Ch. 17
Chapter 17: I’ll Say This One Last Time—Get Lost!
Martial arts of different kinds were divided by profundity into six major grades: Heaven, Earth, Human, High, Middle, and Low.
Some martial arts might share the same grade, but that did not mean they were equally precious.
Simple weapon-killing arts and barehanded techniques could be found everywhere.
Movement techniques and body-tempering methods, on the other hand, were far more valuable.
Cheng Yu used his movement technique and casually avoided the slash Li Da sent at him.
It was hard for that not to shock the man.
“I’ve investigated your background. There’s no way you should know a movement technique! Speak! Where did you learn it from?!”
Li Da was filled with jealousy. He himself had dreamed of obtaining a movement technique and failed.
“So you’ve been hiding your strength and concealing it from your superiors. You’re clearly plotting something! Today, I’ll seize you and take you back!”
Li Da had already made up his mind to drag Cheng Yu back to Qingjiang Prefecture. Once they got there, he could naturally force the truth about this movement technique out of him.
This trip has truly been worth it!
“Seize me?”
Cheng Yu raised a brow. He had not expected Li Da to be this arrogant, trying to arrest him without even the slightest proof. It was obvious he was used to acting lawlessly in ordinary times.
A Third Rank martial artist and an Acting Hundred-Household Commander of the Jinyiwei did indeed have the capital to do as he pleased.
But today, he had run into Cheng Yu and his luck had turned rotten.
Here, the blade did the talking.
He reached for the Hundred-Forged Xiuchun Saber at his waist, preparing to strike.
“You still dare resist? Are you trying to rebel?!”
Li Da barked sharply again, trying to pin an enormous charge on Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu could not be bothered to waste words and intended to let the Xiuchun Saber speak for him.
But at that very moment, something unexpected happened.
“Wait!”
A crisp female shout rang out, and a graceful young woman, beautiful yet not lacking in heroic bearing, stepped lightly out from the crowd beyond the gate.
Her footwork was exquisite and uncanny, making her seem as light as a swallow.
A sharp sword hung at her waist, and she wore a light red martial outfit as she came to stand in front of Cheng Yu.
At the sight of her, Cheng Yu frowned deeply. Why had she come here?
The newcomer was none other than Cheng Yue.
Seeing Cheng Yu drawing his saber and preparing to fight, she frowned and rebuked him.
“You’re fighting viciously with someone again!”
Back when Cheng Yu had been in the River-Severing Sect, he had never known restraint when sparring with others. Though he was often no match for his opponents, his attacks were always vicious and dangerous.
He had no sense of measure and did not know when to stop. She had always looked down on him for that.
And now he was pointing blades at his own superior again. As expected, he was simply used to throwing himself into violent fights!
“Move.”
Cheng Yu could not be bothered to deal with Cheng Yue. He cast her a cold glance.
Only flowers raised in a greenhouse despised others for being fierce. For everyone else, if they were not fierce enough, then the only fate awaiting them was to be trampled.
“You dare speak to me like that!”
Cheng Yue had not expected Cheng Yu to talk to her in that manner.
As the Senior Sister among the River-Severing Sect’s disciples, she was used to speaking to others in a lecturing tone. She treated Cheng Yu, this younger brother she was not especially close to, in much the same way.
The old Cheng Yu, regardless of whether he listened or not, would always nod and agree, giving his elder sister an ample face.
But now he had become so ill-mannered that he dared speak to her like this!
The bit of sympathy she still had in her heart diminished at once.
She even felt that Cheng Yu being driven to sever ties with the family had not been unrelated to his own unruly temperament.
“So what if I am? You barged into the Jinyiwei Guard Office and started pointing fingers. Am I supposed to treat you with reverence?”
“What do you mean by that?! I’m your blood sister!”
As the eldest daughter of the Martial Alliance Leader of the North, Cheng Yue was used to everyone she met outside treating her with courtesy and showing her face.
She had never expected her own younger brother to speak to her this way.
“Forget it, I won’t argue with you!”
Cheng Yue shook her head and grabbed Cheng Yu’s hand. “Come on. Go back with me first and apologize to Mother! You have no idea how heartbroken she is!”
Cheng Yu immediately pulled his hand back and looked at Cheng Yue coldly.
“I’ve already severed ties with all of you and we’ll have nothing to do with each other for the rest of our lives. Why should I care if she’s heartbroken?”
