Chapter 99: Safe Relocation

"Heh, I was just passing by!"

Having been kicked off the roof, Li Pingyang feigned a lack of martial arts skills and aimed for a haystack to break his fall. He climbed to his feet, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and remarked that it was a fine day.

Just as he was about to move away, the man who had jumped down after him grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to a halt.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" the man asked, his tone icy.

"No," Li Pingyang replied with a smile.

He tried to offer an explanation, but the moment he turned his head, the man punched him squarely in the nose. He let out a groan of pain and crouched on the ground, covering his face.

"Stay still!"

"What is wrong with you... who just goes around punching people in the face? My face is my livelihood! If you break it, are you going to support me?"

"That’s just how I am. Shut up."

Seeing Li Pingyang still running his mouth, the man raised his fist to intimidate him. Li Pingyang immediately feigned weakness and hid behind the woman in red. His hands instinctively gripped her arm.

The swordswoman recoiled as if she had been electrocuted. She turned back sharply, frowned in disgust, and glared at him. Li Pingyang, missing the cue, thought she wanted him to hold on tighter.

"Heroine, please, just be a champion of justice one more time!"

With his hands still clutching her arm, Li Pingyang seemed oblivious to the gravity of the situation and the danger looming over him.

The man behind them retreated a few steps, sensing a faint murderous aura. He raised a hand to scratch his eyebrow, shielding his eyes, and silently offered a prayer for Li Pingyang.

May he rest in peace!

Sure enough, the next second, the swordswoman moved her blade away from the buck-toothed man’s neck and, with a sharp "clack," leveled it at Li Pingyang’s throat.

"If you don't take your hands off me, I'll cut them off."

Her voice was cold. Li Pingyang’s expression froze as he finally realized that she was the most dangerous one of all! He hurriedly pulled his hands back, bowed three times, and scurried far away.

"Chen Le, I'll leave this man to you. I have other matters to attend to, so I'm going ahead."

"Understood. Xiao Xue, what about him?"

"Kill him."

Li Pingyang stood frozen in place. At that moment, it felt as if ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through his heart. She had just said she didn't want to kill the innocent—was he really going to be executed just because he accidentally grabbed her arm?

That was incredibly unjust.

Li Pingyang refused to accept this! It was clearly a personal vendetta.

The man, Chen Le, was the commander of the Second Hall of the Thunderbolt Hall and the bodyguard and deputy commander to the swordswoman, Lu Qianxue. His martial arts skills were unfathomable; it was said he had already reached the level of a Grandmaster.

"Deputy Commander Chen, have mercy! I know I was wrong."

"There won't be a next time. Please, keep in mind that I was also part of the Fourth Hall—show some leniency and let me go. I promise..."

The buck-toothed man pleaded, crawling on his knees toward Chen Le, clutching his legs with a pitiful expression and a tearful voice.

Chen Le stood with his sword in one hand, his arms crossed. Listening to the man’s dry, forced sobs and his hypocritical promise of future reform, he only felt a headache coming on.

Chen Le raised a hand, pretending to pick his ear, and exposed a gap in his defenses. Sure enough, the moment the buck-toothed man saw him distracted, he snatched the broadsword from the ground and swung it at Chen Le.

With a shout, the man hacked downward. Chen Le dodged with ease, his expression turning cold. He drew his sword and struck in a motion so fast the man couldn't even register it.

A chill ran across his throat, and the buck-toothed man collapsed to his knees in disbelief, a wound appearing on his neck. Li Pingyang closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of the impending bloodshed.

He heard the sound of a heavy weight hitting the ground, followed by the clatter of the broadsword bouncing on the floor. The buck-toothed man’s body slumped over, blood pooling around him.

Suddenly remembering something, Li Pingyang snapped his eyes open and shouted, "Don't kill me! I can be of use to you!"

Chen Le was just about to finish him off, but Li Pingyang’s words made him pause. He sheathed his sword and crossed his arms.

Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Li Pingyang and asked with curiosity, "How exactly can you be of use? Tell me!"

...

Meanwhile, inside the Li residence, Xiao Xiaoting stood in a corner, clutching a rock in both hands, waiting. A mountain bandit climbed over the wall, jumped down into the courtyard, and gripped his knife.

As he passed by, Xiao Xiaoting let out a long breath and charged out with the rock. But she had miscalculated the timing, acting a few seconds too early, and stood there awkwardly holding the rock while staring at the bandit.

She sighed, her brow furrowing, thinking to herself that this was a disaster. Not only had the ambush failed, but she had also given herself away.

The bandit looked stunned.

Staring at the rock in Xiao Xiaoting’s hands—which was larger than his own head—he realized she had intended to crush him to death!

He immediately raised his broadsword to hack at her.

In the nick of time, Li Hu rushed back and struck the bandit on the head with a wooden club from behind. The club shattered, yet the man remained unfazed and even turned around to look at him.

Abandoning fair play, Li Hu poked the bandit in the eyes and kicked him in the groin. While the bandit was clutching his crotch and cursing Li Hu’s entire lineage, Xiao Xiaoting finished him off with the rock.

Watching as the large stone sent the bandit spitting blood before he collapsed to the ground, motionless, Li Hu wiped cold sweat from his brow and thought, "You’re the ruthless one!"

The pair had successfully secured their "first blood." Another oblivious bandit, who happened to be passing by the Li residence, saw how grand the house looked and assumed it belonged to someone wealthy. He gripped his knife and began to approach the main gate.

Li Hu and Xiao Xiaoting stood on either side of the entrance, each holding a wooden club, waiting for him to push the door open. Just then, Liu Yan'er walked out of the room and called out to Xiao Xiaoting.

Xiao Xiaoting closed her eyes, speechless.

The bandit, who hadn't heard a sound and was about to leave, turned back and shoved the door open. Li Hu struck him down with a club, and Xiao Xiaoting followed up with another.

This fellow seemed to be much more sensible; he was knocked unconscious by the first blow and didn't put up a fight, making him much more cooperative than the previous one who had met a miserable end.

Afterward, Li Hu and Xiao Xiaoting worked together to move the first bandit’s body away. They tied up the unconscious one and gagged him.

Li Hu decided to keep him alive, intending to interrogate him once he woke up. He had ways to make him talk.

Following Li Pingyang's instructions, Li Hu gathered everyone in the Li residence. They formed a line and moved carefully along the walls, avoiding the bandits and trying their best to remain silent.

On the way, they found a few others who were fleeing. Li Pingyang’s mother, A-Jiao, couldn't bear to leave them behind, so they brought them along as well. They were all transferred to a secret basement beneath the Pingyang Restaurant.

They would hide there while they figured out a way to evacuate.

Furthermore, Li Pingyang hadn't returned yet, and they couldn't just leave him behind.

Looking at the tense, fearful faces around him, Li Hu asked Xiao Xiaoting to find some food to keep everyone going and to help soothe their nerves.

This basement had been built by Li Pingyang when he constructed the Pingyang Restaurant, specifically for emergencies. It was stocked with dry rations and water, enough to last for some time even if they were trapped.

The space was quite large, and the other end led to the forest; even if the main exit were blocked, they could still escape through there, sparing them from waiting for certain death.