Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

When Gao Min was woken up in the middle of the night, the two blood-stained account books in Li Ping's arms were still warm. At dawn, he took a bucket of paste and stood under the notice board on the street in front of the prefectural governor's mansion.

He hadn't slept all night, and there were dark circles under his eyes, but his hand remained steady as he smeared the paste onto the wooden board, spreading it thickly, and then a large sheet of paper was slapped onto it.

The text on the paper is very large

Shangguan Jue illegally set up formations, raised assassins, embezzled grain and provisions, and secretly forced living people into the furnace.

Below were salt warehouse ledgers, old furnace records, and witness testimonies, all clearly listed, with Li Ping's name at the end and the temporary seal of the prefectural governor's office affixed beside them.

Someone came over

"Make way, all of you! I've had two years of private school education, I'll read it!" An old pancake vendor squeezed to the front, squinting as he read, "Shangguan Jue secretly set up a formation, raised assassins, and embezzled rations..."

When the words "using living people to make firewood" were recited, the street suddenly fell silent.

Gao Min posted a second picture.

Third

Soon, all the notice boards in front of the Prefectural Governor's Mansion, Rice Market, Salt Warehouse Lane, and South Gate Bridge were covered with black lettering on white paper.

People started cursing.

"My nephew went to the city to work last year, supposedly to be sent to Beicang for bookkeeping, but he's gone now!"

"My husband did the same! When the officials asked, he said he was evading service, evading the damn service!"

A rotten vegetable leaf flew up and slammed onto the old seal of the Shangguan family next to the notice board.

The first one flew out, and the second one followed.

Rotten vegetables, rotten eggs, and mud were thrown all over the street.

Gao Min tapped the brush against the edge of the bucket and whispered, "Killing without a knife, Lord Li is trying to uproot the Shangguan family."

Inside the prefectural governor's mansion, Li Ping sat on the veranda, his face ashen.

Pei Xing stood to the side, wearing an outer robe. The furnace mark on his body had just dissipated, and his aura was still weak, but he never let go of his sword.

"You're practically falling apart, what are you still trying to hold on for?" Pei Xingdao said.

Li Ping leaned against a pillar, his armor and life record resting on his lap, blood still seeping from the small wound between his eyebrows.

"If I'm gone, who will take care of the Shangguan family in their final moments? Their grand drama has already begun, and as the main character, I have to show my support."

Su Wan emerged from the inner gate, her right shoulder bandaged again, and her left hand holding a sword.

She glanced at Li Ping

My hands were shaking.

"As long as you can handle a knife," Li Ping said with a smirk. "If you really fall, you'd better catch me. I don't want to slip and fall again, covered in mud like I did last night."

Su Wan didn't reply, but simply tossed the sword sheath to the constable beside her.

The sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out at the street corner.

Not a horse

More than thirty riders charged from the end of the long street, dressed in black, armed with short crossbows and narrow knives. Their hooves crushed the stalls, and the people screamed and scattered to both sides.

The man at the front took off his hood, revealing a gloomy face.

Shangguan Zhao

He raised his sword and pointed it at the gate of the prefectural governor's mansion.

"Li Ping is falsely claiming to be acting on the prefect's orders, plotting a rebellion! Raze the prefect's mansion to the ground, dead or alive, and receive a reward of a thousand taels of gold!"

The assassins did not shout for battle.

They dismounted and fired their crossbows first.

swish swish

The shields in front of the prefectural governor's mansion had barely been raised when arrows were already embedded in the wooden surface. The two constables were jolted back, their hands split open.

Three layers of barricades were already prepared inside the gate, and guards with shields blocked both sides of the entrance. The assassins' crossbow bolts were full of arrows, but they still couldn't break through the threshold until the man with the sword came out.

The door opened

Su Wan stepped out of the door

She moved slowly, her sword hanging at her side. The first assassin rushed within three steps, and just as he raised his blade, a thin line of blood appeared on his throat.

