Chapter 368: Winning Hearts
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Chu Li sized him up and said gently, “Protector Ying, are you all by yourself?”
Ying Wuqiu answered coldly, “You’re right.”
Chu Li nodded, “No wonder.”
Ying Wuqiu scoffed in a deep voice, “What do you mean, Head Chief?”
“If you have a family,” Chu Li shook his head, “You would not say something like that. If the person who was kidnapped was your sister or your wife, or even your mother, would you say the same thing?”
“They are merely a few maids!” Ying Wuqiu grinned and said carelessly, “If they were my family members, of course, I would rescue them immediately!”
Chu Li sighed, “You would rescue them if they were your family. But you wouldn’t if they were people from the Imperial Residence?”
Ying Wuqiu said carelessly, “If the Princesses were kidnapped, we would make a move. For anybody else, they aren’t qualified for help!”
Chu Li said, “Does anyone else agree with Protector Ying’s opinion?”
Everyone remained silent.
They were all Grandmasters. In the ten Grandmasters that Chu Li killed, some were close to them but they were ruthlessly killed by Chu Li. Like how a fox mourned for a hare’s death, it was hard not to hate Chu Li, the Head Chief.
Chu Li knew that it was not suitable to build his severity now or the morale of everyone would drop. But, he could not just kill all ten of these Grandmasters as well.
“Everyone, we all live our lives based on this one word – loyalty,” Chu Li said in a deep voice, “I was once part of the Public House, therefore I was loyal to the Public House. But now that I am part of the Imperial Residence, I shall be loyal to the Imperial Residence!”
The crowd looked at him, baffled.
Chu Li said in a deep voice, “Why did I pledge my loyalty to the Public House and the Imperial Residence?”
The crowd had furrowed brows, these words were a little weird.
Chu Li said, “I do not know which maid is qualified for the Grandmasters to make a move. But I do know that those who joined the Imperial Residence, whether it be a Scribe or a maid, a Grandmaster or someone who doesn’t know martial arts at all, you are all part of the Imperial Residence and you will be protected by it!”
His eyes were bright and glowing with pa.s.sion, “As long as you are from the Imperial Residence, if you ever get hurt, the Imperial Residence will save you and return the favor ten folds!”
Chu Li’s gazes were sharp, he scoffed in a deep voice, “If you are conceited for being a Grandmaster and do not want to rescue them, I won’t force you. I will just go by myself. Even if I don’t manage to save them, at least I will let them know that the Imperial Residence did not give up on them and that they are a part of us!”
It was as if he entered the hearts of everyone, “You are all Grandmasters. You all are able to move unhindered. You would not understand when someone is trapped in a desperate situation and how much they hope for their comrades to save them!”
He looked towards Zheng Lide, “Commander Zheng, since everyone is unwilling to go, I shall not force them to. I will let them remain here and protect the Royal Highness since his safety is more important. I will just go by myself!”
Zheng Lide complimented Chu Li in his mind.
It was not surprising that he was the first rank at such an age. His plan was cleverer than others.
He initially thought that with his temper, he would punish Ying Wuqiu to show his severity so that the others would listen to him.
But he never thought that he would yield to overcome the unyielding, that he would hold his temper and touch the crowd with words.
The Head Chief’s ability to fog the minds of the people was indeed excellent. If words of what he just said spread, he would definitely gain a lot of support from the people of the Imperial Residence. His prestige would spread even wider.
If the group of people decided to cross their arms, they would definitely be condemned by the public and became the public enemy of the Imperial Residence and ended up being isolated by the people.
There were people in the Imperial Residence who were not well-versed in martial arts. There were only approximately ten Grandmasters, the rest of the hundreds of people were all common folk. The relations between people in the Imperial Residence stemmed in complicated ways. It was impossible to know when you would find yourself in a difficult situation, which makes it hard to make a move.
Chu Li glanced at the crowd and turned as he left.
“Head Chief!” Zheng Lide said quickly, “We will all go with you!”
“We will go together!” the crowd said quickly.
