Chapter 290: Different Paths
“The Jianghu is a turbulent place. In my residence, although it’s a bit tough, at least they’re alive, aren’t they?” Gu Wanggui said glibly:
“If they wander the Jianghu, with its dangers, they might not survive!”
“So… take out the land from your residence!” Shi Feizhe said, “They can live if they have land. Distribute your assets to them, they can live if they have assets.”
“Ah… this…” Gu Wanggui hadn’t expected Shi Feizhe to have this idea.
Give land and assets to those servants, could they survive?
Of course, they could.
But… that was their Gu family’s, accumulated over generations!
Just distribute it to others like this?
“You’re reluctant?” Shi Feizhe said.
“It’s not reluctance, but it feels unreasonable.” Gu Wanggui voiced his doubts, saying, “Those were all accumulated through the hard work of generations of our family.”
“We also became rich bit by bit, does Yangzhou not allow people to be rich?”
“Accumulated?” Hearing this word, Shi Feizhe burst into laughter, saying, “How did you accumulate?”
“Buying low and selling high, eating human flesh and drinking human blood, that’s called accumulation?”
“That’s also called accumulation?”
“Right, even robbery needs to be done several times to become rich!”
Gu Wanggui immediately defended himself, “Our ancestors were a bit more diligent than them, their minds were a bit quicker, so they became richer than them. It’s precisely this slight difference that allowed our Gu family to gradually prosper.”
“You robbed others clean, leaving them with nothing, yet you say they are stupid, foolish, and have no brains.” Shi Feizhe looked at Gu Wanggui’s expression, sneering repeatedly.
“What do you mean by ‘minds were a bit quicker’? It’s just being bold, ruthless, and shameless! Since when did shamelessness become a skill?”
“Since when did cheating and deception become something to boast about?”
“In the Jianghu, should honest people be bullied?”
“Should honest people be bullied submissively?” Shi Feizhe said angrily.
Gu Wanggui was also provoked by Shi Feizhe’s words. Shi Feizhe’s words were too different from his own understanding and worldview, so he couldn’t help but shout, “The Jianghu is like this!”
“If you don’t bully honest people, how can you make money?”
“Since the Jianghu has this loophole, it’s meant for people to exploit!”
“Those who don’t exploit it, aren’t they fools?”
“Those commoners, those honest people, aren’t they born to make money for smart people like us?”
“This is their value!”
“If he’s not satisfied, he can train in martial arts himself! He can become a martial artist himself! He has to train to become a True Realm martial artist!”
“If he’s not satisfied, if he doesn’t do it, there are plenty of people who want to!”
“Slap,” he was interrupted by a slap from Shi Feizhe.
Gu Wanggui, slapped, felt humiliated. He didn’t care anymore, he roared, “Come on! Kill me!”
“Kill me, just like I did to those commoners!”
“You can kill me, but you can’t kill people like me! You can’t kill my way of life!”
“The Jianghu has always been like this! Who do you think you are?”
“Who do you think you are!”
He had been a True Realm martial artist for most of his life, he was almost dead, yet he still had to flatter others! He still had to eat shit!
He… couldn’t accept it!
If he encountered someone with such a different worldview and understanding in normal times, he would have crushed them. Now that the other party was stronger than him, he was the one being crushed.
He would rather be crushed than listen to Shi Feizhe’s bullshit!
Distribute his property to commoners, distribute all his years of savings to commoners!
It wasn’t about the money, but he couldn’t swallow this anger.
Why?!
That was all accumulated through the hard work of generations of their family for hundreds of years, why should it be distributed with a single word!
Why?!
Because Shi Laomo is powerful? Because the people of Yangzhou are powerful?
He refused to accept it!
So he roared at Shi Feizhe.
Anyway, he didn’t have long to live. Kneeling and bowing to others before death didn’t fit his status as a True Realm martial artist!
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A True Realm martial artist standing tall all his life, kneeling before death, wouldn’t that ruin his reputation?
“Heh…” Shi Feizhe looked at this broken old man and said, “You’re furious about being forced to hand over your property. Then what about those who were forced to hand over their property by you and your ancestors?”
“What about those who were bullied by you?”
“Those who were bullied by gangs and chambers of commerce under the name of the City Lord, who should they vent their anger on?”
“They can only swallow their anger!”
“In Liangcheng, those who were bullied could only endure it, even those in their twenties had their edges smoothed out.” Shi Feizhe thought of the two young men behind the old bamboo craftsman and sighed.
Youth is a time for impulsiveness and passion, but they were only timid, fearful, and dared not speak even when bullied.
As if they had been domesticated by this Jianghu.
Not like humans, more like domesticated animals, just like Shi Feizhe’s previous life.
Wage slaves.
“Who should they ask what’s wrong with this world?” Shi Feizhe said.
“They are not martial artists, they deserve it!” Gu Wanggui was slapped, his voice much quieter, but he still wanted to speak his mind.
“That’s why I want a Jianghu without martial artists, a Jianghu full of Xia.” Shi Feizhe looked at him and continued, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”
“Because me killing you would only be a personal act of killing the City Lord of Liangcheng, it wouldn’t demonstrate justice.”
“I was planning to wait a few days, but now I think there’s no need to wait!”
“I will have Jing Province send people to take over Liangcheng. We will hold a public trial for you in Liangcheng and let those who were bullied by you decide your life or death.” Shi Feizhe said.
“Come on! Come on! I’m not afraid of you!” Gu Wanggui knew he couldn’t escape, he said stubbornly.
He hadn’t expected that his initial invitation for a conversation would turn into a rant.
It was truly because his differences with Shi Feizhe were too great, like two different worlds.
People with different paths cannot work together.
To him, Shi Feizhe’s words were like poison, like dog shit, he couldn’t stand it.
He believed he had done nothing wrong.
Now, he was just a loser.
Shi Feizhe summoned the Bird Courier Bureau and asked the people of Jing Province to launch their operation ahead of schedule, starting the liberation of Liang Province.
Gu Wanggui, Xu Jinglu, and other miscellaneous people from Liangcheng were all put on public trial in the center of Liangcheng.
Did Gu Wanggui deserve to die?
Of course, he did.
As the City Lord of Liangcheng for so many years, every crime in Liangcheng had his share in it. Things like raiding homes and exterminating families, looting and burning were just trivial matters.
Facing the butcher’s knife, facing death, Gu Wanggui wasn’t afraid, because he didn’t have many years left to live anyway.
“In this life, I’ve experienced wealth, luxury, fine clothes, delicious food, lean horses, and beautiful women, I’ve experienced it all, I have no regrets!”
He faced the people of Liangcheng and continued to shout, “You can kill me, but you can’t kill my way of life!”
The blade fell, his head flew up.
Gu Wanggui, beheaded.
Sigh, everything is just the YY of this old wage slave.
