```
Fang Ke commanded his strong men to wash up the place, then turned his head and went straight to Chaimen Street.
However, as he knocked on the door for a long time, he only heard Huang’s barking but saw no sign of his immediate superior coming to open the door.
’That shouldn’t be!’
He muttered to himself, ’With his temperament, how could he not return home after killing someone...’
He understood his immediate superior.
He also understood the feeling of killing someone for the first time.
As for killing, the more reasonable and kind-hearted a person, the harder it is for them to get over that hurdle in their heart.
On the other hand, those who understand no reason and care not for morality kill a person as easily and casually as slaughtering a chicken.
And his immediate superior was exactly the kind of person who is both reasonable and kind-hearted, with high moral standards and extremely stubborn principles.
On ordinary days, he hardly ever said a harsh word to his underlings.
Today, he killed three people in one go, probably feeling as if the sky had collapsed halfway...
Just as Fang Ke hesitated whether or not to scale the wall and go in to check,
a languid voice suddenly came from the side, "Stop knocking, your master hasn’t returned..."
Fang Ke turned his head and saw Wang Dashi in a pale blue undergarment, stretching and standing in front of the neighboring courtyard gate.
He kept his mouth shut, silently saluted Wang Dashi with a fist, and quickly headed towards the end of the street.
Wang Dashi moved his waist, "What was the commotion in the city just now?"
Fang Ke hesitated slightly but honestly replied, "Perhaps the rivers and lakes folks were too rowdy tonight. My master couldn’t stand it, went out, and killed three Jiangzuo Changfeng Gang scoundrels!"
"Three?"
Wang Dashi looked at Fang Ke with surprise and laughed, "Seems he was really driven to the edge!"
Fang Ke kept his mouth shut and didn’t reply, but in his heart, he agreed, ’Exactly, with his temperament, would he have taken such extreme measures if he hadn’t been pushed to the brink? Not one of those three men has a body left intact...’
After a smile, Wang Dashi nonchalantly waved his hand, "Alright, go on with your tasks. When you have time, let your master mingle more with my sister. It won’t hurt!"
Fang Ke didn’t want to say more, but after walking a few steps, he still couldn’t help but bow his hands and say, "General, you are a person of stature, associating with nobles and dealing with important matters. My master is just a little sesame-sized official, with no grand ambitions. Please let him off the hook!"
"Just…with your family’s affairs, a common person getting involved even slightly could lead to a catastrophe that decimates three clans. My master, living alone and desolate, is already struggling to stay alive. Please don’t forcefully send him down a dead-end path!"
"Even a cornered rabbit will bite, will it not?"
Wang Dashi glanced at him sidelong, disdainfully scoffed, "You are indeed loyally devoted!"
Fang Ke didn’t find this funny and said earnestly, "My master is an honest and upright man; he shouldn’t have to wade into the murky waters of your affairs!"
Wang Dashi stared at him, his expression slowly turning cold, "Get lost!"
Once again, Fang Ke saluted with a fist, bowed deeply, and left Chaimen Street at a brisk pace.
As Wang Dashi watched him depart, his expression darkened gradually, "Truly detestable..."
He murmured softly.
It was the first time he had such a profound realization that unless they could completely cleanse themselves of their sins and errors, those living people would forever be unable to hold their heads high and be human again.
…
When Fang Ke found Yang Ge at the premise,
he was stuffing himself with food and drink.
The wine was good wine, aged Fen Wine.
The meat, however, was not good meat, just leftovers that his brothers had not finished in the evening.
But he seemed to care little, filling his cheeks with bites of meat and gulps of wine.
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Looking at him, he had stripped off all his clothes, leaving only his underpants on.
Moreover, his body and hair were damp, obviously, he had just had a wash...
Fang Ke finally understood why he had not returned home but had come here instead; it was to avoid staining his own doorstep with human blood.
```
Seeing his state, Fang Ke felt both amusement and sympathy and didn’t wait for him to ask before proactively reporting, "Sir, the ground has been cleaned. Our brothers arrived in time and didn’t let the townsfolk see."
"Ugh..."
