Chapter 50
Xiao Yu’er was secretly startled, but he laughed loudly and said, “If you think to threaten me with Murong Jiu, then you are wrong. Unless you do not know that she keeps wanting to take my life, so why would I save her.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang also laughed and said, “I have long lost interest in women, her life or death, has got nothing to do with me.”
Without a change of expression, Jiang Yu Lang said with a slight smile, “Since that is the case, why aren’t the two of you attacking me yet?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang replied, “I have no desire to kill you.”
Xiao Yu’er also laughed, “Friend who eats shit, I’m afraid I’ll dirty my hands if I kill you.”
Jiang Yu Lang smiled, “Since that is the case, I shall make a move. This Miss Murong, will naturally have to follow me.”
Xiao Yu’er laughed loudly, “Go then! You took away Murong Jiu, there’s no need to fear that no one would want to settle scores with you.”
Jiang Yu Lang smiled frostily, “This you do not have to worry, if some one asks me, I’ll just say that I took Miss Murong away because I was worried that she will be harmed by you. If not for Jiang Xiao Yu, would Murong Jiu have ended up in such a state?”
Xiao Yu’er sighed, “Like father like son, you and your father, don’t have any other skills. But the skills of pinning blame on others and pretending to be good men, no one else can really compare to you. But you stole Duan He Fei’s silver, the fact is here, that you cannot deny.”
Jiang Yu Lang said, “What silver, my hands are empty, where are the silver. Now whoever has the silver, is the person who stole them, such reasoning is so simple.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang suddenly exclaimed, “Now you son of a turtle are trying to blame it on me!”
Jiang Yu Lang replied with a cold laugh, “You said that I’m blaming it on you, I’ll say that you’re blaming it on me. Why don’t we see, whether those in the martial arts world will believe the words of you, ‘Compulsive Gambler’, or me Jiang Yu Lang.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang was furiously stunned, and said with a bitter laugh, “If you son of a turtle were born a few years earlier, I will have no place in the ‘Ten Evils’.”
Jiang Yu Lang laughed loudly, “You flatter me, I am only…”
Before he finished his words, there were suddenly a few screams, coming from outside.
The screams were not only especially shrill, but long as well. The person who screamed, seemed not only to have witnessed an extremely cruel, chilling event, but also seemed to be suffering from a pain that a normal person would never be able to tolerate. The screams, jarring on the ear, are enough to make anyone’s blood congeal.
Jiang Yu Lang’s expression changed the fastest, and the most ashen. Dragging Murong Jiu, he was about to turn around and run out.
Xiao Yu’er shouted, “Since the person who came can make his men emit such chilling shrieks, he must be extremely frightening. It doesn’t matter if you want to go out and die, but Murong Jiu….” His words suddenly stopped, in the darkness, there were already five shadows!
Although at this point in time no one can see their faces, but the eerily evil air they brought in with them, is enough to make everyone’s palm break out in cold sweat.
In the darkness, a series of continuous, hair-standing squeaking sounds were heard, and the five persons walked slowly over.
The first thing Xiao Yu’er saw, was their miserable, eerie, shining blue eyes, followed by their terrified expressions. The blood flowing from the five of them, seemed to be a scary blue. The five of them were all wearing long black robes reaching to the ground, their right hands holding a silver whip, but their left hands holding a steel cage, and that nauseating squeaking sounds, were coming out from the steel cages.
Xuanyuan Sanguang shouted, “Friends, who are you? Why are you here?”
His shout was as loud as thunder, causing reverberations all around the valley, and was using this shout to reveal his internal energy to scare the opposite party.
But who would have expected that the five men in black did not even blink their eyes. The eerie blue eyes kept flitting among Xiao Yu’er and the other’s faces, and they did not talk at all.
Jiang Xiao Yu had already retreated and was shouting, “The Ninth Miss of Jiu Xiu Villa and ‘Compulsive Gambler’ are all here, if friends know them, you better retreat quickly, any later and you won’t be able to leave even if you want to!”
He was quick witted, and on seeing that there’s something wrong with the other party, hurriedly used Xuanyuan Sanguang and Murong Jiu’s reputation to scare them. These two names are of some influence, besides, even if the other party is not frightened, he was using the names of others, it has nothing to do with him at all, so the other party won’t even look for him. The five men in black still remained unperturbed, their steps unwavering.
