The Wronged Spirit Reappears

Hearing the answer he wanted, Zhou Muzhi was gratified.

His expression also grew a little more serious.

His face covered in blood, he lowered his head slightly and tilted an ear toward the villain before him, whose psychological defenses had collapsed.

"That day on Liu Street, I invited you, Young Master Zhou, and a few other young masters out to have some fun. Along the way, we saw a very beautiful young woman, so..."

Zhou Muzhi had expected a hackneyed story, but then the man's account took a turn.

"Then Young Master Qian came over, gave us a scolding, and took that beautiful young woman away. Afterward, I heard that some family's young master had died."

Hmm?

I wasn't the only one implicated.

Zhou Muzhi's expression grew slightly grave. It seemed that approaching things from this angle really had uncovered quite a bit.

"Go on."

He crouched down, pulled over the headless man's clothes, and wiped the scraps of flesh off his hands. As for the blood and flesh on his face, he rubbed it a few times and called that a cleaning.

Seeing Zhou Muzhi's indifference throughout, as though he had slaughtered people like scything hemp, Brother Gui dared not entertain a single stray thought.

He feared Zhou Muzhi might give him a blow too.

And in his eyes, this strength was utterly beyond an ordinary person's reach.

He must have reached Body Condensation long ago. Had he even performed Gate Knocking?

Only martial artists who had crossed the threshold could blast apart someone's skull without so much as damaging the skin on the backs of their hands, right?

Just as Brother Gui was lost in a daze.

He heard a questioning sound.

"Hmm?"

Brother Gui immediately answered, "I don't know anything else. I really don't. I thought you were like those other young masters..."

"Dead too?"

Zhou Muzhi finished for him in an even voice. Having cleaned himself up, he stood.

It seemed the man's information really was limited, but that did not matter. He only needed clues. At worst, he would spend time following them down and eventually find something useful.

"Tell me about that young woman, how many people went with us that day, whose young masters died, and how many haven't been reported dead."

Zhou Muzhi asked one question after another, leaving Brother Gui's head spinning.

As someone personally involved, Brother Gui cared very much about his own life, so naturally he had paid particular attention to such news.

And with his courage shattered, he no longer had any little schemes. After briefly recalling events, he answered Zhou Muzhi's questions one by one.

"All I found out about the young woman was that she was an orphan. I couldn't uncover her actual background at all. As for the people, it was just us.

"And the young masters of the Bai Family, Shi Family, and Lu Family. Those three are pretty much confirmed dead-their coffins are already buried. The survivors are Sun Yao of the Sun Family and you. I really don't know anything else."

"You aren't lying?" Zhou Muzhi asked uncertainly.

Brother Gui swore an oath on the spot, affirming that everything he had said was true.

Zhou Muzhi nodded in satisfaction, turned, and walked toward the doorway, which was missing half its door.

As he walked, his voice fell steadily behind him. "You left out one more person going into the ground."

Brother Gui's expression changed drastically.

"Fuck y-"

"Lao Xu!"

Shing!

The ripping sound of a sharp blade cutting through skin followed close behind.

Brother Gui never managed to finish the last complete sentence of his life. The light in his eyes rapidly dimmed.

"Remember to get my silver back."

Those were Zhou Muzhi's final words before he left.

The only underling still alive had long since been frightened senseless by this scene, which rivaled a torture chamber, and stood frozen to one side.

Lao Xu approached him step by step, carrying his blood-dripping saber.

"Keep your eyes peeled in your next life!"

After that murmur, a flash of steel swept past, drawing blood and sealing his throat, killing him in a single strike.

A thorough search of the bodies and the room yielded a fair amount of money.

Lao Xu then followed Zhou Muzhi out.

Outside the courtyard.

The sky-high stench of blood had faded considerably.

Looking at the money pouch Lao Xu offered him, Zhou Muzhi smiled. "You came along with me. You ought to get something out of it. Keep it."

Knowing the fourth young master's temperament, Lao Xu put the silver away.

Just then, Zhou Muzhi caught that dark-red figure out of the corner of his eye again.

He looked toward where it had appeared, immediately growing wary.

Although the dark-red shadow in his memories had been dangerous, it had not been solid. Yet the legs of the dark-red shadow before him had already become corporeal.

Its bloody skirt resembled a long, tasseled gown. Red ribbons floated without wind, swaying rhythmically as though breathing.