The better off he was in not speaking, but the moment he opened his mouth, Yang Ge turned his head and vomited messily.
"Don’t think too much about it."
Fang Ke quickly approached, gently patting his back and advised, "They were all no good anyway. By getting rid of them, consider it as you doing a heroic deed, ridding the people of a scourge!"
Yang Ge waved his hand and continued vomiting into the bucket.
It wasn’t until he had emptied his stomach of the meat and wine that he finally took a breather.
He straightened up, grabbed the bright steel knife propped beside him, thunked it on the dining table, and wiping his mouth, asked, "Where are those runaways from Changfeng Gang?"
Seeing the veins on his vomiting face, and his bloodshot eyes, Fang Ke continued to counsel, "You shouldn’t bother with them. When day breaks, I’ll take people to deal with them, ensuring they are left with a fate worse than death!"
Yang Ge bit down on his back teeth and clenched the knife handle so tightly it creaked.
After a long moment, he dropped the steel knife, smiling weakly and said, "Am I not very weak?"
For some reason.
Seeing his dispirited appearance, Fang Ke couldn’t help but think of the two bodies that they couldn’t even sweep away and genuinely wanted to laugh.
He held it in, and in all seriousness said, "That’s the way of the world. Good people are bullied by evil, but surely one cannot become an inhuman ghoul just to fight them, right?"
Yang Ge was stunned for a moment and then wholeheartedly gave Fang Ke a big thumbs-up, "Your philosophy is as high as a three- or four-story building!"
Fang Ke modestly laughed, "It’s just that you take too much upon yourself, and you take the lives of those scoundrels too seriously."
"The matter is really quite simple," he said.
"If you really can’t stand them, then we just extend our hands and crush them."
"If you feel such people aren’t worth dirtying your hands, then we simply ignore them. Out of sight, out of mind."
"Either way, it’s a trifle."
"The only thing is not to take these people’s lives to heart too much. It not only causes you unnecessary trouble but also elevates them, as if they were someone of importance!"
Yang Ge pondered for a while, then once again gave him a big thumb up, "I misspoke, your philosophy is at least as high as seven or eight stories!"
Fang Ke bowed with folded hands, "You overpraise me, sir!"
Yang Ge took a big gulp of liquor from the jug and burped, saying, "Then I’ll leave this matter in your hands. Catch a few typical examples and tell everyone in the martial fraternity in the city, once they enter our Lu Ting, they must follow our rules. If anyone dares to cause trouble... these people from Changfeng Gang will serve as an example!"
He paused, then added, "Also, I have a personal request, and I need your help."
Fang Ke: "Please command me, sir. As long as it is within my power, I shall not hesitate!"
Yang Ge: "It’s no big deal, really. I just want you to snoop around and get to the bottom of Changfeng Gang. This matter... I must go and have a proper talk with them."
This was just like how the three major grain merchants could no longer tolerate Zhang Mazi urinating and defecating over their heads.
Having talked tough already, Yang Ge naturally had to make an example out of someone, to show them: when the man with the Nine-Tube mask speaks, you’d best believe him!
Otherwise, anyone and everyone would think they could come knocking on his door for retribution!
In that case, he could forget about ever having peace...
After pondering for a moment, Fang Ke agreed to the task and with a bow took his leave.
Yang Ge continued to drink, hoping to drink himself into a good sleep tonight.
Hopefully, upon waking up, he could throw all those troubles to the back of his mind.
Unexpectedly, shortly after dawn, a strongman entered to report that the Northern Town Governor of the Capital had sent an urgent message.
Bleary-eyed from drink, Yang Ge ordered the strongman to bring the urgent message. After dismissing the strongman, he opened it alone and saw several neatly written lines on a one-finger-long strip of paper:
"Within a few days, an imperial envoy from the inner court will arrive at Lu Ting to investigate the three major grain merchants for hoarding and price gouging."
"You should approach this with composure, preferring to step back for now rather than jostling forward. Take care, take it seriously!"
Reading the lines on the strip of paper, Yang Ge suddenly realized, ’No wonder these martial folk rushed into the city as if they were on their way to reincarnation. So it’s about to go down...’