Volume 1 Chapter 30: Blood Splashes Three Feet
After a short pause, Lin Peng continued, "General Manager Cao sighed and looked very embarrassed. He said that the Kuangyi Gang was now growing stronger and the expenses were beyond my imagination. I could do my best for the gang and eliminate bandits, so why not? Besides, the gang leader said that the general manager could directly mobilize the black team, so I did not doubt it. I set out from the Kuangyi Gang overnight and arrived at the Shannan official road after two nights and one day. I led the brothers to set an ambush in a dangerous place."
After saying so many words, Lin Peng seemed very tired. He pursed his lips and continued, "We all felt strange at that time. There should be people coming and going on the official road, but after waiting for several hours, no one and no horse passed by. Just as we were wondering, we heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance. Looking from the top of the cliff, there were a total of 17 riders. The man in the lead was slightly bald and very sturdy. He held a sledgehammer in his hand. The others behind him held different weapons, but they all carried bags on their horses. Although everyone was riding their horses at full speed, the bags only shook slightly, which showed that the horses were full of The objects on the ground were very heavy. Perhaps because there was no one around, those people spoke without restraint, and we heard it clearly. The leading man said: "I don't know why there are so few people walking on this official road today?" A man next to him continued: "Fewer people means less trouble." Another person laughed and said: "With these silver coins, we can really spend for a while!" When I heard this, I couldn't help but get angry and said: "It is indeed this group of dog thieves, who collect people's money and spend it for themselves!" He whistled and led all the brothers to kill them! "
At this point, Lin Peng looked extremely regretful, and said, "Though those people's martial arts were not weak, the black team was originally trained by the Kuang Yi Gang. They only wanted to kill the enemy, not to protect themselves. After a hard fight, although several of my brothers were injured, those people all died under our swords! We opened those bundles and found that they were all yellow and white. I thought that these people really deserved to die, so I asked the brothers to pick up all the bundles and led the crowd back."
"After returning from a complete victory, General Manager Cao praised the Black Team repeatedly and said that I was a great hero for eliminating harm for the people. Although I became the leader of the Black Team, I was only good at martial arts and could only take on secret missions occasionally. I could not walk around the world many times a year. General Manager Cao appreciated me so much that I was naturally flattered. When General Manager Cao came to assign me the second time, I heard that it was to eliminate bandits again. I agreed without thinking." At this point, Lin Peng looked at Lin Hongfeng and said, "Madam Cao, do I need to tell you about the second operation in detail?"
At this time, everyone was silent, not knowing what to say. After a while, the leader of the Xiangzhong League said with regret: "This is really a misunderstanding. It is because the Black Team is a secret force cultivated by your gang. They don't want people to know about it. They rarely move around in the martial arts world. Although they are highly skilled in martial arts, they have little experience. As a result, the members of the team didn't even recognize the brothers from Luoma Village and Taihu Banner Gate. They were taken advantage of and made a big mistake!"
Lin Longqing sighed slightly and took his hand off Cong Lin Hongfeng's shoulder, but heard her laugh softly, saying: "Why did you all frame him like this? What good will it do you... Shu Jian... Shu Jian..." Then she laughed loudly and said: "You are in heaven, look at you, they bully us orphans and widows like this, tarnishing your reputation!"
Lin Peng frowned slightly, still looking at the rooftop, and said, "Madam, why would I lie to you? Later, the gang leader happened to chat with me, and I told him about the two transfers. The gang leader's face changed drastically when he heard it, frowned and thought for a long time before saying, 'Go find your father.' After my father came, the two of them went into the inner room. I was still happy in the outer room, thinking to myself, 'It must be that the gang leader saw that I had done meritorious service for the gang and eliminated harm for the people, and discussed with my father to reward me. If there is a reward, I would rather I wish I could not be the captain, and walk the rivers and lakes openly and make a name for myself.' After they came out, my father was already furious, and he asked me to kneel down, saying: 'You beast, do you know what you have done? Luo Zhaizhu and others from Luoma Village died on February 12, and He Qizhu and others from Taihu Banner Gate died on June 7... The silver they carried to support the Taihu Volunteer Army and refugees was robbed and their whereabouts are unknown. The murderer who killed them has not been found yet! You, you...'"
