Eliminating Evil

A long time later, Zhou Menghu drunkenly left the cooled bath. "You go warm the bed, I'm going to relieve myself."

The woman swayed her hips and walked towards the East Wing.

Naked, Zhou Menghu stood at the entrance of the main hall, using a bean sprout, urinating into the courtyard and grinning, "Xiao Haozi, you think you're safe just by not entering the mountains? I have plenty of ways to kill you, it's just a matter of these next two days. Your Sister Yun will be mine."

Cui Hao sat on a tree branch, stretching his limbs. Seeing Zhou Menghu come out to urinate, he nocked an arrow just in time.

Hearing his words, he released the bowstring.

Swish!

The Wolf Fang Arrow, soaked in Gold Juice, tore through the night, grazed the frost on the courtyard wall, flew over ten meters, and with a thwack, embedded itself in flesh, from Zhou Menghu's left side, deep into his waist.

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

Severely wounded, he couldn't run fast. Another arrow followed, hitting Zhou Menghu's back, entering the front and exiting the back.

His eyes widened, and Zhou Menghu fell forward.

Cui Hao chose the safest method. The first arrow hit the torso, the second also hit the torso. He didn't arrogantly aim for the head.

The result was good.

He quickly left the main branch, leaving his bow and arrows behind. He took his Chopping Knife and scaled the wall into the courtyard. He ran forward and, coming up behind Zhou Menghu, was about to deliver the finishing blow when he turned his head towards the East Wing and saw a disheveled woman staring with wide eyes.

"Shh!" Cui Hao raised his right index finger, signaling the woman not to scream. "Let's split his money."

"He... said he didn't have much money," the woman stammered. "He gave it all to his brother who's training at the martial arts school."

"Not even one tael?"

As he spoke, Cui Hao approached the trembling woman and suddenly struck. Like chopping firewood, he brought his knife down on her forehead, the half-wide blade sinking in.

Blood flowed, and the woman's eyes widened. Her body collapsed like noodles.

At this moment, Cui Hao's mind was clear. He didn't vomit, nor did he feel any physiological discomfort. He yanked hard on the knife handle, pulling out the Chopping Knife stuck in the woman's skull. He turned to deliver the finishing blow to Zhou Menghu, his heart skipping a beat.

Zhou Menghu, with an arrow in his waist and another protruding from his chest, had actually stood up!

But, having been hit by two arrows, and Wolf Fang Arrows at that... Zhou Menghu stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide, seemingly unable to move?

Not daring to take the risk, Cui Hao raised his knife and feigned a forward charge.

Confirming that Zhou Menghu could barely stand and was unable to retaliate, unable to even speak, Cui Hao's lips curved into an evil smile. "May you have a good journey."

As the words fell, Cui Hao brought his knife down on Zhou Menghu's forehead, the same way the woman had died.

Zhou Menghu knelt powerlessly.

He kicked the corpse in the face with the sole of his shoe, pulled out his knife, and wiped the blood clean on Zhou Menghu's body.

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

At this point, Cui Hao, who had transmigrated, instinctively wanted to destroy the evidence.

He removed the arrows, obscured the arrow wounds on the bodies, then dragged the corpses together. He took a quilt from the bedroom and covered the bodies, then lit it with a fire starter.

Finally, he pulled over a table and chairs and placed them on top of the quilt.

Having done his best to destroy the evidence, he scaled the wall and left, taking his bow and arrows and retreating the way he came.

He wasn't worried about Zhou Menghu's cry of "Ah" being heard.

He had no neighbors.

There used to be neighbors, like the burial ground. Originally, there were two households, but they were driven away, their houses demolished, and their ancestral graves moved here.

There were also neighbors on the other side. After they were forced out, their houses were demolished and turned into vegetable fields.

Coupled with the rare grave trees, the fleeing Cui Hao smirked. A classic case of reaping what you sow.

For an ordinary family, there wouldn't be so many conveniences.

Upon returning home, he immediately dealt with his shoe soles, washed the arrows, checked his clothes, and mentally reviewed the process.

He briefly went over the steps. It seemed fine, with only one hidden danger: Zhou Menghu had a brother training at a martial arts school.

This was a world where martial arts flourished, with multiple martial arts schools in the city.

However, because training in martial arts was expensive, it was unrelated to ordinary people.

He hadn't expected Zhou Menghu's brother to be training at a martial arts school. He needed to be cautious.

The next day.

Bang! Bang! Heavy knocking sounds. " Brother Hao, wake up! It's Lin Da!"

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

"It seems to be Uncle Lin's son," Su Yun shook her husband. "Get up and see."

Cui Hao reluctantly left the warm embrace of the quilt, put on his clothes, pants, and shoes, moved the wooden bar blocking the door, and opened the main hall door.

He walked to the courtyard gate, moved aside two wooden bars, and opened the gate, seeing Lin Da with a joyous expression on his face.

Cui Hao glanced at the sun, which looked like a yolk. "What's the rush?"

"Brother Hao," Lin Da exclaimed, waving his hands, "Great news!"

There were over a hundred households in the village. Cui Hao's home was some distance from Lin Da's, and they rarely saw each other. "What good news?"

"Zhou Menghu's family had a fire last night and burned to death."

"Burned to death?" Cui Hao muttered. "He did so many bad things, he was probably taken care of by someone, right?"

"Shh! Everyone says it was an accident."

Playing along, Cui Hao asked repeatedly, "Are you sure he's dead?"

"The house collapsed from the fire. They dug out two charred bodies. The officials haven't arrived yet. Do you want to take a look?"

"I'll tell Sister Yun and be right back."

Lin Da turned to leave, then stopped as if remembering something. "Brother Hao, my father plans to send me to Zhanhong Martial Arts Academy to study martial arts."

Worried about retaliation from Zhou Menghu's brothers, Cui Hao also had the idea of becoming stronger. "How much is the tuition?"

"Fifteen taels a year."

"That's so expensive! In a village this big, only Uncle Lin can earn that much."

Old Man Lin made bows and arrows. Relying on this practical skill and years of accumulation, it wasn't surprising that Lin Da could enter a martial arts school.

After sending Lin Da off and closing the courtyard gate, Cui Hao shared the good news with Su Yun.

"Really!" Su Yun, who was combing her hair, turned around to look at her husband.

"Lin Da said so. His home is close to Zhou Menghu's, so it should be accurate."

Hoping this news was true more than anyone else, Su Yun was very excited. "Brother Hao, let's go take a look. If that villain Zhou Menghu is really dead, our good days will be endless from now on."

Not wanting to be a spoilsport, and with that strange psychological urge of a murderer returning to the scene of the crime to look again, Cui Hao agreed.