The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 320 Jade Mountain
When Gao Anyu stopped calling out the names of the moves and stopped deliberately presenting him with moves that looked like they were copied from a manual, the old man finally understood that the biggest difference between him and Gao Anyu was not the black ruler or the so-called "heavenly inheritance".

It's not about the two people themselves.

The black ruler tumbled in the air, transforming into a black dragon that slashed down towards the old man's head. The old man could see clearly that this was the "Ink Dragon Severing the Mountain" technique that Gao Anyu had just used.

But when he tried to do the same, crawling under Gao Anyu's arm and thrusting his sword into his armpit, Gao Anyu revealed a disdainful smile.

When the longsword was only half an inch away from his armpit, he suddenly moved his right foot half a step.

The longsword pierced through his clothes, grazed his skin, but left no wound.

With that incredibly swift half-step forward, Gao Anyu's center of gravity shifted abruptly. The black ruler that was originally slashing downwards drew an arc in mid-air in an instant—becoming a horizontal slash!
"A thousand peaks cut off the view!"
The old man's pupils suddenly contracted.

He could only get under Gao Anyu's arm by taking one step forward. Now that Gao Anyu had changed from a vertical slash to a horizontal one, he could no longer adjust his already formed footwork if he wanted to dodge.

He can't escape it anymore.

Helplessly, the old man raised his longsword to protect himself. He could only watch helplessly as the black ruler drew ever closer and closer to his weapon.

He could already foresee the outcome.

Clang—Bang!

In an instant, fragments flew everywhere!

The longsword suddenly broke in half, and metal fragments grazed the old man's cheek, leaving a bloody gash.

"Well!"

The old man forcefully suppressed the excruciating pain in his palm and used that instant to dart away several feet. As soon as he stopped, he suddenly stumbled.

Just as the old man regained his footing, he looked up and saw Gao Anyu already in front of him, the black ruler striking his left arm with incredible speed.

Li Miao smiled and shook his head.

The outcome has been decided.

From the moment the old man abandoned his own martial arts and instead tried to break Gao Anyu's moves, he was destined to lose.

Breaking a move is still a move, and every move has a weakness. The old man practiced diligently for years to find the weakness in Gao Anyu's moves, but Gao Anyu broke the old man's moves in an instant.

This is the cruelest aspect of the path of martial arts—the efforts of an ordinary person throughout their life may not be as great as a single move that a genius casually comes up with.

The old man seemed to understand this as well, and stopped showing off the few moves he had painstakingly practiced. Instead, he used his sect's martial arts to fight Gao Anyu, but it was already too late to reverse the decline.

With only half of his weapon remaining and his dominant hand torn and bleeding from the impact, he had no chance of defeating Gao Anyu.

Li Miao stood up and walked out of the tea stall, bypassing Cao Hanyan who was tapping the head of the Kongming Sect disciple with the back of her knife like she was whack-a-mole, and walked to Zheng Yi's side.

Zheng Yi had been watching him the whole time, as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated to speak because of the crowd. Now that everyone else was engaged in a lively fight, it was a good time to talk.

Zheng Yi glanced at the people fighting, then remained still. She used her inner energy to suppress her voice and sent it to Li Miao's ear.

"Sir, when are you going to stop meddling in these matters?"

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"Ok?"

Zheng Yi, expressionless, held her sword and looked at Gao Anyu, who was fighting fiercely with the old man. Her lips moved slightly, and her voice continued to ring in Li Miao's ear.

"My lord, have you forgotten that we came here to find my disciple 'Zheng Huaijin' who ran away from Penglai?"

Zheng Yi sighed silently.

"If you like Gao Anyu, you can keep him with you, or if you find him troublesome, you can have Cao Hanyan take him back to Shuntian. It won't delay anything."

“If you want to deal with the Kongming Sect, just send a message back to Shuntian. In less than half a month, your subordinate commanders will naturally take care of it for you.”

"While we're wasting our time here, the people from Yingzhou may have already boarded their ships and are heading towards Dashuo."

Zheng Yi sighed again.

“My lord, although I am a descendant of Penglai, I know that there are not many people in Yingzhou. These people do not pose any threat to Da Shuo—but they may be a threat to you.”

