Fear Teammates as Stupid as Pigs

"Boss, boss, we're here!"

At that moment, Scholar and the others came running over, drew their steel sabers, and joined the battle.

With Xu Quan, a Houtian Realm martial artist, joining in, this battle became a one-sided slaughter.

In the midst of the battle, Yang Yi looked at Xu Quan with a face full of resentment.

"Xu Quan, that was really not cool of you. You called in such a powerful outside helper without telling me in advance."

"You didn't see it just now. That Xu family eldest brother had already used a life-risking secret technique. Even I would have died if I took that hammer blow."

"But guess what? Good heavens, it didn't even scratch this Banner Commander's skin."

A strange grin appeared on Xu Quan's face.

"This is nothing yet."

"On the way here, Xu Lao Er couldn't even hold out for a few moves. Even Lan Yu, the Listening Rain Sword, got his head chopped off."

"The Listening Rain Sword? Lan Yu?" Yang Yi found the name familiar, but for the moment, he could not remember where he had heard it.

Xu Quan continued.

"However, Banner Commander Shen wasn't an outside helper I called in."

"You'll never guess why he was here."

Then Xu Quan briefly explained what had happened.

Yang Yi froze at first. Then his expression became exceedingly strange. He cleared his throat and raised his voice tremendously.

"Oh my! You're saying Banner Commander Shen Qing didn't come because he received an order to provide aid?"

"It was because Xu Lao San committed evil deeds in Ping An Town, defiled a young girl, and wiped out her family, that Banner Commander Shen was drawn here?"

"Then he truly deserved to die ten thousand deaths!"

Yang Yi's voice was exceptionally loud, and Xu Lao Da heard every word clearly.

Xu Lao Da's lips began trembling uncontrollably.

At that moment, he understood one saying with unparalleled clarity.

What the hell did it mean to fear not opponents as godlike as gods, but teammates as stupid as pigs?

Xu Lao Da let out a roar.

"How could this be? I don't believe it! I don't believe it! How could there be such a coincidence!"

He suddenly dropped to his knees before Shen Qing, both hands clutching Shen Qing's blade tightly. Ignoring the blood streaming down, he pleaded.

"I beg you! Tell me you came because you received an order from above to provide support! I beg you!"

Xu Lao Da had completely broken down. He would rather believe his opponent had been one move ahead on the chessboard than accept that his failure had come from teammates who were too stupid.

Shen Qing smiled, and he smiled happily. Generally speaking, one would grant a dying man's final wish.

But Shen Qing would not.

Shen Qing grinned.

"Guess what? Your third brother really did bring me here."

Xu Lao Da completely collapsed. His eyes began to lose focus as he screamed like a madman.

Shen Qing raised his hand. Qing He flashed with saber light, and Xu Lao Da's head flew high into the air.

Die in despair.

[You killed a Houtian Realm Sixth Layer martial artist. Plundered trait: Skilled with Hammer Techniques (Green)]

Half the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, there were no more bandits on Ox Horn Mountain. Only the surviving Imperial Guards remained, cleaning up the battlefield.

Xu Quan and Yang Yi stood off to one side, staring at each other.

"Banner Commander Yang, this task should count as completed, right? The Xu brothers are indeed all dead."

"Only, none of them were killed by us. And people from the White Dragon Cult got involved too. How are we supposed to report this to our superiors?"

Yang Yi scratched his chin.

"Tell it as it happened. What else can we do?"

"It's already good enough that we got to keep our lives. Even the Listening Rain Sword showed up. If Shen Qing hadn't been here, you and I would probably have lost our heads by now."

Xu Quan nodded as well. The task had been issued by the Pacification Bureau, but their lives were their own.

Yang Yi wiped the blood from his face and set his great axe aside.

"Forget that for now. Let's go thank him first. He is our lifesaver, after all."

"If someone saves us and we don't even show our gratitude, wouldn't people say the Imperial Guards of Wan An City have no manners?"

Xu Quan nodded as well, and the two walked side by side toward Shen Qing.

Before they could speak, however, they heard the sound of hoofbeats. Xu Quan immediately drew his saber and stood on guard.

Could the White Dragon Cult still have reinforcements?

