Bowing Your Head?

Yang Zhenshan stood frozen in place, staring at that corpse.

That was his son.

His only son.

No matter how worthless Yang Mingyuan was, he was still Yang Zhenshan's flesh and blood.

Mingyuan...

he muttered, his voice hoarse.

A monstrous fury surged from the bottom of his heart.

He snapped his head up, his eyes bloodred, and the aura around him climbed frantically.

"I'll kill you!!"

His figure flashed, and a sword seal condensed in an instant.

A Yellow-grade lower-tier martial technique, Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal!

A trace of a dark smile flashed through Jin Tie's eyes.

He was afraid you would be too obedient and not dare to resist.

His figure didn't move, raising a hand to meet the attack.

The Foundation Establishment Realm against the Qi Refinement Realm.

The gap was far too great.

The sword light slashed past, but Jin Tie merely waved a single palm.

"Bang!"

The sword light lasted only a single instant before being shattered by the palm print, but its momentum unreduced, the palm print struck straight into Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan flew backward the entire way, crashing through the study wall, tumbling into the ruins, and coughing up a large mouthful of blood.

Jin Tie stood in place, motionless.

He walked step by step toward Yang Zhenshan, spiritual energy gathering in his palm.

"Yang Zhenshan, embezzling mineral deposits, resisting the envoy—the crimes are aggravated. Today, I shall clean up the portal on behalf of the Marquis."

Yang Zhenshan struggled to stand up, but his chest throbbed with agonizing pain and he simply couldn't move.

He watched Jin Tie draw near, his eyes filled with reluctance and fury.

Jin Tie swept out a palm, the monstrous spiritual qi rapidly condensing to form a giant palm print roughly two meters across, sweeping imposingly and swiftly toward Yang Zhenshan on the ground.

Right at that moment...

A streak of sword light suddenly flashed.

Meeting the palm print directly, the huge palm print was cleaved right apart, and the spiritual qi instantly scattered, the shock sending stone fragments flying in all directions.

A figure slowly descended from the sky, blocking in front of Yang Zhenshan.

It was Yao Qing.

Holding his sword downward with his right hand, his expression was gloomy, and the pressure of the Foundation Establishment Realm radiated from his entire body.

Jin Tie's footsteps paused, his brows slightly lifting.

"City Lord Yao? Congratulations on breaking through to Foundation Establishment."

Yao Qing ignored his polite pleasantries, speaking coldly:

"Apostle Jin, killing people inside my Lin'an City—did you ask this city lord's permission?"

Jin Tie smiled.

"City Lord Yao jests. This is the marquis's family business, and this Jin is merely following orders."

Yao Qing stared at him, speaking one word at a time.

"This is also Lin'an City's business!"

Jin Tie's smile didn't change, but his gaze grew several degrees colder.

"City Lord Yao, the Yang Family embezzled mineral deposits, and the evidence is conclusive. The marquis is benevolent, only reclaiming the mining rights and temporarily holding off on further punishment. If you block me, are you intending to make an enemy of the marquis?"

Yao Qing fell silent for a moment.

Jin Tie continued, "As for the killing..."

He glanced at the corpse on the ground, adding indifferently:

"This brat spoke insolently and offended the envoy. According to the Marquis's Estate's rules, his death was deserved. If City Lord Yao is unconvinced, you may go to Blackstone City to argue it out with the marquis."

"As for the Yang family head, this envoy can grant City Lord Yao a measure of face. The matter of the embezzled mineral deposits can wait until I investigate it thoroughly, and then I shall come to take your life."

Finished speaking, he turned and walked away.

After taking a few steps, Yang Zhenshan's hoarse voice came from behind him.

"Halt."

Jin Tie stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at him.

Yang Zhenshan lay in the ruins, covered in blood, but his eyes locked dead on him.

"You killed my son, and you think you can just leave like this?"

Jin Tie stared straight at Yang Zhenshan, as if hearing some delightful joke.

"Yang Zhenshan, who do you think you are?"

Standing with his hands behind his back, he looked down at him from on high.