"After all, the greatest use of martial artists since ancient times has been assassination. You also have connections with Yingzhou. Who knows, they might have a way to deal with you, or they might be hiding a master who can rival you?"

"I won't be able to put my mind at ease until I find out the truth about Yingzhou."

After spending more than a month together, the two had established a basic level of trust. Zheng Yi's words were quite heartfelt, and at least on the surface, they all seemed to be for Li Miao's benefit.

Li Miao smiled upon hearing this and transmitted his voice.

"Xiao Yizi, look at you, you're in such a hurry again."

"We know nothing about where Zheng Huaijin lives, what he does, or whether he's dead or not. If he's already dead, even if we turn Guangxin Prefecture upside down, it won't do us any good. So why are you in such a hurry?"

Zheng Yi retorted.

"But time is of the essence. If we can't find any clues, we should go find the next member of the Penglai Sect as soon as possible. Why waste time here?"

How do you know it's a waste of time?

Li Miao said with a smile.

"Tell me, what is the biggest difference between the disciples of Penglai and ordinary people?"

Before Zheng Yi could answer, Li Miao continued.

"It is martial arts, and it is a martial arts that is beyond the previous understanding of people in the martial arts world, a martial arts at the level of the celestial being."

"Where can a cat not steal fish? This Da Shuo isn't some holy land where doors are left unlocked at night. These Penglai disciples, all unregistered, come here. How could they not run into some trouble? Do you think they can all hold back and not use their martial arts to solve some problems?"

“Your Penglai isn’t a Buddhist temple, so it’s no wonder they can’t stand it.”

Li Miao raised his hand and pointed at Gao Anyu and the old man who were fighting.

"Look at those two people."

"One of them is an amnesiac young man who possesses the inheritance of the Celestials and wields a unique weapon of the Great Shuo Jianghu. His age is about the same as yours and Xue Hanmeng's, who are 'second-generation Penglai'."

"One of them is an elder of the only major sect in Guangxin Prefecture, and he happens to recognize Gao Anyu's martial arts and weapons, as if they had some kind of connection in the past."

Li Miao turned to look at Zheng Yi.

"Xiao Yizi, do you believe in coincidences?"

"In a mere Guangxin Prefecture, first Zheng Huaijin arrived, and then Gao Anyu inexplicably appeared. These are two celestial inheritances."

"From last year to now, there have only been seven or eight Celestial Beings and Celestial Being lineages emerging in the martial arts world. Yet, two of them have appeared in this ordinary Guangxin Prefecture? And they have absolutely no connection with each other?"

"Speaking of the 'Kongming Sect,' let's not even mention that I was originally looking for trouble with them. If Zheng Huaijin had gotten involved in anything back then and displayed his martial arts skills, who in Guangxin Prefecture would have been most likely to have crossed paths with him?"

"Isn't it just the Kongming Sect, which has the absolute power in Guangxin Prefecture?"

"With so many clues right in front of us, do you think it would be a waste to just pretend we didn't see them and leave?"

After listening to Li Miao's analysis, Zheng Yi pondered for a moment and had to admit that Li Miao was right.

They had few clues, and finding the people of Penglai was like finding a needle in a haystack. They could only look for clues by searching for various unusual events.

The biggest anomaly in Guangxin Prefecture right now is Gao Anyu, so naturally we have to investigate him. Moreover, it is indeed a bit strange that two Celestial Inheritances have appeared in such a small prefecture at the same time.

As the two were communicating telepathically, the fight at the tea stall was already coming to an end.

Cao Hanyan could easily deal with the disciples of the Kongming Sect, but he couldn't shake his kind nature and only knocked them unconscious with the back of his knife, which caused some delay. Now the matter has been settled.

The ground was littered with unconscious disciples of the Kongming Sect.

Meanwhile, the outcome of the battle between Gao Anyu and Gao Anyu has also been decided.

The old man's left arm had been smashed, and his bloodied right hand trembled as he gripped the sword hilt, which was completely bare, with only a small section of the blade remaining.

He sighed deeply, turned to look at Cao Hanyan's side, and saw that he had lost his support while the two of them were unharmed. He knew that he had no chance to turn the tide.

Cao Hanyan also sheathed her sword, showing no intention of making a move.

Gao Anyu slowly approached, carrying a black ruler, a smile of excitement on his face.

