Ch 154: The Scholar And The Assassin

This scholar opened his mouth, and the entire inn fell silent for a moment.

Chu Qing was somewhat surprised by the scholar’s boldness…This group of people had fierce faces, each and every one of them looking villainous. Calling them businessmen is less accurate than calling them bandits.

Everyone has this thought, but only this one person says it so openly.

He must have some backing, he’s not just an ordinary scholar.

Thinking this, he heard a man from the group angrily speak:

“Poor scholar, what nonsense are you talking? Who’s a bandit?”

“Aren’t you?”

The scholar looked at them with furrowed brows, his presence not yielding an inch:

“I’ll tell you, this is the Iron Blood Hall’s territory. If you want to act recklessly here, you’ve come to the wrong place.

“Grand Hall Master Tie’s anger will leave you with nowhere to go, neither up in the heavens nor down in the earth!!”

The ruffian who had spoken earlier looked even more ferocious upon hearing this, but the leader waved his hand, silencing him, and then laughed:

“Brother, there’s been a misunderstanding. We are all honest businessmen, not bandits or road bullies.

“We’ve come here to rest and lodge, we’re certainly not here to cause trouble.”

The scholar glanced at them suspiciously, snorted:

“I hope so, otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

These words made those few men furious, but the leader stopped them, and they ultimately dared not act out.

The leader then ignored the scholar and chatted with the shopkeeper, opening several rooms to check in.

The group then went upstairs in a mighty procession.

The scholar’s gaze remained fixed on them, as if ready to report them to the Iron Blood Hall at the slightest provocation.

Chu Qing withdrew his gaze and casually opened the money pouch in his hand.

This money pouch, he didn’t know how Wenrou found it, contained both silver and silver notes, totaling two hundred taels.

He was about to put it away, but then he saw a note inside the money pouch.

Wondering if there was a clue to the owner, Chu Qing unfolded the note, which read six words: ‘Green Yang Hand’ Liu Yulai!

Chu Qing’s face slightly changed, and he closed the money pouch.

Wenrou softly asked:

“What’s wrong?”

“Later.”

Chu Qing put the money pouch into his bosom: “Can I have this?”

“……Okay.”

Although Wenrou was still thinking about returning the money pouch to its owner, she nodded when she saw Chu Qing wanted it. She believed that Chu Qing must have his reasons.

The two continued to eat and drink, and only went upstairs afterward.

Coincidentally, the scholar had also finished eating at that time, and followed Chu Qing and Wenrou upstairs with his book satchel on his back.

His room was right next to Chu Qing’s.

Wenrou didn’t return to her room, but followed Chu Qing into his.

Sitting down at the table, Chu Qing took out the money pouch and placed it on the table, taking out the note and handing it to Wenrou.

Wenrou tilted her head and looked at it twice:

“This money pouch, could it belong to this Liu Yulai?”

“……No, the owner of this money pouch probably wants to kill Liu Yulai. This is very likely a deposit for an assassination.”

Wenrou was stunned:

“So that’s it.”

Chu Qing stroked his chin.

Others didn’t know the ins and outs of this money pouch, but Chu Qing, hailing from the Mirror of Retribution, naturally understood the mystery behind it.

If someone wanted to hire the Mirror of Retribution to kill someone, they would gradually make contact through scattered channels.

When the time was ripe, they would put the deposit and the target’s name together and place them in a designated place in the Mirror of Retribution, as a confirmation of the contract.

The people of the Mirror of Retribution would receive the silver and the target’s name, and then begin to investigate and understand the target’s situation.

Then they would give a more reasonable price…

If the client thought it was too expensive, the deal would be off, and the deposit would not be returned.

Conversely, once the client agreed to the price, the assassination could be arranged.

The payment is usually made after the deed is done.

The entire contact process beforehand, although seemingly simple, is actually meticulous. If the Mirror of Retribution smells something different, the contact will be terminated.

This is why the Heavenly Evil Cult couldn’t find the Mirror of Retribution’s main headquarters, so they faked the Mirror of Retribution’s assassination.

Because the former could only attract some small characters, and there is a high possibility that even small characters wouldn’t be attracted. The cost and benefit are not proportional…The latter can directly attract the Mirror of Retribution’s investigators. Even if they are not experts on the Extermination List, they must be core members of the Mirror of Retribution, so it is naturally more efficient.

And if an ordinary person lost their money, they would definitely try to get it back.

Two hundred taels of silver is no small sum.

