With a quick tug, the chopsticks were pulled from Li Ke's hand, bringing a gush of blood with them and making the brainless fool see clearly what he'd done.
His face stiffened. He pointed at Li Ke, then looked at the blood splattered across his hand. His eyes bulged, and he fell to the ground, twitching incessantly.
Li Ke sliced through the rigid sword blades and coldly tossed the chopsticks aside. Looking at the young master lying on the ground, his face smeared with blood, he couldn't help but speak.
"Now you look like a fine, upstanding young man."
His words sent a chill through the people around them. It was perfectly normal for a swordsman to kill someone over a disagreement, but...
Could this really be called looking like a fine, upstanding young man?
Everyone looked at the face that had once been rather handsome but was now hideously contorted and twitching, then turned away, afraid they'd have nightmares that night.
Li Ke didn't care what they thought. Instead, he looked at the two people who had suddenly stepped in to stop him.
One was a young man with the standard samurai hairstyle, a shaved pate. He was the one who'd drawn his sword to block Li Ke's weapon.
The other was an old man with graying hair and a weathered face. He was the one who'd just struck at Li Ke's arm.
"Hey, do you know who this is? He's from a noble family that collects taxes from two villages and owns two fleets. He's also the son of one of your dojo's patrons."
The old man glanced at the young man lying on the ground and shook his head slightly, lamenting the loss of a young life, but he didn't seem inclined to blame Li Ke too harshly.
He'd seen everything that had just happened. Li Ke's retaliation was perfectly normal in Ionia.
In fact, once the young man had insulted Li Ke's master, Li Ke would have been justified in killing him. And it wasn't as if the fool hadn't tried to ambush Li Ke—he'd nearly succeeded.
"Ha? Then I think I understand what happened."
Li Ke glanced at the crest on the dead swordsman's clothes and roughly understood the reason.
The family had clearly made its fortune through its fleets. They'd probably supported Elder Souma to ensure their own safety and the like. There were plenty of patrons like them at the dojo, and Wind Technique disciples did indeed go out to protect their holdings.
But Li Ke knew perfectly well that Elder Souma's disciples had never gone out to sea. Most of the time, they were sent to the estates of other elders and nobles to keep the peace.
Considering that someone had recently tried to get Elder Souma to stop the Noxian fleet, it was obvious that this young man's family was among those who wanted Elder Souma to stand against the Noxians.
The Noxian fleet would blockade all Ionian ships, preventing their own fleet from trading. There was also the risk of the Noxians seizing or destroying their ships.
Naturally, those who had paid for protection would feel their money had gone to waste, and they'd come to resent Elder Souma.
But that didn't really hold up.
Elder Souma had said many times that his disciples would only keep the peace in one place, and wouldn't get involved elsewhere. Every time he accepted a patron's support, he made that clear.
Still, those people thought a little money would make Elder Souma obey their every command. And when he plainly refused, they grew resentful.
"This was certainly an accident, but it was also a conflict that was bound to happen. Even if I hadn't killed him now, once the war began, he'd still have resented Elder Souma for refusing to stop the Noxian fleet."
Li Ke returned his sword to its sheath, but remained wary of the two men.
"So even if I hadn't killed him, his family wouldn't have gotten along with Elder Souma anymore."
The old man who had intervened let out a faint sigh.
"But as long as he's alive, there's always room to work things out."
Li Ke didn't care. Killing a patron was awkward, sure, but he didn't think he'd have gotten anything good out of holding back.
"His family can come after me if they want. They're too cowardly to take revenge on Elder Souma. And as for anyone who comes to kill me?"
A disdainful smile appeared on Li Ke's face.
"Let them try."
With his ability to simulate possible futures to some extent, combined with how quickly he could grow stronger, there was no way he'd die unless hundreds of people came for him at once or someone as skilled as Meimu showed up.
As for ambushes, as long as he stayed careful and kept simulating, he wouldn't get caught off guard.
Thinking of that, Li Ke scratched his head, looking at the corpse on the ground and feeling that all of this was a huge hassle.
Might as well finish the job...
"What a pain. Maybe I should just kill his whole family..."
The young man with the shaved pate, who'd been drinking water, spat it out. He stared at Li Ke in shock. It was one thing to kill someone right in front of him and his father without batting an eye, but now Li Ke was talking about wiping out the man's entire family in front of them?
What a fearless guy.
The old man was also surprised by Li Ke's idea, but he didn't show it as much. Instead, he shook his head helplessly.
"There's no need for that. His whole family was killed by the Noxians. He's the last one left."
He'd received word that the young man's entire family had been killed by the Noxians at sea. His father and mother were dead, as were all his relatives within three generations. The only reason he'd survived was that he'd stayed behind to look after the family home.
How did the old man know all this?
The young man's negative emotions had already begun to affect the spirit realm. If he continued to give in to his hatred and grief, another powerful demon would emerge here.
The natural balance here had already been disrupted once. It couldn't be allowed to happen again. So a disciple of the Kinkou Order had given the old man all the necessary information and sent him to handle the matter.
Otherwise...
He would have to kill innocent people to calm the disturbances in the spirit realm.
"That bad?"
Li Ke was momentarily stunned. He really hadn't expected that. In that case, it seemed understandable that the young man had hated him so much and even tried to kill him.
But Li Ke still scoffed.
"What does his misfortune have to do with me?"
If the young man had asked for help as a patron, Li Ke might have agreed to take him along to get revenge once he was strong enough. He was a patron, after all, and a victim too. As someone who'd received his support, Li Ke would have been willing to help.
But, unfortunately...
The young man had chosen to take out his anger on Li Ke. He'd tried to kill him in a sneak attack, and Li Ke hadn't known who he was beforehand.
So Li Ke's sword wouldn't hesitate.
"War..."
The old man sighed softly. That was what war was like. It hadn't even arrived yet, and its mere approach had already brought endless suffering and hatred.
Once war truly came, things like this would happen one after another.
Before you continue