Everyone Wants to See Chen Guan

The next day.

White cloth strips were strung up outside the Liu Family estate by the yamen.

"Slowly, slowly..."

Accompanied by the huffing and puffing sounds of heavy lifting.

Several constables were carrying corpses out of the estate.

The people on the main street were whispering and discussing the scene.

"Seventeen years old and already at the Great Success of the Acquired Realm..."

In front of the estate, Constable Yan swept a glance over the noisy crowd. He did not intervene, focusing instead on the sword wounds on the corpses.

With internal energy infused, a sword could inflict wounds like a saber, clean and decisive, decapitating with a single strike.

It was clearly the work of someone with profound internal energy.

"This Qilin Prodigy... is truly formidable."

Constable Yan sighed in amazement, his mind already turning to how he might find him.

Logically, the Liu Family had colluded with bandits and harmed the townspeople, so they deserved to die.

But this total annihilation of the household was a bit too "thorough in leaving no future troubles."

Constable Yan felt that such a person would likely be difficult to get along with.

Just then.

Within the crowd.

A sturdy man stood out, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"The Liu Family colluded with bandits and wanted to slaughter our townspeople; they deserved to die!"

As he spoke, relying on his status as the town's blacksmith—having forged many weapons for the yamen and maintaining a good relationship with Constable Yan—he continued.

After a moment, he called out to Constable Yan, who was lost in thought in front of the estate:

"Brother Yan! You must distinguish right from wrong!"

As the blacksmith spoke, he took two steps forward, though his left leg had a noticeable limp.

In his youth, he had once roamed the martial arts world.

Yet, it was precisely this character of hating evil that led to him being injured during a fight for justice.

Even now, he had not changed.

Even though his leg was injured and he no longer fought easily.

Whenever he saw something that made him feel satisfied, he loved to speak his mind.

"Hmm..." Constable Yan heard the blacksmith's booming voice and merely nodded slightly, saying nothing more in public.

However, the moment the blacksmith finished speaking, several people saw the constable nod as if agreeing with the blacksmith's words, and they began to chime in one after another.

"My Lord! I think Blacksmith Zhang is right!"

"Young Hero Chen killed them well!"

After the people present understood the sequence of events, the majority felt that this vengeance was justified.

But there were also some who, seeing the corpses covered in white cloth everywhere, felt a moment of pity.

At this, a young man frowned and said: "This Qilin Prodigy... isn't he being too ruthless?

It was clearly the fault of the Liu Family head and his son, yet he killed the entire household..."

"Hahaha? Ruthless?" A man retorted upon hearing this: "The Liu Family contacted bandits earlier and were prepared to swallow up the Zhao Family; was that not ruthless?

Do you think if Young Hero Chen hadn't returned, the Liu Family would have looked at the Zhao Family with pity, spared them, and not seized their shops?"

"Exactly!" a swordsman said decisively: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; we martial artists should act this way!

What is there to pity?

In my view, this matter is simply justice, settling old scores."

"Justice?" The few who felt pity for the Liu Family said nothing more upon hearing the swordsman's words.

Because they knew that martial artists were not fond of reasoning, but they loved the satisfaction of vengeance.

Of course, if today's events had happened to these few people themselves.

They would also have cut the weeds and pulled up the roots, leaving no future troubles.

Only a fool would leave a group of enemies alive in the world.

In front of the Liu Family gate, the debates continued, accompanied by even more voices of support.

The topic of the Liu Family being wiped out, as well as the killing of the Bamboo Swordsman, remained the talk of the town.

In less than a day, the news had spread across most of the small town.

It was also on this afternoon.

Inside a private room on the fifth floor of the Yanhe Pavilion.

The Bandit Boss looked at the waiter who had come to report the news with astonishment, and asked in confusion:

"My brother Bamboo Swordsman was killed?

And the murderer is... the Zhao Family Qilin Prodigy whom I originally intended to invite?"

The Bandit Boss was truly bewildered.

He had not expected that in the short span of a single day, his own guest would end up killing his sworn brother.

What kind of story was this?

"Yes!" the waiter reported truthfully, relaying some of the information he had overheard.

This was because many people had seen Chen Guan behead the Bamboo Swordsman last night.

"So it turns out Brother Bamboo went to assassinate this Qilin Prodigy first..."

After hearing the sequence of events, the Bandit Boss understood.

Furthermore, the Bandit Boss was well aware of the Bamboo Swordsman's penchant for brutally murdering young geniuses of the martial arts world.

Or rather, birds of a feather flock together.

Since the two could get along so well and call each other brothers, it was only natural that neither of them was a good person.

But now, the Bamboo Swordsman was dead.

The only good brother who could help the Bandit Boss handle his private affairs was dead.

The Bandit Boss felt extremely distressed.

Because there was no one left to do his dirty work.

"My brother Bamboo kicked a hard board this time..."

The Bandit Boss sighed, "He fell at the hands of the Little Qilin."

