Chapter 89 - 89 84 Heroes are Forced

Chapter 89: Chapter 84: Heroes are Forced Chapter 89: Chapter 84: Heroes are Forced “Fuck, really?”

Chen Jie gave a very shocked expression, which pleased Zhou Chu, and he continued, “Actually, Ni Manzi is quite impressive too. Do you know why Ni Manzi killed the officials?”

“I don’t know.”

Chen Jie shook his head; he really didn’t know.

That’s when Zhou Chu revealed the story.

Ni Manzi, from neighboring Ding County, had a brother and an elderly mother, and their whole family made a living from fishing. Ni Manzi was born with divine strength, which earned him the nickname ‘Manzi,’ and few people remember his real name anymore.

Later, Ni Manzi was taken as an apprentice by an old Taoist who recognized his abilities, and he left his hometown.

His little brother was left to take care of their aging mother.

Ten years passed like this, and the brother became a fisherman. One day, he took his wife to the city to sell fish.

As it turned out, his wife was quite beautiful, and she caught the eye of a drunken Mulan man, who forcibly took her into his mansion. When her brother tried to get her back, the Mulan man’s house servants beat him half to death with clubs and chained him like a dog, forcing him to watch as the Mulan man raped his wife!

Unable to bear the humiliation, her brother thought of seeking justice from the government.

But you know how it is with our Han county officials; as soon as he accused their Mulan lords, they beat him and threw him out.

Yet, undeterred, the brother sounded the drum of injustice for the second time.

The County Magistrate was furious. “What a troublemaker you are, daring to come here again!” he said, and went to consult the drunk Mulan man on how to deal with it.

The Mulan man chuckled, “Got a grievance? Stretch it out then!”

So, that day, the Mulan noble sat in the main hall, seized the gavel from the Han magistrate, looked down at the kneeling couple, and slammed the gavel: “Who in the court accuses me, their lord?”

Seeing that there was no reasoning with them, the brother wanted to leave.

But the Mulan man chuckled and said, “You want to leave just like that? That won’t do. Aren’t you going to stretch out your grievance? I have a grievance too. That bitch seduced me and this man tried to blackmail me, but instead, he falsely accuses me. I have a grievance, Lord Magistrate, stretch it out!”

The County Magistrate, smiling obsequiously, said, “Lord Mulan, how do you think this should be judged?”

The Mulan man smiled, “Lord Magistrate, lend me your back office; I’ll teach this bitch a lesson. As for this man, let him be punished by standing in a cage!”

And so it was, Brother Ni stood at the main gate of the County Government, chains and shackles on, standing in a cage, looking at the four words above the government office: “Bright Mirror High Suspension,” hearing the heartbreaking screams of his wife from behind the county office, along with the laughter, cursing, and insults of a group of Mulan people.

His heart was dead.

Later, unable to endure the dishonor, his wife, naked, hanged herself in the back hall of the county office. Brother Ni stood in the cage for three days, only to take home a corpse mangled beyond recognition.

He couldn’t bear it and threw himself into the river, leaving only his old mother at home. When she heard the news of her son and daughter-in-law, she died from grief!

Later, when Ni Wenjun mastered his skills and returned home to find his family ruined and learning the cause of it all.

Without saying much, he took up a long blade and overnight, slaughtered the entire house of that Mulan person. He then burst into the county office and killed the entire family of the magistrate, but the magistrate himself was not found; it turned out he had gone to a banquet at Darugachi Mansion.

Ni Wenjun then stormed into the heavily guarded Darugachi Mansion alone.

After killing the Magistrate and Darugachi, he encountered two highly skilled masters.

Both were stronger than Energized, and such powerful masters shouldn’t have been in Darugachi Mansion. After fighting those two, he captured a young girl.

He planned to kill her too, but she pleaded for her life by revealing her identity.

Considering this, Ni Wenjun simply kidnapped the girl. This was the full extent of Ni Wenjun’s rebellion and the murders of the officials.

After hearing this, Chen Jie was enraged, his pupils dilated with fury—this was too much oppression. If he were Ni Wenjun, he might also have killed those beasts. But although Zhou Chu looked angry, his rage wasn’t intense; it seemed like a common sight to him.

Yes, a common sight.

Just now, seeing that shitty official, who pinned the blame on Old Yang, the noodle seller, everyone’s expression showed they were upset, yet none were surprised.

Yes, a common sight.

When such injustices became frequent, the common people grew numb.

Only when oppression made their lives unbearable would they erupt. History was like a cycle; when it reached this point, the anger of the people was like a volcano!

And they endured because they still had food to eat, still had hope. When all hope was lost, they would unleash a fearsome energy that terrified everyone!

Thinking this, the Xuanbing Second Elder had already approached.

Zhao Shangcha greeted them, but the two had no intention of dismounting.

Their arrogance was evident.

“Where is Ni Manzi?”

One of the Xuanbing Second Elder in white robes and a pale face asked.

“Reporting to my lord, he has escaped!”

“Escaped? What the hell are so many of you doing?”

“Yes, my lord, please forgive us.”

“Forgiven, go explain it to the Prince then. If anything happens to the Princess, you can forget about keeping your heads!”

With that, the Xuanbing Second Elder yanked the reins.

Turning to leave.

Hearing this, Zhao Shangcha said, “Lord, won’t you stop by the town for a visit?”

“Visit my ass, drive, drive, drive!”

After saying this, a group chased out along the main road, while Zhao Da wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to Zhang Liye beside him, “Chief Zhang, make sure the case against Old Yang for colluding with thieves is solid. There can be no mistakes.”

Zhang Liye hesitated for a long time before cupping his hands and saying, “Yes, my lord!”

