Stranger Danger

“Wu Yijian? The One Shot Kill, Wu Yijian?” A surprised Li Lang paused in his tracks. “Are you sure?”

The bailiffs dropped the body on the floor and replied, “We think so. He has red hair, wears a red shirt, and wields a red bow. He is most likely Wu Yijian.”

Li Lang stepped over to the corpse and examined it for a bit. A short while later, he nodded in agreement. “It’s him alright. How did he die?”

A bailiff answered, “He was shot through his heart. We believe that the murder weapon is his own arrow.”

The bailiff then produced a red arrow and handed it to Li Lang. “We found this sticking to a pillar in Wu Yijian’s room. Judging from the location of the body and the direction of the arrow, we’re pretty certain that he was killed by his own weapon.”

“You’re not kidding me, are you?” Li Lang could hardly believe his ears. His subordinates were telling him that the One Shot Kill was killed by his own arrow. Surely this must be a mistake?

“But it’s true, chief!” The bailiff replied firmly even though he was scratching his own head, puzzled. “We believe that he committed suicide.”

“Suicide?” Li Lang parroted while staring at the guy incredulously.

Why would Wu Yijian suddenly want to commit suicide?

Was he suggesting that Wu Yijian suddenly realized what a sonuvabitch he was and decided death was the only way to atone for his sins?

Not even a baby would believe such a thing!

It was at this moment Ye Qing spoke up, “You can stop guessing now. I’m pretty sure that I’m the one who killed this Wu Yijian!”

He knew this because he recognized the red arrow.

“You what?” Li Lang wheeled around and stared at him in disbelief. Is it Prank-Your-Constable Day or something? We’re almost two kilometers away from Star Reacher Restaurant. Heck, you can’t even see the restaurant from here, and you’re telling me that you’re the one who killed Wu Yijian? Do you fancy yourself a Spirit Master or something? Or do I look like an honest fool to you?

Ye Qing shrugged. “Yeah, I killed him. After I killed Moth Lady, the arrow suddenly appeared out of nowhere and almost killed me. So, I tossed it right back where it came from. I was just testing my luck, I didn’t think I would actually get the guy because you know, you can’t even see the restaurant from here. And what kind of idiot would remain where he was after firing his shot? He must be pretty weak.”

“Weak? Do you know who he is?” Li Lang blurted. He didn’t think Ye Qing was lying, but he still found it hard to believe that what he was saying was true. Ye Qing was claiming that he had tossed the arrow back to the archer and killed him across a distance of almost two kilometers. Not two hundred meters, but two kilometers. What was this, a fairy tale?

The fact that Ye Qing was just a late-stage Astral Refiner was even more ludicrous. He was a late-stage Astral Refiner himself, but if he were to throw an arrow with all his might, it was unlikely he would be able to make the same distance, much less kill a renowned jianghu warrior.

There was no denying the facts before his eyes though.

“I don’t. Tell me?” Ye Qing asked. He had never heard of a Wu Yijian or a One Shot Kill.

Judging from Ye Qing’s expression, he really didn’t know who Wu Yijian was, so he explained, “Wu Yijian hails from Guang Ping[1], and most of his exploits were made in Guang Ping. You haven’t been Luo Shui for long, so I’m not surprised that you haven’t heard of him.”

“Wu Yijian learned his martial arts under a major sect in Guang Ping called the Dragonslaying Sect, and he was famed for his ability to fire the Dragonslaying Shot, an ultimate technique of his sect. Not only was he an expert at killing enemies from a great distance, he was born with great strength and sharp eyes. Supposedly, he could spot a speck of dust from hundreds of meters away, which makes him a perfect fit with the Dragonslaying Shot.”

“As a late-stage Astral Refiner, Wu Yijian once killed a Soulstealer-class Stranger and a Spirit Purifier from 1.5 kilometers away. Such was his fame that they praised him as the man who could slay a dragon with a single shot. There is no one in Tian Yong who hasn’t heard of him.”

Ye Qing shrugged and cast the body an indifferent glance. “Well, I think his reputation is mostly exaggerated.”

He had more or less figured out how he managed to kill Wu Yijian. The archer probably couldn’t move for a bit after injecting all of his strength to fire his Dragonslaying Shot. That was why he was able to hit the guy with his own arrow.

No wonder they call him One Shot Kill. He literally only has one shot in his chamber. If he fails to kill his target with his shot, then he would die. Small fry!

Li Lang: “...” What do you mean his reputation is exaggerated? He killed a Spirit Purifier and a Soulstealer-class Stranger as an Astral Refiner!

Then, Li Lang took one look at Wu Yijian’s lifeless body and decided to keep his mouth shut. No sense in antagonizing the man who killed Wu Yijian.

