The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 108 The aftermath
Wu Chengyu returned home around 5 a.m., and after resting for less than two hours, before 9 a.m., Wu Zhengliang came to his door.

He thought it over and over again last night, still worried that Wu Chengyu might kill Shi Tong in a fit of anger.

This kind of power struggle at the top involves various compromises and deals, which can be very dirty. After all, those in power are best at swallowing insults and ultimately getting their own benefits. But the bottom line is to avoid deaths, or rather, assassinations cannot be easily carried out. Once someone dies, many things become unsolvable.

Wu Zhengliang regretted it more and more. The young man didn't know his own strength. He shouldn't have agreed to let Wu Chengyu go out. He should have dragged him home by force.

So early in the morning, Wu Zhengliang couldn't wait to run to Wu Chengyu and dragged Wu Chengyu, who was in a state of high tension from fighting Hong Qigong the night before and just wanted to sleep, out of bed.

"Last night I only asked you to find out what Shi Tong's next plans were. A small punishment would have been enough. You didn't go too far, did you?"

"No, no, I've always been very gentle with him, and I even let him enjoy the ultimate pleasures." Wu Chengyu's expression was somewhat subtle when he said this, which immediately made Wu Zhengliang realize that the boy was lying.

"Your words are insincere, your eyes are shifty. You younger generation can never hide your lies from my eyes."

"Tell me, how is that纨绔 (wán kù, a spoiled brat) Shi Tong doing now? As long as he's still breathing, that's fine."

"Um... I dare not hide it from Fourth Uncle, Shi Tong and his men are all dead now."

“You, sigh, what can I say to you? Things are still unsettled. Shi Tong cannot die. It seems that his coming to Suzhou was specially arranged by Shi Miyuan. I wonder what important matter he has to do. If Shi Miyuan finds out, he will surely punish him.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhengliang's expression changed, and he could no longer remain seated. He stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

"Since this has already happened, we must find a way to bear the consequences. I will inform the clan chief and ask him to write a letter to his friends in Hangzhou to try to smooth things over. After all, those people are still cooperating with Shi Miyuan. Shi Miyuan wants to become prime minister in the future, so he will never be an enemy of them now."

Besides, since someone died, there is still a price to pay. Fortunately, the third branch has not only paid off its deficit in recent years, but also has a slight surplus. I will borrow some more from the first and second branches to see if it can satisfy them.

"You brat, still smirking? Do you know how easy it is to kill someone? For the next few years, our third branch of the family will have to tighten our belts again."

Wu Chengyu wasn't chuckling; he was simply warmed by Wu Zhengliang's unwavering support and willingness to clean up his messes, and his smile came from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't worry, Fourth Uncle. It's impossible to say that no one suspects us, but we haven't left any evidence on the surface."

"Then stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me in detail what happened last night and what you did. Don't leave out any details."

Wu Chengyu didn't want her fourth uncle to continue worrying about her, so she immediately told him everything that had happened the night before, except for omitting the part about fighting with Hong Qigong.

"You mean he actually wanted to send someone to poison the well water in Wujiapo? This kid is extremely vicious and deserves to die."

No wonder you couldn't resist taking action last night. There's no such thing as being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days. If he had succeeded, who knows how many people would have died in Wujiapo.

If that's the case, then he deserves to die. At worst, we'll have to pay more in compensation; the lives of the people of Wujiapo are far more precious.”

When Wu Zhengliang learned how Wu Chengyu had killed Shi Tong and the other two, his expression was quite interesting. He looked his nephew up and down. He was polite to everyone, respectful to his elders, and had made great contributions to the family. He was definitely a leader of the Cheng generation in the Wu family.

Wu Zhengliang had even considered taking Wu Chengyu under his wing and training him properly so that he could become the new leader of the third branch of the Wu family in the future.

Who knew this kid was a completely different person outside? Last night's methods, those hidden meridian and meridian-severing techniques—he couldn't understand them with his limited martial arts knowledge—but the final move was truly despicable. Shi Tong's death was far too humiliating, and most importantly, his posthumous reputation is utterly ruined.

"Can you guarantee that Shi Tong and the other two won't appear to have been killed by external forces?"

"Yes, unless there is a master who is proficient in the essence of Taoist martial arts, understands the hidden meridians of the heart, and performs an autopsy immediately after Shi Tong dies."

After Shi Tong dies, within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the residual internal energy in his hidden meridians will completely disappear, so that unless one is a deity, no one will be able to detect anything amiss.

"That's good. Shi Tong can't find any evidence of being murdered. No matter how absurd or unbelievable the death is, as long as there is no clear evidence, no one can directly cause trouble for the Wu family. Our friends in Hangzhou won't let him do that either. However, there is still one thing that needs to be addressed."

"Fourth Uncle, please speak."

"The other two subordinates, Cheng Wuji and Yu Heihu, could be identified as having been killed at a glance. Although they were just martial arts figures who were attached to the Shi family, and the Shi family didn't care how many died, it could still serve as evidence that Shi Tong's death was not an accident."

"I've hidden Cheng Wuji. I'll tell Fourth Uncle where the body is hidden later, and he can send someone to dispose of it. With the Wu family's influence in Suzhou and Fourth Uncle's abilities, it shouldn't be difficult. At most, people will think Cheng Wuji is missing, and once they can't find him, they'll have nothing to say."

As for Yu Heihu, when I killed him, I hadn't thought about killing Shi Tong. Now it seems that I was indeed overthinking it. He died in Shi Tong's courtyard, and by now, he might have already been discovered.

So after thinking it over, I realized there was only one way: to ask my fourth uncle to secretly spread a message in Suzhou.

Last night in Suzhou, I accidentally saw Hong Qigong, one of the Five Greats. If everyone knows that Hong Qigong was in Suzhou yesterday, then all the focus and criticism will be directed at him.

After all, outsiders wouldn't know that the Wu family had me as a variable. Under normal circumstances, even if the Wu family and Shi Tong had a falling out, my Wu family wouldn't have gone so far as to kill him immediately.

"Hong Qigong? The Beggar Clan leader who is as famous as Huang Yaoshi? I've heard that he's elusive, kind-hearted, and chivalrous. Is it really appropriate for us to do this?"

Wu Chengyu knew it wasn't a good idea, after all, Hong Qigong had been kind to him, but this was the best solution at the moment. In any case, he had unintentionally ruined what Hong Qigong was going to do, and he was going to oppose the peace-seeking faction led by Shi Miyuan anyway.

With Hong Qigong's martial arts skills, Shi Miyuan and his group couldn't do anything to him, so Hong Qigong is the best shield now. At worst, they can find a way to compensate the Beggars' Sect in the future, such as teaching them the words he used when he was begging, and improving the Dirty Clothes Sect's meals a little.

For some reason, Wu Chengyu felt a little excited about having slightly framed Hong Qigong.

After discussing with Wu Chengyu, Wu Zhengliang got up to leave. He knew that Cheng Wuji's body in the city would be properly disposed of, and Shi Tong might have already been discovered. He wanted to find out the news as soon as possible, but he hesitated before leaving.

"Does Fourth Uncle have any more questions?"

"Is your aphrodisiac really that potent?"

"If Fourth Uncle likes it, I'll make some more for him."

"roll."

(End of this chapter)