Chapter 16: Take Them Back

Seeing Lian Li collapse limply against him, Yun Huizhou had no other choice. He considered hoisting the man over his shoulder, but then he thought of the other’s current state of total exhaustion; carrying him that way all the way back might very well cost the man half his life.

Thus, after a moment’s thought, he decided to carry him in his arms instead.

Zhao Honglan had also regained his composure by now and walked toward the masked man.

Once the mouse-whiskered man realized that this group was with Lian Li, he grew even more panicked, muttering incessantly, “You can’t kill people, you can’t kill me, I have a lot of money.”

The disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect had all heard Lian Li’s earlier accusations. They all cast disgusted looks at him, and those with shorter tempers even felt the urge to give him a few kicks.

Some of the calmer ones directly blocked the mouse-whiskered man’s path as he tried to crawl away, pointing their swords at him to prevent his escape.

“Brother Yun, this man is none other than the flower-thief, Ma Tie,” Zhao Honglan said after standing beside the masked man and staring at his face for a while.

Yun Huizhou’s expression turned a bit strange. He gave the Lian Li in his arms a slight jostle and asked, “Huh? A flower-thief? Then why did he kidnap him?”

“He likely mistook Little Brother Lian for a young lady who didn’t know martial arts,” Zhao Honglan replied.

Yun Huizhou looked down at Lian Li’s face, which was half-hidden by his hair, and then jostled him again to gauge his weight.

He then nodded in agreement. “Looking at him like this, he really does resemble a girl.”

Zhao Honglan said with some helplessness, “Ma Tie’s Lightness Skill is excellent, but his martial arts are mediocre. Looking at his bloodied head, Little Brother Lian must have found an opportunity to strike him directly on the skull, which is how he successfully subdued him.”

He stood beside Ma Tie for a moment longer before speaking again. “Because Ma Tie’s martial arts are poor, the targets he chooses are always women without martial arts training. After ordinary women suffer at this scoundrel’s hands, most do not dare to speak out. Since no one knew such a person existed, it allowed this wretch to remain at large for a long time.”

“He probably realized he had captured a man after taking Little Brother Lian, and in a fit of pique, he contacted the pimp from Liufang Court, intending to sell him for money.”

He said this partly for Yun Huizhou’s benefit and partly for the disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect. He was afraid that upon hearing the man was a flower-thief and seeing that Lian Li had been abducted for a significant amount of time, some people might start having wild ideas.

“Then First Senior Brother, how did you recognize him? And how did others find out about him?” a disciple of the Qinghong Sword Sect asked.

Zhao Honglan explained, “About a year ago, a female warrior who was injured at the time was targeted by Ma Tie. After a struggle, Ma Tie failed to get his way. Instead, the female warrior managed to unmask him before he fled in a hurry. That was how we learned such a degenerate had appeared in the martial arts world.”

“However, after that incident, this wretch went into hiding and only showed himself now, only to be caught by Little Brother Lian.”

Yun Huizhou gave a soft “mm” and then said, “Take all of these people back to Xianglai City.”

Zhao Honglan nodded and said, “My father and several seniors of the righteous path are all there. It is the perfect opportunity to deal with this Ma Tie.”

Just as he finished speaking, he saw Ma Tie’s eyeballs move under his eyelids, knowing the man was about to wake up.

Just as he was preparing to strike Ma Tie’s acupoints, a fist-sized stone suddenly came flying through the air.

By a stroke of pure coincidence, it landed right on the wound on Ma Tie’s forehead. With a muffled groan, Ma Tie was knocked unconscious once again.

Zhao Honglan turned his head and saw that the stone had been kicked over by Yun Huizhou.

He knew that if he and his junior brothers and sisters hadn’t followed, everyone in this ruined temple would likely have been killed the moment Yun Huizhou stepped inside.

If he, Yun Huizhou, and the other disciples had arrived just a bit later, these four would likely have been killed by Little Brother Lian instead.

Regardless, this Ma Tie would certainly not be allowed to live.

As for the other three…

Zhao Honglan lowered his eyes. Liufang Court was not located in Xianglai City, but these pimps were always scattered across various cities looking for “new goods.”

If these three hadn’t committed any other crimes against respectable young men and women, they might luckily keep their lives after the trial. However, whether this pimp could return to Liufang Court alive would depend on whether Brother Yun was willing to let him go.

After all, wild beasts often attack people in the wilderness, don’t they?

Since they had decided to take all four back to be dealt with by Zhao Rong, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader.

The disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect, too, stepped forward one after another, preparing to carry these four people. Ma Tie and Strawberry-nose were easy enough to handle, but things were a bit more troublesome with the mouse-whiskered man and Small-eyes.

A male disciple of the Qinghong Sword Sect who was about to carry Small-eyes had just crouched down when he suddenly caught a whiff of a foul stench.

He partially covered his nose, intending to continue, but then he suddenly caught sight of a smear of yellow near Small-eyes’ mouth.

His eyes instantly widened, and he hurriedly stood up and backed away.

Seeing this, Zhao Honglan walked over and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The disciple pointed at the corner of Small-eyes’ mouth and said, “This person’s mouth smells terrible. And that looks like…”

Zhao Honglan didn’t need the disciple to say more; he had also smelled the stench. Looking closer, he understood what it was.

“This… how did it get on his mouth? Does he have some kind of fetish?” another male disciple of the Qinghong Sword Sect said as he walked over.

“It shouldn’t be that.” A female disciple stood by the wooden stick Lian Li had used as a weapon, pointing at one end of it. “He was likely hit by a stick stained with… that.”

Zhao Honglan’s gaze swept across the ruined temple, finally coming to rest on the hand of the crumbling Buddha statue.

He didn’t speak, but because his gaze lingered there for so long, it naturally drew the attention of others.

Yun Huizhou also came over carrying Lian Li, looking at the hand of the Buddha statue.

Thinking of the two who looked like servants—one collapsed in front of the statue and one behind it—and that stuff being on the statue’s hand.

A little bit of thought also revealed roughly how Lian Li had fought back. He had most likely climbed the Buddha statue to take the high ground and then used a feces-stained stick to strike these two sturdy servants.

However, it was truly beyond his expectations that this sickly boy could take down four people by himself under such circumstances.

He wondered how the pimp and Ma Tie had been taken down by him as well.

The disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect looked at Small-eyes with troubled expressions.

Seeing this, Zhao Honglan directly tore a piece of fabric from the hem of his outer robe, crouched down, and covered Small-eyes’ head with it, cutting two holes for the nose.

The disciple who had to carry Small-eyes finally looked better. Without saying anything more, he crouched down and hoisted Small-eyes onto his shoulder.