Start with a red name

Chapter 145: Vagrants and Neighborhood, Killing and Responsibility
Compared with Changpingfang and Wanfufang, which rely on Chiwu Mountain for their livelihood, Yueluyuan's neighborhood is naturally much worse.

Compared with those markets, guilds, and gangs, any of the neighborhoods in Yueluyuan, if singled out, wouldn't even be worthy of being looked at by them.

But from an individual perspective, these neighborhoods are also huge.

Unlike the villages around Chiwu Mountain, where the population is strictly controlled at 2,000 to 3,000 people, the smallest village in Yueluyuan has a population of 5,000 to 6,000 people, while the largest villages can even have a population of 20,000 to 30,000 people.

——This is caused by the different geographical ecology of Chiwu Mountain and Yueluyuan. Because the output of Chiwu Mountain is limited, if the population of Lifang is too large, it will not only not be a help, but will become a burden.

The situation in Yueluyuan is just the opposite, whether it is rushing to plant and harvest, repairing water conservancy projects, or plowing and weeding.

Or they could compete with other neighborhoods, or have the right to speak louder in front of the market or guilds.

The more population a neighborhood has, the better.

The living environment in Yueluyuan will become increasingly harsh for those neighborhoods with a population of less than 5,000 or 6,000.

When it comes to farming, even less manpower can be invested, and some plans that require a large amount of manpower to complete cannot be implemented.

In the competition with other neighborhoods, it will be at a disadvantage in all aspects.

They can’t win the fight for land, they can’t win the fight for water, and they can’t win the fight.

Also, because they are weaker and are a softer "persimmon", markets and guilds will be more willing to exploit them.

Under their aggressiveness, I didn't even have the courage to talk back or say anything harsh, and every time I would be easily beaten to more "gold coins".

This creates a vicious cycle.

In order to avoid such a situation, the Lifang in Yueluyuan took an "evolutionary path" that was completely opposite to that of the Lifang around Chiwu Mountain.

Nowadays, the neighborhoods that have been able to gain a foothold in Yueluyuan are all of considerable size.

The population ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 and from 20,000 to 30

For those people who just saw hundreds of people living in settlements, even becoming residents of the neighborhood was a luxury that they envied but could not achieve.

The origins of these people are very complicated.

It is possible that they have committed a crime, offended someone, and can no longer stay in their original neighborhood.

It is also possible that they are people who failed in the competition within the neighborhood, lost their land, went bankrupt, became in debt... and no longer have the qualifications to survive in the neighborhood.

It could also be from a market, a gang, a guild...

Except for themselves, no one can clearly explain their origins and past, nor do they know what kind of cause and effect entanglements are involved behind them.

These people are collectively called vagrants.

Those who are cowardly and weak will choose to be self-reliant, such as the group of vagrants living in settlements that Geng Xuan and his party saw when they first entered Yueluyuan.

But their ability to survive is very weak.

Not only is the land more remote and barren, but both reclaiming and cultivating the land require costs and prices that are difficult for them to pay.

There wasn't even a decent piece of farm equipment.

Moreover, even if they were lucky enough to find a fertile piece of land or turn a wasteland into cultivated land, they would not have the power to truly protect these treasures.

Some vagrants choose to wander between the neighborhoods and the market, like flies and rats that find a way to survive, looking for any way to live a better life.

Whatever you do, there will be no burden on your conscience or morality.

The knight-errant is a "strange flower" that blooms from such bad soil.

Among them, there are many legends who followed this path all the way to the level of bone refining and even marrow refining.

Every such legend is like a star in the sky in this group.

Although he had left the nomadic settlement far behind, Geng Xuan was still thinking about this matter.

What he was thinking about, however, was the red names above these people's heads, which only he could see.

It is much more intense than those ordinary people seen in Changpingfang and Wanfufang.

If quantified by good fortune, the good fortune that each of these vagrants can contribute to him is more than ten points.

