Chapter 180: You Caused a Disturbance

Yan Jing's attempts at persuasion naturally proved useless.

Wei Nantian strode forward.

A blood-red aura of killing intent coiled around his legs, propelling him forward at incredible speed. His massive frame left afterimages in the air.

Before long, he arrived at Wanhua Alley, radiating murderous intent.

He laid eyes on the detained lieutenant and Mu Ruyan.

"Where is Mei Changfeng?!"

He roared. His voice rolled like thunder, stirring up terrifying gusts of a foul, bloody wind.

The thick stench of blood filled the narrow alley, making everyone's hair stand on end.

They stared in terror at the monster of a man before them.

"I... I don't know! It really... it really wasn't me..."

Mu Ruyan's face drained of color. Under the crushing pressure of his aura, her protests were choked back down her throat.

Nearby, the lieutenant—who had only just regained consciousness—took one look at the crazed Wei Nantian and fainted again.

"Present the item to Commander Wei!"

Yan Jing gestured.

Someone immediately brought the freshly discovered Embroidery before Wei Nantian.

Reading the words stitched upon it, Wei Nantian could no longer restrain his killing intent.

In an instant, a frenzied blood-red aura swept through the entire alley.

Before everyone save for Yan Jing, a terrifying phantom materialized, roaring at them:

"Kill! Kill!! Kill, kill, kill!!!"

Battered by the phantom's shrieks, those with weaker wills collapsed to the ground in terror.

"This is the Mei Family heirloom! There is no mistaking it!"

Exuding murderous intent, Wei Nantian reached out and seized Mu Ruyan by the head.

Mu Ruyan was not short by any means, but dangling in his grip, she was as helpless as a chick.

"Speak! Where is Mei Changfeng?!"

Wei Nantian snarled.

Her face twisted in agony as blood trickled from her scalp.

Her voice trembled uncontrollably:

"I... I really don't know..."

"W-Wanhua Alley is backed by the Mechanism Alley Entrance... I really... I really don't know where Mei Changfeng is..."

Wei Nantian was just about to lash out.

Yan Jing spoke softly from behind him:

"Commander Wei, she is backed by the Mechanism Alley Entrance. I reckon this won't be easy to handle..."

"Does the advisor think I'm afraid of the Mechanism Alley Entrance?!"

Wei Nantian glared at Yan Jing.

"I meant no such thing."

"Then what exactly do you mean?"

Wei Nantian's stubbornness had flared up. With Wei Bufan's death on the line, he was clearly in no mood to listen to reason.

"I mean that if Mei Changfeng deliberately planted the item here to stir up a conflict between you and the Mechanism Alley Entrance, you wouldn't just fail to catch him—the losses would outweigh the gains."

Yan Jing explained.

Every word he spoke seemed entirely for Wei Nantian's sake.

Slowly, Wei Nantian began to calm down.

"Advisor, tell me, how should we handle this?"

When someone unaccustomed to using their brain began to trust another person, the very first thing they did was let the other person do the thinking for them.

"We certainly can't let them go."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Even without this Embroidery today, we were planning to strike anyway. If we let them go, wouldn't all our prior efforts be wasted?"

"So we still need to make a move, but just as you said, we need a righteous cause."

"We found evidence of Mei Changfeng on her. Is that not cause enough?" Wei Nantian asked.

"It is a cause, but it would ruin your reputation."

Yan Jing replied with a chuckle.

"I'm not afraid of ruining my reputation."

Wei Nantian stated plainly. He was never a good man to begin with.

The restless ghosts who had died by his hand numbered eight thousand, if not ten thousand.

"But a county head cannot have a ruined reputation."

Yan Jing's expression turned dead serious.

"That is why you cannot be the one to kill her, Commander Wei."

"I must be the one to kill her!"

"You?"

Wei Nantian paused, surprised by the suggestion.

"I will do it."

Yan Jing nodded.

"When the Mechanism Alley Entrance comes knocking, just tell them I was the one who struck. Say I am new, that I don't know the rules, and that in a fit of anger, I couldn't hold back my urge to kill."

"Once the seven days are up, regardless of whether you become the county head or not, I will wash my hands of it and leave."

"If you fail, we will pretend this whole affair never happened."

"If you succeed, your name won't be tarnished. From then on, Commander Wei Nantian becomes County Head Wei. You can hunt down Mei Changfeng however you please, while I take the highest reward and head back to live my days in comfort."

"So you cannot kill her. I have to do it!"

"This is not just for you; it's for me as well!"

Yan Jing's words rang with conviction, shifting the way Wei Nantian looked at him. The commander was deeply moved.

Finally, he let out a long sigh.

"What a profound 'not just for you, but for me as well.'"

"What a profound 'not just for you, but for me as well,' Advisor."

"If only I had met you a few years earlier, Advisor, things would never have come to this..."

Yan Jing kept a straight face.

"Then I will make my move."

"Go ahead, Advisor."

Wei Nantian dropped Mu Ruyan and stepped aside.

Yan Jing stepped up to Mu Ruyan.

They hadn't bothered to hide their conversation from anyone, leaving Mu Ruyan terrified out of her wits.

She never imagined that the words on the Embroidery were true—that after today, Wanhua Fang would truly cease to exist...

"Advisor, Advisor, I was framed! I was truly framed! That is not what was written on the Embroidery last night—"

Mu Ruyan wailed miserably.

"So do you or do you not know where Mei Changfeng is?"

Yan Jing stared down at her.

"I... I don't..."

Mu Ruyan was just about to deny it again when she met his icy gaze. A shiver ran through her heart, sparking a genuine flash of desperate wit:

"I... I... I know! I know!"

