Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 385 Thirteen Villains, Four Great Constables Meet in Yanyun
Yanyun.

Zhuge Zhengwo received a letter. After reading its contents, he sighed deeply and ordered his constables to bring all four of the most famous constables to his study.

Not long after, the four of them arrived at the same time.

Zhuge Zhengwo quietly watched Wuqing.

"Ya Yu, do you still remember your background?"

Wuqing was stunned for a moment, then looked indignant: "Eighteen years ago, on a Mid-Autumn Festival night, thirteen masked assassins in black broke into my house and slaughtered people indiscriminately."

Zhuge Zhengwo nodded: "Over the years, I have been searching for their whereabouts. A few days ago, Li Zhaoting solved a case and completed the final piece of the puzzle."

They were collectively known as the 'Thirteen Thugs'.

The murder of your parents was not an isolated case; the thirteen perpetrators committed their first crime approximately twenty-eight years ago.

Twenty-eight years ago, nineteen members of the "Lieshan Divine Lord" lineage in Baoding were wiped out overnight.

Coincidentally, Elder Liao Geng of Kongtong Temple happened to be visiting Lord Lieshan that very night when he caught sight of thirteen dark figures leaping out of the back door, exuding murderous intent and moving at incredible speed.

Liao Gengzheng was shocked and suspicious. He went inside and saw the corpses of Lord Lieshan and his disciples, which were too gruesome to look at.

The next case occurred 24 years ago.

Ninety-six male and female Taoists of the "Wuwei School" were killed overnight. A water carrier once saw thirteen masked men in black sneaking up from the back of the mountain.

Twenty-two years ago, Ma Juntan's entire family was murdered.

Twenty years ago, Liao Gengzheng was assassinated.

Next up is your family's case.

Eleven years ago, the entire Shijiabao family was murdered.

The last case occurred five years ago.

Some time ago, Wuyang City was attacked. Li Zhaoting drew his sword to help and unexpectedly discovered that the "demon" Xue Hubei had joined a group of people thirty years ago. He had twelve henchmen and a master with high martial arts skills. Thinking of your family's case, he told me about it!

Xue Hubei was cold-hearted, suspicious, and treacherous by nature!
Xue Hubei never trusted anyone. He served under a mysterious man for thirty years. Thirteen villains committed seven major crimes together, and some clues were found, both overt and covert.

He recorded these traces in his diary.

According to the diary, Xue Hubei discovered the identities of the three villains: one was Zhang Xu'ao, the Iron Umbrella Scholar; another was Sun Bugong, the Flower Thief; and the last one was Ouyang Jue, the leader of the Ghost Talisman Sect, who lived relatively close to Yanyun!
The hatred between parents and children is irreconcilable.

No one has the right to stop you from taking revenge.

Moreover, the thirteen villains have committed numerous atrocities, killing hundreds or even thousands of innocent people. The mastermind behind them has been planning this for thirty years and must have had many schemes. According to Xue Hubei's assessment, at least three of the thirteen villains are more skilled than him in martial arts, and four are his equals.

Ya Yu was unable to handle the case alone.

This case requires the four of you to work together.

Start the investigation with Ouyang Jue!

Follow the clues and uncover the mastermind behind it all!

Wuqing asked, "Uncle, I'd like to look at the case files; perhaps I can find something."

Leng Xue said, "Let's watch together! The thirteen villains act so arrogantly, they will definitely leave traces. The massacre of the entire family is not due to caution, but to arrogance."

Iron Hand nodded: "I agree! Thirteen experts who advance and retreat together should carry out special missions, assassinating a specific target individually. Eliminating the threat completely may seem cautious, but it actually wastes time for evacuation."

Zhui Ming said with a hint of regret, "If I were near the crime scene, I would definitely have found traces. Many seemingly meticulous cases often have huge flaws."

The tracking technique that Zhui Ming possesses is divinely inspired and clear; it is not like a martial arts skill, but rather more like a kind of innate supernatural ability.

Even Leng Xue, who possesses the instincts of a wild beast and is even more acute than a wolf, admits his inferiority to Zhui Ming. He has repeatedly lamented during investigations that if Zhui Ming were here, all these demons and monsters would have nowhere to hide. Leng Xue's tracking skills are those of a normal person, but Zhui Ming's nose is even better than a dog's.

