The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 437 Good Man
The moment An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe met up and stepped into the outer city, two pairs of eyes were cast upon them. After seeing their Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) uniforms, they turned away as if they had been electrocuted.

"He's here...he's here!"

"And her, and her too!"

In a dilapidated house on one side of the street, a man and a woman were talking to each other, their eyes filled with unspeakable fear.

These two were among the dozen or so people who helped carry the coffin last night.

Last night, after the emperor arrived, he went on a rampage, killing all the martial arts practitioners present except for these dozen or so. After An Ziyang explained the situation to the emperor, he left these people where they were and returned to the palace with the emperor and Li Miao.

But after An Ziyang left, the dozen or so people were at a loss.

To be honest, aside from the woman who started it out of genuine sympathy for the deceased, most of the people who helped carry the coffin last night were just looking for an excuse to leave the capital. An Ziyang saw through this and was willing to let them go.

But Gao Ming and Liu Jin, along with other martial arts figures who arrived later, wanted to extract information from them. So these people were once again taken to the outer city in a daze, and were coaxed and intimidated into staying there. Because they were not from any prestigious sects and knew An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe, they were assigned to keep watch on the outskirts.

Now, let's get back to the present.

The two recognized An Ziyang at a glance.

The man gritted his teeth.

"You stay here and keep watch, I'll go and inform the seniors!"

Having said that, he got up to leave. But as he turned halfway around, his sleeve was grabbed from behind.

"No...think about it again..."

The woman said in a trembling voice.

"Should we... go out and see Commander An...?"

The man suddenly stopped, turned around and angrily rebuked.

"Are you out of your mind!"

"No, no... I just figured it out..."

The woman argued stubbornly.

"Do we really have to be enemies of the imperial court, to stand on the opposite side of it...? Think about it carefully. Last night, Commander An didn't kill us. We could have left, but we were dragged here and forced to stand guard for them..."

"Our lives are owed to our sect, not to any fellow martial artists! If we can extricate ourselves from this matter by surrendering now, that is the right way to save our lives and our sect!"

The woman spoke with heartfelt sincerity.

The man looked at her with disdain.

"So you're scared out of your wits that you're willing to use the lives of your fellow martial arts practitioners as a pledge of loyalty? What right do you have to call yourself a righteous figure in the martial arts world?!"

The woman also stubbornly argued back.

"Who is the Jianghu? Where is the Jianghu? Where is the righteous path? Can it be seen and touched? The one who spared my life is my mortal enemy, while the one who forces me to stay and work for him, and might even implicate my sect, is my comrade?"

"I'm willing to sacrifice my so-called fellow martial artists to protect my sect, while you're going against the imperial court today, willing to sacrifice the lives of your entire sect to uphold your own righteousness! Who is the heretic heretic between us?"

The man stood right in front of her, refusing to budge an inch.

"Those who scheme and plot are not on the same path, so we cannot work together!"

The two men faced off, each gripping their weapons and eyeing the other's vitals.

"Little man!"

"hypocrite!"

"Vicious woman!"

Fuck you!

Each shout was louder than the last, and weapons were gradually drawn out.

"Come die!"

"Come die!"

Swords drawn!
The two who were lurking and keeping watch together just a moment ago suddenly turned on each other and stabbed each other in vital areas!
Just at this moment!
"You two should at least have a time and place to argue. Shouting so loudly, do you think I'm deaf?"

A mocking and dissolute voice suddenly rang in their ears.

The two were startled and looked to the side at the same time.

An Ziyang had somehow gotten to the window and was now leaning against the window frame, one hand in his pocket and the other picking at his ear, tilting his head and looking at the two of them with a smile on his face.

Seeing the two turn around, he casually flicked his fingers.

"After you've finished arguing, do me a favor."

"Take me to meet the fellow martial arts practitioners you've been talking about, okay?"

Both of them remained silent, trembling with fear. The woman, who had already intended to surrender, knew that An Ziyang must have overheard their conversation, so she wasn't particularly terrified, just frightened.

But the man had lost his previous imposing manner.

Both legs trembled, and they almost ran away first.

His face was deathly pale, he was sweating profusely, and his teeth were chattering, but he couldn't utter a single word.

After a long silence, the woman finally spoke.

"My lord, I...I'll take you there—"

"Do not."

An Ziyang shook his finger.

"No need for you."

She pointed at the man.

“I like ‘heroes and heroines,’ and I want him to take me there.”

"As for you, go back to your sect. You are never to set foot in Shuntian Prefecture again for the rest of your life, and you are not to mention what happened these past few days to any outsiders, otherwise..."

An Ziyang squinted at her.

The woman suddenly had a flash of inspiration and knelt down on the ground.

He kowtowed three times, then threw the weapon at his waist to the ground and fled as fast as he could, pushing open the door.

Only the man remained inside.

His face was covered in cold sweat, and he dared not move or speak.

An Ziyang straightened up from the window frame, turned around, pushed the door open, walked up to him, and looked him up and down.

"Hero, why don't you speak?"

"Weren't you quite talkative just now?"

An Ziyang moved behind him.

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. You're just scheming and despicable? That's truly a wake-up call, earning my respect... Why don't you turn around and strike me down with your sword to fulfill your 'moral' obligations?"

Then they turned to face him.

"Could it be that you're too scared? No way, no way."

An Ziyang reached out and drew the long sword from his waist, put it in his hand, tilted his head and brought his neck in front of him, and tapped his neck with two fingers.

"Come on, cut here."

“Cut him down, and you'll be part of the righteous path of the martial world. Not just you, but your teachers, fellow disciples, parents, relatives, friends, and old acquaintances will all become part of the 'righteous path of the martial world' with you. Wouldn't that be better?”

"Chop me down?"

Mei Qinghe walked to the side with her sword and stared coldly at the man.

An Ziyang tapped his neck.

"Why aren't you cutting it? Can't you reach it?"

"It's alright, I'll escort it a little further."

He took another step forward, putting his neck under the blade.

"Is that enough now?"

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance. I'll count to three, just three."

"one."

"two."

"three!"

Snapped! ! !
An Ziyang slapped the man across the face with a backhand slap, unleashing the powerful true energy of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, sending him flying. He spat out half a mouthful of broken teeth in mid-air and crashed to the ground.

An Ziyang stepped forward, grabbed his hair, and lifted him up.

The man's eyes had lost all courage, leaving only overwhelming fear.

An Ziyang stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"It seems you're not as heroic as you thought."

"Now, can you take me to find your fellow martial artists?"

(End of this chapter)