You Don't Know You Were Wrong, You Just Don't Want to Die

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Like a savage bull, Qin Ming charged recklessly through the dense forest in the dead of night. Everyone he struck suffered broken bones and torn sinews, dying horrible deaths on the spot.

Some took the full force of his charge and burst apart, turning into a bloody mist that filled the air.

"Madman! Qin Ming's gone mad!!!"

Everyone present trembled with fear.

Qin Ming was like a prehistoric tyrannosaur. Wherever he went, flesh and blood splattered, internal organs flew everywhere, and heads rolled. Many turned deathly pale and doubled over, vomiting.

Half of Huo Lan's face had been slapped until it swelled like a pig's head. She was trembling with rage when she looked up, only to be drenched in scalding blood, the entrails of some unlucky soul hanging around her neck.

Her raging fury vanished as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head. Her face turned as pale as paper, as if all the blood and Qi had been drained from her body.

"Don't kill me! I was wrong! I'll hand over everything I own!"

A country squire knelt on the ground, holding the banknotes from his robes high above his head.

"Once I kill you, the banknotes will still be mine! Idiot!"

Qin Ming's voice was cold. With a casual palm strike, he drove the squire's head into his belly, then put away the banknotes.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Seeing that begging for mercy was useless, a Perfected Skin-Refining Realm martial artist summoned all his strength and swung his saber at the back of Qin Ming's head.

The saber Qi was chilling, and blood and Qi surged through the blade. Saber Qi flickered faintly as he swung it. The man had actually cultivated a saber art!

A flicker of surprise crossed Qin Ming's face, but he remained composed.

Though Qin Ming was only at the Late Skin-Refining Realm, a lower realm than his opponent, he had Major Accomplishment Savage Bull Strength, the Perfected Pig-Slaying Saber Technique, and the Perfected Fire Sand Palm. Even someone in the Flesh Refining Realm would meet a bitter end at his hands, so what was a mere Perfected Skin-Refining Realm martial artist?

Qin Ming opened his fists into palms. In the blink of an eye, his bare hands glowed red like branding irons. The air around them warped slightly, and wisps of white smoke drifted out.

"Clang!"

Rather than meet the saber's edge head-on, Qin Ming struck it from the side, hitting the blade squarely.

"Sizzle!!"

The blade visibly turned red, radiating such intense heat that even the Perfected Skin-Refining Realm martial artist could not bear it and was forced to let go.

"Ah!" he screamed. His entire right hand had turned blackish-purple.

"Fire Poison!"

His expression changed drastically.

The Fire Poison had spread into his body along the blade. It was simply unbelievable!

Qin Ming pressed the attack, striking the man's forehead with his palm and killing him outright.

In a short time, Qin Ming had killed more than half the people present.

"Don't kill me! I was wrong! We really know we were wrong!"

The people of the Li Lineage wailed, able only to kneel and beg for mercy.

"Our Li Lineage hired the Weiyuan Escort Agency before, and you're from the agency too. We're all acquainted, so could you show us mercy? We know we were wrong."

The head of the Li Lineage forced himself to remain calm. As the head of his lineage, if he backed down, its reputation would be ruined. How could he continue to make his way in the jianghu after that?

"You don't know you were wrong. You just don't want to die."

Qin Ming slowly shook his head.

"Our Li Lineage has connections and powerful backing in Qingyang County's seat. Qin Ming, the mountains may not turn, but the rivers do. One more friend means one more path. Spare me today, and when you reach Qingyang County, our Li Lineage will make you our chief guest elder. What do you say?"

"Not interested."

Qin Ming stabbed his saber into him and gave it a hard twist, sending him straight to the Western Paradise.

In the blink of an eye, only the people from the two martial arts academies remained alive.

"Qin Ming, don't... don't be hasty."

Huo Zheng's mouth was full of blood, and he had lost most of his teeth. Air whistled through the gaps when he spoke.

"Everything just now was my idea. It had nothing to do with them. Kill me and let them leave. I'm begging you."

Huo Zheng fell heavily to his knees and knocked his forehead against the ground.

"Father!"

"Master!"

"Academy Master!"

The people of the Tiger Martial Arts Academy stared in anguish, their eyes nearly splitting.

Their master, the head of the Tiger Martial Arts Academy and the strongest fighter in Qingshan Town, was now kneeling and kowtowing for mercy, all so they could live!

For a moment, everyone glared at Qin Ming.

Many of them had received Huo Zheng's kindness. Seeing him humble himself before Qin Ming like this immediately stirred killing intent in their hearts.

"Father! Get up!"

Huo Lin struggled to his feet and tried to help Huo Zheng up.

"You get down on your knees too!"

Huo Zheng forced Huo Lin down onto the ground.

"Father!"

Huo Lin's face twisted. He couldn't understand it. At worst, Qin Ming would kill them, so why grovel and beg?

At some point, Pei Heng had slowly regained consciousness. He was deeply moved by the sight.

