Chapter 221: Life from Death Ground

Huang Dou and Lin Hu, who had been preparing to send him on his way, froze. What did he mean? At a moment like this, Shao Pingbo had suddenly announced that Madam Ruan and her sons had been assassinated. First, the two men could not understand what he meant. Second, they had no idea whether what he said was true.

They truly had not heard anything. After the Provincial Provincial Inspector's Residence sent someone over with the order to carry out the execution, the sudden incident had thrown the entire residence into chaos. Who would think to send someone specifically to notify them here? Only Shao Sansheng, who had been keeping an eye on matters, had received the news and promptly reported it to Shao Pingbo.

Shao Pingbo pointed at his own chest. "Me! I am now the Inspector of Beizhou's only son. If you kill me, the Shao family's position in Beizhou will be left without an heir!"

At those words, and knowing something of this man's temperament, Huang Dou and Lin Hu's pupils abruptly constricted.

Huang Dou said heavily, "You killed them?"

Shao Pingbo replied, "Words like that should not be thrown around. As for the true culprit, the Provincial Provincial Inspector's Residence will naturally investigate."

Lin Hu's face chilled. "You think that because the Inspector has only one son left, we won't dare kill you?" His hand was already moving toward his sword hilt.

Shao Pingbo remained unmoved. "You're only carrying out orders. This has nothing to do with whether you dare. The point is that killing me would have an enormous impact on Dachan Mountain. One could even say Beizhou would completely slip from Dachan Mountain's control, and Dachan Mountain would be reduced to what it was before!"

Huang Dou raised a hand to stop Lin Hu from drawing his sword here. "Eldest Young Master, with death at your door, this kind of struggle is meaningless."

He extended a hand toward the outside in invitation. "I imagine you don't want to die here in a place where people wash up. Come. Pick somewhere suitable. We'll do our best to spare you pain and let you leave comfortably."

Shao Pingbo showed no intention of moving. He continued calmly, "Dachan Mountain cannot wash its hands of Madam Ruan and her sons' deaths. You may not have killed them personally, but in a certain sense, Dachan Mountain forced them to their deaths! My father may hate me, but he has to face reality: I am now his only remaining son. If you kill me, then in a certain sense Dachan Mountain will have killed every one of the Inspector of Beizhou's sons. Do you think that afterward, my father will hate Dachan Mountain?"

Huang Dou and Lin Hu's hearts jolted. Shao Sansheng's eyes also flickered rapidly. He turned his head and glanced at the Eldest Young Master, who stood proud and unafraid in the face of death.

"Of course, Dachan Mountain could kill my father as well and install someone else to preside over Beizhou. But does Dachan Mountain dare? Beizhou's officers and soldiers are all my father's own direct men, built up by his hand. Most of Beizhou's local officials were cultivated by the Shao family. In today's Beizhou, aside from the Shao family, who else can sit securely in the Inspector's seat? Put someone else there and see what happens. See whether disorder breaks out! What would it take to forcibly replace the Shao family? A broad purge from top to bottom across Beizhou. But with Beizhou caught between enemies on both fronts, does Dachan Mountain dare do that? The State of Han watches hungrily from the north, while the State of Yan wants to recover its lost territory from the south. If Beizhou falls into internal disorder, would those two states let such an opportunity pass? They would certainly exploit the weakness and invade. Could Dachan Mountain possibly hold them off?"

With every word, Huang Dou and Lin Hu's hearts sank further.

"Dachan Mountain exterminates the Shao family's descendants, then expects the Shao family to keep serving Dachan Mountain? How many people beneath Heaven are generous enough for that? I dare state with certainty that afterward my father will hate you. Dachan Mountain's years of painstaking effort could be destroyed at any moment. That is the consequence of Dachan Mountain forcing me to my death. If I remain alive, my father will not hate Dachan Mountain. The only person he can hate is me! And I do not want Beizhou thrown into chaos. I have poured everything I have into Beizhou. I will not allow anyone to ruin it. I only want Beizhou to become stronger! So long as I live, I will continue seeking Dachan Mountain's support. Beizhou will remain Dachan Mountain's Beizhou. The present internal turmoil can still be controlled. It is nothing more than unrest within the Shao family and will not affect the larger interests of Beizhou and Dachan Mountain!"

