Chapter 32: While Chatting, Sharing Life and Death; A Single Promise Weighs a Thousand Pieces of Gold

The instant Wang Ping leveled his arrow at the County Yamen, Xu Bingzheng felt an icy killing intent lock onto him. His face flashed green and red.

"Stinking grunt... I knew he couldn't be trusted!"

Gnashing his teeth, he glared at Wang Ping outside the County Yamen. The man's every look and gesture filled him with an intense, humiliating fury.

With his noble status, to think a mere mud-legged peasant would dare point an arrow at him...

But he quickly pushed down his anger.

With his martial arts, he knew he could block Wang Ping's arrow. But his condition was already poor, and taking the shot head-on would only aggravate his injuries.

That was a price he refused to pay.

So, without a second thought, he made his decision. Fighting through the agonizing pain of his aggravated wounds, he channeled his Internal Force.

Almost simultaneously, Wang Ping released the bowstring. Like a stone dropping into a still lake, visible ripples of air blasted outward from the loosed arrow.

Soundlessly, the hall plunged into a deathly silence.

Or rather, the arrow had left sound itself behind. Streaking forward like a roaring dragon, the beam of light tore through a soundless world straight toward the County Yamen.

But right at that moment, four figures intercepted the arrow. Their faces were twisted in shock and disbelief, yet their bodies moved without a shred of hesitation. Using their flesh and blood—tempered to External Arts Perfection—as living shields, they forcibly wore down the arrow's blazing, blood-red light!

Aside from Wang Ping, no one had time to react.

Not even the four veteran bailiffs at External Arts Perfection. Their dying faces were masked in utter bewilderment, completely unaware of why they had suddenly leapt out to take the blow.

Only Wang Ping knew the truth.

'The Heavenly Roc Dragon Capture Physique Diagram. That dog official wasn't lying. He really did use Enslaved Dragon Force to secretly turn these old veterans into his puppets.'

Rumble!

The arrow of light shattered their ranks, coating the ground in frost wherever it passed. After tearing through the bodies of the four veterans, it lost none of its momentum, plunging deep into the heart of the County Yamen.

But a moment later, Wang Ping seemed to sense something and let out a sigh.

"A pity. I failed to kill the villain."

Before he even finished speaking, the skin and flesh all over his body began to burst open. His vision rapidly went black, and an overwhelming wave of dizziness and exhaustion left him struggling to even stay standing.

Then, the main doors of the County Yamen slowly pushed open, and Xu Bingzheng strolled out in his majestic official robes. He clutched an arrow in his hand, blood dripping from the web of his thumb. He was injured, but judging by his composed expression, the damage ended there.

"Excellent archery. Have you mastered the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow?"

Xu Bingzheng stared at the heavily surrounded, blood-soaked Wang Ping. "You were a fine talent," he said darkly. "Why become a rebel? You brought this upon yourself."

"Sorry, my hearing isn't so good."

Wang Ping rested his hand on his saber hilt and chuckled. "If the Magistrate has something to say, you'll have to come closer. I really can't hear you from all the way over there."

"..." Xu Bingzheng remained silent.

"A man of great worth does not stand beneath a falling wall," Xu Bingzheng sneered. "If you lack the ability to reach me, I have no reason to accommodate you."

Though he spoke boldly, he was far less composed on the inside.

That arrow had pierced through four heavily armored External Arts Perfection martial artists and still carried enough power to draw his blood. Had he tried to block it alone...

For the first time in years, a chill ran down Xu Bingzheng's spine.

What enraged him even more was Wang Ping's expression. The man's life was a flickering candle in the wind, his death imminent, yet his face showed absolutely no fear.

Did he still have some desperate trump card left to play?

At that thought, the notoriously cautious Xu Bingzheng didn't advance. Instead, he took a step back, shielding himself behind the remaining bailiffs.

This battle had wiped out nearly half the County Yamen's bailiffs, including the four veterans. The imperial court's grip on Longxing County would undoubtedly become even more precarious. But Xu Bingzheng couldn't care less. Compared to a few grunts, his personal safety was of paramount importance to both the court and the world.

After all, he had come to Longxing County on a secret imperial edict.

Burdened with such a heavy responsibility, he carried the hopes of the common people on his shoulders. If he were to die at the hands of some ignorant brute, wouldn't the common people be the ones to suffer?

Therefore, nothing mattered more than his own safety.

Besides, if their deaths kept him alive, those stinking grunts had died for a worthy cause.

As everyone knew, despite what the sages wrote about all men being equal, in this world, some lives were simply worth more than others.

"What are you standing around for? Kill him!"

