Raising Orphans, Not Assassins
Vol. 2 - Ch. 46 - Kill That Dog Official!

Hearing those words, Sun Sheng felt a sudden jolt in his heart.

He lowered his head slightly and repeated the phrase quietly to himself.

“A true hero acts for the country and people…”

Thanks to Chen Ye’s cultural teachings, Sun Sheng understood the meaning of the sentence.

He recited it several times, and suddenly, a smile appeared on his fair, handsome face.

Sun Sheng reached out and hooked his arm around Qiong Aohai’s neck, smiling softly.

“Second Brother,” he said. “I’m not like you.”

“When I left, my foster father only wanted me to be a good man.”

“He told me: whatever you do, just make sure you can live with yourself.”

“No regrets after the deed—that’s all that matters.”

Sun Sheng chuckled twice but quickly stopped smiling.

A cold sternness appeared on his handsome face.

“I have a good suggestion.”

“From Wuchang to Jiangxi, it’s still several days of travel.”

“Why don’t we just kill that dog official right away?”

“The provincial governor’s death…”

“Would shake the whole imperial court!”

Qiong Aohai was momentarily stunned, then shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Younger brother, if we kill him…”

“The Six Doors will hunt us down to the ends of the earth.”

“No martial artist in the Jianghu has ever killed a second-rank official since the founding of the Great Wu Dynasty.”

Sun Sheng laughed aloud.

“Then let’s be the first.”

“After all, I’m a water bandit anyway, I don’t care about reputation.”

Still hooking Qiong Aohai’s neck, Sun Sheng smiled and asked, “Second Brother, what do you think?”

Qiong Aohai stared blankly at Sun Sheng.

He felt his understanding of Sun Sheng deepen.

After a long moment, a smile appeared on Qiong Aohai’s rugged, resolute face.

“For the common people, what does a little reputation matter?”

“Alright!”

Sun Sheng released Qiong Aohai’s neck, a murderous gleam flashing in his eyes as his tone turned icy cold.

“Then the two of us brothers will kill that dog official ourselves!”

……

Jingzhou.

In a rundown shack on a low hill.

The rain continued to fall, the pitter-patter of raindrops never ceasing.

The old roof leaked continuously.

The floor inside was already damp, several puddles gathering in the depressions.

“Creak… creak…”

Outside the shack’s door,

Two tall, sturdy figures pushed a wheelbarrow and entered together.

They pushed the wheelbarrow to the wall.

Inside the shack, a dozen or so small carts were arranged.

Setting down the wheelbarrow,

Xiong Shan and Da Ming wiped sweat from their brows.

Both collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

All the disaster relief silver had been pushed inside the shack.

“Brother Ming, let’s rest a bit. We’ll hit the road soon,” Xiong Shan said, catching his breath.

With such heavy rain, the mountain paths were muddy.

Even pushing one cart together was tough.

Da Ming nodded and panted as well.

They sat on the damp floor, recovering their strength.

After a moment, Xiong Shan glanced at the dozen carts in the shack, his expression complicated.

Has the Dawu Dynasty really sunk into this state of chaos…?

Disaster relief silver meant for the Peach Blossom Flood was being robbed?

From past experience, escorting disaster relief silver always required dispatching at least a first-rank captain.

Where were the Six Doors?

This year’s Peach Blossom Flood was worse than ever, and this batch of relief silver was worth at least a million taels.

Most of the boxes were filled with silver notes stamped with the characters “Disaster Relief.”

Losing this silver would surely cause many common folk to die.

Xiong Shan pondered deeply and sighed.

Da Ming sat beside him; the redness in his eyes had faded.

He had rewrapped his Qilin axe case with cloth strips.

This time, he didn’t bind it too tightly.

He pressed his lips together silently, still a little angry.

The axe case his father had given him was smashed by those men.

Just thinking about it made Da Ming furious.

Xiong Shan turned his gaze from the relief silver and noticed Da Ming’s silent frustration.

He couldn’t help but smile, his eyes full of admiration.

The more he looked, the more he appreciated Da Ming.

