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Chapter 655: 656: Delivering Not Letters, but Lives!
Chapter 655: 656: Delivering Not Letters, but Lives!
Chapter 655: Chapter 656: Delivering Not Letters, but Lives!
The villagers around were frightened and at a loss as they watched Li Xiaobai leave.
“My ears must be deceiving me, but didn’t that man just say he was the demon head Li Xiaobai?”
A villager asked aloud.
“Old Tie, you heard right, that’s Li Xiaobai, loud and clear!”
“That demon head instantly subdued two chivalrous wanderers, truly deserving his reputation for causing an uproar at the execution platform. I never expected in my lifetime I’d have such a close encounter with a demon head, it’s terrifying!”
“That demon head kept muttering about ‘nourishment’; he couldn’t possibly consider those two wanderers as ingredients, could he?”
The villagers were excited, whispering among themselves.
Remembering Li Xiaobai’s words and actions, they shuddered; indeed, a great demon head who regarded martial artists as nourishment. Could it be he wanted to eat them alive?
Considering how he carried away the two martial artists, it seemed quite possible!
Just thinking about the image of eating people alive made the villagers’ stomachs turn.
Fortunately, they were just ordinary villagers, not cultivators; being overlooked by that demon head was a stroke of luck.
“Thank the heavens for not granting me the talent or aptitude to become a martial artist!”
“The outside world is too terrifying; let’s stock up on grain and hide at home.”
“Exactly, exactly…”
…
At the same time, inside the government office.
A martial artist holding an envelope stood respectfully outside the main hall, waiting.
After a long while, a shrill, effeminate voice came from inside.
“Who’s outside? If there’s something to report, come in and speak.”
Speaking was the Prefectural Magistrate, a middle-aged greasy old man with a big belly, his face shiny with grease. He sat in the high seat of the great hall, surrounded by a bevy of women. A scantily clad woman was feeding him grapes at that moment.
“Reporting to your lordship, my name is Wu Liang, a chivalrous wanderer of the jianghu, at your service, Prefectural Magistrate!”
The man walked slowly into the hall, knelt on the ground, and performed a grand salute.
Apart from the svelte women, there was a team of government officers on guard on both sides of the hall, standing discreetly in the corners as if to secretly protect the Magistrate’s life.
They were summoned by the Magistrate upon hearing that someone could provide news of Li Xiaobai; they were very interested, having been as close as brothers with Old Seven, and were anxious about his capture.
“Hmm, I hear you know of Li Xiaobai’s whereabouts?”
The Magistrate asked.
“Indeed, with my life hanging by a thread, I finally discovered Li Xiaobai’s location yesterday. The details are thoroughly recorded in this letter. Walls have ears, so it’s inconvenient to elaborate further. Please, have a look, and you will understand,” Wu Liang said with a chuckle, knowing that if the Magistrate got hold of Li Xiaobai’s exact location from the letter, he could claim the bounty.
The thought of becoming rich overnight filled him with indescribable excitement.
Looking at the dance and song around the Magistrate, the tender affection, his heart couldn’t help but stir. He couldn’t stop fantasizing about what life would be like with money—after claiming the bounty, he too wanted to monopolize a dozen women and battle for three days and nights in his newly purchased mansion!
“Present it here,” the Magistrate instructed. The serving girl who had been feeding him grapes paused in her action, took the envelope from Wu Liang, and handed it to the Magistrate.
“This letter contains Li Xiaobai’s whereabouts. Finding Li Xiaobai means finding your brother. Are you going to capture him, or should my men do it for you?”
The Magistrate pinched the envelope in his hand, looking toward the government officer in the corner as he spoke.
“Naturally, it shall be us who go!”
“Last time, we only caught Li Xiaobai’s sweetheart. This time, we brothers will surely capture this disciple of the Demon Path sect in one fell swoop!”
“Eradicate the trouble once and for all, and from this day forward, there will be peace throughout the world!”
The leading government officer spoke with a stern expression. As soon as he learned of Li Xiaobai’s location, he would immediately lead the team to set off.
This time, they must apprehend Li Xiaobai and bring him to justice. The thought that his seventh brother might have already met with disaster ignited a burning rage within him.
“Hehe, very well. Once this matter is settled, I shall report to the Imperial Court and secure your promotion,” said the Magistrate with a smile, his chubby face trembling.
That was the reason he had summoned these officers. He couldn’t bear to send his own men into danger, so it was perfect to use these outstation officers instead. If they caught Li Xiaobai, the credit would all be his, the Magistrate’s. And if they failed, the blame would fall on the officers for letting the demon head slip away due to their incompetence.
No matter the outcome, he would not lose.
He tore open the envelope and took out the letter inside. The words were brief, just a short sentence, but it was this sentence that made the Prefectural Magistrate’s pupils contract and his breathing become suddenly rapid.
“This isn’t an informer’s letter; this is a damn ultimatum!”
“Speak, who exactly are you, and why are you working for that demon head?”
“Are you also a member of the Demon Path?”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve to issue a challenge to my face. It seems you are prepared to die!”
The Magistrate roared with rage, his eyes filled with murderous intent, as he glared at Wu Liang, his entire face contorting. He crumpled the letter in his hand and threw it at Wu Liang’s face.
Wu Liang’s face was blank with confusion, not understanding what had happened. Instinctively, he picked up the letter from the ground, looked down at it, and was instantly so shocked that his hair stood on end and his body shivered uncontrollably.
The message on the letter was extremely simple, just one sentence:
“Your man is in my hands. If you want him to live, come alone to exchange Long Xue for him seven days from now at noon, five miles outside of Yanhuang City,”
Signed, “Li Xiaobai.”
It was this sentence that sent Wu Liang into a panic, never expecting that what he had tricked out of the seemingly honest and straightforward cultivator was not Li Xiaobai’s whereabouts, but a death sentence!
Moreover, it was he who had eagerly delivered this extortion letter into the hands of the Prefectural Magistrate. Wasn’t this just asking for trouble?
At this moment, he regretted deeply why he hadn’t opened the envelope to take a look on the way here?
“It was that guy!”
“He’s Li Xiaobai, who deliberately deceived me into delivering the letter, actually wanting to use my hand to get the letter to the Magistrate. Everything he had done previously was all an act!”
“How naively I believed him—I regret it, I hate myself!”
Wu Liang’s eyes flickered with extreme fear, he had been played by that demon head, and laughably, he had been happily delivering his message, not knowing that what he was delivering was not a letter but his life!
Right now, Li Xiaobai was probably hiding somewhere laughing at him!
“Wu Liang, what else do you have to say?”
“How dare you openly challenge the government’s authority in front of me, showing no respect for the law, audacious and presumptuous!”
“Where is Li Xiaobai now? Confess honestly, and I might deal with you leniently!”