Chapter 17: Joining the Ranks

Chen Yuan remained silent, nodded, and said

"You are very clever. As long as they do not cause major trouble, I will ensure their safety."

Manager Li raised his head, looked toward the distant, jagged peaks, and said indifferently

"Thank you. Do it."

Hearing this, Chen Yuan instead sheathed his Ghost-Head Saber.

Manager Li withdrew his gaze and asked in confusion

"Why haven't you moved? You can't squeeze any more profit out of me."

"Is that so?"

Chen Yuan smiled, turned back, and said to Zhao Shan

"Senior Brother, I have a favor to ask of you."

Zhao Shan murmured

"Hmm?"

After Chen Yuan displayed the strength of the Marrow-Refining Realm and killed Wu Dong and the four other bandits, he had fallen into a trance-like state. He stood blankly to the side, silently watching Chen Yuan drive Manager Li into a corner.

For the past eight years, Zhao Shan had regarded Manager Li as a father, respecting him deeply and upholding the principles of teacher and disciple.

But he never expected Manager Li to be so heartless, intending to trick him into staying behind to cover the retreat while he fled for his own life.

And his once honest and simple Junior Brother Chen was actually a peerless genius who had reached the Marrow-Refining Realm in just three years, even killing a peak Marrow-Refining expert as easily as killing a chicken. This was almost impossible for Zhao Shan to believe.

After the initial shock, Zhao Shan's convictions collapsed; he no longer cared about anything in the outside world.

However, Chen Yuan's next words brought his soul back to his body.

"Senior Brother, you do it. Send Master on his way."

Zhao Shan shuddered and waved his hands repeatedly

"No, I can't. I can't do it..."

Chen Yuan walked up to him, slowly raised the Ghost-Head Saber, and said

"Senior Brother, think carefully. If you do not act, do not blame me for being ruthless."

Zhao Shan's expression changed drastically. He took two steps back, gripping his ring-pommel saber tightly with trembling hands, and said

"If you want to kill Master, I cannot stop you, but Master showed me the way of the arts. I truly cannot bring myself to do it. Don't force me, please?"

Chen Yuan said calmly

"Senior Brother, it is not that I must force you. You know too much. Only if you personally send him on his way can I be at ease. Otherwise, do not blame me for having no regard for sentiment."

Hearing this, Zhao Shan's hands, which were gripping the hilt, slowly loosened, his expression shifting uncontrollably.

Chen Yuan added

"If he truly treated you well, why did he not pass the Six Yang Technique to you? You are merely a thug he cultivated, a nail planted in the guard unit. He even denied you an education and intended to trick you into staying to block the enemy. You have been diligent for so many years, and today you even volunteered to stay behind to cover the retreat; that is enough to repay his kindness."

"But..."

"Even the highly trusted Wang Cong could be used as a shield by him without hesitation. What are you to him? Senior Brother, do not be a man of blind loyalty!"

With that, he tossed the Ghost-Head Saber over.

Subconsciously, Zhao Shan let go of his ring-pommel saber and caught the Ghost-Head Saber.

Chen Yuan said indifferently

"Use this blade to send him on his way. If you truly have filial piety, you might as well be quick with the blade, so he does not suffer."

Zhao Shan looked down at the Ghost-Head Saber in his hands, then looked up at Manager Li, who was slumped against a rock. His expression fluctuated violently, but he remained silent.

As Chen Yuan watched him, his gaze slowly turned cold.

Manager Li suddenly spoke

"Xiao Shan, do it. Send your teacher on his way."

Chen Yuan was quite surprised and turned to look.

Zhao Shan murmured

"Master, this..."

Manager Li said indifferently

"If you do not act, I will not survive. For these eight years, you have respected your teacher; I will repay you with my life. That should be enough. I only hope you can look after Ying'er and ensure she does not suffer."

Zhao Shan finally stopped resisting. He walked up to Manager Li, eyes brimming with tears. Trembling, he raised the blade and let out a low roar

"Master, go in peace!"

