Did You Kill Someone?

Before Xu Yao could reply, the man in black seized him in a grip that held him a mere half-chi away. Though he claimed he was looking at his eyes, his hands began feeling from Xu Yao's head all the way down to his tailbone, followed by two firm pinches at his elbows and knees. Xu Yao felt completely immobilized. The man's fingers were harder than iron pincers; their pinch drilled pain straight into his marrow, nearly wringing a scream from his throat. "Your skeletal structure is far too poor." The man in black shook his head in slight regret. "Still, for Ning Weiyu and his sister to treat an ordinary mortal like you this way has given me a whole new level of respect for the Ning family." Only then did he look into Xu Yao's eyes. "These eyes of yours..." He furrowed his brow. "With these eyes, what fortune or calamity the future holds is difficult to foresee." He sighed softly. That such a low-cultivation lad harbored something even he could not see through left him slightly perplexed. Then he drew a breath and channeled his arts. In an instant, his eyes turned into boundless, deep pools as he gazed at Xu Yao. Xu Yao felt as if his very soul were being drawn inside, wandering in dazed bewilderment through an endless cosmos. He heard the man's voice reverberate as if across the starry sky, chiming like gold and ringing like jade, resounding in unison with heaven and earth: "These eyes of yours may be of great use in the future. If you could bring peace to the realm, save the world, and shelter the people, what would you do?" Without hesitation, Xu Yao said, "I would not fail what I have learned!" The man in black asked again, "Yet these eyes of yours might also bring calamity to all living beings and poison the world. What would you do then?" Xu Yao's consciousness was entirely beyond his control. Driven purely by instinct, he replied, "I would not fail this life!" The man in black froze for a moment, murmuring, "'If bringing fortune to the realm, I would not fail what I have learned... If plunging the world into chaos, I would not fail this life...' Haha, not a bad lad at all." With that, he released his grip. Xu Yao felt as if he had plunged abruptly from the starry cosmos back into the mortal world, feeling both feet planted firmly on the ground. For a moment, it felt like waking from a shattered dream. Just as the man in black was about to speak, his brow furrowed, anger rising in his eyes. He turned toward the distant forest and said coolly, "Get out here!" His voice was not loud. Yet Xu Yao clearly saw the woods a hundred zhang away, right where the man was looking, shudder violently. A dark figure revealed itself in the distance. Slender, wounded, and disheveled, it was the woman who had fought Ning Weiyu earlier. The moment she appeared, she coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell to her knees from afar, trembling. "Th-this lowly one greets Your Excellency..." "Since you fled, why did you return?" the man in black asked, frowning. "This lowly one..." "To dare sneak back... Do you think your jianghu vendettas give you license to vent your wrath upon my Demon Suppression Bureau? Who gave you the nerve? Has Luo Qianqiu fed you too much white rice?" "Listen well. If anything happens here, I will immediately order the extermination of your Canghai Sect!" The man in black frowned in weariness, his tone calm and detached. Yet as he spoke, Xu Yao clearly felt an overwhelming authority—a terrifying presence holding absolute power over life and death, spanning a thousand mountains. In an instant, killing intent loomed stark and chilling; the vast seas churned, and heaven and earth lost their light. The dark figure opposite did not dare to move, pleading repeatedly, "This lowly one would never dare!" "Is the southeast a place where you can run wild?" The man in black snorted, his voice icy. "Ungrateful wretch! Slap yourself ten times, knock out three teeth, and get out!" "This lowly one obeys!" The dark figure kowtowed repeatedly, then raised her hand and struck her own face ten times in rapid succession. She did not hold back in the slightest; each slap was heavy and crisp, and teeth dropped alongside spatters of blood. Only after retreating a dozen paces backward did she dare to rise. "Thank you, Excellency, for sparing my life!" Stumbling, she fled at top speed. The man in black wore a placid expression on his gaunt face. He did not spare another glance at her departure; it was as though once his word was given, everything was settled. Xu Yao watched, dumbfounded and shaken to the core. A casual sentence from the man in black had carried an aura capable of toppling mountains and reversing rivers. For the first time, Xu Yao realized that such power actually existed in this world! Authority could be manifested so tangibly! Seeing Xu Yao's expression, the man's gaze softened, and he chuckled. "Heh, little fellow! Work hard from now on... This seat looks forward to seeing how far those eyes of yours can take you." The moment he finished speaking, his figure flickered and vanished. It was as if he had never been there at all. Xu Yao stood frozen in place for a long time. Then he began to ponder: My eyes, that book—where did they come from? Were they a blessing, or a curse? He felt somewhat lost. Xu Yao returned to the Mountain Guard Compound. From a distance, he saw Brigade Captain Chen Chong standing on the perimeter wall with his hands behind his back, peering