The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 316 Silver
From the moment Li Miao established the rules on the summit of Mount Song, this kind of thing was inevitable. No matter how much authority Li Miao established, or how much blood flowed on the summit of Mount Song, these rules, which covered the entire martial arts world of Da Shuo, would inevitably attract those who tried to cross the line for personal gain.

One of the most contradictory aspects of human nature is that everyone is afraid of death, but there are always some people who are not afraid of death—whether in a positive or negative sense.

However, according to Li Miao's plan, such opportunists would not appear for another six months to a year, when there would not be enough villains left in the underworld.

Unexpectedly, less than two months later, someone started skirting the rules and ended up running right into his face!
"Little Gao."

Li Miao suddenly spoke up, interrupting the old man's cursing.

"Stop this old man, I have something to ask him."

Upon hearing this, the old man's expression changed drastically. He realized something was wrong and reached for his waist to draw his sword. At the same time, his gaze swept over Li Miao and the others, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

In the blink of an eye, Gao Anyu, who had just been arguing with him, had disappeared!
Then came a "hum" sound, and an extremely strange vibration was transmitted from the hilt of the sword to the palm of the hand, followed by a sharp pain.

"what!"

The old man involuntarily let go, and blood splattered from the ruptured tiger's mouth.

Before he could react, a cold object pressed against his lower back.

"do not move."

“Old man, I really wanted to kill you when you insulted me just now, but I’m a good madman, and I’ll let it go because someone in your family just died.”

Gao Anyu's voice came from behind.

“I don’t understand these principles, but if my Uncle Li says he can beat you up, then you must be in the wrong. And if someone is in the wrong, I can kill them—so if you think there’s some misunderstanding, don’t give me the chance to kill you.”

"I'm a madman. Even if I kill the wrong person, I won't feel bad."

"From now on, whatever Uncle Li asks you, you answer, understand?"

Having said that, he suddenly suppressed his murderous intent and returned to his previous cheerful tone.

"Uncle Li, am I right?"

Li Miao smiled and nodded before slowly walking up the steps and standing in front of the old man.

When did the people from the Kongming Sect come to collect their reward?

The old man knew he was no match for these people, and his vital points were under their control. He had no right to bargain and could only reply with a livid face.

"The first moment of Mao Shi."

"When did you leave?"

"They just left, heading towards the city gate."

"Where are the heads we handed over to you?"

"Inside the house."

"Fetched."

Gao Anyu thrust an iron ruler, causing the old man to stumble. He then helped the old man inside, and a moment later escorted him out, handing a round package to Li Miao.

Cao Hanyan took the package, opened it, and pulled out a still-wet human head. She glanced at it and let out a soft exclamation.

"Uh, Uncle, this head really does look six or seven parts like Shu Qingyi. Plus, with the sword wounds on his face, it's really hard to recognize him at first glance."

Li Miao glanced at the head and asked casually.

"What else did you notice?"

Cao Hanyan frowned, pondered for a moment, and then slowly spoke.

"This person had yellowed teeth and many missing teeth, his skin was chapped, and his hair was dry and yellow. He must have lived a very frugal life before he died."

He reached out and pinched the head behind its ear, then rubbed it between his fingers, and said.

"There was a lot of dust behind my ears, and it was all mountain soil."

"There is an old scar on the side of his neck, which looks like it was caused by a wild animal... This person must be a hunter."

"Those people from the Kongming Sect probably encountered this hunter after leaving last night. Seeing how much he resembled Shu Qingyi, they harbored evil intentions and killed an innocent person to claim credit."

"They thought that Brother Gao would definitely take the head to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to claim the reward, so they brought the head here to claim the reward themselves. Taking advantage of the lack of communication between the two sides, they wanted to gain this benefit."

Li Miao nodded and pointed at the old man.

"Bring the person out and let this old man see him."

As instructed, Cao Hanyan took the unconscious Shu Qingyi out of the package, grabbed his hair with her right hand, and held the severed head in her left hand, placing them together in front of the old man.

The old man had overheard Li Miao and Cao Hanyan's conversation, and his expression had grown increasingly grim. Now, looking at the two faces before him, his lips slowly tightened.

After a long while, he let out a long sigh.

However, he said something that neither Gao Anyu nor Cao Hanyan had expected.

"Gentlemen, why bring this matter into the open?"

Cao Hanyan frowned.

The old man continued.