Tie Ping Gu suddenly cried out in alarm and pulling Xiao Yu’er’s hands, stammered, “Rats… so many rats in the cage.”
Several dozens of rats were in the steel cage squeaking. Xiao Yu’er may not be afraid of rats, but to see the several dozen pairs of shining eyes, a huge pile of furry rats, he can’t help but feel his goosebumps rising.
The leader of the men in black laughed and said, “That’s right, rats… us five are here only to find rats, nothing to do with humans. If everyone were to stay still and not move, I will certainly not offend you.”
His words may be polite, but the voice is even more nauseating than the cries of the rats. Xuanyuan Sanguang can’t help but ask, “What are you catching the rats for?”
That man in black said with a laugh, “Our leader only loves rat meat, so we were ordered to catch them, but all the rats around a hundred miles radius of here have already escaped into the mountains, that’s why we followed them here.”
Xiao Yu’er laughed with sudden understanding, “No wonder these caves have an exceptional number of rats, so they chased them here. And I originally thought there was an evil cat outside.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang’s expression changed slightly, as if he thought of a person, and asked fiercely, “Friends, who is your master?”
That man in black no longer spoke, but waved his hand.
From the mouths of the five of them emitted the sound of a bamboo flute, this sound seems like the whistling of leaves, yet it is not. The sound makes one feels dread and nauseous.
Tie Ping Gu has already covered her ears, Xiao Yu’er also felt uncomfortable hearing the sound, but his sense of curiosity is the strongest, and on witnessing such a strange thing, he only wanted to take a good look.
Xuanyuan Sanguang stared with huge round eyes, but there was a look of fear in his eyes.
Xiao Yu’er can’t help but whispered, “Who is this friend who loves rat meat? Do you know?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang replied, “Mmm.”
He seemed to have thought of a very frightful thing, and was lost in his thoughts. Xiao Yu’er was talking into his ear, but he did not hear a single word at all.
Right at this time, there were strange sounds coming out from beneath the dirt floor, like a few thousand, a few hundred rats, all squeaking, trying their hardest to escape and squeeze out!
The men in black immediately placed the steel cages they held in their hands in five different positions.
Right at this time, a large pack of rats, from the cracks on the mountain walls, the dark corners, ran out in waves, so many that it’s immeasurable.
All the rats that Xiao Yu’er have seen in his lifetime, were not even one-tenth of the number of rats now. Never in his dreams could he imagine that there would be so many rats in the world.
If right now, it were a pack of hungry wolves or tigers or leopards, Xiao Yu’er might not necessarily feel afraid, but such a large pack of rats, is making his face turn pale, his body turn cold. The wine and meat he just ate, were almost bursting out from his chest, and he nearly vomited them out.
Although he could still control himself, but Tie Ping Gu could not, and with a ‘wa’, vomited all over the floor. The rats were running past them, and the few highly skilled martial arts exponents, all can’t help but jump up, leaping onto the huge stone, squeezed together.
Tie Ping Gu covered her eyes with her hands, refusing to open them even if it means death, but Xiao Yu’er eyes were opened widely.
A few thousand, few hundred rats were running past his own legs, this is not a sight that everyone can witness, so how can he bear not to see.
The men in black kept on whistling on the bamboo, the whips in their hands dancing, and chasing the packs of rats into the steel cages. The steel cage may not be small, but it’s not large either, but the rats kept running in, just like packing ducks, squeezing themselves in even though it’s full. One piled on another, a pack piled onto a pack.
Until the five cages were so packed, it looked like five large meat dumplings, did the men in black put their whips down and stopped their whistling. The rest of the rats immediately looked like they have been pardoned, and scurried away in all directions again. In the blink of an eye, none were left. The cave immediately returned to its original silence, Tie Ping Gu secretly took a glance before she dared to put her hands down. Her face was wet with cold sweat, as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.
Xiao Yu’er heaved a long sigh before saying with a bitter smile, “Only now do I know that rats are so scary.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang coughed dryly and said, “Thousands and hundreds of rats, really look very different from ten or eight rats. Si Chuan has the most rats, but I’ve never seen so many before.”
Jiang Yu Lang giggled, “I was not really afraid, I just find it revolting.”