"Old man, you're doomed."

"If you know what's good for you, stand still and let me break your remaining three limbs. Then I'll 'tame' you a bit. If you tell the truth, I'll spare your life. How about that?"

Cao Hanyan's face immediately darkened, and she knew in her heart that something was wrong.

He originally thought that with Gao Anyu's martial arts skills, there wouldn't be any problems, so he even put away his weapons.

But he forgot about Gao Anyu's sharp tongue!
I say whatever comes to mind, without any embellishment!
That's hardly an attempt to persuade someone to surrender; it's more like a threat to kill!

There's no need to even think about what the old man will do after hearing Gao Anyu's words!

He rushed towards the old man in one stride.

The old man's face turned pale at first, but when he glanced at Bei Shouzheng's gruesome corpse on the central table of the tea stall, a look of sorrow appeared on his face.

Bei Shouzheng was originally a robust young man who was seven feet tall and weighed over a hundred pounds, but now the meat left on the table is only about three feet long and weighs seventy or eighty pounds.

He died after the old man arrived, because Gao Anyu accidentally punctured his liver, which led to his demise.

Judging from Gao Anyu's words, if he fell into Gao Anyu's hands, he would obviously suffer the same fate. Moreover, Gao Anyu had already learned his lesson, so he probably wouldn't make the same mistake again.

In other words, he may suffer far more than Bei Shou-zheng.

When collecting a body, it would probably take seven or eight meticulous women working together for half a month to even put together a recognizable human form.

Any dumpling vendor who happens to pass by will happily pick up this pile of dumplings, and they won't even get stuck in your teeth after eating them.

What the hell is the point of living?!
No longer alive!
In his view, Li Miao and his group were ruthless bandits who had come to his door because of an old grudge, the kind who would eat people without spitting out the bones, and would definitely not show him any mercy. Since Gao Anyu had said so, he would definitely do it.

"A scholar can be killed but not humiliated!"

The old man shouted sharply.

"You bunch of scoundrels, you'll all end up like that witch! I'll be waiting for you down there!"

With a flick of his wrist, the remaining inch of the longsword pierced his chest, cleaving his heart open. Blood gushed out instantly, his body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

Cao Hanyan had arrived close enough to stop the old man from committing suicide, but she was a fraction too late and had to stop in her tracks.

Gao Anyu was stunned, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

Zheng Yi turned to look at Li Miao.

"My lord, why didn't you stop him? If you had kept him, you should have been able to extract clues about Gao Anyu's origins from him."

Li Miao smiled and shook his head.

"If Xiao Cao weren't here, I would naturally stop him. And I might even personally intervene during the interrogation."

“I feel lately that too many of my men are mentally unstable. They’re vicious, ruthless, dull, and slippery—there’s not a single normal person among them. If this continues, the top will set a bad example, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard might really become a den of demons. That won’t do.”

"Now that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is under my control, it can't stay dirty forever. We need to put a good person in there and put a respectable person in."

"Just now, Xiao Cao had already made a considerable decision to kill Bei Shouzhen. Now we don't know who is right and who is wrong in the feud between Xiao Gao and this old man, so Xiao Cao probably can't accept interrogating this old man."

“I’ll keep his kindness for later; I can’t let it lead him astray.”

Zheng Yi sighed.

“But the trail has gone cold, wouldn’t that be a loss?” Li Miao smiled.

"how come?"

"Xiao Gao's moves are inherited from the heavens and the earth. How could that old man possibly figure out a way to counter them?"

"Besides, he can't even beat Xiao Gao, so how could he be involved in the secrets of his origins? He's definitely not the one involved."

Zheng Yi pondered for a moment.

"The Kongming School!"

"The connection between Gao Anyu's origins and this old man is not that of the old man himself, but rather the entire Kongming Sect!"

Li Miao smiled and nodded.

"It has to be the entire sect involved to make it significant. We were going to cause them trouble anyway, so taking them all down at once might even yield some results from their sect."

After saying that, Li Miao lifted his foot and walked towards Gao Anyu.

Gao Anyu had been standing there stunned for a while.

He's not stupid; it's just that because of amnesia, he lacks life experience, so his speech and actions are more like a child's.

So he instantly realized that the old man had been "scared to death" by him.