Huang Dou and Lin Hu looked grave. The looks they gave Shao Pingbo were extraordinarily complicated.

Lin Hu said heavily, "If you don't die, Niu Youdao will bring in the Ice and Snow Pavilion. Dachan Mountain won't fare well then either."

Huang Dou nodded. "Even if everything you say is true, even if Dachan Mountain loses Beizhou, at least there will still be a chance to rise again. But if we incur punishment from the Ice and Snow Pavilion, it could bring calamity upon Dachan Mountain and destroy the entire sect!"

"You're wrong. Completely and utterly wrong!" Shao Pingbo, who had waited calmly until then, suddenly shouted. The mention of Niu Youdao plainly stirred emotions he could barely restrain. He flung a hand toward the outside and said angrily, "That is nothing but Niu Youdao bluffing! That treacherous villain absolutely does not dare bring the Ice and Snow Pavilion into this matter! Cough, cough..."

A fit of coughing seized him again. Once his anger flared, the coughing became difficult to stop, and flecks of blood appeared in his palm once more. Beside him, Shao Sansheng hurriedly stepped forward and rubbed his back to help ease the coughing.

Huang Dou and Lin Hu exchanged a glance. When Shao Pingbo's coughing had eased somewhat, Huang Dou asked, "How so?"

Shao Pingbo caught his breath and countered, "Do you think he has some friendship with Dachan Mountain that makes him determined to spare it? Do you think that after killing me, he would willingly leave the Shao family behind as a future threat? If he truly dared bring in the Ice and Snow Pavilion, he would never have taken such a long, roundabout route merely to target me alone. He could simply expose the entire affair and have the Ice and Snow Pavilion deal with all of us together. Why didn't he? Because he doesn't dare! This affair has already become enormous. If it truly reaches the Ice and Snow Pavilion and they investigate it rigorously, the issue will not be as simple as my having used the Ice and Snow Pavilion. By laying his trap, wasn't he also using the Ice and Snow Pavilion?"

Huang Dou and Lin Hu fell into thought.

"That is why he only dares use Dachan Mountain against me. Everything he has done is bluff, a fox borrowing the tiger's might. He is merely using the Ice and Snow Pavilion's deterrent power to pressure Dachan Mountain and force me into a dead end! So long as Dachan Mountain does not kill me, his scheme collapses on its own. He will have no choice but to lower his banners and silence his drums. He is only frightening Dachan Mountain. He absolutely does not dare let this affair grow any larger."

Huang Dou and Lin Hu were caught in a dilemma. The man's words made sense, but what if this was merely a one-sided story fabricated by a dying man desperate to survive? Did Dachan Mountain dare take that risk? Yet if they continued carrying out the sect's decree, the consequences Shao Pingbo had described were indeed grave enough to make them hesitate.

Both men had already realized they could no longer carry out the sect decree on their own. They would have to ask for instructions before making a decision.

Shao Pingbo continued persuading them. "Killing me is easy. I cannot escape anyway! If Dachan Mountain does not believe me, then gamble once. See whether that treacherous villain dares expose this affair to the Ice and Snow Pavilion. If he does, it still won't be too late to hand me over then to answer for it!"

Huang Dou and Lin Hu's faces twitched. You want Dachan Mountain to risk everything and gamble with you? If something goes wrong, you die either way. Easy for you—you have nothing left to lose. What is Dachan Mountain supposed to do?

Even Shao Sansheng broke into a light sweat, though he finally understood why the Eldest Young Master had killed Madam Ruan and her sons.

Life from death ground. Shao Pingbo had not placed himself on death ground. He had placed Madam Ruan and her sons there!

Huang Dou and Lin Hu had no authority to decide such a matter. They exchanged a glance, and one of them quickly left to seek instructions and to verify whether Madam Ruan and her sons truly had been assassinated...

At the Provincial Provincial Inspector's Residence, in Madam Ruan's inner quarters, Shao Wubo, who had been waiting for news of his mother and younger brother, had already gone still. The skin over his entire body had turned black. Black blood stained the corner of his mouth. His eyes were wide open, refusing to close even in death, as he lay motionless on the floor of the hall.