Geng Xuan's first feeling was disbelief.

If we measure them from the perspectives of physical fitness, health, and strength, one ordinary person in Changpingfang can beat five of them.

However, these vagrants who are obviously so weak, each of them carries the same amount of sins of killing as many flesh-refining or even blood-refining cultivators.

But soon, Geng Xuan felt that this was reasonable.

This shows that the hatred and rejection of the homeless group by the people in the neighborhood is not discrimination, but the "evil" of this group deserves such a reputation.

And a few words that Mr. Chai said casually resolved most of Geng Xuan's doubts.

"They have no scruples and live like wild dogs. When they are really hungry, they will eat anything."

Having said this, he looked at Geng Xuan beside him and said:

"A few years ago, I accompanied some people from the neighborhood to visit relatives in Yueluyuan and stayed overnight at a family's home.

In the middle of the night, people in the neighborhood suddenly sounded gongs and drums, and shouted "Catch the thieves" everywhere, and then they caught a dozen vagrants.

Do you know what these homeless people were stealing that night?"

"What did you steal?" Geng Xuan asked curiously.

"Digging graves and stealing corpses." said Mr. Chai.

“……” Geng Xuan’s eyes widened.

“It was a large neighborhood with more than 10,000 people, so people didn’t die every day.

But occasionally, when there is a sudden change in climate, it is possible that three to five people, or even seven to eight people, will die in a day.

On that occasion, more than a dozen people died within two days and were buried together in a new grave on the cemetery.

Because the cemetery is several miles away from the residential area, no one would go there except for digging graves and burying people and holding sacrifices at the four seasons.

This attracted the attention of the group of vagrants, who that night took tools and pried open the dozen or so new graves and dug out all the dead bodies inside.

If they hadn’t been caught red-handed that night, they would have been able to find the dead bodies half a day later, and they would have probably looked in the pot.”

At the end, Mr. Chai added one more sentence.

“From what I’ve heard, among the homeless community, there are more people who eat the living than the dead.

You may be an accomplice in a crime one moment, but become food in your mouth the next.

...If people are extremely hungry, they can do anything. "

Uncle Chai recounted this long-ago "interesting story" in a calm tone, but Geng Xuan felt sick to his stomach as he listened.

He has an overly rich imagination, and it is rare for him to actively suppress certain thoughts in his heart and not let them play tricks on him.

"...What happened to those vagrants in the end?" Geng Xuan asked.

"Buried, along with the dead they had dug up, all buried alive in the cemetery."

When Geng Xuan heard the word "living sacrifice", he was stunned.

Because in his experience, this is an uncommon word that has been around for too long.

It was only after a while that he understood what Mr. Chai meant.

In the simple concept of those neighborhood people, this is the basic law enforcement principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".

You have disturbed our ancestors and wanted to dismember their bodies and take their flesh, so that they cannot rest in peace even after death. Then you will be sacrificed alive as compensation.

I'll give you a chance to go down and apologize in person to the deceased you disturbed.

Geng Xuan didn't know how to comment on this matter.

Geng Xuan had no intention of killing those vagrants with red names on their heads.

Faced with this group, even though he could think of the many heinous things they had done, it was difficult for him to be as decisive and resolute as he was with Wu Youxin and the others.

……

Ever since passing the first nomadic settlement and entering the edge of Yueluyuan.

During the nearly two hours of travel, the horse team passed through several nomadic settlements.

Along the way, Geng Xuan could clearly see the differences between these nomadic settlements.

The closer you get to the depths of Yuelu Plain, the more obvious differences you will see in the clothing of the nomads, the quality of their houses, the size and maintenance of the fields, and even the number of canals.

The general rule is that the closer to the central area of Yueluyuan, the more the vagrants live like human beings.

On the contrary, the closer to the marginal areas, the more the homeless live like dogs.

It's still the kind of disgusting wild dog that everyone hates and wants to throw stones at when they see it.