The four detectives are all experts in solving cases. Based on a simple description, they discovered that the thirteen villains, who seemed meticulous and cautious, were actually just pretending to work hard.

The simplest logic is that a crime committed by thirteen martial arts masters was discovered by a water carrier.

This absolutely cannot be called rigorous.

The idea of ​​committing crimes while masked, keeping one's identity secret, and using lost techniques may seem like an effective way to hide, but in reality, it wastes a huge amount of energy. Instead of using that approach, it would be better to have two people keep watch to prevent the water carrier from discovering the crime!

……

One should finish what one starts.

Now that we've identified the thirteen villains, let's go check out the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun and help the Four Great Constables solve the case.

Li Zhaoting remembered that the mastermind behind the thirteen villains was the Left Martial King, a prince surnamed Zhao. His intelligence was slightly lower than Wanyan Jue's, and he relied on his surname Zhao.

In the original storyline, Zuo Wu Wang spent thirty years recruiting thirteen villains, committing seven massacres, and killing thousands of people. He not only gained nothing but also cultivated a formidable enemy. No matter how you look at it, it seems incredibly stupid!
After the thirteen villains were exposed, in order to clear his name, Zuo Wu Wang ordered the thirteen villains to kill his entire family. He then killed his own family, pretended to be seriously injured, and had Zhuge Zhengwo heal him with his internal energy. He then stayed temporarily at the Divine Marquis's Mansion.

What is the purpose of all this?
A: To assassinate Zhuge Zhengwo!

That's right, a royal prince spent thirty years killing thousands of people, indirectly cultivating a ruthless enemy like Wuqing, and ruthlessly annihilating his own family in order to assassinate Zhuge Zhengwo. Is this even human?

Q: Why did you want to assassinate Zhuge Zhengwo?

A: Zuo Wuwang wanted to usurp the throne. He believed that his greatest enemy was Zhuge Zhengwo. He thought that as long as he eliminated Zhuge Zhengwo, he could sit on the emperor's throne!

Zhuge Zhengwo saw through his plan at a glance, lured him into the trap, and turned the tables on him. Zuo Wuwang was chased around by Zhui Ming and even used moves like Residual Yuan Life-Taking and Heavenly Demon Disintegration, but he still couldn't escape.

In the world today, among the three imperial uncles who are qualified to have access to the throne, none can match the Left Martial King.

The Eighth Prince was busy with his posthumous reputation.

The Eighth Prince was clearly more intelligent than the Left Prince.

The Prince of Taiping was the most trusted and the most loyal.

Even the most important civil and military officials couldn't be matched up.

Don't ever say it's Grand Tutor Pang.

Grand Tutor Pang, even with his heels, is a hundred times better at plotting and scheming than the Left Martial King. Could he be a wild prince?

After much deliberation, Li Zhaoting finally couldn't suppress his curiosity. Since he couldn't find any clues with Xue Hubei, he went to Yanyun to look for them, believing that the Four Great Constables would surely be able to find them.

Li Zhaoting had great faith in Zhui Ming's tracking skills.

Before heading to Yanyun, we should return to the capital first.

Take Mei and Zhu with you.

When we went to Wuyang City to investigate the case, the Hantian Fortress was there to help us along the way, so we didn't starve. But this time, we've been traveling in the wild for a long time. If it weren't for Meizhu, we would be eating dry rations every day, which would be too unfair to our precious stomach.

……

Ruined temple.

Yuanbao killed two wild rabbits.

Wash and peel the plum and bamboo thoroughly, then make honey-glazed roasted rabbit.

Li Zhaoting and Feng Suzhen were waiting for their meal.

It's not easy to learn well, but it's easy to learn bad things.

Li Zhaoting can cook, and so can Feng Suzhen; they're just used to being waited on and their personalities are getting lazier and lazier.

Mei Zhu looked smug as she roasted the rabbit.

Of the two hundred skills a maidservant possesses to survive, the most important is to raise her master into a good-for-nothing.

Suddenly, Yuanbao barked twice.

Two tall, burly men with shifty-looking features appeared at the temple entrance.