The leader of the men in black laughed loudly, “What this friend said is correct, not only are rats not scary, but they are extremely tasty.”
Xiao Yu’er said with a cynical look, “Tasty?” The man in black said with a strange smile, “If you don’t believe it, you’ll know once you try.”
He actually scooped up a furry rat from the cage and wanted to pass it to Xiao Yu’er’s hands.
Xiao Yu’er hurriedly shook his hands and said with a smile, “A gentleman will not take what another likes. Since the rats are so tasty, you better keep it for yourself.”
The man in black chuckled, “A pity, a pity. Although you look very brave, but you don’t even dare to eat a rat, or else once you have a taste of rat’s meat, you would find that eating other meat would be like chewing wax.”
The goosebumps on Xiao Yu’er’s body stood up again, and he said loudly, “Since friend has already found your rats, shouldn’t you be gone by now.”
Jiang Yu Lang suddenly said with a sinister smile, “You’ve always loved being a busybody, why aren’t you interfering this time?”
Xiao Yu’er smiled, “If there’s someone who likes to eat rat meat, that’s his own business, why should I bother. It’s the same as you liking to eat shit, I can’t interfere in that.”
Jiang Yu Lang’s expression changed slightly, and looking at the man in black, asked “Is friend really leaving?”
The man in black replied, “As I have already said, we’re here for the rats, and have nothing to do with humans.”
Jiang Yu Lang sighed, “Doesn’t friend know that there is something better than rats in here?”
The man in black took a look at Murong Jiu and Tie Ping Gu and replied with a weird laugh, “The disciples in our sect, all feel that women are not as cute as rats…”
Jiang Yu Lang pulled Murong Jiu aside, far away from Xiao Yu’er and Xuanyuan Sanguang, before saying with a grin, “Aren’t money and jewels cuter than rats as well?”
The man in black’s eyes shone, and asked, “Money and jewels? Where?”
Jiang Yu Lang’s eyes rolled towards the back for a glance, and said with a smile, “With these two around, I dare not say.”
Xiao yu’er sighed and said with a bitter smile, “I’m so weird, why didn’t I kill you in the past.”
Jiang Yu Lang laughed loudly, “Even if you want to kill me, I’m afraid it’ll not be easy.”
The few men in black looked at one another, carried their steel cages and walked towards the cave behind. Xiao Yu’er blocked their path with a flash and said with a grin, “There’s no rats behind, you better return.”
The man in black said with a grin, “It’s best that friend knows, you may not dare to eat rats, but the rats will dare to eat you.”
Xiao Yu’er smiled, “I have not taken a bath for a few days, my flesh is very dirty, I’m afraid even the rats won’t want to eat it.”
The man in black laughed loudly, “Good, you’re a very interesting person, your courage not small…”
Just as he said the word ‘small’, the whip in his palm flew out.
The whip was black and shiny, made of unknown material, but it’s weight quite heavy. The man in black’s strength was not little as well, and the whip flew out, steady and heavy, the sound of the whip whistling through the air.
But Xiao Yu’er caught the whip with a stretch of his hand and said with a smile, “Friend might not know that rats may cause me a headache, but humans, I am not afraid of them.”
The expression on the man in black had already changed, and was trying to snatch his whip back but the whip seemed to have attached itself to Xiao Yu’er’s hands. He used all his strength but could not even move it an inch.
Xiao Yu’er said with a grin, “The rats don’t know me, and I don’t know the rats, so even if you catch and eat all the rats in the world, I won’t bother about you. But if you have other intentions, I won’t be courteous.”
The man in black said with a cold smile, “If you don’t find trouble with us, we won’t find trouble with you, but if you’re thinking of blocking our path, we will not be courteous!” As soon as he finished speaking, his mouth suddenly emitted the sound of the bamboo flute again.
The two men in black next to him opened the door to the steel cages in their hands and the rats that were packed in the cages all scurried out like arrows.
Xiao Yu’er was startled, tens and hundreds of rats were climbing onto him, squeaking and biting. Xiao Yu’er was both shocked and disgusted, and he can’t shake or chase them off. He had no choice but to release the grip on the hand holding the whip.
Five whips immediately made their way towards him.
There were rats all over Xiao Yu’er’s body, how could he have fought the whips, so he could only dodge and retreat, and kept shouting, “Xuanyuan Sanguang, aren’t you coming to help?” But Xuanyuan Sanguang’s face had already turned green. He hesitated for a moment before walking over slowly.