Chu Li nodded slowly, “All right, let us save the maids from our Imperial Residence and punish those people severely. We will let them know that they better not mess with the people from the Imperial Residence of Prince An!”
“Yeah!” the crowd replied in a deep voice.
Chu Li’s words were bright and clear, ringing across the Imperial Residence. Everyone who heard it was worked up.
Siao s.h.i.+ could clearly hear everything as she was lying in the Tianshu Courtyard. She shook her head as she pursed her lips and smiled.
Chu Li led the nine Grandmasters as he left the Imperial Residence of Prince An with his Light-body Technique. He circled around the main street and left the Fairy’s Capital secretly then rushed straight into a dense forest apricot trees.
Zheng Lide and the others did not ask much and they just followed.
“Everyone, remember to be careful. Don’t make any noise. They are all in here,” Chu Li lowered his voice.
The nine people nodded slowly.
They lightened their movement as they got closer slowly. They could see a ranch in the deeper parts of the dense woods. If they did not go so deep, they would definitely not discover the ranch.
Thirteen houses formed a circle on the ranch. In the middle of the houses, there was a simple martial arts field. There was a group of ten or so people cultivating.
The topless bodies were basked in the radiant sunlight, their muscles glowing from the reflection of light.
As the nine Grandmasters got closer, they seemed to realize it and turned their head towards them. They saw Chu Li and the nine people.
Chu Li commanded with a deep voice, “Rush in!”
The crowd quickened their movements immediately and rushed straight into them.
Chu Li did not follow them. Instead, he darted into one of the houses.
There was a long bed in the room. The four maids were simply tossed onto the bed, unorganized and their clothes disheveled. They widened their eyes and looked at Chu Li, expressionless.
Chu Li saw that their clothing was in a mess but they did not seem to be s.e.xually a.s.saulted. He let out a sigh of relief.
He outstretched his hand to release them from their sealed acupuncture. He furrowed his brows.
A young girl lying below them was hanging on her last breath. She was foaming at the mouth with a dagger stuck right in her chest. It was apparent that she would not be able to live.
The noises outside stopped quickly. Zheng Lide and the others rushed inside quickly.
“Ding Ning!” the women surrounded the young girl quickly and held her hand and started crying.
Zheng Lide asked quickly, “What happened?”
“Those bunch of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds wanted to touch us. Ding Ning committed suicide to scare them away!” one of the girls said as she wiped away tears.
“G.o.dd.a.m.nit, we shouldn’t have let them go!” Zheng Lide slammed onto a table as hard as he could.
“Woos.h.!.+” The table crashed and fell onto the floor.
Chu Li took out a white jade bottle and produced a vermillion pill and stuffed it into Ding Ning’s mouth. He channeled some of his inner energy and taped on her chest and removed the dagger slowly. She did not bleed too much.
“Will Ding Ning die?” a young girl asked quickly.
Chu Li shook his head, “Do not worry, she won’t die! Commander Zheng, please send them home first.”
“Head Chief, did Ding Ning consume the Spirit Blessing Pill?” Zheng Lide asked.
Chu Li nodded.
Zheng Lide exclaimed, “Admirable!”
The Spirit Blessing Pill was as valuable as one’s life but he let a maid have it.
It seemed that his earlier speech was not for show. A Head Chief like him was indeed deserving of his loyalty. If it was the Royal Highness, he would definitely not use the Spirit Blessing Pill!
“Head Chief, can we still catch up with those people?” Zheng Lide asked with hatred, “We must kill them!”
Chu Li glanced across the room and saw a clump of hair on the bed. He pointed at it and asked the young girl, “Is that clump of hair theirs?”
“Yes,” the young girl nodded quickly, “Ding Ning plucked them out!”
“We will able to find them then,” Chu Li said.
Zheng Lide licked his lips and said, “We must destroy their base. We need to be ruthless so that they’ll know the might of the Imperial Residence!”
“You’re right, take down their base!” the others said in a deep voice.
Looking at the pitiful faces of the four girls, they were in a fit of rage and wanted to kill them all.