Killing the Chicken to Scare the Monkey, Novel Revision

"You people are unwilling to take orders from me, I understand that! You need to report tasks to my godfather, I understand that too!

What I don't understand is... why is it that what I wanted, my godfather gave to me in the end, instead of you delivering it to my face!"

Zhou Ming's furious roar struck Jian Yu's ears like a thunderclap.

Jian Yu immediately broke out in a cold sweat and quickly knelt down, "This subordinate is guilty!"

The other members of the Jian Yu squad also immediately knelt down, "This subordinate is guilty!"

Zhou Ming sneered, "I've heard that in the army, there's a crime for overstepping one's authority, but there's one exception: when the superior rebels, a soldier reporting them above their rank is not only guiltless but is also rewarded.

However, the task I assigned you was just a simple trip, to bring back a martial arts manual. It was a small task, not a big deal at all.

Yet, for such a small task, you still reported it above your rank, and even handed the returned martial arts manual directly to my godfather, completely ignoring me. Jian Yu, Jian Yu, what did I do to make you disrespect me so much?!"

Jian Yu's body trembled as he knelt on the ground, "This subordinate is guilty, please have mercy, Young Master. I wish to atone for my mistakes and make up for my errors!"

"Make up for your errors? You can. I'll give you this chance. However, only those with sufficient ability can seize this opportunity. Your squad, go and flee. If you aren't killed within a day, the survivors will have this chance!"

"Young Master..."

"Why aren't you leaving?!"

"Yes!"

After they left, only three squads remained in front of Qianjin Pavilion.

Zhou Ming looked into the distance. After a full fifteen minutes, he finally sighed and said, "Wind, Rain, Thunder, Lightning. They sound quite catchy. It's a shame that one of them turned out to be such a scoundrel, it really makes me doubt the loyalty of the others!"

Upon hearing this, the three squads immediately cupped their fists and said, "Young Master, you see clearly. We are loyal and devoted, unlike them!"

Zhou Ming said, "Loyalty isn't judged by what you say, but by what you do with your hands. Before nightfall, I want to see the heads of those ten people!"

This... so that's what the Young Master meant!

The three of them immediately understood, but without hesitation, they said, "This subordinate accepts the order!"

This task was not difficult for them.

They were too familiar with the methods used against their own people.

Without waiting for nightfall, just in the afternoon, all ten members of the Jian Yu squad were eliminated.

Ten heads were presented before them.

The members of the three squads clearly showed much more respect towards Zhou Ming than before.

However, this also resulted in Zhou Ming's subordinate numbers decreasing by a quarter.

That's right, Pei Ju did not replenish Zhou Ming's personnel.

Clearly, although Pei Ju had given Zhou Ming the authority to deal with his subordinates, he also wanted Zhou Ming to understand the consequences of handling them in this manner.

Zhou Ming didn't care. He sent the three squads to continue monitoring the Number One Manor Under Heaven, Shangguan Hai, Wan Sanqian, and others.

The purpose of these tasks was to identify the identities of the four secret agents of the Dragon Guard Manor.

Although Zhou Ming, with his plot armor, already knew them.

However, the identities of these four people were not like the Northern Darkness Divine Art or similar things; they were not of utmost importance.

As the backbone of the Dragon Guard Manor under Zhu Wushi, everyone knew the identities of these four, but they knew nothing about what they shouldn't know.

The unfortunate thing was that Pei Ju was one of those who shouldn't know.

However, he wasn't entirely relying on Zhou Ming to find these people; it was more of a training exercise.

Zhou Ming could roughly guess this, so he wasn't in any hurry. He handed everything over to his subordinates, while he spent his days fishing, raising dogs, and practicing martial arts, completely unconcerned with these trivial matters.

It's worth mentioning that Yin Zhong, seemingly genuinely interested in Zhang Sanfeng's centenary birthday next year, decided to stay in Ming State for the time being.

"Young Master, the owner of Wenzong Bookstore has arrived."

