Shi Shaojian: This Junior Brother Really Says the Most Unpleasant Things!

【Heh-heh-heh. Just as you expected, this female ghost is indeed coveting your looks as a man. Yet deep in your heart you faintly sense that something is wrong. The whole affair cannot get clear of the unfinished obsession from her lifetime. For her to draw so deliberately close to you now, she must certainly be hiding some other scheme in the dark!】 Hearing the voice of the narration cheat, Liu Xiu at once stopped the hands that had been climbing up and down. To Madam Liu, who clung a little stickily in his arms, he said, "Miss Liu, gratitude is not love. I, Zhou, could never do such a thing as take advantage of someone in distress. I must ask Miss Liu to respect herself!" "???" When you say that, could your hands let go? And stop those hands of yours! Madam Liu's beautiful eyes opened wide, her deep-crimson lips parting slightly. She looked at Liu Xiu in disbelief. She had seen many sanctimonious men. But one as sanctimonious as Liu Xiu—this was the first time. Just as she was about to speak, Liu Xiu pushed her away. "???" "Miss Liu, we had better hurry and look for proof that that slut colluded with the household traitor!" Liu Xiu said, his face perfectly serious. He turned and began searching the study. "Very well, Young Master Zhou..." Madam Liu's voice was faint and lingering. She did not quite understand why Liu Xiu had flinched at the very moment of action. He already had the arrow on the string and was only waiting to take the field and charge. How had he drawn back now? The study was quiet for a good while. Only the sound of rummaging kept rising. Madam Liu watched Liu Xiu, who seemed truly to be searching for proof. A puzzled look came into her beautiful eyes, and she suddenly asked, "Young Master Zhou, am I not beautiful?" "Beautiful, yes. One look, and anyone can tell you could bear sons. But the timing is wrong. And I said it: gratitude is not love!" Liu Xiu glanced at the female ghost and went on rummaging through the room for the so-called proof. Only Madam Liu's expression darkened as she murmured, "Gratitude is not love?" "Of course. I, Zhou, may be no open and upright man, but I have never done a thing that takes advantage of someone in distress..." Liu Xiu said it without lifting his head. Madam Liu was stunned. Before she could speak, she heard him go on. "Besides, even if you, Miss Liu, had truly given yourself to me just now, and I had taken the chance to say a few sweet lines about a lifetime together... you are not unaware of a man's mouth..." Liu Xiu did not finish. It was not that Madam Liu showed her true form and killed him. His vision had suddenly gone black. Only this time, the darkness lasted rather long! That stretch of time let Liu Xiu, in a daze, understand something! When his sight returned, Liu Xiu found himself inside a yamen. Straight ahead, in the center of the great hall, hung a large plaque of black lacquer and gold characters, inscribed "A Bright Mirror Hung High." In the afternoon light it gave off a cold gleam. On the pillars to either side hung a couplet as well, and the horizontal tablet read "Open and Aboveboard." At the sight, his brows lifted slightly, and he looked around. There were a great many common folk, and Madam Liu was right beside him! Liu Xiu's gaze did not settle on Madam Liu. He looked toward the court, where a thin, dark man knelt, in the midst of pleading a grievance. Above, the yamen secretary pinched his rat whiskers and unhurriedly flipped through the plaint. Without so much as lifting his eyelids, he said, "Plaintiff Chen Er accuses his clan elder brother of seizing his property and taking his wife. By law, the plaintiff shall first receive thirty heavy strokes, then have his kneecaps clamped, to prove his grievance is no false charge. If you can endure it, this magistrate will take the case. If you cannot endure it..." The yamen secretary did not go on. He only gave two cold chuckles. At his words, fear showed at once on the thin, dark man's face, and he kowtowed. "Your Honor, please be merciful! This humble one is poor and truly cannot come up with any money for a respectful offering... I beg Your Honor not to beat this humble one... If I am beaten, this humble one will be crippled..." At that, the hall below burst into laughter. A fat man in a silk robe snorted and said to his companion, "No money, and you still want to plead a grievance? Do you really take the yamen for a charity hall? Look at that Wang Laowu the day before yesterday. He slipped the yamen runners five taels of silver, and only then did the boards come down like someone scratching an itch. This pauper won't put out a single coin. I'm afraid his backbone is going to be beaten clean through!" "Isn't that so. Never mind redressing the wrong done to him. The way I see it, this fellow is about to die of the injustice..." his companion said, his face full of mock lament. Madam Liu spoke then. He heard her say to Liu Xiu, "Young Master Zhou, please look. In that lot tube stand lots of two colors, red and black. When a red lot falls, it means a heavy beating, reserved for the poor who have no money to grease palms. When a black lot falls, it is a light punishment..." Before she had finished speaking, the yamen secretary had already drawn a red lot and flung it to the ground with a smack, calling for the punishment. Two tall, burly yamen runners stepped forward at once and pressed the man down onto a long bench. "Thirty strokes—carry out the sentence!" The runners swung wide-headed thin boards. Each stroke came down with the rush of wind. When the first stroke landed, the man's back arched hard, veins bulging on his neck, yet he bit down and made no sound. But after hardly a couple of strokes, the thin, dark