The man in black said fiercely, “Xuanyuan Sanguang, since you have already guessed who we’re under, do you still dare to strike?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang was startled, and actually retreated. Xiao Yu’er shouted, “Xuanyuan Sanguang, are you like a woman, afraid of rats?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang might as well turned his head away, refusing to look at him.
The rats on Xiao Yu’er’s body were not getting any lesser, in fact, it was getting more. He felt pain, itch and numb, and who knows how many bites had the rats taken out of him. That five silver whips were flogging towards him like poisonous snakes. By now Xiao Yu’er is truly anxious.
No matter what he met, he’ll always have a way to deal with it, but these body full of furry rats were turning him into a frenzy and he does not know what to do at all.
Jiang Yu Lang can’t help but laugh loudly, “For someone who thinks he’s the smartest in the world, and he can’t even deal with rats… Jiang Xiao Yu, would you have expected to die in the hands of rats.”
Xiao Yu’er has already suffered a few lashes of the whips, and can’t help but heave a long sigh, “I really did not expect…”
Suddenly, a shadow flashed past, and someone held a man in black by his neck and threw him out from behind, the whip in his hand snatched away as well.
The other four men in black exclaimed in alarm, and four whips lashed out at this person, but without knowing why, the whips seem to disobey them. Your whip lashing at me, my whip lashing at you. The four of them were actually fighting amongst themselves.
Xiao Yu’er laughed loudly, “Hua Wu Que, I did not think that you’ll actually come.”
The person who came is naturally Hua Wu Que, beside his ‘Shifting Flower Grafting Jade’ martial arts, who else can make the four of them hit themselves.
On seeing him, Xiao Yu’er naturally heaved a sigh of relief. On seeing him, Jiang Yu Lang was also very happy, thinking that Hua Wu Que is saving Xiao Yu’er so that he can kill him personally.
Hua Wu Que’s whip danced about, chasing all the rats on Xiao Yu’er’s body away.
The five men in black were all shocked stiff, their tongues tied, and looking at Hua Wu Que numbly, not daring to lash out with the whips on their hands.
The leader of the men in black asked dazedly, “Who might friend be? Why are you interfering?”
Hua Wu Que replied calmly, “Even if you do not know me, shouldn’t you know my martial arts?”
The man in black thought for a while, and his expression changed, “Shifting… Shifting Flower Grafting Jade.” The man in black stamped his feet and exclaimed, “Since the people from Floral Palace are here, I can only take my leave.”
Xiao Yu’er laughed, “You’ve caused my body to be full of rat droppings, and you’re thinking of leaving now?”
That man in black said with an icy smile, “I’m afraid it’s not up to you to say such words, just based on you… humph!” Hua Wu Que asked, “Are you looking down on him?”
Hua Wu Que smiled slightly and said, “Since that is the case, without the help from rats, why don’t you have another fight with him. It doesn’t matter if the five of you attack together, I will not strike.”
The man in black sniggered, “If you do not strike, this lad…”
Before he could finish his words, Xiao Yu’er had already struck out with his fist. He obviously saw Xiao Yu’er’s punch coming towards him, but he just could not dodge it. Before he could even flick his whip, his body was already flying out from the punch.
The other four men in black pounced at the same time, but Xiao Yu’er made a few false moves and in a short moment the five were staggering from his beatings, their faces bruised. Hua Wu Que said with a slight smile, “Do you know his capability now?”
None of the five men in black could speak at this point in time, they were all lying on the ground, unable to get up. Xiao Yu’er laughed loudly, “I did not expect you to be worse than rats, can’t even take a beating.” The men in black dare not reply, nor move.
Xuanyuan Sanguang kept making eye and hand signals at Xiao Yu’er, his intention to ask Xiao Yu’er to let them go. Xiao Yu’er furrowed his brows and said, “My hands are not painful anymore, stand up quickly.”
Not only did the men in black not stand up, but their bodies huddled up into a ball instead.
Xiao Yu’er laughed loudly and said, “Five adults, and you still have the cheek to laze on the ground, don’t tell me you’re waiting for your Teacher’s Wife to come and carry you up?”
The men in black were originally trembling, but now they were not moving at all.