A middle-aged man, with a prosperous appearance but also a scholarly air, nervously bowed, "This humble one, Wen Jin, greets Young Master Zhou."

"Boss Wen, please dispense with the formalities. Did you read the copy of 'Famous Detective Lu Xiaofeng' that I sent yesterday?"

"I did, I did. Young Master Zhou's writing is brilliant, and the plot is intricately designed. I also enjoy reading, but I've never read a book like yours, Young Master."

"Heh heh."

Zhou Ming chuckled, "Then, Boss Wen, do you think my book will be a massive hit and spread throughout the world?"

"This..." Boss Wen hesitated.

"Don't worry, just tell me the truth."

"Yes... In my opinion, the Young Master's novel has a convoluted and thrilling story, with each case being bizarre and inexplicable. But precisely because of this, many people might not understand the earlier parts when they first read it. And the Young Master's writing style...

I mean, for your novel to become popular through word-of-mouth, it will eventually become famous throughout the world. But to achieve a massive hit... it truly lacks a bit of effort."

Zhou Ming naturally knew how his writing was.

Since transmigrating to this world, he had extremely prioritized martial arts over literature, and most of his life had been dedicated to practicing martial arts.

Even with a cheat like Perfect Qi, he had almost never allocated it to literary aspects.

Therefore, his writing was slightly lacking.

Even so, he didn't feel anything was wrong. Writing was, after all, a minor pursuit, and writing novels was merely a hobby. Martial arts were the true grand dao of this world.

Perfect Qi could only produce one strand per day, and Zhou Ming felt it was barely enough. Where would he find the spare capacity to use it elsewhere?

"Word-of-mouth… no, it has to be an instant hit!"

Zhou Ming said.

This world had no copyright protection. If it truly relied on word-of-mouth, it was likely that before it could even spread, it would be targeted by pirated copies.

Such things couldn't be eradicated, even with his status, even if he sought out Wenzong Bookstore, the most powerful bookseller in Ming State.

It was the same.

By then, even if the novel spread throughout the land, Zhou Ming might not receive much money.

Although he wasn't short of money, who would complain about having too much of it?

Wen Jin pondered for a moment and said, "If that's the case, young master could leverage the hottest topics in the Jianghu for publicity. I see this book features Lu Xiaofeng as the protagonist and also writes about the Plum Blossom Thief incident, which is excellent. However, the Jianghu Monthly Report has already provided a detailed account of the Plum Blossom Thief's affairs, so its appeal isn't strong enough…"

"Jianghu Monthly Report? Don't they only come out once a month?"

"This… it's said to be a special issue, specifically detailing the Plum Blossom Thief's matter."

It was just an excuse.

They were probably worried the Plum Blossom Thief craze would pass and wanted to quickly capitalize on the hype to make money.

Speaking of which, the Plum Blossom Thief incident, after the truth was exposed and caused a sensation, exploded again due to Lin Xian'er.

The reason was that a certain Jianghu traveler, while drunk, bragged to everyone that he had slept with Lin Xian'er.

As a result, after this news spread, many other Jianghu figures also claimed publicly that they had slept with her.

For a time, it became a major topic again.

"I heard young master visited Xingyun Manor and was personally involved in this matter. If you could add some details, preferably some unknown ones, coupled with our Wenzong Bookstore's promotional capabilities, becoming an instant hit would be no problem!"

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Thank you, Boss Wen, for your guidance. I will revise the writing now. In seven days, please analyze it again, Boss Wen."

After seeing Boss Wen off, Zhou Ming sent someone to find the special report on the Plum Blossom Thief published in the Jianghu Monthly Report's special issue.

He had to admit, the Jianghu Monthly Report had covered the matter in great detail.

Coupled with their powerful and evocative writing style, it was no wonder they had stood firm in the Jianghu for so many years.

This way, if he wanted to capitalize on this trend, he had to write even more deeply than them!

Details?

Unknown matters?

Zhou Ming pondered for a moment, then suddenly picked up his pen.

"Perhaps, I can start from this angle…"