Chapter 73 : Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Bounty!

Luo Li looked at the utterly unconcerned Chen Guan and could not understand at all why he would say such a thing. She could only brace herself and explain,

“Everyone, there is no need to panic. Escort Master Chen is someone I trust. He would never—”

“No!”

Qin Feng cut her off without hesitation, then ordered two of the men behind him,

“Go. Bring the Young Mistress’s horse over!”

The two men acknowledged the order with a nod. Resting their hands on the long sabers at their waists, they strode forward directly toward Luo Li’s mount.

Yet just as they were about to reach it—

Clang—!

A flash of cold light burst forth!

Slash!

Blood sprayed everywhere!

Those two Dark Wolf Guards did not even have time to scream before their fine heads shot into the air, tracing arcs of blood before landing with heavy thuds and rolling far away.

The men in green were all shocked on the spot when they saw that scene.

The burly middle-aged man at their head even cried out, “You—”

And yet he did not dare rashly step forward.

Because that strike just now had been so fast that even he had failed to catch the trajectory of the blade!

“Whoever steps within one zhang of the employer dies.”

Chen Guan’s voice was so cold it carried not the slightest trace of feeling as he slowly sheathed his saber again.

Luo Li, too, stood frozen in place.

Th-this fellow... how could he be so impulsive?!

The moment a disagreement arose, he simply started killing people?!

And they were supposed to be her own people?

Chen Guan continued in that same emotionless tone.

“Right now, she is my cargo. Before I reach the destination and complete the mission, anyone who comes near her will be treated as someone trying to rob my escort. I kill without exception!”

“What kind of rule is that?!”

Qin Feng’s brows knotted tightly as he stared fixedly at Chen Guan.

That strike just now had carried no true qi fluctuations at all. It had been the purest expression of physical strength and speed taken to the extreme. That made it impossible for him to judge Chen Guan’s true cultivation.

Could he... perhaps be a legendary Purple Palace expert?

A Purple Palace expert not yet twenty years old?!

How could that be possible?

The hand resting on the sword at Qin Feng’s waist unconsciously tightened. His expression shifted wildly, and his palms were already damp with sweat.

They had come all this way under the Director’s orders to receive Her Highness. Were they really supposed to return empty-handed just like this?

After her initial shock passed, Luo Li instead calmed down very quickly and did not speak to stop Chen Guan.

Because after traveling with him all this way, she understood that behind this seemingly reckless and impulsive move, there was very likely some reason of his own.

After a brief struggle and calculation, Qin Feng still forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a deep voice, “Escort Master Chen, you are only an Escort Master.”

“Now that the person has safely arrived in our hands, your task should naturally be considered complete.”

“As for your fee, do you name it? We can repay it at double—no, triple the amount!”

“As for the escort fee, it wasn’t much.”

Chen Guan replied calmly, “Her grandfather only gave me twenty taels of silver as a deposit.”

“Twenty taels... of silver?!”

Qin Feng froze in disbelief, then looked at Chen Guan as though he were staring at a madman.

For a mere twenty taels of silver, he dared wade into this kind of mess, where heads could fall at any moment?

Was there something seriously wrong with this man’s brain?!

Qin Feng let out a cold laugh and directly pulled out a gleaming gold ingot from his robes.

“This is twenty taels of gold. That is already a hundred times your little escort fee! Take the money and get lost!”

As he spoke, his wrist flicked, and the gold ingot flew toward Chen Guan with a sharp whistling sound.

Yet in the next instant, Chen Guan flew out as well.

[Abyss-Inch Advance] (Activated): Within line of sight, ignores enemy encirclement and instantly advances to within three feet behind the employer or the enemy.

A shadow blurred past from horseback at terrifying speed!

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash!

Eight nearly simultaneous sounds of steel cutting flesh rang out!

Qin Feng and the eight Dark Wolf Guards behind him still wore expressions of shock and disdain on their faces when seven blood-soaked heads flew into the air all at once!

A heartbeat later, nine headless corpses crashed to the ground.

That black shadow spun once where it stood, landed steadily in front of Qin Feng, and lightly caught the gold ingot before it could hit the ground.

Luo Li was utterly stunned by the bloody scene before her. Mouth agape, she stared at Chen Guan, who had already returned to his horse.

“Y-you... have you gone mad?!”

Chen Guan’s gaze turned sharp as he swept it coldly over her.

“Didn’t I tell you just now?”

“Anyone who approaches counts as trying to rob my escort! Didn’t you see that gold enter within one zhang? What if it had struck you dead?”

“You!”

Luo Li was so angry at that twisted logic that her face flushed red.

“He was only... only throwing you a gold ingot!”

“He wasn’t trying to hurt me! Couldn’t you at least have let me talk things through with them first?!”

“Talk things through?”

Chen Guan’s expression turned instantly cold.

“Let me make this clear to you, young lady!”

“In my eyes, you are cargo! And cargo may be alive, or it may be dead. As long as I deliver you, I can still complete the mission!”

“You—!”

Luo Li shuddered all over at his words, a chill spreading through her entire body.

No!

Luo Li suddenly reacted.

That line of Chen Guan’s—“cargo may be dead”—had not been a threat to her at all. He had merely been stating a cold fact—If she were killed on the road, he could still deliver her corpse to Shangjing City!

For an Escort Master, that would indeed damage his reputation, but the mission could still, in a sense, be considered completed.

Could it be... these people had a problem?

Her gaze abruptly turned toward the corpses on the ground.

Only after calming down and thinking carefully did she notice just how many suspicious points there were.

She was supposed to be their future master, yet from the moment they appeared, they had not treated her with the slightest respect befitting a master.

In both word and deed, they had merely been mechanically carrying out the orders of that mysterious “Director,” without considering her feelings in the slightest.

Luo Li’s pretty face turned cold at once.

She suddenly remembered the question Chen Guan had asked her before: would she choose “the dream of becoming emperor,” or would she choose “the jianghu”?

“Brother Chen, is there something wrong with these people?”

Chen Guan shook his head.

“I don’t know whether they had a problem or not, but I do know that they were so nervous just now that the fluctuations in their qi exposed them to me.”

Luo Li’s face went cold.

Was that not obviously wrong?

She was their master. If anything, they should have been excited to see her. Why would they be nervous?

And nervous enough for their qi to fluctuate?

Unless they had been hesitating—hesitating over whether or not to assassinate her.

Chen Guan ignored her after that and simply weighed the gold ingot in his hand before tucking it into his robes in great satisfaction.

Then he walked over to Qin Feng’s corpse, bent down, and pulled a somewhat worn portrait from the man’s robes.

The moment Chen Guan unfolded it and saw the three bold words written across the top—Wanted Notice—his face instantly cycled through red and black a dozen times. He stood there scratching at himself, his eyes full of struggle.

Luo Li sensed that something was wrong and quickly dismounted to take a look.

With one glance, she saw the line of words that made her heartbeat stop—“Wanted: Luo Li, remnant of the former dynasty. Bounty: one million taels of silver!”

Her heart slammed hard in her chest, and her whole body went rigid.

At that exact moment, Chen Guan turned his head and looked her up and down as though he were appraising some priceless treasure.

“B-B-B-Brother Chen... l-let’s talk this through properly!”

Luo Li completely panicked on the spot, even beginning to stammer.

“I... I also...”

She very much wanted to say that she could pay more—but after opening her mouth, not a single word came out.

How was she supposed to raise the price?

Raise it to a million taels?!