Chapter 86: The Zheng Family Tradition

One measure of whether a boss is successful is whether the underlings beneath him are willing to take bullets for him.

When disaster comes, how many bosses watch the tree fall and the monkeys scatter?

Forget taking bullets for you.

If your subordinates do not stab you in the back, that already counts as extraordinarily righteous.

Of course, there is a shortcut.

To phrase it like an advertisement:

Want to become a qualified and successful boss in record time?

Then what are you waiting for?

Find yourself a subordinate with vampire blood!

Zheng Fan felt he had gone straight to the finish line.

A’Ming had taken the initiative to shield him.

Of course, perhaps because A’Ming was a vampire, A’Ming knew he would not die.

Zheng Fan knew he would not die either.

So the emotional atmosphere of a loyal subordinate taking bullets for his boss was somewhat lacking.

On the bright side, this meant they could skip several melodramatic steps.

For example, A’Ming lying in Zheng Fan’s arms while Zheng Fan shouted:

“Why were you so stupid?

“Why were you so stupid?”

Of course, what had just been fired here were fine needles, not bullets.

It looked more like the kind of thing Zheng Fan knew as Torrential Pear Blossom Needles.

An omnidirectional spray.

Indiscriminate coverage.

High-speed firing.

Inside the mourning hall, apart from a few exceptionally lucky people, almost everyone had been struck.

At that moment, battle cries suddenly erupted outside.

The Daoist priests who had previously sat there quietly chanting scriptures abruptly drew weapons and charged directly into the mourning hall.

The sight struck Zheng Fan as absurd.

This was Southwatch City.

The first major southern frontier city of the State of Yan.

More than that this was the residence of its Garrison Commander.

Yet inside the Garrison Commander’s own residence, first an assassin had hidden inside the coffin.

Then an entire group of assassins came charging in.

It was... too absurd.

Perhaps if one tore away reality’s thin disguise of “reasonableness,” one would discover that absurdity was reality’s true essence.

The Daoist priests had previously looked detached from worldly affairs, with the air of immortal sages.

Now, every one of them looked murderous and ferocious.

Weapons in hand, they hacked wildly at the guests who had come to offer condolences.

Blood sprayed across the entrance of the mourning hall.

Screams rang out continuously.

The funniest part was that because of the Garrison Commander’s own arrangements, four separate positions had been set around the coffin for people to offer respects.

Naturally, the main entrance had been reserved for the truly important lords and dignitaries.

People such as the Prefect and the group of local clan patriarchs around him.

Xiao Dahai’s widow, mourning sons, and descendants were also gathered mainly there.

As for people like Zheng Fan and Zuo Jiqian, they could only offer incense at the other three sides.

So when the assassins charged in from outside, the first people they hacked apart were precisely those genuine dignitaries.

Zheng Fan even saw one Daoist suddenly erupt in red light.

With a single slash, he severed the Prefect’s perfectly good head.

Heaven have mercy.

Zheng Fan had only just taken office as Commander of Green Willow Fortress.

Strictly speaking, the civil and military chains of authority were separate, but this Prefect could still be counted as one of Zheng Fan’s superiors.

Yet before Zheng Fan had even learned the man’s surname properly, he was gone...

From inside the coffin sprang a figure wearing official robes.

Those should have been the burial clothes prepared for the Garrison Commander.

Like the Qing-dynasty zombies of later fiction, the dead were generally buried wearing what their families considered their most dignified clothing.

But the figure springing from the coffin was clearly not a man.

Beneath the official robe were not boots, but a pair of red embroidered shoes.

Zheng Fan looked upward again and saw the assassin’s face.

Almond-shaped eyes.

A pointed oval face.

An icy gaze.

After flipping out of the coffin, she did not hesitate for even an instant.

She rushed directly toward the main entrance and joined the Daoists who were obviously her companions.

“Go!”

The woman gave the order herself.

Clearly, her objective had already been accomplished.

A’Ming made to stand.

Zheng Fan pressed one hand onto his shoulder.

“The needles might be poisoned.

“Control the poison first.”

There was no need to show off here.

Besides, the assassins were already preparing to withdraw.

A’Ming hesitated briefly.

Then nodded.

He began controlling the blood inside his body, isolating whatever blood near the wounds might have been contaminated by poison.

He was a vampire, yes.

But there was one point in which he could not compare with Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng was a zombie.

He himself was essentially a giant toxin.

Poison did not frighten him.

A’Ming, however, could be poisoned.

At least the current A’Ming was nowhere near immune to every poison.

