Chapter 49: Kill the Villains!

At dawn, only half the sun had poked its head above the horizon. It was not yet time for the roosters to crow, and the whole of Tiger Head City remained shrouded in cold mist.

The stone steps were bitterly cold.

The Blind Man Bei knelt on one knee at the front.

Behind him, in order, were Liang Cheng, A’Ming, Xue San, and Fan Li.

All five knelt there neatly on one knee.

At that moment, Zheng Fan, sleeping inside, groggily opened his eyes. As though sensing something, he did not pull the bell cord. Instead, he simply got out of bed and walked to the door.

“Master, we’re setting out this morning. We didn’t want to disturb your rest, but proper etiquette must still be observed.”

The Blind Man Bei’s voice was very soft.

When he finished, the Blind Man Bei and the four kneeling behind him lowered their heads together.

“May Master remain in good health!”

The farewell rite completed, everyone rose and departed.

From beginning to end, Zheng Fan stood behind the door without opening it to say goodbye.

Only after the sound of their footsteps faded did Zheng Fan return to bed, pull the blankets over himself, and go back to sleep.

The Blind Man Bei and the other four had barely left the inner courtyard when they encountered Feng Siniang leaning against the railing.

She smiled and asked, “What, finished saying goodbye to Master?”

Xue San looked at the Blind Man in confusion.

“Blind Man, didn’t you say you could wake Master up naturally?

“I was waiting for him to open the door and come out to say goodbye. I had a whole stomachful of touching lines prepared.”

In truth, all of them had prepared speeches, waiting for Zheng Fan to open the door so they could “pour out their hearts” to one another.

The Blind Man Bei shook his head.

“Master was awake.”

“He was?” Xue San did not understand.

“But Master never opened the door,” the Blind Man Bei continued.

“Why? Afraid he’d get emotional and feel embarrassed? Makes sense. We’re all grown men. Hard to come out and get sentimental.

“What a shame, though. I prepared for so long. Fan Li spent half the night memorizing his lines.”

Feng Siniang gave several soft chuckles.

“Master has been cultivating hard these past few days. He’s exhausted. Normally he sleeps until late morning, goes to the yamen to show his face, then comes back to keep cultivating.

“You think Master is stupid?

“He suddenly wakes up for no reason before dawn, then just happens to find all of you kneeling outside his door whispering your farewells?”

The Blind Man Bei nodded.

“That’s true.”

“Heh. That’s damned awkward.” Xue San scratched his head. “Master figured out we were calculating him and setting up a routine.”

Sigh.

He had originally planned to squeeze in one more round of bootlicking before leaving.

The Blind Man Bei did not care.

“It’s fine. When someone in a superior position sees through the petty schemes of his subordinates, it feels pretty good too. Like everything is under his control.”

“Whoa. That makes a lot of sense.

“So this still counts as a deeper level of bootlicking?”

“That’s enough. We really should leave.

“A’Ming, Fan Li, Liang Cheng—you three be careful. Do not act recklessly. Even after you find the target, wait longer if necessary. You absolutely must wait until Master enters the grades.”

A’Ming nodded.

“Understood.”

“Fourth Lady, I’ll leave the household to you.”

Feng Siniang gave a disdainful “tch.”

After hesitating, the Blind Man Bei still chose not to tell Feng Siniang or the others about the killing intent that had once erupted from the Demon Pill.

Whether they knew or not would make no difference to the situation.

First, the relationship between Master and the Demon Pill was not something they could interfere with or sow discord in.

Second, given the Demon Pill’s abilities, if he truly intended to become the director of the orphanage they were preparing to establish after this trip, who could possibly stop him?

It was like a game.

You knew there was a bug that might cause the entire game to collapse.

But until the game actually crashed, everyone still had to keep doing what they were supposed to do.

“Let’s go. On the road!”

The Blind Man Bei waved an arm.

Outside the residence, the Cart Gang had already finished preparing. More than twenty large wagons stood in a line.

The Cart Gang’s current leader, that famously filial son Xiao Yibo, had been waiting beside an elegant carriage for quite some time.

When the Blind Man Bei approached, Xiao Yibo promptly knelt beside the carriage and turned himself into a human footstool.

A smile appeared at the corner of the Blind Man Bei’s mouth. He did not bother with hypocritical politeness and stepped on Xiao Yibo’s back to board the carriage.

Still kneeling on the ground, Xiao Yibo turned toward Xue San, waiting for him to board as well.

“I’m riding a horse,” Xue San said.

Xiao Yibo immediately scrambled up, led over his own horse, and presented it to Xue San.

