Ch. 40
Chapter 40: In My View, Most of the Jianghu Is Filled with Frauds Who Deceive the World and Steal Empty Fame!
“Reporting to you, my lord, Ma Yuan’s family members and all his property are already here!”
Hearing his subordinate’s report, Cheng Yu gave a slight nod.
“Execute them all on the spot. Keep a few important ones alive. They’ll be useful when I interrogate Ma Yuan.”
“Yes, sir!”
With that one order, heart-rending cries rose once more.
Heads rolled to the ground one after another, and corpses soon covered the earth.
After everything was done, Cheng Yu was just about to mount his horse and head back when he suddenly heard the stern voice of a Jinyiwei officer not far behind him.
“The Jinyiwei are conducting official business. Unrelated persons are not to approach!”
Turning back, he saw a man wearing a silver mask and dressed like a martial artist of the Jianghu.
He was walking toward the Jinyiwei from the direction of Dragon Abyss Prefecture City.
“I’ve come to see Lord Cheng!”
At Cheng Yu’s side, Liu Xiong’s gaze immediately tightened.
He drew his sword at once, his sword intent no longer concealed in the slightest, ready to step forward and intercept the man.
This was an expert!
And his sudden appearance here was definitely suspicious!
“There’s no rush. I know this man.”
Cheng Yu raised a hand to stop Liu Xiong.
He recognized the voice. It belonged to the same man who had previously brought him the Tiger Tally.
Walking forward, Cheng Yu cupped his fists and saluted with a smile. “Brother, what brings you here?”
At the same time, he quietly drew one hand back, ready to take out the Demon-Slaying Sword at any moment.
Though this man had delivered the Tiger Tally and had spoken with clear goodwill toward him, the fact remained that he was obviously extremely powerful and yet liked to hide himself. The last time he wore a human-skin mask; this time he had changed into a silver mask.
A mysterious man with such a background was almost certainly a person of high standing.
And now he had appeared here again, making the matter even stranger.
The masked man smiled. “My master sent me to invite you to a banquet in Dragon Abyss Prefecture City. Naturally, I came here to find you, Lord Cheng.”
“Your master is inviting me to a banquet? May I ask which lord is present?”
A banquet was being prepared in Dragon Abyss Prefecture. Did that mean the man had already predicted that he would chase Ma Yuan this far?
Hearing this, Cheng Yu’s curiosity deepened, and he asked directly.
“My master did not permit me to say. I hope Lord Cheng will forgive me. Once you go, you’ll know.”
The masked man shook his head mysteriously.
After thinking for a moment, Cheng Yu decided not to slight the man’s goodwill. After all, he had helped him at a crucial moment.
“Liu Xiong, take them back to Qingjiang Prefecture. Throw Ma Yuan into prison and wait for me to return and interrogate him.”
“Yes, Master!”
The masked man had not expected that this swordsman with such profound swordsmanship would actually call Cheng Yu Master, and he could not help being startled.
But he quickly hid his reaction.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you to lead the way, brother.”
“This way, Lord Cheng!”
......
The fine horse beneath Cheng Yu was full of vigorous qi and blood, running like a divine steed.
The masked man no longer concealed his strength and used an ethereal, mysterious footwork. Even on foot, he did not fall behind Cheng Yu in the slightest.
Before sunset, the two of them had entered Dragon Abyss Prefecture City, the vast and magnificent city lying beneath Sword-Forging Manor.
The masked man led the way.
As Cheng Yu walked, he observed the roads and houses of Dragon Abyss Prefecture City. They were incomparably better than those of Qingjiang Prefecture City.
“So this is the giant city nourished by the wealth of an entire Path.”
Yet at the same time, the matter of the smuggled laborers suddenly surfaced in his mind again. It was surely not only Qingjiang Prefecture. Most likely, the able-bodied laborers of the entire Dragon Abyss Path had been gathered here in the same way.
The two of them soon arrived in one of the most bustling districts of the city and entered a towering, extraordinary building.
The foremost restaurant in Dragon Abyss—Dragon Abyss Tavern.
They went up flight after flight of stairs until they reached the highest top floor of the building.
The entire floor had been reserved. It was far quieter than the lively lower levels. An old man with white hair and beard, dressed in a yellow robe, was seated at the banquet.
The masked man bowed respectfully to the old man in yellow robes.
With a grin, he said, “Mr. Zhao, I’ve brought Lord Cheng to you.”
Zhao Yi looked at Cheng Yu, nodded, and smiled broadly. “As expected of a youthful hero. Truly handsome and imposing.”
Cheng Yu was dressed in the Cold-Origin Flying Fish Uniform, a tyrannical black outfit that made him seem even more formidable. At his waist hung the Thunder-Cleaving Xiuchun Saber, which only added to his bold and masculine aura.