At Xu Bingzheng's command, the bailiffs who had previously backed away closed the net once again. However, they moved with extreme caution, terrified that Wang Ping would suddenly lash out.

Seeing this, Wang Ping suddenly laughed.

"Hahaha!"

His laughter carried no trace of the panic of impending death, only pure, unadulterated exhilaration.

On one hand, he had already settled the two great karmic ties of his life—Old Liu and Madam Su. Dying here in public would ensure they were never implicated.

'On the other hand, a one-man charge against an army is pretty heroic. Using the Taiping Sutra to process my corpse after I die should yield a pretty good scripture scroll, right?' Wang Ping mused cheerfully. This path satisfied his conscience and promised a solid harvest. It was the perfect outcome.

But beyond all that, there was one thing he was looking forward to most of all.

"Hey, you dog official."

In the next second, Wang Ping reached into his robes and pulled out a small porcelain bottle. Across its label were five flamboyant characters:

[Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill].

"This is what you're after, isn't it?"

"Hold!" Xu Bingzheng suddenly raised his hand, halting the advancing bailiffs. His eyes gleamed. "Give me that pill, and I will spare your life."

"...Alright."

Wang Ping's lips curled into a grin. He casually tossed the bottle into Xu Bingzheng's hands and chuckled. "You can have it. Let's see if you actually have the guts to eat it."

Xu Bingzheng's expression shifted wildly at those words. He perfectly understood Wang Ping's underlying threat. A label didn't guarantee the contents. The martial world was a treacherous place; heaven only knew what was actually inside that bottle. What if it was a lethal poison?

Still, he quickly regained his composure.

"Why wouldn't I dare? I can easily find someone to test it for me. One try will reveal if it's real or fake. If it's real, fine. But if it's fake..."

Xu Bingzheng's gaze turned icy.

"...Then that simply means you've already eaten the real one."

"If that's the case, I will throw your corpse into a pill furnace and refine it as a raw material. Believe me, your body can't digest that much medicinal power anyway."

With that, he stared fixedly at Wang Ping, desperate to catch even a sliver of fear on his face. Instead, he saw only utter disdain.

"You think you're getting my corpse?"

"What?"

Xu Bingzheng's heart lurched. He immediately shouted, "Attack! Whoever kills him becomes the new head bailiff! A reward of a thousand taels of silver—"

Thud!

Before he could finish, Wang Ping lost all signs of life. He collapsed to his knees, his muscles and bones completely shattered, blood pouring from his wounds. Then, right before everyone's eyes—

He vanished.

The blood he had spilled remained on the ground, yet his flesh and bones were completely gone. Only his blood-soaked clothes were left behind, crumpled in the dirt. The corpse had vanished without a trace!

Xu Bingzheng couldn't hold back anymore. He strode forward, his face livid, and inspected the clothing. Every trace of smugness drained from his face, replaced by a profound dread. "A vanishing corpse... such an anomaly. Did the evil spirit haunting Shouchong take a liking to this man too?"

At that thought, he lost all desire to investigate further.

Or rather, it wasn't something he should involve himself in.

He turned his gaze and casually pointed at the strongest of the remaining bailiffs. "From today onward, you are the County Yamen's new head bailiff," he declared darkly.

"...Yes, sir."

The chosen bailiff lowered his head and answered respectfully. Though he sounded excited, Xu Bingzheng could hear a distinct note of insincerity in his voice.

This made his expression darken even further.

The damage Wang Ping had inflicted during this battle went far beyond a single arrow. In fact... that arrow was never meant to kill him at all.

'He wasn't aiming for my life. He was aiming for my authority.'

Realization dawned on Xu Bingzheng. To block Wang Ping's desperate shot, he had been forced to expose his puppet-manipulating abilities—and worse, his true character.

In short—the subordinates' achievements belonged to the superior, and the superior's mistakes were the subordinates' fault.

Everyone now knew that, when push came to shove, he would gladly force his subordinates to take an arrow for him. How could a man like that ever inspire loyalty?

'Whatever. It hardly matters.'

'I won't be stationed here much longer anyway. Lunatics like Wang Ping who throw away their lives to storm a County Yamen are a rare breed. There won't be another one.'

Comforted by that thought, Xu Bingzheng brushed the matter aside. He quickly returned to his study within the County Yamen, carrying the bottle of pills. Upon tipping it out, he found a perfectly round, translucent bead. Simply exposing it to the air filled the room with a rich medicinal fragrance.

"It certainly looks real."

Xu Bingzheng stared at it greedily, unable to stop himself from swallowing hard. However, he fought back his impulses. He carefully took out a small scraper and gently shaved off a layer of medicinal powder.

Then, he immediately summoned one of the Yamen servants into the study.

"Eat this."

