Chapter 228 - 224: Taking the Job (Part 2)
At that moment, he truly wanted to see how heart-wrenching and devastating it would be for Su Yaoguang to witness Zhou Wangshu die in front of her.
"Enjoying the view?" A cold voice sounded.
Xiao Yanci stiffened as he heard the voice, turning to see Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang standing not far away.
"How did you..." Xiao Yanci glanced at them, then looked back at the direction of the fight across from him.
By this time, the people fighting had looked over. When those people faced him head-on, he finally saw clearly that the ’Su Yaoguang’ and ’Zhou Wangshu’ over there were imposters.
"You bribed people from Mingye Hall?" Xiao Yanci said angrily, "Isn’t it true that Mingye Hall fulfills the orders they accept? Why did they go back on their word and act so treacherously?"
"Mingye Hall also has principles; their principle is not to work for ignoble people. Xiao Ci, we don’t have deep-seated hatred, do we? Yet you hired someone to kill us," Zhou Wangshu said, "Let me analyze what you’re thinking. Do you feel that I’m blocking your path and if you kill me, you’ll lose a competitor? Xiao Ci, do you then intend to kill the second place too? After all, I’m not your only opponent. If you want to be the Champion Scholar, you’ll have to kill a lot of people; you’d have to get rid of the top candidate from each area, otherwise you still stand no chance."
"It’s different..." Xiao Yanci looked coldly at Zhou Wangshu, "As long as I handle you, the others are no match for me. In that dream, you are the only variable."
"Why waste words on him? He dared to hire assassins. We should deliver him to the government, let him spend the rest of his life in prison, and see how he plans to become Champion Scholar then."
Su Yaoguang charged towards Xiao Yanci.
Xiao Yanci knew Su Yaoguang’s combat ability; seeing that his plan to hire assassins had been exposed, he realized staying any longer would lead to his death, so he turned to flee.
A few people emerged from the side, wearing Mingye Hall attire.
"You took a deposit of one hundred taels of silver, and now you’re not only failing to complete the task I entrusted but are helping the ones I’m trying to kill to turn against me. Mingye Hall truly is shameless."
"From the beginning, we never truly took your task; it was all a ruse to draw you out. You didn’t disappoint us, indeed spying nearby."
Xiao Yanci swung his arm, scattering a handful of powder.
The few Mingye Hall members who were about to grab him inhaled a large amount of the powder, coughing with burning eyes.
"Ah..."
Xiao Yanci seized the opportunity to escape.
The others quickly pursued him.
Su Yaoguang wanted to chase too, but was pulled back by Zhou Wangshu.
"This mountain is difficult to climb; with so many people chasing him, unless he grows wings, he won’t escape this dense forest," Zhou Wangshu stated, "Leave this to them."
"These Mingye Hall people are quite dependable. They don’t kill good people, only bad ones. They must have investigated your usual behavior and refused to take the task to kill you."
Zhou Wangshu felt somewhat guilty.
Mingye Hall isn’t so righteous. In fact, the only reason they didn’t act against him was because he is the master of Mingye Hall. Unless there was internal strife in Mingye Hall, it was impossible for them to take on this task.
The few Mingye Hall brothers continued their pursuit of Xiao Yanci.
Xiao Yanci was just a frail scholar, lacking in skills and not as nimble as trained fighters. Seeing so many people chasing him, Su Yaoguang decided not to join in and slowly followed with Zhou Wangshu.
Before long, the people chasing Xiao Yanci returned.
"That Xiao fellow jumped off a cliff," reported the Mingye Hall people regarding Xiao Yanci’s latest situation.
They cautiously glanced at Zhou Wangshu, seeing no special reaction from him, and then said to Su Yaoguang, "But rest assured, the cliffs here are so steep; jumping off from here, there’s no way he could survive."
"I don’t want to hear about hypotheticals," Zhou Wangshu said, "Arrange for some people to search below the mountain; find the body, dead or alive."
"Yes."
Su Yaoguang looked thoughtfully at Zhou Wangshu.
"What’s wrong?" Zhou Wangshu felt a pang of unease.
He had just given orders too naturally, and the response from the Mingye Hall people had been matter-of-fact.
"I spent a lot of money to hire them to deal with Xiao Ci. Now that Xiao Ci has jumped off a cliff and it’s still uncertain if he’s dead, they need to handle this properly before I pay them the rest."
"You’re right. That Xiao Ci is truly deranged, actually hiring someone to kill. Luckily, you know the people of Mingye Hall, and they didn’t truly accept this job, otherwise, we might not have been able to withstand an assassination from Mingye Hall," Su Yaoguang said, "Xiao Ci dared to commit murder, and now jumping off the cliff is his just desserts. He’d better be dead, or else I’ll personally deliver the final blow."