Conspiracies

On our way home, Lan Bei Er was brooding while I ran through several plans in my mind. My wife stared at me in concern.

"Are you really able to hunt a Ruby Rhino and gets its horn? You're not at that level yet, are you? I know you're strong, but…"

"Don't worry, I will figure something out. Besides, there's no time limit, so I can also just increase my strength before I look for the Ruby Rhino."

"That's easier said than done. I heard that it's very difficult for an Innate Realm cultivator to make breakthroughs and raise their levels."

"You don't know the half of it," I muttered, remembering that I was stuck in mid-Innate Realm for what seemed like ages now. Well, with a bit more hard work and lots of perseverance, I was confident of breaking through eventually, but even without a time limit, it wasn't as if I could put this task off forever. Unfortunately, there were no shortcuts in life. I wasn't going to magically find some spirit pill or elixir to help me breakthrough like in those cultivation stories. And I didn't trust such drugs anyway.

The White Herb Sect had it right, though. Traditional herbs and medicine that supplemented cultivators' training through the long term instead of instant gratification tended to not have any side effects.

The problem was…how long was long term until they finally got impatient and demanded for results? Also, thanks to Yao Guai, my place in White Herb Sect was not exactly official. Technically, I was supposed to seal my place in the White Herb Sect by collecting the horn of the Ruby Rhino. Until I achieved that, I was sort of in limbo.

I would rather not postpone the task when my position was still so precarious.

"Hmm, what about the other sects?" I wondered to myself if it was a bad idea to go all in on the White Herb Sect. I had the option of taking the trials for the other sects, such as Elemental Mountain Sect or Astral Star Sect, but in the end I didn't. I had thought it would be better to just stick to White Herb Sect because my wife was there, and there were certain advantages to being a son-in-law of both the Lan family and the White Herb Sect. But I was risking quite a bit.

Well, I was sure I would find a way to get the Ruby Rhino's horn. I didn't actually need to slay the poor Ruby Rhino, just take its horn. Obviously, the Ruby Rhino wasn't going to simply give up its horn without a fight, so I probably needed the strength to defeat it anyway. The question was…how?

Unfortunately, I wasn't given much time to think about it. Before we took more than a few steps toward the direction of our home, a mob showed up in front of us.

"You must be Hei Ye!" A muscular guy with scars all over his grizzled face and broad body said, resting a machete over his shoulder, which was a mass of scar tissue. He grinned. "Sorry, but we've been hired to beat you up."

"…why?"

"Who knows? Seems like you offended someone you can't afford to offend. That's all I can say."

"Stay back, Bei Er," I told my wife. She nodded and took a few steps back. A few of the thugs licked their lips and leered at her.

"Oh, what a beautiful woman."

"I want her."

"We'll take her after we beat up her husband."

"Why don't we just kill him? I know the client said to break all of his limbs, but if we get rid of him, the woman's all ours!"

"Fool! We should rape her in front of him! I can't wait to see his face when we do that! Keep him alive if possible!"

Why was I not surprised by the filth coming out of their mouths?

Pushing my glasses up my nose, I waited for them to come at me. They didn't disappoint – the first row of guys rushed toward me, swinging their machetes and knives. There was no technique or finesse to their movements – they were street fighters, having grown up in the slums and survived the most vicious of fighting. They hadn't actually received any formal sort of training or learn any orthodox martial arts. They probably relied on dirty tactics and the like.

Nonetheless, their cultivation levels seem decent. A lot of Foundation Establishment Stage, with a couple of Core Formation Stage dudes. Pretty impressive for a bunch of self-taught people.

The first guy swung his machete, but I stepped to the side to dodge the whistling blade.

"You…!"

I didn't even bother to draw my Abyssal Edge or respond to the guy's outrage. What, did he think I was going to simply stand there and let him slash me? Trying not to roll my eyes, I rammed my elbow into his chest, breaking his ribs and causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Even before my first victim hit the ground, I ducked under a second machete and kicked him in the knee. The poor guy howled as I broke the bones in his leg, which then buckled. As he fell into a kneeling posture, I spun around and kicked him in the head, sending him flying.

