Chapter 42: Merchant Zou Strength

 

Song He and Lai Ru unsheathe their swords.

 

“It’s them.” After saying that, Nos. 10 and 11 leaped over the escorts.

 

The escort leader, who hesitated at first, decided to join the fight. For escort agencies, their reputation is important. If he fails, at least people will know that their agency is trustworthy.

 

Song He, without a choice, imbued his sword with qi and rushed toward No. 10. He needed to finish the fight fast before he collapsed from using qi.

 

Lai Ru tried to delay No. 11.

 

No. 10 is already prepared and clashes with Song He's sword. The clash blows the leaf around them far away, and at the same time, Lai Ru is not a match for No. 11. Fortunately, the escort leader is helping her.

 

The other escorts don’t even dare to come close.

 

Inside the carriage, Zou Jie just watches everything, like in a play. As long as they don’t attack him, he will not interfere. However, if the escort leader dies, the journey to the Bai Kingdom will be delayed or stopped.

 

After contemplating, Zou Jie frowns and comes out of the carriage.

 

“Sir Zou, it's dangerous outside. Please stay inside the carriage.” One of the escorts was warned after seeing the chubby merchant.

 

Zou Jie ignored the advice and walked toward them.

 

Song He and No. 10 already notice the chubby merchant but ignore him and focus on the fight; their strength is evenly matched. However, Song He feels pain all over his body because of his damaged meridian.

 

No. 11 is furious because he is having trouble with the escort leader and the woman. When he sees the chubby merchant, he rushes toward him to use him as a hostage or shield.

 

“Sir Zou, run!” The escort leader chased after No. 11, but it was already too late.

 

No. 11 raises his hand to capture the chubby merchant. What can a weak merchant do?

 

Zou Jie also raises his hand and makes a horizontal slice motion. No. 11 feels a sharp pain and stops moving. What happens next? His body is bisected horizontally, and blood and internal organs fall to the ground.

 

"Blade qi." The escort leader's eyes opened wide because he saw Merchant Zou's hand release a faint blade of energy qi. That means Merchant Zou is a martial master.

 

Everyone had the same reaction as the escort leader; No. 10's face turned pale and he quickly fled to the woods. However, Zou Jie is not in a good mood; his feat steps on the ground and flew through the air. In a few seconds, he had already disappeared from their view.

 

They can only watch with awe. Song collapses after the attacker flees, and his wife quickly supports him, preventing him from falling.

 

No. 10 ran using all his strength; he had made a mistake by only investigating the escort agency. If he had known there were martial masters, they would not have attacked the caravan. Now he needs to escape and report this to the headquarters.

 

“Do you know that if you want to kill someone, you usually do it at night?" Zou Jie glides beside No. 10 and punches.

 

The punch is too fast, and with their close distance, No. 10 can't dodge the attack.

 

Bam!

 

Like a cannonball, No. 10 gets blown away and only stops when it hits a tree. No. 10 coughs out blood and several of his bones are already broken from the punch.

 

“Please spare me!” No. 10 quickly begs for his life; he doesn’t want to die.

 

“Too late.” Zou Jie comes closer, and his right-hand nail becomes longer and sharper.

 

"Wait, I am from the Black Tower. If you kill me, my comrade will come for revenge!”

 

“What is the Black Tower?” Zou Jie stopped and asked.

 

No. 10 explains his organization and how powerful it was. Most people in the Min Empire will tremble in fear, including government officials, when hearing their name. In the past, their organization had been hired to kill a famous general.

 

Their client, who had escaped from nine familial exterminations, offered his entire fortune to kill the general who had slaughtered his family. Because he lacks the funds to assassinate the Emperor. When the general's body was discovered, it had been dismembered into numerous pieces, except for the head.

 

The Min Emperor is furious, but they still have no idea where the Black Tower's main headquarters are. Despite capturing and killing the Black Tower member, the Black Tower counterattacks by killing the official.