“And as for you, you barged into the Jinyiwei Guard Office without permission. Withdraw at once!”
“You!”
Twisting at the waist, Cheng Yue stamped her foot and pointed at Cheng Yu.
She had thought that all his talk of severing ties had merely been a moment of emotional anger, and that he would naturally calm down afterward.
After all, what son or daughter in the world truly resented their parents?
But she had never expected that after so many days, Cheng Yu would still have exactly the same attitude.
It was as though he truly was a vicious brute with no father and no mother!
Just as Cheng Yue was beside herself with anger, Li Da’s cold voice rang out.
“Where did this wild girl come from? You dare interfere in Jinyiwei business too? Get the hell out of the way!”
“If you delay me from taking this rebellious Cheng Yu into custody, I won’t spare you either!”
Only then did Cheng Yue realize that in her haste, she had almost forgotten about Li Da.
Cheng Yu had just been confronting him.
The two of them had been on the verge of exchanging blows.
Cheng Yue thought that the Cheng Family were all righteous people and could not act unreasonably.
She had to resolve this matter first before speaking to Cheng Yu about anything else.
“I heard everything just now. Cheng Yu, and you admitted yourself that you killed someone, so this truly can’t be brushed aside.”
Cheng Yue looked at Cheng Yu and, putting on her Senior Sister air, began directing him.
“He’s your superior in the Jinyiwei. You were wrong to offend someone above your station. You need to apologize to him first.”
“If you have some hidden grievance, you can go back with this Acting Hundred-Household Commander Li first. If they’re in the wrong, then they naturally won’t do anything to you.”
In what she considered a fair and impartial manner, she pointed and arranged what Cheng Yu ought to do.
In Jianghu morality, hierarchy and order could not be overturned!
“Apologize to him?”
Hearing Cheng Yue’s words, Cheng Yu was so angry he laughed.
Li Da had come swaggering into his territory, refused the courtesy shown to him, and had even gone mad enough to attack him.
A person like that deserved to be hacked to death with a single strike, and she was talking about apologizing?
For the sake of their so-called morality, what on earth filled the minds of the Cheng Family?
If he went with Li Da under these circumstances, he would most likely be going to his death. Where would there be any chance to reason anything out?
“Of course. Father taught us to treat others with kindness. If you show someone a measure of respect, they naturally won’t make things difficult for you.”
Cheng Yue nodded, completely certain of her own view.
In her memory, no matter where Cheng Zhenjiang went, people would listen when he reasoned with them.
The Jianghu was a place of reason and chivalry. With reason on one’s side, one could walk the world.
“Exactly!”
Li Da had also never expected Cheng Yue to say such things, and his heart leapt with joy.
“Banner Captain Cheng, come with me at once! When the time comes, Lord Hundred-Household Commander will naturally judge right and wrong. No one will make things difficult for you.”
“You see? I was right. Solving everything by fighting and killing won’t work.”
Cheng Yue proudly lifted her chin and looked at Cheng Yu.
Right my ass!
Cheng Yu cursed inwardly. Li Da’s words might fool someone like Cheng Yue, but no one else.
He had seized quite a lot of property belonging to a Hundred-Household Commander from the Red River Gang’s turf, and he had also taken the account books.
Colluding with Jianghu forces for private profit was a crime within the Jinyiwei serious enough to warrant execution.
How could the other side possibly let him off so easily?
“You still refuse even after that? Then are you really the kind of person who knows nothing but fighting and killing? How could Father and Mother have a son like you!”
Seeing that Cheng Yu still would not listen and remained unmoved, Cheng Yue grew angry.
She was trying to help him out of goodwill, yet Cheng Yu refused to appreciate it in the slightest.
“Shut up! This isn’t your little children’s game. I have nothing whatsoever to do with you now. Keep nagging, and don’t blame me for being rude!”
Having heard enough, Cheng Yu barked the words out with finality.
“You dare shout at me!”
Cheng Yue had never had a good temper to begin with. With Cheng Yu shouting at her like this, she instantly flew into a rage.
The Internal Energy throughout her body erupted instinctively. Her superior internal art had nourished that Internal Energy to a terrifying degree, so much so that the stone bricks on the ground cracked beneath the pressure.
