Killing Monks

The young man in red, who had been lazily leaning back in his chair, now sat up straight.

He looked at Guangyuan with interest, his gaze filled with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. The four guards beside him, however, looked tense, their hands on their sword hilts, ready to pounce at any moment.

Guangyuan looked at the young man in red.

His gaze was calm, so calm it was almost eerie.

"I heard," he began, "that you wanted to kill my friend."

The young man in red was taken aback.

Then he smiled.

That smile was so radiant, like the spring sunshine in March.

"A mute can speak?" He raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on Hu Dafu. "I see. Then I shouldn't have let him go."

He spoke in a light, casual tone, as if he were talking about something trivial.

Guangyuan remained silent.

He simply sat there, and beneath his robes, the face of the young man in red flashed briefly on the mirror of the Mirror of Observation.

The young man in red was about to speak when he suddenly froze.

His gaze became unfocused, his pupils losing their focus. The world before him began to distort; the tables and chairs in the inn, the light outside the window, and the people around him all blurred and deformed like melting candles.

A white mist filled the air.

Through the fog, shadowy figures could be seen approaching.

It was his deceased mother, his stern father, the older brother who had bullied him since childhood, and all the people he had hated, feared, and killed.

They surged in from all directions, their faces contorted with rage, reaching out to grab him.

"Get out of here—!"

The young man in red suddenly drew his sword!

With a flash of sword light, it slashed fiercely at those ghostly figures!

"Young Master!"

A startled cry rang in my ears.

The young man in red shuddered, and the white mist before his eyes instantly dissipated.

He found himself still sitting in the inn, holding a sword in his hand, the blade pointed directly at his guard!

The guard looked terrified; the skin on his neck had been cut by the sword tip, and a trickle of blood was seeping out.

"Young Master!" The guard's voice trembled.

The young man in red was stunned.

He slowly sheathed his sword and looked at Guangyuan opposite him.

Guangyuan sat there, his expression unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

"This is a minor punishment," he said, his voice very calm.

"Young man, don't kill people so easily."

The young man in red seemed to have heard something amusing. He gripped his sword and looked at Guangyuan's young face.

"Aren't you the young one?"

Guangyuan did not respond.

He didn't even lift his eyelids; he simply turned towards the counter.

"Shopkeeper, I'd like some food." He paused, "It has to be clean."

The shopkeeper stood there, the same probing smile still on his face. Upon hearing this, he nodded slightly and gave the waiter a wink.

The waiter understood immediately and dashed into the back room.

The tense atmosphere in the lobby was subtly eased by the sudden intrusion of Guangyuan.

The young man in red gripped his sword, his gaze sweeping over Guangyuan a few times before turning to the wealthy-looking middle-aged man, and finally sheathing his sword.

The wealthy merchant gestured to his two guards not to be so tense.

A three-way standoff was thus disrupted.

After finishing their meal, Guangyuan and Hu Dafu went upstairs to rest.

The night grew deeper.

The inn was quiet, with only the occasional sound of the wind and the calls of owls in the distant mountains.

In the kitchen, the waiter, two runners, and the cook gathered around the manager.

The waiter lowered his voice and made a gesture to start working.

"Boss, those guys look hostile. Should we...?"

The shopkeeper stood in the shadows. Based on your reading history, we recommend p>

He wasn't the owner of this inn; he was a notorious bandit.

Two weeks ago, they received word that a shipment of government silver was going to pass through this road. So they arrived here ahead of time, killed the real innkeeper and his staff, took over the inn, and waited for the silver to be delivered to their door.

But to their surprise, what they received was not just government silver.

And these people too.

After a moment of contemplation, the shopkeeper said, "That young man in red, if I'm not mistaken, should be the Blood Prince, who has recently risen to fame in the martial world. He's from Blood Sea Manor."

The people surrounding them nodded; they had also noticed.

Blood Sea Manor is a notorious evil sect in the martial arts world. This Blood Prince is said to be young but ruthless, killing without blinking an eye.

"That wealthy merchant..." the shopkeeper continued, "...couldn't tell where he came from. But the two guards with him gave him away."

He sneered, "One uses an iron hook, and the other uses two swords, one on each side. They are the infamous 'Soul-Hooking and Life-Taking' duo in the martial arts world."

Soul-reaping assassins are notorious figures in the underworld, committing murder, robbery, and all sorts of evil deeds. Who would hire them as bodyguards if their identities were simple?

"They must have come here for that batch of government silver."

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes.

The waiter swallowed hard. "So...shall we still start?"

The shopkeeper did not answer immediately, but instead said, "It is said that the one escorting the official silver this time is the Mysterious Sword Lord, one of the Twelve Sword Lords."

The Twelve Sword Masters are the top experts of the "Hengjian Workshop of the Sea Catcher Bureau," specializing in apprehending the most vicious and wanted criminals in the martial arts world. Each Sword Master is a renowned and powerful figure.

The waiter and his men behind him exchanged a glance.

There was an unconcealable tension in his eyes.

"Boss," the waiter hesitated for a moment before saying, "how about... we just let it go this time?"

The others nodded in agreement.

Blood Prince, a member of Blood Sea Manor.

A vengeful spirit, a notorious scourge in the underworld.

Miao Jianjun, a top expert of the Sea Catcher Bureau.

Any one of these people could be crushed into mincemeat. They're trying to steal government silver? That's suicide!

The shopkeeper looked at their cowardly appearance and suddenly laughed.

"If we force it," he said, "we have absolutely no chance. But..."

The waiters and the others looked up.

"What if we sit back and watch the tiger fight from the mountain?"

Their eyes slowly brightened, and the fear on their faces was gradually replaced by another kind of light.

The shopkeeper said, "You all should act as if you're employees of the shop, and serve them all well. Let them fight, let them kill, let them fight to the death."

"Once they've fought enough... then it'll be our turn, won't it?"

The waiters' eyes suddenly lit up with an alarming intensity.

"The boss is brilliant!"

"Great idea!"

The group dispersed excitedly, each returning to their own positions to continue playing the roles of waiter, cook, and server.

The shopkeeper stood by the window for a while longer, then turned around, went back to his bedroom in the backyard, and lay down to sleep.

Moonlight streamed through the window paper, falling on his face.

He closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

In my dream, a thick fog enveloped everything.

The fog was so thick he couldn't see anything. He thought he heard someone talking, or maybe someone laughing. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he suddenly woke up.

He sat up, covered in cold sweat and panting heavily.

He frowned as he tried to recall the dream, but couldn't remember anything.

That night, everyone in the inn had the same dream.

Upon waking, neither of them could recall what they had dreamed about.

Only a vast expanse of white fog remains deep in my memory.