The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2004 Tells You a Secret

With a flash of light, the cold blade had already pierced Zaxi's throat!
Zaxi stared wide-eyed, his innocent eyes wide, unable to comprehend why this wealthy young master wanted to kill him! He had already handed his beloved Tibetan knife to the man, so why did he still want to kill him? Why?
Jade Mantis was also startled! But after only a moment of hesitation, he calmly drew his longsword, flicked the blood off the blade, and said with a look of disgust, "Damn it, a mongrel is a mongrel, why the hell are you glaring at me!" Zaxi slowly lay down, his eyes wide open, dying with his eyes wide open!
Lang Jie was also completely shocked!

He simply couldn't believe that Zaxi had died right in front of him! What a cheerful and lively young man! Just moments ago, they were chatting and laughing together! He dreamed of a bright future every day, but now, his life was forever frozen at the age of seventeen!
Fuck!
Langjie's eyebrows shot up, his eyes widened in anger, as furious as a lion!
"Why did you kill him?" he roared.
The Jade Mantis chuckled dismissively, "Do I need a reason to kill him?"

Many pedestrians gathered at a distance on the street, stopping and pointing at the young Tibetan lying on the ground!

"How could someone commit murder in broad daylight? They're incredibly audacious!"

"It looks like they killed a Tibetan!"

"Although Tibetans are not well-liked here, you can't just kill people indiscriminately!"

"That's right! If they dare to kill others today, they'll dare to kill us tomorrow! Should we report this to the authorities?"

"Why are you reporting this to the authorities? Didn't you see the owner of Holy Snow Mountain standing right there? Why are you worrying about it if he doesn't report it to the authorities? Besides, this place has just been taken over by the Song army, and it's in chaos right now. Although the Song court has decreed that this magistrate will remain in office temporarily, he has no intention of staying any longer. I heard that his patron was killed by General Wang Quanbin of the Song army. He's just a rootless duckweed now, and he's too busy avoiding trouble to care about this Han-Tibetan dispute."

"Don't you think these Tibetans might take advantage of the current turbulent situation to cause trouble?"

"That's not necessarily true! This rich young master looks like a fool. Daring to indiscriminately kill foreigners in such a sensitive place could easily incite a riot!"

"Yes, I almost forgot. Qiang, Tibetan and Han people have always lived together here. On the surface, they are at peace, but there are many conflicts behind the scenes. The first priority of every county magistrate is to maintain stability. It's been so many years since there has been a case of Han people killing Tibetans!"

"This is bad! The owner of Holy Snow Mountain is no ordinary person! I heard he has a powerful figure from the Tibetan Lamaist sect backing him up!"

"Yes, otherwise how could he have built such a big restaurant? Our Gaozhou is a place full of hidden talents; to gain a foothold here, you need to have some real skills!"

"However, those six rich young masters all looked formidable; the owner of Holy Snow Mountain probably won't be a match for them!"

"Having more people doesn't necessarily guarantee victory!"

Langjie said angrily, "How dare you treat human life so lightly?"

The Jade Mantis sized Langjie up and down, then smiled contemptuously: "You mutt, get out of my way, or I'll kill you too!"

Jin Mantis knew that his junior brother had been startled and instinctively drew his sword, accidentally killing one of the other party's men. As long as the compensation was paid properly, the matter could be easily resolved. The target they were tracking was still inside, and they couldn't get involved in unnecessary trouble at the moment. So he immediately stepped in front of Yu Mantis and said with a smile, "It was just a misunderstanding. My junior brother thought this young man was going to kill him, so he drew his sword in self-defense!"

Langjie angrily retorted, "Bullshit! Zaxi simply handed him the knife, how did that become an attempt to kill him? You're lying through your teeth, this is outrageous!"

More and more people gathered on the street, and those upstairs in the Holy Snow Mountain building also heard the commotion and started sticking their heads out of the windows to look down.

The golden mantis immediately sensed something was wrong!
This is not Changyang! Once you get into trouble, it's hard to escape unscathed! Even if he were a Song citizen, the local Song army commander wouldn't favor him. To maintain local stability, they would sacrifice even family ties, and besides, his six brothers weren't exactly "relatives"! In the eyes of the government, they were all key targets for suppression! Confucian scholars use their words to disrupt the law, and chivalrous individuals use their martial arts to break the law. The imperial court has always maintained a suppressive stance against martial arts forces, but it's only because the war hasn't ended that these forces have been able to flourish!

The Golden Mantis said, "Misunderstanding! Absolutely a misunderstanding! May I ask your esteemed name?"

Langjie said coldly, "Langxi!"

“We were in the wrong today, Mr. Langxi. How about this? I'll compensate this young man's family with ten thousand taels of silver. He truly did accidentally injure… uh… kill this young man because of a misunderstanding…”

Langjie said coldly, "You think you can just give up my nephew's life for a mere ten thousand taels?"