Another question occurred to Ye Qing. “Why is Wu Yijian risking his neck over a bounty when he’s a disciple of the Dragonslaying Sect? He shouldn’t be lacking in martial arts or pills.”

Li Lang answered, “That’s because Wu Yijian broke one too many rules and was expelled from his sect a few years ago.”

“I see.” That explains a lot.

“Oh right, what can you tell me about this Moth Lady?” Ye Qing pointed at Moth Lady’s corpse next.

“Moth Lady? D-Did you just say she’s the Moth Lady?” Li Lang stuttered.

“...” That’s what I said, bud.

A few seconds later, Li Lang finally let out a mental sigh. He finally understood why Ye Qing was famous throughout Luo Shui, and why he could only clean up his mess after him. He was just that much stronger than him.

After Li Lang gave Ye Qing a rundown of Moth Lady’s background, the Patrolman let out a deep sigh. “Hah. She’s quite the character too, isn’t she?”

This was just the beginning, and already he was being hunted by jianghu warriors who could fight above their cultivation level. He couldn’t even imagine who he was going to face in the future.

“Where are you going, Constable Li? My assassins are right here.”

Li Lang had tried to pull off a great escape yet again while he was musing, but of course his attempt to sneak away didn’t escape Ye Qing’s notice. The Patrolman rolled his eyes. He wasn’t this scaredy cat when I met him at Cui Wei Boat. Heck, he was even going to detain me when he thought I was Luo Feibai’s killer.

Li Lang paused in his tracks and let out an awkward laugh. “Since your attackers are dead, there’s no reason for us to stay behind, is there? We still have a patrol to finish!”

Wu Yijian and Moth Lady were just the beginning. Li Lang knew full well that the quality of Ye Qing’s attackers would only increase as time passed. Until the winds of turmoil had settled, Li Lang was fully prepared to stay as far away from Ye Qing as possible!

Ye Qing complained, “How can you say that, Constable Li? My attackers are dead, true, but the mastermind behind this is still alive and well, aren’t they? I’ve bled for the people, served Luo Shui faithfully, and even made some major contributions to Chu. Surely you’re not going to abandon me to my fate, Constable Li?”

Of course I’m going to abandon you to your fate! You fucking know there’s nothing a small fry like me can really do to help you, so why are you making this difficult for me?

Li Lang swore mentally even as he shot Ye Qing a bitter grin. “Lord Ye, it’s not that we don’t want to help you. We just… don’t have the strength.”

They could request the Black Feathers Guard to step in and kill them all, but these bastards most likely weren’t going to go down without a fight. That meant that innocents would die, and the city would incur heavy damage.

And even if they managed to kill the first batch, the stream of jianghu warriors lining up to kill Ye Qing would never end so long as the bounty was still valid.

Of course, if they could uproot the Way of Taiping once and for all, then this matter would be over. But who could do that? Entire countries had mobilized to root out the Way of Taiping, but the damn cult still existed to this day.

Sure, the Way of Taiping were nowhere close to their prime especially after the latest blow they took, and if the imperial court really wanted to, they could probably eliminate all traces of the cult from Chu. But would Chu really invest that much time and effort just to protect an insignificant Patrolman? Obviously not.

Therefore, all the administrative division could do was increase patrol and maintain public order as best they could. He supposed they could make an example by violently killing a handful of jianghu warriors, but again, that would only treat the symptom but not the cause.

“Good luck, Lord Ye. You’re going to need it.”

Ye Qing: “...” Someone needs to give you a lesson on how to comfort others.

Noticing the unfriendly look on Ye Qing’s face, Li Lang coughed awkwardly and said, “Don’t worry, this can’t go on forever. You just need to stay alive for a bit, and the jianghu warriors would eventually learn that you’re no one they can trifle with. You’ll be safe then.”

Ye Qing: “...” I bet this guy leaves it to his subordinates to comfort grieving families. The fuck do you mean by ‘stay alive for a bit’? You’re basically telling me to tough it out on my own!

“You’re a strong warrior, Lord Ye. I’m sure you’ll be able to defy the odds. I believe in you!” Li Lang patted Ye Qing’s shoulder pretentiously.

Ye Qing finally couldn’t hold in his reaction any longer and rolled his eyes. “I don’t need your fucking belief, I need your—”

“My wife is waiting for me for dinner, so see you next time, Lord Ye!” Li Lang loudly cut him off before walking away without any hesitation whatsoever.

Despicable. Back in the day, the—wait, this is technically the ancient times, just in a different world. Fuck!

Ye Qing wanted to throw his hands up in the air, but if he were to be honest, he knew this would happen.

