My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 639 - 425: Whoever Kills First Wins

The sun set in the west, and the fire finally subsided.

After the roaring flames engulfed it, the carved dragons on the caisson were no more, and the interior of Yuanfeng Building was burned to emptiness. Approaching it, one's feet encountered green glazed tiles covered in gray-black ash. Looking up, one could still see the towering high-rise, but with the wind blowing, ash drifted, leaving only a skeleton of sorts standing. It had witnessed too many honors and humiliations, rises and falls, changes of fortune, and now it was its turn. At this moment, it stood silent, speechless, like a tall pine, drawing a profound silence from the earth.

Not far from Yuanfeng Building, in a courtyard, Liuyang Zhaigong pushed the dusty and dirty housekeeper over. The latter was pushed to his knees on the ground, and upon looking up, he saw Huang Jing's cold face.

"Master Huang, when we saw him, he was still trying to pack his belongings and escape," Liuyang Zhaigong said slowly.

"Please, Zhaigong, step outside first. I have something I wish to ask him privately."

"All right."

Huang Jing glanced at the housekeeper, who shivered as if he had a thorn in his back.

"Li, when have I, Huang, ever mistreated you?"

"I... I have never been mistreated."

Huang Jing's expression darkened, and he spoke word by word:

"Then why were you running?"

The housekeeper's legs trembled as if they would press the ground down by three inches. He knocked his head vigorously,

"Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper! Those bandits kidnapped my young son, the only son I have to take care of me in my old age! They told me to deliver a message to you, saying it would be the last time. I didn't dare not to deliver it. I... I didn't know they would be so bold as to set fire to Yuanfeng Building!"

The housekeeper kept knocking his head with muffled bangs, leaving stains of blood on the ground.

But Huang Jing did not look at him. He was looking at the half waist tag in his hand.

It was a Xique Pavilion waist tag found from Yuanfeng Building, and it lay by Jiang Xin真人's side.

It was left by that group of spies.

"Good, good..."

With a face as cold as ice, Huang Jing looked up at Yuanfeng Building, but suddenly his expression softened, and he said slowly:

"A blessing in disguise…"

The housekeeper froze, eyes full of confusion.

"They hid in Chongyang Temple," Huang Jing said slowly, as if with a hint of madness, "It's truly a blessing in disguise. If Jiang Xin真人 hadn't died, I wouldn't have guessed they hid inside Chongyang Temple."

"Wha... what..."

"They must have disguised themselves as Taoists and hid in the Secret Realm of Chongyang Temple!"

Huang Jing's voice suddenly rose,

"Killing Jiang Xin真人 was to silence him!

I had long thought of using Yuanfeng Building to hook them, but I didn't expect, didn't expect they were forced to take the bait. After excluding Miaoshang Temple, they were driven to desperation and attacked, burning Yuanfeng Building to blame Xique Pavilion, seeking a glimpse of hope.

They have ultimately fallen for it!"

The housekeeper still knelt on the ground trembling, yet hearing the tone in Huang Jing's voice, a glimmer of life rose from despair in his heart, and he raised his head, looking up at Huang Jing like a dog.

"Good dog, good dog."

Huang Jing's voice rose with a chilling smile,

"Fortunately... the arson was discovered in time, I didn't end up in a fight with Xique Pavilion, fortunately, fortunately, this group of Jianghu warriors are still here. As long as they are around, what does losing another Yuanfeng Building matter?"

The housekeeper seemed to catch a fleeting sense of survival.

He knocked his head again, what was once despair now turned back into diligence, provoking with flattery:

"Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper, you are right. It doesn't matter if there is one less Yuanfeng Building, what if there are ten less? As long as that Lonely Smoke Sword is dead, it's all worth it.

Shopkeeper... they tore my young son up, today I hate them to the bone, wishing nothing more than to take their marrow, peel their skin! Once we kill them, do whatever you want with me, I will not frown for a moment!"

As the housekeeper spoke, he raised his head to observe Huang Jing's face, only to see the latter smiling at him.

He couldn't help his eyelids from twitching, his face pale, detecting something amiss with his years of experience, yet unable to put his finger on it.

"Then tell me, how should I use you?"

"Start... start with minor tasks, many died in Yuanfeng Building, kitchen staff, tea girls, the runabouts, and even the theater troupe... so many died, Shopkeeper let me take charge of compensating them, to relieve you of your worries…"

Huang Jing suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter started bright, then gradually turned hoarse, the breath expelled in broken segments, like cold wind piercing the throat, a knife cutting through.

The housekeeper shivered violently within the laughter, his Adam's apple moving up and down several times, but he could not utter a word.

"Compensation?"

Huang Jing's laughter gradually ceased:

"Compensate what? With Yuanfeng Building gone, how much Silver inside has turned to ash?"

The housekeeper quivered in his voice:

"Shopkeeper, didn't you... bury quite a bit of Silver deep in another courtyard for emergencies, Shopkeeper... I have been with you for so long, give me a chance at life!"

