Mo Li: What were you villains thinking about all day long?
The Taijing dragon vein never had the threat of going bald, now it did.
——Because Doctor Mo looked at that tree stripped of all pine needles, then looked at him.
Wha, what was it?
Using local materials, would it not work to use pine needles as hidden weapons?
Among people of the Jianghu, the wealthy used copper coins, the poor used stones, Meng Qi’s pouch was even cleaner than his own face.
No no! The sand rat felt that his own face was also very clean, but inevitably suffered from wind and sun exposure, not to mention that silver money was heavy. Having nothing at all allowed even the use of lightness skill with less burden.
“Ahem.”
Qiu Si did not seem as nervous as his attendants.
People like him, the composure at the brink of life and death was not just a forced act, he truly did not fear.
——If he wanted to continue living, he would use every trick he had to escape using all opportunities. If he failed, then there was nothing more to say. Could fearing death prevent it? Qiu Si never did anything useless. His every move carried a strong purpose.
For example, he had just spoken up to stop his attendants from continuing to throw away their lives.
That was of no use and consumed strength. If they kept fighting, after they were all subdued, Qiu Si would have even fewer bargaining chips.
Although in the eyes of others, it seemed like a kind and benevolent act, concerned for the lives of his subordinates.
“What Doctor Mo said was correct, indeed killing me alone would suffice……”
“Mr. Qiu!”
Everyone glared angrily at Meng Qi, especially Yu Heng.
On Yu Heng’s neck, there was a piece of broken iron, and blood kept flowing out. In his hand, he still held a Thunder Fire bomb from Pili Hall that he had yet to throw. His eyes seemed as if they were about to spew fire, yet he could not even speak, because any slight movement would make the wound bleed faster.
Qiu Si wore a blank expression, neither worried about the lives of his subordinates, nor caring about his own life or death.
“Man eventually died, whether sooner or later. To speak frankly to National Master Meng, I had thought of my own time of death long ago……even when I was penniless and crossed the river alone.”
When he said this, that strange feeling became more and more apparent.
Mo Li subconsciously furrowed his brow. As a doctor, he would rather face all kinds of tricky and difficult illnesses than face lunatics.
Compared to those muddled patients who sang and danced all day and hacked around while laughing foolishly, people like Qiu Si were the truly fierce ghosts. Because he knew how to drape a human skin over himself. Even if he occasionally revealed one or two moments of ferocity, some people still firmly believed that the means he used were actually to save the country and its people.
Unfortunately, Mo Li did not want to talk to Qiu Si, but Qiu Si insisted on approaching him.
“Death naturally was not a good thing. No one wanted to die. Doctor Mo should have been clearer about this than anyone else.” Qiu Si spoke slowly, “When a person knew they were about to die, their reactions usually were very interesting, right, Doctor?”
Meng Qi slightly shook his head at Mo Li, signaling Mo Li not to follow this guy’s line of thought.
Compared to the muddle-headed Old Ancestor Qingwu and the ambitious Ayanpuka, Qiu Si truly had a set of skills to beguile people’s hearts.
“……Some hurried to arrange their affairs, some went to settle their grudges, some squandered a thousand pieces of gold. If it was in the Jianghu martial world, many nonexistent treasure maps and secret manuals would appear.” Qiu Si said as if hinting at something, “Normal people would turn into lunatics, enlightened kings would massacre their meritorious subjects. Death was like that clang of gongs and drums on the stage. After it sounded, everything would be unrecognizable. There would be separations, turning on each other, families broken and people dead. How interesting!”
At this moment, a servant saw the hint of impatience hidden in Meng Qi’s expression and hastily shouted: “If you all killed Mr. Qiu, the entire Ning Tai……even the entire Jiangnan would become chaotic.”
“Oh?” Meng Qi said with a tone of dark sarcasm, “So this was your implied meaning? Mr. Qiu very much liked using his own death as a turning point to end the peaceful atmosphere, and then let the grand play begin?”
Qiu Si replied unhurriedly: “I felt ashamed. I was merely curious about what extent a person could achieve while alive, and how many forces a person’s death could stir.”
“Did you think they would avenge you, or did you have some way to control them?” Mo Li asked with disgust.
