Tianmen

Linghu Chong had already thought Wang Jingyuan's methods were extremely underhanded and cruel. Now, hearing that Wang Jingyuan still wanted to claim credit, he grew annoyed. "I meant you should spare his life."

Wang Jingyuan frowned. "You should've said so earlier, Senior Brother. Sparing his life is one thing; letting him go is another.

"But, Senior Brother, although I have a way to spare his life, the chances are slim. Besides, do you have enough time and money?"

Hearing Wang Jingyuan's words, Linghu Chong frowned. "What do you mean?"

Wang Jingyuan began calculating again. "Too many people saw us capture Tian Boguang. Everyone knows we caught him.

"In this situation, if we let him go, even an idiot could guess that we were the ones who released him. What about the reputation of the Mount Hua Sect? What about Master's reputation? And who's going to pay for the depreciation of the intangible asset that is the title 'Gentleman Sword'?

"So even if we're going to spare his life, we have to do it openly and honorably. The simplest way is to get every victim and their family to agree to spare Tian Boguang.

"You know that bastard is incredibly good at running away. He's traveled all over the place and committed countless crimes over the years. Even if we go looking for his victims, counting horses, fodder, ferry fares, food, and lodging, and estimating fifty taels of silver for each interprovincial trip, just the travel expenses will cost you five hundred taels. And then there's the time. Even if you travel day and night, in all weather, it'll still take a year or two, right?

"And that's only the cost of tracking them down. To get them to spare Tian Boguang, you'd need at least five thousand taels in compensation. Could our Mount Hua Sect even afford that much for a year's expenses? Besides, Tian Boguang harmed the daughters of plenty of wealthy merchants. They're much richer than our Mount Hua Sect. Do you think money will settle things with them?

"What if they don't want money? What would you do then? Let them order you around and hope they'll forgive him? At this rate, it'd take at least ten years. Even if I hadn't killed Tian Boguang just now, he wouldn't have lasted another ten years in that condition. It wouldn't be worth it."

Linghu Chong had never considered any of this. He had simply thought that since Tian Boguang had fallen into their hands, they had the right to decide what to do with him. But after hearing Wang Jingyuan's argument, all he could do was reply awkwardly, "I think everyone would be willing to do the Mount Hua Sect a favor."

Wang Jingyuan's expression froze. He took two steps back. "Why should the Mount Hua Sect vouch for you? And over a rapist, no less? Even I spend every day thinking about how to build up the Mount Hua Sect, and you, you damn NPC, dare to freeload off it?!

"Forget it. You wouldn't understand any of this. I'll just ask you directly: if someone violated Junior Disciple Sister, and she felt too ashamed to face anyone and killed herself, do you think Master would let that person go? Would you?"

Linghu Chong knew what Wang Jingyuan was getting at, but all he could do was stammer, "Junior Sister is fine, isn't she? Besides, Brother Tian is a forthright man..."

Wang Jingyuan cut him off. "Being forthright isn't an excuse. I've heard that Xiang Wentian of the Sun Moon Holy Cult is forthright, too. Do you want to call him your sworn brother?"

Linghu Chong hurriedly shook his head. "Those demonic cult scoundrels—how could a righteous disciple like me..."

"Do you even know that even those demonic cult scoundrels look down on rapists? And whose daughters were the women he harmed? Whose junior sisters? What right does the Mount Hua Sect have to spare Tian Boguang on their behalf?!"

It was far too easy to criticize someone from the moral high ground. Watching Linghu Chong struggle to answer, Wang Jingyuan felt great. No wonder everyone wanted to be a paragon of virtue. It was like using society's established norms and customs to turn someone else's strength against them—twice the result for half the effort. It was practically a wheelchair for arguments in civilized society.

"Well said! You there, open the door!" Suddenly, a shout rang out from outside. Wang Jingyuan turned and saw the nameplates "Tianmen," "Chi Baicheng," and "Lin Pingzhi" through the door. He'd been so caught up in roasting Linghu Chong that he'd ignored his surroundings. But surely they hadn't heard his business plan just now.

