Heavenly Curse

Chapter 85: Deadline

    Mu Yi brought Su Jinlun back to the city. They met with Su Chongshan who had arrived in the city. Mu Yi was confused. He had thought Su Chongshan would stay in the village. He thought he would just let him do everything.

    Mu Yi didn"t think that Su Chongshan didn"t trust him just because he had come. It was useless to think too much about it. Some things were normal even expected.

    Su Chongshan gave Mu Yi a gift when he saw him. Mu Yi accepted the gift. His mind was at rest and his conscience was clear. Su Chongshan looked at Su Jinlun.

   "Kneel down! Take off your clothes!" he shouted.

    Su Jinlun started shaking in fear when he heard Su Chongshan. He still got on his knees, unb.u.t.toned his clothes and took them off. Su Chongshan grabbed a rattan stick from one of his servants. He walked behind Su Jinlun and started hitting him with the stick.

    Su Chongshan didn"t hold back. Su Jinlun was shaking from head to foot. His face had lost all it"s color. He was soaked in sweat and felt cold. A trail of blood appeared on his back. Su Chongshan hit him a second time without stopping. Another wound appeared on Su Jinlun"s back.

    Su Chongshan hit him a third time. A third trail of blood appeared. Su Jinlun looked determined, he didn"t even grit his teeth. He was covered with sweat though so anyone could guess it was extremely painful.

    "Do you know why I"m hitting you?" asked Su Chongshan.

   He lifted the rattan stick again.

    "I know why, Grandpa," said Su Jinlun in a trembling voice.

    "I told you to listen to Master Mu before you left. Did you do that?" asked Su Chongshan firmly.

    "I didn"t," replied Su Jinlun.

    Su Chongshan hit him again after he answered. Mu Yi was standing next to them. He could see Su Jinlun shaking violently. The rattan stick was hard. Mu Yi imagined it was very painful. As long as the injuries were treated, he would recover quickly though.

    "You weren"t cautious enough and made a stupid decision. Have you forgotten everything I"ve taught you?" asked Su Chongshan.

    "I haven"t," said Su Jinlun shaking his head.

    Mu Yi saw that Su Chongshan wanted to hit Su Jinlun again and interrupted.

   "Mister Su, I"m sure Jinlun didn"t mean to do anything bad. Forgive him this time," Mu Yi said.

    Su Chongshan stopped. He had wanted to prove to Mu Yi that he trusted him. Everything was actually going quite well for them. Only Su Jinlun had to be punished. Su Chongshan was surprised that he intervened but he gave the rattan stick back to his servant.

   "What are you waiting for? Shouldn"t you thank Master Mu?" said Su Chongshan.

    "Thank you very much, Master," said Su Jinlun prostrating himself before Mu Yi.

    "You caused trouble to Master Mu." Su Chongshan said.

    "It"s alright. It wasn"t that serious. I am happy I could help. Jinlun didn"t do anything bad. We were just careless last time. We should have stomped out the source of trouble from the start. Nothing like that would have happened then," said Mu Yi.

   He remembered many things that the old Taoist Priest had taught him. Li Hu was just an ordinary person, but he posed a serious threat to them. Mu Yi couldn"t let him off. Who could predict the future? If a person wasn"t careful, n.o.body could be blamed for their death but them.

    Mu Yi was changing unconsciously. It was difficult to say whether he was becoming a better or worse person. He was definitely maturing, but he was crueler now and less sensitive.

    "Everything happened because of the Su Clan. I have to answer the call of duty. Therefore, no matter who is involved, we will support you," said Su Chongshan.

    "No, it"s fine. I"ve started this and I can solve the issue myself. I never give up halfway," said Mu Yi.

   He didn"t know why but at that moment he started thinking about Qiu Yuetong. Things would be completely different the next time he went to Little Frost Mountain. What would she say?

    Su Chongshan didn"t insist because it was Mu Yi"s own decision. No matter what Mu Yi wanted to do, Su Chongshan supported him.

    Little Frost Mountain was under a lot of pressure. Two days had pa.s.sed and Qiu Yuetong hadn"t shown up. The elders took care of everything during those two days. Li Hu acted conservatively. He knew he had made a mistake.

    Mu Yi had given them three days. Only one day was left. Many of the villagers were worried. n.o.body doubted Mu Yi"s words. They were sure he meant what he said. Qiu Yuetong had already been injured, so who could stop him?

    Were they going to hand Li Hu over? If they did, wouldn"t people make fun of Little Frost"s fortified village? If they didn"t hand him over, would they all just welcome death?

    Everybody thought Qiu Yuetong was injured. However, she was merely standing in her courtyard in front of a pine tree. It was two zhang high. The tree had many branches. It remained green even in winter.

    Qiu Yuetong"s eyes were closed. She wasn"t moving at all. Her sword was in a sheathe in front of her. The sword was like the pine tree. It seemed calm and ordinary.

    Qiu Zhu was worried. She looked at Qiu Yuetong. She had stayed in that same place for an entire day. She hadn"t eaten or drunk anything. She stood still like a tree trunk.

    If the brigand chief hadn"t told her not to disturb her, she wouldn"t have been able to stand aside for so long and just watch. Many people had asked to see the brigand chief over the past two days. She had stopped them all at the door. However, the deadline was approaching and things were getting very intense.

    Qiu Mei was still in bed. Doctor Sun was still trying to heal her but she was losing weight. According to to Doctor Sun, Qiu Mei had four days to live under the circ.u.mstances, after that… Doctor Sun didn"t finish the sentence, but Qiu Zhu knew what he meant.

    Someone knocked on the door of the courtyard. It was really loud. It was completely different from when people had come before. The person was using their fist. They were obviously in a hurry. The people couldn"t wait anymore.