Only twelve years old, carrying seventy or eighty pounds of axe weight on his back, walking mountain paths alongside him.

And he had actually killed a second-rank martial artist in battle.

Xiong Shan could only say Da Ming was gifted and born with divine strength.

Beyond that, he could find no better words to describe him.

Da Ming was a perfect candidate for the battlefield.

It would be a waste to make him just a woodcutter.

Xiong Shan sighed inwardly.

Seeing Da Ming’s sour mood, he picked a topic he thought would interest him and smiled.

“Brother Ming, once we reach Jiangling City…”

“You won’t have to worry—Governor Zheng won’t disappear on you.”

Hearing that, Da Ming lifted his head slightly, looking at Xiong Shan with some confusion.

Xiong Shan pointed to the dozen or so carts filled with disaster relief silver in the shack.

“You robbing the stolen relief silver—that’s a great merit.”

Saying this, Xiong Shan walked to the carts, opened a box, and pulled out a silver note worth a hundred taels.

He handed the note to Da Ming.

“All relief silver notes have the characters ‘Disaster Relief’ stamped on them. With this note, you won’t have to fear Governor Zheng disappearing on you.”

“By then, you’ll naturally be able to see your beloved Xiuxiu girl.”

Da Ming was stunned.

He stared at the silver note Xiong Shan gave him.

The brand-new silver note bore the red characters “Disaster Relief.”

He understood Xiong Shan’s meaning and smiled foolishly.

Da Ming carefully tucked the note into his bosom.

Xiong Shan was right—this note was Da Ming’s token to meet Prefect Zheng.

Soon, he could see Xiuxiu again.

Da Ming smiled aloud, and the anger inside him eased considerably.

The two rested a while longer in the shack.

Outside, the rain had lightened somewhat.

Wearing bamboo hats and raincoats, Da Ming and Xiong Shan plunged back into the rain.

Meanwhile,

Not far from the shack, behind a ridge,

Three men in black stood in the rain.

A leaf emblem was embroidered on their sleeves.

A sharp gleam of a blade flashed.

The blade’s speed was extreme.

A martial artist wearing a raincoat hadn’t even reacted before his eyeballs bulged.

He clutched his throat and slowly collapsed to the ground.

Blood spurted from his throat, staining the earth red.

“Swoosh…” A soft sound.

Huang San slowly sheathed his long blade.

His face was still lazy, a blade of grass hanging from his mouth.

Not far from Huang San, He Wu’s iron umbrella spread open, fluttering like a butterfly in the rain.

A martial artist swung his long blade against the iron umbrella’s leaf.

The next moment, he felt a chill at his wrist, then intense heat.

Blood sprayed from his wrist.

Before he could scream, the iron umbrella closed.

His head was severed by the umbrella’s edge, rolling onto the ground.

Nearby,

“Boom!” A muffled sound.

Chen Er swung his twin hammers, effortlessly smashing the last martial artist into mush.

Bones shattered; death complete and final.

He Wu glanced at the gruesome scene beside Chen Er and shook his head.

“Tsk tsk, really brutal.”

He closed his iron umbrella, standing in the rain with a pained expression.

Chen Er gave He Wu a sidelong glare and grunted, “They’re all killers. Why do you care so much?”

He Wu shook his head and clicked his tongue, using the rain to wash blood off his umbrella.

Huang San squinted lazily, scanning the surroundings.

He spat out the grass blade and said, “Are they all dead?”

“No survivors,” He Wu chuckled.

“There were thirteen in total, all here.”

“Neatly arranged, just enough for the brothers to set off together.”

Huang San nodded after hearing this.

“Da Ming and that Xiong Shan pushed the carts inside the shack,” He Wu shook blood off his umbrella, curious.

“Wonder what’s inside those carts.”

“Let’s go see,” Chen Er slung his twin hammers on his back and strode toward the shack.

Huang San and He Wu followed.

The three entered the shack and casually opened several boxes.

When they saw silver ingots, gold ingots, and silver notes marked “Disaster Relief,” all three were stunned.

“Disaster relief silver!”