The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 460 Using the Life and Death Talisman to Train Dogs Has Remarkable Effects

For Ma Cheng, the person he feared most in his life was the assassin who tried to kill Shi Miyuan. Compared to Shi Miyuan, what was he?
Since the person in front of him dared to kill Shi Miyuan, the prime minister and chief privy councilor of the Southern Song Dynasty, who held immense military and political power, then killing a mere prefect of Pingjiang Prefecture would probably not be enough to satisfy him. He absolutely dared not doubt whether the other party had the courage and ability to kill him.

Having carried out the executions so many times, the moment Wu Chengyu saw Ma Cheng collapse to the ground, his body's instinctive reaction was to immediately seal several of Ma Cheng's meridians to ensure that the guy wouldn't lose control of his bladder and bowels and spoil his pleasure.

"Don't be nervous. I have some bad news and some even worse news for you. Which do you want to hear?"

Ma Cheng couldn't urinate or defecate, but his face was already covered in snot and tears. What bad news could there be for him besides death? What could be worse than death? But he still couldn't speak, and could only make muffled sounds.

"Now that I've released your speech-impairing pressure point, you can speak. Will you call for help then? Do you have confidence that the guards outside can save you?"

Ma Cheng shook his head repeatedly. He knew in his heart that these recruited guards, no matter how famous they were, were probably only third-rate.

Wu Chengyu had killed Shi Miyuan in front of so many imperial palace guards back then, so how could he be confident that his guards could stop this guy who called himself Su Daqiang?

Moreover, he was right in front of the other party, within arm's reach, while the guards were all in the front yard. By the time they arrived, the other party would have killed him a dozen times over.

"It seems you are wise to know that those guards are useless to me. However, even when I interrogate someone, I always use torture first. What a person says without suffering is a lie to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Chengyu flicked his finger lightly at Ma Cheng's chest, and the Chain of Life and Death was immediately activated.

Ma Cheng, having lived a life of luxury and ridden many Yangzhou "lean horses," was far weaker than the average person. His willpower was also far inferior to those who had practiced martial arts since childhood. When the Chain of Life and Death was activated, his whole body convulsed, and after only a few breaths, his eyes began to roll back.

Wu Chengyu was somewhat surprised to see this, and quickly grabbed his fat hand to check Ma Cheng's physical condition. He immediately realized that something was wrong.

If it were anyone else, they could usually endure it for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before their body breaks down, which is about fifteen minutes. But Ma Cheng probably wouldn't even last ten minutes before he would die from the pain.

This forced Wu Chengyu to reduce the strength of the Life and Death Chain, allowing it to function at only 70% of its potential. However, this 70% strength was equivalent to 120% for Ma Cheng, which was simply beyond his capacity to withstand.

Just seven or eight minutes later, Wu Chengyu had to untie the chain of life and death for the other party. He wasn't there to kill Ma Cheng this time, and he didn't want to kill Ma Cheng directly.

These are the civil officials of the Song Dynasty! Good heavens, they even have to be careful when using the chain of life and death. Wu Chengyu's mouth twitched slightly at this moment, his face full of helplessness. It's not that he was angry at their lack of ambition, but their bodies were just too weak.

Once the effects of the Chain of Life and Death were removed, Ma Cheng writhed on the ground like a slug, twitching occasionally. It took Wu Chengyu about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea for him to slowly regain consciousness.

"Alright, get up and kneel down properly, or I'll do it to you again. Your body is truly amazing. This is the first time I've encountered someone who has to be extremely careful when using the Chain of Life and Death."

Having just experienced what felt like hell, Ma Cheng struggled to his feet, obediently knelt down, and began kowtowing repeatedly.

Wu Chengyu released his speech-impairing pressure point: "You can speak now."

Ma Cheng's answer was very straightforward: "Grandpa, spare my life. As long as you spare me, I'll do anything you ask."

"I just had some bad news, and now I have even worse news. Which do you want to hear?"

Forget it, seeing how cowardly you are, you don't even dare to ask. The bad news is, I'm not here to kill you today, but since I've shown up, you're in for a world of trouble.

As for the worse news, you're going to have a rough few years, because I want to take you in as my dog.

Upon hearing this, Ma Cheng didn't hesitate and kowtowed to the ground again: "As long as you don't kill me, Grandpa, I'm willing to be your dog."

Wu Chengyu was speechless at Ma Cheng's decisiveness. He had always lacked an understanding of the shamelessness of these politicians. Perhaps for these people, being a dog was just a daily routine.

"I'm here today to visit my brother's superior on his behalf. My brother is named Murong Xiu. He just bought the position of Commander of the Suzhou Militia. You should know that, right?"

Ma Cheng immediately recalled that it was Wu Zhengliang of the third branch of the Wu family who stepped forward and spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy the position of militia commander. He was the one who handled this matter, and 5,000 taels of the silver went into his pocket.

At that time, Ma Cheng was still laughing at Wu Zhengliang and Murong Xiu for being foolish. The title of Gusu Militia Commander was a useless title, yet someone still wanted to buy it. Even so, he was determined not to allow the Militia Commander to actually recruit soldiers, not even the original five hundred.

Who would have thought that a mere fifth-rank militia commander could recruit the notorious assassin who killed Shi Miyuan back then? Ma Cheng is now filled with regret. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have agreed to this even if he were offered 100,000 taels of silver.

"My little brother wants to do something big, but it has nothing to do with the Song Dynasty court. He just needs this title. He will find a place to recruit soldiers and train a new army. The enemy of this army will not be the Song Dynasty. You can rest assured about that."

