Chapter 279: 279 Regardless of Life or Death

Deng Lao Er passed through the Moon Gate that connected the front and rear courtyards; as soon as he entered the rear courtyard, he heard someone speak coldly.

“The price today is one hundred and forty-three, if I come tomorrow, it will be one hundred and forty-two… Old Madam, if you don’t care about Deng Yifu’s life and death, just drag it out.”

Lady Deng was so angry that her eyes were almost spitting fire. Suddenly, she saw someone come through the Moon Gate and couldn’t help but rub her eyes, thinking she might be seeing things, “Lao Er… is it you?”

With a heart full of anger, but upon seeing his mother, Deng Lao Er couldn’t help but soften, “It’s me, Mom, I’m back.”

In the rear courtyard, aside from Uncle Shui, who was the gatekeeper, there were seven or eight relatives of the Deng Family, including four robust young men.

Opposite them stood only three people: a skinny middle-aged man and two strapping lads.

But these mere three people were enough to oppressively suppress the Deng Family’s presence, the reason being they had a primary level martial master among them.

In the rear courtyard, where stone benches and tables were arranged, the skinny middle-aged man had one foot on the edge of a stone bench, exuding an air of smug arrogance that was as blatant as it could be.

He wanted to continue showing off, but suddenly seeing so many martial artists rush in from outside startled him.

Once he heard that the newcomers were led by the second son of the Deng Family, disdain flashed through his eyes. However, he didn’t continue his braggadocio, knowing that doing so would mean facing a loss right there and then.

So he took his foot off the stone table and glanced at Lady Deng, “Old Madam, I’ve already made myself clear. It’s for you to decide what comes next.”

After speaking, he headed towards the exit with his two men, while Lady Deng, upon seeing her son, had no mind to pay attention to these people.

But how could Deng Lao Er let these three men just walk away? His face darkened, “Stand right there!”

The middle-aged man stopped in his tracks, glanced sideways at him with a derisive smile, “Ah, the Second Young Master, eh? Your father Deng is still in the Prefectural Government Office prison; you should be dealing with serious matters.”

His side had only one primary level martial master, whereas the other party had two martial masters, yet his tone was brazen and unafraid.

Deng Lao Er stared him down, speaking expressionlessly, “The place you just stepped on is where my father often dines.”

“So what?” the middle-aged man responded indifferently, “I am Hei Xin from the Hall of Heroes, your father now dines in prison!”

Deng Lao Er ignored him and turned to his mother, “Mom, are these three people invited by you?”

Although Lady Deng was advanced in years, her husband was Deng the escort leader, and she herself had a high-rank martial warrior’s cultivation level, having weathered many storms which made her much bolder than the average person; seeing the situation, she shook her head without hesitation, “No, they came uninvited.”

“Brother Tao, detain these people,” Deng Lao Er said through gritted teeth, “Anyone who resists, kill without mercy!”

The middle-aged man’s complexion changed, “Young man, are you…”

Before he could finish, two men had already pounced on him.

Brother Tao was an intermediate-level martial master; he flashed a grin at the opposing primary level martial master, “I have yet to ask for your esteemed name…”

Mid-sentence, he moved, and the short sword at his waist already lunged toward the other’s chest.

Guards from the Yongyi Ducal Mansion were never soft; their motto was to subdue an opponent with the least cost and swiftest action.

The primary level martial master was not someone easy to squash; with a swing of his right hand, a short knife whizzed out from his waist to meet the attack,

Almost simultaneously, his left hand reached towards his waist again, then he paused in shock: Damn it, where’s my bag of lime?

He had far more experience in dirty fighting than the guards from the Prince’s Mansion. There was no helping it; one who mingles in the streets has got to have an edge.

However, frustratingly, he was here at the Deng Family residence to bully the weak and old today, and he had been instructed not to use any underhanded tactics as Deng Yifu was somewhat respected in the martial world—it was better to simply overpower them with a straightforward approach.

So, before he came, he left several dishonorable combat tricks at home, lest he couldn’t control himself.

But now, he was facing an extremely deadly opponent who was also a minor realm higher, and he was well aware that he was up against a formidable enemy. He employed all his techniques in retaliation and was on high alert, momentarily forgetting: he hadn’t brought certain shady equipment.

In a high-stakes duel, there’s no room for distraction, especially when one’s cultivation level is already lesser than the opponent’s.

Brother Tao might have lacked skill in underhanded fights, but his ability to exploit weaknesses was top-notch. As soon as his short sword lightly touched the short knife, it followed through with half a circle and shot towards the enemy’s face.

Seeing the short knife coming to the rescue, Brother Tao spun around, swinging his elbow horizontally while his short sword plunged into the opponent’s right shoulder socket.

Landing a hit, he then targeted the other’s left shoulder socket; recalling the man’s earlier suspicious action at his waist, his short sword followed suit, slicing off the opponent’s left arm, leaving only a bit of skin and flesh attached.

All of this may sound slow, but in actuality, it happened in just four or five seconds. In the blink of an eye, all three unwelcome guests were captured, with the highest-ranked martial artist among them losing an arm.

The middle-aged man, however, refused to admit defeat. Pinned to the ground, he still shouted loudly, “Ye Family brat, you dare to lay hands on me, Hei Xin, Lord Yun won’t let you off!”

Hei Xin had quite a reputation in the Hall of Heroes; although he was only a Martial Artist of the initial level, he was known for his strategic mind and was dubbed the “Second Military Advisor.” He was deeply trusted by the hall master and could easily command the martial masters within the hall.

