Chapter 161 - One Hundred Fifty-Seven: Kill Without Mercy
Upon hearing Li Shao Yuan’s words, Qiu Jinglong was taken aback. He had only thought of arresting them, not killing outright, and his face was filled with horror.
Li Shao Yuan, upon seeing Qiu Jinglong’s reaction, frowned and said, “Gong Zheng is a ruffian. He must not be linked with young master Mi Hou, do you understand?”
Running this manor was exhausting, specifically because no scholarly stewards were willing to join Mi Hou. Even those who did were all opportunistic, untrustworthy individuals. As such, they could not be entrusted with important tasks.
The ones who were loyal to Mi Hou were mostly reckless warriors like Qiu Jinglong and Huai Chenghua. They were good in a fight, but were inadequate when it came to managing affairs. Otherwise, he would have already sent someone to get rid of Gong Zheng and let the two brothers take over the Righteous Gang’s business.
Qiu Jinglong understood Li Shao Yuan’s intent to coach him, so he quickly nodded in agreement. If Ding Gaolang was his martial arts instructor, then Li Shao Yuan was the one teaching him how to lead. He held great respect for him.
Li Shao Yuan nodded at Qiu Jinglong, asking, “Where is the young master?”
“Young Master has gone to Wanhua Building and may not be back till evening,” Qiu Jinglong responded.
“I see.” With a stern face, Li Shao Yuan nodded, dusted off his sleeves and stepped into the manor. His unusually fast pace betrayed his inner unrest.
He originally planned to discuss the next steps with Mi Hou immediately after showing him the token and the letters from the heads of the four clans. However, now he had to wait for the young master to return. This gave him the chance to put his words to paper.
To deal with the four minor clans in the West City, all Li Shao Yuan needed was to show Mi Hou’s crest. But to face Xiao Jinlin, the head of the Xiao Family, his status seemed inadequate. Even Mi Hou himself could only meet with them by leveraging his status as the son of the head of the Mi Clan.
As the leader of the Xiao Family, Xiao Jinlin was a legendary figure in Xiling. Against the pressure from Tang Mi, he single-handedly defended the interests of the Xiao Family in Xiling. He was also among the few daring to directly confront Tang Mi.
After all, a premier martial artist of Fierce Realm, also the head of a clan, warranted respect from even the likes of Tang Mi.
The deaths of the minor clan leaders in the battlefield have caused a stir in Xiling, leaving many clans in a state of unease. Based on the information he received, many clan leaders had already rushed to the Xiao Family to gauge Xiao Jinlin’s stance, but he had given little response.
It seemed he would not make a haste decision before fully understanding the situation. What Li Shao Yuan had to do was to give him a push.
If the Xiao family stood with the four minor clans, it would certainly gain a large following. Mi Hou, as the initiator of the protest, could easily overshadow Mi Shen and Tang Luo, and emerge as a significant figure in the new generation of Xiling. His persuasiveness would far surpass any martial arts talent.
Li Shao Yuan bent over a table, writing about what Mi Hou should say to Xiao Jinlin upon entering the Xiao Family; time seemed to pass quickly.
Meanwhile, Ding Gaolang led two teams of martial artists to the farm in the western suburbs, where Gong Zheng had arranged to meet.
As the sun was setting, hurried footsteps were heard outside Li Shao Yuan’s study. Ding Gaolang burst in without announcing his arrival.
Li Shao Yuan raised his head slightly, his face marked with displeasure. Seeing it was Ding Gaolang, he relaxed his eyebrows and asked, “Master Ding, what’s the matter?”
“The mission to capture Gong Zheng failed!” Ding Gaolang admitted with a look of regret on his face, honestly reporting the result of his mission.
According to Li Shao Yuan’s order, once Ding Gaolang spotted Gong Zheng, he ordered his men to quietly surround him. He himself made the first move to hold Gong Zheng off. He never expected such a sophisticated capability from a mere ruffian.
If Gong Zheng didn’t care about his affiliation to the Mi Hou household, he could have done much worse than merely keeping him at bay.
What was even more astonishing was that Gong Zheng had a protective Divine Armor that could resist the Spiritual Power attacks of those who have transcended the Mortal Realm. After recognizing their intent, with only a few moves he was able to disentangle and swiftly get away.
“Are you saying that Gong Zheng has a set of exceptional Divine Armor?” Li Shao Yuan’s eyes flashed curiously, hinting that many questions in his mind had finally found a reasonable explanation.
No wonder Gong Zheng could escape from such a powerful martial artist. It turned out he was protected by Divine Armor, which he must have amassed over the years.
“Yes, shielded by his Divine Armor and his quick moves, it’s impossible for us to capture Gong Zheng unless a warrior from Fierce Realm takes action.” Ding Gaolang said to Li Shao Yuan, concluding that based on the current strength of the manor, unless they asked for reinforcements from the family, it was definitely impossible to capture Gong Zheng.
Li Shao Yuan shook his head. Sometimes, he really felt that practicing martial arts made people’s minds simpler, so simple that their ways of thinking always seemed overly straightforward.
Fight if you can, ask for help when you can’t? It should be clear that the distinction between the strong and the weak in the world is not just a simple matter of who is more powerful.
“It’s okay, the next time Gong Zheng contacts us, I will go with you.” Li Shao Yuan said dismissively.
He felt he should give Ding Gaolang a good lesson to let him realize that in this contest with Gong Zheng, they have already gained the upper hand.
As for the exceptional Divine Armor, it would also fall into his hands.
Since Mi Hou had a habit of extravagance, the manor’s account never exceeded a million gold. A typical set of Divine Armor could sell for over ten million gold at an auction. Such a large sum of money was not something that Li Shao Yuan was willing to let go of.
Delicate Cottage
According to Tang Luo’s instructions, Gong Zheng saw that the other party didn’t bring his wife and kids along, so he tangled with Ding Gaolang for a while, then showed off the Divine Armor and quickly escaped without lingering.
He really didn’t understand why he couldn’t directly capture Ding Gaolang. The value of a peak Mortal Realm martial artist must be higher than that of the housekeeper Li Shao Yuan, right? At least that’s how he saw it. Since he decided to listen to Tang Luo’s directives, he wouldn’t make his own decisions. The growing doubts in his heart were stifled several times when he thought of his standing.
Elder Xu was not so worried. From the moment he saw the other party, he wanted to run out and bind him. If not held back by Tang Luo, he would have already bundled him up. He was just as confused as Gong Zheng, “Why not capture the leading Mortal Realm master, wouldn’t it be the same?”
“It’s not the same.” Tang Luo patiently explained, “If we capture Ding Gaolang, we should be prepared to collect the bodies of Gong Zheng’s wife and children.”
Gong Zheng’s face suddenly turned, filled with fear and hoping that Tang Luo’s words were scare tactics.
Although Elder Xu was not fond of thinking, when he actually put his mind to it, he is more agile than Gong Zheng. After all, he was a martial artist trained by a sage family. Even if he was not proficient in politics, he grew up hearing about it. After hearing Tang Luo’s explanation, he pondered for a moment and nodded, “That’s probable..”