Then I slid to the side to avoid two knives that came from each flank. After the knives missed, I stepped forward and punched them in the faces with both hands, breaking their noses. Their heads snapped back, but I was already pivoting on my leg and kicking them.

No fancy stuff, no cultivation techniques. If my opponents didn't use them, I wouldn't as well.

"Isn't he supposed to be trash?!" One of the thugs yelled, unable to believe his eyes. Then his vision exploded when I smacked him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground. "How is he a fraud?!"

"The fucker lied to us!" Another one bellowed. I already had my suspicions as to who hired them, but that just confirmed it. There were only a couple of people who would insist that I was trash. Either Jian Shen or Yao Guai. And the former had run away earlier, refusing to hand over the Ghost Iron Ore that he betted, while Lan Bei Er's master was in the White Herb Sect this entire time.

"Hmm, you're strong," the leader growled. "I guess I have no choice but to be serious!"

His aura exploded and turned into an orange tiger. With a silent roar, the tiger wreathed the charging thug and bestowed his machete with a fiery glow that flared ferociously. Using his self-made Tiger Hunting Strike, he swung his machete at me.

This time, I drew Abyssal Edge from my spatial pouch. Swinging it about, I met the Tiger Hunting Strike in the middle of the road. A black dragon appeared around me, and I executed Shadow Sword Strike. The black qi overwhelmed the orange qi, the dragon biting the poor, smaller tiger apart and sending the leader flying. Blood trailed him as I opened up new wounds across his muscular body. Perhaps they would end up as more scars to add to his current collection.

"Seen enough?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "I hope you enjoyed watching the fight, Jian Shen."

The young master of the Jian family jolted and fell over in a panic, not realizing that I had detected him long ago. He tried to scramble away but Lan Bei Er glared at him.

"Senior Jian Shen! You! You actually hired thugs to attack my husband?! Have you no shame?"

"How is he a trash or a fraud?!" The leader yelled furiously, trying to get back to his feet. He spat out more blood and then bowed toward me. "Sorry, great hero. We should never have accepted the deal. We were blinded by money. We'll never offend you again! As an apology, please accept this arm! In exchange, please spare the lives of my gang!"

Raising his machete, he swung it down to chop off his arm. However, before the blade could touch his flesh, I seized his wrist.

"I have no use for your arm," I told him sternly. Then I grinned. "But you have a chance to right the wrongs."

"Oh…" The leader understood what I meant. He turned toward his subordinates and nodded, pointing toward a frightened Jian Shen. "Get that bastard!"

"Yeah! That fucking liar!"

"How dare he tricked us!"

"Thanks to him, we offended someone we can't afford to offend, and almost died because of his lies!"

The thugs picked themselves up and chased after Jian Shen, yelling and brandishing their knives and machetes. Jian Shen jumped and ran away. Summoning his flying sword, he hopped on top of it and sped back in the direction of his home, leaving the pursuing thugs behind.

"We can't let him get away with this!" Lan Bei Er fumed, coming to my side and checking me for any injuries.

"No, we won't," I agreed. Dealing with the thugs was a simple matter. I didn't suffer so much as a single bruise or cut. "We should report this to the authorities."

"Would they do anything though?"

"Shouldn't they?" I scratched my head. "Well, whether they do or not, we'd have done our part. For now, we should just go home. We have a ton of things to do."

"All right." Lan Bei Er tried not to sigh. Holding hands, we then returned to the Lan manor together.

But before that, we stopped by the magistrate's office to file a report against Jian Shen.

*

"Father!" Jian Shen came barreling through the Jian manor after jumping off his flying sword. He wasted no time rushing to the main hall where his father was reading some notes and doing whatever administrative duties that he, as a feudal lord, had to do.

"Shen Er. What's up?"

"Your son is being bullied! I want revenge! I need to deploy the clan's experts right away! I want this trash dead!"

"What trash? Jian Yi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hei Ye! He humiliated me! How dare he make me lose face!? He must die! Father, help me kill him!"