With Wenrou’s keen sense of smell, after picking up the money pouch, she couldn’t find the owner…

It is very likely that the other party was worried that someone would notice the trick, and in the process of retrieving it, they would be caught, causing the matter to be exposed.

Chu Qing thought to himself, and suddenly said:

“I remember that Green Yang Hand Liu Yulai seems to be a subordinate of Lu Zhiwei, the Third Hall Master of the Iron Blood Hall.

“And this Third Hall Master is stationed in Dingxing City?”

Lu Zhiwei has three generals under him.

Green Yang Hand Liu Yulai, Chasing Star Sword Guo Wang, and Flying Feather Jiang Chunhua.

Wenrou blinked her eyes, showing a clear look of bewilderment.

Chu Qing chuckled, knowing that he had asked a blind person.

If he were to ask Wen Fusheng, Wen Kaiyuan, and the others, this information could be easily obtained.

Wenrou left home at a young age, and after only two days of peaceful life back home, she followed him here…She knew less than he did.

Thinking of this, Chu Qing put the money pouch away again:

“Alright, don’t think too much about it. Tomorrow morning, let’s go to Dingxing City.”

If the other party really wants to hire the Mirror of Retribution’s assassins, if the deposit is lost, they will only prepare again, and will not stop there.

He could use this opportunity to let the ‘Sword Ghost’ make an appearance, and lure these people out…

Having said this, Wenrou returned to her room, and the two rested without further mention.

But this sleep was not peaceful.

Just at midnight, Chu Qing, who was meditating, was awakened by a sound from the rooftop.

The person wasn’t skillful, their footsteps on the roof creaked loudly, as if afraid that people wouldn’t know there was someone on the roof.

Chu Qing frowned slightly. In Tianwu City, someone had been going back and forth on his roof, and now here, someone else was running around on the roof…

Couldn’t these people with poor light body skills just not use the roof?

It’s so disturbing.

Just as he was thinking this, he found that the person had stopped, right on the roof next door.

The other party’s breath-control technique was also extremely crude. Crouching on the roof, to Chu Qing’s ears, the other person’s breathing was like thunder.

“What are they trying to do?”

Chu Qing was puzzled. It seemed that they were targeting the scholar. Could it be that the group of ruffians from earlier planned to harm the scholar because of his outspoken words?

Thinking this, he opened the window, and saw Wenrou also opening her window.

Apparently she also heard it…Sleepily preparing to come out and see what was going on.

The two immediately leaped onto the roof, and saw a man in black wriggling on the roof, carefully removing the roof tiles, looking inside while smirking…

From the laughter, it could be heard that this was a woman, and she was likely unrelated to the group of vicious men during the day.

This made Chu Qing and Wenrou even more confused.

Could it be that she was smitten, seeing that the down-and-out scholar had a good appearance, and wanted to steal a kiss?

Chu Qing’s brows furrowed into a single line. He had never seen such a thing in his years of wandering the martial world.

If she was an assassin, her methods were clearly not up to par. Her light body skills and breath-control techniques were only rudimentary. With such skills, why would she come out to kill?

But if it was stealing a kiss…such clumsiness was rare.

Then he saw the woman take something out of her bosom and circle the opening she made in the tiles, smoothly guiding the object down.

It was a thread.

Chu Qing suddenly understood. She was going to poison him!

Dropping a thread from the roof, it would touch the rim of the target’s cup; poison would be poured down the thread into the cup; if the target drank it, they would die.

This is a commonly used assassination technique.

But this woman probably has some kind of serious illness. While guiding the thread down, she continued to laugh triumphantly.

Her laughter was a little loud, and Chu Qing was a little anxious for her.

Who laughs before the assassination is successful?

Not afraid the target would hear?

What kind of method is this?

Moreover, she moved in a circle, and now she was almost face-to-face with Chu Qing and Wenrou, but she still hadn’t noticed the two living people standing there…

Should he say she was focused?

Or should he say she was arrogant?

Watching her take out a bottle of poison, carefully open the lid, and pour it down the thread.

As a result, she accidentally poured too much, not only staining the thread, but a large puddle of poison was spilled…Chu Qing could even hear the poison splashing onto the table.

At this point, Chu Qing really couldn’t stand it anymore.

He himself was an assassin, and seeing the other party acting like this was an insult to the word assassin.

Just as he was about to speak to stop her, a commotion came from the street.

He and Wenrou immediately looked towards the source of the sound, and saw that a group of bandits had appeared in the town at some point, flaunting their power and shouting loudly, intending to kill and plunder.