The second man rolled along the ground, slashing her ankle with a short knife.

Su Wan pressed down with the tip of her sword, piercing his wrist bone, and then flicked it out from under his jaw.

The third person went around behind.

She shrugged to avoid the crossbow bolt, the hilt of her sword slamming into the attacker's nose with a cracking sound. With a backhand slash, half his neck was severed.

The fourth and fifth ones go up at the same time

Su Wan took half a step forward, the sword's edge piercing between the two blades. One knives, clutching its chest, while the other crashes into the threshold, blood trickling down the stone steps.

The sixth man used a long spear.

The spear tip was right in front of her; she flicked her wrist, pressing the back of her sword against the spear shaft, and kicked the opponent in the back of the knee. The moment he knelt, the blade grazed his throat.

The seventh person finally got scared and took half a step back.

Su Wan did not pursue them far, but instead thrust out her sword.

Blood splattered on the notice paper

The eighth person stood frozen in place.

The sword stopped three inches from his throat.

Su Wan raised her eyes

"Get out of the way, or die."

Only the panting of horses remained on the long street.

Shangguan Zhao's face twitched.

"Those who retreat will die!"

He flicked a black talisman from his sleeve, and the talisman ignited. At the same time, bloodshot veins appeared in the eyes of the remaining assassins, and they staggered forward.

Li Ping coughed up blood under the eaves.

"The Shangguan family really doesn't treat people like human beings. Even though their assassins are almost all dead, they still want to squeeze every last drop of blood from them."

Pei Xing looked at him

"Is it still possible to start the battle?"

"Don't worry, the King of Hell thinks I'm too talkative and won't take me in."

Li Ping pressed Jia Lu onto his knees, his fingertips touching the ground.

The array patterns that had entered his sea of ​​consciousness last night were still erratically clashing. Every time he used them, his brow throbbed with pain, but he could see clearly.

There are cracks in the stone slabs in front of the door

Street-side ditch with wire

Old battle formations are buried beneath the old walls of the prefectural governor's mansion, but no one knew how to use them before.

Li Ping whispered, "Borrow three inches of ground, and you'll be trapped."

A thin, yellowish-brown light emanated from the crack in the stone, twisting into a semicircle in front of the door. The approaching assassin's feet sank, his knees slamming into the ground.

Su Wan walked through them

The sword light was very short.

With every rise and fall, someone falls.

Shangguan Zhao finally retired.

As he retreated, two men in black rushed out from the alleyway behind him, grabbed him, and ran towards the Shangguan Mansion.

Pei Xing drew his sword and was about to give chase.

Li Ping raised his hand to stop him.

"Stop chasing him, the Shangguan Mansion is his coffin."

The Shangguan Mansion is located at the end of East Street.

The mansion gates were tightly shut, and Shangguan's bronze plaque still hung on the wall, but a large crowd had already gathered outside. No one dared to get too close, only throwing stones and rotten vegetables at the wall.

After Gao Min finished posting the last notice, she had just circled back from the rice market when she saw a black and red beam of light appear above the Shangguan Mansion.

A roar came from inside the mansion.

"Li Ping!"

The voice was hoarse, with a hint of madness.

"Chen Boyong's dogs! Without the Mother Formation, none of you will survive! Stay and be buried with her!"

The ground shook.

The remaining array points inside the Shangguan Mansion were ignited, and the copper wires at the base of the walls lit up one by one. Black and red light streaked wildly along the ground and drilled outwards into the street.

The people were immediately thrown into chaos.

"run!"

"The formation is back!"

Pei Xing's expression changed.

"Is this madman going to drag everyone on this street down with him?"

"He thinks he's worthy of playing tricks on me?"

Pei Xing had already ordered a carriage to be brought from the side gate of the prefectural governor's mansion. Su Wan helped Li Ping into the carriage, then climbed onto the shaft herself. The wheels rolled over broken tiles, and they hurried towards East Street.

