Chapter 179 : You’re Looking For Death
Chapter 179: You’re Looking For Death
In the depths of winter, an unexpected heavy snowfall blanketed most of Jiangzhou in ice and snow.
Wang Family Town, an inconspicuous little town. There was an inn in town, mainly serving passing merchants and travelers for rest and overnight stays.
In recent days, most of the guests had been martial artists, all carrying blades and swords. Many of them had poor tempers and would beat or scold others at the slightest provocation.
The innkeeper and the shop attendant were somewhat fearful of these people, but since they opened their doors for business, they could only serve them with extreme caution.
Fortunately, these martial artists seemed to be in a hurry, as if they had urgent matters. After staying for one night, they would leave at dawn without causing trouble.
This day, another heavy snowfall. Just after noon, several groups arrived in succession, quickly filling the small inn.
Yet guests continued to pour in, and even the first floor was almost full.
Seeing the situation, the innkeeper became nervous and fearful, sensing that trouble might break out.
Sure enough, what one feared most always came true.
Suddenly, a few fierce and wicked martial artists barged in, shouting, “Hey! Prepare three upper rooms and heat the water!”
The innkeeper hurried forward, smiling apologetically, “So sorry, dear guests, but our inn is fully booked. There truly are no rooms left.”
Bang!
One of the bald men slammed his saber onto the table, “What did you say? No rooms? In this freezing weather, you want us to sleep on the streets?”
Instantly, the entire inn fell silent, and everyone turned to look.
Frightened, the innkeeper’s legs gave way, nearly collapsing to the ground, “Don’t kill… me…”
At that moment, a skinny shop attendant rushed over, bowing and nodding, “Dear sirs, you are all great figures, why bother with him? There really are no more rooms, but I can try asking the earlier guests to see if one can be shared.”
Only then was the bald man satisfied, “What are you waiting for?”
……
The other people in the inn merely watched coldly; no one wanted to meddle.
In a corner sat a grandfather and granddaughter. The girl, around sixteen or seventeen, said angrily, “They say people in Jiangzhou are selfish and indifferent. Seeing it today, the reputation is well-earned.”
The elder, holding a tobacco pipe, scolded, “Fang’er, mind your words.”
At that moment, a chubby middle-aged man at the adjacent table, looking like a merchant, smiled and asked, “Young lady, since you dislike what you see, why not stand up for them?”
The girl replied, “I can’t beat them.”
“Do you know, in Jiangzhou, there is a saying.”
“What saying?”
“Those who don’t dare to act themselves but urge others to act instead, and then blame others for not acting—are called troublemakers. In Jiangzhou, such troublemakers get beaten to death.”
This remark immediately drew a burst of laughter.
“You—”
The girl grew furious, nearly slamming the table and rising.
“Fang’er.”
The elder holding the pipe pulled his granddaughter back, got up, and bowed repeatedly, apologizing to the others, “The girl is young and ignorant, please forgive her offense.”
Fang’er fumed, wishing she could rip that merchant’s mouth apart.
But she heard him whisper, “Just wait, a good show is coming.”
Fang’er ignored him but couldn’t help being curious.
Just then, a distinguished-looking middle-aged man descended from upstairs, followed closely by the same shop attendant from earlier.
“You’re the ones asking us to give up our rooms?”
The middle-aged man approached the fierce group and asked.
The bald man’s expression turned serious, but he still replied, “That’s right.”
“Hmph.”
The middle-aged man sneered. Suddenly lifting his hand, he struck the bald man squarely in the chest, sending him flying. The other three seemed to be struck simultaneously, all vomiting blood and flying backward.
The inn fell into utter silence.
Those with keen eyes could tell—this was a Fourth Grade Expert. In the martial world, a second-tier elite.
The four thugs had dared to act so arrogantly because they were not weak either—likely Fifth Grade. Yet in front of this expert, they couldn’t even withstand a single move.
The bald man, coughing blood, still asked, “May I ask for your name?”
The middle-aged man turned and left a name, “He Yanwen of Gu County.”
Then turned and went back upstairs.
The He Family of Gu County was a renowned Aristocratic Family in Jiangzhou. Their ancestors had produced a First Grade Expert, and they currently had a Second Grade seated.
The He Family was known for its domineering ways. These four had clearly kicked an iron plate.
Naturally, they had no face left to stay. Struggling to their feet, they prepared to leave.
……
Fang’er, having seen a good show, couldn’t help asking the chubby merchant, “Who are the He Family?”
The merchant didn’t answer. Instead, he suddenly stood and walked toward the four men, laughing loudly, “Eastern Ridge’s Four Fiends, so you have this day too!”
The four turned their heads—only to see a flash of a sharp saber.
Blood splattered. Four heads fell to the floor.
The merchant happily pulled out a sack, stuffed the heads inside, pushed open the door, and ran out.
The bloody scene stunned Fang’er. She had never imagined that the seemingly harmless merchant would suddenly erupt in violence.
The elder pulled his granddaughter down to sit and said, “He must be a bounty blade. He had been eyeing them for a while. Now that the chance came, he took their heads to the Six Doors Authority for the reward.”
Fang’er shivered from head to toe.
At that moment, she noticed three more people in the inn standing up and quietly leaving.
The elder said, “Don’t look.”
At the next table, a few people whispered, “Those must be going to snatch the heads. I remember the bounty on the Eastern Ridge’s Four Fiends is quite high…”
Snatch heads?
Such a strange phrase.
Fang’er had often heard her senior brothers say the martial world was dangerous. Now, she had finally seen the blood and cruelty with her own eyes.