"If you need a reward, I just went inside and got another one. I was unaware of your martial arts skills and tried to cover this up, which was my fault... Please forgive me."

Gao Anyu was completely confused, but Cao Hanyan suddenly understood and looked at the old man, saying in a deep voice.

"You already knew?"

The old man smiled bitterly.

How could I not know?

“Although I left home to travel the world in my early years, I have made a name for myself over the years. Of course I know what this villain who raped and murdered my grandniece looks like.”

Cao Hanyan said with a frown.

"Then you just..."

"Oh, you're scared."

“You’re afraid of the Kongming Sect, which is why you said earlier that ‘the Kongming Sect’s top disciple has already brought back the head.’ You were reminding us to leave.”

Having said all that, the matter was now out in the open and clear, so the old man made no further attempt to conceal it, and sighed as he spoke.

"Yes."

"I am just a wandering swordsman, and my family is merely a wealthy merchant family. The Kongming Sect is practically all-powerful in the martial arts world of Guangxin Prefecture, so how can I not be afraid?"

"Treating the big picture with small things is how it is. Even if the other party makes a mistake, we must do our best to cover it up; even if we know that the head is not right, we can only pretend that we did not notice."

"After all, if this matter were to spread, it might attract the attention of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which would be a catastrophic disaster for the Kongming Sect. To avert this calamity, no matter how prestigious and righteous the Kongming Sect is, compared to their own heritage and lives—"

"The lives of these dozens of people in my family are actually quite cheap..."

After the old man finished speaking, he closed his eyes, sighed deeply, and said no more.

Cao Hanyan stared into the old man's eyes for a while, then sighed.

"Brother Gao, please put down your weapons."

"This is not his fault."

Gao Anyu glanced at Li Miao, and seeing that he had no objection, sheathed his sword.

Cao Hanyan then turned to look at Li Miao.

"Uncle, what should we do?"

Li Miao scoffed.

"What else?"

"Those who deserve to die should be killed, and those who deserve to be taken should be taken. The logic is crystal clear."

"With me here, do you still have to worry about anyone being unreasonable?"

Cao Hanyan suddenly realized what was happening and cupped her hands in greeting.

"Yes!" With that, he lifted Shu Qingyi by the neck with his left hand and tapped her back several times with his right.

With a shout of "Hah!", Shu Qingyi suddenly woke up and looked at the old man in front of her with a puzzled expression.

Cao Hanyan kicked him in the back of the knee and stomped on him. With her left hand, she grabbed his hair, exposing his throat, and with her right hand, she drew her knife and swiftly slit it.

laugh--

The old man's expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to speak to dissuade him, the blood spurting from the headless cavity stained the steps beneath his feet.

"Ugh!"

Seeing that Shu Qing had also been brought to justice, the old man first felt a sense of relief, but then he sighed and stamped his feet.

"Gentlemen, why are you so impulsive! You killed someone in the street. Not to mention the trouble you'll cause the authorities, if the Kongming Sect finds out, they'll definitely come after you to silence you—or even kill you!"

He gritted his teeth.

"Alright, I'll make up a reason. I'll say this person is an accomplice of Shu Qingyi, and that you were invited by my family—"

Li Miao waved his hand, interrupting him.

"It's not your turn to worry about it."

"The real culprit's head is yours. You can take this fake head and report it to the authorities yourselves. You can decide what to say."

"The person died because of your family's problems. From now on, you will be responsible for supporting his family, understand?"

The old man nodded.

"It should."

"Please wait a moment, everyone. I will go and fetch the reward money."

But then Li Miao sneered.

"This is not what I want."

"One head, one reward, clear and simple. But to exchange one head for two rewards, that's truly bizarre. Don't you even understand this simple principle, old man?"

The old man's expression changed drastically.

Li Miao's meaning was crystal clear; he was an old hand at the game, so how could he not understand? He immediately tried to dissuade him.

"Gentlemen, we mustn't act rashly!"

Li Miao turned and walked towards the city gate.

Zheng Yi gave a cold laugh, and Cao Hanyan, with a cold face, turned and left together.

Gao Anyu looked around, his eyes darted around, he clapped his hands, a smile appeared on his face, and he flashed after Li Miao.

"Uncle Li! Are we going to kill someone?"

"Where to go? Who to kill? How many to kill?"