The golden mantis's heart skipped a beat. Seizing the fleeting opportunity, it immediately said, "How about 100,000 taels?"

Lang Jie saw that the six opponents had extraordinary auras and their martial arts skills were definitely not low. If he were to fight all six of them alone, he would surely be defeated. As the saying goes, a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. It would be better to kill them first and then take the opportunity to defeat them one by one!
"Hmph, 100,000? To my Holy Snow Mountain, 100,000 is not a lot of money!"

"Then...two hundred thousand?"

The Jade Mantis beside him was immediately enraged and was about to unleash a torrent of curses when the Golden Mantis suddenly swiftly struck out with its finger, sealing his pressure points and shouting, "Shut up!" He then pulled out a silver note and said to Lang Jie, "Mr. Lang Jie, this is all our possessions, two hundred thousand taels. Please accept it!"

Langjie deliberately hesitated for a moment, then pretended to reluctantly accept the silver note, and silently picked up Zaxi's body and walked into the back room.

Silver Mantis said, "Senior Brother, isn't two hundred thousand too much?"

The other junior brothers chimed in, "Yeah, senior brother, 200,000! That could buy so many of their lives!"

The Golden Mantis immediately said in a deep voice, "Stop talking! Have you all forgotten where you are?"

The Silver Mantis said, "Regardless of where this place was before, it is now part of the Great Song Dynasty!"

The Golden Mantis frowned and said, "So what if it's the border of the Great Song Dynasty? Various ethnic groups live together here, and the situation is complex. A slight mistake could trigger a popular uprising! If you don't want to be on the list of those to be exterminated along with your entire family, you'd better behave yourselves!"

Everyone gasped in surprise!
"Senior Brother, is it that serious?"

"What do you know? This is a frontier region, where ethnic conflicts have always been a focal point. As far as I know, the primary task of every local official has been to maintain stability! In bilateral trade, they would rather concede to foreign tribes than provoke conflict between the two sides! If we make a big fuss today, do you think the Song Dynasty will let us off the hook?"

"Really? Senior Brother?"

"It's no wonder you don't pay attention to current affairs normally, but don't make the same mistake now! The Song Dynasty's conquest of Shu is nearing its end, and the remaining forces have not yet been eliminated. They will nip any risks that could affect the overall situation in the bud. It's better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free!"

"But... 200,000 is still too much! That mongrel..."

"Shut up!" The Golden Mantis glanced around and roared, "Remember this, this is not Changyang! Watch your words! Don't utter another rude remark!"

Some of the junior brothers were unhappy, but their senior brother's authority could not be challenged, so they could only swallow their anger!

The Eight Thieves dismounted, and at this moment, Dorje and his companion Luo Jia came out to greet the guests. Dorje took the reins from everyone, and Luo Jia said with a smile, "Welcome, esteemed guests, please come in!"

Jade Mantis's face was ashen as he watched the eight people pass by, seemingly all of them secretly mocking him.

"Senior brother, quickly untie me!"

The Golden Mantis said solemnly, "From now on, you must be extremely careful with your every word and action!"

Silver Mantis and the others also advised, "Yes, junior brother, this is not our territory after all, so it's best to be careful!"

The Golden Mantis pointed a finger and released the Jade Mantis's pressure points. "Let's go in!"

The people on the street gradually dispersed.

Suppressing his displeasure, Jade Mantis followed behind Golden Mantis. As soon as they stepped into the restaurant, the aroma of steaming butter tea mixed with the smell of barley wine wafted towards them! Accustomed to the sweet fragrance of Jimo Laojiu, he found the sudden tangy smell somewhat unbearable! His brows furrowed!

The first floor was full, so I found the stairs and went straight to the second floor, only to find that the second floor was also full, so I went up to the third floor.

The wooden stairs creaked, and a Qiang man wearing a wolf tooth pendant leaned against the railing on the third floor. His leopard-head eyes reflected the storyteller's swaying copper bells below.

He twirled the silver-sheathed dagger in his fingertips, the turquoise inlaid on the hilt flickering with his movements, much like the glint in the eyes of the Tibetan merchant in the private room next to him—those unfathomable phoenix eyes peeking out from under his woolen collar, staring at the bulging leather money pouch at the waist of the Han merchant diagonally opposite him!
Looking around, the space was enormous, with dozens of tables set up!

