The leader was a man with a face marked by a scar and particularly elongated eyes; just seeing his face brought an unsettling coldness.
With him came four other constables, all dressed in the official uniform and carrying swords at their belts.
On a day as filled with joy as this one.
The arrival of this group cast a gloomy shadow over the festive atmosphere.
Butcher Zhang had also dressed up like few times before, after all, it was the big day of his son's wedding.
When he saw the group of constables suddenly appear, he was stunned for a moment, but immediately ran towards them with an enthusiastic smile and said:
"Chief Liu is out solving cases with his men again. How much you all work for the well-being of our Dàfēng County! Today is my son's wedding day; if it's not too much trouble, come in and have a drink. It would be an honor for me."
"Out, out!"
The one with the scarred face, known as Chief Liu, pushed him away with a cold laugh, ignoring his friendly gesture, and then fixed his gaze on the groom as he said:
"Zhang Haoran, did you speak about imperial politics at the Wangji inn a few days ago?"
As soon as he said these words, everyone present was filled with astonishment.
Speaking disrespectfully about the government was no small offense.
Butcher Zhang turned pale with fear and quickly took a handful of silver coins from his clothing, trying to put them in Chief Liu's hand while pleading:
"Chief Liu, please don't joke about these things, my son is very honest, I'm sure there's been some misunderstanding."
Chief Liu slapped his hand away, knocking the coins to the ground where they scattered.
Then he kicked Butcher Zhang and shouted angrily:
"A simple butcher thinks he can bribe me? I enforce the law impartially! If you keep interfering, I'll arrest you too."
"Don't hurt my father!"
Seeing his father fall from the kick, Zhang Haoran quickly ran to help him up, his face filled with rage as he said:
"I was talking with some friends at the inn, how does that become speaking ill of the government? Is it not allowed to say anything about what's wrong?"
"Ah, and what things don't you like about the government?"
Chief Liu smiled coldly, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Seeing his son was about to speak, Butcher Zhang, his face pale, tried to cover his son's mouth with his hand.
Zhang Haoran pushed his father's hand away and shouted angrily:
"We've been suffering from droughts for years, and the government neither reduces taxes nor distributes grain. Those wealthy merchants take advantage of this to raise the price of rice and lend money, the peasants, to survive, have to go into debt, and if they can't pay, they take their land. And doesn't the government regulate that?"
"Everyone heard that! This boy just spoke ill of the government in front of everyone, don't say we arrest people at random."
Chief Liu laughed and waved his hand; two of the constables moved to arrest Zhang Haoran.
Butcher Zhang went to stop them, pleading, but Chief Liu drew his sword and put it to his neck while saying:
"Old man, don't take advantage of my patience. If it weren't for me having eaten a few of your pig's feet, I'd arrest you too."
With the sword at his neck, Butcher Zhang froze with fear, not moving, crying as he looked at his son.
None of the guests dared intervene.
The village doesn't fight against officials, and they really couldn't and didn't dare help.
"Huzi, you two go for the bride as well."
Chief Liu showed a lecherous smile, ordering two other men to go to the bridal room to arrest the bride.
"If you want to arrest me, do it, but not Xiaocui! She hasn't done anything!"
Hearing they also wanted to arrest his wife, Zhang Haoran became agitated and started struggling desperately.
"They're already husband and wife, who knows if she thinks like you? She has to be taken too for questioning."
Chief Liu smiled coldly.
Suddenly Zhang Haoran understood, his face filled with rage and sadness:
"I understand now... you want to take Xiaocui to deliver her to that Mr. He. It was him who ordered you to arrest me, wasn't it? Ha, ha, he's afraid I'll say he took land! You don't deserve a good death!"
Chief Liu frowned and was about to give the boy a lesson.
At that moment, suddenly a scream of pain was heard, followed by several more.
"What's all this commotion?"
Chief Liu frowned. Looking down, he saw two human heads roll to his feet.
They were from his two companions.
Realizing they had been killed, the skilled Chief Liu drew his sword and, with murderous rage, shouted:
"Who dared kill my men?! Come out if you have the guts!"
"I killed them, so what?"
A carefree and mocking voice was heard.
Chief Liu looked towards the source of the voice and saw an ordinary-looking man holding a glass of wine, staring at him.
"You want to die!"
Chief Liu leaped with his sword raised, but immediately fell to the ground.
First, his body fell, then his arm and forearm separately.
After hitting the ground, his pupils contracted, and his face twisted in pain, but with his arms and legs cut off, he couldn't move.
The sudden bloody scene terrified everyone present.
Zhang Haoran, with a face full of anger, watched it all with a spark of satisfaction in his eyes.
The two holding him were on the verge of peeing themselves with fear.
No matter how foolish they were, they already knew they were facing a cultivator.
