The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 290: Chapter 287: A Tangled Mess

In the courtyard of the Du Mansion.

Every member of the Du Family had gathered in the courtyard. Besides Du An and his immediate family, Zhang Yang and Du Yan were also present.

Du An accepted the cloth-wrapped bundle from Bai Yuan’s hands with a warm smile.

"Thank you, Young Hero, for traveling a thousand miles to return my father’s belongings. I will never forget this great kindness. Might I ask for the Young Hero’s esteemed name?"

The appearance of this young man had solved his biggest problem.

Now that Du Qinghui’s relics had been returned to his hometown, he no longer needed to make the long journey to Ling Province, and Zhang Yang would have no reason to fight for the family inheritance.

’I’m still the most filial of sons!’

Bai Yuan shook his head. "I simply heard that Lord Du died fighting for the country and wanted to offer what little help I could."

He only wanted to return Du Qinghui’s belongings so the old man’s spirit could return home.

He also wanted to see for himself how Du Qinghui’s two children were faring.

Seeing that Du An’s face held only a smile and not a shred of grief, he knew the man must be doing very well for himself.

Only Du Qinghui’s daughter, Du Yan, had tears in her eyes, showing she at least had some heart.

Since they were both doing fine, there was no need for him to remain in Liuxi County.

As for revealing his true identity, that was even more unnecessary.

Given the dispositions of the Du siblings, if they learned his identity, they would surely use his name as backing to run roughshod over others in the future.

That would go against Du Qinghui’s wishes.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Zhang Yang, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up. "Brother-in-law, you don’t really think you can just find some random person to put on a show, bring some fake items, and hoard the family fortune for yourself, do you?"

A muscle twitched in Du An’s cheek as he stared daggers at Zhang Yang. "Then what do you propose?"

Zhang Yang smiled faintly. "Naturally, brother-in-law, you must go to Ling Province yourself and welcome the old master’s relics back home."

Du An’s expression turned even uglier.

Everyone knew that the border of Ling Province was a veritable pit of ten thousand corpses. Even walking on the Official Road, one could be attacked by Demons from the Demon Sect. To go was to face almost certain death.

If he really died on the road to Ling Province, the family fortune would undoubtedly be ruthlessly carved up by Zhang Yang.

Du An suddenly pointed at Bai Yuan. "Are you perhaps questioning this young brother’s sincere and honest heart?"

Bai Yuan, who had been watching coolly from the sidelines, was suddenly dragged into the conflict.

He could, of course, see that Du Qinghui’s two children were arguing over the inheritance.

Such things were commonplace among the people; the larger the family, the more intense the squabbles.

Du An was trying to shift the conflict onto Bai Yuan to relieve the pressure on himself.

Clearly, Du An was taking advantage of Bai Yuan’s youth.

Although Bai Yuan’s strength couldn’t be weak for him to have traveled all the way from Ling Province to Fenzhou, he was, after all, still too young and ripe for exploitation.

’As for a genius... what kind of genius could possibly come from Ling Province?’

Zhang Yang sneered. "Brother-in-law, stop the act."

Veins bulged on Du An’s forehead. If the Zhang Family weren’t so powerful, he would have made a move long ago.

Although Du Qinghui had achieved the realm of a Grandmaster, the strength of his two children was pathetic.

Du An was merely a Martial Artist who had just passed the Blood Refining Pass. In Ling Province, he might have been qualified to be a County Magistrate, but in the talent-rich Jiangnan, he fell far short.

And it was precisely because of his lack of strength that he had always been looked down upon by the officials in Fenzhou.

The other powers in the city, fearing Du Qinghui, still dared not disrespect him. But the Zhang Family, as in-laws, had no such reservations.

Du Qinghui had, of course, known about these things before his death.

But in his eyes, they were trivial matters he didn’t want to bother with.

Du An and Zhang Yang faced off from a distance, and the atmosphere in the courtyard became tense enough to draw blood.

