Chapter 12: Scheme

I have one piece of bad news and one piece of good news.

The bad news is that we failed to rank. We actually didn’t make it onto the New Book Rankings. Xiaomo is dying of shame. I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night, constantly refreshing the page, and the result was... I almost couldn’t fall asleep.

The good news is that we have a chance to blow past the asses of the people ranked above us. Come on, heroes and heroines, use your recommendation tickets to knock down the people above us one by one, and let them know what it feels like to clench their cheeks.

Also, I’d like to say that Martial Refining is definitely a passionate, good book, so please be patient and keep reading.

BAM WHACK THUD! A severe beating ensued. Although the merchants on this street were all ordinary people, they actually erupted with jaw-dropping Combat Power at this moment. These merchants had all been extorted for money to some extent and hated this kind of person the most in their lives. Now that they had a target to vent their anger on, how could they hold back?

Especially the waiter of Hex’s Rice Shop. He threw two cloth sacks over the heads of the two men—one for each—and once they were blindfolded, he gave them a savage beating. With this, the crowd beat them even more fiercely. Anyway, since these two Great Hans couldn’t see who was hitting them, the merchants naturally didn’t have to worry about retaliation later.

There is strength in numbers. Yangx Kai only went through the motions and didn’t even have time to strike before he was squeezed out by the merchants.

After a long while, the merchants gradually stopped, leaving only the two men curled up on the ground, wailing endlessly. The cloth sacks covering their heads had also been knocked off. Su Mu took a closer look and cried out in his heart, "Mother of God!" His soles even cramped up a bit. The two originally extremely burly, towering men were beaten black and blue, their facial features mangled and their faces swollen like pig heads. They were beaten so badly that their own mothers would hardly recognize them.

This situation occurred because these two men didn’t have much strength to begin with. Although they wore Sword and Saber at their waists, it was merely for show. If they were truly experts, how could they care about the attacks of these ordinary people? But then again, how could true experts do such a despicable thing?

Having taken down these two, the many merchants felt they had vented their deep-seated resentment, yet they still gathered around and refused to leave. Noticing the unfriendly expressions of the crowd, the two men were terrified to the extreme. One of them forced out a hand, raising it tremblingly toward Su Mu, and called out weakly, "Su..."

Su Mu’s expression drastically changed, and he roared, "Su what Su? Do you want this young master to loosen your bones some more?"

Yangx Kai saw all this and laughed in his heart. He stepped forward and said loudly, "These two despicable villains! Who knows how many businesses they’ve harmed with these methods, forcing families into ruin. They are truly detestable to the extreme!"

Yangx Kai’s words were indeed a bit exaggerated, but since everyone present was a merchant, they couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of empathy for a moment. The waiter of Hex’s Rice Shop spat on the ground. "Pah! You stinking trash whose deaths would not be pitied, how dare you come to our Rice Shop and act wildly!"

The waiter was merely venting his anger, but to his surprise, Yangx Kai immediately followed up. "That’s right, the deaths of such people truly wouldn’t be pitied! Junior Brother, why don’t we take one each and kill them with a single strike? That way, they’ll never be able to commit evil deeds again, and we can consider it enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens."

As soon as these words came out, the entire crowd was shocked. The two men on the ground broke out in cold sweat, staring at Yangx Kai in horror. They never expected this frail-looking young man to possess such a ruthless heart. Su Mu’s eyes widened even more as he looked at Yangx Kai, wanting to see if he was joking. However, Yangx Kai had a solemn face, clearly showing he was completely serious. To tell the truth, although these two men were detestable, their crimes did not warrant death. Yangx Kai’s statement was undoubtedly a bit too cruel.

Su Mu stammered, "Senior Brother, isn’t that going too far?"

"Too far?" Yangx Kai shook his head with a serious expression. "If their scheme succeeded today, Boss Hex’s Rice Shop would likely go out of business. Once Boss Hex’s Rice Shop closes down, how will his family survive? This is driving people to a dead end! How is killing them going too far? You must know that a person has to pay a price for anything they do."

