Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 234 - 225: Dawn is Here!

Chapter 234: Chapter 225: Dawn is Here!

In Fuling City, Techniques roared and Martial Styles collided, with Runes exploding in mid-air like magnificent fireworks.

In the darkness of night, the townspeople hid in their homes, peeking outside through the cracks of their windows.

After all, Fuling had never witnessed a battle among Martial Artists of such magnitude.

In the darkness, a loud voice shattered the silence.

"Members of the Town Martial Office, follow me to resist the Heavenly Punishment Sect and protect Governor Hu!"

This shout from Zhang San, amplified by the Forty-Eight Layers Tower, rang out like a bell, echoing throughout Fuling City.

Even outside the city, the voice of Zhang San could be heard.

At that moment, Xia Chenglong, who was sitting opposite Zhang San, watched as Zhang San finished shouting and returned from the window to continue drinking at the desk, a look of astonishment on his face.

"You just shout slogans?"

Zhang San was taken aback and retorted, "What else? I can’t really fight you in person; I wouldn’t stand a chance."

Xia Chenglong gave a bitter smile.

"So tonight, is Hu Feipan destined to die?"

Zhang San shook his head.

Xia Chenglong grimaced and asked, "You wanted us to create a disturbance to assassinate Hu Feipan, but you didn’t allow us to go all out. Do you know how frustrating that is?"

Zhang San glanced in the direction of the Governor Mansion and said, "In Hu Feipan’s mansion, there are eight Martial Artists from the Wen Family, all of them in the True Core Realm, stationed primarily to protect Wen Ruchu. Their strength should be formidable, deal with these eight, and we’ll be set. Besides, Fuling doesn’t have only Hu Feipan as its corrupt official. It’s normal for the Town Martial Office’s few Martial Artists here tonight not to be able to protect everyone, right?"

Xia Chenglong realized that although the Great Sui Dynasty had always regarded the Heavenly Punishment Sect as a villain, if they really knew Zhang San, they would understand what a true villain looked like!

"Right, about that Golden Fluid Shape Refining technique, how is it actually used? Although I’ve grasped it, because I don’t understand Samadhi True Fire, the defensive power of the Golden Body I refined seems pretty limited, doesn’t it?"

Xia Chenglong smiled and replied, "I’ll ask about it later, but honestly, there aren’t many in the Heavenly Punishment Sect who are willing to practice it, so I’m not sure if I can get an answer for you. Speaking of which, about the gold..."

Zhang San winced and asked, "Does it really have to be split half and half? That’s a full twenty thousand taels of gold."

Xia Chenglong gave Zhang San a look and drained his bowl of wine in one gulp.

"How could there be so little?"

"Really, would I lie to you?"

Xia Chenglong glared and angrily said, "Don’t think we in the Heavenly Punishment Sect don’t know exactly how much there is."

Zhang San sighed helplessly and said, "Alright, there are fifty thousand taels of gold in total. How about we split it sixty-forty? Giving you twenty thousand taels of gold is already a lot!"

Xia Chenglong also had no idea exactly how much gold there was because Hu Feipan was very secretive and exploited the townspeople to the extreme, amassing wealth beyond the Sect’s knowledge.

But before he arrived, Cui Jiu had told him that Zhang San would definitely not reveal the true amount initially.

Just now, Xia Chenglong’s mere bluff had increased the Heavenly Punishment Sect’s share of the gold from ten thousand to twenty thousand taels, and he felt it was worth pushing a bit more.

"A sixty-forty split might be more reasonable; don’t think I can’t see that you would grab a bit more."’

Zhang San laughed, appearing totally seen through by Xia Chenglong, and cheerfully responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll come clean. There’s a total of eighty thousand taels of gold. I’ll give you forty thousand, but when I officially join the Heavenly Punishment Sect, my treatment can’t be low. Plus, this time I helped you have the chance to deal with Hu Feipan, and in the future, in Chuan-Yu Road, I need to be kept in the loop about the Sect’s affairs."