Not long ago, Huo Zheng had enraged him so badly that he spat blood and passed out. When he awoke, Huo Zheng was already like a stray dog, kneeling and kowtowing for mercy. Life was truly full of drama.

Seeing Qin Ming's expressionless face, Huo Zheng's heart sank. He turned to Pei Heng and bowed his head. "Brother Pei Heng, we've known each other for so many years. I don't ask for much now. I only hope your gifted disciple will show mercy and give the members of my Tiger Martial Arts Academy a chance to live. I, Huo Zheng, am willing to atone with my death!"

With that, Huo Zheng raised the broken saber high in both hands and stabbed it toward his abdomen.

"Father!"

Huo Lin gripped the hilt tightly, his eyes as red as blood. "Don't!"

"Master!"

"Academy Master!"

The people of the Tiger Martial Arts Academy couldn't help bursting into tears. For a moment, even the people of the Eight Trigrams Martial Arts Academy felt for them.

If Pei Heng had done the same, they would probably have wept until their hearts broke.

"Senior Brother Qin, how about... letting them live?"

Ye Wei leaned close to Qin Ming and spoke in a low voice.

To his surprise, before he had even finished speaking, Qin Ming slapped Ye Wei across the face.

"Smack!"

The sudden slap stunned Ye Wei. He flew several zhang sideways and slammed into the ground, half his body numb and blood gushing from his mouth and nose.

That wasn't the end of it. Qin Ming strode after him, seized Ye Wei by the collar, and lifted him up.

"Did I hear you right? You're pleading for them?"

Qin Ming's voice was icy. "If I had really died, what do you think they would have done to you? To the other brothers from the academy? Let you leave so you could come back for revenge once you were strong enough?"

Huo Zheng's heart jumped.

He had indeed intended to wipe out everyone from the Eight Trigrams Martial Arts Academy.

If you cut the grass without removing the roots, it grows again when the spring breeze blows. Wasn't this situation in Qingshan Town a great opportunity for the Tiger Martial Arts Academy too?

He had no intention of sparing the others, either—not just the members of the Eight Trigrams Martial Arts Academy.

Those country squires and local landlords were all filthy rich, carrying jewelry and ornaments. They were only ordinary people, and he could kill them with a single palm strike. If he killed them all, their wealth would be his, and he could live in comfort once he reached Qingyang County. What could be better?

But with Qin Ming's awakening, all of it had vanished like a bubble.

Even if beaten to death, however, he would never dare admit it in the present situation. He immediately raised a hand and swore to the heavens that he had never entertained such a thought.

Thinking of that possibility, Ye Wei belatedly felt a jolt of fear. His face quickly flushed red, and he said, still shaken, "Senior Brother Qin, I was wrong."

"Watch what you say next time. For the sake of our being fellow disciples, I'll spare you this once. If there's a next time, I'll slap your mouth to pieces!"

Qin Ming's tone was calm, but that very calm sent chills down Ye Wei's back, and he nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this, Huo Zheng felt his heart sink.

Qin Ming looked young, but his temperament was remarkably mature. It seemed he had seen through Huo Zheng's thoughts long ago.

"Ye Wei, Junior Brother Qin is right. You're too inexperienced. Junior Brother's slap was a warning, so you won't throw your life away out there someday without even knowing how you died."

Li Shengnan spoke coldly.

Her arm bone had been broken, and her chest was stained with blood. She knew exactly what the people of the Tiger Martial Arts Academy were capable of. If Qin Ming hadn't caught them off guard, she and the others would already be ghosts in the underworld.

"Old bastard, do you still remember my brother? Back then, he was your eldest disciple, the Tiger Martial Arts Academy's senior brother. He was gravely injured while handling business for the academy, and to save on medicinal ingredients, you watched him die of his wounds. How can a cold, heartless man like you have the nerve to claim you're thinking of your disciples?"

After Li Shengnan stepped forward and exposed his past, Huo Zheng's expression turned extremely ugly.

Huo Lan finally understood Huo Zheng's painstaking intentions. Her gaze swept around before settling on Embroiderer.

Embroiderer was gentle and pretty, with the appearance of a respectable young woman. If Huo Lan begged her for mercy, she surely wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

With that thought, Huo Lan crawled on her knees all the way to Embroiderer, weeping bitterly. "Please spare us. We won't ever dare set our sights on those banknotes again. My father lost his head for a moment, but he doesn't deserve to die for it."

Huo Lan deliberately directed their resentment toward the banknotes, hoping to make a major matter seem minor and a minor matter disappear.

But to her surprise, Embroiderer wasn't moved in the slightest. Instead, she slapped Huo Lan hard across the face.

Though Embroiderer wasn't strong enough to hurt her, the humiliation made Huo Lan's face turn ashen with rage.

A mere mortal had slapped her!

"Do you take me for a fool?"

Embroiderer spoke coldly. "You wanted to steal the banknotes, and you expect me to believe you'd be kind enough to spare me? Brother Qin is right. Every one of you deserves to die!"

