Chapter 87 : Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Do You Start Hacking Everyone Down the Moment There’s a Disagreement?

But before he could flare up, Luo Li immediately rebuked him coldly, “Whether Brother Chen has a problem or not, I know very well. Step aside!”

“Your Highness!” Zhang Wen refused to give up and spoke again.

“This man clearly knows that what we are doing is the grave crime of treason, yet he still dares to swagger all the way here while escorting you. Is that not enough to show that something is wrong?”

“A person like this, if he is not a complete and utter fool, then he can only be after money! Do you know that your bounty is now one million taels?!”

“Damn you. You haven’t even paid me, and you dare slander me like this?” Chen Guan’s face completely darkened. “I’ve given you too much face, haven’t I?”

Clang!

He made no extra movement. The Horse-Cleaving Saber resting on his shoulder suddenly trembled, and a streak of white light shot from the blade, heading straight for Zhang Wen’s face!

“Hall Master, be careful!”

The burly man behind Zhang Wen suddenly stepped forward and raised the long saber in his hand across his body.

Yet the clash of metal they had expected never came.

Slash—!

A streak of white light flashed past. The burly man’s body stiffened. The anxious expression on his face remained unchanged, but at his neck, a thin red line silently appeared.

Then, with a thud!

A huge head crashed to the ground with a muffled sound.

“Meddling in things that don’t concern you!” Chen Guan’s face turned black on the spot, and he cursed under his breath.

The 10% decapitation effect of 【Decapitating Slash】 had actually been triggered by this blind fool!

When Zhang Wen and the woman called Xiao Jing saw this sudden scene, their hearts violently jolted!

“What a fast blade!”

“How outrageous!”

Seeing her companion die a miserable death, Xiao Jing had just started to draw her sword when Zhang Wen stopped her with one hand.

“He who seeks great things does not trouble himself over trifles!”

The rage in Zhang Wen’s heart was suppressed, and a calculating gleam flashed through his eyes. This fellow had killed someone in public, which had just given him the perfect excuse to make an issue of it!

He immediately cupped his fists toward the startled Luo Li and said, “Your Highness, you saw it! We exposed this villain’s true face, and the moment he was revealed, he turned on us and killed someone to silence us!”

“Insolence!”

Luo Li did not even think before angrily rebuking him.

If it had been anyone else, she would not have doubted in the slightest that they might have sold her out for that one million taels.

Or even killed to silence the witnesses, just as they said.

But she understood Chen Guan’s temper.

If there was no money involved, he would not even acknowledge kinship, so the fact that he had not simply drawn his blade and chopped down all three of them already counted as restraint!

And all along this journey, she had made it here by paying more, every increase in payment given at precisely the right moment.

But so long as the money was paid, he could also hold fast to the bottom line of his rules. No matter how dangerous the situation, he would never abandon her over whether the payment was high or low.

When he had faced that one-million-tael bounty before, she had seen clearly that it was precisely that bottom line of principle which had kept him from wavering in the slightest.

And that had finally made her truly understand the words her grandfather had once said to her—if she encountered a cold and emotionless man, then she could go with him into Great Zhou.

At first, she had not understood.

But after the matter of the one-million-tael silver bounty, she finally understood that the “emotionless” her grandfather spoke of did not mean someone without feelings, but rather a person with the absolute reason and self-restraint to completely suppress his own greed and not be swayed by the seven emotions and six desires.

Yet her angry rebuke did not make Zhang Wen and the others back down.

Quite the opposite. From the firmness in Luo Li’s tone, they became even more certain of one thing—Luo Li had already been completely led away from the hundred-year arrangement by this Escort Master!

Otherwise, she would not be so unwavering, nor would she defend Chen Guan so fiercely!

“Fine! Your Highness, then today I will let you see the true face of this petty man!”

Zhang Wen let out a cold laugh.

He did not believe it!

In this world, could there really be someone who, for the sake of some so-called honesty and trustworthiness, would risk losing his head just to escort the leader of a rebel cause deep into the capital city of Great Zhou?

The moment this matter came to light and the Emperor of Great Zhou discovered it, even if he were an Escort Master, he would still find it hard to escape the fate of having his nine clans exterminated!

Who would believe he wanted nothing from this?!

As soon as his words fell, the person behind him raised the long sword in hand!

“You really think I’m some weak chicken, don’t you?”

Chen Guan, still seated atop his horse, let out a cold laugh.

He had only wanted to teach them a lesson just now, and had not used any true qi at all. Yet who would have thought that the big blockhead’s luck would be so good that he would hit the jackpot?

A cold flash passed over the Horse-Cleaving Saber on his shoulder!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two blade qi, solid enough to seem material, tore through the air!

“This is bad—a Purple Palace Realm expert!”

The moment Zhang Wen took a step, he felt a terrifying pressure already crashing toward him. With no time to think, he instantly retreated with explosive force.