In an instant, feelings of frustration, dejection, and disappointment surged into his heart. He suddenly raised his hand and smacked his head, pursing his lips and frowning.

He kept pounding his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

Although he spoke nonchalantly to Li Miao before, saying things like "I'll just focus on making a name for myself," he knew in his heart that it was just a boastful statement made because he had no way of finding out his origins.

How could he not care who he is?

Without his memories, he was like a rootless duckweed, even more tragic than Zheng Yi, whose entire family had been wiped out.

Zheng Yi's home is no longer visible or intangible, but she still has a home in her heart. She knows who she is and where she belongs. Even if she dies one day, she can still hope to see someone after she dies.

Gao Anyu can't even do that.

His heart was empty and blank. He didn't know who he was or where he should go. Even if he died, he wouldn't know who to miss.

This feeling of floating in mid-air almost drove him crazy in just six months.

That's why he addressed Li Miao as "Uncle Li" so earnestly, not because he was really that foolish, but because he also wanted a sense of belonging.

It's as if calling Li Miao "uncle" and Zheng Yi "aunt" makes him feel like he has family.

But now, he has destroyed the only clue he had.

Seeing Li Miao walk up to him, Gao Anyu raised his head, and before he could speak, tears streamed down his face and dripped down his chin.

"Uncle, Uncle Li...I, I..."

He said with sobs.

“I’m an idiot, I’m crazy… I’m useless, I, I… Uncle Li…”

Li Miao smiled.

"Little Gao, what's with all this crying and wailing like a child?"

Gao Anyu pouted.

"Uncle, I feel unwell..."

He raised his hand and tapped his chest.

"Here, it's empty, completely empty. Something's squeezing up, making my throat tight... I finally had a chance to fill it up, but because I'm a madman... it's gone..."

"Uncle Li, I really feel terrible..."

Tears flowed uncontrollably.

Li Miao smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Huh."

"I don't take this seriously. It's just someone who died. I'll find you someone who knows about your situation, and that'll settle things."

"Wipe your tears, drag the body into the woods and bury it. Take some of the reward money and put it at the tea stall. Then we'll set off to find you a home."

"As a side effect, kill a few people."

Gao Anyu was very obedient. He raised his hand to wipe his face and widened his eyes.

"Really!?"

Li Miao said with a smile.

"You still can't believe me?"

Gao Anyu shook his head violently.

"No, no, no! Uncle, I believe you... I'll go right now!"

He has the heart of a child; his emotions come and go quickly. Before he finished speaking, he had already dashed out and grabbed Cao Hanyan's arm.

"Brother Cao, let's go together!"

"Brother Gao, slow down!"

"We can't wait! Uncle Li is waiting!"

Li Miao gave a shout.

"Cut off the heads of that old man and those three scoundrels and keep them safe. Strip the remaining disciples naked, hang them on a tree, and apply pressure to their acupoints so they can wake up tomorrow morning."

"Waking up too early can easily cause trouble."

Then Gao Anyu answered excitedly.

"Got it!"

Burying the body didn't take Cao Hanyan and Gao Anyu much effort. But other matters took up more time.

Firstly, severed heads are difficult to preserve. Although it's almost late autumn, they would still smell bad within two days if kept in a package. Cao Hanyan gathered some firewood, burned it, and carefully wrapped the four heads in the ashes before finally securing them.

Secondly, there were those disciples.

According to Li Miao's thinking, these people's martial arts skills were all quite advanced, and there were no ferocious beasts that could climb trees around here, so hanging in the trees for a night wouldn't be a problem.

If their clothes are stripped off, these people will be delayed for a day to find clothes to wear tomorrow, which will be enough time for them to not get involved in Li Miao's affairs.

But Cao Hanyan was too fussy. She kept insisting on respecting the differences between men and women, and even after stripping off their clothes with her eyes closed, she insisted that the men and women hang them up far apart. She also left clothes and clues around the female disciples, which wasted a lot of time.

After a while, considering that there was a lot of blood splattered on the tea stall and it might delay the owner's business, he and Gao Anyu worked hard to wash the entire tea stall before they stopped.

The busy work lasted until evening.

Li Miao was fine; it didn't matter where he slept. Zheng Yi, however, had long been impatient, her eyes constantly slicing across Gao Anyu and Cao Hanyan like razor blades.

