Chapter Seventy-Eight: Xiumu
The whip in the hands of this fat official was made from a python’s skin, and was extremely resilient. It was also covered with fine scales. When it was whipped, it was like a metal wire whip on a person’s body. Also, the Qin Dynasty was ruled by might. This official was a member of a locally prestigious family, and was naturally a cultivator. When he casually hit some of the people who were mining, their flesh would split and they would be seriously injured.
Now, this whip hit the forehead of this man hard, and the surrounding people, including the guards nearby, felt their hearts jump. They wondered, Is that man going to be beaten to death?
Some punishments and tortures in a quarry where most were prisoners under the Ministry of Punishment could not be avoided. But no matter what, it was hard to explain if someone died and the number of people decreased.
So even the Chen official was given a fright. Based on his thoughts, this man should have unconsciously dodged, even in his daze. Then his whip would have landed on the man’s shoulder, chest, or other place with a lot of flesh, so painful but not a big problem. He could not think that this man did not react at all when this man faced the whip coming at his face.
The whip parted from the man’s face. Yet, what appeared in everyone’s sight was a lack of blood. There was no mark left on the man’s face. His face seemed to give off an odd and faint light. Around his face and hair, there was dust scattering outwards like they had been shaken off by the force of the whip.
Everyone was shocked.
The Chen official was first stunned, but in the next moment, his face turned pale and his lips trembled. He was a cultivator. While realm three, he knew that such a faint light came naturally from vital energy inside a person’s body. Only powerful cultivators, when suffering a heavy blow, would unconsciously exude their vital energy.
“You…” after he said a word, he could not speak.
While he did not memorize these people’s names, at least he had read them all. How could there be such a cultivator among all the prisoners and laborers in the quarry?
The dust kept on flying away from the man’s skin. In the faint layer of light, the dust turned a strange color and appeared a bit holy. Not just the man’s body and clothing, everybody within dozens of feet of him became unusually clean. The fine stone dust was gently pushed away by an invisible power.
This man still had a dazed expression. He heard the Chen official’s word, and was still stuck in his own world. He just asked, “I just heard you say, Fang Xiang of the Fang Marquessate Establishment is dead?”
When he spoke, the usually domineering Chen official unconsciously took a step back. “The old n.o.bility Ye Xiao set up a formation in the Yin Mountain to trap the heir to the Nine Death Silkworm. Fang Xiang of the Fang Marquessate Establishment killed his adopted son and then himself. This is something the entire world knows.”
“The world knows?” The man shook his head, no joy or sorrow to be seen from his expression. “I do not know.”
The official found it hard to keep talking. But in the next moment, he had some courage. There were soldiers stationed here, and an army outside. To stop the prisoners here from causing chaos, there were many guards in the quarry, and a lot of armament set up.
“Who are you?” so he gathered his courage and said.
“Usually, you punish these people as you please, and you are vicious. While I have never seen you kill someone, after so long, I think that there were people who died at your hands. Today, you whipped me, cut off your arm, and I will spare your life.” The man said and then smiled with slightly bitterness. “Since it is something the entire world knows, then there will be no mistake.”
The Chen official trembled. Regardless of whether it was a finger or an arm, they were all parts of his body, and he naturally did not want to lose.
But in the next moment, he seemed to make up his mind like he was going to obey. But then, a desperate viciousness appeared in his eyes. The vital energy in his body surged towards his feet. With a tearing sound, his body was thrown back like aston from a catapult.
“You want to rebel…”
At the same time, he screamed, wanting to flee from this person’s sight as quickly as possible. But all of his cunning, including his moments, and the flow of his vital energy, including the reactions of all the soldiers and cultivators in the quarry were too slow to this man who was shining with light.
They were not beings of the same level. When this Chen official had the thought, and before his vital energy started to flow, this man knew his choice. He just turned to look at the official who was screaming as he fled back. With a pop, an invisible power fell on the neck of the official.
The official’s scream was cut off. His head flew up in a spray of blood.
“Do not!” An urgent shout sounded.
One person’s figure appeared like a ghost.
This was an academian who was stationed here. He immediately stopped all the soldiers who wanted to act. But even so, his eyes were filled with deep terror, and his hands trembled within his sleeves.
This academian was a cultivator at the top of realm five. In his life, he had never seen a grandmaster fight, but in just that short moment, he was certain that this person’s level was terrifying and he was definitely a grandmaster. Also, through this person’s previous words and strange expression, he suddenly guessed something, and this guess caused his breathing to grow unsteady.
If this was really that person… this was a cultivator that even Emperor Yuanwu was wary of.
“You are… Fang Marquessate Establishment’s Fang Xiumu?” without daring to stop for a moment, he bowed to the shining man and asked.
“I am Fang Xiumu.” The man did not refute and said softly, “But now, in Changling, is there still the Fang Marquessate Establishment?”
This academian did not dare to respond and could not respond. In the rumors, the old marquis had died fighting in Yangshan Commandery, and Fang Xiang had died… Fang Xiumu had refused the imperial decree and left Changling. Was there still the Fang Marquessate Establishment in Changling right now?
Fang Xiumu gently shook his head. He was in a wondrous state right now. His body was extremely clean. But like it represented his feeling right now, he still unconsciously brushed his sleeves, and then started to walk away without speaking.
To this place right now, it was a good ending.
But this academian’s feelings were in such turmoil that he could not help but ask, “Why is someone like you staying here?”