"These two dates were like thunder exploding in my ears. I was so shocked that I couldn't speak. My father slapped me and said, 'You beast, I will kill you with one palm today!' I didn't know what to do at that time. I knelt there stupidly, not knowing how to dodge. It was the leader who stopped my father and said, 'Peng'er doesn't know anything. Don't rush to punish him.' He turned around and said to me, 'After this, you can no longer be the captain of the black team. If I guess correctly, Cao Shujian has secretly surrendered to the court and used you to remove these thorns in the eyes of the court. I will investigate him again. You must not mention what happened today to anyone, do you understand?'"
"I just nodded in agreement, knowing that I had made a huge mistake and could never recover. Article 7 of the gang rules says, 'It is strictly forbidden for gang members to collude with the government and harm the people in the green forest. Violators will be beaten with eighty sticks and thirteen knives to death.' Colluding with the court and harming brothers in the martial arts world is such a big crime! The gang leader said to my father, 'Old man Lin, I think the next captain should be Peng'er's junior brother. However, after the matter has been clarified and the gang rules have punished those who participated that day, there are not many people in the black team. I will trouble you to send more people to train again.' He said slowly, 'Old man Lin, you are my old servant, but my father and I both respect you very much. You are the only one who has Peng'er. I will find a way to prevent him from being punished.'"
At this point, Father Lin had already turned around. Unable to bear to listen any longer, Lin Longqing walked to the stretcher and squatted down. He put his hand on Lin Peng's hand and said slowly, "Brother Lin is a good man. He listened to what I said and kowtowed and begged repeatedly. He said that he was willing to be punished according to the gang rules and only asked me to spare the lives of all the brothers... I asked him if it was true. He looked determined. He kowtowed three times to his father and said, 'Thank you very much, Father and Master, for raising and teaching me all these years. As a son and apprentice, I can never repay you.'" His voice choked up a little after he finished speaking, and everyone present was also very moved.
Lin Longqing said: "The gang rules are to be beaten with eighty sticks and thirteen knives before death, but it must be carried out in two parts. First, eighty sticks, and after the wounds are healed, then the thirteen knives, cutting the tendons and veins to death. But I didn't expect... After Peng'er was punished with eighty sticks, I was forced to leave the gang!"
Lin Hongfeng said in a sharp voice, "You were the one who forced Shu Jian to death first! The words on the letter were clearly your handwriting, how do you explain it? It's nonsense, you are all lying!" The people of the Kuangyi Gang were convinced by Lin Peng, and they thought to themselves, "If Cao Zongguan really deceived Lin Peng into leading the black team to snipe fellow martial artists, then there must be something strange about the letter. With his intelligence, it's probably not impossible for him to forge one. It's just that God made him use this blood letter before he died, and he deceived us all."
Seeing that his son had been narrating for such a long time but Lin Hongfeng still accused him of lying, Old Man Lin's face darkened. He walked quickly to the stretcher and said, "Madam Cao, my biological son has become like this thanks to your husband. Why would he lie to you?" After that, he quickly lifted the thin blanket covering Lin Peng. When everyone looked at it, their faces changed drastically. Lei Runan took a look and turned away, unable to bear to look any longer. Lin Jianlan looked over through Lin Longqing and almost cried out.
The body was obviously bedridden for a long time and was very pale. He was only wearing a short jacket and shorts, which showed that he was moved directly from the bed. There were obvious sword wounds on the shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. The attack seemed to be extremely cruel and deep. Although the wounds from the sword had healed, the skin and flesh were still turned inside out, revealing the pink flesh color. Broken tendons were vaguely visible on both sides. The limbs were all shrunken and extremely thin and dry.
Old Man Lin's voice seemed very ethereal, and he said, "Madam, have you seen enough? There are two more wounds on the back, one on the neck and one on the spine." The man surnamed Tang had tears in his eyes and shouted to Old Man Lin, "Master, why are you so cruel to my brother?" But Old Man Lin looked expressionless, and said stupidly, "He violated the gang rules and must be punished. Madam, these twelve sword wounds have severed the meridians in his body. He can only lie on the bed. Look..." He slowly lifted Lin Peng's arm and shook it. The arm seemed to have no bones. Old Man Lin raised the arm again and let go instantly. The arm immediately fell limply on the stretcher, "Madam, look... it's like this..."
Lin Hongfeng had already turned her eyes away, but saw Lin Longqing coming behind her without her knowing when, his eyes slightly red, and he said angrily: "Sister, why don't you look? Look back, they were killed by your good brother-in-law who you wanted to avenge so much! Are you satisfied after tearing open Father Lin's heart?"
