Exterminating Evil

After a long while, Zhou Menghu climbed drunkenly out of the tub, now gone cold. "Go warm the bed. I'm stepping outside to relieve myself."

The woman swayed her way toward the East Wing.

Completely naked, Zhou Menghu stood in the doorway of the main room, his bean sprout in hand. As he urinated into the yard, he grinned and ranted, "Xiao Haozi, you think you're safe just because you don't go into the mountains? I've got plenty of ways to kill you, and it'll happen in the next few days. Your Sister Yun will be mine."

Cui Hao sat on a tree branch, keeping his limbs moving. When he saw Zhou Menghu come out to relieve himself, he drew his bow without delay!

At the sound of those words, the fully drawn bowstring snapped loose.

Whoosh!

The Wolf Fang Arrow, soaked in Gold Juice, tore through the night. It skimmed the frost on the courtyard wall, crossed more than ten meters, and sank into flesh with a squelch, plunging deep into Zhou Menghu's kidney from his left side.

"Ah!" Zhou Menghu cried in terror and turned to run back inside.

Badly wounded, he couldn't run fast. Another sharp arrow came flying after him, striking him squarely in the back and passing through his body.

His eyes bulging, Zhou Menghu fell forward.

Cui Hao had chosen the steadiest approach. The first arrow struck the torso, and so did the second. He hadn't arrogantly gone for the head.

The result was good.

He quickly left the main branch, leaving the bow behind. Carrying a woodcutter's knife, he climbed over the wall and ran into the courtyard. He reached Zhou Menghu from behind and was about to finish him off when he turned toward the East Wing and saw a disheveled woman staring at him, eyes wide.

"Shh!" Cui Hao raised his right index finger to signal that she shouldn't shout. "Let's split his silver."

"He... said he didn't have much," the woman stammered. "He gave it all to his brothers studying martial arts at the academy."

"Not even one tael?"

As he spoke, Cui Hao approached the trembling woman. Suddenly, he struck like he was chopping wood, bringing the blade down on her forehead. The knife's palm-wide blade sank halfway in.

Blood flowed. The woman's eyes widened, and her body crumpled like a noodle.

At that moment, Cui Hao's mind was clear. He didn't throw up or feel any physical revulsion. He yanked up the knife handle, pulled the woodcutter's knife from the woman's skull, then turned to finish off Zhou Menghu—only for his heart to skip a beat.

There was an arrow sticking out of Zhou Menghu's waist and another through his chest, yet he had managed to stand up!

But he had taken two arrows, and they were Wolf Fang Arrows... Zhou Menghu stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide, as if he couldn't move.

Unwilling to take a chance, Cui Hao raised his knife and feinted a step forward as if charging.

Once he was sure Zhou Menghu could only barely stand and couldn't fight back—not even speak—Cui Hao's lips curled into an evil smile. "May you have a pleasant journey."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Cui Hao brought the knife down on Zhou Menghu's forehead, giving him the same death as the woman.

Zhou Menghu sank helplessly to his knees.

Cui Hao planted his shoe against the man's face and kicked the corpse aside. He pulled out the knife and wiped the blood off on Zhou Bahu.

He searched the body and found three or four taels' worth of small silver pieces.

At this point, Cui Hao, who had come from another world, instinctively wanted to destroy the scene.

He took away the arrows, damaged the wounds on the corpses, then dragged the bodies together. He brought a quilt from the bedroom and covered them, then used a fire starter to set it alight.

Finally, he dragged over the table and chairs and piled them on top of the quilt.

After doing everything he could to destroy the evidence, he climbed over the wall and left, retrieving his bow and arrows on the way out.

He wasn't worried that anyone had heard Zhou Menghu's "Ah!"

He had no neighbors.

He'd had neighbors before. For instance, where the graves were, there had originally been two households. Zhou Menghu drove them away, tore down their houses, and moved his ancestral graves there.

There had been neighbors on the other side, too. After driving them away, he tore down their house and turned the land into a vegetable plot.

Along with the rare graveyard trees, it all brought a smile to Cui Hao's lips as he fled. He was a textbook case of bringing ruin upon himself.

An ordinary family wouldn't have had so many conveniences.

The first thing Cui Hao did when he got home was deal with his shoe soles, wash the arrows, check his clothes, and review everything in his mind.

He went over the process quickly. There were no major problems, but one potential trouble remained: Zhou Menghu had a brother studying martial arts at the academy.

This was a world where martial arts flourished, and there were several martial arts academies in the city.

But studying martial arts was expensive, so ordinary people had nothing to do with it.

He hadn't expected Zhou Menghu's younger brother to be training at an academy. He would have to take precautions.

The next day.

Bang! Bang! Someone pounded hard on the door. "Brother Hao, wake up! It's Lin Da!"

Cui Hao opened his eyes blearily and listened closely. "Lin Da?"

"Sounds like Uncle Lin's son." Su Yun shook her husband. "Get up and see."

Reluctant to leave the warm bed, Cui Hao put on his clothes and shoes, moved the wooden bar blocking the main-room door, and opened it.

He went to the courtyard gate, moved aside the two wooden bars, and opened it. Lin Da stood outside, his face beaming with joy.

Cui Hao glanced at the sun, which looked like an egg yolk. "What's the hurry?"

"Brother Hao!" Lin Da gestured excitedly. "I've got the best news!"

There were more than a hundred households in the village, and Cui Hao's home was some distance from Lin Da's. They could go all year without seeing each other. "What good news?"

"Zhou Menghu's house caught fire last night. He burned to death."

"Burned to death?" Cui Hao murmured. "After all the wicked things he did, someone must've taken him out, right?"

"Shh! Everyone's saying it was an accidental fire."

To keep up the act, Cui Hao asked again and again, "Are you sure he's dead?"

"The house collapsed in the fire. Everyone dug out two burned bodies. The constables haven't come yet. Want to go take a look?"

"I'll let Sister Yun know. See you later."

Lin Da turned to leave, then stopped as he remembered something. "Brother Hao, my dad plans to send me to study martial arts at Zhanhong Martial Arts Academy."

Worried that Zhou Menghu's brother might take revenge, Cui Hao also wanted to get stronger. "How much is the tuition?"

"Fifteen taels a year."

"That's expensive! In a village this big, only Uncle Lin can earn that kind of money."

Old Man Lin knew how to make bows and arrows. With that useful craft and years of savings, it wasn't surprising that Lin Da could enter the academy.

After seeing Lin Da off and closing the courtyard gate, Cui Hao told Su Yun the good news.

"Really?" Su Yun was combing her hair. She spun around at once to look at her husband.

"That's what Lin Da said. His family lives close to Zhou Menghu's, so it should be true."

More than anyone, Su Yun hoped the news was true. She was full of excitement. "Brother Hao, let's go have a look. If that evil man Zhou Menghu really is dead, we'll have nothing but good days ahead."

Not wanting to spoil her mood—and with the strange urge to revisit the scene of the crime—Cui Hao nodded in agreement.