Bloodline Tree

Chapter 33 - Escape

“Are you serious? How could he have become an Innate warrior all of a sudden?” Liang Huang asked in shock. He knew perfectly well how difficult it was to take that step.

“I don’t know about any of that,” Zhangshen answered, “Master just told me to deliver the message. What you do from here on out is up to you. But don’t expect any help from our Bearing Boulder Hall now that you’ve offended an Innate warrior.”

‘When did I ever offend an Innate warrior!?’ Liang Huang thought furiously. This was all his younger brother's fault.

‘I would have thought that the matter was over and done with. All I needed to do was to bide my time, and when I reach the Innate stage, I could avenge the past humiliation. Who would have thought that that farmer would advance first? Just how did he do it?’

“So what’s your plan?” Zhangshen asked, not looking particularly concerned.

‘Right. Things aren’t over yet. I need to accept the new reality and adjust accordingly.’

“I’ll head over and apologize. I’ll empty the treasury if I need to. If I can get him to publicly accept my apology, he shouldn’t have the face to still make things difficult for me.” Liang Huang said.

“Do you think he’ll accept that?” Zhangshen asked doubtfully.

“Why wouldn’t he? He gets to see me bow my head; he gets all my wealth. What more can he want? My life? It’s not that easy to take, and he should know it,” Liang Huang said.

Just then, the door to Liang Huang’s office opened, and one of his martial hall students, the one guarding the gate, ran inside with a pale face.

“What is it?” Liang Huang asked curtly.

“This…that, er. The martial hall sign was smashed.” The young guard finally got out.

“What? Who dares?” Liang Huang asked angrily. One thing after another seemed to go wrong this morning.

“It…it was that man Shu Yang. He said…he said it was an accident, and he gave us some coins as compensation,” The guard said.

“Why would he do something like that?” Liang Huang asked. He couldn’t understand it. What was there to gain from such a pointless action? Did he think Liang Huang was stupid enough to get angry and attack him? If so, Shu Yang was seriously underestimating him.

“Did he say something else?” Liang Huang asked.

“Well, he said that…as an Innate master, it saddens him to see so many people associating themselves with… with the tyrant Liang family.”

Liang Huang’s face turned grim. He could now see what Shu Yang was trying to do. He was using his power to isolate the Liang family from their allies. Smashing the martial hall sign was just a way to cause a commotion so his words would spread.

Reconciliation seemed a little less likely all of a sudden.

“Still going to apologize?” Zhangshen asked. Liang Huang thought he could see the shadow of a teasing smile on his face, but he couldn’t muster the strength to care at the moment.

‘I need to think of something. Time is running out.’

Liang Huang started pacing around his office, thinking about the best path forward for him and for his family.

After a while, he finally resigned himself to his fate and realized that there was no future in Chunsi Town. Not while Shu Yang was here.

‘I need to make a clean cut. Gather the family and start moving as soon as we can. We’ll take everything we can carry and leave the rest behind. We’ll settle down in the Fugu Prefecture, leaving Shu Yang far away. It will be a couple of tough years, but everything will be fine once I reach the Innate stage.’

Liang Huang didn’t hesitate once he made the decision; he called for his cousin and had him run to Baishu Village to let everyone know the situation. Anyone who wasn’t ready to leave in three hours would be left behind.

While having his martial arts students pack his belongings in his office, Liang Huang looked out over the town with a grim face.

‘A gentleman is never too late in his revenge. But I really can’t sleep easily knowing Shu Yang is living a good life.’

‘His advancement to the Innate stage must have some secret. I’ll add a few details and spread the rumor. I’m sure at least one desperate Innate warrior will be willing to take the risk to search out the truth.’

‘You’re not going to win that easily, Shu Yang.’

-

“You’re an Innate warrior, Dad?” Tianren asked in shock.

Shu Yang nodded with a smile as his family gathered around him. “I advanced just before leaving. I didn’t have time to mention it before heading off. We’ll celebrate properly once the Liang family is dealt with.”

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“Dealing with the Liang family? Is that what all the commotion is about?” Qianyue asked as she saw more and more villagers gathering in front of their house.