The six brothers of the Mantis Clan were all secretly amazed, thinking, "Damn, that's huge!"
The owner of this Sacred Snow Mountain is indeed a force to be reckoned with!
Given the scale of the Sacred Snow Mountain Restaurant, it would have taken hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to build!
The gilded dragon pillars reach straight to the dome, and twelve bronze wind chimes hang from the eaves, tinkling and evoking images of camel caravans in the Western Regions and the scenery of the desert!
The caisson ceiling, composed of Persian glazed tiles, depicts the "Feast of Immortals at the Jade Pool." In the very center hangs a three-foot-tall silver-inlaid crane lantern, its beak holding a South China Sea pearl that shimmers with iridescent colors!
Between the vermilion and gold-painted railings, sky-blue gauze curtains hang down. Two or three Hu women carrying gilded wine jugs hurry back and forth, stirring up gusts of wind that cause the gauze curtains to ripple like shimmering water.

In the center of the hall stood a massive lotus-shaped stage, three feet high, where four dancers were performing the "Rainbow Dance." Their movements were swift as rabbits and graceful as dragons. Below the stage were three women: one playing the pipa, one the xiao, and one the guzheng. Their volume was perfectly controlled, audible yet not disruptive to conversations among the guests.

The Jade Mantis scanned the surrounding walls and saw that they were covered with calligraphy and paintings by famous people, and even Buddhist scriptures written in Tibetan!

The guests in the hall were dressed in all sorts of different clothes, from all over the world, and there was even a table full of red-robed lamas.

Jade Mantis spotted Pang Shiwu and the others sitting in the corner. They were in the southeast corner, while the Eight Immortals of Thieves and the others were in the northwest corner. There was an empty table in the southwest corner. Jade Mantis had already walked over there, and the others immediately followed.

Jade Mantis felt a surge of annoyance as many people secretly sized him up! "They're all men, why are they staring at me? I'm not into that kind of thing!"
After taking his seat, the Golden Mantis kept staring at the Jade Mantis, afraid that he would speak recklessly again!
Jade Mantis frowned and said, "Alright, Senior Brother, I know what I'm doing!"

The Golden Mantis sighed, "If you were truly sensible, would I be so worried?"

Silver Mantis and the others quickly advised, "Senior Brother, since Junior Brother has realized his mistake, please stop nagging him!" Gold Mantis said, "Many people on the third floor saw Junior Brother kill someone just now. They might be gossiping behind his back. If you hear them, you must pretend you didn't hear them, understand?"

The group exchanged bewildered glances, remaining silent. The Golden Mantis's expression darkened. "What? Didn't you hear me?"

The junior disciples immediately exclaimed, "We heard it! We heard it!"

Seeing that their eldest brother was truly enraged, the brothers immediately felt tense! When the eldest brother hit someone, it was a real blow, and it really hurt!

A young Tibetan man named Yanlang approached. He had a dark complexion but white teeth, and his smile was exceptionally simple and pure, like the melting snow from a sacred mountain. "What would you gentlemen like?"

Looking at him in his Tibetan robe, who looked much like the Zaxi from before, Jin Mantang felt a little uncomfortable. He quickly said, "Bring us a few of your signature dishes, just enough for the six of us."

"Would you like some barley wine?"

"No, we all came on horseback and we still have a long way to go. Drinking might cause us to make mistakes."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away. Please wait a moment."

At this moment, a group of guests at a table near the center of the hall began to whisper about the Jade Mantis. Although they kept their voices low, many people around could still hear them, which made it hard not to suspect that they were doing it on purpose!
This table is occupied by six burly men, aged between twenty and thirty, all full of energy and broad-shouldered!
One of the relatively thin men said, "Damn it, I can't stand these bullies who rely on their power. They're obviously cowardly pimps who dare to kill innocent people in broad daylight!"

A burly man with a thick beard said coldly, "If the restaurant owner hadn't made peace with them, I almost would have gone down and beaten him up!"

A fair-skinned man with thin lips said, "There are too many people and too much chatter here, you'd better keep a low profile!"

The bearded man said, "If we weren't trying to keep a low profile, we would have gone down long ago!"

The pale-faced man asked, "What are we going down there for? To kill them?"

The gaunt-faced man said domineeringly, "What's wrong with killing them? This is called acting on behalf of Heaven!"

Jade Mantis's expression changed, and he slapped down, but hit a hand instead. It was the eldest brother who was quick-witted and blocked his hand from hitting the table, otherwise the table would have been broken!
The golden mantis lowered its voice and angrily demanded, "What are you doing?"

Just as the Jade Mantis was about to speak, the Golden Mantis said, "Shut up! If you dare to say another word, you're going back to Changyang right now! If you don't come back, the five of us brothers will tie you up and take you back!"

The jade mantis could only lower its head in resentment!

The group of people at that table glanced at him a few times, but seeing that there was no movement, they lost interest and gradually started talking about other topics!

Silver Mantis and the others had been observing silently, and now they were completely subservient to their senior brother! Their senior brother was right; a small act of impatience can ruin a great plan!