That said, the administrative division might abandon him to his fate, but the Pacification Bureau wouldn’t. After all, he was a member of the Pacification Bureau, and they were the reason the mad dogs had targeted him in the first place. Plus, the Pacification Bureau wasn’t scared of the Way of Taiping.

Yeah, I’m going to visit Gu Suitang tomorrow and ask him for a solution.

His mind made up, Ye Qing looted the bodies, tossed a fire talisman to burn them to ash, and walked away.

After he returned to the Inspection Department, Ye Qing spent some time crunching through the work he had neglected for the past couple days. A while later, he finally went back to his residence.

As soon as he stepped through the door, a silhouette abruptly appeared on his shoulder and flew a circle around him. “Why aren’t you hurt, friend? Why aren’t you bleeding?”

Ye Qing shot Wawa an incredulous look. Do you want me to bleed and get hurt?

It wasn’t Wawa’s fault, of course. Half a month ago, when Gu Suitang began training him, he was beaten up so badly that he literally needed to be carried home on a stretcher. The girl had burst out crying as soon as she saw him.

However, he had recovered the next day and went back to get beaten up all over again. Over time, even the Book Sprite had become desensitized to his injuries.

Wawa was surprised because Ye Qing was able to walk through the door on his own two feet today, something that hadn’t happened for the past two weeks or so.

“I am hurt. It’s an internal injury.” That you gave me because of your hurtful remark.

It was at this moment Faceless walked over and greeted him, “You’ve returned, young master.”

“I have.” Ye Qing nodded and clarified, “You know what’s going on outside, don’t you?”

“I do.”

Faceless nodded and turned serious. “According to my investigations, the rumors seem to originate from White Horse Academy.”

“White Horse Academy?” Ye Qing frowned deeply. “But I never did anything to them. Why would they do such a thing?”

Did they find out about Cheng Nuo? No, that’s impossible.

Faceless replied, “From what I heard, Luo Feiliu is the mastermind because you had a hand in his younger brother’s death, Luo Feibai. That is why he spread the rumors in hopes that you will perish under the weight of your own fame.”

Ye Qing rubbed his nose and sneered. “Luo Feiliu? Interesting. Do you think that the information can be trusted, Faceless?”

Faceless answered, “I believe so. I can confirm that the rumors definitely started from White Horse Academy.”

Ye Qing wagged his fingers imperiously. “Heh. That is incorrect. Only an idiot would believe that.”

Faceless: “...” Can we do away with the insults, please?

Before this, Ye Qing wasn’t sure who was the mastermind. But now, he was certain it was Wang Luori.

Faceless didn’t know the truth, so it was understandable that he would think that Luo Feiliu was the one behind the rumors, But he knew Luo Chunchao knew that Wang Luori was the one who killed Luo Feibai to set him up. There was no way the patriarch would order his son to spread such rumors.

That said, Faceless’ claim that the rumors had probably originated from White Horse Academy was probably true. Since it was impossible for Luo Feiliu to have spread the rumors, the only one who could have done this was Wen Zailai.

Wang Luori was Wen Zailai’s savior, so Wen Zailai absolutely had a reason to do such a thing.

As for why he decided to pin the blame on White Horse Academy and Luo Feiliu, it was obvious. It was to pit the Pacification Bureau and White Horse Academy against each other so that Sunset Hill would profit from their loss.

“Killing two birds with one stone, eh? As expected of the Deceitful Scholar!” Ye Qing sneered.

The chances that Hill Lord himself was the one who came up with this plan was minimal because Wang Luori was an idiot.

Ye Qing had to admit that the plan was sublime though. If Cui Wei hadn’t illuminated him on Wen Zailai’s relationship with Wang Luori, Wen Zailai’s plan would most likely have succeeded, and he would never have figured out that the guy was the mastermind slowly maneuvering him toward his death.

“Wang Luori, you fucking son of a fuck.” Ye Qing’s eyes burned with killing intent. He was sure that the old fucker had forgotten all about him, but no, it hadn’t even been a month since his son died before he targeted him again. What the fuck was wrong with the guy?

In any case, it was time to reunite the old fucker and his son. Oh, and he mustn’t forget Wen Zailai as well. A family should be together.

“What do we do, young master? I can accompany you if you need my strength!” Faceless offered.

“It’s fine. You’re too weak,” Ye Qing replied bluntly.

Faceless: “...” Ow.

“Just stay here and take care of Kung Fu Frog and Wawa. Don’t even go to the Inspection Department until this matter is behind us,” Ye Qing instructed carefully. “If anyone tries to enter the residence without permission, and you’re sure you’ve never seen them before, don’t hesitate to kill them.”

“I will handle this myself.”

1. a commandery ☜