into the distance. Seeing Xu Yao return, Chen Chong breathed a sigh of relief and climbed down. "Did the two dignitaries leave?" he asked. "Yes. They said they wouldn't be returning, and that the rewards would be issued from above. We just need to wait with peace of mind," Xu Yao replied. "Good, that's good then." Chen Chong nodded and looked Xu Yao up and down, asking coolly, "Did you kill someone?" "I..." Xu Yao was startled. Chen Chong could actually tell? "No need to explain. Those who have taken a life give off a different feeling from those who haven't. You can't hide it!" Chen Chong narrowed his eyes, sizing him up once more. "Not hurt?" "A minor injury, but it's already healed." "Mm." Chen Chong studied him, his expression softening into an unexpected smile. "After killing someone, what does a human life feel like to you?" Xu Yao froze again. A faint, instinctive nausea welled up within him, as though the stench of spurting blood were rising before his eyes once more. "Hahaha..." Chen Chong looked inexplicably delighted. "You'll get used to it over time." *I don't want to get used to it!* Xu Yao shouted in his heart. The sensation was simply too dreadful. With eyes full of warmth and amusement, Chen Chong said, "If nothing comes up today, head home early this afternoon." Chen Chong looked thoroughly relaxed. Finally... the matter was over. It had weighed heavily on his mind for days; the affair had been so massive that he had feared losing several men. Now his heart was at ease. Moreover, Xu Yao had now taken a life, which marked a massive watershed between a martial artist and an ordinary person. Killing someone sounded simple enough, but the vast majority of ordinary mortals could never cross that threshold in their entire lives. If one wished to keep climbing upward in this world, a path paved with wind and blood was inevitable. It could not be avoided. That Xu Yao had crossed this hurdle on his own brought Chen Chong great satisfaction. His deepest worry had always been whether Xu Yao could bridge the chasm between the cautious timidity of a mountain villager and the life-and-death reality of a martial artist. Just as Chen Chong was about to turn away, Xu Yao spoke up. "Um, on my way back, I ran into someone else." Xu Yao said, "Five gold threads and five stars on his collar and sleeves." "What?" Chen Chong froze in shock. "Five threads? Five stars? A single man?" "Yes. A very thin man." "How is that possible! There is only one person with five threads and five stars in the entire southeast!" Chen Chong's voice changed completely as he drew in sharp, hissing breaths of cold air, his eyes filled with awe and reverence. "Could it be Lord Gu? But why would Lord Gu come here?" Xu Yao had no idea who Lord Gu was and simply stared blankly. Beside them, Liu Zhen, who had been drinking water, suddenly perked up. "Boss, Captain, are you talking about Lord Gu of the southeast?" The other burly men lifted their heads at once, expressions of feverish excitement taking over. "Lord Gu!? Lord Gu came here?" "Lord Gu has always stayed in the southeast without budging. They say he could have become master of one of the Demon Suppression Courts long ago, but he refused to leave the southeast no matter what." "I heard the same thing. They say Lord Gu has deep feelings for the southeast and wouldn't feel at ease leaving." "Lord Gu is a personal disciple of Lord Bai himself. He's fully qualified to lead either of the two bureaus! Staying in the southeast all this time must be for a special reason." "..." Xu Yao was stunned. The moment the name 'Lord Gu' was spoken, the entire Mountain Guard Compound seemed to boil over. Even those who rarely spoke were now beaming with excitement, words pouring forth in an endless torrent. Lord Gu's deeds rolled off their tongues with ease. "Battled through three thousand li of blood, alone guarding Cold City!" "Cleaved mountains to stem the turbid flood, turned back a demon venerable with a single sword!" "Traversed nineteen cities with sword in hand, shielding loyal souls throughout the journey!" "Fought fiercely across eighty thousand li, crossed the Heavenly Demon Ruins, and brought high-yield grain seeds back to Great Qin from beyond the seas and skies, earning the King's personal decree: 'Merit exalted above the realm, grace bestowed upon all living souls'!" The entire compound was instantly ignited by the name 'Lord Gu.' The atmosphere grew intensely heated. Only after a long while did Xu Yao find a chance to voice his question: "Who is Lord Gu? And who is Lord Bai?" "You little fool!" Liu Zhen burst out laughing, declaring with pride, "You little bumpkin don't even know such towering figures? Lord Gu is the Demon Suppression Hall Master of the Southeast Circuit under the Ninth Demon Suppression Court of our Mountain and River Prison's Demon Suppression Bureau—Gu Huo! He's the ninth personal disciple of Lord Bai, known across the jianghu as Gu the Life-Giver of the Southeast!" "Good people can live when they're in the southeast; monsters, demons, and villains will find it hard to survive!" "As for Lord Bai... He is the Master of Great Qin's Mountain and River Prison, universally recognized across the Seven Kingdoms as the greatest god of slaughter throughout the ages, the pillar supporting the Great Qin Empire: Lord Bai Wu'an! Rumor has it that Lord Bai was ranked seventh among his siblings back in the day, which is why people call him Bai the Seventh."