“Hahaha.”

Xue San laughed loudly and swung himself into the saddle.

Inside the carriage, the Blind Man Bei lifted the curtain.

“Let’s depart. We’ll rest at Mei Clan Fort tonight.”

With that, he lowered the curtain and sat back down.

Two women sat inside.

One was dressed as a married woman, though she was still very young—a young wife.

The other looked perhaps sixteen or seventeen, pretty-faced and slightly bashful.

There was a small stove inside the carriage.

The younger woman was warming wine.

The older one came over of her own accord to help the Blind Man Bei remove his outer robe, then began massaging his back.

“You two?” the Blind Man Bei asked.

“Reporting to Mr. Bei, this concubine is Xiao Lang’s principal wife.”

“This servant is Xiao Lang’s secondary wife.”

“Xiao Lang feared the journey would be tiring for you, sir, so he asked the two of us to attend to your daily needs on the road.”

Hearing this, the Blind Man Bei nodded.

He said nothing more.

He merely accepted the cup of wine calmly while enjoying the massage.

...

Tiger Head City was not actually far from Tuman City. On horseback, one could make the trip in a single day.

But an entire wagon train was naturally much slower than a rider.

Moreover, this shipment consisted entirely of bottles and jars. There was no way they could rush.

So they could not reach Tuman City in a single day.

Between Tiger Head City and Tuman City, however, stood Mei Clan Fort, a famous stop along this route.

Beifeng Commandery was densely packed with fortified manors.

A fortified manor was, essentially, a small fortress.

Although nearly a century had passed since the desert barbarians and the State of Yan last fought a large-scale war, smaller clashes had never ceased.

As a result, the people living along Beifeng Commandery’s frontier naturally clustered together and built fortified settlements.

Whenever cavalry from a desert tribe rode south to raid, they relied on their fortifications to resist while waiting for the court to send troops.

A smaller fortified manor might contain only a few hundred people.

A larger one might hold more than ten thousand.

Naturally, even the large ones could not compare in scale to true cities.

They were scattered densely throughout Beifeng Commandery like iron spikes driven upside down into the earth.

Unless the desert barbarians assembled a major force, they would only smash themselves bloody against them, because every one of these fortified manors maintained its own armed force.

And once the barbarians gathered enough strength—or showed signs of doing so—the Zhenbei Army naturally had a target to strike.

Mei Clan Fort was not large.

Its population numbered only a little over a thousand, with fewer than two hundred able-bodied armed men.

But its location was excellent, and its current lord possessed considerable business sense.

He had simply transformed his family fort into a highway service station on the official road between Tuman City and Tiger Head City.

As a result, life at Mei Clan Fort was fairly comfortable.

By dusk, the caravan finally reached the fort.

People from Mei Clan Fort naturally came out to receive them, providing meals and lodging for the travelers as well as fodder for the mules and horses.

As long as you had money, you could enjoy practically any service here.

Mei Clan Fort even had an establishment in Feng Siniang’s old line of work.

Xiao Yibo once again came forward and, in full view of everyone, acted as the Blind Man Bei’s human footstool, allowing the Blind Man to step on his back as he descended from the carriage.

If the age difference between them had been greater, onlookers might have assumed he was serving his blind old father.

“Mr. Bei, this humble one has already arranged a first-class guest room in Mei Clan Fort. Please rest there.”

The Blind Man Bei nodded to show he understood.

Xiao Yibo immediately turned toward his wife and concubine.

“Why aren’t you attending Mr. Bei back to his room?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Xue San stood nearby, spinning his dagger around one finger as he silently watched the Blind Man Bei enjoy the blessings of two beauties.

Xiao Yibo then approached Xue San and spoke with great respect.

“This humble one has already reserved the top courtesan in Mei Clan Fort for Third Sir. Please enjoy yourself.”

Xue San nodded.

Then jumped up and patted Xiao Yibo on the shoulder.

He was extremely satisfied.

Fuck.

At last someone had discovered his special talents.

After the Blind Man Bei and Xue San went inside, Xiao Yibo turned and began instructing his men to settle the cargo and make the necessary arrangements.

...

The guest room was naturally excellent.

In a fortified manor out in the wilderness, there was somehow a small building styled after the water towns south of the Yangtze, and even the room’s furnishings carried an elegant scholarly air.

The Blind Man Bei sat beside the bed.

Xiao Yibo’s wife and concubine exchanged glances.

Just as the two women gritted their teeth—one preparing to close the door, the other to make the bed a short figure beat them to it and walked inside.