Qiu Si heard this and laughed loudly, then said calmly, “Of course it was not poison, that set of methods from Jianghu assassins was too crude. I only stirred up many conflicts, and year after year, day after day, fed them with benefits, making them have no choice but to become my chess pieces. Could it be that after overturning the chessboard, these chess pieces would become free? No, they would be thrown into chaos. They would no longer know how to use their brains, nor would they be able to return to their previous lives. Having been raised with such appetites, there was no going back. In order to satisfy their ever-growing greed, they would do anything. Master Meng, Doctor Mo, could you guess how many such chess pieces I had?”
Mo Li listened and felt nauseated.
Meng Qi stood with his hands behind his back and said with a smile, “But such foolish people would soon be bitten down by others, and their power would be replaced. Whether in the Jianghu or the court, there would never be a shortage of people eyeing their positions. Even if you controlled them, controlled their enemies, and even controlled everyone who could stake their chips to vie for profit, this world would still have new heroes and outstanding figures emerging to compete. Ten years ago, you discovered Cheng Jingchuan. How would you know that now in Ningtai City there were not a second and a third Cheng Jingchuan? The fledglings had not yet fully grown their wings, and they were just waiting for the spring thunder to awaken them!”
Qiu Si’s gaze froze, and he said slowly, “The National Master was joking. A fledgling was just a fledgling. Without some tempering, how could they shoulder great responsibilities? Every year there were talented youths who showed their promise, but this mighty current surged on. Without someone to guide them, once a wave passed, no trace remained. Could it be that the National Master placed his hope in such people?”
Meng Qi only smiled silently.
Qiu Si’s pupils narrowed, and he immediately said, “It seemed that the National Master had great confidence in my daughter and my disciple, believing that they could hold the situation steady and act as the guides in the waves of rivers and seas?”
Mo Li lowered his brows, thinking that Qiu Jing might be possible, while Cheng Jingchuan might be just a little lacking. No matter what, having something was better than nothing.
Yu Heng keenly sensed that something was amiss. He did not care about the fatal wound on his neck and suddenly turned around, throwing out the fire thunder.
“Boom!”
The courtyard wall was blown down.
Although the earlier fight was not quiet, the people living in the nearby houses dared not make a sound. It was a troubled time, and no one wanted to be drawn into any turmoil.
But now that gunpowder had been used, that was a different matter. Killing would not necessarily mean climbing over the wall to kill the neighbors, but blowing up a house was like setting a fire. Even the perpetrator himself might not be able to control it.
“Help, someone come!”
Cries of alarm rose unceasingly, and faint hoofbeats immediately came from outside the neighborhood.
The patrol from the city yamen was still on the street and had not left. How could they not come at such chaos?
“Go, hurry!” Yu Heng shouted hoarsely, blood gushing from his wound.
He ignored everything else, brandishing his weapon and charging toward Mo Li.
The surge of internal strength made the blood flow faster. The iron fragment shot out suddenly, and Yu Heng roared, thrusting out the fastest and most cunningly angled sword strike of his life.
——The sword tip was hidden behind the iron fragment. If one tried to block the courtyard gate, one could only retreat to the right, and that sword strike was aimed exactly at the spot after retreating.
Then he stabbed into empty space.
Mo Li did not dodge. He leaped high into the air and kicked the iron fragment flying.
With his powered strike missed, blood spurted from the wound like an arrow. Yu Heng’s body wobbled, and he fell down with his eyes open.
In his gradually blurring final consciousness, he heard others’ voices filled with shock, anger, and grief, but they were not calling his name.
“Mr. Qiu?!”
“No!”
That blood-stained iron fragment embedded itself precisely in Qiu Si’s forehead.
Because Yu Heng suddenly made a violent attempt to break out, some of the attendants were judging escape routes, some were guarding against Meng Qi, and some were listening attentively to the sounds outside the wall. But in just that flash of distraction, the iron fragment originally intended as a surprise weapon against Mo Li was kicked over.
The speed was as fast as lightning. The quickest attendant reached out to block it, but the fragment had already grazed his palm. Now half of his hand was bloody.
It was precisely because of this block that Qiu Si barely remained with one last breath and did not die on the spot.
With blood covering his face, Qiu Si struggled to keep his eyes open, but all he could see was a field of blood-red.
The attendants did not dare to move him. All of them gnashed their teeth in anger.
