The pursuers did not chase the fleeing bandits; the Swordsman and the Saber-wielder did not go after them, and the employees of the wealthy Merchant did not have the strength to do so even if they wanted to.
After the situation improved, the wealthy Merchant finally managed to recover, moving his feet tremblingly toward Jiang Yichen and the other two, bowing his head and waist repeatedly to thank them.
"Thank you three Great Heroes for your life-saving grace. You are truly the benefactors who have given me, Zhen, a second life. Please accept my bow!" Having said this, Boss Zhen prepared to kneel.
Beside him, his two house servants, who had just been kneeling and begging for mercy, were already kowtowing like Little Chickens pecking at rice, while the other employees stood in the rear, cupping their hands in gratitude according to Jianghu etiquette.
"This boss is being too polite. We are all Jianghu Knights-errant, and we should naturally live up to the word 'Chivalry'. It was just a small effort, not worth mentioning." The Swordsman quickly supported Boss Zhen's plump figure, not allowing him to kneel.
"The Great Hero is right, absolutely right. You three heroes truly have chivalrous hearts. May I ask the honorable names of the three Great Heroes? Today has been a bit embarrassing. If the three Great Heroes are willing to accompany me, Zhen, to the Chrysanthemum Garden to rest and recuperate first, once I borrow some carriages, horses, and manpower from the Chrysanthemum Garden to handle these goods, I would like to host a banquet at the Drunken Heaven Tower in Gusu to properly repay you all!"
There is no merchant who is not cunning, and no cunning who is not a merchant. After recovering from his panic and bewilderment, Boss Zhen displayed the cunning wisdom of a merchant. In just a few words, he both flattered these Jianghu people and tempted them with great profit to risk their lives for him.
"Oh, it's easy to say, easy to say. I am 'Quick Hand' Fan Jian, and this is my brother 'Twin Blades' Shi Ding. Boss Zhen is being too polite. My brother and I were just passing by and helped out of convenience. We still have important matters to attend to, so I'm afraid we cannot help Boss Zhen further. Please forgive us, please forgive us. I still do not know how to address this Young Hero?"
The Swordsman Fan Jian was obviously the one in charge between the two, and he had been the one speaking all along. He saw through Boss Zhen's ulterior motives. Although the Drunken Heaven Tower was the largest restaurant in Gusu, how could they agree to this thankless task just for some entertainment and repayment? He accepted the first few compliments, then used an excuse to brush off the rest, though he had become curious about Jiang Yichen.
"Jiang Yichen." Jiang Yichen responded with a cupped-hand salute.
"So it is Young Hero Jiang Yichen! I wonder if you are heading toward the Chrysanthemum Garden?" Boss Zhen, on the side, hurriedly moved closer to Jiang Yichen.
"Yes." Jiang Yichen said the answer Boss Zhen most wanted to hear.
"Oh my! That is truly wonderful! Young Hero, it is like this: I, Zhen, have a request, and I hope you will agree."
"I, Zhen, implore you, Young Hero, to ride quickly to the Chrysanthemum Garden within two days and find a man named Zhen Youcai. He is a Steward in the Chrysanthemum Garden, and many people should know him. Please help me deliver a message: say that his younger brother, Zhen Shibei, encountered bandits and danger at Ningbi Mountain, and ask him to come to the rescue immediately." Upon hearing that Jiang Yichen was going to the Chrysanthemum Garden, Zhen Shibei was so happy he could have jumped for joy.
Zhen Shibei unexpectedly had connections in the Chrysanthemum Garden. As a merchant, he was indeed full of schemes. Only now did the three of them learn his name; previously, they only knew he was a merchant with some money, and that was all. He had not revealed any more information at all.
But then, Zhen Shibei stumbled unexpectedly, as if he had tripped, and then fell forward. He naturally pressed his entire body against Jiang Yichen's youthful frame, and his hand inadvertently stuffed something into Jiang Yichen's embrace.
Jiang Yichen was startled by Zhen Shibei's series of actions. It was truly exhausting to barely support that plump physique, and having something suddenly stuffed into his embrace left him feeling suspicious and uncertain.
"Take this as travel expenses for the Young Hero; the excess is for your hard work. Everything depends on you, Young Hero." Zhen Shibei whispered into Jiang Yichen's ear, using his body as cover.
Zhen Shibei had Jiang Yichen figured out. Even if Jiang Yichen were slow or inexperienced in the ways of the world, he reacted at this moment. He did not make a fuss and used his strength to steady Zhen Shibei.
Directly in his line of sight was the Twin Blades wielder, Shi Ding. He stood there woodenly, his two blades still held in his hands, but the blades were stained with spots of fresh blood.
As he watched, Jiang Yichen felt that the more he looked, the more wrong it seemed, and a chilling sensation could not help but rise along his spine!
Clang!
A silver blade was knocked away in unwillingness, its tip forcefully embedding itself into the earth and stone three zhang away as if in retaliation.
The employees on this side were all filled with puzzlement and terror.
The two house servants in fine clothes were now slumped on the ground like mud.
As for Zhen Shibei himself, he was once again moving his body tremblingly, only this time he was sitting on the ground and moving backward, his face unnaturally revealing the despair of someone whose life was coming to an end.
