Night wind howled, the corpse of Yang Heng burned on the ground, casting wavering shadows in the room. The liquor from the shattered wine jar still flowed slowly, and the hand of the corpse, its flames recently extinguished, trembled faintly in the darkness. The two men’s eyes met in the air. Even with such grievous wounds, the scholar’s gaze remained cold and sharp, never wavering from beginning to end.

“Sometimes, it’s just like this…” the scholar said, each word distinct, “Take one wrong step, and you die.”

The latter half of that sentence was what he’d said moments before. Yang Yi looked around at his eldest son, still held hostage and on the verge of death, his family who had vanished without a trace, and his brother who had died just like that. He’d kidnapped dozens of hostages like this, but had never encountered anything like it. A weak scholar, a weak scholar… that look was not that of a weak scholar at all. He’d never seen such a fierce and decisive gaze, even in the eyes of the most ruthless criminals he knew. That still-trembling hand and that gaze combined… this person was not only cruel to his enemies, but at this moment, he was even cruel to himself to an extreme degree.

It was as if, completely unaware, he had brought a little white rabbit home. With just a single opening, that little white rabbit revealed its fangs, and before he could even react, it had completely ravaged his home. When he turned back, all he could see was a pool of blood and the little white rabbit's blood-red eyes.

He ground his teeth. “Erlang…” The shout echoed throughout the windowed house, reverberating in the night air, but there was no reply. After a moment, he shouted again, “His mother…” The sound traveled through, but there was still no response. His eyes red, he laughed and roared the last name: “D郎 (D郎)!” He released the crossbow in his hand, his gaze fierce as he looked at Yang Heng's steel saber on the ground.

“I’ll chop you into pieces…”

Gritting his teeth, one word at a time, he moved towards the steel saber. At that moment, he saw the steel bodkin slowly leave his son's throat. Losing the support of that hand, his son's body staggered and swayed. Perhaps because of his earlier roar, his son's consciousness seemed to have slightly cleared. In his field of vision, the scholar untied the ropes, waved his hand in the air, and released the ropes.

His spirit rose to its peak in an instant.

The scholar took a step back, then suddenly kicked his son in the back with all his might.

The firelight flickered, his son staggered and rushed toward him, his footsteps pattering. In his vision, the scholar raised his hand, the iron bodkin rising into the air.

“Ya–!”

“Ah–!”

Amidst the shouts, the scholar used all his strength to hurl the iron bodkin. Yang Yi also burst forth suddenly, rushing forward and pulling D郎 (D郎) to the side. The flying iron bodkin left a spray of blood on his hand. The scholar's figure was close in an instant, a wine jar raised in his hand!

Bang!

Yang Yi didn’t dodge, smashing into the scholar. The wine jar shattered solidly on his head, and with a whoosh, he wiped away the liquor. The scholar had already been thrown against a cabinet several meters away, spitting blood from his mouth. At this moment, he only had killing intent in his heart, without the slightest hesitation, he surged forward, throwing a punch.

The scholar's right hand reached behind him.

“Take one wrong step, and you die…”

With a bang, Yang Yi hesitated for perhaps a split second as his punch landed in empty air. A triumphant smile flashed in the scholar’s eyes. Almost desperately, he bent over and then ran to the side, heading for the door. Yang Yi wouldn’t let him escape at this point, and he raised a cabinet to smash over. The cabinet struck the door and broke apart, the scholar also staggered a few steps and changed direction. The steel saber on the ground was only a few steps away from him.

A wine jar whistled through the air, slamming into Yang Heng's burning body. The firelight dimmed suddenly as the liquor doused it. The scholar also rolled forward because of a shard. Yang Yi rushed up, closing half the distance of the room in an instant. The scholar was also tenacious, struggling to his feet and grabbing an empty wine jar behind him to smash it over. Yang Yi didn’t avoid it, directly shortening the distance, his left hand grabbing towards the other's chest, his right hand swinging towards the rear.

In a panic, the scholar grabbed for another empty wine jar behind him. This time he didn't grab the edge, so he grabbed again a second time! The wind of the punch whistled!

“I’ll tear you to—”

Pfft!

His body swayed at that moment, and the punch landed on the other's shoulder, still knocking the scholar to the ground behind him, falling a little over a meter away.

“…you.”

