"With so many deaths in Caishikou, someone has to be held responsible." He lowered his head and his gaze fell on the two heads on the ground facing each other.
..
Half an hour later.
Fang Yuan hurried to the messy vegetable market.
At this time, the vegetable market entrance had been blocked by soldiers, and the corpses on the ground were covered with white cloth, with hundreds of casualties.
Fang Yuan couldn't get in either, so he could only stand on tiptoe at the intersection and look inside from afar.
I happened to see a group of soldiers gathered together, standing up a fallen wooden stake and fixing it to the ground.
On the re-erected wooden stakes, two old heads with somewhat similar faces were hanging there, swaying in the wind, with their white hair fluttering in the wind, creating an interesting contrast.
"One is in his sixties, the other is in his nineties. It is rare to see a father and son this old." The officers and soldiers were also amazed:
"What's even more surprising is that these two people's martial arts attainments are said to be quite high."
"That's right, but unfortunately he took the wrong path. He's an old lunatic."
"I have seen Qiao Zhong before. He is not afraid of death. He is quite a man... But his father, Qiao Shuanglin, is really a crazy old man."
"After being caught molesting a woman in the street, he got so angry that he drew his sword and killed innocent people. Fortunately, the immortal from the Dao Sect was nearby and rushed over to suppress him... This prevented the situation from escalating further."
"Really? Then he deserves to die."
"The matter has not been investigated clearly yet, don't rush to gossip... If the matter involves the Immortal Sect, it will be difficult to explain."
"..."
Fang Yuan could no longer hear the sound that followed. It was as if his head was hit by a heavy hammer, and he felt a little dazed.
"Senior Qiao just died like that, and who on earth did he offend this time?"
Fang Yuan stood there, his heart sinking, almost filled with self-blame and guilt.
When he was young, his stepfather said that he never forgot his roots even though he was living under someone else's roof. Now that he has received the kindness of Qiao Zhong and Qiao Shuanglin, father and son, he will naturally remember it in his heart.
Although he didn't know who Qiao Shuanglin had offended and who caused his death, from his perspective, it was naturally related to Qiao Shuanglin's decision to help him with revenge.
After all, Wan Ronghua is also a wealthy man in the imperial capital, one of the four largest merchant families, and he has also climbed to a high position in the Da Dao Sect.
"It is impossible for Senior Qiao to flirt with a woman in the street and kill innocent people out of anger as those officers and soldiers said... There must be something fishy going on."
"Lord Hai Wuya should know the inside story." Fang Yuan suddenly remembered something:
"Master Hai promised before that he would track down the mastermind behind the riot outside the clinic... Could this be related to this matter?"
"With his power, the truth about what happened in Caishikou should not be hidden from him."
As one of the six ministers, Hai Wuya has already stood at the top of the officialdom of Dayan, and there are not many people in the civil service system who are more powerful than him.
Rumors may fool a small soldier like Fang Yuan, but I don’t think they can fool him.
"I have to find a way to ask for an audience with Lord Hai..." Fang Yuan turned around and left in a hurry. He had more things to do.
... .
The sun has set, the night is falling, and the moon is high in the sky.
An old man, looking frail, also slowly walked to the vegetable market street and looked inside.
"Father-in-law, stop looking. You are not allowed to walk on the vegetable street today and the market is not open." A passerby kindly reminded him.
But the old man turned a deaf ear to it, just stood on tiptoe and looked inside. His gaze penetrated the long distance and fell on the two heads of the trees waving in the wind.
"Another death was given away."
The old man muttered to himself.
"That's fine. The Qiao family always pays their debts. So next, should we visit my good friends?"
These words gave the kind passerby a chill. What does it mean to visit a friend who was alive
Just as I was about to ask in detail, my eyes suddenly blurred.
The figure of this frail old man became blurred and distorted, and he disappeared without a trace in front of him in an instant.
"This..." The passerby looked at the empty Caishi Street under the night sky and got goosebumps all over his body.
Chapter 157 The man who carried firewood for the crowd had frozen to death in the snowstorm
Night is falling.
Qiao Mu shuttled through the night, his figure becoming a shadow.
As his mind moved, the Ouroboros Longevity Lock in his mind glowed faintly, and a piece of information emerged from his mind.
Evaluation of this death: B- (helping people escape is meaningful even if it is just a mantis trying to stop a tree)
Lifespan lost due to death: 10 (5*2) years
Remaining resurrections this week: 3/5
Current age: 103
Qi and blood: 46%
Skill:
Slightly
... .
Shadow Step (Perfect)
Red Moon Blood Burning Technique (Proficient)
Void-shattering Finger (Proficient)
Eye Swordsmanship (Not yet started)
...
“Is evaluation like an ant trying to shake a tree?”
Qiao Mu smiled.
He did not think of himself as an ant trying to shake a tree, but rather as Jingwei filling up the sea.
Because every time he dies, it will become nutrients for his next self, making him stronger.
Qiao Mu is not afraid of failure or death, or rather, he is afraid of not dying a good death...
This time, another ten years passed by in a flash, like a dream.
"Time flies. It's been forty years since I came to the imperial capital."
The memory of ten years of hard training is ingrained into my bones.
Train hard in the coldest days of summer and the hottest days of winter.
In his memory, after he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Daoxu, he made up his mind to practice martial arts diligently, day and night, and every day was soaked in sweat. This is a bitter but fulfilling memory. Whenever he thinks back to the past ten years, he is filled with emotion.
“Time will not deceive your efforts.”