However, no matter how different the situations of these nomadic settlements were, when the mighty Xuanyou cavalry passed by them, their reactions were no different from those of the nomads in the first nomadic settlement.

Panic, screaming, scattering, running away.

It's like a wild beast breaking into a chicken coop where the people live happily and have their own little world at a time when they shouldn't be there.

During this period, a small incident occurred.

The other nomadic settlements encountered along the way were all separated by quite a distance from each other, either by hills, wastelands, or barren land.

However, the two nomadic settlements were separated by a river that was only more than 20 meters wide and less than one meter deep, which could be easily crossed by riding on the Xuanyou horse.

When Geng Xuan and his "beast" troop consisting of one or two hundred Xuanyou horses invaded this area, two nomadic settlements were engaged in a massive riverside fight with more than a thousand people participating.

Almost all the people from the two settlements came out. The old, the weak, women and children threw stones and clods of earth at each other across the river which was more than 20 meters wide. Curses and saliva mixed together in the air.

The adult men from the two settlements were holding lethal farm tools and fighting fiercely in the waist-deep icy river water.

The two sides were at the front, and the few people in the center who were guarded by other people from the two settlements were all cultivators with great skills.

Among them, Geng Xuan estimated that the two strongest people should be the leaders of the two settlements, and they both had the strength of a senior flesh refining realm.

Each of them was surrounded by a few thugs with boiling blood, glaring eyes, howling loudly, and barely reaching the threshold of leather refining.

The blood is boiling and the blood is boiling.

However, just when the atmosphere was so heated that it almost boiled the icy river water.

A series of intense "rustling" sounds rang out.

The old, weak, women and children on both sides of the stream saw as if a rapidly moving iron wall was rushing down from upstream and entering the river channel where the two fighting parties were entangled.

Looking more closely, there is no iron wall at all.

They were clearly taller than humans, like divine horses bathing in the Milky Way.

The extraordinary heroic figure and the resolute and silent faces of the men on horseback shocked everyone on both sides of the stream into silence.

The shouting and cursing that had nearly filled the entire sky suddenly became dead silent, so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

The men in the stream who were fully immersed in the fight were the last to notice anything unusual.

When they suddenly realized what kind of terrifying "beast" had appeared, the "beast" was already very close to them.

They were so terrified that they stood in the stream as if they were under a spell, not daring to move.

They let the divine horses run quickly through the stream beside them, then land on the shore downstream and run away.

It was not until this cavalry that suddenly appeared and disappeared had completely gone away that the people on both sides of the river came back to life again.

But in the next moment, people on both sides of the stream fell into another kind of panic again.

However, they were the backbone of each of them, and the strongest men on both sides disappeared from the river.

"Brother, brother is missing!"

"The boss must have been kidnapped!"

"The boss was killed!"

"..."

Chaos quickly broke out on both sides of the river.

Armed fight?

No one cares to think about this anymore.

……

After being some distance away from these two adjacent nomadic settlements, the cavalry made a brief stop.

Geng Xuan picked up the two people who were so scared that they were pale after running all the way and threw them onto the grass beside him.

The two people who didn't react in time didn't even stand up in time, and were thrown to the ground by him.

Seeing this, Geng Xuan frowned slightly.

At the moment they landed just now, the two of them clearly had the opportunity to stand firmly easily.

But instead of standing up straight, they both made the same move and rolled to the ground, then each of them put on a pitiful look as if they were trembling with fear and had lost two of their three souls.

Should we say that they are cunning or experienced?
This is similar to a mouse that plays dead when teased by a raccoon cat, hoping to escape in this way.

Geng Xuan frowned and said, "Stand up and talk... If you can't stand up, you don't have to stand up from now on."

Upon hearing this, the two of them immediately revived with full health.

His feet seemed to have springs, and he jumped up from the ground and stood respectfully in front of Geng Xuan.

"What's the purpose of both your two families making such a big fuss?" Geng Xuan asked curiously.

