“Strange, what are you afraid of? Since you have an affair, you can marry her officially in the future. Could it be that your sect master doesn’t like you?” Fang Zhen asked curiously as he munched on his peanuts.
The corners of Lin Song’s mouth twitched as he stammered, “Actually, the Sect Master’s daughter is engaged. Her husband’s family is a big family in Ning Tian Prefecture, and she doesn’t want to get married to him. I wanted to find an opportunity to elope with her… If only the Sect Master knows about the affair, there’s still room for negotiation. However, if it blows up, they’ll become a laughing stock. I’ll definitely have to bear the consequences.”
“Wow, so you’re an adulterer!” Fang Zhen immediately shot him a look of disdain.
Zhang San scratched his head, “Rather, I think they’re in love. It’s a little like what the storyteller said… What’s that again? A scholar and a beauty?”
“I don’t know if he has the moral high ground or not, but this fellow is definitely not a scholar. At most, he’s a gigolo with no ink in his stomach.”
(TL Note: Ink refers to culture, so no ink means that he is someone without culture.)
Zhou Jing clucked his tongue as he spat out a bunch of venomous words.
Lin Song’s face twitched, but he did not dare to refute.
At this moment, Zhang San said curiously, “On this trip to Jiangchun, I wonder if I can see the legendary Perfected Master Windwalker… Young man, you’ve been talking about him on the way. Is that person’s ability real or fake?”
Lin Song perked up and nodded, “Of course it’s true! Everyone in Jiangchun knows that the Perfected Master Windwalker can summon the wind and rain and can even refine pills. He’s the Heavenly Lord Protector of the Thunder Division who has descended to the mortal world to search for the heavenly secrets and cleanse the evil demons!”
On the way, he kept bragging about how the Wu Mountain Sect and Ling Fengzi were old friends. He wanted to intimidate these kidnappers, but it was not very useful.
Guo Haishen and the other Green Forest heroes believed in the weapons in their hands more and were skeptical about Ling Fengzi’s deeds.
It was even more impossible for Zhou Jing to be afraid of him.
“It’s just rumors. How can there be such a method in this world?”
Fang Zhen’s tone was sarcastic. He had never believed these rumors.
After all, this sounded ridiculous. Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed a little too exaggerated.
Zhou Jing glanced at him and said, “That might not be the case. There’s an ancient saying in the martial world that there’s no such thing as an empty title. Since this Perfected Master Windwalker has such a great reputation, he must be capable.”
Fang Zhen was surprised, “Second Brother, do you really believe this nonsense about a Thunder Lord deity descending to the mortal world?”
Zhou Jing shot back, “If you’ve never seen my martial arts, wouldn’t you also think that my rumors are nonsense?”
Fang Zhen was immediately at a loss for words. He muttered, “Second Brother, you’re different. There are always traces of strong martial arts, but such mysterious so-called immortal techniques are mostly just mystifying things…”
At this moment, Lin Song rolled his eyes and said, “Hero, if you want to fight for the number one spot in the world, why don’t you go and meet this Perfected Master Windwalker? If you can defeat such an expert, who in this world can be your match?”
Zhou Jing let out a smile that was not a smile,
“Do you think you’re very smart? Someone as smart as you should enter the palace to serve the Emperor. I’ll castrate you now. Your Sect Master might even be happy to see you and be willing to give you more money.”
“No, no… I still have a use for it.”
Lin Song’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He quickly shut his mouth and lowered his head to eat.
…
On the other side, Guo Haishen and Hong Dingxian easily entered Wenshui County to do a thorough investigation of the officials.
The two of them walked on the street, while Hong Dingxian looked around from time to time.
“Brother Hong, how long has it been since you returned to your hometown?” Guo Haishen asked from the side.
“It’s been at least five to six years.” Hong Dingxian shook his head and sighed, “Things have changed…”
He sighed, but he quickly adjusted his mood and continued to survey around with Guo Haishen.
Hong Dingxian’s uncle and aunt had passed away, and he still had a cousin. However, his cousin had already sold the house and moved to another county city. Now, another stranger lived in the original house.
The nobles who had once been killed by Hong Dingxian on the streets had already fallen from grace. His wife and concubines had all remarried, and his children had squandered their money and sold many of his assets.
However, another large family took the opportunity to make up for the gap and became the new powerhouse of Wenshui County. They hooked up with the county magistrate and did some dirty business of forced buying and selling.
