Chapter 17: Vow

Chapter 17: Vow

Chapter 17: Vow
Chen Yuan was silent, nodded, and said:
"You're smart. As long as they don't get into too much trouble, I'll keep them safe."

Manager Li raised his head and looked at the strange peaks and steep mountains in the distance, and said calmly:

"Thank you. Now let's get started."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan put away the ghost-head knife.

Manager Li retracted his gaze and asked doubtfully:
"Why don't you do anything? You can't get any more out of me."

"is it?"

Chen Yuan smiled, turned around and said to Zhao Shan:
"Brother, I have a favor to ask of you."

Zhao Shan murmured:
"Ok?"

After Chen Yuan displayed his strength at the Marrow Refining Realm and killed four bandits including Wu Dong, he fell into a trance. He stood there blankly, watching Chen Yuan force Manager Li into a desperate situation.

Over the past eight years, Zhao Shan has always regarded Manager Li as his father, respected him and honored his teacher.

But he didn't expect that Manager Li would be so ruthless and wanted to trick him into staying behind to cover their retreat while he himself escaped.

And the originally honest and simple Junior Brother Chen turned out to be an unparalleled genius who had practiced marrow refining for three years. He could even kill a marrow refining peak cultivator as easily as killing a chicken, which made Zhao Shan even more unbelievable.

After the shock, Zhao Shan's faith collapsed and he no longer cared about anything in the outside world.

But Chen Yuan's next words brought him back to his senses.

"Brother, please come and help Master."

Zhao Shan was startled and waved his hands repeatedly:

"No, I can't. I can't do it..."

Chen Yuan came in front of him, slowly raised the ghost-head knife, and said:
"Brother, think it over carefully. If you don't do it, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Zhao Shan's face changed drastically. He took two steps back, holding the ring-handled sword tightly with both hands, shaking uncontrollably, and said:
"You want to kill Master, I can't stop you, but Master has taught me his art, I really can't do it, please don't force me, okay?"

Chen Yuan said calmly:
"Brother, I don't mean to force you. You know too much. I will only feel relieved if you personally send him off. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Zhao Shan heard this and slowly loosened his grip on the knife handle, his expression changing.

Chen Yuan added:
"If he really cared about you, why didn't he pass on the Six Yang Skill to you? You are just a thug he trained, a nail he planted in the guard team. He didn't even let you learn to read and write, and he tricked you into staying to stop the enemy. You have worked diligently for so many years, and today you took the initiative to offer to stay behind to cover our retreat, which is enough to repay his kindness."

"But……"

"Even the favored Wang Cong was used by him without hesitation, so what are you and I? Brother, don't be a blindly loyal person!"

After saying that, he threw the ghost-head knife out.

Zhao Shan subconsciously loosened the handle of the ring-handled sword and caught the ghost-head sword.

Chen Yuan said calmly:
"Use this knife to send him off. If you are truly filial, you might as well make the knife sharper to save him from suffering."

Zhao Shan looked down at the ghost-head knife in his hand, then looked up at Manager Li who was slumped against the rocks. His expression changed drastically, but he never answered.

Chen Yuan looked at him, his eyes slowly turning cold.

Manager Li suddenly said:

"Xiaoshan, go ahead and give me a ride."

Chen Yuan was quite surprised and looked back.

Zhao Shan murmured:
"Master, this..."

Manager Li said calmly:

"If you don't do it, I won't be able to survive. You have been respectful to me for the past eight years. I will repay you with my life. I just hope you can take care of Ying'er and don't let her suffer."

Zhao Shan finally gave up and came to Manager Li, his eyes filled with tears. He raised his knife tremblingly and growled:
"Master, have a safe journey!"

puff!
Zhao Shan stabbed Li Guanshi in the left chest. Li Guanshi's eyes gradually became blurred. He looked up at the azure sky and murmured:
"Ying'er, Dad can't take care of you anymore, Ying'er..."

His voice gradually became lower and lower, becoming inaudible and silent.

Bang!

Zhao Shan stared blankly at Manager Li's body, his right hand loosened and the ghost-head knife fell to the ground.

Bang bang bang!
He suddenly knelt on his knees and kowtowed three times to Manager Li. Then he stood up, wiped his tears, and said:
"Junior brother, thank you for saving my life. Don't worry, everything I saw today will be kept to myself. Only heaven and earth will know, only you and I will know. No third person will ever know."

Chen Yuan smiled and nodded:
"That would be best... please wait a moment, Senior Brother."

Under Zhao Shan's gaze, Chen Yuan came to Wu Dong's body, bent down and searched carefully.

Wu Dong didn't have many miscellaneous items on him, only a bottle of elixir for strengthening the body, a bottle of medicine for wounds, a cloth bag full of silver and a silk map.

Chen Yuan put the pills, silver and golden wound medicine back casually, but when he saw the map, his eyes lit up. He silently memorized the contents on it and stuffed it back into Wu Dong's arms.

Afterwards, Chen Yuan stuffed the sundries that Manager Li had taken out back into his arms, tied the sleeve arrows back to his arms, and only kept the ring containing the white silk thread.

Then, he slashed Wu Dong on the shoulder and cut a deep wound on Wu Dong's throat with the Autumn Water Sword. He then moved the bodies of Manager Li and Wu Dong together and carefully placed the ghost-head knife and the Autumn Water Sword on the ground.

Then, he picked up Zhao Shan's ring-headed sword, came to the bodies of the three bandits, mashed the wounds caused by the ghost-headed sword, took out the two sleeve arrows, and inserted them into their bodies. Finally, Chen Yuan checked it again, modified a few details, wrapped up the broken long sword, hung it on his body, and nodded with satisfaction:
"It's OK. Although there are still many flaws, it can be used. Brother, remember, after we were caught up by the bandits, Master took the initiative to stay behind to cover us. That's why we had a chance to escape. We don't know anything else. Do you understand?"

