Processing

"Sorry. Since you refuse to face reality and even want to threaten me with the imperial court, I imagine that if I let you go, you would certainly report this to your superiors and bring me trouble."

"Then I have no choice but to kill you all and silence you."

Yang Qingyun wiped the blood from the long blade in his hand. Gazing at the three headless corpses before him, he spoke inwardly without the slightest change in expression.

And at this moment,

Having witnessed Yang Qingyun cleanly kill Zhao Qing and then dispatch three more constables,

the three people not far away all drew in a sharp breath. Wang Xiaoshi, who had practiced martial arts, was especially shaken to his core.

Wang Zhu and the mountain dweller were frightened by Yang Qingyun's decisive slaughter of imperial officials, their hearts filled with terror.

Wang Xiaoshi, meanwhile, was deeply horrified by the terrifying strength Yang Qingyun had displayed.

"The terrifying aura erupted by Zhao Qing's squad leader earlier, the sonic boom produced by tearing the air apart with one hand—without a doubt, that was the frightening power possessed only by a Viscera Refining Realm martial artist!"

"Yet even a Viscera Refining Realm martial artist was killed between breaths!"

"The young master's strength is truly unfathomable!"

Wang Xiaoshi's face was filled with shock.

As the only one among the three who had practiced martial arts, he understood the gap between the various Martial Path Realms far more clearly than his father, Wang Zhu.

When he was young, his father, Wang Zhu, had ignored the villagers' ridicule and used every connection he had to send him to an ordinary martial arts school in town to work as a servant.

While doing odd jobs at the martial arts school, he had witnessed its constant stream of visitors. Thus, he knew that in Huangshi Town, anyone who could cultivate Qi and Blood and enter the Martial Arts Entry Realm could already be addressed as a martial artist.

Whether in a martial arts school or the outside world, such a person was worthy of the respect of many others!

Anyone at the Late Entering the Realm or above,

was already an expert in Huangshi Town.

For example, Zhou Weilong, the master of Weilong Martial Arts School, had used his Peak of the Entering Realm cultivation and strength to make quite a name for himself in Huangshi Town. In just one year, he had made Weilong Martial Arts School the number one martial arts school in town!

As for any of the larger martial arts schools with a strong reputation in town, their masters, after years of tempering themselves, were generally no more than in the middle or late stages of the Entering Realm.

As for the Viscera Refining Realm,

that was a heaven-reaching figure!

A legendary existence that ordinary people like them could only yearn for, never reach!

It was said that throughout Huangshi Town, there were no more than five Viscera Refining Realm martial artists.

The Black Tiger Gang alone possessed two of them,

and its leader, Shi Meng, was the strongest martial artist in Huangshi Town!

With the terrifying strength of the Viscera Refining Realm, he could be said to cover the sky with one hand throughout Huangshi Town. He was a true local tyrant!

The other Viscera Refining Realm martial artists were also mighty overlords who dominated their own territories and had built enormous family businesses!

Their fame had spread far and wide!

Yet a powerhouse of such a realm had been effortlessly killed by a single stroke of Yang Qingyun's blade!

Who knew

just how terrifying a level Young Master Yang's strength had reached?

At this very moment,

Yang Qingyun before him gave Wang Xiaoshi a feeling of mystery and unfathomable depth.

It even made him lower his head, not daring to look directly at him.

"No wonder Father sent me to work at a martial arts school all those years, yet I failed to learn anything after several years. The young master taught me for only a few days, and I already gained the chance to sense Qi and Blood and was on the verge of entering the Martial Arts Entry Realm."

"The young master's strength is on a completely different level from those people in town!"

"Thankfully, Father had some connection with the young master, allowing me to follow him and study martial arts. Although the young master hasn't agreed to accept me as his disciple, being able to receive his guidance is already an extraordinary stroke of good fortune!"

"I must seize this opportunity!"

Wang Xiaoshi could not help clenching his fists.

Yang Qingyun naturally had no idea what thoughts filled the minds of the three people. Even if he had known, he probably would not have cared.

At this moment, his gaze swept over Wang Zhu and his son.

Finally, it landed on the mountain dweller.