Gao Anyu was still confused, but felt a chill run down his spine.

Cao Hanyan broke out in a cold sweat, afraid of upsetting Zheng Yi. She had originally planned to find a secluded place to leave some money for the tea stall owner, but now she dared not mention it again and could only hastily stuff it into the teapot.

Then she walked up to Li Miao, who was resting with his eyes closed, and said softly.

"Uncle, everything is ready."

"Should we spend the night here, or just hit the road?"

Cao Hanyan pondered for a moment and then added.

"The Kongming Sect is located in Huaiyu Mountain, which is about three to five days' journey from here. Fortunately, the Kongming Sect sent us quite a few horses, but we won't arrive until the day after tomorrow... unless we 'fly' there."

He meant that Li Miao and Zheng Yi would each carry a light-foot technique over. But he knew that Li Miao wouldn't be willing to move unless it was truly a last resort, so he only mentioned it briefly.

Seeing that Li Miao did not answer, he continued.

"If we set off on horseback now, we should be able to reach Yushan County by tomorrow morning, rest there for the night, and then head to the Kongming Sect. That would be a better option."

Li Miao opened his eyes.

"Let's do it this way. If we rush it, we'll get exhausted; if we go too slow, people will get confused and won't recognize us, which will ruin the fun."

"Walk."

Having said that, the four of them got up, mounted their horses, and rode away.

Let's leave aside the details of their journey that night.

As dawn broke, the four of them gently pulled on the reins, slowed their horses' hooves, and merged from the side road onto the main road, then followed the flow of people into Yushan County.

They found an inn, booked rooms, and the four of them rested.

Apart from Li Miao, the other three got up once, had lunch, and knowing that Li Miao wouldn't wake up until evening, they didn't disturb him. They each took a stroll around the city, bought some necessities, and then returned to the inn.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Li Miao pushed open the door, stretched, and came out.

The three of them had been waiting outside the door. When they saw Li Miao come out, they went downstairs together to have dinner.

The wealthy family in Guangxin Prefecture had given a generous reward, so the meal was naturally a feast of fine wine and food. Although Yushan County wasn't a large county, it did have several distinctive local dishes.

For example, this place is near Sanqing Mountain, which is considered one of the sacred sites of Taoism. The Taoist priests on the mountain are skilled in health preservation methods, and some of their medicinal diet recipes have also spread among the people, especially their soups, which are both light and nourishing.

For example, Yushan County has many bamboo forests, and now is the perfect time to harvest winter bamboo shoots. Add some local black pork cured meat, stir-fried with a little scallion and ginger, and it's incredibly delicious.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the four of them were not in a hurry to go upstairs. Instead, they each sipped Yunwu Tea, a tribute from Yunshan, to aid their digestion.

Previously, when he went out with Xiao Si, Wang Hai, and Mei Qinghe, Li Miao was always the one left behind, and no one chatted with him. But now these people were all willing to listen to him, so Li Miao sipped his tea and began to give Cao Hanyan pointers.

"Xiao Cao, you're smart enough, and your martial arts skills are decent. You have the most solid foundation I've ever seen among the younger generation. Your only flaw is that you're too kind-hearted."

Li Miao spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Of course, being kind is not wrong, but it depends on the time and the person."

"Those who study swordsmanship must cultivate a sharp spirit. Those who study sabers must cultivate a ruthless spirit. Your heart is too kind. Although your saber technique is smooth and skillful, you lack three parts of ruthlessness. This will be your biggest obstacle if you want to break through to the top in the future."

"We need to kill more people in the future."

He spoke with a strong smell of alcohol, his eyes narrowed, but his tone was extremely loud and his volume remained unchanged as he talked animatedly in the room.

At this moment, a group of people inside the room turned around and looked over, thinking to themselves, "What a boastful tone! I'd like to see who this person is, daring to offer such profound advice."

He glanced at Li Miao, then scoffed, thinking he was just a clueless idler spouting nonsense and there was no need to pay him any attention. Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly glanced at Gao Anyu standing to the side.

Clang! Clang!

"It's you!!!"

"Come and die!!"

With weapons drawn and without the slightest hesitation, the group glared and pounced on Gao Anyu.

(End of this chapter)