Chapter 7: The Strong Draw Their Blades Against the Stronger

Xu Wen on the ground snapped awake, scrambling on all fours until he came beneath the white-robed man, shouting:

Customary quote format: “I am Xu Wen! May I ask how Young Master is related to Junior Brother Song?”

The white-robed man glanced at his wet crotch, making no effort to hide his disgust.

“I am the second young master of the Song Family, Song Kaiming. Were you the one who sent word to the Song Family?”

Xu Wen was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. The personal arrival of Second Young Master Song Kaiming of the Song Family was enough to show how much importance the Song Family attached to the killing of their kinsman.

At the same time, Lu Jianjia felt the grip of the hand vise-like on her wrist grow slightly heavier.

Clearly, the youth behind her felt threatened.

Her heart calmed down slightly, and she said, “Six years ago, with the strength of a peak Sixth-Grade Martial Artist, Song Kaiming took third place among the top ten martial artists.

Now three years have passed, and backed by his family’s formidable power and vast experience, no one knows just how terrifying he really is. Although you are a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist, you cannot possibly be his match.

Why not… why not let me go? Perhaps I can seek justice for you. At least I can prove that Senior Brother Song Xuan attacked you first, so…”

“The stronger he is, the faster you die.”

Gu Shiyi suddenly leaned down and whispered softly, causing Lu Jianjia’s heart to panic even further.

The stronger Song Xuan was, the faster she died?

What on earth did that mean!

Recalling the youth’s previous ruthless acts of killing without blinking an eye, Lu Jianjia suddenly understood what kind of person he was.

He was a wolf; once he felt a sense of danger, he would do whatever it took to eliminate that threat.

If he felt he was no match for Song Kaiming, he would undoubtedly kill her first without hesitation!

A light sheen of sweat broke out on Lu Jianjia’s snow-white forehead. For the first time, she truly understood what her father meant when he said, “People of the jianghu carry their heads on their belts; they are wild beasts.”

“He is the one who killed Junior Brother Song Xuan!”

Xu Wen raised his finger, pointing at Gu Shiyi.

The white-robed man raised his eyebrows, and Gu Shiyi looked up to meet his gaze.

Those bright eyes startled everyone in the sky.

What kind of eyes were those?

Lonely, resolute, fearless, cold… like the eyes of a solitary wolf king, bright and clear, piercing straight to the heart.

With just one look, Song Kaiming furrowed his brows.

This was a man of the jianghu steeped in slaughter.

One could tell from those eyes alone that he had been through countless life-and-death battles and killed countless formidable foes.

A person like this was definitely not someone a third-rate trash like Song Xuan could afford to mess with.

Wandering the jianghu, major families were the greatest backing, but also the greatest danger. Once an irreconcilable hatred was formed, the enemy would stop at nothing to eliminate all witnesses.

The Four Great Clans could blot out the sky with one hand, yet even the youngest son of General Yun Zhao, the top martial general of Great Xia, could be killed—what did a mere Song Xuan count for?

Yet this kid hadn’t done a clean enough job, or else he wouldn’t have left a loose end like Xu Wen.

Forcing him to step up for a concubine-born trash!

Song Kaiming looked down at Gu Shiyi and said, “Commit suicide. I will allow you a decent corpse.”

Gu Shiyi said nothing, forcefully throttling Lu Jianjia’s neck.

Lu Jianjia hurriedly said, “Brother Song, although it was this youth who killed Senior Brother Song Xuan, Jianjia saw it with her own eyes—it was Senior Brother Song Xuan who slandered this youth and struck first, and this youth only killed him in retaliation.”

When these words came out, everyone was stunned, and even Gu Shiyi’s expression turned somewhat odd.

A flash of anger glinted in the depths of Song Kaiming’s eyes. Lu Jianjia was a daughter of the Lu Family with an extraordinary status; her stepping forward to speak for this youth—wasn’t she just making a mess?

If this continued, it would only make an already troublesome matter even more complicated!

“Lady Lu, this is a matter of my Song Family. You had better stay out of it.”

“Senior Brother Song, a person cannot stand without trustworthiness; I speak of what I saw as it was. It was indeed wrong for this youth to kill Senior Brother Song. But Senior Brother Song slandered him, struck first, and harbored murder in his heart—I cannot remain silent about that either.”