The hoofbeats sounded rather sparse, as if there were only two or three horses.

If they were enemies, they surely had ill intentions. But when they glanced at Shen Qing, who sat calmly to one side, they all let out a breath of relief.

As if they had swallowed a calming pill.

No matter how many people came, Shen Qing would kill them all.

Before long, three black horses approached. Old Li had arrived with two strongmen, and upon closer inspection, a person was being dragged behind the horses.

This person was covered in mud, without a single patch of uninjured flesh. He had clearly been dragged all the way here. It was Xu Lao San.

Old Li leaped off his horse and shouted, "Boss, Xu Lao San has been brought here!"

Shen Qing opened his eyes. Having finished killing people, he could now find some amusement.

"Wake him up for me."

Upon hearing this, Old Li directly grabbed Xu Lao San and slapped his face more than a dozen times in succession.

By then, Xu Lao San's face was swollen red, and he woke with a miserable howl.

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me! I admit my mistake, I admit my mistake!"

But Old Li seemed deaf. He slapped him another dozen or so times, only stopping after every tooth in Xu Lao San's mouth had been knocked out and his face had swollen into a pig's head.

"Boss, the prisoner is awake. He can be interrogated now."

Xu Lao San's eyes were so swollen that only slits remained. He struggled to turn his gaze toward Shen Qing.

"My lord... my lord... I was wrong. Please, just kill me."

Shen Qing chuckled and stood before Xu Lao San.

"Don't panic. I'll give you another chance. Answer one question for me. If you answer correctly, I won't kill you."

Xu Lao San swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, and a trace of hope appeared in his eyes.

"My lord... do you mean that this time?"

Shen Qing smiled.

"Don't worry. I absolutely mean it."

"There is something with four legs, but it never moves. Why is that?"

Xu Lao San's mind spun rapidly. "A table?"

Shen Qing smiled, very happily, and reached out to pat Xu Lao San's head.

"You are very smart."

An ugly smile appeared on Xu Lao San's pig-headed face.

But in the next moment, Shen Qing grabbed Xu Lao San's jaw and twisted his head, laughing maniacally.

"But unfortunately, you guessed wrong! It was your eldest and second brothers. I just beat them to death and hung them from the tree."

Not far away, two burly corpses hung from a tree, their limbs dangling limply and utterly motionless.

Xu Lao San's mouth opened wide, but he could not make a single sound.

He knew that Xu Lao Da had called people from the White Dragon Cult, which was why he had deliberately revealed Ox Horn Mountain's location.

As long as Xu Lao Da and the White Dragon Cult killed Shen Qing, he would be saved.

But he had never expected Shen Qing to be this strong, to kill them all.

So, he had caused the deaths of his eldest and second brothers?

Xu Lao San found it impossible to accept this fact.

Shen Qing was very satisfied with Xu Lao San's reaction.

With one kick, Xu Lao San's head burst apart like a watermelon.

Xu Quan and Yang Yi, standing to one side, exchanged a glance and swallowed hard.

Wasn't this a little too twisted?

They had thought they were already crazy enough as Imperial Guards, but now it seemed they had merely been playing house.

Shen Qing turned his head and glanced at them. "Did you need something from me?"

He had seen the two walking toward him just now.

Xu Quan and Yang Yi stepped forward and bowed. "Xu Quan/Yang Yi thank Lord Shen for saving our lives."

Shen Qing could not be bothered to put on airs. The other side had already humbled themselves enough, and Shen Qing was not some aloof person. He casually chatted with the two of them.

From their conversation, he also learned why they had been hunting the Xu brothers.

The Xu brothers had raped and murdered seven or eight young girls in Shuang Qiao Town under Wan An City's jurisdiction, and had wiped out several entire families, more than forty people in all.

"Oh, right, Lord Shen. The bounty for the Xu brothers' mission is considerable. And with the sudden involvement of those White Dragon Cult people, the reward will surely be no less, and likely much more, than that for the Xu brothers."

"How about I report it all for you at once? When the time comes, the reward will be sent to Baiyun County for you."

Shen Qing waved his hand.

"That would be excellent."

Since someone was willing to handle it for him, Shen Qing naturally would not stand on ceremony.