She finally understood. If she claimed ignorance again, they really were going to kill her.

Right now, even if she didn't know, she had to know.

Hearing this, Wei Nantian's eyes sharpened. He barked:

"Speak! Where is he?!"

"He... He's... He's on North Main Street... His movements are always unpredictable... He... He only sends the Embroidery when he contacts me... I don't know when he'll come next... and he never told me what he plans to do..."

Mu Ruyan's mind was racing at maximum capacity, rapidly sorting out what she could elaborate on and what she strictly couldn't invent.

Wei Nantian frowned, unable to figure out if she was lying.

Ultimately, he looked back to Yan Jing.

"Advisor, what is the word?"

"Are you sure you want me to make the call, Commander Wei?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"I am sure! You make the call, Advisor!"

"Alright!"

Yan Jing nodded. Thorns sprouted from his hand, morphing into a long spike that slashed down toward Mu Ruyan's right arm.

Slash—

The first strike didn't go all the way through. Mu Ruyan screamed in agony, realizing the long spike had only cleaved halfway into her arm.

Slash—

Another strike. Still not completely severed. The pain almost made her pass out. Only a sliver of skin kept the limb attached.

Slash—

The third strike finally chopped it off.

Yan Jing picked up the severed arm and walked over to Wei Nantian.

"Commander Wei, she is dead."

"She's dead?"

"Dead!"

Staring at the bloody arm, it took Wei Nantian a long moment to process it, but his mind finally caught up to Yan Jing's train of thought.

He turned back and addressed the rest of the people in the alley:

"Those who sever one of their own limbs may live!"

"Secretly escort all the survivors back to the Provisional Compound! For later interrogation."

"Everyone, listen to me clearly! From this day forth, Wanhua Fang is gone!"

"The people of Wanhua Fang are all dead!"

The moment Wei Nantian finished, Yan Jing added:

"I killed them!"

Wei Nantian gave him a pleased look before roaring:

"Advisor Yan killed them!"

"Mighty Advisor! Everyone, shout it!"

"Mighty Advisor!!!"

The killing cultivators chanted in unison.

Watching the scene unfold, Yan Jing waved his hand in a show of modesty.

After those three strikes, his initial Mental Immunity Value of 200 had already drained by nearly 50 points.

He turned away, lowering his gaze. Suddenly, he found the whole spectacle somewhat amusing.

It truly was an ironic sight. The prostitutes and bouncers nearby, along with the lieutenant, were shivering in terror, knowing they would be crippled in the next second—and that was if they were lucky. Meanwhile, the killing cultivators cheered wildly, their faces lit up with glee.

The Old Man was right when he warned him earlier. There were no good people in this place.

There were only three kinds of people here: "Swindlers! Thugs! And bandits!"

Trying to establish a foothold here without a ruthless streak? Heh.

Young Master Luo and Young Master Mei were prime examples.

Young Master Luo hadn't been as ruthless as Young Master Mei, so Mei killed him. And Young Master Mei wasn't quite as ruthless as Young Master Yan, so he fell too.

Yet now, he felt he still wasn't ruthless enough.

If he hadn't stepped in just now, Wei Nantian might have actually wiped them all out.

But in the end, he had chosen to strike himself.

First, he really was considering Wei Nantian's bid for county head.

Wei Nantian needed to win the position.

The further Wei Nantian climbed, the sturdier Yan Jing's backing would be when he stirred up trouble.

Second, he did it to win Wei Nantian's trust.

If Wei Nantian had killed them all, it might have felt satisfying in the moment. But once he calmed down and thought it over, he might realize something was wrong.

'What if Mu Ruyan was telling the truth? Why didn't this human stop me? Now the trail is cold, where am I supposed to find Mei Changfeng?'

By not killing them, he easily neutralized that risk.

With the girl still alive, what had just happened took precedence.

What had happened?

Yan Jing had stepped forward to take the heat.

He hadn't done it for nothing. 'Wei Nantian, you and I have only known each other for two days. The only reason I would stick my neck out for you is that I genuinely want you to become county head.'

'Even if I am doing it for my own benefit, I would never do anything to harm you.'

And finally, he needed to force Mu Ruyan to admit she had seen Mei Changfeng.

A single Embroidery wasn't enough to prove Mei Changfeng's existence.

But a witness, combined with the Embroidery, drastically boosted its credibility.

Even if Mu Ruyan hadn't confessed, he would have killed her, and the rest of the killing cultivators would naturally have found the second Embroidery while searching the premises.

Ultimately, just as he predicted, Mu Ruyan had spoken up.

Furthermore, she was smart enough to place Mei Changfeng on North Street. Since North Street was Landlord Lin's territory, Wei Nantian wouldn't be able to verify the claim immediately.

Beyond these points, Yan Jing had also laid down some subtle groundwork—like presenting the severed arm to Wei Nantian, and making sure it took three strikes to cut it off...

As for making a name for himself.

That was just a side bonus.

Very quickly, news of the Wanhua Fang massacre spread like a lit fuse through the streets and alleys, detonating across the entirety of Bianliu County.

People chattered relentlessly, and the most discussed subject was naturally the "main character" of the incident:

Advisor Yan.

Everyone wanted to know where this advisor had come from. How could a mere human be so ruthless? Why did Wei Nantian make such huge moves the moment he arrived...

For a time, rumors flew everywhere.

Meanwhile, a system prompt appeared before Yan Jing:

[You have caused a "massive" disturbance that shocked Bianliu County. Please keep up the good work.]