Chapter One Hundred Forty-Five: Those who use force to defy the law must be put to death!

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Beneath the shade of the tree, the air was cool and refreshing, and a gentle breeze drifted by.

Qingyuan leaned against the great tree, his back pressed tightly to its trunk. He held the iron staff across his knees, while the ancient mirror had been tucked against his chest.

“Thank you.” Qingyuan smiled and looked toward the little girl. “What is your name?”

The little girl replied softly, “He Qing.”

Qingyuan smiled. “What a coincidence. My name also has the word ‘Qing’ in it.”

The little girl widened her eyes. “Then what is your name?”

“Qingyuan.”

For a moment, silence fell once more.

The little girl raised her head and looked around. “I should be going now.”

Qingyuan nodded. “Go, then.”

The girl thought for a moment, then took several herbs from her medicine basket and placed them on the ground before Qingyuan.

“These are for external wounds. Crush them and apply them to the injury. This one treats internal injuries. You seem to have suffered one, so it would be best to boil it over a fire and drink the decoction, though you can swallow it raw if you have to. Also, my father says that every medicine contains some poison, so you must be careful…”

Qingyuan was naturally familiar with all these herbs. They were not rare treasures of heaven and earth, however, and would do almost nothing for his injuries. With his cultivation at the peak of the Third Heaven, a circulation of true energy would heal him far more effectively than any ordinary medicine.

Even so, Qingyuan did not refuse them. He merely nodded and acknowledged her words.

The little girl then took out something else and scattered it in a circle around the tree. Its smell was somewhat pungent.

“This can drive away insects and beasts. There are no particularly ferocious animals here, but it is still a dangerous place.”

With that, she took out a fire striker and placed it beside his hand.

“This can be used to start a fire.”

Only after finishing all this did she wave at Qingyuan.

“I’m leaving now. Take care of yourself.”

Qingyuan answered softly. He watched her retreating figure, and only after some time had passed did he close his eyes. Then he leaned back with force, pressing his spine firmly against the great tree.

He sank into meditation. Only after deducing the technique thoroughly did he begin to circulate the secret art he had obtained from Chen Xing.

A thread of vitality rose from the base of his spine, traveled upward along his back, and reached the rear of his head.

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The great tree’s roots ran deep into the earth, constantly drawing in vitality, nourishment, and water.

…

The cultivation method passed down through Chen Xing’s ancestors was fairly good, but could hardly be called profound.

What was truly wondrous was the method hidden within it: entering a tree and drawing out its vitality. In truth, the technique was not particularly deep or esoteric, but it was ingenious, and its uses were considerable.

This art was called Wood Concealment. It actually consisted of two spells. The first was an escape technique, which allowed one to enter a tree. Only after that came the method for absorbing vitality.

Across three generations, Chen Xing’s family had managed to work out only the method of drawing in vitality. They understood nothing at all about the escape technique.

That was why, when Qingyuan had encountered him, Chen Xing had been concealed inside the hollow of a tree.

Qingyuan understood how the escape technique was supposed to be used, but he had only read through it once and had never practiced it in detail. Thus, he was still unable to perform it, much less escape into a tree. He would need to spend some time deducing it first.

For now, however, he only needed to lean against the tree and use it to absorb vitality.

…

Elsewhere, the river remained clear, while the riverbank was damp and cool.

The bandit was thoroughly dead. His body was cold, and a blade had pierced through his chest and emerged from his back.

At that moment, a man was crouching beside the corpse, examining every trace and clue. From time to time, his gaze swept over the surroundings as he drew his own conclusions.

The man was past fifty. His black beard streamed in the breeze, and his figure was upright and imposing. His features bore an air of integrity and righteousness. Yet anger had already filled his eyes, and he clenched his teeth in silence.

“Father…”

A clear voice came from nearby.

The man turned his head for a glance, then looked away without answering and continued to focus on what lay before him.

He Qing came running over. She saw her father ahead, apparently investigating something, and hurried toward him. But when she caught sight of the corpse, she was suddenly terrified. Her face went deathly pale, and she nearly fell.

Her father raised his head and glanced at her, frowning slightly.

“Why are you in such a panic? Compose yourself.”

He Qing immediately lowered her head and said nothing. After a long while, she finally asked in a whisper, “Father, who is he?”

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“A bandit.”

He Qing’s father rose to his feet.

“He must have provoked someone formidable and been killed.”

He set down his medicine basket and stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“Judging from the traces on all sides, there were quite a few people here earlier, but they all fled. There is a mark by the riverbank that suggests someone had been lying there. This bandit was standing before him, and the blade entered through the chest and came out the back. Most likely, the person who was lying there killed him. As for the others, they were probably the bandit’s accomplices. I cannot understand why they fled in such a panic.”

Hearing that someone lying on the ground could still kill a man, He Qing inexplicably thought of Qingyuan, who had found it so difficult even to walk.

Could it have been him?

Just then, her father slung the medicine basket onto his back, picked up his herb hoe, and said to her, “Come home with me. Do not return here for the next few days. I will not be going home today. I must find someone and have this place examined carefully to see whether we can uncover any trace of the killer.”

He Qing lowered her voice. “But he was a bandit, not a good man. Perhaps he was trying to harm someone and was killed because of it. A wicked man like that is no great loss…”

“Be quiet!”

A sharp light flashed in her father’s eyes as he snapped angrily, “Whether that fellow was a bandit or a great criminal, whether he murdered and burned or committed every kind of outrage, whether his crimes deserved dismemberment or the slowest of executions—that is for the imperial government to decide. No matter how grave his crimes, he must ultimately be put to death according to the law. It is not for just anyone to take action!”

“From ancient times to the present, nothing can be accomplished without rules.”

“In my eyes, the true criminals are not these thugs who block roads and rob travelers, but martial artists who disregard the law.”

He Qing’s father spoke in a deep voice. “Those who practice martial arts and, relying on their abilities, trample the law at will, kill without authorization, and establish their own punishments—that is who deserves to die ten thousand deaths!”

Seeing how stern her father had become, He Qing was frightened and did not dare answer. Yet she could not help thinking: If one possessed the ability, and encountered bandits blocking the road and robbing travelers, could one truly just stand there and let oneself be slaughtered?

Her father had served as an official for many years. How could he fail to understand what his daughter was thinking? He immediately said in a low voice, “A capable person should naturally not wait helplessly for death, but that does not give him the right to kill. If he truly upheld public duty and obeyed the law, he should capture these men and deliver them to the authorities, leaving the law to punish them—not kill them himself.”

“Having killed someone, he is now the criminal.”

Her father swept his sleeve furiously.

“If I can discover who did this, I will arrest him and bring him to justice. He will receive the full punishment prescribed by law!”

His black beard stirred in the wind, anger shone in his eyes, and the stern righteousness of his expression gave him an imposing, awe-inspiring air.

He Qing had intended to tell her father about Qingyuan, but seeing him like this, her heart trembled, and she no longer dared to speak.

P.S. An extra chapter for reader Xiaoyao. To be continued.