Chapter 156: For Whom The Hammer Tolls (3)

There’s a saying about “borrowing a knife to kill someone.”

It means using someone else’s power to achieve an evil scheme.

He clearly knew the Namen Sect martial artists watching would come if he lit a fire in the furnace, yet he didn’t say a word.

The old man snorted shamelessly.

“Hmph. What could I do? How could a country bumpkin who doesn’t know martial arts deal with those bastards?”

“Aren’t you being too brazen?”

“Weren’t you the ones who drew swords? It wouldn’t have mattered if blood wasn’t shed, right?”

He was basically saying they killed of their own accord without him asking them to.

Qing spoke, dumbfounded.

“Well, we’re Masters- no, I’m too much of a Master to be compared with those fodder, but anyway, since we’re stronger, those scum hesitated. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have caused trouble seeing pretty women?”

“A huge strongman, two extraordinary beauties, and one dreg walking around without a speck of dust on their clothes - I figured they must be formidable fellows.”

The old man said, looking at Zhuge Ihyeon, Tang Nanah, and Gyeon Pohee in turn.

And his final gaze turned to Qing.

“Oing. What’s this. Why am I the dreg?”

“Why else would a woman cover her face?”

By the common sense of Jianghu, if someone covered their face, it was naturally because they had a face they couldn’t show others.

Or it could be because she was a woman of noble status who couldn’t casually show her face, but such noble ladies didn’t lower their dignity by carrying swords.

“Anyway, I’ve seen a satisfying sight before I die, so I’ll make the needle well. It’ll be done soon, so take it and leave. They’ll come swarming up in a frenzy since three of them died.”

“Then what about you, old man?”

“What’s the point of an old man living? They’ll just use my useless grandson to pressure me. If I don’t want to see that, I should just hang myself. Come to think of it, this needle will be my last work.”

It was a miserable thing to say so calmly.

Qing frowned.

“What’s this? You trying to evoke sympathy or something?”

“I have no intention of asking for help anyway, so don’t concern yourself whether I hang myself or drink molten iron. I was barely hanging on before you came, planning to take down one of them before leaving.”

Qing remembered the cold gaze of the old man quietly watching from the shadows when she entered the metal shop.

It seems his words about planning to take down one of them before leaving weren’t a lie.

“Why don’t you ask for help instead of thinking about dying?”

“Hmph. Who would I ask? Even other sects are all in cahoots, and the government takes bribes to side with them. Who could I appeal to for help?”

“Why, there are orthodox factions, you know. They literally use the character for ‘righteous’.”

“Hmph. Orthodox or unorthodox, aren’t they all the same Murim lot? They’re all just murderers with weapons. Isn’t that what you do? If you want something, you steal and threaten, and if that doesn’t work, you vent your anger. So what can you do? If you don’t know martial arts and are weak, you have no choice but to just die.”

Tang Nanah flared up at this.

“What! You old man...!”

“It’s fine. He didn’t say anything wrong, so what.”

As Qing restrained Tang Nanah, Old Man Ban smiled crookedly.

It was a look that said, “So how are you any different?”

Well, he did say there were no orthodox factions in the city.

If the only Murim practitioners he’s encountered in his life were villains from unorthodox factions, they’d all seem the same to him.

In fact, just like how it is said that the interfering sister-in-law is more hateful, he might have hated the orthodox factions more for not caring while just talking about being righteous.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“It’s a bit childish for provocation, but I’ll bite. I’ll look for your grandson, so don’t die and wait.”

“You’re going to help? Hmph. Even if you try to bestow grace like you’re doing me a favor, I won’t make swords.”

“Who asked you to make swords? That’s ridiculous. Swords are things you use and throw away when they’re worn out, not something you cherish just because you got a good one.”

Qing uses weapons carelessly.

You could tell just by how she named them.

A regular sword is a Moonlight Sword, a half-sword is called a Hell Sword.

“It’s to the left up ahead. And then it’s the first main street on the right from the big square.”

“Hmm. Are there any enforcements for speeding?”

“Pardon?”

“Just kidding. Don’t mind it.”

It was incomprehensible to Zhuge Ihyeon.

A joke was a joke, but Qing’s confidence was so imposing that they were naturally barging in.

“By the way, do you have any other plans?”

“Of course I do. I always have a plan.”

“May I hear your wise thoughts?”

“Hmm. We go and demand they hand over Old Man Ban’s son?”

“...? Would they hand him over willingly? And it was his grandson, not son.”

“Son or grandson, what’s the difference? And if they don’t give him up, we attack. We block the main gate, I’ll be in front, you guys in the back. If the enemy doesn’t come, Nanah will cowardly throw hidden weapons to provoke them into charging.”

“...?”

“If a Transcendent Realm Master comes out, Peak-Transcending Ximen Qing will face them. The end.”

“I see.”

Zhuge Ihyeon nodded and then spoke.

“Is it too late to back out?”

“I don’t hold back people who want to leave.”

“Couldn’t you at least pretend to hold me back...”

If it were the usual Zhuge Ihyeon, he would have dissuaded her and turned back at this point.

However, having already experienced Ximen Qing as a person, he knew well that even if he tried to discuss more detailed attack plans, she was the type to say “Then I’ll go alone” and charge in.

Moreover, with her brimming with such confidence, there was also an expectation that she might have some other method.

Tang Nanah didn’t have much thought.

Just the idea of going to defeat bad guys.

It was the typical thinking of a newbie chick on her first Jianghu outing.

At this point, one might suspect if a stupefying aura was emanating from Qing.

However, Gyeon Pohee was unaffected.

Because she originally had no thoughts in her head.

And so, finally, the main gate with the Namen Sect’s signboard appeared before them.

Qing continued forward without stopping.

The guards lazily guarding the main gate spotted the group, and especially upon seeing Tang Nanah’s face, their mouths fell open.

As they approached confidently without hesitation, the guards thought they must be guests from somewhere.

Watching this, Qing thought, ‘Why are unorthodox faction bastards so desperate to show their nastiness starting from the gatekeepers?’ She couldn’t understand.

“What business do you have?”

“We’re here to find Old Man Ban from Ban Family Metal Shop’s son? Grandson? If you hand him over quietly, there won’t be any bloodshed.”

“What?”

“Go and tell them. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let them off if they hand him over.”

Qing stomped her right foot and launched like a cannonball with the subtlety of the Yue Maiden Footwork.

She stopped abruptly in front of the Namen Sect martial artist, her left arm continuing forward to grab his collar and swing.

The man’s body floated up, not quite clearing the wall but hitting the top, sending tiles crashing down as he fell and crumpled.

Qing spoke with a sour expression.

“Sorry. Seems like I lacked strength. With both hands I could have thrown you over.”