Chapter 296: Chapter 128: Mysterious Token, Celebration After the Ordeal
Yang Jing stood over him, looking down at the barely breathing Li Hongyu on the ground. He spoke in a cold voice, "Where is the Flying Horse Thieves’ treasure hidden? Tell me, and I might consider letting you live."
Li Hongyu gasped for air, his chest heaving like a broken bellows, each breath accompanied by a pained groan.
He lifted his unfocused gaze to Yang Jing, a grim smile twisting his lips. "Me... in this state... what’s the difference between this and death? Even if you let me go, it would be a fate worse than death... Besides, would you really let me go?"
Seeing Li Hongyu had no intention of talking, the coldness in Yang Jing’s eyes deepened.
’This man is vicious and cruel. Leaving him alive would only lead to future trouble.’ He had never intended to spare him; he was only trying to see if he could trick him into revealing the location of the Flying Horse Thieves’ treasure, which might not even exist.
Since he wasn’t willing to talk, there was no point in dragging this out.
Yang Jing slowly raised his hand, Inner Strength already gathering in his palm, ready to finish him off for good.
"You’re certainly loyal to Li Qianxiong," Yang Jing said nonchalantly as he stepped forward. "You couldn’t wait to get revenge the moment you broke through to the Huajin realm, and you ended up throwing your own life away. If you had hidden your identity and laid low, finding a hidden Huajin expert like you would have actually taken some effort."
Li Hongyu had already closed his eyes, looking as if he was ready to accept his death. But upon hearing Li Qianxiong’s name, his eyes shot open. A venomous flame ignited in his unfocused pupils, and his previously weak breathing suddenly quickened.
"Loyal?" He reacted as if he’d heard the most absurd joke in the world, his face contorting with absolute hatred. His voice was as hoarse as scraping metal. "That bastard Li Qianxiong! My only regret is that I didn’t break through to the Huajin realm sooner! Otherwise, I would have torn him to pieces and scattered his ashes to the wind!"
Yang Jing stopped in his tracks, surprised.
’Li Qianxiong was the leader of the Flying Horse Thieves and, according to rumor, Li Hongyu’s biological brother. So why does it sound like they shared a mortal hatred for each other?’
"Aren’t you two blood brothers?" Yang Jing asked with a frown.
"Blood brothers? Bullshit!" Li Hongyu roared, his chest heaving violently as he coughed up a mouthful of bloody spittle. "He’s a monster! He forced my wife to marry him, turning Lian’er into my sister-in-law... And at the time, Lian’er was already carrying my child!"
His voice was filled with anguish, his eyes thick with pain and venom. "I came to avenge my son, whom you people killed! If you hadn’t killed Li Qianxiong, I would have slaughtered him myself!"
Yang Jing was taken aback. He hadn’t expected to hear such a secret. It was some shocking gossip.
But he had no interest in this tangled web of grudges, nor did he feel any pity for Li Hongyu because of it.
Whatever feud Li Hongyu had with Li Qianxiong, the fact remained that he had the blood of the River Gang on his hands. The threat he posed to Yang Jing was also a fact, and those three Explosive Bullets he’d used just now had nearly crippled him.
Looking at the agitated and frenzied Li Hongyu, Yang Jing no longer hesitated. Uninterested in the drama, he strode forward and struck like lightning with his right palm, landing it precisely on the crown of Li Hongyu’s head.
THWACK—
The Palm Force penetrated his skull. Li Hongyu’s body shuddered violently, the light in his eyes instantly vanished, and his head lolled limply to the side. He was silent.
With that single strike, Li Hongyu was dead.
Yang Jing let out a long breath, his taut nerves finally relaxing.
As long as this man was alive, he would have been a sword hanging over his head.
A Huajin Powerhouse lying in wait, biding his time for revenge—the thought alone was enough to make anyone lose sleep.
Now that the hidden threat was eliminated, a great weight was finally lifted from his heart.
He glanced around. The night was dark and the forest was silent. He knew the Jiang Family Third Elder would probably arrive soon.
Without further hesitation, he squatted down and began to swiftly search Li Hongyu’s body.
First, at the waist, he felt a bulging money pouch.
Opening it, he found a stack of silver notes. There were a few high-denomination notes worth a thousand taels each, along with more than ten smaller notes of a hundred taels. All told, it added up to over ten thousand taels of silver.
A flicker of surprise crossed Yang Jing’s eyes. ’Don’t tell me this is the Flying Horse Thieves’ treasure Li Hongyu was talking about... just what he had on his person?’
He didn’t bother to count it precisely, simply stuffing the money pouch into his robes and securing it close to his body.
Next, he felt a hard, rectangular object tucked into Li Hongyu’s waistband.
He pulled it out and saw it was a black, palm-sized Token. The material was neither metal nor wood, and it was cool to the touch.
One side of the Token was engraved with the ancient seal script for "Jiujiang," the strokes powerful and vigorous. The other side was carved with intricate patterns, like some kind of totem, exuding a faint, mysterious aura.
"What is this?"
Yang Jing frowned slightly. He couldn’t discern the Token’s purpose, but his intuition told him it was something significant, so he tucked it into his robes as well.
He carefully searched Li Hongyu’s sleeves and boots but found no other valuables.
Yang Jing stood up and dusted off his hands. ’What bad luck,’ he thought with some annoyance. ’Aside from the silver notes and the Token, Li Hongyu had nothing else on him. I was hoping to find a few more of those powerful Explosive Bullets.’
’If not for the Indestructible True Skill he practiced, those three Explosive Bullets from earlier would have surely been the end of him.’
That was why Yang Jing was so keen on getting his hands on more of them. But it seemed Li Hongyu had only carried three.
’But that makes sense. If Li Hongyu really had more of those Explosive Bullet-type hidden weapons, he probably would have used them on me already.’
Yang Jing looked down at himself. He was covered in soot, his clothes were tattered, and his wounds were still oozing blood. He was truly a sorry sight.
But as his inner breath circulated, he could feel his vitality surging. The injuries from the explosion had already mostly healed.