He singled these two people out for exactly this purpose.

But the two people's answers made Geng Xuan laugh and cry.

The cause was a tiny matter that couldn't be any smaller.

The settlements on both sides of the stream each raise about a hundred ducks.

On weekdays, these ducks are looked after by the children in the village and are often driven into streams and rivers to find food.

After a long period of "struggle", the two sides have demarcated relatively clear waters.

The children in both communities were also very sensible and drove the ducks to their own waters to find food.

But people divided the stream into two sections, and the ducks didn't recognize them.

The two flocks of ducks would often become mixed together while playing in the water. When the children anxiously separated the ducks from their respective flocks, the number of their own flock would occasionally decrease.

Those who lost the ducks said that our ducks must have mixed in with your ducks.

The other side argued, how is that possible, we don’t have any extra ducks in our flock, you should look somewhere else.

Do not believe?

If you don’t believe me, just count!

After counting again and again, I still couldn't find the ones I had lost among the other ducks.

Then another child started to accuse them, saying that they must have secretly hidden our ducks and even killed and eaten them.

Anyway, we are the only two families here. If we lose the duck, we will come to you!
Hey, you guys are being unreasonable!
Maybe you were greedy and secretly killed and ate your own ducks, and were afraid of having to explain to the adults when you got home, so you threw the dirty water on us?
Pretty smart, boy!
This is unclear.

Then fight.

First, a group of children started fighting each other, and then their families saw what was happening and rushed over to help.

In this way, the battle became more and more intense, and in the end, almost all the troops on both sides were mobilized.

Even if you are too young or too old to be on the front line, or even to throw stones across the river, you still have to come to the scene to add to the already impressive list.

The climax was naturally the moment when the two people who were now standing in front of Geng Xuan in an orderly manner joined the battle.

After roughly understanding the reason why thousands of people started the group today, Geng Xuan asked:
"So, were these missing ducks stolen by your children... or were they eaten or hidden?"

Both of them were stunned for a moment. Perhaps, they did not expect that such a big shot in front of them would actually care about the whereabouts of a few ducks.

The two people came to their senses, looked at each other, and gave the same answer.

"do not know."

"do not know."

"..." Geng Xuan nodded. He had nothing to say about this.

Finally, he asked, "Is there anyone dead?"

The two were stunned again, then shook their heads.

"Have your two families had many fights?"

"...There aren't many incidents of this scale, only three or five a year at most. There are quite a few minor frictions."

"Dead?"

“…sometimes a few die, usually fighting for water.

We are lucky. I heard that in some places, hundreds of people died in the fight for water, and nothing would happen. "One person said anxiously.

Perhaps he realized that the big shot in front of him might have a habit of helping people solve cases, and not wanting to offend this great god, he subconsciously mentioned other places.

Geng Xuan listened, but just nodded, then waved his hand and said, "Okay, you guys go back."

"what?!"

Just as the two of them stood there in surprise, unable to believe that they had passed the test so easily today.

The cavalry has set out again.

Soon, the entire Xuanyou cavalry disappeared from the sight of the two men.

Standing on the grass, the two looked at each other and immediately ran towards the settlement.

……

Riding on Xuanyou's horse, Geng Xuan said nothing more.

He was pondering another pattern he had discovered.

The closer to the center of Yueluyuan, the larger the scale of the nomadic settlement. On the other hand, the overall situation is getting better and better, and the per capita concentration of red names is slowly decreasing.

Although, it is far from being reduced to the level of ordinary people in Changpingfang.

Take the vagrants that Geng Xuan saw on both sides of the stream and river just now as an example. The concentration of red names above their heads seems to have decreased by one or two points compared to what Geng Xuan saw when he first entered Yueluyuan.

——If they were not really forced into a desperate situation, how many people would be willing to eat humans?

But on the other side of this matter, there is a small group of people whose concentration of red names on their heads far exceeds that of other people around them.