Deng Lao Er originally couldn’t be bothered with him, but upon hearing these words, he stepped forward and stomped down, causing a light “crack” as Hei Xin’s left leg was instantly broken, the white bone jutting out through the flesh.

“You still dare to kick someone,” Deng Lao Er snorted coldly, and then lifting his head, he smiled at his mother, “Mom, I’m back. With me and Big Brother here, you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

A few young men at Lady Deng’s side, two of whom were nephews from her maiden family and two others were beneficiaries of the Deng family head’s generosity. Their cultivation levels were not very impressive, and they came today merely to bolster their courage.

Seeing the people from the Hall of Heroes taken down, they wanted to step in and kick the enemy while they were down, but the people Deng Lao Er brought with him were fierce and murderous, and everyone hesitated to approach.

One who could be considered a cousin spoke up with surprise tinged with dissatisfaction, “Lao Er, why did you only come back now?”

Deng Lao Er just smiled at him before turning to his mother, “Mom, why didn’t you send a message to Zhige?”

Lady Deng glanced at him and replied with resignation, “They all said that Yongyi Duke went to trouble your principal’s family, and the Prefectural Government Office sent people over. I thought if you two could be lucky enough to escape, that would be enough. How could I dare to let you come back?”

“Heh,” Deng Lao Er chuckled before turning to glance at someone, “Brother Tao, do you have five hundred silver dollars on you?”

“Nope,” Brother Tao shook his head, thinking who would be so foolish to carry something so heavy on them. “But I do have gold.”

On a normal day, he wouldn’t have so much money, at least not on his person. This time, since he was accompanying the Princely Heir, someone had given the Princely Heir a gift, and as a subordinate, he was able to share in the spoils.

“Consider it a loan from me,” Deng Lao Er said decisively, “rather than troubling two masters with one issue, could Brother Tao make a trip to the Prefectural Government Office and fetch my old man out… Can you manage?”

He had been following Feng Jun and knew that the Divine Doctor was generous. Even if the Divine Doctor didn’t care, his and Big Brother’s monthly salary was sixteen pieces of silver; a few years would be enough to repay it — in truth, many of the gifts given by the Divine Doctor could easily be sold for a lot of money.

What Brother Tao thought was that this man mixed with an Immortal, so he had to sell him this face. Even if he genuinely couldn’t, he could still get reimbursed by the Princely Heir, so he nodded with a smile, “Why even mention it between us brothers? Alright, leave it to me.”

Lady Deng couldn’t understand why an Intermediate Level Martial Warrior would be so kind to a High-Rank Martial Warrior.

However, she still spoke out to scold, “Do you have no sense, Lao Er? He’s your father; you should go and fetch him yourself!”

Fetch him back? That would be letting them off too cheaply,” Deng Lao Er sneered, “I won’t show my face, I actually want to see how much of the five hundred silver dollars they are willing to cough up!”

Lady Deng was even more puzzled, “What do you mean by that? Oh right… why didn’t Big Brother come back?”

“Big Brother is still in Zhige. I came back to handle some matters,” Deng Lao Er replied nonchalantly, “Oh, I haven’t introduced him yet. This is Brother Tao, the capable guard of the Yongyi Ducal Mansion’s Princely Heir.”

Brother Tao stepped forward and gave a salute, “I have seen the Lady.”

“The Princely Heir of Yongyi Duke?” Lady Deng’s eyes immediately widened in shock, “Didn’t you all go to… oh, were the rumors wrong?”

“Hmm,” Brother Tao nodded expressionlessly, thinking to himself that the rumors were not just wrong, they missed the mark by a longshot and then some…

Right after that, he took another Martial Artist and rode straight for the Prefectural Government Office, while the others either took up positions inside the house or started forming defensive arrays, quickly securing the Deng family courtyard.

In about an hour or so, Brother Tao returned with Deng Yifu.

Deng Yifu, the family head, hadn’t suffered much in prison since he was a figure with connections across the world and had a small reputation among both the legal and the underworld circles. The prison head was harsh but didn’t dare to torment him too much.

Of course, a certain haggard appearance was inevitable, and he smelled so foul that people wanted to cover their noses from a distance.

The fact that he got out so quickly was largely thanks to the waist token of the Yongyi Ducal Mansion Guard that Brother Tao carried. The official responsible for criminal cases, upon seeing five pieces of gold, was reluctant to release Deng Yifu promptly, hemming and hawing, clearly looking for some extra benefit.

Without saying another word, Brother Tao slapped the waist token on the table, “Just say it, how much do you want?”

The official, aware that the Princely Heir of the Yongyi Duke had recently been in Qingning Prefecture, hesitated for a moment before reluctantly creating a receipt.

Still, Brother Tao found the official’s reaction somewhat amusing, “Five pieces of gold leaves… he really dared to take them.”

“A man dies for money; birds die for food,” Deng Yifu said with a laugh.

On the way back, he had already got a rough understanding of the situation in Zhige. Although he was unaware of anything concerning the Immortal, there was no doubt that the Divine Doctor his sons were following was an extraordinary person, one even the Yongyi Duke’s Princely Heir had to yield to.

It also made him feel justified about helping Lang Zhen in the past.

He was filthy but made no hurry to wash up. Instead, he grabbed some large flatbreads, rolled them with meat, and wolfed them down hungrily.

While eating, he also mumbled through his mouthful, “Everyone, get ready. The reason I got into trouble this time is because the County Soldiers colluded with the Hall of Heroes… That Young Master Yun is likely to come attacking.”