"Sigh..." the waiter also let out a sigh, then looked up slightly at the saddened proprietor, "Then... should the matter of hosting a banquet to invite the Little Qilin be cancelled?"

"Cancelled?"

Upon hearing this, the Bandit Boss fell silent for a few moments, struggling with his thoughts.

To be able to kill that Bamboo Swordsman, this Little Qilin's skills... are likely even higher than I imagined!

After considering Chen Guan's abilities, the Bandit Boss put away his feelings of grief.

Now, he was more focused on the fact that Chen Guan was younger and even more formidable!

With such skills at such an age, this Little Qilin clearly has a boundless future...

He thought to himself, now even more eager to befriend this young hero.

However.

When the waiter saw the change in the proprietor's expression, he acted as if he could read his mind and whispered a word of caution:

"Proprietor!

Many people in town know that you and the Bamboo Swordsman were close friends.

If you ignore this relationship and do not avenge the Bamboo Swordsman, but instead invite the Little Qilin, this... I fear it won't sound very good if word gets out!"

He added a few more words, "Especially if that Little Qilin finds out about your relationship with the Bamboo Swordsman, he probably won't come, fearing that we have arranged a trap for him!"

As the waiter spoke, he felt that this whole affair was unreliable.

"What trap? What close friends? Do you even know how to speak?"

The Bandit Boss, upon hearing these words, revealed an amused expression, "That Bamboo Swordsman colluded with bandits and robbers in secret, harming the folks of our town. His actions were despicable; he was the scum of the martial arts world.

Now that I know his true colors, I must naturally draw a line between us.

As for the Little Qilin, he eliminated a scourge for the people and helped me recognize such a person, saving me from the clutches of this villain.

Both in reason and sentiment, I should be hosting a banquet to invite this Qilin Young Hero!

If I don't invite him or ask after him, that would be the sign of a guilty conscience!"

Having said this, the Bandit Boss looked at the stunned waiter, "Does this logic hold?"

"I... this... you..." The shop assistant was stunned for a few seconds after hearing these words, before finally extending his right hand and giving a thumbs-up.

"The shopkeeper is truly the shopkeeper, high! It is indeed high!"

Morning.

The yamen study.

"The matter is exactly as such..."

After returning to the yamen, Constable Yan reported the sequence of events to the County Magistrate.

Once he finished speaking, the County Magistrate pondered for a moment before saying:

"Constable Yan, you understand the people of the jianghu. Tell me, is it too ruthless for the Qilin Prodigy to act with such seasoned, worldly experience at his age?"

"Ruthless is perhaps too strong a word." Constable Yan smiled. "My Lord, you must realize that the Zhao Family's Qilin Prodigy left home as a child and has been away for ten years. Who would believe he hasn't suffered the hardships of the jianghu, having grown up and mastered martial arts at such a tender age?"

"True." The County Magistrate nodded in deep agreement, then shook his head with a wry smile. "I am getting old, my mind is dull, and some things are becoming harder to grasp. I don't know when the imperial court will send a new magistrate; I only wish to go home now to water the fields and tend to the flowers. To toil at sunrise and rest at sunset."

"My Lord is still young!" Seeing his uncle's weary desire for seclusion, Constable Yan felt a deep sense of sorrow. Firstly, he could not bear the thought of his uncle, whom he had spent decades with, leaving. Secondly, the temperament of a new magistrate and whether they would be easy to work with were both unknowns. Yet, the elderly returning to their hometowns was an inevitability.

"Constable Yan."

At this moment, the County Magistrate thought of something and said to the melancholic Constable Yan: "The Qilin Prodigy has first killed bandits, then wiped out the entire Liu Family. In three days, a hundred lives have been lost in the town. This matter has caused quite an uproar. Now, regardless of whether we offend this Qilin Prodigy or not, we must invite him in for questioning."

"Yes!"

Constable Yan replied, suppressing his emotions to focus on the task at hand.

Meanwhile.

The Zhao Family.

Back courtyard.

Chen Guan was practicing breathing exercises in the room, recovering his spiritual energy while deepening his cultivation. Beside him lay several martial arts manuals seized from the Liu Family.

Outside in the courtyard, Patriarch Zhao, the Eldest Young Master, and the others were like ants on a hot pan, pacing back and forth and exchanging glances, yet none dared to enter and disturb Chen Guan.

"Father... do you think... the Liu Family tragedy being whispered about outside was really caused by my fifth brother wiping them out..."

"Father, why don't you go in and ask? I don't dare..."

"How can I ask? If you don't dare, do you think I dare?"

Accompanying their hushed conversation, they occasionally glanced at the nearby wall. At this moment, two guards were trying their best to repair the wall as quietly as possible, fearing they might disturb the Fifth Young Master's training.

"Senior Zhu is dead..."

In the guards' intermittent whispers, they marveled at the Fifth Young Master's internal energy, and at how, upon returning after ten years, he had killed the Bamboo Swordsman in a single move, instantly becoming the third-ranked expert in the town! In their eyes, he was nothing short of a legendary hero from a storyteller's tale!