Leave No Loose Ends

Deep into the night.

The Liu family residence, backyard.

"According to the agreed-upon time, Senior Zhu should have already made his move..."

Patriarch Liu paced back and forth in the backyard, anxious and restless.

Behind him followed two men in their twenties, his sons.

They carried small bundles containing banknotes from the official bank and several land deeds from neighboring counties.

"Father..."

At this moment, the Eldest Young Master of the Liu family seemed to have grown impatient and couldn't help but ask, "There has been no word from the pavilion outside the town. Has Senior Zhu... succeeded?"

"Wait a little longer."

Patriarch Liu stopped pacing and looked at his two sons.

"Or... you two take these valuables and leave first.

If nothing happens, you can return in a few days.

After thinking it over tonight, for the sake of caution, I believe it is best to send you two away first."

"Father!"

"I am not leaving!"

Hearing this, the two displayed a stubborn attitude, their feet not moving an inch.

"Fools!" Patriarch Liu frowned deeply at the sight.

"I specifically sent someone to find Ruyi Star today.

Yet I discovered that the cunning Ruyi Star sensed something was wrong and fled overnight.

This alone shows that even he does not have full confidence in Senior Zhu's assassination of that Chen fellow."

Having said this, Patriarch Liu appealed to their emotions and reason, urging them, "If Senior Zhu fails and that Zhao Qilin seeks revenge, at least our family line will continue if you two are gone.

As for me and the others in the residence, we still have to manage the rice shop business tomorrow.

That brat is, after all, just a brat; I believe he is far inferior to a veteran of the martial world!

If the senior succeeds, our family moving away tonight would only be throwing ourselves into chaos and appearing highly suspicious to outsiders."

"But... Father..." The Second Young Master felt the logic was sound, yet still wanted to persuade him otherwise.

"Fine... Little Brother and I will go first..." The Eldest Young Master tugged at his younger brother's sleeve and nodded silently.

However.

When the Eldest Young Master thought of how cowardly this felt, and considered that his father had to stay behind to bear the risk, he said with some anger:

"If not for the Zhao family producing an expert, the Zhao family would surely suffer heavy casualties and be crippled next month once those bandits make their move!

We could have taken this opportunity to swallow up their rice business!

It was such a perfect plan, so how did such a person appear?"

The Eldest Young Master was furious.

The perfect plan and his dream of becoming a "great rice merchant" had suddenly been ruined and lost.

He truly could not accept it.

"I really hope Senior Zhu kills that little thief with one sword!" The Second Young Master was equally angry, praying that Senior Zhu would succeed tonight.

Furthermore, the matter of the bandits.

It was something the Liu family had arranged with a single mind.

Otherwise, relying on the bandits alone, some things would be difficult to ascertain.

After all, bandits do not understand the rice business.

But with the Liu family working in unison, using business shipments as an excuse to conduct affairs at the Zhao family's rice shop, they were able to gather quite a bit of information.

These details were then passed to Patriarch Liu, and Patriarch Liu would pass them on to Ruyi Star.

Ruyi Star would tell the bandits, and the bandits would use their own methods to investigate further.

In the end, the information was compiled, linked together, and the details of the Zhao family's shipments were uncovered.

"Do not act on impulse..."

And at this moment.

Patriarch Liu saw his two sons were angry, so he deepened his tone and spoke to them as they prepared to leave:

"I know that before you leave the town, you will definitely go near the Zhao Family to scout around first.

But since we do not know the situation of Senior Zhu, you must not linger in the town any longer.

Once you leave the manor, go straight to Wucang County and wait for news from me."

"Yes..."

Seeing their father so serious, the two young masters put away their small thoughts of watching the Zhao Family.

However.

Before Patriarch Liu could urge them a few more times to travel at night and pay attention to their safety.

Boom-

A loud crash erupted from the front courtyard.

"Help..."

At the same time, there was the terrified cry of a guard.

"What is going on... could it be?"

After hearing the cry and the crash, Patriarch Liu had just reacted and was preparing to have his two sons leave through the back door.

But in less than ten seconds.

The two young masters had not even taken two steps out of their stupor.

Tap-

A light sound of thick cloth shoes stepping on bluestone bricks echoed at the courtyard gate ahead.

In front of the gate.

Chen Guan held a guard in one hand and a long sword in the other, looking at the three uneasy and stunned people in the courtyard.

"Patriarch Liu, two young masters of the Liu family."

Chen Guan glanced at the bundles in their hands.

"It is so late, where are you going?"

"Chen..."

"Qilin Prodigy..."

The moment the three saw Chen Guan, even though they had never met, they recognized him.

It was truly because the Hundred Beast Garment, the tall stature, and the strange ears were too similar to what had been circulating in the town for the past few days.

"Young Master of the Zhao Family!"

Upon recognizing Chen Guan.

Seeing that the guard had been captured, Patriarch Liu knew that resisting a martial arts expert was useless, so he knelt on both knees and begged for mercy directly:

"I... I will give you all the wealth of my Liu family... spare me... don't kill me..."

Patriarch Liu wept bitterly, knowing by now that Bamboo Swordsman had failed, or rather, was already dead.

He really killed Bamboo Swordsman... to be able to kill a Houtian Great Completion expert at seventeen...

While begging for mercy, besides being shocked that Chen Guan was so young yet possessed such profound internal energy, Patriarch Liu was now more concerned with saving his own life.

The two young masters were also decisive, kneeling on the ground in terror and handing over the bundles in their hands.

"Grandpa Chen, please spare our lives!"

"Grandpa Chen..."

They kowtowed as they knelt, placing the bundles in front of them.

Reflected in the moonlight, the banknotes could be seen through the gaps in the bundles.

Seeing them in this state, Chen Guan asked:

"Two things. First, where is Ruyi Star?

Second, what secret manuals do you have in your manor?"

Chen Guan released the guard he was holding and approached the three people in the courtyard.

"Don't kill me... don't kill me..." The guard was too scared to move from where he stood.

He... doesn't seem to be killing anyone... is he afraid of the yamen investigating? Afraid of trouble? Seeing that the situation seemed to have eased, Patriarch Liu cooperated fully without holding anything back:

"Young Hero! Although I do not know about Ruyi Star... but some of the miscellaneous secret manuals in my house are in the study!

The last row of the study contains all the secret manuals collected by my manor..."

As a major merchant in a small town, it was normal to purchase some martial arts manuals and train some guards.

The Zhao Family also had some, all of which Chen Guan had already read.

"Understood."

Upon hearing the answer, Chen Guan suddenly decapitated his father with a single stroke of his sword, right before the terrified gazes of the two young masters.

Thump, thump.

The head rolled to a stop right in front of the stunned young masters, who remained frozen in their kneeling, kowtowing posture.

Chen Guan took two more steps toward them.

"Rest assured, although I am accustomed to using a blade, my sword is just as swift."

"Before your father travels too far, I shall send the two of you to join him on the road."

Swish.

The sword flashed, and two more heads, still wearing expressions of horror, fell to the ground.

Chen Guan then turned to look at the guards, who were too afraid to flee.

"Take me to the families of the Liu Family."