"Immortal sir… spare our lives, we were just following orders, we didn't want to offend you."
One of them kneeled without saying another word.
The other also immediately kneeled and began banging his head on the ground in supplication.
Tang Yu raised his glass of wine, swirled it a bit, and smiled:
"When you were abusing the people, didn't you see others begging and you didn't forgive them?"
"We… we were just messengers following orders…"
The two remaining ones responded, stammering.
"Ah, so I can understand that you arrested Zhang Haoran? But then why were you taking his wife? To give her to that Mr. He, who is already sixty-two and still wants a concubine?"
Tang Yu asked again.
"Yes… the county lord ordered it, we didn't actually want to do this kind of thing."
The two nodded quickly as if they were pounding garlic.
"Is that so? Why did I hear the lord say that once Mr. He is done having fun, he'll send the women to you to have fun too? Do you dare lie to me, such a powerful immortal master?
How many lives do you have?"
Tang Yu asked with a smile on his face.
The two officers turned pale instantly.
This kind of thing... indeed, happened.
Before they could respond, one of them fell headless to the ground, while the other began to see black lines appear on his face.
These black lines grew longer and longer until they finally formed a strange symbol on the officer's face.
"Rush back and tell your master about this, tell him to continue bringing people to cause trouble, or else, they will die."
Tang Yu gave the warning with a smile.
The surviving officer, with trembling legs, ran clumsily, heading quickly towards the county headquarters.
Upon reaching the entrance of the headquarters, he encountered the subprefect coming out of the office.
Seeing the black symbol on the officer's face and his nervous expression, the subprefect frowned.
"Why are you so nervous? If people see you like this, won't they laugh at you? Weren't you supposed to help Master He? Haven't you brought him back?"
"No... I haven't brought him. We were about to bring him, but suddenly an immortal master appeared and killed Captain Liu and the others, and he sent me back with this message, saying that the master should bring people to capture him."
The officer, who had narrowly escaped death, hurriedly replied.
"You're getting so nervous over something so small? Go and talk to Master Li. And if he asks, you've never seen me."
The subprefect quickly gave the instruction, then got into his carriage, urging the coachman to hurry back.
Once the carriage arrived at its destination, the subprefect got off and, looking at the coachman, gave another warning.
"If the master sends someone to look for me later, tell them I suddenly vomited blood and fell gravely ill, understood?"
"Understood, sir."
The police officer, after accepting the subprefect's request, rushed inside and found the county magistrate, shouting: "Master Qian, there's a problem!"
"Why the rush? Don't you see I'm playing chess with Master He? What's so alarming?"
The magistrate, who was playing chess with a burly old man, responded annoyed.
The police officer, with a pitiful face, explained the situation.
Upon hearing that an immortal master was involved, Master He, who had been playing chess, immediately changed color.
An immortal master, that's a high-ranking existence. If an immortal master is involved, things get complicated.
Just as he was about to speak, the magistrate, with a calm smile, intervened.
"Don't get nervous, Master He, immortal masters come in various ranks. If this immortal master is really related to the butcher Zhang's family, he surely won't be a great figure. We know several experts; how could we allow an outsider immortal master to behave recklessly? If we surrender like that, what would happen to our dignity? And what about the government's dignity? We must remember, who is the great figure supporting our country?"
With these words, Master He instantly calmed down and took a more confident stance, even showing a somewhat arrogant attitude.
Who doesn't know that the country is supported by the Wufeng Immortal Sect?
Moreover, now the country has a great character, a swordsman named Bao, who is reportedly a highly renowned figure in the Wufeng Sect.
A few days ago, he went to a neighboring country and killed tens of thousands of people in one go.
This caused other countries to immediately send ambassadors to establish relations with the country.
Isn't this swordsman a member of the imperial family?
"Then, that will be a problem for you, Master Qian. Actually, I'm not interested in that woman; it's just that the scholar Zhang has no filters in his mouth, I wanted to teach him a lesson to show him how his newlywed wife is humiliated. I want to show him what it's like to lose all decency."
Master He laughed heartily.
"Go, go, tell the subprefect to gather people and call Immortal Master Hu."
The magistrate glanced sideways at his subordinate and gave the order.
When the police officer was about to leave, he suddenly collapsed to the ground, dying instantly.
This unexpected event shocked even Magistrate Qian.
With a grim face, he cursed twice and quickly called the attendants to lift the body. Then he sent another police officer to look for the subprefect.
About half an hour later, the police officer he had sent returned, gasping and said:
"The subprefect suddenly fell gravely ill, vomiting blood nonstop, he can't even get up."
"Then go look for the head of the police station."
Magistrate Qian frowned, knowing that whenever something serious happened, his colleague would immediately fall ill, which is why he was privately nicknamed the weak subprefect.