Let's take the two nomadic settlements as an example. The two people he had captured had a much higher concentration of red names above their heads than anyone else.

If quantified by good fortune, the good fortune that any one of them can contribute to him will not be less than thirty points.

He has completely reached the same level as the ugly beggar with deformed legs and the peddler in Dingxing Hall of Wuyou Palace.

And those thugs who had just entered the leather refining stage and gathered around them all had a reputation level that exceeded Wu Youren's standard.

Any one of them could provide him with no less than twenty points of good luck.

For these people, Geng Xuan only needs to raise his finger slightly to crush them all.

But in the end, Geng Xuan did not kill anyone.

Even the two people he had already captured, whose reputation was no less than that of the ugly beggar with a deformed leg, were released by him.

Of course he could easily kill these people.

But what happens after killing him?

These two nomadic settlements were bound to collapse quickly.

Those thousands of homeless people will quickly transform into the same state as the first group of homeless people he saw.

It quickly changed from "still like a group of people" to "more and more like a group of dogs."

This land and the nomadic settlements, one after another, some adjacent to each other and some far away from each other, have formed an ecology that is fragile but generally stable.

His unwarranted intervention is catastrophic to this fragile ecosystem.

Therefore, Geng Xuan finally chose to stop.

Geng Xuan was in a low mood, not because he lost several hundred points of luck that he could have easily obtained.

But he vaguely realized that there were many problems that could not be solved by killing alone.

……

After passing these two nomadic settlements where fighting broke out across the river, we discovered traces of two more nomadic settlements both near and far during the next hundred miles of our journey.

Then, we officially entered the Lifang area.

Geng Xuan saw the difference at a glance.

The fields with crisscrossing paths are like standard squares on a chessboard. The roads and fields form a huge chessboard on the earth.

There are gaps at the junction of the criss-crossing canals and each piece of land, where water-drawing tools made of bamboo and wood and that can be pedaled are quietly placed.

Now, no one is drawing water.

However, there were many farmers whose clothes were worn out but could barely cover their bodies, and who looked better and healthier. They were organized and dispersed in some fields to carry out operations such as plowing and digging ridges.

The agricultural tools they used were no longer primitive tools made of stone or wood.

At least, all parts that come into direct contact with the ground are covered with iron sheets.

When they saw the Xuanyou cavalry passing by, they were also frightened, but they did not completely lose their composure.

The farmers who were originally working together subconsciously gathered closer together, looking at the appearance of their horse team with fear and vigilance.

The iron-covered farm tools in their hands were consciously placed on the periphery.

At this moment, the intermittent sound of broken gongs was heard from the high wall several miles away.

"Bang--bang--bang--bang--"

From the reactions of the people here, it can be seen that some military mobilization capabilities are still retained.

However, compared with the neighborhoods such as Changpingfang and Wanfufang, this trace has become very faint.

It is more like a way for hedgehogs to scare predators when facing danger.

The practicality is questionable.

Of course, this is directly related to the overall weakness of these neighborhoods.

No matter how effective the mechanism is, it will be useless if the hard power cannot keep up.

The cavalry did not stop and soon left the neighborhood far behind.

“This should be Liuyunfang. I heard that it was in a very bad situation twenty years ago, but I didn’t expect it to have survived until now.

Judging from the situation, it is better than before, so it should be replaced by a new owner."

Speaking of this, Master Chai may have thought of the sad things that happened in his own Changpingfang, and sighed, saying:
"A reliable abbot is so important!"

Geng Xuan nodded and thought to himself, that's right, if the owner of Changpingfang was more reliable, you, an old man, wouldn't have to go through so much trouble.

Mr. Chai continued to talk about "Liuyunfang".

"If I remember correctly, there should have been a homeless settlement on the land they just plowed... It must have been swallowed up by Liuyunfang."

Geng Xuan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is it common for neighborhoods to encroach on homeless settlements?"