“Yo. Getting ready for bed already?”

Xue San tilted his head and teased.

“Let’s eat together,” the Blind Man Bei said.

“Sure.”

Someone from Mei Clan Fort happened to deliver dinner.

The food was quite good and delicately prepared.

At noon, everyone had barely eaten some dry rations, so dinner tasted especially satisfying.

The wife and concubine stood beside them, one attending each man, pouring wine and placing food into their bowls.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Xue San yawned.

He pointed at the two women.

“Blind Man, you can’t hog everything.

“You picking the older one or the younger one?”

The Blind Man Bei said blandly, “Only children make choices.”

“Fuck! You can’t be that greedy. Are you trying to force me into a bayonet duel with you?”

“Isn’t there a top courtesan waiting in your room?”

“A brothel girl doesn’t have this kind of flavor, hehehe.”

“I surrender.”

The Blind Man Bei turned toward the two women.

“Go wash yourselves. Come back later.”

After hearing the earlier conversation, both women had gone somewhat pale.

Still, they nodded and left together.

“Hurry up! Don’t dawdle. Your lord can’t wait!”

Xue San’s urging drifted from the room behind them, mixed with his lecherous laughter.

“Baaahahaha!”

...

Creak...

The door to a great hall opened.

A servant of Mei Clan Fort entered.

At that moment, more than a hundred people who had been eating inside all stopped moving at once.

Some wore armor.

Others were bare-chested.

Weapons lay beside all of them.

Every single one looked tough and battle-hardened.

At the main table, Xiao Yibo sat beside an elderly man dressed in expensive robes.

The servant who had just entered walked to the old man, bent down, and whispered, “Fort Lord, they ate everything.

“They’ve just sent the two young madams off to bathe before attending them in bed.

“Looks like... looks like they plan to play together.”

As he spoke, the servant deliberately glanced toward Xiao Yibo sitting beside his Fort Lord.

The men at the surrounding tables also looked at Xiao Yibo.

Many wore smiles.

Hehehe...

The old man put down the bottle in his hand.

He leaned back slightly.

Then slowly opened his eyes and sighed.

“So this is perfume?

“It truly is good stuff.

“What’s inside this bottle isn’t water at all.

“It’s clearly gold.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yibo immediately rose from the table.

He knelt before the old man.

“Uncle, please avenge my father!

“As long as Uncle helps this nephew personally kill those two villains, not only will this entire shipment belong to you, even the perfume formula will be yours!”

The old man reached out to help Xiao Yibo up.

“Aiya, aiya, dear nephew, why go this far?

“Our two families have been friends for generations.

“Your father was murdered by treacherous men. Helping you avenge him is something my Mei Clan Fort should do to begin with.

“Why speak of payment?

“What kind of man do you take me, Mei Wannian, for?”

“This junior would not dare.

“Right now, all this junior wants is revenge.

“I truly have no one to rely upon but Uncle.”

“That is only proper.

“Villains like these are enemies everyone has the right to execute!”

After saying this, Mei Wannian could not help reaching out and stroking the perfume bottle again.

Xiao Yibo continued, “Uncle must be careful.

“Don’t underestimate those two just because one is blind and the other is short.

“Neither is easy to deal with.

“Otherwise my father... my father wouldn’t have...

“Wuwuwu...”

“Dear nephew, rest assured.

“Didn’t you just hear?

“They’ve already eaten the food I prepared.

“Heh.

“In a moment, even if both of them are graded experts—even if they’re Seventh or Eighth Grade powerhouses—they’ll still die!

“It’s only... a pity about those two beauties of yours.”

Xiao Yibo immediately shook his head.

“Two filthy sluts who’ve already been sullied.

“Death will make them clean again.

“There’s nothing to regret.

“A true man need never fear lacking a wife.”

“Exactly.

“It’s best that you can see things clearly.

“The hatred of a father’s murder cannot coexist beneath the same sky.

“Dear nephew, just watch.

“I’ll have my men avenge you right now!”

Smack!

Mei Wannian slapped the table before him.

As Fort Lord, he barked, “Everyone eaten your fill?”

“We have!”

“Just waiting for the Fort Lord’s order!”

“Yes!”

“We’ve been waiting!”

Mei Wannian nodded.

“Good.

“Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

“They may have been poisoned, but we must not lower our guard.

“Gentlemen—tonight, follow me and kill the villains!”

Xiao Yibo seemed infected by the atmosphere.

He stood, drew the saber at his waist, and roared, “Kill the villains!”

(End of Chapter)