Xuanyuan Sanguang hurriedly made his way over, dragged a man up, with with only one look, his expression changed. He slowly put the man in black down and sighed, “I’m afraid they will never be able to stand.”
Once Xuanyuan Sanguang touched their bodies, fresh blood oozed out from their mouths, noses, eyes and ears, and even those blood were a scary blue.
Xiao Yu’er was stunned, “The five of them only suffered a few punches, don’t tell me they’re so upset they had to commit suicide?”
Hua Wu Que said with furrowed brows, “Maybe they thought that you would not let them off, so they…”
Xiao Yu’er stamped his feet and exclaimed, “Even if they made my body to be full of rat droppings, I won’t kill them. Could these people have eaten too many rat meat, and became as narrow minded as rats.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang said with a bitter laugh, “These son of turtles died just like that, and they died really quickly.”
Xiao Yu’er said, “That’s right, could it be they hid poison in their mouths, ever ready to die.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang furrowed his brows and squatted, turning over the mouth of the man in black. Immediately there was a ghastly blue liquid as think as ink flowed out from his mouth, emitting a nauseating stink.
Xuanyuan Sanguang sighed, “You’re right, these bastards actually hid the poison in their teeth.”
Xiao Yu’er said with furrowed brows, “But why do they want to commit suicide? I have no intention of killing them, or forcing them to talk, could it be that they’re tired of living?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang searched the body of the man in black and only found a few taels of silver and nothing else, not even a handkerchief.
These people actually did not bring anything with them except for silver.
Xuanyuan Sanguang thought for a moment, and suddenly tore the body’s clothes, and exclaimed hoarsely, “The matter that you cannot understand, the answer is right here.”
On the chest of the man in black, were surprisingly ten large words.
These ten ghastly blue words seemed to be burned using phosphorus, and almost burnt to the bone, the scar embedded deeply in the flesh, so that there is no way it can be removed. The ten words are, ‘The followers of Wu Ya, rather be killed than humiliated’.
Xiao Yu’er muttered, “The followers of Toothless Gate, rather be killed than humiliated… what kind of a daft meaning is this?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang sighed, “This means that when they cannot defeat others, they should kill themselves quickly so that they will not disgrace their master. If they do not commit suicide now, their deaths would be ten times more horrible when they go back.”
Xiao Yu’er asked, “You mean they were afraid of their master’s torture when they return, that’s why they’d rather commit suicide now, correct?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang affirmed, “Exactly.”
Xiao Yu’er said, “But they got a beating here, their master doesn’t know at all, as long as they don’t say it out, would I have said it out instead?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang replied, “These son of turtles may be measuring the actions of a gentleman with the heart of a scoundrel, and thought that you…”
Hua Wu Que suddenly interrupted, “That is not the reason.”
Xiao Yu’er asked, “What would you say is the reason?”
Hua Wu Que slowly replied, “When I saw them, there were originally seven of them.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang clapped his hands, “That’s right, the five of them came in, and left two in a secret place. That two saw that the situation was not right, and might have slipped away secretly. The five of them deduced that they would surely return to report, so instead of suffering at a later time, they might as well have a clean death now.”
Xiao Yu’er stared at Hua Wu Que, “When you came in, didn’t you see the other two?”
Hua Wu Que said with a bitter smile, “I heard your shouts and dashed immediately in, I did not notice anything else.”
Xiao Yu’er suddenly slapped his own head and shouted, “Oh no, we’ve actually been muddled by these stupid rats that five, six living humans slipped away from us without us actually knowing.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang glanced around and also exclaimed hoarsely, “That’s right, that little bastard Jiang has slipped off.”
Xiao Yu’er stamped his feet and said, “When you came in, I still saw him, at that time he seemed to look very happy, thinking that you’re here to kill me. Later he must have realized that the situation is not right so he immediately escaped… ai, this lad has always been an imp, I should have specifically kept a close watch on him.”
Hua Wu Que was silent for a moment, and with a small smile, said, “It might be good that he left on his own accord.”
Xiao Yu’er stared at him “You saw him earlier, right?”
Hua Wu Que replied, “I seemed to have caught a glance.”
“But you still let him leave.”
Hua Wu Que sighed, “No matter what we were once acquainted…”
Xiao Yu’er shouted, “Then why did you let him take Murong Jiu with him?”
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