Entrapment

"Don't ask me, this is probably the difference between ordinary people and geniuses."

Yuezheng Yao couldn't help but smile bitterly. She had actually come to consider herself an ordinary person. If she had met Si Ming sooner, perhaps her sister wouldn't have left.

But there's no point in thinking about it now...

Yuezheng Yao shook her head. To shake off the feeling of regret, she turned and looked out the window. She discovered that the source of the sound was a grandfather and grandson performing on the street.

The old man was alright, merely drumming and banging gongs to attract tourists, while the young girl was performing tricks like walking through fire hoops, climbing poles, and walking on ropes. Such performances would probably not be interesting in the Su State, where everyone practices martial arts, and certainly wouldn't be worth paying for. However, in the martial arts world of the Barbarian Continent, they were quite eye-catching, especially since the girl was quite beautiful, with a slender waist and a delicate, boneless figure, which drew cheers from many people.

"This girl is so flexible, she must be able to do a lot of positions?"

Many lewd people let out lewd laughter.

Yuezheng Yao couldn't help but frown, but she didn't stop them, because she knew that the grandfather and grandson must have heard it too, but neither of them took it to heart, and she didn't need to cause trouble.

Ultimately, this grandfather and granddaughter, who were traveling around performing, must have been used to hearing vulgar language. They weren't sheltered young ladies who would blush and cover their faces at the slightest bit of crude talk.

Suddenly, the crowd parted, and a haughty fat man barged in with two burly men who looked like servants. The fat man said, "Young lady, my young master invites you upstairs for a drink. Don't worry, as long as you can please him, you'll be rewarded. Even a little bit of money slipping through his fingers is better than a month's worth of hard-earned wages."

The old man looked up and saw that the place the other person was pointing to was actually a brothel. Although a brothel was not the same as a brothel, how could he let his granddaughter take such a risk? So he smiled apologetically and said, "It's not that she's unwilling, it's just that my granddaughter is impolite and might offend the young master. Besides, we have other things to do, so we'll just practice here for a bit and then we'll have to leave."

After saying that, he quickly packed his things with his granddaughter and hurriedly prepared to leave.

The fat man grunted twice and waved his hand. School of Names rushed over. One of them kicked the luggage that the grandfather and grandson used for their performance, while the other held the old man down.

The fat man stepped forward and grabbed the girl's delicate arm. "It's just asking you to go upstairs and sing a song, it's not like we're going to do anything to you, why are you avoiding it? Even if the young master takes a liking to you, that's your good fortune. Don't be ungrateful. You'll live a life of luxury and wealth in the future, and you'll rise to a higher social status, which will be better than what you're experiencing now."

Seeing this, Yuezheng Yao shook her head and was about to help when suddenly several shadows shot out like arrows. Then the fat man and School of Names rolled on the ground, screaming in pain. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that all three of them had a chopstick stuck in their knees, piercing right through.

"Ha, I never expected to encounter such a classic case of a bully harassing the weak and abducting innocent women. If I don't play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress, I can't even say I've ever been a wanderer of the martial world."

Chapter 574 Entrapment

Although Si Ming was eager to follow the chivalrous path, the fat man and his School of Names had no obligation to cooperate with him. The former, in particular, was the steward of the Zhou Clan, a local tyrant. He was adept at reading people's expressions and had exceptionally sharp eyes. As soon as he saw that the other man could pierce his knee with chopsticks, he immediately realized that he had offended a powerful figure. He had heard stories of chivalrous heroes who would draw their swords to help those in need.

As soon as Si Ming jumped down from the restaurant, the fat manager prostrated himself on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face, begging for mercy. "Great hero, spare my life! Please, great hero, spare my life! I will never do it again!"

Si Ming stroked his chin, thinking to himself, "Damn it, their martial arts level is too high. This kind of local bully should be a trial for a novice in the martial arts world. At my level, unless their backer is the leader of the martial arts alliance, I won't get any experience points at all. But the problem is, it seems that I'm the only one in the entire Barbarian Continent martial arts world who holds the title of leader of the martial arts alliance. I can't just attack myself, can I?"

"When you were so arrogant and domineering before, why didn't you think of 'Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you'? You want me to spare your life, so why didn't you spare the lives of this grandfather and grandson just now?"

The portly steward hurriedly explained, "I had no intention of killing this grandfather and granddaughter. In fact, my young master only wanted this young lady to go up and offer a toast, sing a little song, and dance. He had no malicious intent."

Si Ming rolled his eyes and said, "Who knows what you were originally planning? Others didn't want to go, but you insisted on kidnapping them, and even brought two thugs with you. You'd have to believe you didn't have bad intentions."

Upon hearing this, the fat steward knew there was hope. He was afraid of encountering those unreasonable knights-errant who wouldn't give him a chance to explain and would just stab him in the face. Regardless of whether they were good or bad people or whether there was a misunderstanding, they would never use words if they could use their hands. Since this person in front of him allowed him to speak, he thought there was a chance to save his life. So he kowtowed hard, kowtowing until his forehead bled.