The inn’s door was shut once more. Four headless corpses lay on the ground, the thick stench of blood filling the entire inn.
The innkeeper was utterly terrified, hiding behind the counter, mumbling, “Murder… murder…”
It was the shop attendant who mustered the courage to walk over and drag the four corpses outside. Then he fetched snow water and scrubbed the floor several times.
……
After a while, a few men from the Six Doors Authority pushed open the door and entered, immediately quieting the inn. Everyone turned to look.
Once they saw that only one was a Green-Clad Patrol Envoy and the rest were Black-Clad Officers, things returned to normal.
One of the officers complained, “Chief, how did this miserable task fall on us? In this wretched weather, we still have to come to this godforsaken place...”
Before he could finish, his companion tugged at him.
Only then did he realize that the atmosphere in the inn was off, and he caught the scent of blood.
“Officers, you're here just in time...” The innkeeper, upon seeing them, ran over like he'd seen his saviors, sobbing and sniffing as he recounted everything that had happened.
When the name “Eastern Ridge’s Four Fiends” was mentioned, the officers' expressions all changed.
The “Eastern Ridge’s Four Fiends” were notorious criminals active around Lingshan, all possessing Fifth Grade strength. They rampaged unchecked, completely lawless and utterly ruthless.
If they had encountered those four fiends themselves, they wouldn’t even know how they died.
Among them, the strongest was only Seventh Grade.
When they heard that someone from the He Family of Gu County had wounded the Four Fiends upstairs, and that a bounty blade had rushed out to decapitate them—
The officers finally relaxed. Serves them right.
Only Zhuang Xiaotian, the leader, still wore a grave expression. That a small inn in Wang Family Town could gather so many experts was hard to imagine. How many more were flooding into Qingfeng City?
And among them, how many were ruthless killers like the “Eastern Ridge’s Four Fiends”?
“We're already aware of the situation. Those four were wanted criminals on the Wanted Order...” Zhuang Xiaotian gave the innkeeper a few official-sounding words and brushed him off.
Then they found an empty table and sat down.
The vague and lingering gazes around them made them uneasy.
Suddenly, a young officer asked, “Chief, they say that Chen Erlang, ranked sixth on the Azure Cloud Ranking, is your close friend. Is that true?”
Before Zhuang Xiaotian could speak, a more senior officer chimed in, “Of course it’s true. Didn’t you see Chief just broke through to Seventh Grade and was immediately promoted to Seventh Grade Patrol Envoy? You don’t know, do you? That Chen Erlang is a close friend of Lord Du. Naturally, Lord Du views Chief with favor.”
Zhuang Xiaotian smiled, saying little.
He understood that with his shallow experience and rapid promotion, it was easy for his subordinates to grumble.
He didn’t mind. He had long accepted reality—he was of average talent, with limited prospects in this life. Meeting Chen Ming as a friend was the greatest fortune of his life.
Bang!
Suddenly, a harsh slap of the table rang out.
Everyone looked over and saw a drunken man, richly dressed, with a valuable sword on the table and a beautiful young lady seated beside him.
The man looked Zhuang Xiaotian up and down and sneered, “You’re friends with that despicable Chen Ming? No wonder you're so worthless. Befriending a lowly Seventh Grade Patrol Envoy—how laughable...”
As soon as those words were spoken, many in the inn pricked up their ears.
This year, the biggest event in Jiangzhou was the contest for the Azure Cloud Ranking. Among them, the most talked-about was Chen Ming. First, because Qingfeng City had not produced any talent on the Azure Cloud Ranking in many years.
Second, Chen Ming had a humble background—neither from an Aristocratic Family nor a sect. Making it onto the Azure Cloud Ranking proved his legend.
The richly dressed man spoke disdainfully of Chen Ming, clearly no ordinary figure.
Only the grandfather and granddaughter from out of town hadn’t heard the name Chen Ming, but they knew of the Azure Cloud Ranking and could guess Chen Ming’s significance.
Zhuang Xiaotian’s face darkened. He stood up abruptly and said in a low voice, “Why do you insult my friend like this, sir?”
“Scram!”
The richly dressed man hurled his wine cup, hitting Zhuang Xiaotian square in the chest and sending him flying.
A mere Seventh Grade Patrol Envoy dared to talk back to him?
“Chief!”
The officers were shocked, hurrying to help him up while angrily demanding, “Who are you to dare injure a member of the Six Doors Authority?”
The man only sneered, showing no regard for the Six Doors Authority whatsoever.
The Black-Clad Officers grew uneasy.
At that moment, Zhuang Xiaotian, blood at the corner of his mouth, shook off his men and drew his sword, shouting, “I don’t care who you are—I won’t let you insult Brother Chen like this!”
“Shut up!”
This time, the man threw his chopsticks, striking Zhuang Xiaotian in the knee. With a thud, Zhuang Xiaotian collapsed to the ground.
The richly dressed man sneered, “Even a Fifth Grade Constable wouldn’t dare speak like that to me—”
Zhuang Xiaotian threw his sword with all his strength, shattering the wine jug on the table.
“You—”
Enraged, the man drew his sword and threw it at Zhuang Xiaotian.
The young lady beside him cried out, “Brother, stop!”
Just as Zhuang Xiaotian was about to die, a sword suddenly flew in from outside, smashing through the doors. It struck the sword aimed at Zhuang Xiaotian, deflecting it, and then continued onward, stabbing the richly dressed man square in the chest.
“Wah—”
The man was sent flying, crashing into the wall and vomiting blood on the spot.
“Jiang Shihua, you’re courting death!”
A furious voice rang out inside the inn.
Jiang Shihua?
Everyone in the inn gasped upon hearing that name.