Zhao Shan was stunned. After Chen Yuan's arrangement, what appeared before his eyes was the scene of a fierce battle between Manager Li and four bandits including Wu Dong, in which they all died.

Zhao Shan asked:

"Junior brother, why don't you take Master's relics and the Qiu Shui Sword? Wu Dong's ghost-head knife is also very valuable. Isn't it a pity to leave it to the bandits?"

Chen Yuan said:

"If the Black Wind Village dares to kill people and rob goods, the gang will definitely not let it go. As the only two survivors, we will definitely have to deal with them again. If we take these things and fail to get along with the bandits, and the matter is exposed, we will be in trouble."

Zhao Shan suddenly realized, and Chen Yuan urged:

"Let's go, Brother. If we delay any longer, the Black Wind Village will notice something is wrong and will chase us."

Zhao Shan took a reluctant look at the ghost-head knife and autumn water sword on the ground, followed Chen Yuan into the forest.

……

Half an hour later, Xie Quan and Jiang Feng led ten bandits to the open space.

When the bandits saw the corpses on the ground, they were all horrified.

Jiang Feng threw himself on Wu Dong and cried out:

"Brother Dong!"

Before he entered the Black Wind Village, he and Wu Dong had been hanging out in the martial arts world for seven or eight years. They had long since become brothers of the opposite sex and had a very close relationship. When he saw Wu Dong's body, he reacted most violently.

Xie Quan's face also changed drastically. He quickly walked to Wu Dong and took out the things in his arms.

Seeing that the silk map was still there, he breathed a sigh of relief and put it in his arms.

Jiang Feng roughly checked Wu Dong's wounds, turned back to look at Xie Quan, and said with gritted teeth:

"Brother, the fatal wound on Brother Dong's throat was caused by Li Yong's Autumn Water Sword. I will grind this damn Li Yong to dust!"

He picked up the machete on the ground and was about to chop at Manager Li.

"Wait!"

Xie Quan stopped Jiang Feng, looked carefully at the bodies of Manager Li and Wu Dong, and murmured:
"These are indeed the wounds from the Ghost Head Knife and the Autumn Water Sword, but why are they so messy?"

Afterwards, he checked the bodies of the three bone-refining bandits, frowned, and said:
"Something is wrong. Liu Huzi, Ma Laoba, and Yuan Datou all have knife wounds, but not a single sword wound. This shouldn't be the work of Li Yong..."

Jiang Feng also noticed something suspicious about the bandit's body and suddenly said:
"By the way, when Li Yong escaped, he was accompanied by two disciples!"

Xie Quan's eyes flashed:
"Tell me in detail!"

Jiang Feng explained:
"Brother, you were still fighting with Zhang Jinkui at that time. It was like this..."

He recounted the entire process of how Manager Li, Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan escaped from the valley.

After listening to this, Xie Quan nodded slightly:
"This is a bit strange. Li Yong was hit by your arrow. Even if he injured Lao Er with his hidden arrow, he can't be a match for Lao Er and Liu Huzi, Ma Lao Ba, and Yuan Datou. His two apprentices must have something to do with Lao Er's death."

Jiang Feng stood up suddenly:

"I will lead people to chase after him and avenge Dong Ge!"

Xie Quan waved his hand, rummaged through Manager Li's body again, took out some sundries from his arms, and pulled out the sleeve arrows on his arms, saying:

"The hidden arrows on Liu Huzi and Ma Laoba were probably the work of Li Yong, who then hacked them to death with his two disciples. Lao Er also had knife wounds on his body, and it seems that Li Yong and his two disciples worked together to injure Lao Er, but the two disciples took the opportunity to run away, so Li Yong and Lao Er died together. His retribution came so quickly."

Jiang Feng gritted his teeth and said:
"These two little bastards, I will tear them into pieces to comfort Dong Ge's spirit in heaven!"

Xie Quan stood up, clapped his hands, and said:

"Don't worry about it for now. Bring all the brothers out this time. The noise is too loud and may have alerted other villages. The most urgent task now is to transport the goods back to the mountain village. Other things are easy to deal with, but the five powerful crossbows and ten sets of armor must not be lost."

Jiang Feng said unwillingly:
"Brother, if it weren't for those two little bastards, Brother Dong would definitely not have died!"

Xie Quan comforted him:
"It's a big deal. Don't worry. When I get back, I'll pry open the guards' mouths and get information about those two bastards. I'll find a chance to kill them and avenge Old Two."

"But...well, okay, I'll listen to my brother."

Jiang Feng nodded unwillingly, then turned around and called out to the bandits:

"Collect the bodies of the second brother and the three brothers, hurry up!"

The bandits started to get busy, and Jiang Feng slowly calmed down. He returned to Xie Quan and said:
"Brother, Brother Dong is dead, and the strength of the village has been greatly damaged. If the Fuhu Gang sends people to retaliate, what should we do?"

Xie Quan laughed loudly and said:
"What are you afraid of? Fortune and wealth come from risk. The Fuhu Gang is powerful, but don't even think about reaching into the Chimang Mountains. If they can't find our village, what can they use to fight us?"

Jiang Feng breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile:
"I'm overthinking it. Besides, we're paid to do the job. If the sky falls, there will be others to hold it up."

Jiang Feng's words clearly had a hidden meaning, but Xie Quan shook his head and said:

"A blacksmith must be strong himself. We still have to be careful and cannot confront the Fuhu Gang head-on. After robbing a few more large caravans, recruiting soldiers and buying more powerful crossbows and armor, we will be the overlord of the Chimang Mountains in the future and we won't have to worry about other people's opinions anymore!"

(End of this chapter)