During these ten years, Qiao Mu learned from his mistakes and, in addition to his main subject, the "Sumeru Mountain King Sutra", he focused his energy on two other aspects of martial arts practice.
The first is to practice the light skill "Shadow Step" to perfection.
Secondly, he practiced both the "Red Moon Burning Blood Technique" and the "Broken Void Finger", and mastered both to a proficient level.
This time the death evaluation is B-. Practicing four martial arts at the same time and making breakthroughs in each of them is already quite efficient.
If you reach A or S, you can have extremely high time efficiency like Qiao Mu in the past, and master multiple martial arts at the same time.
"Every time I resurrect and grow older, the technique or martial arts I practice is exactly what I want... Is this not a random breakthrough, but a targeted practice based on my thoughts before I die?"
"This is interesting. The Ouroboros Longevity Lock must be hiding a bigger secret."
Qiao Mu closed his eyes. He knew why he lost this time.
No matter how strong a warrior is, he is still made of flesh and blood.
When the flesh and blood body is exposed to the cold, the limbs will become stiff and the muscles will cramp, making it difficult to exert even a thousand pounds of strength.
Qiao Mu's performance was better than other warriors, and he was able to break free repeatedly when his whole body was frozen. This was actually because he had deep internal strength, which he had accumulated from his youth to the age of ninety, nearly eighty years of hard training, and it was truly something that could not be underestimated.
But even so, he is still flesh and blood.
Warriors can only punch and kick, and fight in close combat, but they cannot fly. When the immortal cultivator Daoxu stands in mid-air, they lack targeted means of confrontation.
So in Qiao Mu's opinion, he should either learn to use bows and crossbows, or make himself faster, or master the finger technique of breaking the void to generate strength through the air...
Then, his dream came true.
After ten years of hard training, he could now use the Breaking Void Finger skillfully.
"Thank you, Sister Daoxu, for giving me the ten years of skills. If we have the chance to meet next time, I will definitely help you reach the West as soon as possible."
As for the Qi and Blood column, it dropped from 66% to 46%... Since the day this thing appeared, it has been as inaccurate as the weather forecast, and Qiumu never even looks at it.
Because he was still practicing the "Sumeru Mountain King Sutra", Qiao Mu felt that his energy and blood showed no signs of decline, and that was enough.
Rather than caring about these skills, the loyal and righteous Qiao Mu cares more about his close friends.
Daoxu had to be let go for the time being. Qiaomu estimated that even if he used up the remaining four chances of resurrection, he might not be able to win the battle. There was no point in wasting his life on her.
If you can't cure immortals, can you cure mortals
Before he died, Qiao Mu took good care to remember those few people who stood out among the crowd.
Including the young woman who slandered him, the Dragon Claw hero Hu Han who stepped forward, and... the wealthy man in the imperial capital, Wan Ronghua, who is suspected to be the mastermind behind the scenes.
Qiao Mu leaped up and his figure disappeared into the night.
Now, he has mastered the flying thief's light skill to perfection and has a lot of experience in stealth. Next, he plans to find the whereabouts of these people and follow them to their respective homes.
..
That night.
"Qiao Shuanglin, is he dead too?"
In the Hai Mansion, after Hai Wuya finished listening to Fang Yuan's story, his old eyes suddenly lost focus and became dull.
Hai Wuya's eyes were dim. He had just warned Qiao Shuanglin to keep a low profile so as not to attract the attention of the mastermind, but why didn't he listen to his advice...
With his strength having reached the fifth level of the Xumi Mountain King Sutra, even if he intervened in the battle between Dao Zhen and Dao Xu, he would not be unable to escape unscathed. But why...
"There are always some fools who dare to face the majesty of the immortal sect..." He sighed slightly, and memories of the past emerged.
During the previous emperor's time, there were many civil and military officials who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the country. But when these people died, were thrown into prison, or retired and returned home, the court of Dayan became quiet.
"First it was Qiao Zhong, then Qiao Shuanglin... No, there are more than just the two of them."
Hai Wuya knew that before Qiao Zhong, there were many other members of the Qiao family who had fought desperately like them.
Qiao Shuanglin will not be the first, nor will he be the last.
If Qiao Shuanglin died, then according to the Qiao family’s rule of blood revenge, the next stronger member of the Qiao family might already be on the way to the imperial capital
"Master, I have brought the person here."
The old steward of the Hai Mansion pushed the door open and came in, followed by two or three civilians dressed in civilian clothes.
Among them were farmers who were going to the vegetable market today, vendors who lived in Caishi Street, and even a servant of the Hai Mansion who was buying vegetables in Caishi Street at that time.
This time the incident happened in a busy street like Caishi Street. There were thousands of witnesses who witnessed the incident, some of whom lost their families as a result.
Although the court's reaction was not slow, it was naturally difficult to silence the mouths of thousands of people.
Fang Yuan’s judgment was not wrong. He made the right decision to come to Hai Mansion.
Hai Wuya is one of the very few high-ranking officials in the imperial capital who is willing to take risks to find out the truth and has enough power to find out the truth.
From the mouths of these witnesses, Hai Wuya was able to piece together about 70% of the truth...
"Fang Yuan, don't worry. I will take care of this matter myself." Hai Wuya stood up and sighed:
"The man who carried firewood for the crowd has frozen to death in the snowstorm."
"We can't save the firewood bearer, but at least we can't let him be slandered. Even after his death, his reputation will be ruined."
At this point, the old man showed a rare look of anger on his face: