Ruthless Means to an End

Hiss!

The pain at the back of his head made Ye Liuyun, whose consciousness was gradually returning, suck in a sharp breath.

Had someone knocked him out from behind?

He hazily opened his eyes and looked around. He appeared to be inside a ruined temple. The floor was thick with weeds, and even the roof had a gaping hole in it.

"Could it be one of those enemies from before?" Realizing that was possible, Ye Liuyun's expression darkened.

Ye Liuyun was a transmigrator who had arrived in this era roughly half a month ago.

That alone would have been fine, but after sorting through his memories, he discovered that the body's original owner had been a notorious street thug. Relying on his twin brother's position in the Brocade Guard, he had done no shortage of bullying men and preying on women.

He had made quite a few enemies in the process.

After learning all this, Ye Liuyun rarely went out. He did his best to keep a low profile while gathering information about this era.

When he learned that his brother served in the Brocade Guard, he had initially thought he had arrived in the Great Ming Dynasty.

Instead, it was an unheard-of Great Qian Dynasty.

Furthermore, this land had Fourteen Prefectures and vast territory. Besides Great Qian, there were many other similar dynasties.

The martial world was filled with sects, and there were even rumors that powerful martial artists could command the forces of heaven and earth. To be honest, Ye Liuyun had been thrilled when he learned these things.

Who had not dreamed in their youth of carrying a sword to the ends of the earth and roaming everywhere righting wrongs?

He had even planned to ask his nominal brother for a martial arts manual. Although the original owner's relationship with his brother had not been good, blood was thicker than water. Asking for a martial arts manual should not have been a problem, right?

Yet the very night he formed that thought, someone knocked him out and tied him up here.

"I'm not going to become the first transmigrator to get sent packing this quickly, am I?"

His hands and feet were bound tightly. Ye Liuyun tried struggling twice, but it had no effect. His body instead bumped into the stone platform behind him.

Creak!

The faint cracking sound made Ye Liuyun stop moving. He could not help turning to look behind him.

On the dust-covered stone platform stood a stone statue whose features could no longer be seen. One of its arms was raised high, but its elbow was already covered in cracks, as though it could break off and fall at any moment.

The crucial point was that where it would fall was exactly where Ye Liuyun was now.

If that thing, weighing dozens of pounds, really smashed down on him, would he still have a life left?

With that thought, Ye Liuyun prepared to wriggle away like an inchworm and change positions.

But just then, the ruined temple's doors were suddenly pushed open from outside. Realizing that the person who had tied him up had arrived, Ye Liuyun forgot everything else. Before he could even see the other person's face clearly, he shouted in rapid succession.

"My brother is a Brocade Guard Centurion. If you kill me, you won't fare well either."

The moment those words came out, the other party truly fell silent for a while and did not move.

Was there hope?

Just as Ye Liuyun began to feel inwardly delighted, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

"Is this how you've been ruining my reputation?"

"!"

Realizing something, Ye Liuyun lifted his head in disbelief.

The other person walked closer step by step. What entered his sight was a face identical to his own.

"B-Brother!"

The man was this body's twin brother, Ye Liufeng.

How could it be? How could the one who had tied him up be this man?

"Wait, Brother, there must be some misunderstanding. I've changed now. Give me a chance. I'm willing to leave this place, leave the imperial capital, and live somewhere else. I definitely won't cause you trouble again in the future."

Now was not the time to think about anything else. Staying alive mattered more than anything.

Dressed in plain clothes, Ye Liufeng looked at his begging younger brother with nothing but indifference in his eyes.

He drew the saber from his waist and pointed it straight at Ye Liuyun.

"Too late!"

Was he really going to die? Then this transmigration was far too stifling. As the icy blade drew near his throat, Ye Liuyun felt his limbs turn cold.

"Y-You promised Father that you would take care of me."

Driven by his will to survive, Ye Liuyun recalled some of the original owner's memories.

When their father was dying, he had indeed told Ye Liufeng to take good care of Ye Liuyun. And because their mother had died early, the two brothers had practically relied on each other while growing up. Their paths of fate had merely diverged: one became an official, while the other became a hooligan.

He had thought those words might at least awaken a little brotherly affection in Ye Liufeng.

But.

"That's why I let you live until now. Otherwise, on the night I poisoned Father to death, I would have killed you along with him."

"!!!"

"Father was killed by you?"

The original owner truly had not known about this. He had thought their father had died from overwork and illness.

Ye Liuyun had thought the original owner's acts of bullying men and preying on women were already monstrous enough. He had not expected there to be someone even more monstrous.

"Everyone who blocks my path must die."

"Don't worry. I'll allow you to report me to Father in the underworld."

The cold blade remained at Ye Liuyun's throat. As though he had thought of something amusing, Ye Liufeng suddenly lowered his head and leaned close to Ye Liuyun's ear.

For such a monster, killing his own younger brother was no more than a matter of convenience, wasn't it?

What do I do? What do I do? Move that clever brain of yours, now! Ye Liuyun roared inwardly.

"I'm sorry!"

Just as Ye Liufeng was about to strike, Ye Liuyun suddenly looked up and said this.

"?"

While Ye Liufeng was still baffled.

Ye Liuyun suddenly moved. He slammed his back fiercely against the stone platform behind him, then dodged the blade at his throat and rolled to the side.

Before Ye Liufeng could question him, the stone statue's arm above them, already on the verge of collapse, broke apart.

Crack!

The object weighing dozens of pounds struck its target dead on.

Watching the dust billow up from the fallen weight, Ye Liuyun panted heavily.

"Sorry. I want to live too."

Who would be willing to die if they could live? Ye Liuyun had not lied. He truly had been willing to leave this dynasty behind, but Ye Liufeng had refused to give him that chance.

He twisted his body and picked up the saber that had fallen nearby, using it to cut through the ropes around him.

"Ye Liuyun!"

Ye Liufeng was a martial artist. Though he was only a Third-Rate Martial Artist, his physical constitution far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Being struck like this was not enough to kill him on the spot.

Instead, he struggled to push away the stone crushing him. His bloodshot eyes glared viciously at Ye Liuyun.

"Do you dare leave? If I die, you won't fare well either."

"I know!"

Ye Liuyun did not leave. Instead, he carried the saber over. Looking at Ye Liufeng struggling on the ground, he spoke one word at a time.

"So today, the only one walking out of here alive will be Ye Liufeng."

Ye Liuyun was a street thug. If he died, no one would care. But if Ye Liufeng, a Brocade Guard Centurion, died, countless people would seal off the city and investigate by the next day.

"Thank you for teaching me that, to achieve one's goal, one must stop at nothing."

He raised the saber high with both hands.

Meeting Ye Liufeng's eyes, which looked ready to split apart, he brought it down swiftly.

"From this moment on, I am Ye Liufeng!"

,,,,,,

A new book is setting out! I hope everyone likes it!

The new book is out. I hope everyone likes it!