Chapter 122 - 84: I Came Uninvited, You Village Heroes Won’t Mind, Right?

Chapter 122: Chapter 84: I Came Uninvited, You Village Heroes Won’t Mind, Right?

Once he received the sword, Yuan Yaoyang was like a tiger among a flock of sheep, his Sword Qi sweeping across in all directions.

"Master, what are you doing?!"

"Ahhh!"

"Thief Yuan, my family has fed you for so long! Instead of repaying us, why have you come to kill my eldest and second brothers?!"

"..."

A large chorus of miserable screams echoed from within the Lu Family’s Dock Fortress.

Zheng Jun quietly listened from the sidelines.

Before long, Yuan Yaoyang walked out covered in blood. He came before Zheng Jun and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Captain Zheng, for gifting the sword. No matter what the punishment is, I will accept it!"

After saying that, Yuan Yaoyang gritted his teeth and added, "Old Thief Lu colluded with Southern Chu! I was the one who pulled the strings for him and maintained a close relationship with Zhang Qingyu!"

These words were spoken with resounding force and undeniable conviction!

If Zheng Jun hadn’t known the truth, seeing Yuan Yaoyang like this, he would have genuinely believed the Lu Family had colluded with the enemy.

"There’s no need for that." Zheng Jun looked at this Qi Storage Martial Artist known as the ’Lotus Water Sword’, Yuan Yaoyang, and said, "Brother Yuan, aren’t you an inside man who infiltrated the Lu Family to gather evidence? There is no need for this."

There weren’t many Qi Storage Martial Artists in Black Mountain County. Since the other party was so tactful, Zheng Jun also felt that it would be too much of a waste to kill him. Since the Tongzhou Association wanted to dominate Black Mountain, having Xu Tianfang as the sole Qi Storage Martial Artist was not enough.

Having Yuan Yaoyang work for the Tongzhou Association as well would make things much better. At the very least, he could provide some resources and wealth. More importantly, the experience points gained from killing him once would be far less than what he could offer as a daily sparring partner.

Xu Tianfang was a Qi Storage Martial Artist, but he was also a core member of the Tongzhou Association who usually had to go out and earn silver. Yuan Yaoyang, on the other hand, didn’t have much to do. Once he recovered from his injuries, he could become Zheng Jun’s personal punching bag.

Hearing Zheng Jun’s words, Yuan Yaoyang couldn’t help but be taken aback. Just as he was about to say something, Zheng Jun spoke up, "Brother Yuan, you have such a profound understanding of the Lu Family. Do you know where all their silver coins are stored?"

"I know. Captain Zheng, please follow me," Yuan Yaoyang said with a nod after a brief internal struggle.

It was better to live a wretched life than to die a glorious death.

Previously, he had fought to the death because he believed the Lu Family had shown him great kindness and even betrothed a girl from their family to a poor boy like him. He felt he ought to be eternally grateful. People of the Jianghu should keep their promises, treating their word as worth a thousand pieces of gold. They should value benevolence and righteousness above life and death.

Only now did he realize that he had been played by the Lu Family all along!

Since that was the case, he naturally had to exact his bloody vengeance!

"Those Gentry landlords, none of them are any good!" Yuan Yaoyang continued, "The Huo Family, Liu Family, and Guo Family all have business dealings with the Lu Family. Their businesses are mostly smuggling operations. They use the forests of Black Mountain County to partner with the mountain bandit Lu Hao, sending smuggled goods up the Black Mountain, and then having Lu Hao transport them to Yunzhou."

Hearing Yuan Yaoyang’s words, Zheng Jun was taken aback. He thought, "Smuggled goods transported to Yunzhou? Wouldn’t that mean... aiding the enemy? Damn it, they actually have dirty secrets?!"

"All this time, I’ve been the one responsible for communicating with Lu Hao’s side, so I know quite a lot. I’ve always felt deeply ashamed of it, but because of the ’heavy debt of gratitude’ I owed the Lu Family, I could only endure it silently." When he mentioned this ’heavy debt of gratitude’, Yuan Yaoyang nearly crushed his molars from gritting his teeth. "I know I am guilty, and I am willing to report all the information regarding these smuggling operations."

"There is no need." Zheng Jun shook his head and chuckled. "Just scour their assets. The matter of smuggling can be put on hold for now."

If the smuggling was reported, it would inevitably provoke people from the Commandery to come and investigate. After all, this multi-layered web of interests was annoying enough to deal with. It was better to forget about it. Once he wiped out these few families, they naturally wouldn’t be able to smuggle anything anymore anyway.

At the same time, it would allow him to swallow up their assets. Why not?

Hearing Zheng Jun say this, Yuan Yaoyang immediately kept his mouth shut.

Before long, Yuan Yaoyang brought Zheng Jun to the Lu Family’s warehouse. Zheng Jun just took one glance. Without saying much else, he immediately ordered, "Follow the usual routine. Cart it all away and divide the land.

"The rest of you, follow me to attack the Huo Family in Huping Village and the Liu Family in North Village! These two families have colluded with the Lu Family, an unforgivable crime! Confiscate their properties!"

At Zheng Jun’s command, the County Soldiers immediately erupted in thunderous cheers. Then, they eagerly stepped forward to begin moving the goods and transporting the silver taels. After all, to them, every confiscated estate meant another share of reward money.

Seeing this, Yuan Yaoyang took a deep breath and bowed to Zheng Jun. "Thank you for your great grace, Captain Zheng. If you will have me, I am willing to charge into the Huo and Liu families and slaughter them until they are utterly routed and their blood flows like rivers!"

"Good." Zheng Jun nodded, highly satisfied with Yuan Yaoyang’s attitude, but still asked with a tone of concern, "Are your injuries not too serious?"

"The bleeding has stopped, so I’m fine. Although my heart meridian has mended somewhat, I probably won’t live much longer—maybe just another two or three years." Yuan Yaoyang chuckled self-deprecatingly and cupped his hands toward Zheng Jun. "I brought this upon myself; I can’t blame anyone else. However, with this Qi Storage Cultivation, I can still do some things for you, Captain Zheng, to repay you for saving my life."

Even though the slash that injured him had been dealt by Zheng Jun, Yuan Yaoyang didn’t resent him much. Instead, he felt a certain level of respect and admiration for the man.

His skills were simply inferior; there was nothing more to say.

And if it weren’t for Zheng Jun, he would never have known that he had been played by Lu San for ten whole years. He had given up the opportunity to join a Jianghu sect to learn, delaying his future prospects, all just to stay in the small backwater of Lotus Water Village.

To think it would all turn out like this.

Right now, Yuan Yaoyang felt absolute fury toward these rural Gentry landlords. He wished he could slaughter them down to the last man to make up for his past mistakes.