Old Man Lin seemed not to have heard what was said. He just murmured, "After Peng'er's stick wound healed, the leader was forced out of the gang. I didn't know what happened, but I felt that it was related to Manager Cao. But Manager Cao also died, and before he died he left something to frame the leader... I was drunk, so I took the sword and enforced the gang rules on Peng'er. Peng'er was a good boy and didn't dare to dodge. He took twelve swords from me, and blood was all over the floor. A single cut on the neck would have fulfilled the gang rules, but he woke me up and said, 'Dad, I'm not afraid of death. Death is a hundred times better than suffering from broken meridians. But if I die, who will speak for the leader in the future?' Peng'er lived in this state of being neither dead nor alive for four years, and I accompanied him half crazy and half stupid for four years..." After he finished speaking, he was already in tears and couldn't speak.
However, Lin Peng looked calm and said, "Dad, although I didn't know the inside story, I harmed the heroes of Luoma Village and Taihu Banner Gate, intercepted their silver wages, and harmed the Taihu volunteers and refugees who were waiting for their help... This is my sin. It's a relief to explain it today." After saying that, he looked at Old Man Lin. Seeing his determination in his eyes, Old Man Lin smiled and nodded. He quickly drew the long sword from his waist and slashed it towards Lin Peng's throat. It was too late for everyone to stop him. In an instant, a column of blood flew into the air, scattered all over the sky, and landed on the people around him, staining them with spots. Old Man Lin was the closest, and a cloud of blood sprayed on his face, but he didn't even blink. Lin Peng still had his eyes slightly open, looking at the sky, with a smile on his lips.
Old Man Lin stepped forward and slowly closed Lin Peng's eyes, but he never let go of the sword. Lin Longqing regretted not preventing Lin Peng from dying. He stared at the sword in Old Man Lin's hand and saw that the hand holding the sword trembled slightly. He rushed forward and quickly pressed the acupuncture points on Old Man Lin's shoulders, saying, "Old Man, you..."
But Old Man Lin loosened his hand, and the long sword fell to the ground with a clang. He turned to I don't die today, how can I guarantee that I can live for a few more years? It's not your style to force myself to stay alive even though you know it's impossible." Lin Longqing was stunned for a moment, but had nothing to say. He just stretched out his hand to untie the acupoints again, and said, "Old Man, we are sorry for you..." But Old Man Lin no longer looked at him. He walked up to the man surnamed Tang and said, "Disciple, you must listen to the leader's orders and do your best in the future. Don't forget what the master told you every day." Finally, he slowly walked to the stretcher, bent down and picked up Lin Peng's body. Two tears rolled down his face. He slowly walked to the door of the lobby, paused, walked out, blended into the twilight, and never saw him again.
Everyone in the hall sighed. Lin Longqing looked around and finally landed on Lin Hongfeng. He lowered his head to pick up the long sword that fell on the ground, gently wiped the blood off the sword with his clothes, and put it back into the scabbard on Lin Hongfeng's waist. He said softly: "Sister, this is the whole story of what happened that day. Later, I tried to persuade my brother-in-law not to have any dealings with the court anymore, but he refused to listen, so I hit him. I only used 70% of my strength and had no intention of harming him. As for how he died of poisoning, I really don't know. The handwriting on the incomplete letter was so similar that even I couldn't tell the authenticity, and I don't know how to explain it."
Lin Longqing looked at the other sect leaders again, sighed, and said in a deep voice: "Cao Shujian, who witnessed this incident, has passed away, and Lin Peng was also killed on the spot. I wonder if this result can be regarded as an explanation to the martial arts world? Lin Longqing took into account the reputation of the Kuangyi Gang and the relationship with his relatives, and failed to make this matter public in time. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a problem later. It has been delayed until now. It is Lin Longqing's fault. I am willing to go to Luoma Village, Taihu Banner Gate and Taihu Yijun to personally apologize. Do you have any other requests?"
Everyone looked at each other, but didn't know how to answer. Nian Yongshou walked up to Lin Longqing, patted his shoulder and said, "Boss Lin, don't blame yourself too much. The mastermind on that day has been dead for four years. It's a pity that Captain Lin is such a loyal and righteous man. Alas, I really admire him." After saying this, he raised his thumb and said, " But I have to say one thing. It was indeed you who was wrong on that day. Alas, if you had made the matter public, Captain Lin would not have died so tragically, and perhaps your brother-in-law would not have been poisoned to death. Things in the world are like this. A single thought can lead to completely wrong results."