...

In the evening, Chen Jie returned home with countless thoughts weighing heavily on his heart. This era was cruel, consuming people alive. Old Yang had provoked no one and sought trouble with none, yet he encountered such a disaster—whom should he blame?

Blame Ni Wenjun? But what was wrong with Ni Wenjun eating a meal when he was hungry? Perhaps if he hadn’t eaten at Old Yang’s stall but at another, it would have been another stall owner who got caught, right?

You couldn’t expect Ni Wenjun not to eat and simply starve to death, could you?

Blame Old Yang for talking too much? For reporting Ni Wenjun?

But if he hadn’t reported him, would the government and the guilds have spared him once they found out?

Thus, contemplating all possibilities, the only ones to blame were this damned world, the damned system, the damned government!

“This world devours people!”

Chen Jie, on his way home from the town, ran into a group of people, rushing hurriedly toward the town; they were Old Yang’s family.

Seeing the panicked family, Chen Jie remained silent for a long time.

The world was such that it devoured its people. To survive in this world one had to become stronger.

Only the strong could, like Ni Wenjun, kill those they found disagreeable—isn’t rebelling against officials just another possibility?

Even a man like Ni Wenjun was doing it; if one could become even more formidable than him, wouldn’t one be able to do even greater things? Perhaps someday, when one’s martial arts reached divine communion, one might even try to change the heavens and earth.

To hold up a piece of the sky for these poor common folk?

...

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.

On this day, under the blazing sun, two people were practicing palm strikes in a reed marsh on Mianshui River.

One performed the moves fluidly, the other somewhat clumsily.

These two were none other than Chen Jie and Chen Xiaohu.

Over these five days, with Ni Wenjun’s escape, Xiantao Town had returned to tranquility once again.

First, Zhao Shangcha left, followed by Zhang Liye, who, after checking Wu Hong’s injuries, also departed.

Just the day before yesterday, Peng Shizhong from Fishing Guild and Gu Qingfeng from Guild Cao also left one after another.

Afterward, Xiantao Town returned to its serene state. However, upon their departure, the two hall masters mutually encouraged their respective capable managers.

They also agreed to personally attend the upcoming competition for the Village Chief position in half a month.

Encouraging Yu Biao and Wu Zhong to strive hard.

Following the encouragement, Yu Biao immediately increased manpower on Mianshui River to search for the Bull Horn Shrimp.

Wu Zhong, upon receiving the news, also dispatched people from the fishery to capture it.

However, both Wu Zhong and Yu Biao didn’t participate in this Bull Horn Shrimp contest.

Chen Jie didn’t participate in the two-day competition for the Bull Horn Shrimp either. He took the opportunity amidst his busy schedule to go to this secluded place to practice the Water Manipulation Palm, and also taught the Surging Wave Palm to Xiao Hu.

Chen Jie intentionally trained Xiao Hu, aiming to make him his right-hand man.

During these days, Chen Jie also received a lot of intelligence.

Some of it proved quite useful.

One piece was part of a series, mentioning the Bull Horn Shrimp stirring up the Mianshui River, seen darting around near the Lower River Mouth and Red Mud Pit. It seemed to be injured and was recently coming closer to this very reed marsh.

Another piece was about Ni Wenjun, who, along with Zhao Ya, had crossed Huangzhou Prefecture and was currently moving toward Anhui, with the Xuanbing Second Elder and Desert North Twelve Hawks in hot pursuit.

The battle was intensifying.

There were also miscellaneous small bits of information.

For example, one piece concerned Peng Shizhong of the White Tiger Hall in the Fishing Guild. It mentioned that Peng Shizhong and the Gang Leader Nan Batian were originally martial brothers, with Peng being the elder. Technically, the position of gang leader should have been Peng Shizhong’s, but in the end, Nan Batian seized it through disgraceful means.

Despite maintaining a seemingly peaceful coexistence over the years, the two had their private friction.

Still, to show respect for his senior in public, Nan Batian was very courteous.

It is said, in all of Mianshui County, who doesn’t know of Nan Batian’s renowned righteousness?

There was also a series of messages regarding Yu Sanliu, who had been investigating Chen Jie’s whereabouts lately. Chen Jie suspected that Yu was getting impatient and ready to act.

Another message said that Big Ship Leader seemed to be conspiring with Yu Biao about something!

Day by day, these messages refreshed so, although Chen Jie trained every day, his information remained timely.

And he had no energy left to spare for anything else. He felt that his life-or-death struggle with Yu Sanliu was drawing near. They both had reached the limit of their patience.

Now, he was just waiting for the impending explosion.

Under the scorching sun, Chen Jie now mobilized the Yang Chun Skill, circulating the internal cultivation method within his body, then executed the Twenty-four Forms of Water Manipulation Palm.

The Water Manipulation Palm, its moves cascading like waves, with surging billows. Once unleashed, it resembled a massive, unstoppable torrent.

This technique was named the Water Manipulation Palm because it wielded even greater power in water. While executing martial arts in water, others struggled against water’s resistance.

But not the Water Manipulation Palm—it not only faced no resistance from the water but also aided in manipulating it.

Moreover, because Chen Jie practiced this technique, his swimming skills had greatly improved.

Now, Chen Jie’s movements were getting faster and faster, until, at one moment, it seemed as if he broke through some barrier, his technique suddenly becoming more fluent, its power greatly increasing.

Seeing Chen Jie like this, Xiao Hu, who was practicing next to him, also stopped to watch.

True enough, after completing a set of the palm technique, Chen Jie let out a satisfied shout, startling a flock of birds.

He had achieved mastery in the Water Manipulation Palm!