The originally furious voice suddenly lowered, continuing outwards in the room, shaking several times without finding its place…

The figure froze there. After a few seconds, Yang Yi’s body moved, staggering two steps backwards, his eyes somewhat blank. He looked at the scholar on the ground ahead, then turned his head, seemingly wanting to focus his gaze on his son on the ground. On top of the large man's head, an iron weight with sharp edges had shattered his skull, now embedded in it. Blood gushed from his head, beginning to slide down his ears, forehead, over every inch of his hair, ear roots, and spreading into his neck…

The scholar staggered a few times before using his right hand to grab the nearby cabinet and pull himself up.

Wine jars posed no threat to Yang Yi, who was now consumed by rage, nor did empty wine jars. That feint of reaching behind him had already set his blood boiling. If that strike hadn't connected, the one who died might have been him, but in a narrow encounter like this, at a disadvantage, this was all he could do. He had no other choices…

Yang Yi was still standing there swaying. Ning Yi took a deep breath, feeling the pain that reflected back. With a cold gaze, he walked to Yang Heng’s corpse, picked up the steel saber, and under Yang Yi's gaze, he slashed at D郎 (D郎)'s neck on the ground. Then, with a backhand, he directly chopped at Yang Yi’s head and face.

Blood spurted out.

“You should have killed me at the first opportunity…”

He said these words softly, then delivered a second and third cut, forceful and continuous. Finally, Yang Yi's body fell to the ground. He added a few more cuts to the bodies in the room before staggering back, leaning against the wall, his body trembling, weak and powerless. “Ha…”

Fear and tension surged up at this moment without restraint. He had died once, but that didn’t mean he could really accept dying again at any time. Fear, panic, tension, these things were still there after all. Even in his previous life, encountering this kind of narrow life-or-death situation was rare. Calculating things was just doing his best, and most of it was still up to fate, almost walking right on the edge of death’s threat. Fortunately, he had finally overcome this hurdle, and now he could have a little time to thankfully celebrate with lingering fear…

He walked through the pool of blood in the room, then picked up a wine jar and smashed it on Yang Heng's body. The liquor extinguished the flames, and then he smashed another jar. The light in the room gradually went out…

****************

Light shone again, the oil lamp like a bean of light. Corpses, blood, a messy room. The figure sat under the lamplight, surrounded by many traumatic injury medicines. He bit one end of a bandage with his teeth, pinched the other end with his right hand, and tugged hard, already wrapping his left hand.

It was a pity that there was no time to ask who was behind them.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible to do everything perfectly. He suppressed everything in his heart with calmness, and his original goal was only to kill the other party. If he couldn't defeat them, he had to at least hold them back and then escape. Later, the fierceness of the brothers did indeed exceed his expectations. Even with him holding a hostage, they continued to show strong aggression, making it impossible for him to use the hostage as a threat to find out more information.

Obvious threats were easy to deal with, but this time there was absolutely no clue at all. Someone was watching him from behind, but he didn't know who that person was. He couldn't tolerate such a situation the most.

The pain from his arm, shoulder, and chest was still coming. He took a sip of wine, stood up and looked around the entire house again, then picked up the crossbow and placed it on the table, pushing open the door and walking out. This was a house located on a remote riverbed. The water flowing below didn’t seem deep, and a simple wooden walkway led to the road on the shore. There was a forest on the shore, and a low mountain in the distance. Morning stars shone in the sky.

Ning Yi stood there, looking at the distant mountains, nearby water, the forest in front, and the boathouse behind him, thinking, looking for a long while.

Then he turned around and walked back.

The door closed, and the light dimmed again.

Zi Shi… How long until Zi Shi…

*******************

Near Hai Shi, a farewell banquet at the post station outside the city gate was coming to an end. Gu Yanzhen said goodbye to a group of friends, then went with his follower, Lao Liu, to a small village nearby.

He didn’t plan to take many followers this time he was going to Raozhou. Among his confidants, only Lao Liu knew the most things. The others probably vaguely guessed some things, but naturally they would keep it secret.

He went to the village to check the things he was taking on the road. There were a total of three carriages. He checked the middle one slightly, and after opening the curtain, it was basically a large cage, looking like it could be used to hold prisoners.

After looking at it briefly, he nodded indifferently.

