The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 310 Beast
Zheng Yi folded the cover and stuffed it into her bosom, then turned around to look outside the cave.

She naturally wanted to know what message Xue Bangzhu, or rather Zheng Wan, had left before her death. But she also understood that Li Miao might not be willing to share it with her.

Ultimately, their relationship was one of mutual exploitation. Li Miao wanted to use her to investigate Yingzhou's secrets, while she wanted to use Li Miao to take revenge on Yingzhou.

The nature of their relationship is partnership, not companionship.

Since she is in a weaker position in this collaboration, she naturally needs to make a gesture and adjust her position accordingly.

Li Miao glanced at her, smiled, and without saying anything more, continued to look down at the booklet.

This booklet is divided into two parts.

The first half was probably written by Xue Bangzhu shortly after she fled to Da Shuo. At that time, she was still young and still possessed martial arts skills, so there was no need to entrust the matter of revenge to others. Therefore, there is not much recorded in this book.

Apart from the first page, the remaining pages in the first half are filled with densely packed names.

They all have the surname "Zheng".

Li Miao flipped through the pages, folding a corner on the fourth, eighth, and last pages.

These names are divided into three parts.

Li Miao had seen most of the names listed on the first four pages. He could recount the life stories of some of them, while others were just familiar to him. But he was certain that these people were historical figures from a thousand years ago to the present.

From page four to page eight, the names of the disciples of Penglai Sect are listed. Xue Bangzhu marked several of them, including the name of Zheng Yi's mother.

From page eight to the end, the names of the people from Yingzhou should be listed.

Because these pages were written in blood, this is a blood-written book of revenge.

Of these three parts, the last part is unnecessary to read. The names of the Yingzhou people are useless to Li Miao. He will kill them one by one, so it doesn't matter what they are called.

The second part will also be useful when we go to find other disciples of Penglai later, but we can put it aside for now.

The key lies in the first part.

Li Miao carefully examined the names listed by Xue Bangzhu. The earliest dates back a thousand years, while the latest extends to the period around the founding of the Da Shuo Kingdom. The names included civil and military officials, as well as legends about gods and ghosts. It listed almost all the people with the surname "Zheng" in the history books.

Aside from all having the surname Zheng, Li Miao couldn't see anything in common among these names.

Therefore, the only thing we can refer to is "time".

Li Miao slowly twirled his fingers, deep in thought.

"The first thing that can be confirmed is that the vast majority of these people had already died before Penglai was founded, and should have nothing to do with Penglai."

"So, Xue Bangzhu suspects that these people have connections with Yingzhou?"

"But the timing is a bit strange... the span is just too large."

"A more reasonable explanation is that Yingzhou never truly 'went into seclusion,' but would send people to the Central Plains from time to time to participate in various matters under their own surname. Xue Bangzhu was investigating these people."

"but."

Li Miao frowned.

"While this explanation makes sense, there are still some illogical aspects."

"For example, why did Xue Bangzhu want to find out about people from a thousand years ago? These people have long since turned to dust, and their deeds have hardly left any impact today. Even if we find out their identities, it doesn't seem to help us get revenge on Yingzhou."

"For example, why was Xue Bangzhu so certain that these people would use their original surnames when traveling in the Central Plains? For a 'hidden sect,' wouldn't that be actively increasing the risk of their exposure?"

"For example, the earliest name that appeared predates the founding of Yingzhou."

"Unless—she's not investigating 'certain people,' but 'someone.'"

Li Miao thought for a moment and then shook his head.

The first half of this information was not deliberately left by Xue Bangzhu; it was more like a "memorandum" she left back then. It was vague and unclear, and apart from the deceased herself, it would be difficult for others to draw any definite conclusions from it.

At least in Li Miao's view, both of these inferences have their own flaws and cannot be supported by the information currently available.

Whether to confirm or refute, we'll have to see what information we can get from the disciples of Penglai or Yingzhou in the future.

Putting these inferences aside for the time being, Li Miao turned to the second half of the booklet.

--------

Li Miao stepped out of the cave, not even glancing at Xue Hanmeng, who was kneeling on the ground in a daze. He raised his hand to greet her and then left with Cao Hanyan and Yin Suqin.

Zheng Yi walked out of the cave with a blank expression, holding the second half of the booklet that Li Miao had given her.

She completely ignored Xue Hanmeng's meaning, and without saying a word, walked to the side of "Bu Liuxing", squatted down, reached out and grasped his pulse point, and began to heal his wounds.

"Bu Liuxing" was already old and frail, and had been tormented by Li Miao all the way. He was barely breathing and was lying on the ground waiting to die, but suddenly he felt a warm current enter his body, and his exhausted life force gradually recovered.

He was overjoyed, thinking that Xue Hanmeng had pleaded for him. Feeling smug, he immediately squeezed out a few tears and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hanmeng, I was just confused back then. Over the years, I've come to regard you as my own child—"

Given his aged appearance, the bloodied look he had suffered at the hands of Li Miao, and his acting skills honed over decades of experience in the underworld, Zheng Yi would probably have hesitated in any other situation.

