Chapter 193 - 122: Qi Skill
"Lastly... from this day forward, my Qianliu Manor will follow Young Lady Ye’s lead in all things!
"We will obey any command without question.
"I only ask that Young Hero Jiang spare the lives of the disciples of Qianliu Manor."
When Qi Gong finished speaking, he dropped to his knees with a THUD.
"...Second Manor Lord."
"This..."
Seeing this, the many disciples of Qianliu Manor behind him looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
Jiang Ran, however, just smiled.
"Can you speak for Qianliu Manor?
"From what I see, these disciples of Qianliu Manor behind you are all men who would rather die than submit.
"I doubt they’re willing to compromise like this. And you... I don’t think you can command their respect, can you?"
Hearing this, Qi Gong slowly turned to look at the crowd of Qianliu Manor disciples.
"My elder brother has been defeated. From now on, I will be the one to lead Qianliu Manor.
"Does... anyone object?"
As he spoke, a fierce aura swirled around him, his sleeves billowing, revealing the depth of his Inner Energy.
The crowd exchanged glances, then someone fell to their knees with a THUMP.
"Greetings, Manor Lord!"
Where one went, another followed.
In just a few moments, the entire group was kneeling on the ground, acknowledging their new Manor Lord.
As for the few who were unwilling, Jiang Ran glanced at Shi Miao.
Shi Miao understood Jiang Ran’s meaning instantly. With a flicker of movement, he plunged into the crowd. A flash of his sword, and several bodies were thrown to the ground.
And with that, the transfer of power at Qianliu Manor was complete.
Looking at the corpses, Qi Gong sighed softly, but it was a sigh of relief.
Jiang Ran’s actions clearly showed he was accepting their surrender.
Jiang Ran then stepped forward, rummaged inside his robes, and tossed a porcelain vial to Qi Gong.
"What’s this?"
Qi Gong examined it, then looked back at Jiang Ran.
"You’re a smart man. You know what to do."
Jiang Ran didn’t waste any more words.
Qi Gong nodded. "I understand."
He immediately took the vial, uncorked it, and saw that it indeed contained a single pill.
Without a second thought, he tilted his head back and swallowed the pill.
"Very good."
Jiang Ran nodded.
"There are four seasons in a year. This is the Four Seasons Pill.
"It will act up four times a year, at the start of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
"When it does, the pain will make you wish for death.
"Without the antidote, you will howl in agony for three days and three nights before death finally brings release.
"This medicine has no other purpose. As long as you are obedient, I guarantee you’ll have nothing to worry about."
"Yes!"
Qi Gong nodded at once. "Thank you for granting me this medicine, Young Master."
"...You... you..."
A faint voice spoke. It was Qi Cheng; he wasn’t dead yet.
He pointed a finger at Qi Gong. "Qian... Qianliu... Manor... How... how could it produce... someone like you... a coward... who clings so desperately to life!!"
Qi Gong glanced at Qi Cheng and nodded lightly.
"If I weren’t a coward who clings to life, I’m afraid you would have pushed me into the well when I was ten."
Qi Cheng’s pupils constricted slightly.
When he was ten... that was the year they officially began to practice the Thousand Streams and Ten Thousand Blades Finger.
And on that very day, their father had praised Qi Gong.
He had said his talent was outstanding.
This had infuriated Qi Cheng, who then conspired with a servant to kill Qi Gong.
The servant told Qi Cheng that there was a wide, deep well in the back courtyard. All the Eldest Young Master had to do was invite the Second Young Master to play there the next day and push him in. No one would ever know.
At the time, Qi Cheng had nodded repeatedly, thinking it was an excellent plan.
But unexpectedly, when he invited Qi Gong, he was turned down.
After that, whenever the two brothers practiced their martial arts, Qi Gong was always inferior to him.
He even flirted with the servant girls in the manor, enraging their father.
He scolded him, saying that at only ten years old, he was already acting so wantonly. He couldn’t practice martial arts properly, nor could he behave himself. He was truly good-for-nothing.
That "good-for-nothing" label—three little words—became like a shield against death.
Qi Cheng soon forgot all about wanting to kill Qi Gong.
And so, Qi Gong had lived a relatively peaceful life until now.
Hearing Qi Gong bring it up now, he finally understood. Ever since he was ten, his younger brother had been putting on an act for his benefit.
"You... you’re so calculating... You hid it so well!
"You truly are... my... ’dear’ brother!!"
Qi Cheng glared at Qi Gong.
But Qi Gong just shook his head.
"I never intended to compete with you. Everything I did was merely for self-preservation.
"If your actions, Elder Brother, hadn’t brought disaster upon Qianliu Manor and a fatal calamity upon yourself, I’m afraid I still would not have stepped forward.
"I would have remained the ignorant and incompetent younger brother you always spoke of..."
"You..."
Qi Cheng wanted to say more, but he truly couldn’t hold on any longer.
In truth, if Qi Gong hadn’t walked out from the manor and said all that, he would have died long ago.
Now, having heard it all, his head finally lolled to one side, and he breathed his last.
Jiang Ran glanced at Qi Cheng’s body and nodded slightly.
"The main culprit is eliminated. News of what happened here needs to spread.
"You should know what to do."
Qi Gong nodded.
"This subordinate understands."
"Good."
Jiang Ran was very pleased with his perceptiveness and said softly,
"Take us to see what exactly you took from the Ye family."
"Everyone, please follow me."
Qi Gong stood up and led the way.
Just as Jiang Ran was about to follow, he heard Ye Jingshuang say,
"Oh, right. We can’t let that one get away."
She turned and pointed at Ding Feng, who was painstakingly crawling away in the distance.
He had been beaten near death by Jiang Ran, who used Qi Cheng’s body as a weapon. With half his bones broken, Ding Feng’s escape was not going well.
No one had noticed him a moment ago, but in all this time, he hadn’t even crawled three meters.
Watching his persistence, Jiang Ran was almost moved.
Then he heard Ye Jingshuang say,
"The Soulless Sword, Ding Feng... bounty four thousand five hundred taels."
The moment her words fell, Ye Jingshuang’s vision blurred. When she looked again, Jiang Ran was beaming, his expression like he’d just seen the most beautiful woman in the world. He reached out and hauled Ding Feng up from the ground.
"Let’s go, let’s go! We’re going to get rich!"
Ding Feng: "??"