Chapter 25: Fire Burns Evil
Chapter 25: Fire Burns Evil
"My name is Wang Poliu. I have been learning martial arts since I was young in Kunlun Mountain. I am well-known for my bravery in the surrounding area. I once pulled a mad bull with one hand, so people nicknamed me the Bull Puller."
A man in gray was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a white wax stick. He was as thin as a stick, but had a very loud voice.
"Although my master told me not to use my skills when I'm advanced before I left the mountain, I decided to take action today for Master Huang!"
"I'm Liao Zude, nicknamed... nicknamed 'Demon Dragon'. I've loved fighting since I was a kid, and I'm a big shot in Meixi Village, Lingqian Village, and Jinshui Village. If you're brave, come out and fight me for three hundred rounds!"
Seeing that there were many experts on their side, the guards who were originally a little less courageous also jumped up and down and shouted curses.
"Don't be a coward, come out and fight me one on one."
"You want to uphold justice, don't you? Come out and fight to the death with real swords and guns, don't hide like a woman."
"Come out, come out, if you have the ability to kill people, then show up!"
Everyone was cursing at him, but the other party did not respond. Huang Wencai felt relieved, thinking that he was just an ordinary person who had killed Hu Chang and came here to act like a ghost to scare people.
He thought again: "Hu Chang went to kill Li Hu. Could this be related to the Sun Moon Sect?"
"That shouldn't be the case. We have already found out the news. Yunshuitang offended the chief steward and was completely wiped out in Hengshan."
"It seems that I have to prepare a generous gift tomorrow to meet Master Xu of Feifeng Hall."
After shouting and cursing for a while, everyone was tired.
There was no response from outside, only the sound of flowing stream in the darkness.
Huang Wencai arranged the night shift staff and returned to his room, but he was still uneasy until he picked up the thick book of fish scales and flipped through more than ten pages, then he felt a little relieved.
After another two cups of tea, he felt a little tired, but heard someone outside screaming: "Master, it's bad, another death!"
The crowd lit torches and crowded into the courtyard.
The dead one was the 'White Horse Divine Spear' Ma Youde, with a pool of dark red liquid under his body.
Later, he had a sword in his heart, and when he found out, it was already cold, and he died silently.
Ma Youde was the first to jump out and asserted that the other side did not have many people.
Unlike the following hooligans, he actually had experience in the underworld. He originally had a small escort team under him, with six or seven brothers, but they disbanded due to uneven profit sharing.
Although Hu Chang’s death was horrific, it was still outside the Huang Mansion, so there was still a psychological barrier.
Ma Youde was killed in the yard. The other party sneaked into the mansion and might be right next to him. So many people came but he didn't even see his shadow. It was like a ghost. The sense of fear was undoubtedly heightened.
Huang Wencai said in a trembling voice: "Wang... Wang Poliu, you can ride a horse, go to the stable in the backyard and go to Pingding City to find Xu Xiangzhu of Feifeng Hall and ask him to help. Tell him that the Huang family will double the tribute every year in the future."
Wang Poliu took the order and left. His main purpose was to escape from the Huang Mansion as quickly as possible.
A moment later, he came back quickly, holding two pieces of reins in his hands, and said with a sad face, "Master, both horses are gone."
"He let her escape. What a powerful method and meticulous mind."
Huang Wencai was completely scared. The other party was not only a martial arts expert, but also could read people's minds. He seemed to be able to predict what Huang Wencai was thinking one step ahead of time.
He walked to the courtyard, lifted his robe and knelt down: "Hero, great man, grandpa, I, Huang Wencai, am convinced. What do you want? Money... or life? Just come directly."
A dozen torches lit up the courtyard as bright as day. They were like an isolated island surrounded by darkness, with fear on every face.
There was still no movement around.
"Wang Poliu, Liao Zude, come here."
Huang Wencai quietly called the two of them aside.
The two asked, "What do you want, Master?"
He whispered, "We can't go on like this. If we're not killed before dawn, we'll be scared to death. I'll lead some people to attract attention. You go out the side door and go to Lingqian Village to borrow horses from Mr. Zhou, and then go to Pingding City to bring back reinforcements."
Liao Zude was about to refuse, but Wang Poliu hurriedly stopped him and said, "Master, don't worry, we promise to complete the task. Even if we go to find Master Xu late at night, in case she refuses to inform us, we should prepare some money to bribe her."
"You are thoughtful."
Huang Wencai nodded and took out a silver note with a painful look in his heart: "This is five hundred taels. You can act according to your circumstances on the way. If the Huang family can survive this disaster safely, I will reward you with another thousand taels of silver."
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir." Wang Poliu took the banknote.
While Huang Wencai was leading other guards to search every corner of the mansion, the two of them secretly slipped out through the side door.
After they walked half a mile, they saw a forest in front of them, with a small path in the middle.
It would have been nothing special to walk there at normal times, but at this moment, under the cold moonlight, it suddenly became particularly eerie and terrifying. When I thought of the dead head carried on a green bamboo pole in front of the Huang Mansion, I began to have even more wild thoughts.
Liao Zude shrank back and said, "Brother Wang, you go ahead."
Wang Poliu quickly said, "No, no, Brother Liao should go first."
"Aren't you 'Bullshit General'?"
Wang Poliu said helplessly, "I was drunk, I didn't see clearly, I thought it was Zhang's sister-in-law's pigtail. I really tried to pull it, but I couldn't get it to stay. The buffalo broke three of my ribs and I lay in bed for a full 180 days."
Liao Zude said disdainfully: "So he is just a boaster."