The voices gradually faded into the distance, leaving behind only a headless body, a severed head with its eyes wide open, and bloodstains all over the steps.

--------

At a tea stall beside the official road, three disciples of the Kongming Sect were resting. Their satchels were bulging on the table. Anyone could tell from the bulges that they were filled with a bag of silver.

Many people secretly glanced over and saw that the three men had their swords on the table, spoke and walked with a powerful stride, and dressed elegantly. They knew that they were from a prominent sect and gave up their intentions.

Suddenly, the youngest disciple among the three drank the tea in one gulp and said with a worried expression.

"Senior brother, I still feel... a little uneasy."

The leading disciple squinted as he spoke.

"What's the point of saying all this now that it's already done?"

"Besides, didn't you find that the woodcutter looked like Shu Qingyi last night and call us to go see him? Now you regret it?"

The young disciple pursed his lips and hesitated before speaking.

"No, senior brother, I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just scared."

“If it were before last year, this matter would have been settled without a second thought. But now this matter is related to the rules of the Embroidered Uniform Guard after all… Given the temperament of that ‘Deathly Suppressor,’ if the Embroidered Uniform Guard finds out about this, our Kongming Sect might all suffer.”

The leading disciple let out a cold laugh.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Let's not even talk about the fact that we're not being paid by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so we're not even in a position to provoke them. Let's also not talk about the fact that Shu Qingyi is just a mid-level villain in the entire martial arts world, and he's not even worth the attention of that Commander-in-Chief."

"Take that wealthy family for example—so what if they find out? We can't afford to offend the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but do they think they can afford to offend our Kongming Sect?"

He raised his teacup and began to speak persuasively.

"Junior brother, today I will teach you a lesson."

"The affairs of this world are nothing more than 'power'! Unless you cultivate to the level of that commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who can suppress the entire martial arts world with his fists, then he himself is 'power' itself."

"We should all go with the flow."

he said proudly.

"What are we trying to achieve by going through all this trouble to join the Kongming Sect? We're not even destined to become celestial beings; our aptitude is only second-rate. And yet we have to abide by so many sect rules. What are we after?"

"Isn't it all about the 'power' of our Kongming Sect? Using power to intimidate others and profit from it. Otherwise, why would we learn martial arts or follow any masters?"

The young disciple was taken aback.

This was the first time he had ever heard such words, and they were completely different from the code of conduct in the martial world that his master had taught him before, making him instinctively want to refute them.

But the words stuck in his throat.

He noticed that his two senior brothers' eyes had lost their former gentleness and were gradually turning cold.

His heart skipped a beat.

These treasonous words were both a reminder and a warning to him. The three of them had already conspired to do this, and if they were exposed, their master would probably cut off their heads and send them to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Neither of the two senior brothers would leave a potential source of trouble around them.

He could be an accomplice, sharing the silver with others... or he could be a hero, sacrificing himself for the greater good, dying at the hands of Shu Qingyi.

Whether he lives or dies depends on his next answer. His moral character is clearly insufficient to justify killing innocent people and claiming credit for their crimes; it's as if he's committed a morally questionable act.

He gave a fawning smile.

"Senior brother, after hearing what you said, I have truly seen the light! If I had traveled the world with you earlier, why would I have been foolishly honing my skills and wasting my years inside the sect?"

"Thank you for telling me all this, senior brother. I understand now!"

Under the satisfied gazes of his two senior brothers, he lowered his head, picked up the teapot, and was about to fill their cups with tea.

"I am deeply grateful for the guidance and support of my two senior brothers. Today, I offer this tea instead of wine to express my gratitude—"

Wow.

The scarlet liquid spilled into the teacup, splashing and spreading across the back of his hand.

A round object fell onto the table, rolled over, and hit the ground with a thud.

Screams rang in my ears, tables and chairs were knocked aside by hurried footsteps, tea splashed everywhere, steaming hot.

People rushed past him in a flurry, and time seemed to freeze.

The sound seemed to grow distant before slowly approaching. He suddenly shivered and his gaze slowly moved up from the table.

An overturned teacup, blood smeared with tea; a scarlet-stained robe, a longsword that fell halfway out of its sheath; writhing flesh on the severed cross-section; a headless corpse slowly falling to one side.

The pitch-black iron ruler that pierced through my senior brother's skull.

Gao Anyu's excited smile.

"Uncle Li, it's those three! The silver has been found!"

(End of this chapter)