Chapter 225: Chapter 110: The County Magistrate Hosts a Banquet, The Master is Shocked
The few short words exploded in Zhou Wenbin’s ears like a clap of thunder.
CLANG!
The wine cup slipped from Zhou Wenbin’s hand and clattered onto the table. Wine spilled out, but he was completely oblivious. He shot up from his chair, shock and astonishment written all over his face.
"My lord!" His wife, startled by his sudden movement, quickly rose to her feet. "What is it? What’s happened?"
His children also stopped eating, looking at him timidly.
Zhou Wenbin ignored his family’s questions. His gaze was locked on the letter, on the two words "Yang Jing." His expression was a complex storm of shock, elation, and disbelief, tinged with a deep sense of gravity and awe.
He took a deep breath and said in a solemn voice, "Something major has happened... The Flying Horse Thieves have been annihilated!"
"What?!" his wife cried out. Even their young children, who understood little of worldly affairs, knew that the Flying Horse Thieves were a great menace to the county. The authorities had lost troops and commanders in several failed attempts to encircle and destroy them. How could they have been wiped out so suddenly?
Zhou Wenbin didn’t explain. He turned to Zhou Zhong, who was still standing frozen in a daze, and ordered, "You... go and ask Yang Jing to come to the County Yamen."
He paused, then corrected himself. "No, wait. It’s late. Go first thing in the morning. Say that I am hosting a banquet at the County Government to celebrate his achievement in destroying the Flying Horse Thieves."
Zhou Zhong was utterly stunned. His mouth hung open, his face a mask of complete disbelief.
’The Flying Horse Thieves were annihilated? Those ferocious bandits who gave the government no end of trouble, the ones holed up on Yunshan... they’re gone? Just like that?’
’And... Yang Jing? The name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.’
He ventured to ask, "Sir, this Yang Jing you mentioned... who is he?"
Zhou Wenbin glanced at him and enunciated each word clearly. "He is Yang Jing, the disciple from Sun’s Martial Arts Hall who placed fourth in this year’s martial field trials. The letter says he is now unrivaled below the level of Force Transformation."
"It’s him?!"
A jolt went through Zhou Zhong as it all came back to him.
’He had gone to watch the excitement of the martial field trials this year. Could the young man who was said to have made the list by a sheer fluke really possess such skill?’
Zhou Zhong didn’t dare ask any more questions. He bowed quickly and said, "Yes, sir. I will go first thing in the morning."
Zhou Wenbin waved his hand, dismissing him. His gaze returned to the blizzard raging outside the window, his brow furrowed in thought.
’The destruction of the Flying Horse Thieves is a godsend for Yuhe County. But this Yang Jing, who’s risen so suddenly... unrivaled below Force Transformation?’
’A man like that can’t be treated as just another common warrior.’
"Things are going to be very lively in the city tonight."
He picked up the cool tea from the table and took a large gulp, trying to calm the tempest in his heart.
’Tomorrow’s banquet will require careful preparation.’
...
The snow showed no signs of stopping as night fell, but a single piece of news sent Yuhe County Town into an absolute frenzy.
The news of the Flying Horse Thieves’ annihilation was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, sending the first massive waves crashing through the great clan manors of the Inner City.
Mansions that had long since extinguished their lamps for the night began to light up, one after another. Through latticed windows, candlelight cast the flickering shadows of people moving about.
In the study of the Li Mansion, Patriarch Li, Li Haitao, clutched a secret message, his expression exceptionally grave.
It was the same for the other great families, like the Xiao and the Ye. Stewards rushed through the blizzard to deliver messages, while clan elders gathered in their halls to discuss this suddenly ascendant "Yang Jing" and the impact of the Flying Horse Thieves’ destruction.
The news spread outward like a tide, flowing from the Inner City to the Outer City and alarming one power after another.
But amid this tremor, the person whose emotions were in the greatest turmoil was none other than Sun Yong, of Sun’s Martial Arts Hall in the Outer City’s Chengping Square.
In the study of the martial hall’s inner courtyard, a single, dim lamp burned.
Sun Yong stood frozen behind his desk, clutching a freshly delivered letter. He gripped it so tightly that the edges of the paper had begun to crumple.
He recognized the handwriting on the letter. It had been sent by a former disciple who, after leaving the martial hall, had become a key member of the River Gang. The message was brief, but it laid out the entire affair from beginning to end.
Yang Jing had stormed the stronghold alone on horseback, rescued Liu Maolin, slain Li Qianxiong, and then joined forces to annihilate the Flying Horse Thieves. He was unrivaled below the level of Force Transformation.
Sun Yong’s gaze was locked on the two words "Yang Jing." He stood there, frozen, as if in a trance.
The image of that young man involuntarily surfaced in his mind. When he had first entered the Martial Arts Hall, his aptitude assessment had rated him as merely ’inferior.’ And yet, he was more diligent than anyone. He would be in the front courtyard practicing before dawn each day, meticulously perfecting every single move. His temperament was as steady as a rock. He rarely spoke, and when he did, he would answer a question and fall silent again. He was the very model of a simple, earnest disciple.
’And this was the disciple he’d always considered "honest and quiet"? This was the boy who’d done something that shook the entirety of Yuhe?’
’Slayed Li Qianxiong, a master at the Peak of Dark Energy? Annihilated the Flying Horse Thieves? Unrivaled below Force Transformation?’
Sun Yong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat too tight to speak.
In the decades he had run the Martial Arts Hall, he had seen plenty of geniuses, but never one who could conceal his true talents so perfectly, only to reveal them in such a shocking display.
Snow continued to fall outside the window. The study was so quiet he could hear the soft crackling of the candle flame.
Sun Yong slowly placed the letter on the desk. His fingertip traced the two words "Yang Jing," his eyes filled with disbelief as a single thought echoed through his mind:
’Is this... is this really my simple, earnest disciple?’
「After a long moment.」
He gazed at the candlelight and gave a firm, heavy nod. "That is my simple, earnest Closed-door Disciple!"
