Mu Yi"s statement surprised everybody. The two old people from the village were at a loss. They knew the story of the Kang Clan. Since the young master had died, the old woman and the young lady were the only ones remaining. They were pitiful women. Now, the old woman was the last member of the Kang Clan.
Xue Wu wasn"t too surprised. He frowned though. The housekeeper fell and landed on his bottom when he heard. Cui Xiang looked like a withered flower. The old woman, the last member of the Kang Clan, was staring at Mu Yi. She couldn"t contradict him and it was upsetting.
"Do you want to die or do you want to live?" said Mu Yi to Cui Xiang.
"I…" Cui Xiang started, glancing at the old woman.
"If you want to die, n.o.body can stop you from dying. If you want to live, then tell the truth. I promise you, n.o.body will be able to do anything to you. When everything is over, I can even give you some money so you can go far away," said Mu Yi.
He just looked at her. He knew his proposition was very tempting.
"Sc.u.mbag…" the old woman said.
Mu Yi glanced at her coldly. The old woman"s body stiffened. She couldn"t open her mouth anymore. None of the words she wanted to say came out anymore. It was the first time she really looked scared of Mu Yi.
"Speak. That"s the only opportunity you"ll have. You know what kind of person the old woman is. A moment ago, you led the way and took me here. She won"t let you off," said Mu Yi.
Mu Yi"s words felt like a hammer to her brain. She thought of how the old woman treated her. Her expression became determined and she nodded.
"I"ll speak," she said.
Mu Yi smiled. Even though he had many ways of making her talk, nothing was better than making her speak willingly. The old woman behind everything would be more upset this way. Doing things this way was even more efficient than attacking and killing the old woman. This kind of pain was even worse than physical pain.
"Don"t say anything!" shouted the housekeeper.
The old woman couldn"t say anything. She was still under Mu Yi"s power. Mu Yi didn"t need to do anything now. Xue Wu walked over to the housekeeper and kicked him.
"You little piece of s.h.i.+t, silence!" Xue Wu said.
"Don"t worry, if you tell me the truth, I"ll protect you," Xue Wu said turning to Cui Xiang.
Cui Xiang felt more relieved and sure of her decision. In her eyes, Xue Wu was stronger than Mu Yi. Mu Yi was just a Taoist priest.
"Actually, the second young master hounded her to death," said Cui Xiang.
The housekeeper and the old woman finally gave up.
"We"re doomed. We"re doomed," said the housekeeper with a blank stare.
"Second young master? There"s a second young master in the Kang Clan?" asked Zhao Quan.
He was curious. He was from the same village. He had never heard of a second young master in the Kang Clan.
"The second young master"s family name isn"t Kang. The old woman had s.e.x with another man in the past and gave birth to him. He was raised outside of the clan. After the first young master died, the old woman made the second young master come back to the clan. She intended to announce that he was an adopted son. She wanted him to be the heir of the Kang Clan and to inherit the real estate from the clan. Yesterday evening, he got incredibly drunk and s.e.xually a.s.saulted the young lady. In the end, she preferred dying to getting raped. She bit her tongue off to commit suicide."
"After he hounded her to death, the old woman came to me. At first she wanted to hide what had happened and just say she had found the corpse. The housekeeper told her that a guest, a Taoist priest, had come to the clan to spend the night. He suggested accusing him. That way a monument would have even be erected in the young lady"s honor because she died protecting her chast.i.ty. The Kang Clan would have obtained rewards as well," said Cui Xiang.
She gave all the details. She harbored a grudge against the old woman anyway.
"How shameless!"
"Absurd!"
Zhao Quan and the other old man were furious. The old woman was really despicable. Not only had she had an illegitimate son outside but she had also had that illegitimate son come back. Her daughter-in-law had died because of him. On top of all that, she hoped to be rewarded.
Putting her in a pig"s cage and drowning her wouldn"t have been an exaggerated punishment based on her crimes. (translator"s note: common form of punishment in clans against female adulterers) After Cui Xiang finished speaking, the old woman and the housekeeper"s faces were as white as sheets of paper. They looked miserable.