“Find a doctor, quickly…”
They saw Meng Qi, who remained unmoved, and Mo Li, who was clearly a doctor yet had killed Qiu Si. Immediately, they cried out in despair and fury, brandishing their weapons and charging forward as if to commit suicide.
“Be careful.” Meng Qi hastily utilized his body techniques, darting forward to block them for Mo Li.
Their hatred focused on Mo Li, their eyes bloodshot. Even those not very proficient in medicine knew that having an iron fragment embedded in the center of one’s forehead basically meant there was no saving them.
These people had stayed by Qiu Si’s side for many years, and compared to those driven by greed, they had even less will of their own. They were accustomed to living around Qiu Si, accustomed to obeying every order, and no matter how absurd the order was, they felt it made sense and was beneficial to Ning Tai, to Jiangnan, and to the entire world——those who could not do this, or who did not think this way, could never remain by Qiu Si’s side. Although Qiu Si was a madman, his judgment of people seldom erred.
Shouts of killing shook the heavens. Qiu Si lay on the ground, his whole body cold, his consciousness gradually scattering.
Everything happened too fast. When the iron fragment flew in, he did not even feel pain, only one thought: he had indeed underestimated the strength of top martial experts.
In fact, from the moment Qiu Si rebuked his attendants, he already had a sense of this.
The experts of Fengxing Pavilion could be called first-rate or second-rate in the Jianghu, and Qiu Si had always estimated top experts at ten times their capability. Yet the facts proved that this idea was quite off the mark, just like how Qiu Jing led dozens of Fengxing Pavilion’s good hands to besiege the swordsman Su Li, but still could not stop him. The difference between top martial experts and first-rate experts was not tenfold but a hundredfold. Furthermore, there were distinctions even among such experts. For instance, Su Li was adept at killing, yet his inner strength could not match Meng Qi’s profound depth.
To break through a heavy siege, one should have used different methods for different experts. What a pity……
Qiu Si felt rather regretful.
What he told Meng Qi was certainly not a lie.
Death, he not only did not fear it, he even had some anticipation of it.
If there was hatred, it was directed towards Pili Hall. If not for the imminent invasion of the Heaven-Bestowed King, forcing all sides of Ning Tai to confront the enemy, this chessboard would definitely have been thrown into chaos. Cheng Jingchuan could not keep those below him in check, Qiu Jing could only lead people far away. Under such circumstances, Meng Qi and Mo Li might not have dared to come kill him.
Such heroes, such gentlemen, their weakness lay with the common people.
They refused to support Prince Ning’s uprising, and naturally did not want Ning Tai or even Jiangnan to fall into chaos.
Qiu Si understood the reason why, after Pili Hall’s superfluous action, he became enraged and prepared to withdraw immediately, yet he still ended up one step too late.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Decades of scheming had finally turned into a bubble.
Enough. To die in a foreign land, it was not as if he had accomplished nothing.
Once he died, he would inevitably take many people along with him to the grave.
***
When the patrol yamen arrived, they heard only deathly silence inside, and the courtyard walls were on the verge of collapse.
Testing a glance inside, they saw corpses lying about haphazardly, and the ground was covered in blood.
“Heavens, look at this wall!”
Someone noticed the pine needles on the wall, each embedded three-tenths of their length inside.
Together with knives, swords, and firepowder and such, the leader immediately ordered his men to report the news, while driving people out of the courtyard, not allowing anyone to approach.
About three quarters of an hour later, someone in official robes, riding an official sedan, hurried over in a rage. Stepping through the gate and seeing this scene, he immediately blacked out with shock, almost fainting.
“They were all Mr. Qiu’s attendants, all dead.”
“Where was Mr. Qiu?”
They fearfully ordered a search through the pile of corpses, found no sign of Qiu Si, nor of the attackers.
“Quick, Mr. Qiu was abducted, quickly go find General Cheng, and also……”
That official rapidly rattled off more than a dozen names. At the same time, he noticed all kinds of people peeking around the gate, driven away by the patrol yamen. Suddenly, he realized that this time, real change had come. In the sweltering heat, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Author’s note:
The lunch box was served, only the corpse was taken away.
——————
Qiu Si’s regret was merely that he did not die at the right time, failing to bring about total chaos.