Zheng Fan chose to keep his head down.

He was not close to the dead Garrison Commander.

This world had no portrait photographs.

And the painted likeness hanging nearby looked absurdly abstract...

In short, Zheng Fan had never even met Xiao Dahai.

He did not even know the Prefect’s surname.

He genuinely had no motivation to jump out now, avenge them, and block the assassins’ escape.

It was an extremely selfish mindset.

But Zheng Fan made the decision without hesitation.

After the Daoists butchered people around the main entrance for a while, the woman gave an order.

They quickly rushed back outside.

Plenty of people had been hacked to death inside the mourning hall.

But most still lay on the ground crying in pain, their expressions twisted in agony.

Only after A’Ming signaled that he had brought the poison under control did Zheng Fan turn toward Zuo Jiqian, who had previously stood beside him.

Zuo Jiqian was also lying on the ground.

But when Zheng Fan looked over, he discovered that the man merely held one hand over his chest while his eyes remained alert, carefully sweeping his surroundings.

That tiny detail alone was enough for Zheng Fan to confirm:

This bastard had not been poisoned!

More than that the bastard had made exactly the same decision Zheng Fan had.

He too was pretending to cower.

Commander was one rank above Lieutenant Commander.

It already stood at the peak of the middle-ranking officer corps.

Above that came Roaming Generals.

And Zuo Jiqian had been born into the Zuo Clan of Huwei.

His cultivation resources from childhood would undoubtedly have been excellent.

His natural talent could not have been poor either.

Otherwise, his clan would never have pushed him out to take office.

That meant at minimum the man was a Martial Artist.

Whether he had entered the grades, Zheng Fan did not know.

But he was definitely no harmless fellow.

As expected sons of aristocratic clans were all unreliable paper tigers.

While despising other people, Zheng Fan conveniently exempted himself under the Basic Law.

The Daoists quickly fought their way outside.

They seemed to encounter the Garrison Commander’s guards.

Very soon, the sounds of fighting erupted again beyond the hall.

No matter what this was still the Garrison Commander’s residence.

This was still Southwatch City.

The assassins might have appeared suddenly and caught everyone unprepared, but this was still the territory of The Great Yan Dynasty.

Earlier, Zheng Fan had lowered his head to avoid becoming the bird that stuck its neck out.

But now, it was time to collect heads and collect merit.

“You stay here and don’t move.

“I’m going outside to pick up kills.”

After saying that, Zheng Fan slowly rose.

Zuo Jiqian rose at the same time.

The eyes of the two tremendous cowards and tremendous schemers met across the short distance.

With perfect tacit understanding, they walked together toward the mourning hall exit.

“Brother Zheng.

“I truly envy you for having such a loyal subordinate.”

Clearly, A’Ming taking the initiative to shield Zheng Fan from the needles had been seen by Zuo Jiqian.

What Zuo Jiqian did not know was that A’Ming would not die from a few needles.

“I also admire Brother Zuo’s extraordinary luck.”

“I’m wearing soft armor.

“Once this matter is over, I’ll send Brother Zheng a set.

“Soft armor is rather useless on an actual battlefield, but for guarding against small hidden tricks like this in daily life, it works extremely well.”

“Then I thank Brother Zuo.”

“You’re too polite.”

In truth, Zheng Fan was thinking that the instant he got back, he would have Siniang weave him a set of soft armor.

The two hurried forward.

In the front courtyard, the Daoists were already fighting the Garrison Commander’s guards.

Every one of those priests moved with exceptional skill.

The guards were actually unable to match them for a time.

Despite possessing greater numbers, they were being beaten backward step by step.

This gave Zheng Fan an even deeper understanding of the quality of Yan’s southern frontier.

Something like this could never happen inside the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Sure enough adversity bred survival, comfort bred decline.

That was an objective law wherever one went.

“Brother Zheng.

“After you.”

“Brother Zuo is too polite.

“You first.”

“You first.”

“No, you.”

Just then, one Daoist hacked down the guard in front of him.

In order to evade another guard’s blade, he retreated several steps and happened to back directly in front of Zheng Fan and Zuo Jiqian.

Gray radiance immediately erupted from Zuo Jiqian’s body.

Black radiance surged from Zheng Fan’s body at the same time.

The two men who had just been politely yielding the way to one another did not exchange another word.

They charged the same target together.

The Daoist sensed danger behind him.

He turned and saw two glowing figures rushing straight at him.

Shock appeared in his eyes.

Zheng Fan’s movement deliberately lagged by half a step.