Unfortunately, Zheng Yi won't give him any sympathy now.

"My own child—pfft!"

A slap without holding back shattered "Bu Liuxing's" jaw, and blood and flesh splattered onto the ground with a loud crash.

"Your voice disgusts me."

Zheng Yi said calmly.

"Stop talking. You only deserve to howl like a pig."

After she finished speaking, Zheng Yi healed his injuries again, and this time, "Bu Liuxing" dared not make a sound.

Zheng Yi reached out and pressed his pressure points, then stood up and walked to Xue Hanmeng, tossing the booklet into Xue Hanmeng's hands.

Then, without any mercy, he reached out and grabbed her hair, ignoring her cries of pain, and lifted her up.

"Actually, I thought about a lot of things while I was inside."

Zheng Yi said calmly.

"I've really thought about it a lot."

“I have many reasons to let you off the hook. For example, you may be my last fellow disciple; for example, your mother would certainly want you to be happy.”

"For example, it's not that you don't want to do something for your mother, you're just too stupid and too young, you were deceived and did many things that you were sorry for your mother and Yanfan."

"You probably don't even know who Yanfan is."

"So, I originally wanted to tell you the truth, let you kill this enemy with your own hands, and then take you to Yingzhou to take revenge, so that I could have another companion and helper."

She let out a long sigh.

"However, Lord Li said something to me that made me change my mind."

He said that many times, fools can cause far more harm than evil people. And they have hundreds of times more reasons to defend themselves.

"At times like these, there is one principle that should always be kept in mind."

Zheng Yi stared into Xue Hanmeng's eyes and spoke slowly.

That is—don't defend people who have done bad things.

"'Not wanting to do it' and 'being unable to do it' both lead to the same result; someone always has to pay the price for this terrible outcome."

Zheng Yi grabbed Xue Hanmeng by the hair, dragged her to "Bu Liuxing", and threw her to the ground.

"For the sake of our shared sect, I'll give you a chance. Now you can read the words your mother left you, and then avenge her."

"Afterwards, I will cripple your martial arts."

Zheng Yi's voice was devoid of any emotion.

"You are not worthy to be a disciple of Penglai."

"You are not worthy of being a江湖人 (jianghu person)."

“You are not even worthy to seek revenge on the real murderer.” “For the sake of your mother, Lord Li will send someone to prepare a residence for you in Kaifeng. Whether you choose to be a wife and mother or live out your days alone is up to you. From this day forward, you will have no further connection with Penglai.”

"You have half an hour."

After saying that, Zheng Yi turned around and walked a short distance away, leaned against a tree, and looked coldly at Xue Hanmeng without saying another word.

Xue Hanmeng was stunned for a moment, then tremblingly opened the booklet.

The first half of the book had already been taken away by Li Miao. The remaining half contained Xue Bangzhu's instructions after he knew he was going to die.

It explains the ins and outs of the matter in detail.

Forty-seven years ago, the Penglai sect was wiped out, and its members died, fled, or escaped. Xue Bangzhu, who was then called Zheng Wan, fled to Kaifeng and opened up a cave there to live temporarily.

Forty-five years ago, Xue Bangzhu confirmed that no one was pursuing her in Yingzhou and that Kaifeng Prefecture was safe. She then disguised herself and moved into the city. It was at this time that she met Yan Fan.

Forty years ago, Xue Bangzhu married Xue Hanmeng's father. The two had a good relationship, but due to the special nature of Penglai's tradition, they had no children. Fortunately, her husband did not mind, and the two lived together like this.

Twenty years ago, Xue Bangzhu suddenly discovered that she was pregnant.

It's hard to say whether she was happy or scared at the time, because she knew that if the people of Penglai did not give birth in Penglai, only one of her and Xue Hanmeng could survive.

From the moment she conceives Xue Hanmeng, her special ability to avoid the five signs of decay, inherited from the Penglai bloodline, will gradually disappear until she loses all her martial arts skills and becomes a cripple.

Disturbed, she went out of the city to the temple to pray for blessings, also to make a choice without her husband's knowledge: whether or not to give birth to Xue Hanmeng.

The booklet did not record what decision she made.

Considering that this booklet was meant for Xue Hanmeng, her decision at the time was most likely that she did not want to give birth to Xue Hanmeng.

But when she made up her mind to return home, everything changed.

"Bu Liuxing" slaughtered her entire family, leaving no one alive.

Her husband, who had always been a devoted and loving husband and had never uttered a word of complaint, died in his own home, in their bedroom.

Knowing that Xue Bangzhu would be back that night, he prepared some good wine to comfort his wife and tell her that he really didn't care whether she could have children or not, as long as they could grow old together.

Before he could utter these words, he was killed by "Bu Liuxing" at the table, his blood spilling into the wine cup and spreading in the wine.

Xue Bangzhu walked around the house but couldn't find a single living person.

She dismissed the servants, picked up her husband's body, and placed it on the bed. Then she slipped onto the roof beam and retrieved the longsword that had been hidden there for decades.