man's face was full of pain. He screamed and begged for mercy, saying, "I won't plead anymore, I won't plead anymore." No one paid him any heed. They only went on with the punishment. "After the thirty heavy strokes comes the bone-clamping torture. They take three wooden rods and clamp the shinbone of your lower leg. They need only use a little force, and they can clamp your shinbone until it snaps..." Madam Liu's voice rose like the narration of a stage play. Liu Xiu saw the thin, dark man on the platform begin to suffer the bone-clamping torture. Say this much: it hurt just to look! "Young Master Zhou, please rest assured. However cruel the boards, however vicious the clamping sticks, they are aimed only at the ill-fated who have neither money nor power. I have already sold what jewelry I had left and changed it for silver, enough for you to grease those above and below..." Madam Liu's voice rose all at once. Liu Xiu saw that the common folk all around had vanished at some point, and the man under punishment was gone as well. There remained only the yamen secretary and the others on the platform, grinning savagely, the foul blood the thin, dark man had left behind, and Madam Liu, holding a purse out to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu did not take the purse. He only watched Madam Liu, whose clothes before his eyes were gradually turning red. His brows drew slightly together, and he said nothing. "Young Master Zhou... are you afraid?" Madam Liu's tone was faint and lingering. Her beautiful eyes no longer held their earlier frail, pitiable look and gentleness. There was only venomous resentment and hatred. "Young Master Zhou is afraid... but I am Liu Xiu!" Liu Xiu spoke suddenly. He did not take the purse. Under Madam Liu's stunned look, he walked straight toward the bench where the thin, dark man had lain. Only partway there did he stop and say, "Right. This is not how you ask someone for help..." "Remember that..." ...... In the real world, at the Tan household, inside Eldest Young Master Tan's courtyard. Shi Jian looked with an ugly expression at the female ghost on the ground, struck by a bolt of his lightning until her soul had nearly flown apart. But it was not the red-robed female ghost. It was another female ghost, dressed as a maid. "The Great Art of Grafting and Transplanting..." He turned his head again to look at Shi Shaojian on the ground, lust clouding his wits, clearly in the midst of a Traceless Dream. His expression grew even uglier. "The Yin-Soul Locking Dream Art..." Shi Jian's brows locked tight. He thought that it was no wonder Liu Xiu and the other had been caught, and at the same time he found it strange that one female ghost should know so many arts. As he thought this, he looked toward Liu Xiu. Seeing that Liu Xiu's expression was as usual, and even carried a trace of disdain, he was taken aback inwardly. The ugliness on his face lessened a little. A bit of satisfaction showed as he reached out and slapped hard through the empty air. Pa— "Ah! Dad, what did you hit me for..." Shi Shaojian screamed. Covering his face, which rapidly reddened and swelled, he woke sobbing from the sweet dream. Shi Jian's expression was ugly beyond compare. His vicious gaze swept past the area below Shi Shaojian's navel. Shi Shaojian noticed the thing that was sticking up. Embarrassment showed on his face, and he lowered his head and bent at the waist. "Hmph!" Shi Jian gave a cold snort, his expression ugly. Without another word, he turned and struck through the air at the maid ghost on the ground, whose soul was on the verge of flying apart. Boom— A pillar of azure lightning as thick as a man's head shot from Shi Jian's palm and slammed straight into this maid ghost's head... beside it. Sensing neither the qi of blood nor any baleful qi on the maid ghost, and having stayed his hand in time, Shi Jian gave a cold snort. His right hand flicked through the air, and with a pa it struck this maid ghost on the head. This maid ghost had some grit as well. She did not even cry out before fainting outright. Only her soul-body grew ever more insubstantial. Shi Jian wasted no words. He began to form the hand seal for gathering a qi-trace from within the Complete Formula of Jade Pivot Remnant Traces, Shadow-Seeking and Gang-Chasing, and snatched through the air at the maid ghost. Shua— A qi-trace belonging to the red-robed female ghost was drawn into his hand. He looked at the qi-trace of the red-robed female ghost resting in his right palm. His left-hand seal shifted. He was just about to drive the tracking method within the Complete Formula of Jade Pivot Remnant Traces, Shadow-Seeking and Gang-Chasing, and follow the female ghost's trail, when Liu Xiu's voice rose suddenly behind him. "Master, no need to chase. She killed herself!" Liu Xiu's voice was odd, carrying a little confusion and dazed uncertainty. Shi Jian was stunned. He saw the qi-trace belonging to the female ghost in his hand shatter with a crack and vanish, which indirectly proved the female ghost's death. "Dead? How did she die?" Shi Shaojian was stunned at what he heard and looked toward Liu Xiu, full of puzzlement. Nor was he the only one puzzled. Shi Jian was just as lost. "If I start telling it, it'll be a long story..." "Then make a long story short!" No need to guess. The one who said it was Shi Shaojian, whose face was a little asymmetrical, and who rather wanted it to become symmetrical. Shi Jian glared at Shi Shaojian with a cold face. Seeing Shi Shaojian shudder in fright, lower his head, and say nothing, he drew his gaze back. He was just about to speak when he heard Liu Xiu say, "Huh. Senior Brother, how did your face get swollen!" "......" Honestly, this junior brother really did say the most unpleasant things...