In the past, the servant would have swallowed it without a moment's hesitation. But this time, after Xu Bingzheng spoke, the servant actually hesitated.

That flicker of hesitation instantly enraged Xu Bingzheng.

"Bastard!"

He slapped the servant hard across the face. Refusing to waste any more words, he forcefully shoved the medicinal powder down the man's throat.

Under Xu Bingzheng's expectant gaze, the servant gagged for a moment before collapsing to his knees in terror. A full fifteen minutes passed, yet the servant showed absolutely no physical reaction... Seeing this, Xu Bingzheng's eyes lit up.

"It's real!"

Wang Ping had tried to figure out the actual effects of the Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill earlier, but found nothing. That was because the pill produced absolutely no physical changes upon ingestion.

In reality, he had just been looking at it wrong.

"If my master hadn't guided me beforehand, even I wouldn't have understood. Within the imperial court, the Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill is actually known by another name."

[The Elixir of Immortality].

The reason there were no immediate physical changes was that its medicinal effects applied to the future. Put simply, a single pill granted ten years of lifespan!

"Just in case, I should slice a bit off."

Xu Bingzheng thought for a moment, then shaved another small chunk off the edge of the pill and forced the servant to swallow it. This time, however, the servant suddenly clutched his throat.

Moments later, the servant collapsed onto the floor.

Dead from poison.

"I knew there was a trick... It's the Gut-Severing Pill."

Livid, Xu Bingzheng carefully inspected the pill once more. He began to pare away the outer layers of the longan-sized pill, forcibly scraping off a thick shell of powder.

In the process of testing the medicine, he poisoned three more servants to death. At last, he was left with a pill the size of a fingernail. Once he confirmed that it was completely non-toxic and its effects perfectly matched the description of the Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill, Xu Bingzheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Treating it like the world's most precious treasure, he placed it inside a new container.

"This medicine is incredibly precious. I still must send it to my master."

Though he greatly coveted those ten years of life, he was currently in his absolute prime. Rather than a longer lifespan, what he desired most was political advancement, so he could continue contributing to the common people.

At that thought, he waved his hand.

"Guards! Bring my Golden-Eyed Eagle! Send this to the Capital Imperial Academy immediately. Have Master Cheng ingest it as soon as possible, and tell him it is a token of his disciple's filial piety..."

..............

By dawn the next day, the stench of blood had finally dissipated.

Every household reopened their doors, and the streets soon swelled with chatter. Everyone was discussing the exact same thing: the massive battle that had swept across half the county seat the night before.

The news quickly spread from inside the city to the surrounding countryside.

Seven days later, in the peach forest outside the city.

Madam Su had traded her elegant dresses for the white robes of mourning. She sat blankly on a bluestone by the stream.

Beside her stood a slender young woman with a high ponytail, who was softly recounting all the news she had gathered in and out of the city over the past few days.

"I have to admit, that man was fiercely brave."

"His final arrow didn't manage to kill that dog official, but it utterly shattered the morale within Longxing County. The city is falling further into chaos."

"Right now, even the County Yamen's own bailiffs are secretly complaining about the Magistrate."

"As for him... well, they couldn't find his corpse, but he's definitely dead..."

Before she could finish, Madam Su—who had been staring out in an unfocused daze just a moment ago—suddenly whipped her head around. A glimmer of light sparked in her vacant eyes.

"No corpse?"

"Uh, no, they didn't find one. But cousin, you really shouldn't read too much into it. These strange occurrences usually involve terrifying things. It's best if we just assume he's dead..."

Madam Su shook her head vigorously.

Seeing this, the tall woman could only sigh. She gently tried to persuade her. "Cousin, don't forget... while he did save your life, the danger only fell upon you because of him in the first place."

"If he hadn't killed that County Yamen head bailiff, you never would have been in danger. He was largely the reason you were forced to flee the city. Yes, it was responsible of him to do all that to save you, but you don't owe him anything. Now that he's dead, the karmic debt is settled..."

"You don't understand. He's different," Madam Su said, shaking her head once more.

After she spoke, her mind began to wander once again.

She suddenly remembered that absurd night—the young bailiff pulling her by the waist and whispering a single sentence into her ear.

He had said that in this life, he would protect her and keep her safe.

And he had actually done it.

Memories of their short half a month together surged into her mind, scene by scene, before finally freezing on the young bailiff's fearless smile right before he left.

"While chatting, sharing life and death, a single promise weighs a thousand pieces of gold..."

At that moment, Madam Su—the same woman who hadn't shed a single tear and had instead laughed wildly upon hearing of Chen Haoyan's death—suddenly choked back a sob as two trails of clear tears rolled down her cheeks.