As the Senior Sister among the River-Severing Sect’s disciples and the Sect Master’s daughter, Cheng Yue’s strength was naturally extraordinary.
At such a young age, she was already in the late Fourth Rank!
The display of her strength gave even Li Da a fright, to the point that his legs went weak on the spot.
Why did this woman feel even stronger than a Hundred-Household Commander?
Looking carefully now, he finally noticed that Cheng Yue was dressed in fine silk and brocade and adorned with countless delicate, glittering ornaments.
Even the scabbard at her waist was exquisitely carved with dragons and phoenixes. She was absolutely not from any ordinary household.
He also remembered that when she had entered just now, she had used an exceedingly precious superior movement technique.
This woman claimed to be Cheng Yu’s elder sister. Had he kicked solid iron this time?
But as Li Da trembled inwardly, he also realized that the relationship between these brothers and sisters was not what he had imagined.
Drawing out the full force of her aura, Cheng Yue looked coldly at Cheng Yu and said, “I’ll ask you one last time. Are you coming back with me to see Mother or not?”
“No. I have no relationship whatsoever with hypocrites like you. Seeing any of you would only make me sick.”
“I’ll also tell you this one last time—get lost!”
Cheng Yu’s tone was incomparably resolute. It no longer held the slightest trace of seeing them as family.
“No wonder Father agreed to sever ties with you. So you really are a vicious wretch with no father and no mother!”
“In that case, we won’t concern ourselves with you anymore! Go on and keep serving as the court’s Imperial Hound. Whatever trouble you stir up, no one will clean it up for you!”
At Cheng Yu’s decisiveness, Cheng Yue’s heart turned cold.
But the moment she heard herself called hypocritical, she flew into a rage like a tiger whose tail had been stepped on.
With a stamp of her foot, she used her movement technique and leapt away.
Li Da, who had just been frightened by Cheng Yue a moment ago, also recovered his wits at this time.
The dazed look on his face turned once more into a savage grin.
“So I thought you’d offended the young master of some great family. Turns out you’re just a stray wild dog with no home. Let’s see who can save you today!”
Those who trained in martial arts upheld righteousness, and of those virtues, filial piety came first.
By severing ties with his family, Cheng Yu had committed a great taboo, and no longer had any connection whatsoever to his parents or sisters.
That meant that no matter what Li Da did now, no one else would have any reason to seek revenge on him.
“Boy, you’re finished today! But just in case, I won’t kill you. I’ll leave you your dog life—”
Before Li Da could finish his taunting words, several streaks of sharp saber light suddenly flashed before his eyes.
“You talk too much.”
Cheng Yu had already been in a foul mood. Seeing Li Da acting like this, he simply drew his saber and struck.
The attacks of the Hundred-Battle Reincarnation Saber Art all pressed straight for vital points, forcefully suppressing his opponent.
“You’re courting death!”
Li Da had not expected Cheng Yu to attack first, and every strike was aimed at killing him. He was both shocked and enraged.
But after hurriedly blocking several blows, his emotions turned into fear.
He realized that he was not Cheng Yu’s match!
And Cheng Yu really did seem intent on killing him!
How could a mere Banner Captain dare?!
After several more exchanges, Cheng Yu’s Hundred-Forged Xiuchun Saber repeatedly skimmed past Li Da’s scalp.
Li Da grew more and more terrified. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and pull out an iron pellet from his robes.
A life-saving hidden weapon that had cost him half a year’s salary!
He smashed the iron pellet at Cheng Yu’s feet. Thick smoke exploded outward, and behind the smoke, a storm of iron needles shot forth wildly, interrupting Cheng Yu’s offensive.
Li Da was instantly overjoyed.
“So you got hit by the Ingenious Iron Pellet. Even if you don’t die, you’ll be badly wounded. Next time, I’ll come back and take the head of you rebel!”
He did not dare act arrogantly any longer and immediately took the chance to flee.
But he had barely taken half a step when a cold voice rang out from behind him.
“Empty your quivers. Shoot his legs!”
Li Da was horrified inwardly. Could it be that Cheng Yu had not been injured?
He had no time to think further before he suddenly discovered a squad of Jinyiwei standing in formation in front of him, and a dense rain of bolts shot out from their crossbows.
Cheng Yu’s men had returned!
At Cheng Yu’s command, they did not even ask what was happening. They fired without the slightest hesitation!