Du Yan timidly tugged on Zhang Yang’s sleeve.

But Zhang Yang flung his sleeve off, refusing to back down an inch.

He knew very well that if he acknowledged Du Qinghui’s relics today, he would lose all chance of fighting for the inheritance.

’As for the young man who delivered the relics, he’ll just have to be a sacrifice.’

"Get him! Seize that swindling little thief!"

Zhang Yang roared.

He clearly intended to destroy the evidence on the spot.

As long as they captured Bai Yuan and beat a confession out of him, Du An would lose all face, making it even harder for him to contend with the Zhang Family.

Du An shouted furiously, "How dare you!"

But the two Zhang Family experts beside Zhang Yang completely ignored Du An, moving to seize Bai Yuan.

Two Entering Martial Artists. In Huanglong Prefecture, they would be considered top-tier experts, but in Jiangnan, they were nothing more than hired muscle in a county town.

This just went to show how prosperous the Martial Dao was in Jiangnan.

Du An wanted to stop them, but he lacked the strength.

Furthermore, this was a private matter for the Du Family, so there were no Officials from the County Magistrate’s Office present. He could only watch helplessly as the two Zhang Family experts closed in on Bai Yuan from both sides.

But then, something happened that neither the Du nor the Zhang families expected—

The long saber on Bai Yuan’s back was unsheathed!

The brilliant flash of the blade bloomed before everyone’s eyes.

In the next instant, the two Zhang Family experts’ eyes went wide. A line of blood slowly appeared on their necks before they both collapsed to the ground, dead.

Seeing this, everyone gasped in shock.

Who could have imagined that this young man from Ling Province would be so domineeringly powerful, killing two Martial Arts Grandmasters with a single strike!

"You..."

Zhang Yang pointed a disbelieving finger at Bai Yuan, a name he had heard before suddenly surfacing in his mind.

"You’re... Bai Yuan?!"

Hearing this name, everyone in the courtyard cried out in astonishment.

Du An, however, looked at Bai Yuan with eyes full of delighted surprise.

"Lord Bai!"

In all of Xuan Yang, who didn’t know that Bai Yuan was the one Du Qinghui had personally promoted?

Some gossips even ranked Bai Yuan among the top eight of Xuan Yang’s younger generation.

It was well known that the top eight were, without exception, born dragons. For Bai Yuan to have fought his way out of a desolate place like Ling Province, his worth was undeniable.

Du An hurriedly bowed. "Lord Bai, this venomous woman colluded with her husband’s family to covet my father’s inheritance! Her heart is vicious, and she defies the virtues of womanhood! I beg Lord Bai to uphold justice!"

This time, it was the Zhang family’s turn for their expressions to turn ugly.

Zhang Yang could never have imagined that a major figure like Bai Yuan would personally deliver Du Qinghui’s relics back to Fenzhou.

For a moment, his face was ashen.

Du Yan stepped forward anxiously. "Brother, Zhang Lang was just..."

Before she could finish, Zhang Yang interrupted her. "Lord Bai, this is a Du Family matter. I hope you will..."

This time, it was Zhang Yang who couldn’t finish his sentence.

Zhang Yang stared at Bai Yuan in disbelief, his pupils starting to dilate.

Du Yan clapped a hand over her mouth and screamed.

Zhang Yang’s body collapsed limply to the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

Bai Yuan gazed coldly at the corpse at his feet.

He reflected on whether he had been too merciful to people lately, to the point that anyone felt they had the right to reason with him.

In his title, Ten Thousand Poison Yama, the word "Yama" didn’t just refer to the number of people he had killed; it also represented that he was cold-blooded and ruthless enough.

Du Qinghui had faced his death with composure, yet his children were here, squabbling like flies over filth.

’How utterly boring.’

So he decided to end this farce.

"The Gold and the Qilin Luo Yi will go to Du Yan. I trust you have no objections, Lord Du?"

Bai Yuan said coldly.