Although Xia Chenglong still wasn’t sure whether the eighty thousand taels Zhang San mentioned were real or not, he estimated that it probably was true.

After all, Zhang San had started to negotiate other terms, which meant he had indeed given up half and thus wanted to take advantage of the rest.

"I can represent the Heavenly Punishment Sect and agree to these matters, but you must not do anything that harms the interests of the Heavenly Punishment Sect," he said.

Zhang San grinned and retorted, "Brother Xia, as the acting military chief of the Town Martial Office, how could I possibly avoid harming the interests of the Heavenly Punishment Sect? I can only say that you will definitely lose some benefits because of me, but what you gain will be much more. When necessary, you also need to learn to sacrifice the lesser for the greater. After all, only when I rise will you be able to gain more benefits, right?"

Xia Chenglong pondered for a moment and indeed found the reasoning sound, so he nodded in agreement.

Then, Zhang San took out a storage ring that contained 40,000 taels of gold.

"Storage rings are quite valuable too, remember to ask the factory manager to return the storage ring to me next time, okay?"

Xia Chenglong was now even more certain that Zhang San had truly given half of the Heavenly Punishment Sect’s gold, otherwise he wouldn’t be so careful about a single storage ring.

"I hear that things have quieted down outside, not just a little. Let’s go, we should also get out and move around! To assassinate a governor like Hu Feipan, how could the Heavenly Punishment Sect not send skilled experts like you, Brother Xia?" he said.

Xia Chenglong laughed and jumped out of the window together with Zhang San.

In an instant, an azure dragon’s phantom circled above Fuling City, thunder booming endlessly as numerous vines nearly covered the entire governor’s mansion, even smashing many of the houses due to the collision with the vines.

Eventually, Zhang San used the Blow Wind Technique to bring clouds over and caused a rain to pour down.

After all, in this battle, those who followed him did not fight the Heavenly Punishment Sect’s men to the death, as Zhang San had instructed the martial artists of the Town Martial Office that showcasing their strength was enough for tonight, and staying alive was the priority.

And a heavy rain could erase many traces of those who had not fought with their full force.

The next morning, dawn broke and the daylight brightened.

With the shaking Hu Feipan walking out accompanied by his butler, he mustered the courage to discover the mansion littered with corpses and some "injured" martial artists of the Town Martial Office.

Even the eight formidable martial artists secretly left behind by Wen Ruchu had all died.

Approaching the front gate, he pushed open the door and finally took a deep breath.

Last night, nearly all of the forty or so martial artists he had employed in his mansion had died in battle, their blood splattered on him, but fortunately, he was still alive.

This was the first time Hu Feipan felt that simply being alive was a blessing.

"Hahaha... To think anyone could kill me, Hu Feipan, who has dominated the political scene my whole life, both advancing and retreating freely, no one could touch me, let alone the mere Heavenly Punishment Sect," he declared.

Saying so, Hu Feipan stepped out of the door and looked outside to see broken vines and pieces of bricks and stones everywhere.

Suddenly, Hu Feipan noticed a huge mirror facing his mansion.

He had no idea who had placed it there.

But the mirror was clean and bright.

And in it, Hu Feipan saw not himself, or rather, not just himself. Behind him, a ghostly child had climbed onto his back, with hands poised at his throat.

"Governor, do you remember the age-old grievance from ten years ago when you committed the murder of Liu Han and seventy-two members of his family to seize the Liu family’s estate? Today, it’s time to settle that account."

"No—no..." he stammered.

This morning, the sunlight in Fuling City was exceptionally bright, as if someone had torn a piece of cloth from the sky, exposing the true Heaven itself.

At the same time, a sunshower descended from the sky above.

The citizens discovered that the rainwater contained traces of golden light, and the whole city was abuzz as people ran about spreading the news, marveling at the miracle.