Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Kill People – Did You Dare?

Even Ye Rong, who usually feared nothing under heaven or earth, had been shaken by what happened earlier. “There are even more of them than before. Shang Er, what kind of rotten idea was this? We couldn’t beat them earlier, so why would we beat them now?”

Just from what they could see, there had to be close to a hundred men already. How was this any different from walking straight into a trap?

“Yu Zheng is right,” Chen Bao Jing said, rubbing his arms nervously. “We should hurry and leave.”

Shang Xing Yu raised an eyebrow. “I thought they were so arrogant that they even dared to kidnap a Princess. I figured Han Ming Rui and his mother might have been taken too.”

Shang Xing Yu’s eyes sharpened. “A real man knew when to bend and when to endure. We could pretend to give in first, then find a chance to rescue them.”

Shang Xing Yu looked at the others. “Han Ming Rui is the only heir of the Grand Defender General’s household. And Princess Qing Ning was taken because of us. Can you really stand there and watch her fall into their hands?”

Shang Xing Yu’s voice turned colder. “And do not forget – the Defender Duke’s bodyguards are still alive. If they go back and report this, and something happens to Princess Qing Ning, do you think the Emperor and the Defender Duke’s mansion will spare us?”

Shang Xing Yu let the words sink in. “You will be branded as true cowards, and you will drag your families down with you.”

The ones who had been ready to leave froze in place.

A huge achievement was right in front of them. If they left now, would that not be the same as throwing it away?

More than that, they all remembered the woman who had pressed a dagger to her own throat and demanded the bandits let them go.

Their feet would not move.

How could they be worse than a woman?

“Hey!” Shang Xing Yu suddenly pointed. “Look at that one. Isn’t he drunk?”

“That one too!” Ye Rong slapped his thigh in excitement. “He’s stumbling all over the place!”

The moment Ye Rong slapped down, Shang Xing Yu grabbed his hand. “Keep your voice down.”

“I-I forgot,” Ye Rong said with a crooked grin.

Ye Rong’s grin widened. “Shang Er is right. A young master can’t be a real coward. This is obviously our chance. While they’re drunk, we’ll rescue Princess Qing Ning, Han Ming Rui, and his mother!”

Chen Bao Jing nodded fast. “My father always said you should strike when the other side is weak. This is a perfect chance.”

Shang Xing Yu stared at him in silence for a beat. “…”

Ye Rong could not hold back any longer. He looked at Shang Xing Yu. “Then let’s go!”

Among them, Shang Xing Yu and Ye Rong had the most powerful fathers, so the others naturally followed their lead.

“Go!” Shang Xing Yu had been waiting for that word.

Then Shang Xing Yu’s tone changed. He swept his gaze across the eager faces and asked, “But tell me first – killing people, do you dare?”

“K-Killing people?” Zhou Yu Zheng jumped.

The others looked at each other, stunned.

They had done plenty of bad things. They fought crickets, visited brothels, stirred up trouble. At worst, they harassed the brothel girls or ambushed a young master they disliked and beat him up.

But killing…

They had never done that.

Shang Xing Yu gave a cold laugh. “These are mountain bandits. If Princess Qing Ning hadn’t offered herself as a hostage, not one of us would have escaped earlier.”

Shang Xing Yu’s voice dropped. “Once we start fighting, it will be kill or be killed. Do not blame me for not warning you.”

“If you dare, then come. If you don’t, go home and have your parents coddle you.”

Shang Xing Yu tightened his grip on his blade. “It is only killing. Killing mountain bandits earns merit. Whoever kills more will earn more credit.”

Shang Xing Yu’s eyes flashed. “I am taking today’s credit for myself.”

Shang Xing Yu rushed out first.

Ye Rong was still caught in Shang Xing Yu’s words until he saw Shang Xing Yu creep up behind a lone bandit. In a clean, ruthless motion, Shang Xing Yu drove the blade into the man’s lower back.

Zhou Yu Zheng screamed and covered his eyes.

Ye Rong’s eyes widened too. He swallowed hard. “Damn… Shang Er was a real man.”

Ye Rong clenched his jaw. “A young master can’t be a coward. I have to bring Princess Qing Ning back.”

Ye Rong waved at his own bodyguards and strode out.

Not long after, Ye Rong reached Shang Xing Yu’s position.

Ye Rong copied him, moving in the dark behind another bandit. Ye Rong seized the man by the neck, but the knife in Ye Rong’s hand shook nonstop.

Why would his hand not listen to him?

The bandit was already starting to turn his head. Ye Rong’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

“Puchi-!”

A blade sank into flesh.

“Young Master, are you all right?” a bodyguard asked anxiously.

The stench of blood burst out. Warm, salty spray hit Ye Rong’s eyelids, and Ye Rong instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.

At that exact moment, a hand reeking of alcohol reached from behind Ye Rong.

Almost on instinct, Ye Rong thrust his knife out with his eyes still closed.

“Dead-! Someone’s dead!” A slurred scream tore through the night.

In an instant, everyone sobered up.

Ye Rong gritted his teeth and yanked the blade free.

Blood splashed across Ye Rong’s face. Hot. Sticky. Salty.

So this was killing.

Ye Rong recognized the man at once. It was the brute who had kicked Ye Rong to the ground that afternoon.

All it took was one stab. One stab, and the man crumpled like a dead dog, his eyes still open.

Killing was not as hard as Ye Rong had imagined.

The mountain bandits, drunk like this, were not as terrifying as they had seemed.

Ye Rong suddenly remembered seeing chickens and ducks slaughtered.

Ye Rong spat, “Damn it! Trash like you dared kick Young Master?”