“Such a magnificent presence, a truly remarkable man!
You are worthy of being the Champion Marquis’s son, worthy of being the man my sister chose!” Xiao Liang exclaimed, wiping away a tear as he strode forward.
Shuidong Liu was a little surprised.
‘The second son of the Xiao Family is actually an ordinary person!’
“Brother-in-law, did you kill all these men?”
“They came to kill me, so naturally, I killed them.”
“They dare try to kill the son-in-law of my Duke Zhen’s Mansion!
Men!
Drag them out, chop them to pieces, and feed them to the dogs!” Xiao Liang roared.
Terrified, Cyan Mountain hastily pleaded, “Spare me, Second Master!
Spare my life!
I was just following orders, I…”
THUD!
Without the slightest hesitation, Shuidong Liu stomped down.
Cyan Mountain’s chest exploded, and the light in his eyes faded in an instant.
“Since you wouldn’t give me a choice, then you can all just die!”
Shuidong Liu looked up at the empty space above his head.
‘Oh, Heavens, I really did want to be a good person, but a man has to live, right?
They forced my hand.
This doesn’t count as me breaking my promise, okay?’
The men from the Xiao Family were all startled.
Xiao Liang’s fat shuddered as he watched.
‘This brother-in-law of mine has some serious killing intent!’
“Brother-in-law, it looks like you’ve been targeted.
I’ll have my men investigate!”
As Xiao Liang gave his orders, he had people come in to clean up.
Incredibly, he had also brought a huge table laden with food.
“Second Master, please, come inside.”
“Just call me Second Brother!”
Shuidong Liu gave a faint smile.
Before he could say a word, Xiao Liang sat down and urged, “Eat up!
I had the mansion’s chefs make this fresh.”
“Purple Gold Carp Lips from Celestial Command Lake, Climbing Cloud Eagle Wings from Celestial Cloud Mountain, and these are Wind Thunder Tiger Claws from East Overlooking Mountain…
Don’t be shy!”
Shuidong Liu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
‘Whose house is this, anyway?’
Xiao Liang grabbed a tiger claw with his bare hands and started gnawing on it, his mouth dripping with grease.
“Brother-in-law, they came to kill you for no other reason than the Linglong Pendant.
I’ve never even touched the thing!”
“Ever since we were little, the family has played favorites.
They always doted on my sister.
Can…
can I see it?”
As he said this, Xiao Liang didn’t even blink, his eyes still fixed on the tiger claw he was devouring.
Shuidong Liu had no objections and took out the Linglong Pendant.
Xiao Liang continued to eat heartily.
Only after he had gnawed the claw clean did he hold out his hands for a servant to wash them.
He wiped his mouth, and only then did he pick up the Jade Pendant.
His chubby hands turned it over and over, feeling it, then held it up to the sunlight, shaking his head.
“There’s nothing special about this…
What would they do with it if they stole it?
Just to double their cultivation speed?”
“You’d be better off trading it for some food.
Much more satisfying!”
Xiao Liang gave it a disdainful look and tossed the Linglong Pendant back.
Shuidong Liu smiled inwardly.
‘I’ve already perceived and absorbed the secret within.
It’d be a miracle if you could still sense anything special about it.’
Outwardly, however, he could only say, “It’s an heirloom from your own family.
You don’t know its function?”
“What function?
It’s a symbol of the Xiao Family and it doubles cultivation speed.
What else is there?”
Xiao Liang couldn’t understand it.
‘Someone would actually kill for this Jade Pendant?
Are they crazy?’
“But what about you?
Aren’t you an ordinary person?”
“I am the son of the Champion Marquis!”
It was a very effective excuse.
And who was the Champion Marquis?
He was a man who had carved his name out on the battlefield, earning the highest possible title for a Military General.
The Champion Marquis, Shui Fengtian, had been a master of the Tenth Realm of Divine Power, an expert in the Extraordinary Realm!
“That’s true.
Still, my sister helping to clear your name will probably stir up a lot of trouble.
After all, your family was executed for the crime of treason.”
“To overturn that verdict now wouldn’t just be a slap in the face to His Majesty, it would be a slap in the face to everyone who handled the case back then!”
Just as he was speaking, Xiao Zhuang walked in.
“Second Master, those five men were from the Hero Gang in the eastern district.
By the time my subordinates arrived, the entire gang, top to bottom, had been slaughtered…”
“Dead?” Xiao Liang shot to his feet, his large belly nearly flipping the table over.
Shuidong Liu merely frowned.
“Killing to silence witnesses is standard procedure.”
“You may not know this, brother-in-law, but the Hero Gang has over a thousand members, including three Qi Refining Realm masters!