He stood straight and tall, with an extraordinary bearing.
More precious still was his calm expression. He was neither timid nor overbearing, and there was not the slightest hint of frivolous arrogance in him.
Zhao Yi was deeply satisfied with the bearing of this grandson of his.
“This junior greets you, Senior. Thank you for your help with the Tiger Tally. Cheng Yu will remember it in his heart.”
Cheng Yu respectfully bowed.
Without the Tiger Tally and the ability to mobilize the Qingjiang Prefecture troops, it would never have been so easy for him to confiscate and exterminate the Three Great Sects.
Toward those willing to show him goodwill, he had never been stingy with gratitude or repayment.
“Good, good, good!”
Seeing how Cheng Yu remained respectful without being servile, Zhao Yi grew even more pleased.
Who said his grandson was ruthless and bloodthirsty, a butcher without restraint?
His methods were thunderous, yes, but toward the common people he had always been tolerant and compassionate.
Was that not a hundred times, a thousand times more genuine than those hypocritical so-called great heroes and champions of the Jianghu?
The three of them took their seats.
Cheng Yu did not waste words and spoke directly. “May I ask why Senior invited this junior here today? If there is anything this junior can do, I will certainly not refuse.”
He was extremely straightforward. If he could do something, he would do it. If he could not, he would not make empty promises.
Zhao Yi shook his head.
“I did not invite you here because I seek something from you. I invited you because I am interested in you as a person.”
“Interested in me?”
Cheng Yu was somewhat puzzled. Among Jianghu martial artists, everyone who saw him called him a blood-soaked demon who killed without restraint.
What was there about him to be interested in?
“You may find it strange that I am interested in you, but before I answer that, I need to ask you one question.”
“What is your view of the Great Qian martial world and the Jianghu as they are today?”
Cheng Yu had not expected Zhao Yi to ask such a question, but he knew that this man had helped him in the matter of exterminating the Three Great Sects.
He was likely not one of those hypocrites who spoke endlessly of chivalry and morality.
So Cheng Yu simply gave his true opinion without hiding anything.
“In my view, today’s Jianghu is nothing more than a group of vested interests leading everyone else in a grand farce of hypocrisy under the name of chivalry.”
“Oh?”
A light flashed in Zhao Yi’s eyes, and his expression grew interested.
The masked man at the side also straightened slightly in his seat.
Cheng Yu continued, “The martial artists of the Jianghu occupy the moral high ground and call themselves heroes, always trying to pin the label of ‘bringing disaster to the world’ on others, never realizing that they themselves are the true culprits!”
“Especially since eighteen years ago, when the barbarian tribes led demon beasts into Great Qian territory and righteous men across many regions rose to defend their homes and country, the common people of the realm have lived their most miserable lives.”
“The martial artists of the Jianghu use chivalry as an excuse while doing whatever they please through force, ignoring the law and wantonly oppressing the weak. Sects stand everywhere, fighting and scrambling against one another, crossing blades and swords at every turn. Eight or nine out of every ten calamities under heaven can be traced back to them!”
“What is laughable is that betrayal, abandonment of wives and children, and collusion with bandits and thieves are all commonplace among them, and yet they are precisely the most vain and hypocritical of people, forever mouthing words of chivalry and morality.”
“As for those great heroes and mighty champions, in my eyes, most of them are frauds who deceive the world and steal empty fame.”
As Zhao Yi listened to Cheng Yu’s analysis, wine cup in hand, the interest in his eyes only grew.
“Then in your view, what should a martial artist be?”
“A martial artist has never relied on false reputation or empty boasting. What he relies on is his own strength, the blade and sword in his hand, and the imposing momentum that says whoever stands in my way dies!”
Cheng Yu’s tone was incomparably certain.
“My pursuit is simple: that no one can stop me and no one can stand in my way.”
“Kill one man in ten steps; leave no trace in a thousand li. If you kill until the Jianghu trembles in fear, then naturally no one will dare offend you. Why deceive yourself and others, only to become a laughingstock in the end?”
The moment those words were spoken, smack!
Zhao Yi froze, and the wine cup in his hand fell to the ground.
He was so shaken that for a moment he could not speak.
Even with all his decades of experience and worldly knowledge, he was left utterly astonished by the force of Cheng Yu’s words.
Kill one man in ten steps; leave no trace in a thousand li!
What a bold and heroic ambition was that?
To stand against the mainstream of the entire world and curse them all as frauds who deceived the world and stole hollow fame—
What a vast and overwhelming spirit was that?
But the thing that excited Zhao Yi most was this:
his grandson’s way of thinking was exactly the same as his own!
To find a true kindred spirit was a rare blessing in life.
And this one was his own flesh-and-blood grandson!