Li Ping stepped down from the carriage, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he swayed. Su Wan reached out to support him, but he stuffed the birth book into her arms instead.

"Help me protect it; this is our lifeline, the one we snatched from the jaws of death."

Su Wan stared at him

"You survive first."

Li Ping chuckled and raised his right hand.

The wound between his brows split open, blood dripping down his nose. The fragments of the Myriad Manifestations Array Manual churned within his mind. He pressed the most clearly defined array patterns, gradually channeling his spiritual energy into his feet.

The stone slabs of East Street sank first

Ditch dried up

At the base of the four walls of the Shangguan Mansion, thin, yellowish-brown lines simultaneously emerged, closing in layer upon layer, tightly trapping the black and red array of light within the mansion.

Shangguan Jue shouted from inside.

"Li Ping! By what right do you lock my formation?"

Li Ping gritted his teeth, his voice low.

"Your Shangguan family owes a debt; it's time to pay it back."

The black and red light collided with the trapping formation, causing the ground to bulge, only to be pushed back down.

Li Ping pressed his palm down.

"close the door"

boom

A muffled thud came from deep within the Shangguan mansion.

The street surface didn't crack, but the entire mansion collapsed inwards; the front yard, main hall, and half of the pavilion all sank into the ground. Dust billowed into the air, and the bronze plaque fell from the lintel, breaking in two.

Shangguan Jue's voice trailed off.

Shangguan Zhao also failed to escape.

No one was talking on the street.

The old pancake seller, who had been cursing the loudest just moments before, held half a rotten egg in his hand and stared blankly for a long while before finally saying, "That's... all?"

Li Ping, supporting Su Wan's arm, took a couple of breaths.

His right knuckles were white, and a thin cut had split open on his palm, blood trickling down his wrist. The trapping formation borrowed from the old formation of the Shangguan family, but it was drawing spiritual energy from his meridians. If it used any more, his dantian would collapse.

Su Wan didn't speak, but tightened her grip on his hand.

Li Ping caught his breath and smirked, "Still looking? Do you expect me to treat you all to lunch?"

The crowd then erupted

Some cried, some laughed, some knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the ruins, while many more rushed to the outer wall of the government office, tearing down all the plaques, lanterns, and clan emblems that were still visible and trampling them into the mud.

Gao Min stood at the end of the street, still carrying an empty bucket of paste.

He looked at the smoke and dust rising from the Shangguan residence, then at the notices plastered all over the city, and muttered, "Paper stickers are more effective than fighting."

The minor official next to him didn't hear clearly.

"What did Mr. Gao say?"

Gao Min threw the brush into the bucket.

"I'm telling you, there are still many places in Jiangning City where we'll need to post notices in the future."

Before noon, the smoke and dust had not yet cleared.

Li Ping stood before the ruins, his face growing increasingly grim. Pei Xing ordered the streets sealed off, Qin Shoushan led the constables to count the survivors, and Gao Min, holding account books, meticulously recorded the Shangguan family's warehouses, land deeds, shops, and shipping companies.

Su Wan stood beside Li Ping, her left-hand sword already sheathed.

"What should be done with the Shangguan family's assets?"

Li Ping looked at the bronze plaque that had been broken in two.

"Confiscation"

Su Wan turned her head to look at him

Li Ping took the roster from Gao Min, flipped through a couple of pages, and saw it was full of names of servants, accountants, grooms, and cooks.

He closed the register.

"But there is one condition: the evil deeds of the Shangguan family have nothing to do with the ordinary people working below, and not a single one of them is to be harmed."

Qin Shoushan walked over from the other side of the ruins, his sleeves dusty. He lowered his voice and said, "That piece of copper that broke out of the well, I kept it close to Fang Cheng... Should we send someone to look for it?"

Li Ping glanced towards the side hall.

"Keep that madman safe for now; he's tough as nails. He'll come looking for me if he doesn't die."

Before the words were finished, a cry of alarm came from the backyard.