 

After so many deaths, the Min emperor made a deal with the Black Tower. Both sides agreed to a truce.

 

"The black tower is strong.”

 

“Yes, so.” No. 10 feels pain in his neck.

 

Zou Jie sliced No. 10's neck using his sharp finger, and blood spurted from the neck. None of the blood touches him because he has already stepped back from the corpse.

 

“Either way, if I let you go, you will still come back for revenge.” Zou Jie is not afraid of the Black Tower; if his life is in danger, he can change his identity.

 

When Zou Jie returned to the caravan, all of them treated him with respect and didn’t dare disturb him.

 

Song He, after using Qi, damaged his meridian again. Lai Ru looks with concern. The caravan passes the Han Empire border and goes straight to Bai Kingdom.

 

The caravan soon continues its journey.

 

When they enter the Bai Kingdom border, they sigh in relief and head to a town.

 

Once they enter the town, Lai Ru goes to the inn to rent a room to let her husband rest. When she wants to find merchant Zou, he is already gone. She can only give up and go find another physician in town.

 

-

 

At night, inside a courtyard house, the first young master is deep in thought.

 

The first young master of the Luo family had been on the run. He was able to escape this far thanks to a traitor in the Luo family's secret soldier team. However, there has been no news from the informant for several days. He was either captured or killed.

 

“Husband, what should we do now?”

 

The first young master gazed at her wife. Although she has aged, she still looks beautiful. “I already sent a letter to my friend; after we settle down, I will discuss with Father how to ask for forgiveness.” He is waiting for his father's anger to subside and pretending to repent. Although Minister Luo looks strict, he still cares for his family.

 

While they are talking, the first young master suddenly feels something is wrong. "Where are the guards?" Aside from them, there is also a group of devoted guards who are willing to die for him. All of them had been trained by him secretly.

 

“I don’t know."

 

“Guard!” The first young master shouted, but there was no reply.

 

The courtyard was silent.

 

“Where is our son?”

 

“He is sleeping in his room.”

 

“Go to the room and wake him up.” He draws his sword.

 

Seeing her husband's grave face, she quickly goes to the room.

 

After a while, his wife and sleepy son come out.

 

“Come out, I surrender!” The first young master thought they were the Luo family's secret soldiers. As long as he surrenders, they don’t have a reason to kill him. He doesn’t dare to resist because he knows the rules of Luo's family's secret soldier.

 

"It is useless for you to surrender.” A handsome man with a folded fan jumps down from the roof.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Elder Xue from Veil Sect." After saying that, many people appear from the roof and on top of the courtyard wall.

 

“If you dare to kill me, you make an enemy of the Luo family and the Han empire!"

 

“You are responsible for the death of Veil Sect's divine physician. Even if the Luo family finds out, we don’t care. Go kill them, and for the woman, have fun with her before killing her.” Elder Xue's heart is full of hatred. She thought the death of physician Zou would not affect her, but she was wrong. Every time she closed her eyes, the man's face would appear, causing her heartache.

 

The first young master is only a second-class martial artist; at the same time, he needs to protect his wife and son. He is alone and can’t defend himself against so many people.

 

“Father help!” A sword pierces the first young master's son's chubby body.

 

The first young master wants to help, but he is surrounded.

 

“No!” The first young master's wife's clothes have been ripped, and her smooth skin is revealed.

 

The first young master's eyes were bloodshot, but there was nothing he could do soon. Soon, a sound of help and a moan can be heard. The first young master's wife had been raped by several people.

 

“Kill me!” Only now does he feel regret for what he has done. If there is a second chase, he will not do it.

 

The demon sect member purposely did not kill him. Because they want him to suffer, thanks to him, the people responsible for protecting physician Zou have been punished. A few of them die at the hands of elder Xue.

 

In the end, the first young master, his son, and his wife die.

 

When Elder Xue left, she was still mad; in the future, she would go to the Tang clan.