Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 35 Funeral Procession

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Funeral Procession

August 28th, the autumn equinox.

The autumn wind is brisk, the weather slightly cool. Perhaps due to the recent incident where a young master from a certain family was brutally murdered in the street, the atmosphere in Qingshui County remains tense, yet life continues calmly on the surface.

Today, the grand gates of Xue Mansion are unusually decorated; not only are the lanterns replaced with white ones, but the plaque also features large white flowers and the prominent character for "Offering."

Paper money flutters everywhere, numerous people in white hemp stand at the front, clearly indicating that today is the day of the funeral procession.

Beep—

Beep—

The shrill sound of the suona horns rises, serving as a signal for other groups holding drums and gongs to start playing, sending off Mr. Xue’s soul and hoping he can find his way home in the next life.

The sturdy gates are pushed open, leading the way is that familiar middle-aged man.

"Look, here they come!"

"Xue Wuwei, that disaster, it’s good he’s dead. Hey, did you hear? It seems the master and servant killed each other..."

"Did you see Mr. Xue? I remember he went on a long trip just last month, with black hair then, but look at him now."

"Sigh, lost his father in childhood, his wife in his youth, his son in middle age. If you ask me, Mr. Xue has had a hard life, facing all these tragedies."

"Hey, you don’t sympathize with yourself having to go up the mountain to gather herbs at midnight every day, but you start feeling pity for that lord who lives in luxury?"

Passersby gossip and sneer with a mix of sympathy and sarcasm towards the sympathy shown for Xue Ming, some appearing angered by it.

Among them, some applaud the death of Xue Wuwei, while others lament the young master’s death. Despite his troublemaking, the profits extracted from him far outweighed the negative impacts he caused.

Not to say too much, but he used to hit people with his carriage and wouldn’t even stop, just tossing a few silver notes out the window before driving away.

Especially the common folks, their lives probably worth only several dozens of silver. Some even deliberately throw themselves at Mr. Xue’s carriage to earn some money for their families.

Like someone’s chicken getting trampled, or their dog beaten to death by him, to him, it was just the cost of throwing out a few pieces of broken silver for fun; so despite all the cursing, when it came to saying goodbye, many oppressed by him still turned up to send off this afflicted soul.

After all, enduring some hardships to sustain their families made Xue Wuwei their benefactor in a way.

Finally, the pallbearers slowly emerge from Xue Mansion.

Bent over, his hair now a mix of black and white, his eyes clouded. It has only been three days since he arranged his son’s funeral to this procession, a stark transformation from the vibrant Mr. Xue to the frail old man he is now.

Expressionless, just grimly carrying the coffin, there is nothing more tragic than an elderly man sending off a young one. Even without words, his somewhat mournful figure could bring a tear to one’s eyes.

In the crowd around the street, a thin man wearing a conical hat silently watches the scene, his brow furrowed, seemingly contemplating how Jiang Feng managed to kill Wang Qi.

Others might not guess, but he recognized it instantly as Jiang Feng’s handiwork.

He had seen Wang Qi’s body, his chest and abdomen completely torn, wounds dense and numerous, having experienced a similar attack a few days ago when he tried to assassinate Jiang Feng; the same dense spray of steel balls and steel needles, a signature technique.

However, he couldn’t understand how such firepower, adequate for injuring, could kill the Body-Refined Wang Qi.

No matter how hard Li Ying racked his brain, the "surprise" hidden in the quilt that night was just minor compared to what might have happened if it were him, likely he would have been split in half by the trigger.

"But maybe that’s for the best."

"Wang Qi’s missed opportunity, now it seems to be landing in my hands..."

A glint of greed flashed through his eyes.

The event of an Immortal descending the mountain to recruit disciples is now causing quite a stir. Neither Wang Qi nor he would miss such a chance, and now with Wang Qi and Xue Wuwei dead, all these prepared items have no further use.

Surely, Mr. Xue, who is almost fifty, won’t consume them all by himself?

Watching the figure of Xue Ming getting farther away, Li Ying quickly realized he should take the initiative to contact Xue Ming, as Mr. Xue must now be consumed with thoughts of revenge.

"No wonder Wang Qi joined the Xue family, it turns out he had his eyes on the son’s opportunity."

"Who would have thought that in such a tiny place as Qingshui County, there would be hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Xue Ming is no simple man; managing to acquire a Body Tempering Pill to enhance his good-for-nothing son’s physique, and also gathering quite a few Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures."

"I guess it’s a bribe prepared for this event of the Immortal recruiting disciples, tsk tsk, if it weren’t for that young man being slaughtered, he might have really made it in."

"Looking at Xue Ming’s expression, he must also deeply despise that little beast Jiang Feng. Using that little beast’s head to trade for a Body Tempering Pill, this deal, he probably won’t refuse..."

Pulling his hat lower, he had already started to rebuild his plan in his mind; having learned his lesson from before, he didn’t dare to casually enter Jiang Feng’s house, and he guessed that they might be cautious now after his last attempt.

Just as he was enjoying his musings, a fiery pain struck his face.

"Damn little beast! I must chop off your head to feed to the dogs!"

He cursed in his heart.

Barely raising his head, it was only now that he could clearly see Li Ying’s face which was never handsome to begin with, bearing two deep, bluish wounds on his already bumpy cheeks. Although the wounds were small, about an inch each, one of them was already filled with pus, oozing foul-smelling thick fluid.

The other had swelled up immensely, even showing signs of necrosis.

Not only that, he actually had seven or eight similar wounds all over his body; even if some wounds were lucky not to get infected, they were extremely inflamed.

His eyes filled with anger, it was a disgrace for an assassin to be outwitted by his target.

Undoubtedly, this was Jiang Feng’s handiwork.

With limited materials at hand, he indeed couldn’t produce weapons of great power, but he still made full use of the available scraps, especially adept at finding others’ weaknesses.

That would be the medical conditions of this era.

In ancient times, the fatality rate from tetanus was extremely high, with most people losing half their lives to mere scratches from rusty iron tools, or had to opt for amputation due to parts of their bodies necrotizing.

And he undoubtedly took advantage of the properties of gunpowder and white phosphorus to create a small explosion. Though the explosion was small, it didn’t mean it couldn’t injure someone.

The steel needles soaked in excrement and buried in mud only grazed his body, and Li Ying who immediately fled the scene didn’t feel any discomfort initially.

But a day later, he noticed something was wrong with his wounds, to the extent that they couldn’t heal no matter how much golden sore medicine he applied.

Until today, when a frightening acute infection finally erupted completely.

With his Body Refining physique, he could actually grit his teeth and withstand it, but he didn’t want to live forever with a face rotting away. Thus, greatly conflicted, he chose to visit the medical hall.

He hurriedly walked through the streets, found a secluded corner and, after ensuring no one noticed him, dove straight into the medical hall.

However, as he entered, he failed to notice the old doctor’s expression of surprise...

"Young Master Jiang said someone with a blue, swollen wound would come for a consultation these days; didn’t expect it to really happen."

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