The Swordsman Shi Ding raised his Twin Blades, already poised for action, waiting only for the order.
The Swordsman Fan Jian also gripped his Sword Hilt tightly, striving to make others believe he had the situation under control.
Jiang Yichen stood on the opposite side of the sword-and-saber duo, the sword in his hand trembling due to the interweaving of fear, shock, and anger.
It turned out that just as Jiang Yichen was staring at Shi Ding's blood-stained Twin Blades, Fan Jian had made his move. A silver-glinting Dagger stabbed toward Jiang Yichen's waist, but Jiang Yichen suddenly turned sideways in that instant, wielded his sword to deflect the Dagger, and simultaneously pushed Zhen Shibei away from the two of them, forming a standoff.
Fan Jian put his fingers into his mouth and blew a sharp whistle.
This whistle was like a demonic sound from hell, piercing the heart and soul, making most of the people present feel fear, feel despair, and feel that death was approaching!
Before long, footsteps approached.
As expected, the ten figures who had just left were now back.
Seeing that the current situation was completely under his control, the corners of Fan Jian's mouth curled up slightly, and his hands slowly relaxed.
"What a pity, what a pity. You were just about to succeed, and you wouldn't have had to endure much pain before you could quietly close your eyes. At least what you saw before you died was a Jianghu world with human warmth and a chivalrous heart."
"Now, however, I am suddenly very curious: when did you see through our act? Was it just in that instant? Or did this fat fox see through our acting long ago and use the excuse of falling onto you to secretly inform you?" Fan Jian asked Jiang Yichen, but his gaze swept toward Zhen Shibei, who was sitting on the ground and moving his butt backward, scaring Zhen Shibei so much that he dared not move a muscle.
"The blood-stained blade." The situation was unfavorable. Since Fan Jian was fearless and wanted to hear an analysis, Jiang Yichen followed the opponent's wishes, dragging it out with a few more words to stall for time and think of a countermeasure.
"The blood-stained blade?" Fan Jian turned his head to look at Shi Ding, then looked at the Twin Blades he was holding, lost in thought, and frowned. He still did not see where the Flaw was.
"Your martial arts are no worse than mine. Dealing with ten bandits with mediocre martial arts, although it would take some effort, would be more than enough. Let alone the fact that the employees on Boss Zhen's side have the advantage in numbers. According to common sense, if the opponent did not surrender, they should have long since fled."
"However, the reality is that from the time I arrived until now, you should have been fighting for some time. For these ten people to be able to tangle with more than ten of them and two Masters like you for so long without any damage, they must undoubtedly be Masters, but they are not. This is the first Flaw." Jiang Yichen recalled the scene at the time and spoke slowly, feeling a bit of regret that he had not noticed this strangeness then.
"Interesting, continue." Fan Jian signaled for Jiang Yichen to go on. He was truly becoming more and more curious about how much more this young child who had just started out could see. He would have to be careful to improve next time.
"The first Flaw only shows that you two were acting and had other intentions. My accidental arrival was not in your Plan, so you improvised another act for me to see."
"After I intervened in the battle, the people from Flying Swallow Village were quickly cleared out and fled, and they all escaped without exception. Except for the few I injured, none of them looked like they had suffered serious injuries when they fled. At the time, I thought your purpose was just to drive them away, so it didn't attract my attention. This is the second Flaw." Jiang Yichen analyzed unhurriedly, while already having thought of a countermeasure.
"It seems the improvised acting wasn't done well enough. And the biggest Flaw lies in that 'blood-stained blade'. At first, you only felt it was strange, but this Flaw allowed you to connect all the suspicions." Fan Jian sighed.
"Correct, the biggest Flaw is that blade. If it weren't for Boss Zhen's little act, I wouldn't have noticed Shi Ding's Twin Blades. Shi Ding's blades—if only the edges were stained with blood, that would be fine, but both of his blades were covered in blood!"
"Fresh bloodstains, yet the people from Flying Swallow Village had no deaths or injuries. Where could this blood come from? It could only come from the employees on Boss Zhen's side. Boss Zhen has more than twenty employees. Even if they fell into a trap, were ambushed, and suffered a reduction in staff or were frightened, at a life-or-death moment, I saw the will to survive they erupted with was enough to make up for that slight gap in Martial Force. The Flying Swallow Village bandits were only ten people; I'm afraid they would have been hacked to death long ago."
"You two were indeed latecomers, and you did draw your blades to help, but you helped the bandits of Flying Swallow Village, not the robbed Boss Zhen. You are in the same group as these bandits from Flying Swallow Village. While pretending to protect the people of Flying Swallow Village, you secretly killed the employees who discovered your anomaly."
"There is one more Flaw: whether the Flying Swallow Village side was fighting or retreating, there was no leader. Instead, they listened to your commands. I suppose it was a sudden impulse to follow you and make a profit, otherwise, Flying Swallow Village would have sent more than just these people." Jiang Yichen continued his analysis, but there were still parts he did not understand.
"After all, there are many monks and little gruel; it wouldn't be enough for so many people to share. I am more interested in knowing how you knew we had murderous intent toward you? You should know, we had many opportunities to make a move on you." Fan Jian asked with a sinister smile.
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