The two were notorious bandits in Northeast China, and were brothers born of the same mother. The elder brother was named Wu Shengdong, nicknamed "Ruthless Scholar," and the younger brother was named Wu Shengxi, nicknamed "Poisonous Scholar." When the brothers joined forces, they were extremely difficult to deal with.

"Delicious! It smells fucking delicious! We two brothers are really lucky. Not only do we get to eat roasted rabbit, but we also get two beauties. Hey pretty boy over there, are you going to slit your own throat, or do you want me to do it for you?"

Wu Shengxi glared at Li Zhaoting with a sinister look.

Li Zhaoting slapped him hard across the face, sending Wu Shengxi spinning like a top through the air before he came to a dazed stop. "Wow!"

Wu Shengxi spat out a mouthful of blood, mixed with more than a dozen teeth, and his face bore a clear handprint.

Wu Shengdong raised his hand and shot out two poisoned darts. Feng Suzhen flicked her finger, and the stars shifted, causing the poisoned darts to shoot towards Wu Shengdong at an even faster speed. Wu Shengdong was filled with horror.

Seeing that things were not going well, the two brothers were about to run away when their knees suddenly buckled and they fell to their knees with two thuds.

Li Zhaoting waved his hand to seal the two men's acupoints, placed them outside the temple gate, and only brought them in after they had finished eating the roasted rabbit, slapping each of them hard across the face.

"Who are you two?"

"Sir, we know we were wrong! We are not notorious bandits, we are just traveling merchants who have a fondness for women. Please let us go!"

"A merchant? What merchant uses poisoned darts?"

"Great hero, we are..."

"You think I don't recognize the Ruthless Soul-Chasing Dart? I will only spare one person's life. The first to confess will live, the last to confess will be torn to pieces!"

Li Zhaoting carried Wusheng East to the woods outside the temple.

Feng Suzhen was in charge of interrogating Wu Shengxi.

The interrogation ended quickly.

The Wu brothers are the worst of the worst.

Li Zhaoting revealed his name, and Wu Shengdong honestly confessed everything, hoping only to be spared.

These two are two of the thirteen thugs.

The thirteen villains always wore black masks when committing crimes, but how could their own brothers not recognize them? The two thought to themselves, "Our lord has passed on his unique skills to us. If the two brothers could exchange his unique skills with him, wouldn't our strength increase greatly?"

The two copied down the martial arts manual and were preparing to trade it outside the dilapidated temple when they inexplicably encountered Li Zhaoting.

That's all; at most, it can be considered a case of being too lustful and causing trouble.

The information obtained during the subsequent interrogation was truly exceptional.

What lord, what thirteen villains? They're all obviously no good. They'll be cooked after the rabbit is caught. We're brothers among the thirteen villains; we should be watching over and helping each other.

Unexpectedly, the two were plotting against each other.

Wu Shengxi's secret manual contained poisons, with each page coated with a different deadly toxin. It was common knowledge that he liked to dip his fingers in saliva and flip through a dozen pages to combine the poisons and unleash them in his body, causing them to penetrate his internal organs.

Wu Shengdong didn't write a single word. He planned to kill his brother with a dart during the transaction and seize the secret manual. What the hell was he after?

It's common for martial arts practitioners to commit murder and arson; killing one's brothers is not uncommon. At least there must be a purpose behind it!
Martial arts manuals aren't like meat wrapped in a pancake; if you eat it, I can't. Like brothers, we should take turns practicing on each other. This not only effectively improves our strength but also serves as a trump card.

If the mastermind behind this plot intends to betray them, the two brothers can employ ingenious strategies to greatly increase their chances of survival.

Li Zhaoting searched the two men and found the secret manuals. One was blank, and the other was covered in poison. He placed the manuals in front of the two brothers, who immediately broke down, crying and begging for mercy.

Feng Suzhen and Li Zhaoting were speechless!
This is the Thirteen Fiends, a super criminal gang that has committed crimes for thirty years, including seven massacres of entire families, and has never revealed their identities. Are you kidding me?
Li Zhaoting found this hard to believe.

To verify the authenticity of the confession, they interrogated the suspects repeatedly and separately, even resorting to using death-death talismans, and finally came to the absurd conclusion that the two were among the thirteen villains.

……

Yanyun.

