Chapter 63: A Massacre Case

Those wanted by the Martial Arts Alliance were generally judged to be individuals who posed an extreme danger to innocents and ordinary people—for instance, the type who would massacre an entire household at the slightest provocation, or flower-thieves like Ma Tie who specifically targeted ordinary women with no martial arts skills.

Young Hero Zheng glanced at Yun Huizhou and saw that Yun Huizhou had no intention of speaking, so he could only open his mouth himself.

“Twenty years ago, there was a wealthy family in Nanyang City surnamed Zeng who enjoyed befriending people of the Jianghu.”

“One year, the man of the Zeng family became acquainted with a burly man nicknamed ‘Double-Bladed Steel’ who used twin sabers, and invited him to be a guest at his home.”

“The Zeng man’s wife, Lady Liang, was exceptionally beautiful. The burly man caught a glimpse of her during dinner. That night, while the Zeng man was in his study settling accounts, the burly man used the excuse of being drunk to burst into the master bedroom, intending to commit an outrage against Lady Liang.”

“Lady Liang would not submit. During her resistance, she was strangled to death by the burly man. Upon discovering that Lady Liang was dead, the burly man actually… to the corpse. Afterward, he killed everyone in the Zeng Mansion.”

“Including the servants, there were over twenty people in the Zeng family. Except for one servant who had returned home that afternoon to bring money to his family and didn’t return that night, everyone else was killed.”

“After he finished the murders, he originally wanted to set the Zeng Mansion ablaze. However, just as he was pouring the oil, the scent was caught by a passing hero and his friend.”

“The hero didn’t think much of it at first, but before they had walked far, they saw flames rising from the Zeng Mansion.”

“The hero understood in an instant that someone was likely murdering for wealth and setting a fire to destroy the evidence.”

“Thus, he had his friend notify the surrounding people about the fire and also told those who came out to find someone from the local branch of the Martial Arts Alliance, while he himself entered the Zeng Mansion to find the killer.”

“In the end, the fire was extinguished in time, and the bodies were not destroyed. When the hero exchanged blows with the burly man, he saw the other’s face. Combined with the information provided by that servant, the killer’s identity was confirmed.”

After Young Hero Zheng finished recounting this tragic case from over twenty years ago, many people gasped.

Su Jun, in particular, looked quite pale.

Wasn’t that Zeng Mansion, in a way, quite similar to their Su Mansion?

If the full-bearded man killed by Young Hero Yun today really was the villain who committed the Zeng family massacre, hadn’t their Su Mansion just brushed past the edge of total extermination?

At this thought, Su Jun felt a wave of lingering fear.

Lian Li had only been in this world for a year. Much of what he knew about the Jianghu had been told to him by Yun Huizhou, and that was limited to the situation in the Jianghu over the last few years.

He knew nothing at all about events from many years ago.

However, after listening to Young Hero Zheng’s narration, he keenly perceived something.

If that burly man really was the full-bearded man, where had he been during those missing five years? Furthermore, according to Young Hero Zheng, the burly man should have been alone when he committed the massacre.

But now, he was actually surrounded by so many people with decent martial arts skills. One had to remember that even if the bounty was placed on the Secondary List, he was still being hunted by the Martial Arts Alliance.

He wanted to ask more detailed questions, but he was tugged by Yun Huizhou. He turned his head to look at Yun Huizhou.

He saw Yun Huizhou shake his head slightly at him, signaling him not to ask.

Lian Li nodded and chose to listen to Yun Huizhou, closing his mouth.

Since Yun Huizhou was the first to discover it, he must have some understanding of the matter. It would be the same if he asked Yun Huizhou privately when no one else was around.

The people from the Martial Arts Alliance arrived quickly. They flew over directly using Lightness Skills, and one of them was carrying the servant Su Jun had sent.

The man who was clearly the manager asked as soon as he landed, “Where is Double-Bladed Steel?”

Lian Li reached out and pointed toward the place where the full-bearded man’s corpse lay. The leader nodded to Lian Li, then walked to the corpse and flipped it over.

He stared at the full-bearded man’s face for a while, then pulled a portrait from his robe and compared them.

Over twenty years had passed. Even if the drawing was accurate, it depicted his appearance from twenty years ago.

Fortunately, the manager who came was not young—he looked to be in his fifties and had worked in the Martial Arts Alliance for many years, so he was very familiar with the events of that time.

He stood up and asked Yun Huizhou, “Young Hero Yun, could you please describe in detail the process of your exchange with this person? What moves did he use?”

Yun Huizhou had become the Champion of the Martial Arts Assembly last year. Others might not necessarily know what he looked like, but the people of the Martial Arts Alliance certainly did. Therefore, there was no confusion about who Yun Huizhou was.

Yun Huizhou nodded and recounted the entire process of his fight with the full-bearded man. However, he didn’t say much about the moves he used himself; he simply detailed every move the full-bearded man had made.

For some parts where words alone weren’t vivid enough, he directly replicated the opponent’s techniques.

However, this replication was merely an imitation of the movements and postures of those techniques; the internal essence could not be replicated, and it wouldn’t be very useful in actual combat.

Yun Huizhou’s fight with the full-bearded man had not been short, so it took some time to finish describing the process.

But no one present showed any signs of impatience. Instead, they listened intently, wanting to know if this dead, full-bearded man was truly the Double-Bladed Steel from twenty years ago.

Once Yun Huizhou finished, the manager of the Martial Arts Alliance nodded. He reached out and felt around the full-bearded man’s face to confirm he wasn’t wearing a disguise, then said, “This person is indeed the Double-Bladed Steel who committed the massacre twenty years ago.”

After he spoke, he didn’t care what expressions or moods the people present had.

With a wave of his hand, the people he brought piled the corpse of Double-Bladed Steel together with the corpses of those who had come with him this time.

Someone pushed over a handcart, and they moved all the bodies onto it. Then, he said to the crowd, “We will take these bodies away first. We will do our best to verify their identities. The Martial Arts Alliance will handle the follow-up matters.”

Among those present, some also keenly sensed something and lowered their heads in thought.

Young Hero Zheng also cupped his hands toward the people from the Martial Arts Alliance, then lowered his eyes, thinking about who knows what.

The things Lian Li could think of, there were always some among the people present who could think of them as well.

Now that the bodies had been hauled away, the remaining matters were for the Su family to handle.

Su Jun thought for a moment and had a servant bring paper and brush to record the names of everyone who had stayed.

Among these people, those with higher martial arts skills had put in a lot of effort when dealing with Double-Bladed Steel’s group, while others with slightly weaker skills, though not the main force, had also helped a lot on the side.

All of these people needed to be thanked.

The crowd didn’t act coy either, and one by one, they gave their names for the Su family to record.

After the registration was finished, it was getting late. The martial arts marriage competition, which was originally supposed to end today, could not conclude as scheduled due to the appearance of Double-Bladed Steel’s gang.

If they were to continue the matches, today was clearly no longer appropriate.