"What I need you to do is pretend to be blind, turn a blind eye no matter how many people he recruits, and help collect some supplies when necessary." "Grandpa, the number of people the Suzhou militia commander can oversee has always been limited. If the scale becomes too large, it will inevitably attract attention. Besides me, the prefect, other supervisors, commanders, and generals all have jurisdiction and can report to the court. I alone cannot guarantee that the news won't leak."

"You can rest assured about that. I will speak to all the officials in Pingjiang Prefecture, especially those in Suzhou. I want you to be the protectors of this militia. You must not report anything about the militia commander."

Ma Cheng now understood that the other party would probably not let go of any official with even a little status in Suzhou. While feeling sad, he also felt a bit happy. As the saying goes, "Better to die for a friend than for yourself," he felt somewhat balanced.

"Grandpa, don't worry. If the officials in Pingjiang Prefecture listen to you, the matter will definitely not be known to the people in Hangzhou."

"Very good, but it's not safe just because you say it. I need to leave something on you so that you won't be dissatisfied and secretly do something to me."

The excruciating pain you just experienced is called the Chain of Life and Death, which is a crude and shallow thing that serves no purpose other than causing intense pain and is hardly worthy of serious consideration.

Now I will plant a little thing called the Life and Death Talisman on your body. This thing is very magical and can be considered my unique secret technique. No one in the world can solve it.

Don't worry, it doesn't hurt, it's just a little itchy. You're so fat, you have a lot of subcutaneous fat, you shouldn't be bothered by the itching, let's just bear with it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Chengyu reached out and flicked his wrist. The last bit of tea in the teacup he had just been drinking from immediately bounced up from the cup and slowly flew to a distance of about three inches above Wu Chengyu's palm. It was only five or six drops of water, which kept tumbling above Wu Chengyu's palm.

Ma Cheng knew this was definitely not a good thing, but he was still stunned by the sight before him. Then, he felt a chill around him, and the water droplets floating in the air slowly turned into ice.

His vision blurred suddenly, and the small ice cube vanished instantly. He only felt a chill on his chest before belatedly realizing that the ice cube had actually entered his body.

Before Ma Cheng could even beg, he felt as if there were many icy lines inside his body, cool and refreshing, which was quite comfortable. But then his body became incredibly itchy, as if thousands of ants were crawling and gnawing at him from the inside out.

Just as he was about to scream, Wu Chengyu sealed his speech acupoint. Then he tried to scratch, but no matter how much he scratched his skin until it bled, he couldn't suppress the intense itching.

Severe pain can be endured if one's bones are strong enough, but the intense itching that arises from within the body is unbearable for anyone; this is the power of the Life and Death Talisman.

Watching Ma Cheng roll around on the ground, Wu Chengyu leisurely drank another cup of tea before saying, "Open your mouth."

Ma Cheng quickly opened his mouth, and Wu Chengyu casually flicked a pill into Ma Cheng's mouth. After a few breaths, Ma Cheng's intense itching finally disappeared.

Now disheveled and covered in blood, he crawled from the ground like a dog to Wu Chengyu's feet and kowtowed again. It must be said that this time Ma Cheng was extremely submissive and humble to the extreme, with no intention of resisting whatsoever.

"Once the Life and Death Talisman is planted, no one but me can pull it out. There will be no abnormalities on ordinary days unless I actively make this little thing move."

Generally, it occurs once a year. If you obey the instructions, an antidote will be delivered. However, if you don't receive the antidote, you will be itchy incessantly, and even cutting off pieces of flesh from your body won't stop the itching until you die from the itch.

Before you, many people have fallen victim to this curse. These were all highly skilled martial artists who could fight without flinching even after being stabbed multiple times. However, once their life-and-death talisman took effect, there was no antidote, and they were all forced to commit suicide in the end.

"To be honest, you pampered rich kid, you might even have the guts to commit suicide someday. I'm rooting for you."

Having experienced the Life and Death Talisman, Ma Cheng knew that he would never have another chance to get rid of Wu Chengyu. The best outcome would be to remain a dog forever, rather than being killed by Wu Chengyu after a few years.

Most importantly, the person in front of him can come and go without a trace and can even change his appearance. This is the most terrifying thing. If he has any wicked thoughts about the new militia commander Murong Xiu, the next day this person called Su Daqiang or something else will come to his door and torture him to death.

This is also why Wu Chengyu changed his face to find Ma Cheng. As long as the other party treats Murong Xiu and himself as two different people, he will definitely not dare to make a move against Murong Xiu before killing him.

Even if someone suspects that Murong Xiu and this Su Daqiang are the same person, they will inevitably hesitate to act without absolute certainty.

"Tomorrow you can find all the famous doctors in Suzhou, or even invite the imperial physician from Hangzhou, to give your body a thorough examination. If you can find any clues in your body, I'll consider it a loss, how about that?"
By the way, Murong Xiu spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy this militia commander. This young man didn't save up much money easily, so you still have to pay him back.

It's been at least a month or two since I gave you the money. With interest, it should be at least 200,000 taels. You've been the prefect of Suzhou for many years, so please don't say you can't come up with the money.

Also, this tea is quite good; it must be tribute tea. Keep it for me in the future, or maybe some other good stuff. A dog should think more about its master.

It's still early, so I want to visit a few more houses. There are too many high-ranking officials in Suzhou, and I'm afraid it will take me several more nights to get them all to obey me.

"You are the magistrate of Suzhou, could you give me some advice on who I should approach next?"

(End of this chapter)