Zhuge Zhengwo received a message from Li Zhaoting and quickly summoned Wuqing: "Li Zhaoting has come to help. He has captured two of the thirteen thugs, but the process was a bit..."

Wuqing asked, "Was there a setback? Could he have encountered a powerful enemy? I'll rush over to his aid immediately!"

Zhuge Zhengwo's forehead was creased into a "well" shape.

"There were no formidable enemies, and the process went very smoothly. This confession was delivered by a falcon. Take a look!"

Zhuge Zhengwo handed the confession to Wuqing.

After reading the confession, Wuqing felt dizzy and disoriented.

Having previously learned that Xue Hubei was one of the Thirteen Villains, the thought of the overwhelming power formed by the thirteen Xue Hubei filled him with ruthless pressure and a sense of impending doom.

Upon seeing the two confessions, Wuqing felt that the deaths of those people were not worthwhile, especially his own parents, who were both martial arts masters from prestigious families. It was incredibly frustrating to think that they had died at the hands of such a useless person.

Even a mediocre person wouldn't be this bad!
In fact, the two brothers were not bad at martial arts, but they were mentally unstable and easily taken advantage of.

In the original storyline, it was Zhui Ming who got the freebie.

A windfall occurred out of nowhere, and thirteen thugs turned on each other, even though they were brothers. Brothers and spouses are always the most difficult pairs to deal with, and these two idiots with mental problems wiped out their own group.

Wuqing looked up at Zhuge Zhengwo.

Zhuge Zhengwo coughed twice: "Ya Yu, go and meet Li Zhaoting, and interrogate the Wu brothers. After all, Li Zhaoting is a Jianghu person, so there might be some oversights."

He accepted the order without hesitation and left.

Cold-blooded went along too.

Despite his cold exterior, Leng Xue is warm-hearted and has long wanted to avenge his senior brother's parents' death. Upon hearing that the thirteen villains had been captured, Leng Xue wanted to see what they looked like.

Meanwhile, Tie Shou and Zhui Ming went to Cangzhou to investigate Ouyang Jue based on Xue Hu Bei's diary.

……

Taking prisoners out in public is quite conspicuous.

Fortunately, Li Zhaoting has a bunch of gold medals, which he can turn into fish scale armor, making him popular wherever he goes.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Li Zhaoting directly announced his name, stating that he was here and that anyone with the ability should come and kill him to silence him; otherwise, he would send the thirteen villains to Yanyun to be interrogated by the Four Great Constables.

The mastermind behind the thirteen villains, "Left Martial King," quickly received the news. Enraged, he overturned the table, pounded his chest, and roared, "You bastards ruined my plans!"

An elderly man with white hair pushed open the door and entered.

It was none other than Ke Baisui.

Ke Baisui bowed and said, "Your Highness, Li Zhaoting has revealed his identity, and the assassins dare not take the job."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Kill and silence!"

"To silence him right under Li Zhaoting's nose? He's the top leader of the Heavenly Gang, who climbed to the top of the list by stepping over the Eight Great Masters! What assassin organization would be so foolish as to take on this job!"

"I have a suggestion."

"Say!"

"The Wu brothers don't know much. Even if they are interrogated by the Four Great Constables, it's not a big deal. We can silence them in prison, bribe the jailer, and suddenly kill them when they deliver food. It can be done in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

"Centenarian, we need to speed things up!"

"Your Highness, the Four Great Constables are not a concern. The real challenge lies with Li Zhaoting. I had originally planted a spy by his side, but unfortunately, he didn't bring one with him!"

"Are you taking credit for it?"

"My subordinates dare not!"

"What did the Azure Dragon Society say?"

"Among the Twelve Azure Dragons, none dare to make a move. We can persuade Changshan Jiuyou Divine Lord. This man is arrogant and conceited. As long as we promise him great benefits, Jiuyou Divine Lord and his disciples should be able to stop Li Zhaoting."

"I already went to invite them!"

King Zuo Wu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Ke Baisui quietly left.

　Thank you to reader Sunny1990 for the donation.

　　Note: I really didn't mean to disparage the Wu brothers. In both the original novel and the comics, they turned against each other while trading martial arts manuals. It was a case of brothers scheming against each other, with Zhui Ming getting the better deal. From a plot perspective, I even gave them a boost...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)