Outside the hall, Shao Dengyun was like an enraged lion. His eyes were webbed with crimson veins. In his hand was a Saber of the same pattern used by the Yingyang and Wulie Guards. He paced beneath the eaves, roaring, "Who did it? Drag them out for me..."

Zhong Yangxu stood in the doorway, his face grave. Whoever could strike so viciously at these three, mother and sons, inside the Provincial Provincial Inspector's Residence must have infiltrated astonishingly deep. An ordinary person would have had no way at all to come into contact with their food and drink.

Before long, searchers hurried in with a report. "My lord, we've found a suspect. They've already taken their own life!"

Shao Dengyun strode away with his saber. A group followed him, Zhong Yangxu among them, all wanting to see what had happened.

They burst into a side room and found a maid hanging by the neck from a strip of white silk tied to a beam, her straight body swaying slowly.

Shao Dengyun knew the maid. Zhong Yangxu knew her as well, as did many people in the residence. She was Madam Ruan's personal maid and trusted confidante. Zhong Yangxu stepped forward and examined her. The body still retained some warmth. She had not been dead long.

He had the maid's body taken down and examined it with spiritual power. There were no external wounds and nothing else abnormal. It truly seemed that she had committed suicide. Another urgent report arrived soon after, followed closely by another.

Two more bodies had been discovered in two separate courtyards, one man and one woman. The woman also appeared to have hanged herself from a beam, while the man appeared to have committed suicide by poison.

They hurried over to inspect the bodies, and what they found sent a chill through them. Both had been trusted servants who normally attended Shao Dengyun.

What made Shao Dengyun's hair stand on end was that not long ago, the dead woman had served tea to him and Madam Ruan in the office where he handled official business. He did not know whether that had anything to do with Madam Ruan's poisoning, but he could not stop himself from wondering whether there had been anything wrong with what he himself had drunk.

Every sign at the scenes pointed to one conclusion: trusted servants close to their masters had done the killing. No one else could have come into contact with their masters' food and drink.

Shao Dengyun's breathing gradually became as heavy as an ox's. His chest rose and fell rapidly. It seemed he had guessed something! Lin Hu arrived and hurried over. He drew Zhong Yangxu aside beneath a tree and whispered to him. Zhong Yangxu's expression darkened by degrees. He fell silent, realizing that Shao Pingbo had cornered them with a ruthless move.

Slowly, he turned to look at the room where the male servant had killed himself, with people still going in and out. At last he understood why Madam Ruan and her sons had died. Shao Pingbo had made his meaning unmistakable to Dachan Mountain: if everything was going to be destroyed, then they would all be destroyed together. If Shao Pingbo died, Dachan Mountain would also have to bear a price so grievous it could scarcely endure!

"I thought Niu Youdao was ruthless, leaving people no road to live. Who would have imagined this one was even more ruthless? Niu Youdao is sinister and ruthless; this one is vicious and utterly without feeling! Neither of those two is easy prey. Both are men who can turn a hand to clouds and another to rain, and now each of them has chosen Dachan Mountain to contend with. What kind of damned situation is this... Ah! The land brings forth men of talent in every age, and we've run into two at once. It seems we really are old." Zhong Yangxu gave a soft sigh. He had never imagined Shao Pingbo could devise such a desperate stroke to wrest survival from a dead end. It truly was an "ultimate move."

Had Shao Pingbo not revealed it himself as a threat, the thought would never even have occurred to Zhong Yangxu. Yet he could understand it. Shao Pingbo had been forced into an absolute dead end. Otherwise, no matter what, he would never have dared bear the infamy of such an act.

Lin Hu tried asking, "Senior Martial Uncle, what do we do? Do we still act against the Eldest Young Master?"

"Not for now. Keep him under control first. We will ask the sect to discuss the matter and decide." Zhong Yangxu shook his head with a sigh and waved a hand. Shao Pingbo had suddenly reversed the entire situation. He did not dare make this decision alone.

[End of Chapter 221]