With that, Embroiderer took the pig-slaying knife Qin Ming handed her and stabbed it into Huo Lan's chest.

Everyone froze. Huo Lan looked down at the pig-slaying knife lodged in her chest, disbelief written across her face.

"You..."

The light gradually faded from Huo Lan's eyes.

She had guessed wrong, completely wrong!

"Hahaha!"

Qin Ming threw back his head and laughed.

"Not bad, not bad. I got to watch a performance, but honestly, your acting really wasn't much."

The corners of Qin Ming's mouth slowly curled upward. He picked up Huo Lin and Huo Zheng, one in each hand, and smashed their heads together.

"Splurt!"

Their heads burst like watermelons, and their bodies went limp as noodles.

A little while later, Qin Ming had wiped out everyone from the Tiger Martial Arts Academy.

That wasn't the end of it. Qin Ming dissected every corpse present, separating bone from flesh. Blood flowed across the ground, and the internal organs formed a pile.

Lu Liu and the others couldn't hold it in any longer and vomited. Even Pei Heng nearly failed to keep his own stomach down.

Only after dissecting the last person did Qin Ming let out a long breath and slide the pig-slaying knife back into the pouch at his waist.

"Sorry, occupational habit. I've slaughtered so many pigs that whenever I see a corpse, I can't help dissecting it."

Qin Ming smiled as he spoke.

Ye Wei and the others felt their scalps tingle.

Dissecting corpses? What kind of damned occupational habit was that?

At least he only dissected corpses. If he dissected living people, they really wouldn't dare stay around Qin Ming.

Ye Wei rubbed his swollen cheek and smiled in agreement. "You're absolutely right, Senior Brother. Occupational habits really are hard to change. Take me, for example. I got used to scooping out dung, and now whenever I see an outhouse, I can't resist going over and scooping a few times."

Ye Wei made everyone laugh, and they felt much less sick.

"Brother Qin, here."

Embroiderer handed Qin Ming a stack of banknotes, both her hands stained red with blood.

Her face was pale, and she had vomited quite a bit just now, but afterward she had still forced down her nausea and gathered up all the silver, jewelry, and banknotes.

She and Qin Ming had lived through those days when they didn't have enough to eat or warm clothes to wear, and had nearly starved and frozen to death. So she knew very well that poverty was often more frightening than death.

"You can keep them."

Qin Ming put all the banknotes and jewelry into a bundle, then tossed the loose silver to his fellow disciples to divide among themselves.

The loose silver was too heavy and cumbersome to carry, nowhere near as convenient as banknotes. With his current wealth, he didn't think much of it anyway.

Ye Wei and the others obediently accepted it.

They had a vague idea of Qin Ming's meaning. By accepting the ill-gotten money, they were tacitly admitting that they had joined forces to kill these people. Refusing it would be tantamount to standing against Qin Ming.

"Once we reach Qingyang County, I'll find my junior brother and tell him that everyone from the Tiger Martial Arts Academy and Qingshan Town was killed by ghosts during the escape."

Pei Heng spoke slowly.

Qin Ming had given him quite a bit of silver as hush money, and Pei Heng knew how to take a hint. He could see what kind of person Qin Ming was. If not for the bond between master and disciple, he had no doubt Qin Ming would have smashed him into a paste with one palm strike.

In the end, Qin Ming was still his disciple, one of his own, and Pei Heng was happy to help him.

Thinking of this, Pei Heng smiled faintly. "Qin Ming, with your current strength, you can make your way in Qingyang County too. I'll introduce you to my junior brother when the time comes. Don't forget your master when you soar into the clouds someday."

"Once my master, a father for life. I will remember the road I came from."

Qin Ming cupped his fists.

Pei Heng nodded inwardly.

After all, Qin Ming wasn't his personal disciple, and he had hardly taught him. After admitting him to the Inner Court, he had paid him little attention. It was already good enough to have forged a bond as master and disciple. Once Qin Ming made his way in Qingyang County, no one would dare look down on Pei Heng with the title of Qin Ming's master to his name.

The night passed, and the sky began to brighten.

After searching every corpse and making sure they hadn't missed a single tael of silver, everyone gathered a few clean, reasonably intact carriages and set off for Qingyang County.

Not long after they left, the Ghost Fog that had vanished appeared once more in the dense forest.

The female ghost in the red dress arrived silently and alighted on a treetop. Looking down at the stark white bones and the bits of flesh and organs covering the ground, almost stuck together, even the female ghost, who had weathered great storms, was so disgusted she nearly vomited.

"That brat's a fucking freak! Forget it, treating my injuries comes first."

The female ghost in red floated down and opened her mouth to draw a gentle breath. Wisps of white gas streamed continuously from the bones and into her belly.

"Such powerful resentment! With these bones, my injuries can heal faster!"

The female ghost discovered Huo Lan's corpse and was overjoyed.

After she finished devouring them, the female ghost came before Huo Lan's remains and slowly lay down, eventually merging with Huo Lan's bones.