Now that he knew Daoist Tianmen was outside, Wang Jingyuan went over and opened the door. A Daoist stood there, his hair white as snow and bound with a jade hairpin. His face was rugged, as if carved from a blade, furrows etched between his brows, his eyes as deep as a cold pool, and his blue-gray robe hanging loose around him.

He looked exactly like the stereotypical upright, uncompromising righteous man with a short temper. Chi Baicheng followed behind him like a little chick. It seemed that after taking Tiansong back, Chi Baicheng had gone to find his master. Lin Pingzhi trailed behind them, grinning sheepishly.

Courtesy was still necessary. Wang Jingyuan cupped his hands and greeted him. "Wang Jingyuan of the Mount Hua Sect pays his respects to Martial Uncle Tianmen."

Linghu Chong had never met Daoist Tianmen, but when he heard Wang Jingyuan's greeting, he quickly stood and greeted him as well. Daoist Tianmen managed a faint smile and nodded at Wang Jingyuan, but ignored Linghu Chong.

He simply walked inside and glanced at the corpse on the floor. "On my way here, I'd already asked what happened. I was worried you might run into danger, but I didn't expect you to actually kill this scoundrel. Your methods were somewhat... But you're young, after all, and a direct assault against a skilled bandit like Tian Boguang might not have worked."

With that, Daoist Tianmen looked at Chi Baicheng. "Baicheng!"

Chi Baicheng jolted and stepped forward, cupping his hands. "Senior Brother Linghu, Junior Brother Wang, I was wrong to accuse you earlier. So you were trying to imitate Liu—"

"Ahem!" Daoist Tianmen coughed sharply.

Chi Baicheng immediately changed course. "You were pretending to cooperate with that lecher. I was blind to the truth. Please accept my apologies."

Wang Jingyuan smiled and quickly helped Chi Baicheng back to his feet. Chi Baicheng had seen how skilled Tian Boguang was, yet had still wanted to help his martial uncle. And judging by the timing, after taking Daoist Tiansong back, he'd immediately gone to find his master.

The two of them looked travel-worn. They'd probably used their lightness skills to search all over the area near Huiyan Tower. People could be rigid and slow-witted, but they could also be honest and kindhearted. What did that make him? An excellent tool to have around!

What else could Wang Jingyuan do? Naturally, he put the past behind him and coaxed Chi Baicheng with a string of flattering words that cost him nothing. It wasn't long before he had Chi Baicheng grinning from ear to ear.

Daoist Tianmen saw that Wang Jingyuan's gaze was calm and his smile sincere. He clearly hadn't taken the earlier incident to heart. He nodded to himself, thinking that Yue Buqun had taken on a fine disciple: broad-minded, and quite a lot like the Gentleman Sword. His eldest disciple, however, seemed unable to tell right from wrong.

After all, Tiansong and Chi Baicheng hadn't behaved honorably earlier. Wang Jingyuan had saved one of their lives and held Tian Boguang off so Chi Baicheng could take Tiansong to safety. Yet as they left, they'd still insulted the very person who'd saved them.

They'd run into Lin Pingzhi downstairs, and only then learned from him what had actually happened. Daoist Tianmen had grown even more annoyed. Tiansong was still recovering, so the other person involved, Chi Baicheng, would have to apologize on his behalf.

Daoist Tianmen was an impatient man. Seeing that Wang Jingyuan truly held no grudge against the Mount Tai Sect, he got straight to the point. "You saved my junior brother Tiansong. As your elder, I can't very well offer no thanks.

"How about this? I can see your martial arts still need work, Nephew Wang, so I'll teach you a move or two. As for Nephew Linghu, you're seriously injured. I brought one of the Mount Tai Sect's secret remedies for treating injuries. I'll give it to you."