Their third brother had been castrated, and now they had to pay silver notes to get him back. In all their decades of life, they had never met anyone so shameless.
"One hundred thousand taels! It seems a little low. But you're not the Crown Prince of Yanqing anymore, and I doubt you have much left to your name. I'll be generous this once and return Yue Laosan to you!"
"Yan Shun, give Yue Laosan back to them." Li Hao took the silver notes Duan Yanqing tossed over and said generously.
"Young Master, we haven't fed the wild wolves we caught yet," Yan Shun said miserably.
When he caught them, he'd told them they were being invited to a feast. They hadn't gotten a single bite of meat. Wouldn't that make him a liar in the eyes of the wolves?
"Which matters more, the one hundred thousand taels or feeding the wolves? Think carefully." Damn it, if you dare say feeding the wolves matters more, I'll chop you up and feed you to them myself.
"The silver notes matter more." Yan Shun saw that Li Hao's expression was off and immediately changed his answer.
The young master was the sky and the earth. His orders were greater than both.
What did it matter if a few wolves went hungry? He'd be doing them a favor by not slaughtering them for meat.
"Li Hao, there's no telling when our paths might cross again. Let's never meet again." Duan Yanqing had meant to say that they would meet again, but remembering how strange Li Hao was, he quickly changed it to "never meet again."
He'd lost big on this deal. Li Hao had killed his third brother and extorted a hundred thousand taels from him. If he ever found out who had hired him for this job, he'd skin the man alive.
Watching Duan Yanqing leave, Li Hao finally let out the breath he'd been holding. Even if he kept fighting Duan Yanqing, he probably wouldn't be in any danger. But if Duan Yanqing went after Yi Lin and the others, Li Hao doubted he could stop him with his bare hands.
If Stars Shift hadn't activated on its own to protect him just now, Li Hao would probably have been badly injured, if not killed.
As for why Li Hao hadn't used the Six Meridian Divine Sword, the reason was simple.
Duan Yanqing was a direct descendant of the Dali Duan clan and knew the Six Meridian Divine Sword well. If he found out that Li Hao knew the clan's secret technique, he would fight him to the death.
He might even notify the Dali royal family and have experts sent after Li Hao. That would be a huge hassle.
"How is everyone? Did anyone die?" Only after Duan Yanqing was out of sight did Li Bai turn around to check the knights' injuries.
"Young Master, everyone's fine. Their injuries were all external, so they weren't in any danger. And now that we've given them the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, your miraculous medicine for internal and external injuries, they're all better." Yan Shun patted his chest.
"Good. What's your name?" Li Hao asked the knight who had first been beaten black and blue by Yue Laosan, then killed him with a single slash.
"Young Master, this humble one is called Heizi. I don't know what my surname is. I was raised by a beggar." Heizi spoke softly. He'd been an orphan, and a beggar had taught him a little kung fu. Later, he'd gone up into the mountains to become a bandit.
He hadn't been a bandit for long, and he'd spent every day worrying that he might run into a Great Hero who wanted to uphold justice, or a government official looking to make a name for himself and get promoted.
Only after joining Li Hao had he enjoyed a few peaceful days.
"You did well just now. You were scared, but your hand stayed steady on the knife, and you followed my orders without hesitation. Since you don't have a surname, you'll take the surname Li from now on. Your name will be Li Hei," Li Hao declared.
"Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master! Li Hei will obey your orders from now on and go through fire and water for the Li family, even if it costs him his life!"
"Good. Remember what you said and do your job well. I won't let you down." Li Hao watched Li Hei, who was overcome with excitement, and felt a surge of emotion.
People in ancient times were so easy to fool. Just like in the TV dramas, give them a surname and they'd be so happy they'd forget who they were.
Li Hao had no idea that his act of granting a surname had made Yan Shun and the others green with envy.
With the surname Li, Heizi would now be part of the Li family. His status was several ranks higher than that of them, outsiders with other surnames.
"You all fought well this time. I'm very pleased. I've removed the restraints on you. If anyone wants to leave, I won't stop you." Li Hao lifted his head and looked at the sky.
"Yan Shun swears to follow you to the death, Young Master, and go through fire and water for the Li family, even if it costs his life! If I break this oath, may thunder strike me down!"
"Your subordinate Zhang San..."
"Your subordinate Zhao Liu..."
"Your subordinate Wang Wuma..."
"Young Master, can we really leave?" Just as everyone was swearing their loyalty to Li Hao, two different voices rang out.
"That's right. I won't stop anyone who wants to leave. Leave the Li family's armor and weapons behind, and the two of you can go." Li Hao's gaze turned cold. As expected, there were people in the group who weren't on the same side.
"Thank you, Young Master. We brothers will take our leave." The older brother was overjoyed. Working for Li Hao couldn't compare to the freedom of the two brothers striking out on their own.
The two of them were at the middle stage of the postcelestial realm. Add in the unspoken understanding unique to twins, and they were formidable when they fought together. Once they got back, they'd stop robbing people on the road and start preying on young women instead. Those women would never be able to beat them.
The brothers quickly removed their armor and sheathed their swords, then started to leave.
Swish! Swish! Two flashes of blade light swept past. The brothers, who had been grinning moments earlier, clutched their throats and fell to the ground.
"What are you two doing? I said I'd let them go. Why did you kill them anyway?" Li Hao said with exaggerated anguish. Weren't they making him out to be an unrighteous man?
"Anyone who betrays the young master deserves to die," Yan Shun and Li Hei said together. Then they glanced at the remaining knights.
"Don't do that again. Even if you hadn't killed them, they wouldn't have survived the day," Li Hao said coldly.
Li Hao's words sent a chill down the remaining knights' backs. Every one of them silently swore that even if Li Hao begged them to leave the Li family in the future, they wouldn't go.
Life was precious. What good was freedom if you were dead?
"Everyone's injured. We won't travel today. We'll set up camp beside the main road," Li Hao ordered.
"Little Sister Shiyin, what do you think of our husband?" Ning Zhongze asked Lin Shiyin with a smile.
"He's your husband, not mine. Why would you ask me that, Madam? My husband is Long Xiaoyun." Lin Shiyin's face flushed as her hands unconsciously covered her chest.
As for Long Xiaoyun, Qu Feifei had already lured him away with a toy.
"Is that so? My husband is very domineering. He never lets a woman he sets his eyes on slip away." Ning Zhongze recalled that night in the Hengshan Sect guest room.
"Heh." Ning Zhongze's words left Lin Shiyin extremely embarrassed. What did she mean, he never let her slip away? He'd already had his way with her!
As for why she was covering her chest, it was because after waking up at the bottom of the pit, she couldn't find the undershirt she'd been wearing. She was still bare underneath.
It swung around whenever she walked, which was very uncomfortable.
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