Sect Taoists made the old man furious beyond measure. The strange phenomenon from the morning two days ago made this old man even more anxious. He had too much to do—he needed to suppress the National Master’s arrogance and investigate the truth behind Chengyun Temple’s disappearance. The existence of the Divine Martial Cannon was too important to allow him a moment’s delay. But now, everything was too late.
The former Left Prime Minister was about to become meat on someone else’s chopping block.
“Pick up the knife.”
A tall, thin man came to Xu Yan’s side, with nine long, thin braids woven behind his head. He was Lu Hai, the third leader of Yuanshan Stronghold, nicknamed Nine-Headed Snake.
Seeing the other’s hesitant appearance, Lu Hai stepped on the steel blade in the pool of blood and grinned wickedly: “To kill someone, you must first learn to hold a knife. As long as you can hold a knife, you can call yourself a warrior. Kid, in this world, human life is both the most valuable and the most worthless thing.”
With fierce light flashing in his eyes, Nine-Headed Snake coldly shouted: “If you don’t kill him, I’ll kill you!”
“Warrior…” Xu Yan was frightened by the other’s fierce face and hurriedly picked up the steel blade the stronghold leader had thrown, trembling as he asked: “Am, am I a warrior now?”
“That’s right! Hahaha!” Lu Hai slapped Xu Yan’s shoulder hard and pointed with his chin at the severely wounded Cheng family servant in the pool of blood: “You’re already a warrior. Go kill him, and you’ll be a warrior of our Yuanshan Stronghold. From now on, you’ll eat well and drink well, able to do whatever you want within a hundred li of Qiyuan Mountain!”
The third leader’s instigation was like a demon from hell. Xu Yan became dazed, the knife tip trembling as it pointed at the Cheng family servant, who showed no fear and stared at Xu Yan with eyes full of rage.
A young Taoist killing someone—such a good show was rare. Many mountain bandits gradually gathered around to watch Xu Yan approach his target step by step.
The dying servant gave up struggling and sat up with difficulty in the pool of blood, just staring at the approaching Xu Yan. He wanted to see with his own eyes as the other struck down. Even as a ghost, he would not let this despicable young man go.
Blood blurred his vision. He wiped it forcefully, and vaguely, he seemed to see the young Taoist’s mouth move, but heard no sound at all.
What was he saying?
Puff!
Just as doubt arose in his heart, the steel blade had already pierced his shoulder.
“You missed! You missed!”
“That won’t kill him—stab the heart, you idiot.”
“Are you a pig? Don’t you know where the heart is? Feel your own chest—yes, right there!”
The bandits’ shouting and yelling attracted even more bandits to watch, laughing and enjoying the show like watching a performance. Even Flying Centipede, the stronghold leader on the side, found it quite interesting and watched the young Taoist kill with great interest.
A tower-like strong man beside Liao Jiuming said in a deep voice: “Big brother, that kid is too stupid. Even with Third Brother teaching him, he can’t kill properly. Might as well hack him to death too.”
This speaker was named Han Lei, the second leader of Yuanshan Stronghold, nicknamed Thunder Shaker. Reckless and warlike, he was the one who had led the charge against the Cheng family servants earlier. Though the Cheng family servants were only retainers, they were quite skilled, but most had fallen under this man’s blade.
“Once he’s made his pledge of loyalty, he’ll be one of Yuanshan Stronghold’s people. When has I, Flying Centipede, ever gone back on my word?” Liao Jiuming said. “As long as he dares to kill, that’s enough.”
Puff!
A second line of blood spurted out. This time the dying Cheng family servant had another hole in his body—not in the shoulder, but in the waist and abdomen.
“Kid, are you really a pig!”
The third leader Lu Hai was quite angry and kicked out, nearly knocking Xu Yan over. He roared: “If the third stab doesn’t kill him, I’ll stab you to death! Kill him, and the girl in the carriage will be your plaything tomorrow. I, Third Master, decide—she’s yours!”
Tomorrow, that girl would be a corpse. Lu Hai thought this way—giving a dead person to this young Taoist, he was being extremely generous.
Yuanshan Stronghold had over a thousand mountain bandits. If a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl were captured, her fate was imaginable. By the second day, she would certainly be beyond saving.
“Good, good!”
Gripping the knife with both hands, Xu Yan shouted and charged for the third time. This blade struck directly at the other’s heart, but the force was too weak—it only penetrated an inch of flesh and failed to kill with one stab.
Two equally fierce faces were almost pressed together. This time, the dying Cheng family servant finally saw clearly the other’s silent lip movements.
He seemed to be shouting one word—a hint that Xu Yan wanted to give him silently…
Retreat!