"There's no need for you to worry about that money,"

Huang Jing's voice was cold,

"If I spend Silver to compensate this group of subordinates, then how do I account for the Jianghu warriors that came to help?"

The housekeeper widened his eyes, staring fixedly at Huang Jing. Compensating other subordinates was just a pretext for survival, but Huang Jing ruthlessly cut it off. Instinctively, he tried to get up and escape, but a hand reached out before he could.

"Subordinates have the fate of subordinates,

Fishing out that group of dog spies at Chongyang Temple, you and they... died with worth!"

With a bang, the housekeeper bled from his orifices, his body collapsing backward, his skull horrifyingly caved in.

Huang Jing withdrew his hand, brushing off the bloodstains in his palm, drew a breath into his Dantian, and regulated his entire being's energy.

If he's to disperse wealth worth a thousand gold, he must have the demeanor of someone who does, let alone he is a white-haired man burying a black-haired one. In this Jianghu that speaks of righteousness, he should more so bear the face of someone decisively ready to die.

As the aura in the courtyard halted, Liuyang Zhaigong stepped in quickly from outside the courtyard. Seeing the newly added corpse on the ground, he understood that Huang Jing was cleansing his doors.

Liuyang Zhaigong looked at Huang Jing, pondered for a long time, then said:

"With Yuanfeng Building destroyed, please... accept my condolences."

Huang Jing slowly lifted his head, his face seemingly aged instantly, and after a moment of silence, he finally drew a bitter smile.

Liuyang Zhaigong saw the grief of losing a son manifest on his face.

"Zhaigong, I began accepting condolences more than ten years ago, yet somehow... I've been accepting them till today, still doing so."

Huang Jing's eyes hung down as if in a mixture of laughter and tears.

Liuyang Zhaigong's old wrinkles gathered up, even having seen all kinds of storms, seeing Huang Jing's face now still evokes a sigh.

Huang Jing took two steps forward, but it was as if he was devoid of a spine, his foot twisted, and Liuyang Zhaigong hastened to support him.

The latter stamped heavily as if exerting immense effort to stand firm, articulating through his mouth:

"Kill them! I'm going to kill them!"

Liuyang Zhaigong was immediately stunned in place, his old bones rattled by the words, his emotions swirled, and he nodded heavily:

"The Master needn't worry. When one flourishes, all flourish; when one suffers, all suffer. We Jianghu warriors helping are here to avenge the young master of the Huang family!"

"Good, good, good..."

Huang Jing displayed a simple yet strained smile, and slowly said:

"Yuanfeng Building is destroyed, this courtyard only has six thousand taels of Silver left, money is merely external possession, today I shall distribute it all to you Jianghu warriors, leaving not a single cent!"

Liuyang Zhaigong was greatly astonished, repeatedly saying:

"This… this… Master Huang mustn't do this. If you give everything to us, what will you have left?"

Huang Jing's voice was hoarse:

"All that remains is a burial shroud and a coffin!"

......

The great fire at Yuanfeng Building was naturally known to Xique Pavilion as well.

However, to avoid conflicts arising on the way, Xique Pavilion did not send anyone to follow.

This time, though, Wei Wuque did send someone to visit Miaoshang Temple.

As expected by him and Chen Yi, there was no sign of the spies in Miaoshang Temple.

The answer was now evident.

Wei Wuque shook his head and said: "The spies are cunning, using the Xique Pavilion waist tag to disguise themselves as our people, and then turning around to attack and burn Yuanfeng Building, this time Huang Jing has indeed suffered a major blow."

Chen Yi pondered for a moment and then said, "After being cornered, he's someone who'll fight to the death, and after this, he's likely to become even more deranged."

Wei Wuque sensed something in his words and asked: "Are you suggesting?"

"He will go to any length to ferret out that group of spies. Without Yuanfeng Building, without retreat, this time, he might hate Xique Pavilion even more than he hates the spies." Chen Yi said slowly, "Some people despise those who get in their way more than the real enemy, and Huang Jing has never been on the same path as you."

"Makes sense."

Wei Wuque frowned and said:

"If those spies are not in Miaoshang Temple, then are they at Chongyang Temple?

This might be the real intention of those spies: to lure us and Huang Jing's people into a skirmish at Chongyang Temple, while they fish in troubled waters, fighting a bloody path out. A fine trick of driving the tiger to swallow the wolf."

"Then what does our leader think?"

"First, send people to keep an eye on Chongyang Temple, and at the same time, send people to calm Huang Jing."

Wei Wuque slowly instructed.

A person nearly cornered is far from being as easy to appease as imagined, Huang Jing has already lost his mind, being led by the nose by that group of spies, and for Xique Pavilion, he is nothing but a source of trouble.

And for himself, not an easy piece either, more or less having enmity.

Wei Wuque didn't want the situation to get out of control. This eunuch-in-charge leader was instead lacking a bit of decisiveness, which, upon reflection, makes sense. Without a reason to convince the crowd, is Xique Pavilion truly going to wage war against those Jianghu people?

Chen Yi's breath sank slightly, his gaze lowered.

If he were the leader of this Xique Pavilion,

He'd first kill them off!