Ich verkaufe meine Kleidung und kaufe etwas Wein, den ich mit dir trinken kann

Kapitel 36

"Excuse me, sir, please wait a moment." A middle-aged man with a full beard stood up from the table next to me and blocked my way.

"Get out of my way." I looked at him coldly.

"If I'm not mistaken, this gentleman should be the only survivor from Sunjiawan that day?" The man's large eyes revealed a greedy look as he stared intently at me.

"So what if it is?" I turned my head away in disgust, my voice tinged with impatience.

"If that's the case, then please hand over the treasure map, brother! Let's all get rich together!"—I believe that if Huaiyuan and Wufeng hadn't been standing right next to me, he would have pounced on me and torn me to pieces in order to find the treasure map he was talking about.

"Yes, so many of our people died. Your Jingyou Manor can't just take advantage of our numbers and try to hog all the spoils! We have to get a share!"

"That's right, whoever finds it gets a share!" In an instant, the restaurant was filled with excitement, and the crowd surged forward—it seemed that their real intention was not the wine, but the treasure map—all that talk about avenging their dead brothers was utter nonsense! —This is human nature!

"What treasure map? I've never even heard of one, let alone taken one. Believe it or not, it's up to you." I looked at them, completely bewildered.

"Stop pretending, kid!" A man in a yellow bodysuit shouted from behind the crowd, "Who in the world doesn't know that before he died, Master Ye entrusted the treasure map to a pretty boy named Ye Qingyang?"

"Whether Third Master Ye handed over the treasure map to Brother Ye, none of us were present at the time," Yang Wanqing said with a calm smile, casually asking, "And how do you know?"

"Is that even a question? He was the only one who survived that day! If he wasn't an accomplice of the thieves, what other explanation is there?" The man in yellow pressed on aggressively. "Besides, rumors are spreading throughout the martial world that the treasure map is on someone surnamed Ye. There's no smoke without fire. He has to give everyone an explanation!"

"So it's Young Master Wu from the Huashan Sect!" Liu Wufeng said sarcastically. "Young Master Wu, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. This Brother Ye is not a martial artist; he's just a scholar. Why would Third Master Ye entrust such an important shipment to him for safekeeping?!"

"That's where Third Master Ye's cleverness lies!" Now that he'd been recognized, Wu Shaojun stopped hiding and stepped forward. "Precisely because he doesn't know martial arts, he won't arouse suspicion! Besides, although he doesn't know martial arts, Master Jiang is a peerless master. If it weren't for Master Jiang secretly protecting him, how could this kid have escaped death?!"

"Exactly! More than fifty people died that night, even the Third Master Ye couldn't escape death. Only this scholar who didn't know martial arts survived, and he just happens to be a good friend of Master Jiang. How can we believe he has nothing to do with this?!"

“That’s right! If it weren’t for Master Jiang’s involvement, how would the appearance of the Heartless Decree be explained?!” Master Ye also began to speak with conviction.

So, in the end, everyone's target is still Huaiyuan! They all agree that Huaiyuan was the one who committed murder and robbery that night—at this moment, even without the perfect excuse of the Heartless Decree, my relationship with Huaiyuan alone would definitely drag him into it.

"I have a suggestion, everyone please quiet down and listen to me," another thin old man stepped forward, his rat-like eyes darting over me with a lustful glint. —I felt as if I had swallowed a greenbottle fly; I felt nauseous, and countless goosebumps rose all over my body.

"Seventh Brother Xie, when did you get the right to speak here?!" Huaiyuan's voice was as cold as ice, and his gaze was as sharp as a sword, making people shudder. Wherever his gaze fell, everyone involuntarily lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. For a moment, the huge restaurant became completely silent.

However, as the saying goes, "People die for wealth, birds die for food," and although the crowd dared not utter a sound for the time being due to Huaiyuan's intimidation, they were not willing to give up.

"In Jiang's opinion, is it not even allowed for everyone to say a few fair words?" Xie Laoqi shrank his neck and hid behind the crowd, but still raised his voice, "If you ask me, Jiang's reputation for chivalry is widespread. Since he says he didn't do it, then we can only assume that this matter has nothing to do with him."

"So you mean you're afraid of their reputation as the number one manor in the world? You want us to have made this trip for nothing?" someone in the crowd shouted. "If you're afraid of trouble, you should go home and take care of your kids!"

"Hehe, Master Jiang's martial arts are unparalleled, so naturally we can't do anything to him. However, we can't let that kid surnamed Ye get away with it! We just need to focus on finding that map on this young man Ye. Why must we break ties with the number one manor in the world?!" Xie Laoqi was indeed shameless.

"I've said it before, Ye Qingyang's business is my business." Huaiyuan coldly surveyed the crowd. "Whoever is his enemy is my enemy, Jiang Mohui."

"Master Jiang's words have put us in a difficult position. You are clearly using your status as the number one manor in the world to suppress us! Are all our brothers just going to die in vain?" Wu Shaojun said indignantly.

"I remember that among those who died that day, none of them seemed to be related to Young Master Wu. What right do you have to stand here and speak?" Liu Wufeng mocked him.

