Betrayal

The contents of the room could be taken in at a single glance.

A wooden bed, a wobbly-legged table, some jars in the corner, and a few strips of dried meat hanging on the wall.

"Doesn't seem to be anything here. Did we really misjudge him?"

"Hey, there's a box here."

Laizi, sharp-eyed, pointed toward the corner.

Pizi stepped over; the box was weighed down by a few stones.

He lifted the lid to reveal a furry, dark brown animal curled up in a corner lined with hay.

Sensing the movement, the Purple Sable raised its head in terror, letting out a faint "squeak."

"Mother of mercy! It's a sable! And it's alive!" Pizi gasped, his eyes widening into perfect circles as his breathing quickened.

"This—this—this has to be worth a fortune in the county town!"

"Even if the three of us split it, we'd each get at least a few taels of silver."

"Brother Chen Qing, look, I told you I was right! This kid definitely had something good hidden away!"

Pizi and Laizi had already begun to fantasize about taking the silver to the taverns and brothels in the county town to live it up.

Chen Qing stood behind the two of them, his brows locked in a deep frown.

To be honest, they were all hunters who lived off the mountain, and none of them were people to be trifled with.

If someone shot an arrow into your back while you were out in the mountains, you wouldn't even be able to defend yourself!

That was why hunters from the same village usually kept their conflicts minor; no one wanted to escalate things intentionally.

If they stole Li Yuan's sable, the nature of the conflict would change entirely.

Cutting off a man's livelihood was no different from killing his parents.

"Brother Chen, are you afraid that kid will seek revenge?"

Pizi noticed Chen Qing's hesitation and asked immediately.

"It's not exactly fear, it's just..."

You dog, you've already snuck in here with us, yet you're still putting on this act.

Pizi cursed inwardly, but a smile appeared on his face as he said:

"Brother Chen, heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves!

Think about your older brother needing money at the Martial Arts Hall, and us needing to pay our taxes—money is needed everywhere.

Sacrificing Li Yuan alone will bring prosperity to the three of us."

Pizi continued to cajole Chen Qing from the side.

"Mm-hmm!" Laizi, not being much of a talker, met Pizi's eyes and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Brother Chen, your older brother is training at the Martial Arts Hall. Even if this kid finds out, would he dare to come after you?"

"If he insists on revenge, then we might as well..."

As he spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

The reason Pizi had dragged Chen Qing along was to have a scapegoat.

They were afraid, too—afraid that if Li Yuan found out, he would come for them!

With Chen Qing involved, they could claim the whole idea was his, and that it had nothing to do with them.

"That's true. I can just treat it as borrowing from him for now. Once my brother masters his martial arts and my life gets easier, it won't be hard to help him out a little later."

Chen Qing was swayed by their words and began to weigh the pros and cons.

A moment later, the hesitant Chen Qing finally nodded heavily.

Seeing Chen Qing agree, Pizi and Laizi were overjoyed and immediately moved to grab the sable and carry it away.

"Idiots!" Chen Qing scolded. "You're stealing a gold ingot from someone's house and you want to parade it around for everyone to see? Carry the whole box out for me."

Once his mind was made up, Chen Qing became alert.

The two of them scrambled to lift the wooden box, and after a bit of maneuvering, they hauled it out of Li Yuan's room.

The snow had not stopped; snowflakes drifted down, dyeing the ground a snowy white.

"Take the small path, there are fewer people," Chen Qing said.

They didn't dare take the main road, choosing instead to head out of the village via secluded trails, intending to take it straight to the county town to sell.

Along the way, Pizi and Laizi excitedly calculated how much they could sell it for, fantasizing about how they would use the money to win back their losses at the gambling dens and how they would enjoy themselves at the brothels.

Chen Qing, however, remained silent, staring at their backs, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

Pizi's words from earlier kept echoing in his mind.

Heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves!

"Even if it sells for a dozen taels of silver, split three ways, how much will I actually get?"

What if I kept it all for myself?

Once this thought sprouted, it grew wildly like a vine.

Chen Qing's breathing grew increasingly rapid.

Pizi and Laizi were nothing but two tag-alongs; they spent their days mooching off him, lazy and gluttonous, and were utterly useless when it mattered most.

Every time they encountered danger while trekking through the mountains, those two were always the first to run.

Leaving these two in the village is just inviting trouble; I'm doing the public a service, Chen Qing reasoned to himself.

Killing them would be like tossing two stones into the vast mountains—no one would ever know.

In this desolate wilderness, with snow filling the sky, it was the perfect opportunity to strike!

Chen Qing quietly touched the wood-chopping knife tucked behind his waist; once the murderous intent rose, it became impossible to suppress.

After walking for about half an hour, they arrived at a secluded mountain hollow where only the howling of the wind and snow could be heard.

Chen Qing scanned the surroundings, suddenly stopped, and said while panting:

"Let's take a break. Carrying this box is too exhausting."

Pizi and Laizi didn't think twice; they set the box down and plopped onto the snow, rubbing their aching shoulders.

"Damn, this box is really heavy," Pizi complained.

"Heh, the heavier the better. That just means more silver when we sell it," Laizi replied.

Chen Qing walked behind Laizi, kindly helping him brush the snow off his back while chiming in, "That's right. Once we get the money, we brothers will head to the brothel and..."

Before he could finish, a fierce glint flashed in Chen Qing's eyes. He whipped out his wood-chopping knife and, with all his might, brought it down hard on the back of Laizi's neck!

With a dull thud, the expression on Laizi's face froze instantly. He didn't even manage a groan before collapsing to the ground.

Warm blood gushed out, staining a large patch of snow crimson.

Pizi, standing to the side, was stunned by the sudden turn of events. He stood there with his mouth agape, staring at Chen Qing like a wooden chicken.

He looked at Laizi, who was still twitching on the ground, and found himself unable to speak.

"Chen... Brother Chen Qing... you..." Pizi trembled all over, his teeth chattering.

He couldn't fathom that for the sake of a little silver, his own life was being demanded as payment.

Chen Qing remained expressionless as he pulled out the knife, a few droplets of blood splattered across his face.

He stepped toward Pizi, his voice icy, "Sigh, heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves.

Dividing the money from this sable among three people is just too little.

Go in peace; may you have a better life in your next one."

"No! Brother Chen Qing! I don't want the money! You can have the sable! Spare me! I swear I'll never..." Pizi scrambled backward in terror, begging incoherently.

But Chen Qing wasn't listening. He caught up in a single stride and brought the blade down.

Pizi's pleas for mercy cut off abruptly as he followed in Laizi's footsteps.

He looked at the two still-warm corpses in the snow, the flowing blood creating a stark contrast against the pristine white.

"How pathetic are these two? They didn't even have two taels of silver between them."

After looting the bodies, Chen Qing quickly tidied up the scene and tossed the two corpses into the nearby woods.

By nightfall, wild beasts would naturally come to take care of the rest.

Once finished, he dared not linger. He hoisted the wooden box onto his shoulder, identified his direction, and quickened his pace toward the county town.

The heavy snow fell, and before long, it buried every trace, as if nothing had ever happened.