This being, which Half-Immortal Xu had identified as a wronged spirit, hovered silently, its bare feet pointing toward the ground without touching it.

Zhou Muzhi had the feeling that it still wanted to attack him, but with all the measures he had prepared, the dark-red figure could do nothing.

Yet after he killed Brother Gui, the wronged spirit's power seemed to have increased, and a stabbing sensation swept through his entire body.

Only after a good while did the stabbing sensation fade, and the wronged spirit before him vanished again.

"What a nuisance!"

The sigh came from the bottom of his heart.

His words left Lao Xu, who was waiting beside him, utterly bewildered.

Seeing the fourth young master waiting there, he had assumed there were further arrangements, only to hear that murmur in the end.

Before Lao Xu could speak, Zhou Muzhi beckoned. "Let's go. These thugs are dead, and that's that. No one will care."

In the Song Kingdom, although killing demanded a life in payment, when it came to actual cases, the circumstances still mattered.

For instance, when universally despised local ruffians died, almost no one would help them. Given enough time, they amounted to nothing more than a few extra dry bones in a mass grave.

Both men were covered in blood, so returning immediately was clearly unsuitable, and they could not go anywhere crowded either.

In the end, Lao Xu led the way to a pond, where they washed the blood off themselves. Then they went to the pleasure quarter to buy fine clothes and applied perfume to mask the smell before finally setting off home.

The Zhou Residence.

After receiving word from the coachman, Zhou Buren gave him a fierce scolding, then lit candles in the front courtyard and waited anxiously.

Fortunately, the household's head guard was beside his fourth brother, which kept Zhou Buren from worrying too much.

Only when the candles had burned down to the second one did activity finally stir at the Zhou Residence's main entrance.

Uncle Chen, the steward, ran in panting and told Zhou Buren, "Second Young Master! The fourth young master... he and Guard Xu have returned."

"Hmph!"

Looking unusually angry, Zhou Buren swept his sleeve.

"Have him come here to see me. We've barely had a few quiet days, and he's already making trouble again!"

Uncle Chen bowed his head in assent and hurried off to find the fourth young master, not daring to respond further to the angry second young master.

When Zhou Muzhi entered the brightly lit side room in the front courtyard alone, he saw his second brother standing in front of a chair.

Before he could speak, Zhou Buren sniffed, caught a trace of a familiar scent, and frowned.

"Why did you go to those flower streets and willow lanes again? Those places aren't suitable for you. You aren't that young anymore, Fourth Brother. Once Father returns, we ought to choose a suitable family for you to marry into."

Zhou Muzhi's expression stiffened.

Wait.

Why are you suddenly telling me to get married?

I haven't even snatched my life back yet. I don't have time for any of that right now.

Perhaps having realized why his second brother was angry, Zhou Buren laughed and reassured him, "You've misunderstood, Second Brother. I was happy and went out to celebrate, so I came home a little late."

"Oh?" Zhou Buren raised an eyebrow, wanting to hear his fourth brother's explanation. "Then tell me."

Zhou Muzhi smiled again and revealed his progress in martial arts.

"Master said that once I settle my mind a little more, I can attempt Gate Knocking."

Silence...

Zhou Buren lost control of his expression.

He could scarcely believe it. In just a few days, his brother had gone from a complete outsider to an expert on the verge of attempting the Blood-Knocking Pass!

In Suming County, martial artists who successfully completed Gate Knocking were considered to have entered the inner hall. In any trade, they were key figures.

Putting himself in his brother's shoes, what was wrong with having a little wine in the evening?

Someone a little more carried away by youthful success would have been desperate to announce it everywhere.

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he asked urgently, "How many people know about this?"

He worried that if too many people knew, someone would move against his fourth brother. After all, he had not truly knocked open the Blood Gate yet.

Zhou Muzhi answered truthfully, "Not many. In the entire Zhou Family, only you, me, and Lao Xu know."

Such composure.

Zhou Buren let out a long breath of relief inwardly.

With his fourth brother's calm disposition, having merely gone drinking was already quite commendable.

"All right. I wasn't trying to lecture you in particular. These times and worldly affairs are unpredictable. No one knows what the future holds. Be careful in everything."

"I understand."

Zhou Buren did not probe further, instead bringing up the incense-making materials.

An auxiliary ingredient had recently surfaced. He had sent someone to buy it, and there would be an answer soon.

Naturally, Zhou Muzhi was pleased. The brothers chatted a little longer before going their separate ways.