Mr. Chai thought for a moment and said, "If we only talk about the area around the route we're traveling, it's not very common. It probably only happens once every ten years or so."

"However, if we look at the entire Yuelu Plain, this kind of thing is extremely common. It happens every year, and it's definitely more than just one or two incidents."

"How should the neighborhood deal with those vagrants?"

Master Chai glanced at "Su Ruiliang". Apart from the aura brought by his terrifying strength, he had gradually figured out the character of this master.

He thought about it carefully and said:

“Different neighborhoods naturally have different ways of handling things.

However, basically speaking, young women and immature girls can choose to stay.

Some neighborhoods will accept immature boys, while others won't accept any men, no matter how young they are.

“Some neighborhoods that are more careful about their eating manners will give those vagrants some silver as payment for turning the wasteland into fertile land.

Some will even give them some farm tools and livestock, allowing them to go to other places to reclaim wasteland.

If there are those who don’t care about their eating manners or who are almost hungry, just drive them away.

If you can't drive them away, kill them with swords.

However, this also has consequences.

Many vagrant settlements have connections with vagrants in the city and even with those successful knights.

There had been many incidents in Yueluyuan where the Lifang area had forcibly occupied the vagrant settlements, which eventually led to many vagrants joining forces to retaliate and harass the residents day and night.

If the men in the neighborhood fell into their hands, they would be killed in various cruel ways.

They will cut off hands and feet, dissect the liver and lungs alive, dig out eyes and cut off tongues, whatever cruelty they can inflict, and they will be tortured until they die.

If the women in the neighborhood fell into their hands, it would be worse than death.

After this happened a few times, other neighborhoods no longer dared to go too far when encroaching on homeless settlements. "

Geng Xuan galloped along with the team, occasionally chatting with Mr. Chai beside him.

When it was around 6pm and the sky was getting dark, Mr. Chai whispered, "It's time."

Geng Xuan looked ahead and saw a gatehouse standing in front of him that was much larger and more imposing than the several other gatehouses he had seen along the way.

On the fields connected by paths on both sides, there are fields that have been plowed and softened, waiting for sowing in spring.

In the distance, you can see many mulberry forests and orchards.

And next to the mulberry forests and orchards, there are many houses.

Geng Xuan guessed that it might be a place for people to guard at night, or used as a silkworm house.

Perhaps it was because it was time to get off work and go home, so there were not many people in the fields.

Geng Xuan was thinking this in his heart, and he had time to look up at the huge stone plaque embedded on the tall gate tower.

【Fortune Square】

But Master Chai looked at the empty gate and shook his head and whispered, "Something is wrong."

At this moment, a rider named Geng Xuan, who was from an unknown village, lightly squeezed his horse's belly, galloped out from the team, and trotted towards the gate of the village.

The crisp sound of horse hooves echoed at the gate of Fengzefang.

Just as Xuanyouma was about to enter the gate, a man finally rushed out from inside.

This man was in his early thirties and was holding a long sword in his hand.

The moment this person rushed out, one could clearly see that his eyes were like spewing fire, and his whole body was like a volcano about to erupt.

However, the next moment after he rushed out, when he saw the one or two knights waiting quietly outside the gate, his volcano turned into an ice sculpture.

Although he didn't recognize the Xuanyou horse, just from its body shape, he could tell that it was much taller than the local Yuanzhou horse.

Looking at the famous riders sitting on the horses that are taller than humans, you really need to look up.

This kind of visual impact alone is not something that ordinary people can bear.

Just when this man was frightened by the formation of the Xuanyou cavalry, he stood there frozen, unable to move or speak.

The lone rider who arrived at the gate suddenly spoke:

"Xiao Qi, are you on duty today?"

The man who was so frightened that he stood still and couldn't move, trembled visibly when he heard the voice, and looked up at the man on the horse.

The angry look that was originally burning like a flame turned into unbelievable surprise, and he said:

"Third brother, third brother! It's you who's back, third brother! ...Are they all guests from Chiwu Mountain?"