She sharpened her sword, drank the blood wine on the table in one gulp, then took the sword and went out to seek revenge on "Bu Liuxing".

Although she was beginning to show signs of declining martial arts skills at that time, she was still at the Celestial Realm, and "Bu Liuxing" was no match for her.

Logically speaking, this should be a simple matter.

But after searching for several days, she gradually discovered something—"Bu Liuxing" was deliberately avoiding her, as if he already knew her martial arts skills and knew that she would seek revenge on him.

But she never revealed her martial arts skills, and even her husband was unaware that his wife was a hidden master.

"Bu Liuxing" shouldn't know these things.

Just then, Xue Bangzhu heard that a family had been wiped out nearby, and the method was very similar to that of "Bu Liuxing". So she rushed over, only to find that it was done by someone else.

She caught the murderer, and after some interrogation, he confessed that someone had hired him for a large sum of money to do the job. As for who that person was, the murderer didn't know, but it definitely wasn't "Bu Liuxing".

Upon reaching this point, Xue Bangzhu stopped in his tracks.

This matter seems to have transcended a simple case of murder and robbery.

Someone who knew Xue Bangzhu's background told "Bu Liuxing" everything, and then deliberately hired someone to lure Xue Bangzhu away so that she could not take revenge.

Only Yingzhou and Penglai knew Xue Bangzhu's background. If Yingzhou knew where she was, she would immediately come to her door; she wouldn't do something so roundabout.

Therefore, the mastermind behind this is a fellow disciple from Penglai.

After figuring this out, Xue Bangzhu was almost completely despondent.

Those who escape Penglai all possess the skill of disguise. The person wielding the knife will not let "Bu Liuxing" know his identity. Even if "Bu Liuxing" is captured, she will only have a useless knife.

As Xue Hanmeng grew older, her martial arts skills rapidly declined, and she was no longer able to seek revenge.

So she had to return home and finish the funeral arrangements. The blood on her feet was from when she interrogated the hired man.

After the funeral was over and everything had settled down, Xue Bangzhu looked at her husband's tombstone and changed her mind—she wanted to give birth to her child and raise it.

From the moment she made the decision, she began to prepare, using everything she could think of to ensure that Xue Hanmeng could live a good life after her death.

When her martial arts skills declined to a first-rate level, she discovered that "Bu Liuxing" had also found her and was constantly monitoring her.

So she endured the excruciating pain and changed her plans again.

The first move was made by Yanfan.

The second backup plan was this cave. She had considered everything, even the possibility that Xue Hanmeng might not be able to bring herself to harm "Bu Liuxing," so she left behind poison so that Xue Hanmeng could end everything without lifting a finger, thus preventing any lingering trauma.

The third contingency plan involved the missing corpses. This served both as preparation for Yanfan to spread the news and as a way to draw attention away from others, making it difficult for "Bu Liuxing" to harm her for the time being.

As for the fellow disciple hidden behind "Bu Liuxing", Xue Bangzhu no longer had the ability to take him into consideration. He could only hope that the matter would end with him and not involve Xue Hanmeng.

The rest is history.

The day Xue Bangzhu was pushed to the ground, she knew her time was coming to an end. So she found "Bu Liuxing," who had been watching her, and deliberately died at his hands.

At the moment of her death, Yanfan moved out of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Her plan officially began to take shape.

Now, this decades-long plan has finally come to an end.

On the last page of the booklet, Xue Bangzhu wrote the following.

"Hanmeng, if you are the one who opened this booklet, Mother wants you to know—it was all part of my plan."

“You will be adopted by ‘Bu Liuxing’, and you will feel that he is the last person you can trust. You may protect him, or you may not be able to bring yourself to harm him.”

"It's okay, it's not your fault."

“He should follow you into this cave and then die at my hands—you did nothing, I deliberately let him kill me, and his blood won’t dirty your hands.”

"Now, it's all over."

"How old are you now? Have you grown taller? People from Penglai are all very good-looking. I wish I could catch a glimpse of you."

“You can go to the village outside the city and find an old man named Yanfan. If he is still alive, buy him a pot of good wine and tell him that everything is over.”

"If he dies, bury me with him. I hope that in the next life, he will speak up sooner, so that we won't miss each other."

"You don't need to think about avenging me. The fellow disciple who harmed me should be old and dead by the time you see this."

"Neither your father nor I want you to live as a vengeful ghost who risks his life for revenge."

"The grudges of our generation end here."

"After that, go live the life you want."

The last sentence has scattered and disordered strokes.

These were the last words Xue Bangzhu left behind.

In the silent, dense forest, a heart-wrenching cry suddenly rose.

Xue Hanmeng forgot that she was a celestial being and crawled over like a wild beast, biting down hard on "Bu Liuxing's" throat and tearing at it with all her might.

Wailing, crying, screaming, struggling.

The remorse that almost burned through her heart and lungs drove the beast named "Xue Hanmeng" to tear her enemy into a mess of mangled flesh with her teeth.

Blood and tears mingled together, seeping into the soil and disappearing.

Zheng Yi slowly closed her eyes.

(End of this chapter)