The police officer quickly ran to find another superior as per the magistrate's orders.
Meanwhile, in the banquet hall, Tang Yu continued drinking calmly, waiting.
The guests had already dispersed, not even daring to stay to watch.
Immortal masters and the government were things no one dared mess with.
The butcher Zhang's family trembled sitting at the table.
The wedding banquet, which should have been a happy day, had turned into such a huge commotion for this family.
"Thank you, Immortal Master, for your help. Zhang Haoran's gratitude will last forever."
Although Zhang Haoran was also quite scared, he still bowed respectfully to Tang Yu to thank him.
"It's nothing, I can't eat for free."
Tang Yu smiled and shook his head.
The bride, having already removed her veil, with eyes full of confusion and fear, still decided to stay by her husband's side.
She had already married, so whether they lived or died, it would be together.
After a while, the butcher Zhang, trembling, looked at Tang Yu and pleaded:
"Immortal Master, I'm just a humble butcher, I have no skills, and over these years I haven't accumulated much fortune. If it doesn't bother you, I can bring everything I have, please, I beg you to help us escape."
"Dad, he has already helped us so much, don't..."
Zhang Haoran was about to try to convince his father not to say that.
But Tang Yu already interrupted, smiling as he responded: "No need to leave, don't worry, neither the government nor the court will dare do anything to you."
"Has the immortal master just arrived in the country?"
Zhang Haoran, hearing this, smiled bitterly and tried to advise:
"Our country is not ordinary. It has an extraordinary immortal master and the Wufeng Immortal Sect as support. You shouldn't underestimate them, there's no need for you to take this risk for us."
"I told you, it's fine, don't worry, just eliminate everyone."
Tang Yu lifted the wine jug and poured himself another glass.
Just as he was serving the glass, a small elderly man in a red robe appeared floating on a white cloud at the door of the butcher Zhang's house.
With him came the head of the county police station and a large group of police officers.
"Immortal Master Wei, it's here."
The head of the police station, respectfully, pointed to the door of the butcher Zhang's house.
The elderly man in the red robe arrogantly nodded and, upon entering the house, observed for a moment until his eyes landed on Tang Yu, and with an angry voice, he exclaimed:
"How daring! Being a cultivator, you dare to kill mortal government officials? Do you think no one can control you? Today, I will bring justice in the name of the heavens!"
"Then, why was the swordsman Bao Laifu of the Wufeng Sect able to massacre tens of thousands without consequences? Why didn't I see you acting in the name of the heavens with him?"
Tang Yu responded with a smile.
"The swordsman Bao is a son of heaven; to die under his sword is the fortune of those ignorant mortals."
The old man snorted coldly, and from his palm, a blue flame appeared, the temperature around him instantly became incredibly cold.
With the frozen flame in his hand, he was about to speak.
Suddenly, the flame disappeared, and his body became motionless in a strange posture.
At the same time, the police officers who came with the head of the police station also froze.
The head of the police station had just crossed the door.
He saw that Master San Huo suddenly stopped speaking.
Then, he saw the immortal master, who seemed ordinary, put his hand close to his ear and say: "The dead are speaking."
Instantly, the heads of everyone rolled on the ground, and the old man's head fell at the feet of the head of the police station.
The head of the police station glanced at the heads rolling on the floor and, without saying a word, knelt down and began to bang his head against the ground with all his strength.
If even Master San Huo had died at the hands of this immortal master, it meant that this was no longer something they could face.
In his mind, he cursed his superior repeatedly, who said bringing Master San Huo was infallible? He didn't know we were coming to commit suicide.
Butcher Zhang and his fiancée, upon seeing all the headless bodies, almost fainted from fear.
"Stop kneeling, go give a message to your magistrate, tell him to continue bringing more people, I'll wait here."
Tang Yu, watching the head of the police station banging his head on the ground, smiled.
"Immortal Master, calm your anger, I'll go right away!"
The head of the police station, with a face full of sorrow, ran at full speed to the office to deliver the news.
Once the head of the police station left, Zhang Haoran, seeing the corpses on the floor, gathered his courage and asked:
"Immortal Master, after killing so many, isn't it a bit excessive? Some of these officers really didn't deserve to die..."
"Didn't deserve to die? Aren't they all on the same side? If today they had come to your house to arrest you and your wife, do you think they would have had compassion for you?"
Tang Yu, smiling, responded with a question.
Zhang Haoran remained silent for a moment, then, with a bitter smile, replied: "Some would, others would have no choice. If they could have compassion, they probably would."
"If they've participated, it means they are not good people. They're like flies in a bucket of manure. Do you really expect me to value each one to decide who should live and who shouldn't? It would be too much for a good man. Besides, I'm not a good man."
Tang Yu smiled.
Zhang Haoran remained silent.
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