As for the county magistrate and county lieutenant, they were still the same two people. However, according to rumors, the county magistrate would soon be promoted and transferred out of Wenshui County.
It was already normal for the local county magistrate to be corrupt and plunder the people. As long as nothing went wrong, no one in the Imperial Court would care. The people here were already used to it.
It was the same everywhere in this world. Powerful bullies, corrupt officials, and corrupt officials were everywhere. As the saying went, if one wanted to be a submissive citizen, they had to live with them in fear and pray that they would not provoke such a person one day.
As long as they could live without a blade at their necks, even if they were bullied usually, the people here would rather endure it.
The two of them scouted around all the way until the evening.
“We came at the right time. If it was a year or so later, your enemy would have transferred to another place,” Guo Haishen whispered.
“Maybe this is the will of the heavens. They want me to take revenge.”
Hong Dingxian took a deep breath.
The two of them did not delay any longer and quickly left the city. They found Zhou Jing, who was waiting, and told him what had happened.
When Fang Zhen heard this, he said hatefully, “Such a noble landlord. After killing one, another will grow. How hateful!”
Zhou Jing’s expression did not change, “It’s only natural that we can’t kill all these “talents”, but if we encounter them, we’ll kill as many as we can, so long as it’s within our capabilities.”
He quickly developed a plan, before looking at Guo Haishen and Hong Dingxian.
“Brothers, find some fabric and charcoal pens and write down the crimes of this county magistrate and noble. Write a few extra copies.”
“Brother, what do you plan to do?” Hong Dingxian was curious.
Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes as he replied,
“This time, I’m here to avenge my brothers, but killing these people is also ‘enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens’. This is to create a good reason…”
…
The night passed quietly in the dreams of the county citizens.
During the day, the officials arrived at the government office and discovered a terrifying scene. They were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground.
The headless magistrate was sitting on the high platform, blood flowing all over the ground. On the wall behind him were a few words written in blood:
“Killer of dog-officials, Chen Feng!”
The entire city of Wenshui County was alarmed. Then, they realized that not only had the county magistrate died, but the local county lieutenant and the nobles who often ran rampant in the county had also died at night.
Beside the corpse, in the bustling city, and even on the noticeboard of the government, there were rags filled with words, and around those copies were even sprinkled with gold, silver, and jewelry.
The rags recorded the usual evil deeds of the county magistrate and the others. The gold and silver were taken from their houses and thrown on the street for others to take for themselves.
At the end of every rag was the same sentence:
“I swear to kill all the corrupt officials and tyrants in the world!”
Such a huge matter had happened in a small county, and it immediately spread throughout the entire place. Everyone knew about it.
The people were extremely shocked. While they were terrified, they also felt a sense of joy in their hearts when they saw those nobles, who were usually high and mighty, get slaughtered so terribly.
The government office was in chaos. There were officials searching everywhere, but they were like headless flies with no target.
At the same time, Zhou Jing and the others had already left Wenshui County and were swaggering towards Jiangchun.
He had already made up his mind to kill his way over with great fanfare in the name of “killing corrupt officials and slaughtering tyrants”.
Every time he passed by a place, he would get someone to investigate the local corrupt officials. He would then use his increasingly powerful skills to get rid of them and publicize their wrongdoings.
In the beginning, it would naturally cause panic, but as he killed more and more corrupt officials, other than those who should be afraid and those who should be angry, there would gradually be peasants who wished that he would come to their towns and cities to do a ‘cleanse’.
The great cause of rebellion needed fertilizer to grow. Although he could not cause any trouble for the time being, he could already create momentum indirectly to attract the anger of the people and create a situation.
The Great Xia Dynasty had lasted for nearly 200 years, and the conflict was becoming more and more intense.
Those who were powerless could only endure everything. They were angry but did not dare to say anything. When an external force that could break the situation appeared, many people did not reject it and even hoped that someone would vent on their behalf.
Although their family still remained poor and their lives had not improved, they would still gloat over those who usually rode on top of them getting retribution.
Those who were poor or even had nothing dared to risk their lives the most because they had nothing to lose. The moment they obtained something, in order to prevent it from being snatched away, they would retaliate fiercely. This was also the most direct source of rebellion.
He needed the support of such groups to start things up. The situation was still immature, but he could already try to obtain some initial support.
A sharpening of the blade would not delay the cutting of firewood. On the way to travel and challenge experts, he could further become famous for exacting “justice on behalf of the heavens”.