Who could possibly wipe them all out in such a short time?” Though Xiao Liang looked like a fat glutton, he was no fool.
“Investigate!
Investigate this for me!”
“My brother-in-law, the son-in-law of my Duke Zhen’s Mansion, will absolutely not be targeted for assassination without us knowing why!”
Xiao Liang roared, “Even if I have to tear Celestial Fragrance City apart—no…
even if I have to turn all Ninety-nine Cities of Dongling upside down, I will find the person behind this!”
“Yes, sir!” Xiao Zhuang clasped his fist forcefully.
“I’ll go myself…
You go and gather the Wind Group first.
Lock down Celestial Fragrance City, and seal off the Hero Gang’s headquarters.
Anyone who wants to slap the face of my Duke Zhen’s Mansion can pay for it with their life!”
“Let’s go!”
Xiao Liang turned to leave, but Shuidong Liu called out, “Sec…
Second Brother, I’ll go with you!”
“Good!”
“Perfect.
You’ve been isolated in the mines for years and cut off from news.
I’ll tell you about what’s been happening in the outside world!”
The two of them made their way toward the eastern district of the city.
In the eastern district, the Hero Gang’s headquarters looked like the sprawling estate of a wealthy family.
It was a five-courtyard manor, complete with a lake, decorative rockeries, and four separate martial arts training grounds.
Now, the main gates stood wide open, a thick stench of blood drifting out from within.
Just a foot inside the gate, bodies already lay on the ground.
At the entrance, men dressed in black with the character for “Wind” embroidered on their chests stood with swords in hand.
Their sharp gazes swept in all directions, as if searching for suspicious individuals among the passersby.
When Shuidong Liu arrived, he saw the grim, murderous aura surrounding the men at the gate.
‘These are elite troops!’
“Second Master!” A grim-faced, middle-aged man came from inside, cupping his fist in greeting.
“Meet my brother-in-law!”
A flicker of doubt flashed through Feng Wuqing’s eyes and was gone.
With almost no hesitation, he said, “Greetings, Young Master!”
He had already heard about the Young Miss’s affairs, but he had never met Shuidong Liu.
All he knew was that he was the illegitimate son of the Champion Marquis.
‘No idea how this guy got so damn lucky, actually winning the favor of the Second Young Miss.’
‘Looking at him now, although his posture is straight and tall, his face is thin and sallow.’
‘Worst of all, the Young Miss, a peerless Martial Arts prodigy, had actually fallen for such a weakling from the Body Refining Realm!’
Although he was disappointed, he showed no signs of his displeasure.
In Duke Zhen’s Mansion, the household was run like an army; obedience was the highest priority!
Shuidong Liu nodded.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“Not at all!
Anyone who offends our Young Master is an enemy of Duke Zhen’s Mansion!”
His gaze was resolute, and his voice rang with conviction.
Xiao Liang was very satisfied with his performance.
“What’s the situation?”
“Second Master, Young Master, this way, please.”
Feng Wuqing led them inside.
“Within the Hero Gang headquarters, we’ve found 986 bodies.
All of them were killed in a single blow.”
“The weapons were of two types, sabers and swords.
But judging from the wounds, there were a total of seventeen different sabers and nineteen different swords.
In other words, thirty-six assailants were involved in the slaughter!”
Xiao Liang struggled to squat down right at the entrance.
His belly was so large that he had to rest it on his thighs; it could hardly be called a squat.
“Second Master, look at these two by the door.
One by saber, one by sword.
The blade went in half an inch and instantly severed an artery!”
Xiao Liang frowned.
“Such fast blades!”
“Exactly.
As fast as lightning.
That’s how they were able to kill so many people!”
The group walked further inside, and Shuidong Liu followed, his frown deepening.
“Brother-in-law, are the bodies making you uncomfortable?” Xiao Liang asked kindly, but before Shuidong Liu could answer, he added, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it if you see it enough!”
“No, I just think there’s something strange about these people!”
“Strange?
What’s strange about them?” Xiao Liang was curious.
‘What could a person who grew up in the mines possibly notice?’
Feng Wuqing heard the implication and was instantly displeased.
“Is our Young Master suggesting my men have made a mistake?”
“There are hundreds of men in our Wind Group.
Our eyes for wounds and crime scenes were honed over more than a decade on the battlefield, amidst the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of combatants.
We are intimately familiar with every type of wound imaginable!”
Shuidong Liu didn’t say a word.
He walked straight toward the main hall, where he saw the leader of the Hero Gang, seated on the main throne, a single blade run through his heart.
“It seems I wasn’t wrong…”