Chapter 111: Ruthless and Fierce

The commotion downstairs naturally startled everyone upstairs.

The quickest to react was Mu Changfeng, followed surprisingly by Li Xuan, the princess of the royal clan. When the brothers Wu Xian and Wu Jie, rubbing their sleepy eyes, came out to see what was happening, Kong Sheng had already thoroughly beaten the two men known as Lao Wu and Lao Liu.

Fueled by anger, Kong Sheng struck with ruthless force. Coupled with his impressive strength, his fists and feet flew with a fierce, overwhelming power that was beyond what the two could withstand.

Seeing the two shop assistants beaten to the point of bloodied faces and broken heads, sprawled on the floor and wailing in pain, Wu Xian and Wu Jie gasped sharply.

Li Xuan did not come downstairs; she stood in the corridor wrapped in her robe, her expression calm as she looked down. But the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

She hadn’t expected Kong Sheng to be so merciless. His moves weren’t flashy; sometimes they even seemed a bit clumsy, but he never missed his mark. His crushing strength left no room for the two men to resist. It was unthinkable for them to withstand him.

Even Kong Sheng himself felt a bit conflicted after calming down and stepping aside. He never imagined he had changed so much that he hardly recognized himself.

Mu Changfeng shot the Wu brothers an impatient glare and scolded, “Why are you two standing there dumbfounded? Hurry up and subdue and tie these two villains!”

Blushing, Wu Xian and Wu Jie stepped forward and bound the groaning Lao Wu and Lao Liu tightly with rope, tossing them to the ground.

Hearing the two whimpering and still struggling on the floor, Wu Xian grew impatient. He grabbed a dirty rag from a nearby table, ripped it in half, and roughly stuffed it into their mouths, then kicked them hard twice.

“Young master, I don’t think anyone else is in this black inn. Let’s rest here tonight and set off early tomorrow. As for these two, I don’t see the need to trouble the officials. Let the local militia handle them, shall we?” Mu Changfeng said softly to Kong Sheng.

He had originally wanted to suggest ending their lives outright, but remembering Kong Sheng’s official status, he refrained. It wouldn’t be proper to kill anyone without official judgment, even two criminals running a deadly black inn, especially in front of Princess Fengyang.

If it were up to Mu Changfeng’s usual chivalrous and straightforward nature, he would have already ended their lives with a single sword.

Kong Sheng hummed in agreement. “The local government is practically powerless. Reporting this won’t do any good. But since this matter has come to us, this black inn—”

Before he could finish, Li Xuan upstairs cut in coldly, “Enough with the chatter. These wicked criminals are thoroughly deserving of death. As for this black inn, burn it to the ground first thing tomorrow morning. That way, it won’t harm any more merchants or travelers.”

Kong Sheng frowned and glanced at Li Xuan, thinking to himself that the young lady truly had a cold and ruthless heart, speaking of killing and arson as casually as drinking water.

Mu Changfeng looked at Kong Sheng silently.

Kong Sheng suddenly smiled lightly. “Princess’s words are reasonable. But I, Kong Sheng, am merely a scholar who cannot even bring myself to kill a chicken, let alone a living person. Since the princess is so determined to rid the people of harm, I welcome it — perhaps the princess herself should take action.”

He shrugged and stepped back.

“You scoundrel! Do you take me for an executioner?” Li Xuan’s delicate brows shot upward as she snorted angrily, flinging her sleeves and returning to her room. She slammed the door shut with a bang and cursed Kong Sheng bitterly in her heart: You little thief, shameless and hypocritical, boasting you can’t even kill a chicken? What a repulsive liar!

Kong Sheng laughed aloud, turned, and went upstairs to his room, instructing Wu Xian and Wu Jie to keep watch through the night. As for the two tied up and trembling with fear on the floor, he had no further comment. How to deal with them was up to Mu Changfeng and the others.

Some things were not his place to do, but Mu Changfeng had no qualms.

These two had been running the black inn for a long time and had likely harmed many. In these chaotic times, one must be flexible and pragmatic. Whether to avenge the victims or to prevent future harm, they could not be let off easily. Falling into the hands of the justice-driven Mu Changfeng spelled no good for them.

The rest of the night passed silently. When Kong Sheng awoke, daylight had fully broken.

He rose and saw Mu Changfeng had hung the two criminals by their ropes from the eaves of an abandoned bamboo house opposite the inn. Swaying in the cold wind, they were likely unconscious from fright and cold.

Kong Sheng glanced over, smiled faintly, and let Mu Changfeng handle things. He was too lazy to bother.

More than a dozen local villagers watched from a distance, their eyes filled with fear and apprehension as they looked at Kong Sheng and his group.

Wu Xian and Wu Jie led the five horses over. Mu Changfeng clasped his fists toward the crowd and declared loudly, “Fellow villagers, these two wicked criminals ran a deadly black inn. We have lightly punished them, hanging them here to fend for themselves. Please bear witness!”

With that, Mu Changfeng raised a torch high and resolutely threw it into the inn. Pre-soaked with flammable oil, the fire quickly erupted, illuminating half the sky over Ancient Mulberry Town.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Tianchang County where Kong Sheng and Li Xuan’s caravan had passed, a black carriage sped along.

The driver was a burly man wrapped in a turban, dressed like a Dashi tribesman, with piercing blue eyes, thick eyebrows, and sunken eye sockets, clearly not from the Central Plains.

Inside the carriage lay a corpulent man with dark skin and three long strands of beard beneath his chin, trembling as he clutched the carriage’s side.

“Xianyu Lie, where are we? Which direction are we heading?” the fat man whispered.

“We’re within Tianchang County, heading toward Chuzhou. This is the safest route. Please bear with it; we’ll stop ahead for a meal tonight,” the driver replied gravely.

The fat man steadied himself and suddenly his expression changed. “Xianyu Lie, you’ve taken the wrong path! This road leads to Chuzhou, and beyond Chuzhou are Sizhou and Pengcheng, entering Henandao territory. The Henan rebel army rules there now. If we go there, aren’t we walking into a trap?”

“The routes south of the mountains and south of the Huai River are heavily guarded. Jiangnan’s provincial forces are all mobilized. Avoiding pursuit is nearly impossible,” said the driver, cracking his whip as the carriage galloped faster.

The fat man fell silent.

“The safest and easiest way to escape is heavily fortified, with guard posts every five steps and sentries every ten. Surprisingly, fleeing toward Henan avoids the Jiangnan troops’ pursuit. But what good is escaping Jiangnan if we end up in a war-torn Henan, facing endless dangers?”

“That traitor Yang Qi! I won’t spare him!” the fat man growled quietly, his fury simmering within the carriage.

Xianyu Lie sighed softly, said nothing more, and cracked the whip again, urging the horses forward toward Chuzhou, kicking up clouds of dust behind them.