Azure Lotus Sword Song!
With Insight Mode enhanced, Wang Shu's mind was calm to an extreme, yet his brain cells were still working furiously.
His gaze was sharp and cold. With a branch in hand, his figure turned into a series of afterimages, flickering unpredictably through the air.
Flower Picking Thief Tian Bodang's saber techniques were extremely fast, but Wang Shu's branch was even faster. He spotted every opening and struck without fail.
"Ow!"
The frail branch transformed into a spiritual serpent, twisting and winding!
Tian Bodang cried out. The branch lashed a red welt across his palm, making it twitch uncontrollably. The Pig Slaughtering Knife flew from his hand, and he desperately rubbed the back of his hand to ease the burning pain.
"You brat—ow, my hand!" Tian Bodang cried so hard that tears spilled out. He bounced around on the spot, his face twitching as he bared his teeth in pain.
"Tian Bodang, stop harassing the people of Hundred Li Village, or I'll whip you to death!" As Wang Shu spoke, he raised the branch threateningly.
"Pah! Don't even think about breaking Er Ya and me apart!" Tian Bodang roared.
"Damn, do you have no shame at all? A Flower Picking Thief who's this devoted and faithful—are you willing to throw away your life too?"
Wang Shu found Tian Bodang's inexplicable persistence deeply strange. Why give up the whole wide world of flowers for the one right in front of him?
"You wouldn't understand, you little brat. You're too young. This is love!" Tian Bodang said solemnly, with a pained, earnest expression.
"#@@#!"
Wang Shu truly couldn't stand this bastard Tian Bodang. He grabbed the branch and began lashing him wildly, beating him until he screamed nonstop.
If his sword hadn't broken, he might really have chopped Tian Bodang alive. A Flower Picking Thief had actually made flower picking sound so fresh, refined, and noble.
"Even if you beat me to death, I won't give up! And you, old man, you went back on your word!" Even while being beaten, Tian Bodang refused to yield verbally.
Hearing this, Wang Shu stopped, frowning.
What Tian Bodang said was strange. The old village chief had gone back on his word—could the two have known each other before? Something suspicious seemed to be going on.
"Hit me! Beat me to death, and I still won't give up!" Tian Bodang shouted emotionally.
Thinking back on his life, he had been known as the Flower Plucking Bandit. Yet even now, he had never successfully picked a single flower.
He had quite a reputation in the Jianghu, though most of it was nothing more than a joke.
"Shut up!" Wang Shu snapped, then looked at the old village chief and said,
"Old Li, aren't you going to explain? It seems you're still hiding something from me."
The old village chief of Hundred Li Village's expression shifted. He looked at Wang Shu, then at Tian Bodang, who had been whipped black and blue all over. In the end, he sighed and said,
"Young hero, there really is something we haven't told you."
Wang Shu's heart skipped a beat. Could there really be some hidden truth behind this?
He glanced at Tian Bodang, who was shivering on the ground while stubbornly gritting his teeth.
Had he been played? Was Tian Bodang the real victim, while the old village chief and his entire village were the true masters of acting? Had he been fooled?
But the mission issued by 001 couldn't be baseless. What exactly was going on?
The old village chief's eyes filled with recollection. "It began about two months ago. At that time, Hundred Li Village was not yet like this.
"A band of bandits had settled in the nearby mountains. They frequently harassed Hundred Li Village and even extorted money and property from us.
"Over time, everyone suffered terribly under their constant harassment.
"Then this flower-picker... Hero Tian appeared."
The old village chief raised a trembling hand and pointed at Tian Bodang as he continued,
"Lord Tian said he could help us solve the bandit problem. Naturally, the entire village was delighted, and we promised to reward him generously."
"However, Lord Tian did not want our money. He merely asked this old village chief to promise him one thing.
"Afterward, Lord Tian drove off the bandits. They left Hundred Li Village and never returned.
"Once the danger of the bandits was resolved, the whole village pooled together some silver for Lord Tian. Yet he refused to accept it no matter what, and instead sent our village many good things the next day!"
The old village chief paused here, regret appearing on his aged face.
"He sent you gifts?"
Wang Shu looked at Tian Bodang in disbelief. He hadn't expected this ugly fellow to have such a decent heart. How had things developed into their current state?
"Alas, but this is truly sinful. I never imagined that he had come to propose marriage! He wanted me to act as matchmaker and propose to Er Ya of Tie Zhu's family for him. It's also my fault for making promises so carelessly back then." The old village chief let out a long sigh.
Wang Shu seemed to understand. Tian Bodang had not acted out of righteousness, nor had he expected no reward. His scheme ran deep, one layer after another.
"Old Man Li, I helped you drive away the bandits. You promised to grant me one request and see it done," Tian Bodang said at this moment.
"But you never said you wanted me to arrange a marriage! Besides, Er Ya isn't willing. Wouldn't that be pushing Er Ya into a pit of fire?" the old village chief said loudly.
"I don't care. Since you promised, you have to do it!" Tian Bodang said.
"So after failing to get what you wanted, you became enraged and threatened the people of Hundred Li Village?" Wang Shu's expression turned strange.
"Hero Tian, although this old man is the village chief, marriage arrangements are decided by one's parents. Tie Zhu won't agree, and neither will Er Ya. How could I possibly agree?
"If it really won't work, this old man can marry my granddaughter Li Ru Hua to you, but you won't agree to that either." The old village chief looked extremely anxious and helpless.
"Li Ru Hua?" Wang Shu's expression became even stranger.
The next moment, the villagers present automatically parted to make way. Behind the crowd stood a girl with her back to them, dressed in a white coarse linen dress. Her figure was graceful, and her long hair draped over her shoulders.
That silhouette didn't look bad at all. She had a good, sturdy figure—not inferior to Er Ya, who was only in her teens!
"Tian Bodang, the old village chief's family has a pretty good marriage match here. Why insist on hanging yourself from one tree?"
Wang Shu said this because, from far away last time, he had only caught a hurried glimpse of the village chief's Ru Hua.
"Then you'd better kill me!"
Tian Bodang looked as though he would rather die than submit. He stared emotionally at Wang Shu, filled with grief and indignation.
At that moment, Li Ru Hua slowly turned around. To be honest, it was rare to see such a beautiful silhouette in a remote, impoverished place like this.
But in the next instant, Wang Shu regretted it.
Behind that lovely silhouette was a face so horrifying it seemed inhuman. It was smeared with thick layers of powder and rouge, while her sausage-like lips were dark purple-black, as though she had been poisoned.
The girl's mannerisms were equally appalling. She constantly stuck her fingers into her mouth and sucked on them. From time to time, she casually dug into her nostrils and scratched around hard several times.
As though noticing Wang Shu's gaze, the girl split her mouth into a "kind" smile.
Although Wang Shu did not judge people by appearances—unless he couldn't help it—Li Cuihua truly frightened him at that moment.
Then he looked at Old Li, who at least appeared fairly normal, and couldn't help wondering what sins the old man had committed in his previous life.
"Is this your daughter?" Wang Shu asked.
"Please forgive the laughter, young hero. My daughter is somewhat shy around strangers!" the old village chief said with a smile.
"Shy around strangers"?
Wang Shu didn't know what to say. He had been scared stiff, but when he looked at Li Cuihua, who resembled a ferocious beast, he thought of a way to make Tian Bodang give up on marrying Er Ya.
(The editor asked Hell's old book to release twenty thousand words at once, so updates to the new book have been slow recently because I have been stockpiling chapters. Hell apologizes to all readers for this.
After the old book's massive update on the fifth, updates to the new book will pick up. I hope everyone will continue supporting it.)
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