Dingjun Mountain

At noon, Zhu Mansion.

Although it wasn't a holiday, Magistrate Zhu had already left the yamen early, returning home to enjoy his personal paradise.

The emperor was far away, and in Qinggu County, he was the supreme authority, the father and mother official to tens of thousands of people!

Who would have thought of such prosperity back when he was poor and destitute?

Especially now that his wife had become so beautiful, with those soul-capturing eyes and a voice like soft silk, he couldn't get enough of her.

In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the passion within the room had subsided.

Magistrate Zhu panted on the bed, sweat beading on his forehead, muttering to himself.

"Time spares no one. Maybe I should change that thing of mine someday?"

"Or perhaps I can have my elder brother help me find another good kidney..."

As he pondered, his wife was in front of the mirror, grooming herself, tidying her messy hair, applying makeup, and then sitting before the bronze mirror, gazing at herself dreamily.

After her head was changed, she had been fearful at first. But every time she saw the beautiful face in the mirror and felt her husband's infatuated gaze, she became more immersed in it.

Now, she had long forgotten her original appearance and instead cherished this face with utmost care.

"My lord, you were right. Yu Zhensheng and his disciple haven't made a move these past few days. It seems they've retreated."

Magistrate Zhu puffed on his pipe, his eyes narrowed, a smug look flashing across them.

The notorious and fearsome Yu Zhensheng was subdued by his words?

"Heh heh, these Ghost Opera performers, they look so mysterious and spiritual, but they're just like actors. On stage, they play characters of chastity, loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness. Off stage, aren't they just a bunch of low-class actors?"

Hearing this, the Magistrate's wife instinctively felt a sense of disgust, her head swimming slightly.

Just as she was about to speak, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from outside.

"My lord, bad news! Someone is beating the drum to appeal for justice in front of the yamen. They've been at it for a quarter of an hour, and the common folk are all gathered around!"

Magistrate Zhu sat up abruptly, his eyes glinting with ferocity.

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

At the yamen, a figure held a drumstick and forcefully struck the large drum at the yamen's entrance. The rain-like drumming sound attracted a crowd of onlookers.

"Stop beating it! The Magistrate isn't in the yamen!"

"Shi Tou, the Magistrate has already ruled on your case. It's all in black and white. How dare you beat the drum? Was the beating you received last time too light?"

The constables rushed forward to persuade him, but the man beating the drum turned a deaf ear, his eyes fixed on the drum surface, beating it with all his might as if to vent all his grievances!

Because there were commoners watching, the constables didn't dare to use force publicly. After all, the laws of the Great Xuan Dynasty stipulated that if anyone beat the drum of grievance, the County Magistrate must hold a public trial.

Time ticked by, but the Magistrate did not appear. Yet, the man called Shi Tou continued to beat the drum. Large beads of sweat trickled down his face, wetting the bluestone bricks on the ground.

This was the second time he had beaten the drum of grievance.

The Li Family, the landlords of Qinggu County, in order to seize his family's ancestral farmland, had secretly altered the loan receipts, multiplying the interest several times over. They had confiscated all his family's land, ancestral home, and oxen. His father, unable to bear the shock, had died of anger.

Afterward, he beat the drum to appeal for justice, but the Li Family had already bribed the County Magistrate. He was publicly beaten with thirty planks and ended up with a limp.

In despair, he had intended to hang himself but was saved by a mysterious person.

That person, clad in a black robe and wearing a mask with opera face paint, only said two sentences.

"If you want revenge, beat the drum before the yamen at noon tomorrow."

"If the Magistrate doesn't die, the drum will not cease."

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong...

Shi Tou ignored everyone, his gaze fixed on the drum surface, remembering the mysterious person's words.

He hated the Li Family patriarch, and he equally hated Magistrate Zhu, who was in cahoots with them. He imagined the drum of grievance to be the heads of the two men, striking it like a storm.

Just then, the County Magistrate's sedan chair finally arrived, albeit late.

Magistrate Zhu lifted the curtain, his expression grim, and shouted, "Bold peasant! Last time, I showed leniency because your father had just passed away. How dare you disturb the court again today?"

"I have official duties to attend to, managing the affairs of the entire county. How can I be pestered by you every day?"

"Guards, seize him at once!"

With Magistrate Zhu's command, the constables acted freely. One constable grabbed his water-fire cudgel and swung it fiercely towards Shi Tou's drumming arm.

A cold smile flickered in his eyes. Last time, he had 'accidentally' broken Shi Tou's leg. This time, he aimed for the elbow joint.

Break your arm, and let's see how you drum!

But the next moment, with a whistling sound, under the clear sky, a black lightning bolt seemed to tear through the air, moving at extreme speed.

Puff!

A black arrow pierced the constable's throat, and before the blood could spurt out, it shot through another man's chest with lightning speed.

Buzz!

The arrow's residual power undiminished, it embedded itself deeply into a pillar at the yamen, three inches into the wood, its fletching vibrating like wings, buzzing incessantly.

Drip, drip...

Drops of crimson blood fell from the arrow's feathers, staining the bluestone bricks in front of the public office.

"Nngh... Urk..."

The officer, who had been looking ferocious moments ago, ready to break Shi Tou's arm, now knelt on the ground, desperately pressing his hands to his throat, from which blood spurted like a spring. His eyes were filled with terror, but he could only emit muffled, hoarse sounds.

The other officer, pierced through the heart, had already fallen to the ground, blood pooling everywhere.

One arrow, two birds!

An immediate deathly silence fell over the surroundings. After a brief moment of shock, the scene erupted into screams of fright, descending into chaos.

"He killed someone!"

"Run, someone's dead!!"

"Sir, watch out, there's an assassin!"

Amidst the clamor, the only constant was the drumbeat, like thunderclaps.

Even as blood splattered onto the drumhead, Shi Tou continued to beat it desperately. Seeing the blood, his exhausted body seemed to erupt with new strength, and the drumbeat suddenly intensified, shaking the heavens.

Just then, a powerful and heroic opera voice rang out from not far away.

"This old general's valor..."

"His blood fuels the rainbow!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two more crackling sounds of a drawn bow, the arrows leaving the string like tearing silk, pierced directly through the eyes of two officers, emerging from the back of their skulls.

Blood and brain matter splattered.

"Killing like cutting grass-"

"Galloping west and east!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of arrows breaking through the air merged with the drumbeat, like a symphony of gongs and drums, playing a battlefield score.

Figures fell one after another, screams rising and falling, blood splashing everywhere, almost dyeing the plaque that read "Justice and Fairness" red.

The officers, who usually swaggered and acted arrogantly, now finally understood the terror of being the fish on the chopping block.

They tried to dodge, but the arrows seemed to have eyes. Not only were they lightning fast, but they were also unbelievably accurate.

Throat, brow, heart...

Blood flowers bloomed, and groans filled the ground.

It turned out even jackals felt pain.

"With strength in both arms, able to draw a steel bow—"

As this line of opera verse was sung, the arrows seemed to gain even more power, even piercing through wood and stone, killing the officers hiding behind them one by one!

"When it comes to battle..."

The opera voice rose, filled with heroic spirit, spitting out the last three words.

"Old Huang Zhong!!"

As the voice fell, the arrows stopped. The officers were all dead, becoming a pile of bloody corpses.

The entire yamen was riddled with holes.

On a nearby rooftop, Zhou Sheng stood with his feet apart, his posture like drawing a bow, and looked up.

Snow-white hair and golden armor chill the heavens, apricot-yellow banners adorn his shoulders.

An arrow released, lightning follows, a single cry pierces Mount Dingjun!