"Where"s the second young master?" asked Mu Yi.
"In the old woman"s room. There"s a secret room behind the bookcase," said Cui Xiang.
"Go and get him, then bring him here," said Xue Wu to the few investigators.
Even though they were outside, they had heard everything. Chast.i.ty was something extremely important. The old woman"s behavior was considered atrocious. She had even tried to accuse someone else of the crime, that was particularly shameless.
This time, it was Mu Yi. If it had been someone else, an ordinary person, they would have been killed already. Zhao Quan and the other old man apologized. Xue Wu looked at Mu Yi with admiration. n.o.body cared about the old woman and the housekeeper anymore. They could just die. They were in trouble now that Cui Xiang had told the truth.
"Release me. Who told you to capture me?!" they heard someone after a short time.
Two investigators arrived. They were holding a fat young man. The two investigators kicked him in the leg. The fat young man shouted and fell to his knees. He didn"t understand what was happening so he looked at the old woman.
"Mom! Save me!" said the fat young man.
"Alright, the mother and son are together. They won"t feel lonely," said Mu Yi indifferently.
"No! Don"t kill me!" shouted the fat young man.
He started crying and sniffling. He was a piece of trash. It was pathetic.
"If you had to take care of them, what would you do?" asked Mu Yi.
"The old woman would be put in a pig"s cage and drowned in a lake. The young one would be beheaded," said Xue Wu straightforwardly.
When the second young master heard him, his cheeks flushed. He was devastated.
"Too troublesome," said Mu Yi shaking his head and gazing into the distance.
"I told you, I will avenge your death. Initially, I intended to make them die slowly but now I think I will send them to you immediately. You won"t be lonely on the way to the underworld that way and you"ll be able to get your revenge too," said Mu Yi.
No one spoke a word. Cui Xiang, the old woman and the housekeeper all looked afraid. Xue Wu sensed a coldness in the air. The old man next to him shuddered.
"No, I don"t want to die," shouted the old woman.
"Don"t come here, I"ll kill you, you filthy woman!" The old woman shouted.
"I"ll kill you, I"ll kill you!" She shouted.
"She went insane. Good," said Mu Yi with a nod.
"Can I borrow a blade?" Mu Yi said to Xue Wu.
He wanted to kill the old woman and the others.
"Master, can I bring them back to the yamen? They will be punished there. I promise," said Xue Wu.
He was an investigator. He couldn"t let Mu Yi kill people like that. That wouldn"t be professional. No matter how despicable the people were, it was better to bring them back to the yamen. He had to let the County Magistrate take care of them.
"Too convenient for them!" said Mu Yi shaking his head.
Mu Yi raised his hand. Xue Wu"s knife rose up in the air on it"s own and moved towards Mu Yi"s hand. He didn"t kill the others immediately.
"If you kill those two, I"ll let you live," said Mu Yi to the second young master.
"Really?" said the second young master.
He looked like a drowning man clutching at a straw. He stared at Mu Yi impatiently.
"Of course," said Mu Yi nodding.
"Alright, alright, I"ll kill them," said the second young master.
Without any hesitation he took the knife. He raised it up as he walked towards the housekeeper.
"If you weren"t here, it wouldn"t have happened that way. Die!" The second young master said.
He stabbed the housekeeper in the neck. The housekeeper didn"t have any time to dodge the blow. He could only die. Blood splashed onto the second young master"s face. He walked to his mother next. There was no emotion in his eyes.
"Mom, you"ve gone mad anyway. You"ll be better off dead. Even better, I"ll stay alive if you die. In the future, I"ll burn incense for you every year," he said.
The second young master raised the knife and stabbed his mother. He killed two people without hesitating. The people around him were astonished. They couldn"t imagine how selfish one had to be to do such a thing. He was a monster.
"I killed them. Can I leave now?" said the second young master.
He sounded nervous and his face was covered with blood.
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