Initially, when the merchants saw Yangx Kai suggesting murder, they couldn’t bear it. But after hearing these words, they felt it made some sense and didn’t know what to do for a moment. Anyway, even if someone had to be killed, they didn’t need to do it themselves, so everyone just watched from the sidelines. Only Boss Hex wanted to speak, but he was stopped by a glance from Yangx Kai.

"But... but even so, we can’t just kill people casually," Su Mu said, truly anxious. He never expected the Senior Brother before him to be so ruthless. He had planned everything perfectly: have these two men come out to slander Boss Hex, and then he would step in to resolve the crisis. That way, Boss Hex would shed tears of gratitude toward him, and his goal would be achieved. Yet, he never expected a cruel Senior Brother to jump out, wanting to kill them to silence them at the drop of a hat. This was extremely bad.

Su Mu could clearly see the two men on the ground casting pleading glances at him, hoping he would save them. There was even a hint of threat in their eyes. How could Su Mu not understand their meaning? They seemed to say, "We are all grasshoppers tied to the same rope. If we don’t have it easy, you won’t either." Yes, it was exactly that kind of look.

At this moment, Yangx Kai smiled and said, "Junior Brother, scholars disrupt the law with their words, and martial artists violate prohibitions with their strength. As people of the martial world, who among us doesn’t have a few lives on their hands? Could it be that Junior Brother can’t bring himself to do it? Or perhaps... you already know each other? Is that why you don’t want to kill them?"

Su Mu’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly turned his head to look at Yangx Kai, only to see the other party smiling, looking at him mischievously.

"What do you mean by that, Senior Brother?" Su Mu’s expression turned cold. He wondered, "Could my plan have been seen through by him? But from beginning to end, I haven’t shown any flaws. How could I have been exposed?" He didn’t know that Yangx Kai only saw through it because of an accidental glance. It was truly a coincidence. If not for that glance, Yangx Kai would have been fooled today as well.

Boss Hex was an astute man. Hearing the hidden meaning in Yangx Kai’s words, he couldn’t help but ask suspiciously, "Little brother, what kind of play is this?" Yangx Kai was quite evidently targeting Su Mu; how could Boss Hex fail to see it?

Yangx Kai shook his head and didn’t answer, nor did he point it out. He simply continued looking at Su Mu. "Junior Brother, I see you are also a decisive person. So why do you hesitate to enforce justice for the heavens and benefit the local community today? Moreover, you have me, your Senior Brother, accompanying you. What are you afraid of?"

"What am I afraid of?" Su Mu laughed aloud, his face twitching slightly as he seemingly muttered to himself, "What am I afraid of? It’s just killing someone, isn’t it? Who hasn’t killed before?" It was as if admitting he had never killed anyone would make him appear inferior in front of Yangx Kai. He was a teenager, after all. Provoked by Yangx Kai in this manner, Su Mu suddenly found it impossible to back down.

Steeling his heart, Su Mu looked at the two downed Great Hans with murderous intent. As soon as those two met Su Mu’s gaze, they knew things were going south. This kid had been completely fooled and had lost his mind.

"Junior Brother, let’s do it," Yangx Kai continued fanning the flames and lighting the Ghost Fire.

Panting heavily, Su Mu slowly nodded.

Seeing this Array Formation, the two Great Hans immediately knew the situation was bad and their lives were in danger. How could the man who had supported his companion earlier hold back any longer? He jumped up right away, pointing at Su Mu’s nose. "Su Mu, you treacherous snake! We agreed that my brother and I would come to Hex’s Rice Shop to cause a scene, and then you would swoop in to help Boss Hex out and win his favor. Now you actually want to lay hands on us brothers! You scum worse than pigs and dogs! You garbage raised in a dung heap!"

"Bullshit!" Being exposed as a villain in public, Su Mu flew into a rage out of humiliation.

"Hmph!" The Great Han sneered continuously but accidentally aggravated the injuries on his face. He couldn’t help but cry out, "Ouch!" and covered the corner of his mouth. Hissing as he drew in a breath of cold air, he braced himself and said, "Everyone, my brother and I coming to Hex’s Rice Shop to cause trouble today was entirely this kid’s idea! He took a fancy to Boss Hex’s daughter, but since she doesn’t care for him, he came up with this wicked scheme!"