As he spoke, he looked behind the man.

The man called "Third Brother" nodded and said, "Well, what happened in the neighborhood? Why are you the only one on duty today?"

The man called "Xiao Qi" did not reply immediately. His eyes were already fixed on those divine horses that looked like Pegasus, and on those riders who he had to look up to see clearly.

However, there was a drastic change in my mentality, from fear to excitement.

"Xiao Qi!" the man shouted sternly.

"Xiao Qi" immediately woke up, looked up at the man who was close to him, and the long knife in his hand suddenly fell to the ground with a clang. He hugged the man's legs and burst into tears.

"Third brother, you are finally here, you are finally here!"

……

Inside Fengzefang.

Because the population of Lifang exceeds 20,000 people.

Its internal layout is more grand than that of Lifang such as Changpingfang and Wanfufang. There are many shops on both sides of the main roads leading from the gate.

Compared with the Lifang like Changpingfang, it looks more like Kangleji.

However, behind these main roads are rows of houses that are so compact that they even seem too cramped. They have mud walls and clay tiles, and the furnishings inside and outside the houses are so simple and monotonous.

From this, it can be seen that only the area near the gate looks bright and shiny.

Not to mention compared with the market, it is also backward in all aspects compared with Changpingfang, Wanfufang and other neighborhoods adjacent to Chiwu Mountain.

The only relatively grand thing is the road in the middle, which is paved with bluestone slabs and has two-story houses with wooden and stone structures on both sides.

Walk about a mile inward and you will find a very large square area.

The people of Fengzefang call this place the "big drying yard". Every year around the autumn harvest, this is an important place for drying and storing grain in Fengzefang.

At this moment, the large drying yard, which is very empty except before and after the autumn harvest, is now crowded with people.

From time to time, people looked towards the mansion opposite the large drying yard, which was much taller and more imposing than the surrounding buildings, their eyes filled with anger and anxiety.

And right in the front yard of this mansion, there were nearly a hundred men and women gathered.

The vast majority of them were in their thirties or forties. The men had bloodshot eyes, while the women all had red and swollen eye sockets.

Many of them were still sitting there crying silently.

……

And deeper in this mansion, inside a spacious study.

The atmosphere was another kind of anxiety.

A man who looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in fine clothes, was sitting casually on a rattan chair behind the desk, with his legs crossed on the desk.

On his left and right sides, there were five or six people sitting or standing around him.

Among them, there were two women with quite good looks.

One of them looked to be in her early twenties, and the other one looked to be in her forties, but still had charm.

The man leaned back on the rattan chair with his legs crossed on the desk, gently playing with the white jade ring on his left thumb, with a playful smile on his face as he watched the performance of an old man in front of the desk.

This old man who looks to be over sixty years old is the owner of Fengzefang, Liang Wenying.

At this moment, under the playful gaze of the man in gorgeous clothes, his already thin body trembled uncontrollably, like a flickering candle in the wind that could be extinguished at any time.

Compared to his body shaking, his lips trembled even more violently.

"Qin... Young Master Qin, look, can we postpone this... this matter for two days?
As you can see, nearly a hundred people have disappeared in our neighborhood in the past two days, and everyone has gathered outside to ask me for an explanation.

If this matter is not dealt with quickly, our Fengzefang will immediately be in chaos... Bang!"

The last "bang" was a pen holder thrown at him.

He didn't dodge, and the pen holder hit him directly on the forehead.

A bump immediately appeared on the old man's forehead where he was hit.

The "Young Master Qin" who had cut off the old man's voice with a brush was still tut-tutting:

"Why do you use wood to make a pen holder? It would be better to use stone.
See if I can smash your head into pieces!
...Old man, everyone says you have excellent acting skills, and today I have seen it.

But there's no point trying to play that trick on me. Put away that pitiful look of yours. It makes me feel annoyed just by looking at it.

