A Big Trouble

Li Dayong is a veteran guard of the Gao Family.

This "veteran" status refers not to his age, but to his seniority.

He is not yet thirty years old, yet he has already been in the Gao Family for over a decade, having entered the estate around the same time as Zhang Tieyi.

In the beginning, he started from the very bottom as a gatekeeper.

After outlasting two successive heads of the guards, he finally realized one thing.

In a place like the Gao Family, loyalty is worthless, and martial talent is not the most important thing either.

Picking a side and following the right person is what truly matters.

Unfortunately, he realized this too late.

By the time he grasped this principle, Zhang Tieyi had already secured his position as the head of the guards, earning the favor and trust of the family head.

Zou Rong had been more diligent and earlier in his sycophancy, latching onto Zhang Tieyi before he had even risen to power.

Consequently, he, a man of such seniority, could only stand on the sidelines, assigned to guard this remote courtyard.

Though called guarding, it was actually just an idle chore.

Two shifts per night.

Aside from pacing the alleyway, he would squat in the corner and count bricks.

Occasionally, he could snag some work hauling rice or firewood.

There were no perks to be had, and credit was certainly never going to come his way.

But today is different.

Yesterday, while in the kitchen, he heard Zou Rong mention something.

Today's errand for Zhang Tieyi is being personally overseen by the eldest young master; if it is handled well, there will be an opportunity to enter the Academy Bureau and establish a family status.

Upon hearing this, Li Dayong felt an itch in his heart.

If Zhang Tieyi gets promoted, he will surely need people under him, right?

If he, Li Dayong, could step up at this critical juncture to lend a hand—even if it were just holding the horse or handing over water—getting on familiar terms would be worth it.

At a quarter past five in the morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Li Dayong hurried to the mouth of the alley to find the guards he was relieving.

The men were reeking of smoke and yawning incessantly.

He asked in a low voice, "Has Master Zhang arrived?"

"He has, he's still inside!"

Li Dayong felt a surge of joy, but he did not let it show on his face, merely saying, "You brothers have worked hard, go on back, I'll watch this place."

The two men didn't say much and handed over their waist tokens.

"Right, Master Zhang gave instructions: if there are any strange noises inside, don't pay them any mind."

"Understood."

Li Dayong stood in the alley for another quarter of an hour.

The morning breeze poured into his collar, making him shrink his neck from the cold.

A quarter of an hour past seven had already gone by, and the other guard scheduled for the shift had yet to arrive.

Li Dayong cursed inwardly, figuring the man had probably overslept again.

That was fine, too.

With that person absent, there was no one to compete with him for a chance to make an impression.

Li Dayong waited a while longer, and feeling that all was quiet, he decided to wait by the back courtyard gate to try and secure a good impression.

He walked to the gate, straightened his lapels, adjusted his waist token, and even lowered his head to sniff his sleeves to ensure there was no foul odor, waiting patiently.

At the same time, he made up his mind to approach Zhang Tieyi the moment he stepped out.

He waited at the gate for a while longer; the sun had already risen, yet there was still no movement in the courtyard.

Zhang Tieyi was taking a long time to come out.

Li Dayong felt that something was wrong.

He gathered his courage, pushed open the courtyard gate, and leaned half his body inside.

When he saw the scene in the courtyard, his entire mind went blank with a buzz.

There was someone in the courtyard.

It was none other than Zhang Tieyi.

The bald, burly man lay face up, his face no longer recognizable, his right arm pinned beneath him at an unnatural angle.

Blood had flowed from his face into the cracks between the bricks, seeping into a dark red web that had already half-dried.

Li Dayong's mind went blank.

He took a step back, his heel catching on the threshold, and he nearly tripped over himself.

Li Dayong tore his throat open, shouting into the alleyway, "Someone come quick! Guard Zhang has met with disaster!"

Before long.

Footsteps echoed outside the courtyard.

When Gao Boyan walked in, the guards automatically retreated to both sides, holding their breath and not daring to let out a single sound.

He entered the side courtyard, swept a glance at Zhang Tieyi lying in a pool of blood, and then looked at Gao Qiaoniang, who was unconscious in the side room with a wound on her forehead.

His expression darkened bit by bit.

"Where are the people who were in the courtyard?"

Li Dayong trembled like a sieve and stammered, "I... I don't know..."

"So, you're telling me that a living person killed Guard Zhang right under your noses and then vanished into thin air?"

Gao Boyan's tone grew increasingly icy.

Li Dayong dared not speak, only kowtowing incessantly, his forehead striking the blue bricks with dull, heavy thuds.

Gao Boyan glanced at him.

He suddenly drew the saber from the waist of a guard beside him and flicked his wrist.

A bloodstain immediately appeared on Li Dayong's neck, with beads of blood beginning to seep out.

Pfft... shhh...

The next moment.

His head, which he had carefully groomed that morning, rolled off his body.

A pillar of blood erupted from his neck, reaching two meters high, splashing onto the boots of the guards in the courtyard.

These guards stiffened, not daring to dodge or look down at their own feet.

"Leave none of those who were on watch last night alive."

No one in the courtyard dared to respond.

It was only after Gao Boyan tossed the saber back to the stunned guard that some of them scrambled to run outside.

Gao Boyan crouched down and examined the wound on Zhang Tieyi's right arm.

The broken bone was shriveled, as if caused by a heavy blow from a blunt object.

But it wasn't a weapon.

It was a fist.

The fist force was at least three hundred jin.

In other words, it was the cultivation level of someone who had undergone Mortal Shedding twice.

He remained silent for a few breaths, his fingers slowly rubbing together inside his sleeves.

He had checked the background of that servant; he was completely unremarkable.

He had only truly been practicing martial arts for less than a month.

One month, two Mortal Shedding stages.

Even for a scion of a wealthy family piled high with resources, such a feat was difficult to achieve.

Gao Boyan stood up, his eyes darkening.

This time, it seemed they had brought a massive problem upon the Gao Family.

"Mobilize everyone in the estate and the spirit hounds. Find this person at all costs, and try to take him alive if possible."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over all the guards present as he said, "Prepare the horses. I am going out to meet with someone from the Xie Family."

The backyard of the Gao Family estate was where the descendants and female relatives lived.

By the hour of the rabbit and dragon, the servants were already busy, though most of the masters had only just risen.

When Chen Ye slipped out of the alley, it was exactly the time when the estate was at its busiest.

Three or four generations of the Gao Family, totaling fifty or sixty people, lived in this compound; with the servants, there were several hundred in total.

Most of the cleaning servants and rough-work maids were moving about the middle and outer courtyards.

At this moment, Chen Ye had just killed Zhang Tieyi in the courtyard, his body covered in blood and looking utterly disheveled.

Anyone who saw him would be suspicious.

If someone with ill intent reported this to Gao Yunheng, he wouldn't even be able to run; he had to choose a path with fewer people.

In this, Chen Ye was slightly lucky.

His predecessor had served as a menial in the Gao Family for years, and he was very familiar with the middle and outer courtyards.

In his memories, there was a hidden path leading outside.

Chen Ye did not delay. After making his way out of the inner courtyard without incident, he followed his memories and slipped into a secluded, rarely traveled trail.