Standing in the crowd with her head held high and chest out, her bright eyes, firm tone, and stubborn words made Gu Shiyi give her a few extra glances.

He felt this woman was a bit… stupid.

To get involved in something like this for a complete stranger—what else could it be besides stupid?

“Very well, I have noted Lady Lu’s words. I will certainly investigate and uncover the truth of this matter, neither favoring my Song Family disciple to wrong this youth, nor favoring this youth to let my Song Family disciple die in vain.”

Lu Jianjia wanted to speak further, but Song Kaiming had already spoken up:

“Which righteous warrior is willing to step forward and capture this youth to help me bring him back to the Song Family?”

As soon as those words fell, many martial artists in the crowd looked at each other.

“Song Kaiming naturally will not let any righteous warrior who offers help go unrewarded.”

Hearing this, many bounty hunters immediately stepped forward.

No one would refuse money, especially people of the jianghu.

“This kid is a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist; none of us is a match for him,” a Bronze Bounty Hunter said.

“How about this: we all attack together and split the spoils,” another Bronze Bounty Hunter suggested.

“The Song Family will never be stingy; splitting it among a few people won’t be a problem. Attacking together will also ensure this kid doesn’t escape,” said a burly man over two meters tall.

…

More than a dozen figures discussed among themselves while stepping out from the crowd to surround Gu Shiyi.

Gu Shiyi suddenly felt a powerful pressure. Looking up, he saw Yun Zhenbian sitting cross-legged on the black horse, grinning cheerfully with an unreadable expression, merely gesturing with his chin toward Lu Jianjia, whom Gu Shiyi was clutching.

After a slight hesitation, Gu Shiyi released his grip.

Lu Jianjia immediately ran behind the old man.

“Ganging up on one person—what a bunch of low-grade trash!”

An angry shout suddenly echoed from the crowd. The dozen or so Bronze Bounty Hunters turned to look, recognizing the man carrying a giant sword on his back who had pointed out Gu Shiyi’s footprints earlier.

With light steps, he swept behind the dozen-plus people like a specter.

Then, with a few “bang, bang, bang” punches, five or six people were easily knocked to the ground by him.

“You’re courting death!”

The burly man roared, bringing his fist—the size of an earthenware pot—smashing down with a wave of air straight toward the sword-bearing man’s head.

With a “boom,” the fist qi detonated above the sword-bearing man’s head, the gust of wind lifting everyone’s robes.

“AAAAAH!”

The burly man shrieked in agony, clutching his horribly twisted arm as he collapsed to the ground, heavy beads of sweat dropping one after another.

His face was filled with terror as he looked at the giant-sword man, his voice trembling, “A… a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist?”

“Get lost!”

The man spat out the single word coldly, the silver bounty token on his chest fluttering in the wind.

The dozen or so Bronze Bounty Hunters looked at each other, hastily scrambled to their feet, and slunk away in embarrassment.

A Silver Bounty Hunter!

In all these years in Baici Town, while there were countless Bronze Bounty Hunters, only five Silver Bounty Hunters had ever emerged!

The silver medal might not fully reflect his power, but it proved at least one thing—he had killed at least a hundred Fourth-Grade Martial Artists!

Only by killing a total of one hundred Fourth-Grade Martial Artists with bounty notices could one become a Silver Bounty Hunter!

The Silver Bounty Hunter stared somberly at Gu Shiyi, his eyes filled with battle intent.

“I am Jiang Chong. I once fought Wu Feng, who ranked tenth among the Ten Quasi-Martial Saints. In less than thirty moves, he defeated me. That feeling of being hopelessly outmatched is something I will never forget in my life.

Now that I have reached the realm of a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist and encountered a young genius like you, I find it hard to suppress my urge to fight.”

In the sky, several Prison-Guarding Envoys atop the Flame-Blaze Steed looked at each other, grinning.

The strong yearn for the stronger!

That urge to challenge their opponent was in a martial artist’s blood and instinct!

The man drew his giant sword, his eyes turning incomparably sharp, like a massive eagle locking onto its prey.

“I am not doing this for the Song Family’s reward. I simply want to fight all-out against a genius like you.”

Gu Shiyi shook his head. Jiang Chong’s expression turned cold. “Do you look down on me?”

“I don’t want to kill you.”