The instant he met Yang Qingyun's gaze, the mountain dweller felt as though a bucket of icy water had been poured over his head. His heart turned cold, and endless fear surged within him.

He hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to Yang Qingyun.

"Sir, spare my life! Sir, spare my life!"

The mountain dweller trembled like a sieve, shaking all over.

"Get up. I'm not bloodthirsty."

Yang Qingyun spoke indifferently.

Speaking of which, this mountain dweller had brought him quite a few benefits. The spirit ginseng he had obtained earlier, as well as the great gains from this trip, had all been thanks in large part to this man.

Forgetting kindness and crossing the river only to tear down the bridge was not his way.

After thinking for a moment, he slowly spoke:

"For now, I don't want to provoke a powerful enemy like the imperial court's Six Doors. By rights, I should kill you to silence you. But you were dragged into this matter innocently, and I don't want to kill someone without reason."

"This matter is making things very difficult for me!"

Yang Qingyun's voice was leisurely drawn out.

It seemed to carry the implication that he might kill someone at the slightest disagreement.

"Sir, this isn't difficult. Not difficult at all!"

Seeing this, the mountain hunter hurriedly said:

"My parents are both dead. I have no relatives here, only a distant cousin making a living at a small escort agency in Qingzhou. No one in the village knows about him."

"After this, I'll leave for Qingzhou and seek refuge with my cousin. Once I change my appearance, no one will recognize me!"

Perhaps the threat of death had forced the mountain dweller's speech to become much more coherent.

"Besides, even if I'm caught by the authorities, I absolutely won't let them pry out anything about you, sir."

"After all, as the saying goes, the yamen's gates have faced south since ancient times; those with justice but no money should not enter. The yamen has never been a place where reason is heard. If I exposed you, sir, I would most likely become an accomplice in the murder of an imperial official. In the end, I wouldn't escape a trip to the executioner's block, becoming a merit on those corrupt officials' records."

"You're quite clear-headed."

Yang Qingyun gave the mountain dweller on the ground a deep look.

The mountain youth seemed to be only fifteen or sixteen. His skin had been baked a deep black by the sun as he crossed mountains and forests. For someone so young to make a living in these great mountains was already no simple matter.

Yet his speech was so orderly.

Who knew whether it was natural talent or the result of an exceptional family upbringing?

Yang Qingyun did not particularly care either way.

"There is just one thing you may have gotten wrong."

The mountain youth's heart tightened.

Then he heard Yang Qingyun's indifferent voice continue:

"Actually, I'm not afraid of the Six Doors. Even if the matter were exposed and I became wanted, I could change my appearance, discard my name, and travel the martial world incognito. Even they would have difficulty finding my trail. No matter how great the calamity, I could simply hide in some mountain ravine for a few years. The world is vast, and for the Six Doors to find someone would be like searching for a needle in the sea."

"I simply hate trouble."

"So even if you pledged yourself to the imperial court, even if an imperial official guaranteed that you would be safe as long as you reported me, it wouldn't actually harm me as much as you imagine."

"But toward anyone who dares betray me, I will absolutely not grant them a merciful death!"

"Do you understand?"

Yang Qingyun's words gradually sharpened, ending in a frigid and murderous tone.

The mountain youth's heart clenched.

"Rest assured, sir. Such a thing will never happen!"

"Mm."

Yang Qingyun nodded. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he asked:

"By the way, what's your name?"

"This humble one is Ye Ping."

"Ye Ping? A good name."

Yang Qingyun murmured the name softly several times, his voice carrying an indescribable meaning.

Ye Ping's mouth went dry, and he thought some unexpected trouble had occurred.

Fortunately,

Yang Qingyun did not break his word.

He took a one-hundred-tael silver note from his robes and handed it to him.

"This is a one-hundred-tael silver note. Take it and leave. From now on, don't let me encounter you within Huangshi Town."

Ye Ping accepted it, flattered and overwhelmed.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

"Go."

Yang Qingyun waved his hand indifferently.

Ye Ping tucked the silver note into his robes, hurriedly rose to his feet, and quickly disappeared into the forest.