That allowed Zuo Jiqian to move half a body ahead.

The Daoist immediately slashed toward Zuo Jiqian.

Zuo Jiqian released a low shout.

He clapped both hands together and forcibly trapped the blade between his palms.

A genuine bare-handed blade catch!

Inside, Zheng Fan silently gave Zuo Jiqian a thumbs-up.

Then he stepped forward.

While the Daoist’s weapon remained trapped, Zheng Fan smashed a fist directly into the man’s neck.

“AH!”

CRACK!

With the strength and speed granted by circulating qi and blood, plus the damage boost from Zheng Fan’s shouting, the punch smashed the Daoist’s neck crooked.

“Brother Zheng.

“Excellent skill.”

Zuo Jiqian picked up the Daoist’s saber and continued charging forward.

Zheng Fan had no interest in imitating Zuo Jiqian’s bare-handed blade-catching routine.

Instead, he bent beside the corpse of a guard, picked up the dead man’s saber, and began moving around the edges of the fighting.

Although in ordinary times he constantly found opportunities to “guide” Liang Cheng in martial arts, since awakening, Zheng Fan had encountered very few situations where he genuinely needed to fight for himself.

No matter how many techniques one practiced, without battlefield application, they were merely decorative flourishes.

So Zheng Fan possessed a very accurate understanding of his own level.

He was taking advantage of being a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist.

He simply followed behind Zuo Jiqian and specialized in finishing Zuo’s targets.

Zuo Jiqian, by contrast, wielded his great saber with howling force.

But Zheng Fan’s style of “cooperation” left him deeply frustrated.

What could he do about it?

Turn around and cut Zheng Fan instead?

With Zheng Fan and Zuo Jiqian joining the fight, the guards finally found a backbone.

Their morale recovered considerably.

Combined with their existing advantage in numbers, they gradually reversed the situation and began forcing the assassins back.

Outside the Garrison Commander’s residence, squads of armored soldiers were rushing toward them at full speed.

These were City Defense troops.

The instant they heard the disturbance, they had assembled and hurried over as reinforcements.

Zheng Fan had just cut down his third Daoist and was preparing to withdraw his saber and slip back behind Zuo Jiqian when he saw a figure suddenly dart into a covered corridor.

That corridor led toward the residence’s garden and rear courtyards.

Wrapped around the figure’s waist was a human head.

It was unmistakably the Prefect’s head!

“Thief!

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

A big fish!

Zuo Jiqian roared and immediately chased after him.

Zheng Fan stopped hiding in the weeds as well.

There were times to cower.

But when it was time to fight for merit, one absolutely could not hesitate!

Zheng Fan had awakened only a few months ago and already climbed to his current position.

There was no special secret.

He was simply good at stealing merit!

Zuo Jiqian ran ahead.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Zheng Fan chasing in as well.

He gritted his teeth and accelerated again.

But just as he passed a pavilion the Daoist’s figure suddenly burst backward from a flowerbed beside him.

The saber came directly down at Zuo Jiqian’s head.

Zuo Jiqian reacted extremely quickly.

He raised his saber.

Rather than retreating, he stepped forward.

He used the block itself to force open space, intending to knock the opponent away and create room for his own counterattack.

A son of an aristocratic clan possessed generations of martial inheritance.

In terms of practical fighting technique, this one sequence already left a grass-roots fighter like Zheng Fan several streets behind.

CLANG!

The blades collided.

A familiar scene.

A familiar human head.

Zheng Fan once again arriving conveniently half a step late immediately circled around behind.

He intended to use the opening to steal the head of this big fish.

At the sight, Zuo Jiqian’s eyes nearly split with rage.

At the crucial moment of fighting over merit, nobody could maintain so-called inner peace.

Whoever killed the leader of these Daoists would later have the merit record written as:

“So-and-so led the counterattack and killed the assassin.”

The other man no matter how much he contributed would be reduced to one of the vague “others” in the line:

“and others assisted.”

But at that exact moment a whistling sound erupted.

From the Daoist’s chest, a streak of radiant light suddenly shot forth.

“Qi Refiner!”

Zuo Jiqian cried out in alarm.

But the distance was simply too short.

Zuo Jiqian managed to pull his body back half a step, barely avoiding a vital point.

But the streak of light still pierced straight through his left arm.

And because Zuo Jiqian retreated, his defensive structure immediately opened.

The Daoist’s saber swept mercilessly across Zuo Jiqian’s chest.

BANG!

Zuo Jiqian was sent crashing to the ground.