Wang Po Liu said: "Aren't you going to release the Heavenly Demon Dragon?"
"I just made it up."
Liao Zude looked back at the Huang Family Manor and could still see the lights: "Why don't we go back?"
Wang Po-liu shook her head and said, "We can't go back! We have done too many evil things for Huang Wencai over the years. He came to seek revenge and killed two people without even meeting them. Killing people is like killing chickens. If we stay in Huang's house, none of us will be able to escape. Besides, with these five hundred taels of silver, it will be enough for us brothers to live happily for a while."
"Brother Wang is really thoughtful. Let's go into the forest together."
Hand in hand, the two of them walked slowly along the path into the woods. After only seven or eight steps, they were suddenly tripped by something at the same time.
They looked closely and saw more than a dozen green bamboo poles on the ground, cut to the same length, emitting a cold white light under the moonlight, like the life-demanding staff of the impermanence ghost. The two of them were immediately terrified and their scalps went numb. Looking back, at the other end of the bamboo forest, a man in black was running towards them with a sword in hand...
The mountain wind suddenly rises and the stream flows.
There was a smell of blood in the wind.
There were sounds of fighting in the water.
There were two green bamboo sticks at the gate of Huang’s mansion.
Soon there were more.
Four.
Five roots.
…………
Nine.
The guards who had assisted the evil were overwhelmed and fled the Huang residence in groups of three or five. From all directions came the sounds of weapons clashing, begging for mercy, and shouting for killing.
Half of these people died due to extreme tension and in the dark, where it was difficult to see clearly, they killed each other.
Finally, eighteen green bamboo poles were placed in front of the Huang Mansion’s gate, like a prison drawn on the ground.
The mansion was silent.
The ordinary servants and maids fled and they were not troubled.
Zhang Yu was walking alone in the corridor, wearing a black robe and holding a black sword. His handsome face was passing through the dim light, obscure and unclear, without sadness or joy, only full of blood.
He had already figured out Huang Wencai's residence and walked straight in through the door.
"You finally showed up?"
Huang Wencai was sitting on a chair with only the fish scale book in front of him. He looked at the person who came, with shock in his eyes, as the other person was so young.
"I originally thought that Wang Liyu was not dead and came back for revenge, but later I felt that with his intelligence, he would not use such means. Considering that I am dying soon, can you tell you your name so that I won't be a confused ghost in the palace of Hades?"
Zhang Yu walked to the desk, picked up the fish scale book, read a few pages, and threw it on the desk. He smiled and said, "There was also a young man named Zhang who went out with Wang Liyu. You are a little impatient in doing this."
"Zhang... Zhang Yu?"
"It's rare that Mr. Huang still remembers me."
Huang Wencai's face turned pale: "I remember, how could I not remember?"
Zhang Yu chuckled and said, "Yes, I read this book of fish scales day and night, and some past events will inevitably come to my mind in my dreams at midnight."
"The Zhang family's land, no, the entire fish scale book is given to you."
Huang Wencai took out a wooden box, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.
"Zhang Yu, you...you spare my life, and the Huang family will give you this amount every year from now on."
Zhang Yu pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him: "Money is not important to me."
Huang Wencai had one last glimmer of hope: "Then what is important to you?"
Zhang Yu thought for a moment and looked at Huang Wencai with a smile: "It's very important to me to not have a scum like you!"
Huang Wencai was stunned for a moment, knowing that he had no chance of survival, he stopped begging for mercy and stood up laughing.
"That's impossible! Absolutely impossible! Don't ever think about it."
"Does Gao Pinghu know? He is the prime minister of the dynasty, the master of scholars, and one of the best officials in the world. His family owns 100,000 hectares of fertile land in Yingtian Prefecture, and his servants beat the county magistrate at will."
"Am I the only one in the world who is annexing land and destroying families? Am I the only one who is bullying men and women and forcing them into prostitution? Or am I the only one who is killing people, setting fires, and being unkind because of my wealth?"
"One Huang Wencai died, how many more are there? Can you take care of them all?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a black sword pierced through his heart.
The long sword was pulled out, and blood gushed out from the hole.
Huang Wencai fell on the chair, his eyes gradually becoming dull. He finally stretched out his hand, as if trying to grab the fish scale book on the table, the foundation of five generations, but he failed to reach it, and his hand fell down powerlessly in the air.
"We'll talk about the world later."
He sheathed the sword, and the blade made a slight humming sound.
"If you feel that something is unfair, you should speak out."
Zhang Yu opened the small box, and it was filled with golden light. It was full of small gold ingots, five taels each. At a glance, there were at least twenty of them, each weighing one hundred taels of gold.
In the market, gold is expensive and silver is cheap, and the Huang family can exchange one hundred taels of silver for at least one thousand three hundred taels.
Zhang Yu came to the backyard. There was a woodshed next to the stable. Looking through the window, he saw twelve or thirteen women locked up inside. Most of them were half-dressed and smelled extremely bad. These were decent women that Huang Wencai had robbed in order to win over the guards.
When these people saw him, some had terrified eyes, while others had dull gazes.
Zhang Yu swung his sword to split the iron locks and gave each of them a gold ingot: "The Huang family has been destroyed. You can all go home."
When the women walked out of the cell, the Huang Mansion was already on fire everywhere. They looked at the dazzling flames and danced excitedly. The living coffin that had been pressing down on the sky of Meixi Village was finally burned up.
When they turned around to thank the black-clad swordsman, the man had disappeared.
It turns out that there is still retribution in this world, it just needs people to carry it out!
(End of this chapter)