At this moment, he couldn't care less about the pain. He knew that the more pathetic and humble he appeared, the more likely the other party would let him go.

"Great hero, please see the truth! My usual methods have been a bit rough and I've always been arrogant and domineering. I certainly deserve to be taught a lesson, but I truly had no intention of forcibly taking any woman from you."

Si Ming stroked his chin. This was a bit of a problem. The other party's attempt to commit a crime was unsuccessful. Whether their true intention was to force the street performer to sing and drink with them or to coerce her into prostitution was impossible to say. Of course, both were crimes, but the former did not warrant death. The current punishment was sufficient. He was not a bloodthirsty person. While he would not show mercy to evildoers, he did not believe that everyone who made a mistake, regardless of its severity, should be killed.

At this moment, Si Ming missed Yu Shuying terribly. With her around, he could Mind-Reading Technique minds and see through people's thoughts.

Then I recalled a scene from a movie where the protagonist, when the villain surrenders and lays down his weapon, always softens and spares his life instead of killing him outright. Then, the moment the protagonist turns around, the villain immediately reveals a ferocious expression, picks up his weapon again, and launches a sneak attack on the protagonist, only to be brilliantly counter-killed by the protagonist.

In the past, when Si Ming saw this kind of plot, he would curse the protagonist as an idiot and the screenwriter and director as mentally challenged. Now, thinking about it, this arrangement makes sense. Since the villain has laid down his weapon, the crime has been stopped. Although the audience knows that the villain is just pretending, this is from God's perspective and cannot be used as evidence in court because the law can't control what a person thinks, it can only control what he does.

Therefore, if the protagonist kills a villain who has abandoned his weapon, it would be considered excessive self-defense, or even "imaginary self-defense," and he would be convicted of intentional homicide. Only when the villain picks up his weapon again to continue committing crimes would the protagonist be considered to be acting in legitimate self-defense and exercise unlimited self-defense rights.

The director arranged this plot not because they were mentally challenged—even if they were, it wouldn't be reflected here—but because they wanted to convey the correct concept of the law to the audience. After all, only protagonists who abide by the law can be considered upright protagonists.

After a moment's thought, Si Ming addressed the surrounding crowd. "Fellow villagers, if you believe this man deserves to die, or if you know of any unforgivable crimes committed by him or his Lineage, please step forward and tell me. I guarantee I will seek justice for you."

The townspeople who were just watching were surprised to find themselves being questioned. Some turned and left to avoid trouble, while others showed interest. However, the fat steward looked up and gave them a threatening look, which made them realize they should abandon their plans to complain.

When Si Ming looked around, everyone avoided his gaze and remained silent.

"I see. It seems this person's crime truly doesn't warrant death. In that case, a light punishment will suffice."

Si Ming reached out and grabbed the chopsticks from the fat steward's knee, forcibly pulling them out. The steward rolled on the ground in pain, but Si Ming ignored him. Ever since he came downstairs, he had felt a gaze mixed with hostility and fear on him, and the source of that gaze was the brothel the fat steward had mentioned.

He weighed the chopsticks in his hand for a moment, then threw them like darts. With a "thud," the chopsticks pierced the wall and hit their target accurately.

"Ah--"

As expected, screams came from the brothel. The fat steward's face changed drastically, becoming extremely ugly. He recognized his young master's voice, of course. The thought that his young master had been injured because of him made it easy for him to imagine what kind of fate he would suffer when he returned.

"Alright, get lost."

Si Ming had no obligation to be considerate of the other party, nor did he care whether the other party resented him. In any case, this kind of person couldn't do anything except resent.

The fat steward's expression changed several times, but in the end he didn't dare to complain to Si Ming. The future was something to worry about in the future; at least his life was saved for now. He immediately fled in a sorry state with School of Names.

After the excitement subsided, the townspeople, fearing trouble, didn't dare stay to praise Si Ming and quickly dispersed.

The grandfather and grandson who were performing for money went up to thank Si Ming and then left in a hurry. After all, with such a commotion, they could no longer stay to perform for money. Since they were just wandering the world, they didn't have any worries about leaving their hometown.

You just let that guy go like that?

Wan Ziling came up behind Si Ming and asked.

"I will only save those who cry for help. If they don't speak up, am I supposed to expect them to? It's one thing if they don't know someone can save them, but the rescuer is right on the shore, and they'd rather drown than cry for help. All I can do is preserve their honor."

"Didn't you see that fat man deliberately threatened others, and the people dared not speak out? It's not that they don't have grievances, but that they dare not say them."

"This just proves that this person hasn't committed any heinous crime that's unforgivable. Otherwise, if he were risking his life, what wouldn't he dare to say? If he truly had such a grievance that would lead to the destruction of his family, what would he have to hold back? He'd rather fight to the death. I'm doing this to prevent anyone from spreading falsehoods and using me to kill someone else."