Fortunately, he wore soft armor across his chest.

Although even the armor tore, it still absorbed most of the force from the slash.

“Brother Zheng!

“Careful!”

Lying on the ground, Zuo Jiqian could only shout that warning.

Earlier, he had hated Zheng Fan’s shameless head-stealing methods beyond measure.

But now, he was genuinely terrified Zheng Fan would rush up and get killed by the Daoist too.

If that happened, with reinforcements not yet here, the Daoist would have more than enough time to calmly finish Zuo Jiqian off before escaping.

How could Zheng Fan not be anxious?

He had been stealing kills so happily.

Then suddenly the fellow tanking all the hatred in front of him had been flipped over.

For a moment, Zheng Fan genuinely did not know how to continue.

But an arrow once loosed could not be recalled.

Zheng Fan could only keep going.

He roared:

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

And slashed at the Daoist.

The Daoist had only just knocked Zuo Jiqian down.

He had consumed considerable strength as well.

Zheng Fan came in aggressively and gave him no chance to recover his breathing.

At the opening exchange, Zheng Fan actually forced him into an extremely awkward defense.

But after several clashes, although the Daoist still appeared to be passively blocking, he quickly discovered something.

The opponent before him possessed the qi-and-blood strength of a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist, but his actual combat experience was plainly immature.

Indeed.

Any ordinary Ninth-Grade Martial Artist, even an extraordinary genius, would have reached that level through gradual tempering.

Zheng Fan?

He had graduated from a crash course.

To accelerate his advancement, Liang Cheng’s fingernails and Siniang’s hands had both been employed.

They had practically used every possible method.

This was the downside of rapid cultivation.

Without years of accumulated practice and tempering, even if someone handed Zheng Fan a copy of the *Sunflower Manual*, he still might not understand its true profundities.

The Daoist twisted his saber.

He forcibly deflected Zheng Fan’s next slash and opened a gap in Zheng Fan’s guard.

BUZZ!

The streak of radiant light appeared again.

It shot directly toward Zheng Fan’s throat.

This Daoist was cultivating both the Martial Path and the way of the Qi Refiner!

Zheng Fan saw the streak.

But he no longer had time to dodge.

The distance was simply too close.

Too close.

The shadow of death instantly covered Zheng Fan’s heart.

Zuo Jiqian, lying nearby, saw the streak fly out and despair filled his face.

Finished.

Finished.

Everything was finished.

At that moment, Zuo Jiqian could not help regretting his own greed for merit.

Why had he advanced so recklessly?

If he had waited for the residence guards to follow, or for the City Defense troops outside to enter, things could never have reached this point.

Perhaps they would have failed to catch this big fish.

But at the very least he would not have thrown his life away here.

Then, at the critical instant—

“Gurgle, gurgle...”

BUZZ!

A black stone tore directly through Zheng Fan’s clothing from inside his pocket.

BANG!

The ancient-looking stone collided with the streak of light.

The radiant object proved to be a dagger engraved with talismanic patterns.

The instant they struck one another the dagger snapped apart.

It could not withstand even a single exchange against the stone!

The Daoist was horrified.

No wonder this Martial Artist’s close-combat skill had seemed so immature.

The man before him just like himself was cultivating both martial arts and Qi Refinement!

But that was not all.

After smashing the radiant dagger apart, the stone showed no sign of satisfaction.

It flew directly toward the Daoist himself.

What the Daoist had just done to Zuo Jiqian was now essentially being replayed from the beginning.

Only—

Zuo Jiqian had reacted half a step in advance.

And he had been wearing soft armor.

This Daoist was not so fortunate.

Because the stone was aimed directly at his forehead.

SMACK!

The Daoist’s head was smashed apart by the stone.

Having escaped death, Zheng Fan released a long breath.

Then he smiled.

“Son.”

Zuo Jiqian’s mouth slowly opened.

His eyes were filled entirely with shock.

As expected... of someone from the Li Clan.

The residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei might have few descendants, but that did not mean it lacked talented people!

“Brother Zheng.

“What methods...”

Before Zuo Jiqian could finish an even more astonishing scene appeared.

After smashing the Daoist’s head apart, the stone made a circle through the air.

Then, in the next instant it flew directly toward Zheng Fan’s head!

Within the stone boiled an extraordinarily powerful sense of resentment and humiliation.

Somewhere in the unseen it almost seemed possible to see the face of a resentful infant.

A father this useless what was the point of keeping him alive?

Better to kill him.

“...” Zheng Fan.

(End of Chapter)