*Puchi!*

Zhao Shan thrust the blade into Manager Li's left chest. Manager Li's eyes gradually lost focus. He looked up at the azure sky and murmured

"Ying'er, Father can no longer take care of you, Ying'er..."

His voice gradually faded, becoming a whisper, then falling into absolute silence.

*Clang!*

Zhao Shan stared blankly at Manager Li's corpse. His right hand went limp, and the Ghost-Head Saber fell to the ground.

*Thud, thud, thud!*

He suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed three times to Manager Li. He stood up, wiped his tears, and said

"Junior Brother, thank you for saving my life. Rest assured, everything I saw today will rot in my belly. Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know. No third person will ever know."

A faint smile appeared on Chen Yuan's face as he nodded

"That is for the best... Wait a moment, Senior Brother."

Under Zhao Shan's gaze, Chen Yuan walked to Wu Dong's corpse and bent down to search it thoroughly.

Wu Dong did not have many belongings: only a bottle of vitality-replenishing pills, a bottle of wound salve, a cloth bag full of silver, and a silk map.

Chen Yuan casually put the pills, silver, and salve back. When he saw the map, his eyes lit up. He silently memorized its contents before stuffing it back into Wu Dong's bosom.

Then, Chen Yuan took the various miscellaneous items Manager Li had carried and stuffed them into his own bosom. He re-fastened the sleeve arrows to his arms, but tucked away the ring containing the white silk thread.

Next, he struck a blow to Wu Dong's shoulder and used the Autumn Water Sword to carve a deep wound in Wu Dong's throat. He then moved the corpses of Manager Li and Wu Dong together and carefully placed the Ghost-Head Saber and the Autumn Water Sword on the ground.

Then, he picked up Zhao Shan's ring-pommel saber, went to the three bandits' corpses, and mangled the wounds caused by the Ghost-Head Saber into a mess. He then took out the two sleeve arrows and stabbed them into the corpses.

Finally, Chen Yuan checked everything once more, modified a few details, wrapped the broken long saber, hung it on his person, and nodded with satisfaction

"It is done. Although there are still many flaws, it is barely usable. Senior Brother, remember: after we were pursued by the bandits, Master stayed behind to cover our retreat so we could escape. We know nothing else, understood?"

Zhao Shan watched in a daze. After Chen Yuan's arrangement, what was presented before him was clearly a scene where Manager Li and Wu Dong's group had fought a fierce battle with four bandits, ultimately dying together.

Zhao Shan asked

"Junior Brother, why not take Master's belongings and the Autumn Water Sword? Wu Dong's Ghost-Head Saber is also quite valuable; isn't it a waste to leave it to the bandits?"

Chen Yuan said

"If the Black Wind Fortress dares to kill and rob, the Sect will certainly not let it slide. As the only two survivors, we will inevitably have to deal with them again. If we take these things and our story doesn't match the bandits', the matter will be exposed, and that would be troublesome."

Zhao Shan realized the logic. Chen Yuan urged

"Let's go, Senior Brother. If we delay any longer, the Black Wind Fortress might notice something is wrong and catch up to us."

Zhao Shan cast a lingering, reluctant glance at the Ghost-Head Saber and the Autumn Water Sword on the ground before following behind Chen Yuan into the mountain forest.

...

Half an hour later, Xie Quan and Jiang Feng arrived at the clearing, leading ten bandits.

The bandits were all struck with horror when they saw the field of corpses.

Jiang Feng threw himself onto Wu Dong's body, wailing

"Brother Dong!"

Before joining the Black Wind Fortress, he had roamed the martial world with Wu Dong for seven or eight years. They had long been sworn brothers, and their relationship was extremely close. Seeing Wu Dong's corpse, his reaction was the most intense.

Xie Quan's expression also changed drastically. He walked quickly to Wu Dong and took the items from his bosom.

Seeing that the silk map was still there, he breathed a sigh of relief and tucked it into his own bosom.

Jiang Feng performed a rough inspection of Wu Dong's wounds, then turned to look at Xie Quan, gritting his teeth

"Big Brother, the fatal wound on Brother Dong's throat was left by Li Yong's Autumn Water Sword. That damned Li Yong! I will grind his bones to ash!"