“Stay at the house near Xinlinpu for a month first, then set off for Raozhou. After that, just pretend she’s gone mad and died, and ignore her.”

Then he went to check the things he would use in Leping, the gifts to be given. Although he had only just set off, most of his thoughts were already on Leping and his future plans.

As for what had already been decided, there was no need to think too much about it. It was already a minor matter.

“Let’s go, it’s almost time. Let’s go see if the Yang brothers have succeeded.”

“I think everything’s fine. The two brothers haven’t failed before.”

“Any matter, only consider it a success after seeing it with your own eyes.”

Gu Yanzhen shook his head. “I don’t do things based on assumptions.”

Although that’s what he said, he actually didn’t have any factors to worry about in his heart. Confirming things was just his habit. After confirming, he could consider taking action against Yunzhu. If he failed here and had to capture Yunzhu himself, the result would probably just be a big loss of face. He couldn’t stand that kind of ridicule the most, like the slap in the face on the street. As for what came next, everything was a sure thing. What scholar, what romantic talent, they all looked the same under the blade. He’d let that woman see it, and then he wouldn't feel any pity for that woman again. In a month… this matter would be completely over. He’d go to Leping, cut off his inner demons, and leave no attachments behind.

Along the way, he discussed the affairs of Leping with Lao Liu, who should be given gifts, how much to give, and what things to do to win the hearts of the people. Lao Liu walked in front with a torch. When approaching the mountain, he stopped to look. There were also torches on the mountain, circling three times to the left and three times to the right. This side also responded, and then the torch on the mountain signaled backwards.

Gu Yanzhen watched all this. He’d been here once before, so he was familiar with it. He had a lot of things to consider, so at this time he just lowered his head to ponder, laying out his plans, thinking about the plans for one year and several years later. Perhaps it would be better to go through Lord Li's connections next time. Lord Li was, after all, a military official. If he wanted to give up writing and join the military, he shouldn't refuse. Of course, he would also have to have outstanding political achievements in his position. He already had a complete plan for the Leping side. In the three years of his term, there was a chance to increase the people's livelihood several times. This matter should be carried out boldly and with determination. Three years later, the friction and war between Liao-Jin and Da-Wu would probably rise to the highest level—it was impossible to have results in three years—this was precisely the time for heroes to establish meritorious achievements.

It was just a pity that if it could be three years earlier, if he already had merit at this time, perhaps catching up with the beginning of the military campaign this year or perhaps next year, that would be even better. But there was nothing to complain about with this kind of thing. The timing was a bit off, but he just had to put in a little more effort... He had wasted time in Tokyo for three years going through various connections. If he could get to a high position in the future, he could come back and properly purge this kind of mediocrity.

Walking through the forest path, passing the bamboo forest by the river, the lights in the house on the water in front were hazy. Lao Liu walked in front, and he followed behind with his head lowered. Honestly, he was still a little unnatural when facing those two brothers. Thinking about other things at this time could make him look more calm. The wind howled past, and the river water gurgled. When approaching the door, something rose to the highest point, but he tried not to care. The smell of alcohol came from inside: these people were probably drinking, as one could imagine.

Lao Liu pushed open the half-closed door. There was a “clang” sound inside, and then ping, bang, hiss. The lights went out. He couldn’t figure out what kind of reaction this was.

In the next moment, with a thunderous roar, the door panel shattered suddenly not far in front of him. A ridge beam whistled from inside, directly hitting Lao Liu's face, and then swung back again. A second later, the roof of the house in front of him collapsed with a bang, the huge vibration causing the beam to pull the roof down.

Lao Liu fell into the not-very-deep river water next to him. Several inverted arrows pierced out from his chest, the thick blood rippling with the flow of the river, diluting and spreading out. A moment ago, the bodyguard who was still lively and vigorous by his side had already turned into a corpse.

A splintered wooden strip from the door panel splashed on his face and fell into the river. All thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Gu Yanzhen stood there, blankly, stunned for a long time.

The night wind howled past, the solitary figure under the starlight in front of the boathouse, unable to find its place…

********************

The third alliance master of "My Heroic Husband" has appeared. Thank you to book friend "哥，你懂的 (Bro, You Know)" for your support ^_^

Continue to ferociously ask for monthly tickets ah ah ah ah!!!