With these two things, Du Yan would be guaranteed a life of wealth and luxury. Whether she left the Zhang Family or stayed with them was no longer his concern.

That day, Du Qinghui had asked him to look after his children, but his wish was only for them to live safely. Wealth and luxury were not part of the deal.

Bai Yuan was already doing this much out of respect for the kindness Du Qinghui had shown him.

"Lord Du, I hope nothing like this ever happens again. Otherwise..."

Bai Yuan’s threat was perfectly clear.

Du An’s face was ashen. "I will do as Lord Bai says."

He never imagined the young man before him could be so cold-blooded.

One moment, he was a shy young man; the next, an executioner.

A smile finally touched Bai Yuan’s lips. "This is much better."

’Absolute strength really is the fastest way to solve problems.’

There were only two ways to resolve the dispute between the two families: get rid of either Du An or Zhang Yang.

Du An was Du Qinghui’s son, and Bai Yuan had promised not to kill him, so he had no choice but to kill the outsider, Zhang Yang.

He had to sever the last shred of Du An’s and Du Yan’s lingering thoughts with a single strike.

"We will set up a cenotaph for Mr. Du today. What do you think, Lord Du?"

With Zhang Yang as a cautionary tale, how could Du An dare to say no?

He immediately arranged for carriages, and the group left the city for a small, scenic hill. This was the site of the Du Family’s ancestral graves.

Years ago, the Du Family had been just a minor, unremarkable family in Liuxi County. Even after Du Qinghui rose to prominence, he never had any thoughts of expanding the ancestral graveyard. Thus, for a family with a Senior First Grade official, their ancestral graves were uniquely humble.

The process for setting up a cenotaph was much simpler than a formal burial.

After no more than an hour, a new grave mound appeared among the Du Family’s ancestral graves.

Bai Yuan sincerely offered a stick of incense for Du Qinghui. After all, he had no familial ties to Old Du.

’As for paper money... I doubt the old man would care about that.’

Looking at their father’s cenotaph, a trace of sorrow finally appeared on Du An’s face, while Du Yan was already a weeping mess.

Perhaps after today, the two siblings would go their separate ways completely, but that might not be a bad thing.

If Bai Yuan hadn’t appeared today, the two families would have eventually come to blows, and many people might have died.

Calculated this way, Bai Yuan had actually done a great deed.

’It’s just a pity their strength was too weak. They weren’t worth many enhancement points. Otherwise, it would have been perfect.’

...

「The next morning.」

Bai Yuan was in Fengzhou City.

When he arrived at the Yan Family residence in Fenzhou, Yan Lei and Li Huan were already waiting for him in the courtyard.

"Brother Bai."

Yan Lei smiled faintly upon seeing Bai Yuan.

"We were just about to head to Lingyue Temple. You’re just in time."

Li Huan picked up the conversation. "We arranged a meeting with Lingyue Temple for today through the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office yesterday."

This Lingyue Temple was the most powerful faction in Fenzhou.

The term for "Temple" used in its name was specific to the Daoist Sect, revealing its heritage.

Jiangnan was dominated by aristocratic families, making sects relatively weak in comparison, yet Lingyue Temple managed to stand aloof and independent among them, which was a testament to its strength.

Although Bai Yuan had encountered many martial artists from the Daoist Sect, this was his first time visiting a major Daoist sect.

He could take this opportunity to see just how wide the gap was between his own Divine Mansion Sect and those major sects.

The three of them immediately headed out of the city.

Lingyue Temple was located in a mountain forest thirty li outside of Fengzhou City.

Of the three schools of thought—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism—the Daoists were the fondest of seeking out mountains to build their temples and isolate themselves from the world. As a result, Daoist temples were almost always found deep in the mountains.

Soon, a small, elegant mountain appeared before the three of them.

At its peak, rows of buildings could be seen nestled among the trees.

That must be the Lingyue Temple Yan Lei had spoken of.