Those guys at that table were clearly deliberately provoking everyone. If the junior brother couldn't handle the provocation and rushed over to fight them, it's hard to say who would win or lose, but the guests at the surrounding tables would definitely join the fray to deal with the brothers!
Silver Mantis could tell from the unintentional glances in those people's eyes that they had been waiting for this person to lose their temper!
As long as Junior Brother rushes over, at least a dozen longswords will be aimed at him!
Just bear with it! There's no other way!
In the corner, Pang Shiwu said, "That guy called Jade Mantis killed that young man just now, I can't let him go!" He looked at Feng Jiuxiao, as if seeking her opinion.

Feng Jiuxiao said, "That boss won't let them get away with this!"

Pang Shiwu said, "That boss's martial arts skills are average; he won't be able to handle the six of them!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Does killing always have to involve the use of force?"

Pang Shiwu was taken aback. "Could he be planning to poison me? But what if he gets caught? Won't those six little mantises go berserk on the spot? Can he withstand the full force of six top experts all by himself?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "I can't be sure if he poisoned him, but he will definitely find a way to avenge Zaxi!"

Yuan Zishan said, "What a pity about that Zaxi, such a simple and honest young man!"

Chili pouted and said resentfully, "Such a good person, and he actually died at the hands of such a spoiled brat. It's simply that God has no eyes!"

Feng Jiuxiao immediately corrected him, saying, "Heaven has eyes! The cycle of karma is real, and no one escapes retribution. It's not that retribution won't come, it's just that the time hasn't arrived yet!"

Chili said, "What if the boss dies too?"

Feng Jiuxiao said solemnly, "Then I will avenge him!"

Several江湖豪客 (jianghu heroes) sitting at the next table turned their heads upon hearing this. "Young brother, not bad, righteous!" They were all slightly flushed and smelled strongly of alcohol, clearly having drunk quite a bit.

Feng Jiuxiao immediately clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "You flatter me! Anyone would have done the same!"

He saw that there were five people on the other side, all dressed in tight-fitting clothes, and their movements were quite similar, naturally due to the habits formed from practicing the same martial art. Each of them carried a long sword at their waist. He didn't know which school they belonged to, but he was too lazy to ask.

But the other party suddenly became interested. A round-faced man with large earlobes asked with a smile, "Where are you going?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "We are going to the snow mountain."

"Oh? Where are you going?"

"Let's pick some snow lotus!"

"Snow lotus? That's a rare and precious treasure! Is it easy to pick?"

"This is my first time going too, I don't know!"

The man suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "I'll tell you a secret."

Feng Jiuxiao immediately feigned great interest, "Oh, what secret?"

"Do you know about Aba County up ahead?"

"do not know?"

“Aba County was under the jurisdiction of Songzhou in the early Tang Dynasty, but it was later occupied by the Tubo Kingdom. Now it is called Awa, which is Tibetan. When translated into Chinese, it is called Aba.”

Upon hearing this, Pang Shiwu also became interested, "Awa? What a strange name!"

Fueled by alcohol, the man began to boast, “It is said that in the twelfth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo conquered the area west of Songzhou during his eastern expedition, and Aba came under Tibetan control, becoming its military garrison. Tibetans migrated here from the ALD region, and those Tibetans called themselves ‘Aliwa’. Later, it gradually evolved and the local place name was changed to ‘Awa’.”

Feng Jiuxiao said mysteriously, "Is this the secret you were talking about?"

The man immediately raised an eyebrow, somewhat displeased. "How can this be called a secret? Anyone who has read history books knows this! The secret I'm talking about is that an ancient mythical beast has been discovered right here in Aba County!"

Feng Jiuxiao's eyes immediately lit up, "What divine beast?"

The man looked around, expecting him to speak softly, but instead he shouted loudly, "Zheng!"

Everyone around them was giving them strange looks!
Pang Shiwu chuckled, "Alright, that was great! This little bit of wine, hehe!"

Zeng Yong frowned and remained silent. Bigwolf, however, was getting annoyed. "Alright, we understand."

The man was taken aback, not expecting this blond-haired foreign man to give him the cold shoulder, and immediately became somewhat displeased. "Hey, what's wrong with you? I'm just trying to tell you a secret, what the hell are you acting all high and mighty with me?"

This time, Bigwolf was somewhat taken aback. "Holy crap, why are all the people I've been running into lately so short-tempered?"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "Let's eat! Let's eat! We'll leave after we finish eating!"

Bigwolf had no choice but to shut up.

Seeing Bigwov go limp, the drunken man perked up, "Where are you from? Why is your hair yellow? You're not some kind of hybrid between a human and a wild animal, are you?"

Feng Jiuxiao immediately realized something was wrong!
In a flash, the drunkard's throat was already gripped by the blond man!

Holy crap! This blond guy is so fast?!
He was so frightened that he sobered up halfway!
Thank you for your strong support and encouragement from Yudong!