Just tell me, where is the food I asked you to prepare?
You can talk about flowers, but if you don't give me a definite answer, you won't get away with it today!"

The owner of Fengzefang, Liang Wenying, stood there without saying a word.

The several Fengzefang executives standing behind him, although with looks of resentment and humiliation in their eyes, all stood there obediently. Not to mention that they dared not interrupt or say a word, even the "provocative" behavior of showing anger on their faces was controlled and suppressed by them.

"Young Master Qin" stared at the silent Liang Wenying, the playful smile in his eyes gradually cooled down, gradually became cold, and then gradually became sinister, and even began to be filled with a kind of violence and murderous intent.

"I'm going to make you a—"

"Young Master Qin" cursed, and his feet, which were crossed on the desk, fell to the ground again. He drew out his sword with a sound of "choke", walked around the desk and was about to walk towards the old man.

A middle-aged man sitting next to him immediately reached out and pulled him back, saying, "Mr. Qin, it's not that serious!"

"Young Master Qin" pointed his sword at Liang Wenying and said, "Hey!"
"The old fellow is sure that we dare not kill him, so he is trying to give us a hard time!

I said that you indulge them too much in your daily life, which makes them forget who they are.

You really think you have the right to bargain!"

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and shook his head, while forcibly pulling "Mr. Qin" back to his seat.

Then he turned his head and looked at Liang Wenying, his eyes became serious, and he said slowly:

"Liang Wenying, stop playing tricks on us.

Young Master Qin is personally taking action today, and he must get a result."

Liang Wenying, who was standing opposite him, still lowered her head and said nothing.

The middle-aged man's eyes gradually narrowed, and murderous intent began to brew in his eyes.

However, he soon smiled and said:
"You said that some people disappeared in your neighborhood in the past two days. I have some clues about this.

How about we make a deal? I'll give you some clues to find someone, and you'll give me a straight answer, okay?"

Liang Wenying still didn't speak.

However, a man in his thirties behind him finally couldn't help but speak out after hearing this:

"During this period, you are the only ones who frequently come to my Fengzefang.

Those people who disappeared in our neighborhood were killed by you... eh!"

The man's harsh questioning was interrupted by a long nail inserted into his forehead.

The man opened his eyes wide, let out a "ugh" sound, and fell straight backwards.

"Stop talking too much!" The middle-aged man retracted his right hand and was about to look away from the dead man.

But in the next moment, his eyelids suddenly twitched uncontrollably.

I saw a large section of the wall opposite me suddenly turned silently into a pile of stone chips and wood powder, and a figure flashed into the house.

And this person's next move made his eyelids twitch wildly and filled him with endless confusion.

This man caught the nail in the brow of the man who was about to fall to the ground and die, and reached out to close his wide-open eyes.

……

He took the opportunity to shake off the last bit of life in the man's brain and watched a ball of thick red gas float towards him.

Geng Xuan then put the man on the ground and looked into the house.

What attracted his attention the most was not the "Young Master Qin" opposite whose expression changed from arrogance to suspicion, the middle-aged man, or anyone else.

But it was Liang Wenying who had her back to him.

Because the red name above this person's head is too strong.

It was so strong that Geng Xuan believed that this person could easily break the top spot on the list of personal good fortune contribution currently held by Lu Kuan.

But Geng Xuan still forced himself to look away and look at the group of people opposite him.

Everything Geng Xuan had seen and heard since entering Yueluyuan today made him realize that judging life and death based solely on reputation had huge flaws.

If he holds the belief of "clearing the way and slaying the enemies", instead of just focusing on killing and not caring about the rest, he must make some adjustments in time.

As he thought this, the "Mr. Qin" opposite him had recovered from his brief shock.

He looked at Geng Xuan warily, frowned, and asked sternly, "Who are you?"

Geng Xuan naturally had no obligation to answer his question.

In response to them, there was a fleeting flash of silver light that pierced through the void.

(End of this chapter)