Pfft!

Yet in the end, he was still a step too slow. His head flew high into the air, fresh blood spurting three feet upward, and the round head struck the ground with a bang before rolling all the way to the edge of the lotus pond.

As for the other woman, she did not even have time to let out a scream before the second blade qi—far more powerful than the first—sliced her into a cloud of blood on the spot!

Seeing such a bloody scene, Luo Li widened her eyes and stared at Chen Guan.

“You... why is it that you kill people the moment there’s a disagreement again?!”

She suddenly realized that if Chen Guan kept going like this, then by the time she reached Shangjing City, all the talented people her uncle had cultivated would probably have been slaughtered clean by this man!

But Chen Guan acted as though he had heard nothing and nodded to himself in satisfaction.

This 【Blood Massacre in All Directions】 really was useful!

After killing the first person and staining the blade with blood, its attack power rose by 10% on the spot.

Then, when the second strike landed on that scholar, it directly triggered a critical effect, and the third person was blown into a cloud of blood by the blade qi!

Yet at that moment, his gaze sharpened, and he casually glanced toward the Wanci Town before them.

From an attic in the town, behind a half-closed door and window, a figure stood there in stunned shock.

“How... how is this possible?!”

“How could a tiny place like Sanhe Town possibly have a Purple Palace Realm Escort Master?!”

“Good one, Su Jingyan! You actually dared to break the agreement?!”

That person suddenly seemed to think of something and viciously ground out Su Jingyan’s name through clenched teeth.

“To think he actually arranged such a deeply hidden top expert beside that little girl!”

In terms of realm, Zhang Wen also counted as someone of the Purple Palace Realm.

But just now, that person had sensed it clearly—the man carrying the Horse-Cleaving Saber had used a blade art against which Zhang Wen had not possessed the slightest power to defend himself.

Because that blade art... was too fast!

So fast that even his divine sense had been unable to fully capture it!

This was absolutely no ordinary Purple Palace Realm cultivator.

He had an intensely powerful premonition—if he dared take even one step forward, his fate would definitely be the same as those three people’s, and he would be decapitated on the spot!

“No. This won’t do. The death of one Hall Master and three great generals must be reported to Alliance Leader Su!”

That person muttered to himself, and then his figure flickered and vanished from the attic.

Meanwhile, beside the little lotus pond, Chen Guan had already withdrawn his gaze and looked toward Luo Li.

“Don’t you think it’s much quieter around here now? It’s already good enough that I didn’t make you pay more.”

“How about a thank you?”

“You!” Luo Li was so angry she could not even speak.

She could sense that the cultivation of those three had not been simple, and their status went without saying. Otherwise, her uncle would never have sent them to receive her.

And now they had been cut down just like that. How was she supposed to explain this to her uncle later?

Chen Guan curled his lip and could not be bothered to pay her any more attention. He simply put away the Horse-Cleaving Saber and rested it once more on his shoulder.

“In any case, along this road, whoever dares delay me from making money deserves to die!”

This time, he had not made her pay more, because driving those people away was necessary. It was not only for the sake of earning more money, but even more so for the sake of the “truth”!

Luo Li looked at the two headless corpses on the ground and the glaring pool of blood, then at Chen Guan’s calm and self-satisfied profile.

She asked nothing further, nor did she reproach him.

Because she also knew there had been something wrong with Zhang Wen’s attitude, and it had already stirred a powerful unease in her heart.

That unease made her realize that this road of “restoring the dynasty” was likely far more complicated and far darker than she had ever imagined.

Chen Guan glanced at the girl and saw that the confusion in her eyes had lessened somewhat, while contemplation had grown deeper. It seemed that after this journey, she had at least matured a little.

Luo Li noticed his gaze and immediately suppressed her thoughts before hesitantly asking, “Brother Chen, should I... think of some way to disguise myself?”

“No need.” Chen Guan shook his head. “If you really think you’re so ugly that you hurt my eyes, then just wear a veil.”

If she covered her face, then where was he supposed to find the motivation to ask for more money?

“You!” Luo Li’s pretty face reddened with anger. The gloom that had just arisen in her heart was instantly blown away by his infuriating words.

“I’m worried that Wanted Notice will bring us a great deal of trouble along the way!”

“So only now do you realize that there’ll be a lot of trouble?” Chen Guan turned around and looked at her with amusement. “Besides, wouldn’t disguising yourself just be the same as covering your ears while stealing a bell?”

“This...”

When Luo Li thought it over, it really was true.

With simple cosmetics and disguise techniques, any martial artist with decent eyesight would be able to spot the traces. At that point, it would only attract even more attention and investigation instead.

Still, one question continued to linger in her heart.

“Brother Chen, why do you think this Wanted Notice wasn’t spread earlier or later, but instead happened to be widely distributed at exactly this moment?”