"When I, Jin Tie, kill someone, do I still need to pay with my life?"

"Why don't you ask Blackstone City? My life is right here—who dares come and take it?"

Jin Tie's tone was grandiose, but in the present scene it fully displayed an air of absolute imposing momentum.

Perhaps for an expert in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, the world was theirs to roam.

The people they feared could be counted on one's fingers alone.

But no matter what, it certainly wouldn't be in this Lin'an City.

Having spoken, he turned and strode away.

The guards in black armor retreated like a receding tide, quickly vanishing into the end of the street.

Before the Yang Family residence, only pools of blood and Yang Mingyuan's corpse were left behind.

Yang Yuanshan knelt on the ground, clutching Yang Mingyuan's body, trembling all over.

Yang Zhenshan lay in the ruins, staring at the sky, unmoving.

Fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, staining the front of his robes red.

His eyes were as hollow as a pool of stagnant water.

Yao Qing...

he muttered, his voice sounding as hoarse as though squeezed out from his throat.

I, Yang Zhenshan, have schemed my entire life, enduring humiliation my entire life...

In the end... I couldn't even protect my own son.

Yao Qing stood in place, watching him, opening his mouth, yet unable to utter a single word.

He didn't want to find excuses for himself, but he truly lacked the courage to go after Jin Tie again.

He was merely in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, yet Jin Tie was already at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.

The wind blew past, stirring up a reek of blood.

The entire Yang Family estate was a picture of deathly stillness.

The scene cut back to the Wang Family Mine.

Zhou Qi and Jinishi's gazes briefly met, then brushed past each other.

He turned toward Yang Jinshan on the ground, stepping forward a few paces and squatting down.

Yang Jinshan's eyes remained wide open.

Zhou Qi extended a hand, slowly closing those rigidly propped-open eyelids.

The sensation transmitted through his fingertips was still warm.

It was hard to imagine that someone who was still alive and breathing just moments ago was now left as a decapitated corpse.

"Fifth Elder..."

Jinishi sheathed his sword, sweeping a disdainful glance past Zhou Qi before looking away entirely.

As for the corpse on the ground, he didn't even have the interest to spare it a glance, acting as though he had merely swatted a fly to death on a whim.

His gaze swept over the crowd, and he said indifferently:

"This is the end for biting the hand that feeds you."

"As for the rest of the Yang family..."

He paused, a meaningful smile hooking the corner of his mouth.

"There will naturally be people to deal with them."

Finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the black carriage.

After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped, speaking without turning his head:

"Right, starting today, the Yang family is to suspend mining, and all mine tunnels are to be sealed off, waiting for the Marquis's Estate to send people to audit the accounts. Once things are investigated clearly, those who deserve to die will die, and those who deserve to be released will be freed."

He paused, his tone light and breezy, as if speaking of a trivial matter of no consequence.

"As for this eyesore of a corpse... someone come, carry it away and throw it out. Don't soil the marquis's mine."

Several Black Armor Army soldiers acknowledged the order and stepped forward.

Zhou Qi squatted in place, unmoving.

His gaze landed on Jinishi's back.

It was a straight and upright back, clad in black brocade robes, a longsword hanging at the waist, his stride steady, every step exuding an arrogant condescension.

The people around them had already begun to move.

Zhao Dazhu kept his head lowered, his face pale as he quietly inched backward.

The smile on Li Dehou's face had completely vanished, replaced by terror. He bent his waist like a cooked shrimp, shrinking back into the crowd for fear of being noticed.

As for the guards and minor stewards of various families, some lowered their heads not daring to watch, some murmured in lowered voices, while others covertly cast a glance this way before hurriedly shifting their gazes away.

Two Black Armor Army soldiers had already walked to the side of Yang Jinshan's corpse, bending down and reaching out to drag it away.

Zhou Qi's hand tightened slightly.

The hilt of the Cold Iron Saber was ice-cold, that familiar chill transferring from his palm and allowing his mind to regain its clarity.

The optimal solution was to continue bowing his head.