Chapter 57

Chapter 56. Is the Young Master Really a Taoist? (1)

"Got you, you bastard!"

Qingming smiled and stood up. The culprit, whose wrist was grabbed, tried to pull his hand away, but Qingming had no intention of letting go easily.

"You bastard!"

The culprit quickly raised his other hand to strike Qingming. But at that moment, the door opened wide, and the room was brightly lit.

It was Huang Zongyi.

Thud. Thud.

He walked in with a stern face and spoke in a heavy voice.

"What are you doing here? Chief?"

"......"

The Chief of the Galaxy Merchant Guild, Fan Zifu, who was held by Qingming, turned around in confusion.

"Y-Young Master!"

"I'm asking what you're doing right now."

Fan Zifu's face twisted.

"I was just checking the Young Master's condition......"

The response to this came not from Huang Zongyi but from Qingming.

"Oh, checking and then planning to kill him?"

Qingming shook the Chief's hand he was holding.

"There must be some misunderstanding......"

"Misunderstanding? I like misunderstandings too. Heh!"

Qingming stood up abruptly.

Fan Zifu looked at Qingming with wide eyes.

"He, he was clearly severely injured......"

"It seems there was a misunderstanding. He's perfectly fine."

"......He was unconscious."

"Oh. I haven't been sleeping well recently. I finally got a good night's rest."

Fan Zifu gritted his teeth.

"You tricked me."

"Hey, you shouldn't say that. You should insist it was a misunderstanding. If you say that, it will be obvious that you were up to something."

"Hey!"

Fan Zifu, with his free left hand, tried to strike Qingming. But Qingming neatly dodged, released Fan Zifu's hand, and leaped off the bed.

Then, without looking back, he walked towards Huang Zongyi.

"See? I told you he would come out."

"......Hmm."

Huang Zongyi nodded with a heavy gaze.

"I had my doubts about your words, but since the result is like this, I have nothing to say. It turns out that the Chief, whom I least suspected, was the culprit."

Huang Zongyi's eyes, glaring at Fan Zifu, were icy cold.

Seeing that look, Fan Zifu realized that any excuse was meaningless. He glared at Qingming with a rigid face.

"How did you suspect me?"

"I didn't suspect you."

"......What?"

Qingming shrugged.

"I never guessed who the culprit would be. How could I know after being here for such a short time? I just thought that if I pretended to know how to treat Huang Daren and lay down with an injury, someone would come to kill me."

"......What if I didn't come?"

"There was no choice but to come."

Qingming chuckled.

"Killing the first person is hard, but the second one isn't so difficult. And if you kill me now, you can pin all the blame on Zhongnan. You wouldn't miss such an opportunity, would you?"

"Did you collude with Zhongnan in advance?"

Qingming looked at Fan Zifu with a serious face.

"No, I didn't."

Fan Zifu's distorted face suddenly became blank.

"......You didn't?"

"Yes. They just started a quarrel. I was already thinking about how to resolve this matter, and they provided the perfect situation. I'm grateful for that."

Fan Zifu bit his lip.

"The internal injuries! The doctor clearly said that the internal injuries were severe enough to be life-threatening!"

"I wouldn't have started if it was hard to deceive a regular doctor. You keep asking obvious questions."

Qingming shrugged.

"You seem to have a lot of questions, but it's not important to resolve your curiosity. What's important is that you fell into a trap, and I found the culprit who tried to assassinate Huang Daren."

"Ha ha ha ha ha."

Suddenly, Fan Zifu burst into laughter and turned to look at Huang Zongyi.

"Young Master, surely you don't believe this young brat's words?"

"......How could I not believe them?"

"You're not being as wise as a Young Master should be. Isn't there something important missing from this child's logic?"

"Something important?"

Fan Zifu nodded.

"Yes. The fact that I tried to kill this child does not prove that I assassinated the Chief. Why would I do such a thing? The Chief has done so much for me. That's why you didn't suspect me, right, Young Master?"

"Hmm."

Huang Zongyi sighed.

It was a cliché excuse, but it wasn't entirely wrong.

"Then why did you try to kill the Young Master? Why did you hide the fact that you knew martial arts?"

"Isn't this child trying to deceive you, Young Master! Even the greatest doctors in the world failed to cure the Chief. How could this young brat claim to cure him?"

"Then you should have persuaded him!"

"Would you have listened if I persuaded you? When someone is deluded, they never listen to others! The only way to bring you back to your senses was to eliminate this child! Only then could the treatment for the Chief continue!"

Suddenly, murmurs arose.

Huang Zongyi subtly turned his head.

Servants, drawn by the commotion, gathered and whispered to each other. They seemed to be discussing that Fan Zifu's words were not entirely wrong. Though the words were inaudible, their gazes and expressions revealed as much.

Fan Zifu's words were indeed persuasive.

"Are you done talking?"

But then, Qingming stepped forward, breaking the atmosphere.

"......"

Fan Zifu glared at Qingming.

"It's true that I tried to kill you, but I never assassinated the Chief. You also......"

"Ah."