“Who dares to be so bold? To act so recklessly within the Iron Blood Hall’s territory?”

Just as they were shocked, the sound of galloping horses appeared in front of the inn, and several figures broke through the windows and landed on the horses.

It was those few ruffians…It seemed that they were not merchants after all; they were bandits.

However, one person was missing. Judging by the footsteps, that person did not leap out of the window, but walked heavily to the scholar’s room and kicked the door open.

Then the woman in black on the roof suddenly cursed:

“Damn it, you ruined my good deed!”

Chu Qing and Wenrou were speechless. Could she think that without this incident, her assassination would have been successful?

Now that things had come to this, Chu Qing naturally couldn’t let these bandits run rampant.

Just as he was about to step forward, he stopped.

A scream came from the scholar’s room, followed by a whoosh as a window was smashed, and a figure fell into the street.

It wasn’t the scholar, but the bandit who had confronted the scholar earlier.

His chest and abdomen were caved in, his face as white as paper, and he was spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. He was clearly dying!

“How could this be? Who is it!?”

The leader’s face changed, and he looked up sharply.

A figure floated out of the window; it was the scholar.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes cold and serious:

“I said, don’t act recklessly here!

“Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

“You…who are you?”

The leader’s face changed drastically, and he was about to say something when the scholar flickered, and was already on his horse.

Standing on the horse’s head with one foot, he kicked the leader’s head, which spun several times before falling off, instantly killing him with one kick.

“Older Brother!!”

The remaining bandits woke up from their daze and cried out in grief.

However, the scholar was merciless, his steps swift and agile as he leaped over the horses, and these bandits were no match for him; within the blink of an eye, they lay dead on the ground.

The scholar looked back at Chu Qing and Wenrou, and nodded slightly.

Looking at the woman in black, his eyes showed a little helplessness. The next moment he leaped up and headed towards the other bandits in Tiehuan Town.

“Stop, don’t you dare run away!!”

The woman in black suddenly stood up and leaped to chase him.

However, her light body skills were poor, and she couldn’t catch up with the scholar.

After running a few steps, she couldn’t see the scholar anymore, and stood on the rooftop, anxiously stamping her feet.

Chu Qing mourned silently for the people inside the room…He didn’t know what the situation was between the scholar and the woman, but the people inside clearly suffered for no reason.

Someone was running wildly on the roof, who could bear that?

And at this moment, the scholar returned.

He floated to the woman in black and stood there, neither too close nor too far.

Seeing this, the woman in black cheered up instantly:

“Don’t run!!”

The scholar then turned and ran, and the woman chased after him.

Chu Qing and Wenrou witnessed the whole thing, and only felt that their heads were in a mess…What kind of mess is this?

However, this wasn’t the time to figure out the details. Many bandits had come to Tiehuan Town this time. Although the scholar’s martial arts were superb, it would still take time for him to kill them all alone.

To prevent the ordinary people from being slaughtered by these people, Chu Qing and Wenrou also quickly took action.

These bandits were experts at dealing with ordinary people, but against Chu Qing, a master, they were like eggs hitting a stone, completely no match.

In a short time, countless people had been killed or injured.

The remaining bandits, knowing that there were masters in the town, had no intention to fight and fled in all directions.

A disaster vanished in the blink of an eye.

Chu Qing grabbed a bandit who was still alive and asked:

“Who gave you the guts to dare to break into Iron Blood Hall’s territory and kill and plunder?”

The bandit had been scared out of his wits by Chu Qing. He watched Chu Qing strike out with a single palm, killing more than ten of his brothers; he dared not hide anything at this time, and tremblingly said:

“It…it was the Leader who said that the Blazing Fire Hall is attacking in large numbers, and that the Iron Blood Hall is now, now unable to defend itself…

“Dingxing City can’t take care of the surrounding towns either, we…we can’t swallow the big fat meat, but, the little bits on the side, we can still fill our bellies…”

Chu Qing’s face darkened. The Blazing Fire Hall is attacking in large numbers?

Two gangs, three halls, five sects, one villa; although they haven’t lived peacefully for many years, there have been many disputes, but they were mostly minor skirmishes.

The Blazing Fire Hall and the Iron Blood Hall are both powerful factions, how could they easily launch a large-scale attack?

There must have been some kind of change.

Chu Qing wasn’t too worried about other changes, but the key was that Liu Yulai in Dingxing City shouldn’t cause any trouble at this critical juncture!