Why Are You Still Here?

Although Tong Tianba was the East Hall Master of the Fierce Tiger Gang, he truly did not know much. He had simply been executing Qin Hu's orders. Sun Qian's understanding of the whole affair was equally limited. Fang Shuwen questioned him further about the person who had hired him, but Sun Qian had never seen the man's face, as he had worn a black cloth mask. However, in a fleeting glimpse, he had caught sight of a coin-sized black birthmark on the left side of the man's lower jaw. Seeing that nothing more could be gleaned, Lu Guiyan took a long, deep look at Sun Qian. "I will not speak of your betrayal to anyone else. Escort Leader Sun was murdered while faithfully carrying out his duty on an escort run. Lu'an Escort Agency... will give your wife and child a sum of silver." Sun Qian froze, his eyes glistening slightly. "Young Chief Escort... you are far too benevolent. That sort of temperament will only cause you grief in the jianghu..." With those words, he reached out, grabbed the goose-quill saber, and twisted his neck, drawing the blade across his own throat. Lu Guiyan let out a soft sigh, retrieved a strip of fine cloth from inside her robes, and wiped the blood from the blade. She sheathed the saber, glanced at Tong Tianba, and asked Fang Shuwen, "This man... how should we deal with him?" Fang Shuwen was the one who had subdued him, so Lu Guiyan felt it was not her place to decide his fate. Fang Shuwen looked at Tong Tianba. "Forget it... kill him anyway." Tong Tianba had initially assumed his life was spared when he heard Fang Shuwen say "forget it," only for the very next words to cast him straight into the abyss. His eyes bulged with rage. What he failed to realize was that this truly was an act of mercy on Fang Shuwen's part. According to Fang Shuwen's original plan, Tong Tianba's physique was so robust that he would have served as an ideal subject to experiment with his invisible thread, perhaps granting him deeper comprehension. On second thought, however, Tong Tianba was merely serving Qin Hu as the East Hall Master of the Fierce Tiger Gang. While that indeed placed him at odds with Fang Shuwen's current objectives and created an irreconcilable conflict between them, Tong Tianba had already confessed everything he knew. Why subject him to further torment? Killing was simply a matter of a head hitting the ground; it was better to give him a clean end. In the end, Fang Shuwen utilized the Beiming Divine Art to drain every drop of Tong Tianba's internal force in the span of a breath, finishing him off with a lethal palm strike. Once the corpse collapsed, Fang Shuwen patted it down and unexpectedly discovered a secret manual along with several hundred taels of silver. The manual recorded a set of fist techniques titled the Fierce Tiger Fist. The name was rather mundane, but who knew what the contents might be? After a moment's thought, Fang Shuwen stowed it away for now and went over to search Sun Qian's corpse, from which he retrieved fifteen hundred taels in silver notes. Presumably, the person who had bribed him to leak Lu'an Escort Agency's travel route to the Fierce Tiger Gang had promised three thousand taels, and this fifteen hundred was the initial deposit. Fang Shuwen pondered for a moment, then turned to Lu Guiyan. "Shall we split this?" "No need." Lu Guiyan shook her head repeatedly. "If not for Brother Fang's peerless martial prowess, would any of us even be alive today? Brother Fang, please take all the silver from Sun Qian." Fang Shuwen nodded; in truth, he had thought the same. Still, there was an adage that onlookers were entitled to a share, and hogging all the spoils was hardly good etiquette, which was why he had asked. Since Lu Guiyan was sensible enough to decline, he naturally had no reason to refuse. He possessed quite a bit of silver on him now. Zhou Feixiong had given him a generous sum earlier, and after looting along the way, he had amassed several thousand taels. For the moment, however, he had no idea where to spend it all. Once he returned to Julu City in the future, he would need to pay a visit to the medicine shop. The shopkeeper had helped him considerably back then; when he had lacked the means, he could do nothing, but now that he had silver, he had to repay that past kindness. Fang Shuwen did not consider himself a saint, but returning a favor was his most basic baseline. Even so, determining how much to give was an art in itself. The medicine shopkeeper was merely an ordinary person; dropping a huge fortune on him out of the blue would likely only invite calamity. If his gratitude ended up ruining the man's family, it would run entirely counter to his original intention. That was why, when browsing the Treasure Pavilion of Zhujige Pavilion, Fang Shuwen had never considered bringing back an invaluable treasure—that was not a reward, but a curse. Even what he had brought for Zheng Sihai was a Ten-Year Dust-Shattering Pill, a cultivation-boosting elixir that left no trace once consumed, eliminating any risk of someone trying to rob him for it. With these thoughts in mind, he searched the bodies of the other Fierce Tiger Gang members. Most of them had come empty-handed, leaving him with meager pickings. Xu Yuqing's sword, however, appeared to be no ordinary blade. It was a pity Fang Shuwen knew nothing of swordsmanship, making it useless to him, but he strapped it onto his back nonetheless—it would fetch a decent price once they reached a city. With everything settled and the crisis temporarily averted, there seemed to be no pressing need to rush through the night, especially since Tong Tianba, the East Hall Master, had already been slain by Fang Shuwen. The group gathered around the fire; those on watch stood guard, while the rest rested. Lu Guiyan was heavy with worry. Although Tong Tianba and Sun Qian had known very little, those few words made it abundantly clear that the waters behind this affair ran unimaginably deep. Someone had commissioned the escort, someone else had bribed Sun Qian in advance, and why was Qin Hu so desperate to kill this master and servant who carried the Lingxiao Token? She instinctively glanced toward the pair, only to find that the master and servant were already leaning against each other, sound asleep. "Thinking of trying to pry some answers out of them?" Fang Shuwen asked without looking up, flipping through the Fierce Tiger Fist manual by the firelight. Lu Guiyan nodded, then remembered he was not looking at her, and said, "I believe they might know the answers." "And what if they refuse to talk?" "Then I will drop this escort job." Lu Guiyan let out a soft huff. "Someone is using my Lu'an Escort Agency as their blade. How could I ever let them have their way?" Fang Shuwen chuckled. "That is certainly an option. But would you truly be content with that?" "..." Lu Guiyan remained silent. She was not content. Lu'an Escort Agency had never abandoned a mission before, and she was naturally reluctant to admit defeat so easily. Yet her stubborn persistence had brought far too much danger to the agency. Not only had she nearly lost her life, but the entire group had nearly been wiped out tonight. If not for Fang Shuwen, she dared not imagine what the consequences would have been. Sometimes, when faced with reality, what did being unwilling to yield even accomplish? In this world, eight or nine times out of ten, things rarely went as one wished. "Young Chief Escort Lu, there is no need to overthink it." Having skimmed through the fist manual from beginning to end, Fang Shuwen closed it and looked at Lu Guiyan. "Entrusted by another, faithful to their affairs. Since I promised to protect you on this journey, I will see it through to the end." His words carried a natural, compelling assurance. Although less than two months had passed since he achieved the Great Perfection of the Yijin Jing, his experiences during this period and the opponents he had faced had fostered a confidence he had never possessed before. Hearing him say this, Lu Guiyan felt a wave of relief wash over her. After a moment's consideration, she said, "Young Hero Fang... how about this: I won't take a single coin of the escort fee for this mission, and give it all to you instead." "There's a deal like that?" The voice did not come from Fang Shuwen, but from the old man who performed shadow plays. He leaned closer and said, "How about giving this old man a cut too, little girl? I wouldn't mind tagging along for the excitement!" Fang Shuwen cast a sideways glance at the old man, thoroughly bewildered. "Why are you still here?" The little old man's face darkened. *You never gave the word—how would I dare leave?*