"Let me get this straight," Jian Yi said, putting his notes down on the table and staring at his son, totally unmoved. "You insulted this Hei Ye, provoked him, and called him trash. But he ended up proving you wrong instead, displaying his abilities for all to see. That led to you feeling humiliated, and so you want him dead because of that."

"Uh…yeah, I guess?" Jian Shen stammered, not sure what was going on. The conversation wasn't going as he expected.

"Are you seriously that petty?" Jian Yi asked in exasperation. "What do you think this is, some stupid story that's filled with nothing but fighting and killing? You think the kingdom's laws are for show ah? And are you seriously killing someone just because you felt humiliated when he proved your insults wrong? Not only were you the one who started it and provoked him in the first place, you even broke your promise and reneged on a bet! This isn't even on the level of petty anymore…it goes beyond petty! I don't even know how to describe your behavior. Childish, maybe? Grow up, can or not?"

"What…what?! But father, your son is being bullied! Shouldn't you be on my side? This concerns the face of the Jian family!"

"YOU ARE THE ONE CAUSING US TO LOSE FACE, YOU FUCKING MORON!"

Jian Shen fell silent, his face pale. Then he shook his head.

"Those are lies! I don't know what you heard, but they aren't true! He's the one who provoked and insulted me! He says that the Jian family are nothing but trash and losers, and then he beat me up for arguing back against him!"

"Do you really think I'm that stupid and gullible?" Jian Yi picked up a couple of scrolls among the pile from his desk. "Do you know what these are?"

"Uh…no?"

"They are letters from both the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion and the Lan family. Your master and the elders from your sect are complaining about your behavior, as did Master Lan Tian Kong. Master Lan was concerned about your rude and rowdy behavior in his mansion, insulting his guest and future son-in-law. And your master and elders were incensed that you cost the sect a rare prodigy because you chose to pursue your own grudges over Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion's interests. I even received a report from the magistrate saying that you hired thugs to beat him up! He's calling for your arrest, and I need to placate him later! I have half a mind to let him arrest you and put you in prison, you brat! I'll have to pay him a fortune just to settle the case, and it might not be enough! Anyway, even the magistrate is after you! You're not seriously telling me that all of these renowned figures are lying to me, are you?"

"B…but…they are…they have been blinded and deceived by that bastard Hei Ye…!"

"Fine," Jian Yi growled, exasperated. "You said earlier that this Hei Ye beat you up for arguing against him, right?"

"That's right!" Jian Shen brightened, thinking that his dad finally believed him. Jian Yi then glared at him.

"So why are you uninjured?"

"…eh?" Jian Shen stumbled and glanced around himself, as if trying to look for something. Jian Yi rose from his seat and came over

"I'll give you an injury, you punk!" Raising his hand, he slapped Jian Shen so hard he sent his son flying across the room. He rounded on the guy, smacking him. "How dare you shame our Jian family? Did I teach you to be a bully? To be a liar? I know you like that Lan girl, but you're going too far! Even to the extent of stalking her…you know what everyone is saying about you now?"

"No! I…I…!"

"Now get out! I don't want to see your face right now, or I'll really kill you myself!" Jian Yi kicked Jian Shen out of the room.

Sobbing, the heir to the Jian family rushed to his room. While he did so, he suddenly stopped to speak to his steward.

"Zhi Zhe!"

"Yes, young master?"

"Gather as much money as you can," Jian Shen hissed to the butler, looking around conspiratorially to ensure his father wasn't listening in. "Then hire whatever assassins you can find. The ones from the Dark Shadow Guild, maybe. They are known for never failing their mission. Pay them to kill that bastard Hei Ye."

Zhi Zhe stared at him for a moment, one arm folded across his waist. "Young master, you should reconsider. If the master learns about this…"

"Do what you're told or I'll kill you!" Jian Shen screamed, drawing his sword. Zhi Zhe swallowed, and then nodded with a bow.

"As you wish, young master."

While watching the steward leave, Jian Shen began to chuckle to himself. Clenching a fist, he pumped his hand into the air.

"You're dead, Hei Ye!" He crowed. "I'll definitely make sure you're dead! You'll regret ever crossing me!"

The corridor of the Jian manor rang with his raucous laughter.