Qingming lightly waved his hand, cutting off Fan Zifu's words.

"Enough, enough. I don't want to know the reasons, and I don't want to hear your excuses. Why bother with such troublesome things?"

"What......?"

"Just beat him up!"

Before anyone could stop him, Qingming swiftly flew towards Fan Zifu.

He aimed at Fan Zifu's head and extended his right hand.

With a sound like silk tearing, Qingming's hand emitted a strong light. Fan Zifu, sensing the power in the incoming hand, was startled and extended his right hand to block Qingming's.

Swoosh!

Their hands crossed, and Qingming quickly retreated.

"Pay attention!"

He raised his right hand high.

"Th-That!"

Seeing the extended hand, everyone doubted their eyes.

A black handprint on Qingming's wrist was clearly visible. The handprint turned white and then disappeared, but soon the entire wrist turned red.

As everyone watched in silence, Qingming slowly spoke.

"It's called the Danma Hand."

Qingming slightly waved his hand, as if to emphasize.

"Those hit by the Danma Hand, which has reached a high level, cannot last for even an hour and die with their entire body turning dark red. Of course, this level isn't as severe, but it's still enough to kill someone, especially an ordinary old man who doesn't know martial arts. It's easier than eating cold porridge."

"......"

As Fan Zifu hesitated, Qingming seized the opportunity.

"If there's anyone else who could continuously inject the power of the Danma Hand into Huang Daren without arousing suspicion, I'll believe you're not the culprit."

This was the decisive blow.

Anger filled the eyes of the onlookers. As the saying goes, seeing is believing. No one here would trust Fan Zifu's words more than their own eyes.

The change in Qingming's right hand was identical to the symptoms of the bedridden Huang Daren.

"Th-That! An ungrateful dog!"

"How dare you assassinate the Chief and then brazenly act as the Chief?"

"I'd feel better even if I beat you to death!"

The atmosphere changed, and Huang Zongyi was no longer wavering.

"Chaoong!"

His angry voice echoed throughout the Galaxy Merchant Guild.

"Subdue the Chief immediately! If he resists, you may kill him!"

At Huang Zongyi's command, the servants rushed into the room. Fan Zifu, gritting his teeth, shot a palm force at the incoming servants.

"Aah!"

"Ugh! Ouch!"

The servants who entered were struck by Fan Zifu's palm force and fell.

"Damn, it's almost over!"

Fan Zifu glared at Qingming with venomous eyes.

"If it weren't for this brat!"

"Listening to that makes me feel bad."

Qingming pouted.

He wasn't a brat, but being called one made him feel twice as bad.

"Now, it was almost over! If I had known, I would have finished him off earlier! I wouldn't have just tried to persuade that stupid Young Master......"

"Ah."

Qingming waved his hand.

"Of course, there must be some reasonable explanation, but you can tell that to the authorities later. Let's finish this quickly. I'm a bit sleepy after waking up. I need to go back to sleep after knocking you down."

"Knock me down?"

Fan Zifu burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha! This young brat is incredibly presumptuous. I don't know how you found out, but you're saying you can knock me down after admitting that I know the Danma Hand? You, me?"

"No."

"......What?"

"Hey, how could I do that? There's someone else who can do it. Over there."

Qingming pointed to somewhere behind.

Everyone's gaze focused on one spot.

"......Me?"

Songbai, who had been watching the situation blankly, pointed to his own face in confusion.

"Me?"

"Ugh. The hero of Zhongnan has come to subdue the demon. Please do it without getting hurt."

"Ah, me?"

"Then who else here?"

Qingming, with wide eyes, asked, and Songbai realized the situation. Now that Qimusheng had left with his disciples, Songbai was naturally the highest-ranking martial artist here.

"Why......"

Feeling somewhat wronged, Songbai asked hesitantly, and Qingming subtly nodded towards the side. Songbai, following his gaze, finally noticed Huang Zongyi looking at him.

'Ah, right!'

This was his chance to clean up the mess he had caused! Whether it was really a mess or not was debatable, but still!

"The villain will be dealt with by the sword of Zhongnan!"

Songbai drew his sword and charged forward. Qingming quickly stepped aside and clapped.

"Ugh. The hero's demeanor!"

He wanted to curse, but Songbai, who had just entered the battle, had no time for that.

As the two began their fight, Qingming slowly approached Huang Zongyi.

"One is taken care of."

"......It's not over yet, is it?"

"He'll be caught soon. After all, he's a disciple of a prestigious school and wouldn't lose to someone who hasn't mastered martial arts properly."

"Not mastered properly? You clearly said earlier that this level......"

At that moment, Qingming subtly showed his hand to Huang Zongyi.

His hand turned black, then white, and finally red.

"......"

"I didn't lie. He really knows the Danma Hand. I just showed you a glimpse of what will happen later."

"Huh......"

Huang Zongyi, unable to hold back, asked with a hollow laugh.

"Is the Young Master really a Taoist?"

"Of course."

'And the most experienced Taoist in the world.'

Huh?

Really?

Ah.