"I, of course I represent the justice of the martial arts world! Are we not even allowed to speak the truth now?!" Wu Shaojun's face flushed red, and he couldn't help but resort to sophistry. As he spoke, he actually became quite self-righteous.

"If you ask me, such an important picture wouldn't be kept at home. I think it must still be with this young man Ye!" Xie Laoqi stared intently at my face, his eyes gleaming with ill intent. "Since he insists he didn't take the picture, I suggest we make him take off his clothes in public so everyone can examine it and prove... ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, a chicken bone flew out of nowhere and pierced his mouth, blood flowing from between his fingers. Xie Laosan screamed and roared, "Who? Who ambushed your grandfather! Show yourself if you dare!"

"Grandson, your grandpa's here! How's it going? This chicken leg I gave you tasted pretty good, didn't it?!" Grandpa Guan appeared out of nowhere like a ghost. He lay sprawled on the windowsill, a jug of wine in his hand, lazily looking at Xie Laoqi. "I was sleeping soundly on the roof, and you dare to fart here? Did you disturb my sweet dreams?"

"Guan Dingshan, the Bloodthirsty Butcher!" Someone in the crowd recognized Grandpa Guan and exclaimed his name in surprise—it truly was a nickname that made people tremble at the mere mention of it!

"You, you..." Xie Laoqi was both ashamed and angry, but dared not retaliate. "We'll see!" After saying that, he slunk away.

"I'm waiting for you here!" Grandpa Guan took another sip of wine. "Who else dared to cause trouble for my grandson? Get out here, all of you! It's been twenty years since I've moved these old bones. Anyone who thinks they can defeat this blood-stained blade in my hand, just state your name!"

A deathly silence fell over the hall. No one dared to utter a sound, fearing that one wrong move would bring the 'Butcher's' bloody blade upon their heads...

"Nobody here?" Grandpa Guan glared. "Then get the hell out of here!"

This book was first published on Xiaoxiang Novel Original Website. Please retain this information when reprinting!

[Volume Two: Farewell Chapter Seventeen - Listening to the Night Rain by the Window]

"Then how come you managed to kill everyone in the entire martial arts world?!" After a long silence, someone finally spoke up from the crowd—although he was dressed entirely in black, almost completely hidden in the shadows, and deliberately lowered his voice, I still felt a strange sense of familiarity—who was it? Where had I heard this voice before? I couldn't help but rack my brains.

"As I've said before, Jingyou Manor will investigate this matter thoroughly and give everyone an explanation." Liu Wufeng took this opportunity to reiterate his stance. "However, if anyone dares to make a move against Young Master Ye again, they will be making an enemy of Jingyou Manor. Don't blame us for turning our backs on you then!"

"Alright, we'll believe you this once. Let's give Master Jiang some face. We hope you can find out the truth as soon as possible and give the deceased justice." Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, Master Ye quickly backed down, waved his hand sullenly, and whispered, "Let's go!"

Those people finally left, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Even now, I still don't understand why, when I was clearly the victim in this whole affair, I became the target of everyone's attacks.

"Little kid, were you scared?" Grandpa Guan patted my shoulder with a smile. "If I hadn't brought up the name of the 'Blood Blade,' which I haven't used for twenty years, those guys would have been really hard to deal with. Hehe, dealing with these kinds of people, talking about chivalry is useless, you have to rely on your fists."

"Can anyone tell me what this damn treasure map is all about?" I rubbed my temples wearily and looked at them indifferently.

"You didn't know?" Yang Wanqing looked surprised, clearly not believing that I was unaware. "It was the shipment that Third Master Ye and his men were escorting. It turned out that it wasn't some precious medicinal herbs, but rather a treasure map left behind by the First Emperor, presented by the Prefect of Jiangling to the current Grand Tutor Cai Jing for his birthday."

"This is absurd! Whether there's even a treasure map or not is another matter." I stared at everyone, dumbfounded. "Even if there really was one, it would have been obtained by that masked killer long ago. How could it possibly be mine? How can anyone believe such obviously false information? And it seems quite a few people do believe it!"

“If it were just you, of course no one would believe it. However…” Yang Wanqing hesitated before continuing.

"But what?"

“If we add the Heartless Decree, then it’s a different story.” Liu Wufeng explained calmly, “There are very few people in the martial arts world who can kill Third Master Ye without him having a chance to fight back.”

"And unfortunately, Master Jiang is one of them? So they've pinned this on them based solely on that?" I found the whole thing utterly absurd—there wasn't a single piece of evidence; how could they convict someone based on just a broken knife? What kind of logic is that?!

Yang Wanqing glanced at me and smiled sweetly, "Because of Brother Ye's picture album, now the whole world knows that there was a survivor of the Sunjiawan massacre. I don't know who spread the news that Brother Ye brought that picture to Jiangning. And look, they've all rushed here!"

So, it's all the comics' fault again? Why does everything always go wrong in the Northern Song Dynasty? I wanted to clear Huaiyuan's name through comics, but instead, I only brought about my own death. Now, I've become a piece of Tang Sanzang's flesh coveted by everyone in the martial arts world! What did I do to deserve this? I'm now aware of what "being unable to control one's own destiny" means.