He picked up the Ghost-Head Saber from the ground, intending to hack at Manager Li's body.

"Wait!"

Xie Quan shouted to stop Jiang Feng. He examined the corpses of Manager Li and Wu Dong closely and murmured

"They are indeed wounds from a Ghost-Head Saber and an Autumn Water Sword, but why are they so messy?"

Then, he inspected the corpses of the three Bone-Refining bandits, his brow furrowed. He said

"Something is wrong. Liu Huzhi, Ma Laoba, and Yuan Datou all have saber wounds, but not a single sword wound. This shouldn't be Li Yong's handiwork..."

Jiang Feng also noticed the discrepancy in the bandits' corpses and suddenly said

"That's right! When Li Yong escaped, he had two disciples with him!"

Xie Quan's eyes flashed

"Tell me more!"

Jiang Feng explained

"Big Brother, you were still fighting Zhang Jinkui at the time. It went like this..."

He recounted the entire process of Manager Li, Chen Yuan, and Zhao Shan escaping the valley.

After listening, Xie Quan nodded slightly

"This is suspicious. Even if Li Yong was hit by one of your arrows and managed to wound the Second Brother with a sleeve arrow, he couldn't possibly be a match for the Second Brother, Liu Huzhi, Ma Laoba, and Yuan Datou. Those two disciples of his must be involved in the Second Brother's death."

Jiang Feng stood up abruptly

"I'll take men and chase them right now to avenge Brother Dong!"

Xie Quan waved him off. He searched Manager Li's corpse again, took out the miscellaneous items from his bosom, and pulled out the sleeve arrows from his arms, saying

"The sleeve arrows on Liu Huzhi and Ma Laoba should be Li Yong's work, and then they were killed by his two disciples. The Second Brother also has saber wounds; it seems Li Yong and his two disciples worked together to wound him, but the two disciples took the chance to flee, leaving Li Yong to die alongside the Second Brother. His retribution came quite fast."

Jiang Feng said through gritted teeth

"Those two little bastards... I will tear them into ten thousand pieces to appease Brother Dong's soul!"

Xie Quan stood up, brushed off his hands, and said

"Forget it for now. This time, we've brought all the brothers out. The commotion is too large; we've likely alerted the other strongholds. The priority now is to transport the goods back to the fortress. Everything else can wait, but those five heavy crossbows and ten sets of iron armor cannot be lost."

Jiang Feng said unwillingly

"Big Brother, if it weren't for those two little bastards, Brother Dong wouldn't have died!"

Xie Quan comforted him

"The greater matter comes first. Don't worry, once we return, I will personally pry the mouths of those guards open to get news of those two bastards. We'll find a chance to finish them to avenge the Second Brother."

"But... sigh, alright. I'll listen to you, Big Brother."

Jiang Feng nodded reluctantly, then turned to call to the bandits

"Collect the bodies of the Second Brother and the three other brothers. Move fast!"

The bandits began to work, and Jiang Feng slowly calmed down. He returned to Xie Quan's side and said

"Big Brother, with Brother Dong dead, the fortress's strength is greatly diminished. If the Tiger-Subduing Gang sends people for revenge, what should we do?"

Xie Quan laughed loudly and said in a booming voice

"What is there to fear! Wealth is sought through danger. The Tiger-Subduing Gang is powerful, but they won't dare reach into the Crimson Mang Mountains. If they can't find our fortress, how can they fight us?"

Jiang Feng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled

"I was overthinking it. Besides, we are just working for pay; if the sky falls, someone else will hold it up."

Jiang Feng's words were clearly suggestive, but Xie Quan shook his head and said

"To strike iron, one must be strong themselves. We must still act with caution and avoid a direct confrontation with the Tiger-Subduing Gang. Once we raid a few more large merchant caravans and recruit more men and buy more crossbows and iron armor, we will be the overlords of the Crimson Mang Mountains, and we will never have to watch anyone's face again!"