“Yes,” Shu Yang said, nodding. He raised his voice for the people gathered to hear. “The Liang family have done a lot of unlawful deeds over the years. Now that there is someone willing to stand up for them, they are of course more than willing to see justice served.”

Shu Yang had already approached the patriarchs of a few families he was close to before his advancements and told them his plans. Now that it was spreading that Shu Yang had reached the Innate stage, many more families were gathering to take part.

Shu Yang wasn’t sure just how bad he could make the consequences for the Liang family, but he was sure that with the Office on his side, and the testimonies from the villagers, most of the important members of the Liang family would be fined and imprisoned for years to come.

But just as Shu Yang was about to set off to the Chunsi Office with the villagers who had testimonies, Chu Ping squeezed his way through the crowd and approached him.

“Patriarch Shu, the Liang family seems to be fleeing,” Chu Ping said with a heavy breath.

“Fleeing?” Shu Yang asked.

“Yes, several carriages are all leaving their estate. I’m guessing they’re not just going for a small trip to town,” Chu Ping answered.

Shu Yang frowned slightly. The Liang family wasn’t exactly guilty of anything yet, so it was hard for him to find an excuse to keep them here. But the problem was that by the time all the evidence had been gathered, the Liang family would be far away.

It wouldn’t be difficult to find them with some effort, but these are just petty crimes. Shu Yang could make use of the County Office this time because he had just advanced, and he had the help of Tianyue and Lady Jinagxi. But it was all dependent on that their actions could be justified if someone from above asked questions.

But mobilizing the County Office to do a manhunt for the Liang family was way beyond what was reasonable. For all their faults, the Liang family had never done anything truly serious. Countless families in the same position do the same things.

‘In the end, this is only about a grudge between the Liang family and me. The County Office is only getting involved as a small favor. I need to handle this myself.’

‘I just never expected them to immediately abandon their ancestral home.’

It actually wasn’t that bad of an end to things to have the Liang family relocate, but it didn’t sit well with Shu Yang to have enemies out there scheming against him. He might not have to worry about his own safety, but he had a lot of children, and would have even more grandchildren in the future.

“I’ll go see what’s going on,” Shu Yang said, hurrying in the direction the Liang family had left. He didn’t know what to do yet, but he didn’t want them to escape his sight.

It wasn’t hard to catch up to them, as the Liang family had several carriages that needed to be pulled along the road. With Shu Yang’s Innate strength, he could easily catch up on foot.

The problem was what to do next. Shu Yang watched them slowly travel into the distance, thinking about his options.

‘I don’t believe the Liang family can grow to become a threat to me. I’ll only grow stronger and stronger in the future; it’s impossible for anyone to catch up. But that Liang Huang is too scheming for my liking. Just because I can’t think of a way for him to threaten me in the future, doesn’t mean he can’t think of one.’

Shu Yang continued following the Liang caravan from a distance, not willing to let go, but also not sure how to take action.

This continued for hours and hours, and it wasn’t until nightfall that Shu Yang came to a decision.

‘Since you have made an enemy out of me, and refuse to be locked up, you can only die.’

Shu Yang wasn’t planning on killing them all, but the patriarch and his three sons, including Liang Huang, had to go. They might not deserve it, but if Shu Yang waited for them to do something deserving of death, he would regret it for life. In cases like this, he would rather be safe than sorry.

He sneaked up on the camp in the darkness of the night. He had been watching them all along, so he knew where all the people he needed to kill were sleeping.

As Shu Yang slowly made his way to Liang Huang’s tent, he heard him talking with someone inside, presumably his wife.

“Well, how do you expect me to be? Should I smile happily as everything is taken away from me?” Liang Huang’s voice sounded through the fabric.

“Not everything,” A woman’s muffled voice followed, “You still have me and the kids, right?”

“Haaah,” Liang Huang sighed, “You can’t even give me a damn day to adjust? You’re impossible. Fine. Everything will turn out well. This is a blessing in disguise. Perhaps Hurong Town will have some opportunities for us, and we will rise a lot faster than if we stayed around here. My brothers and their children have all grown to become wastes these past years, anyway. A little hardship will do them good.”

‘Hurong Town? What are the odds for that?’

He had set up one of his shops there, selling wine and whiskey. It was his entry point to establish himself in the Fugu Prefecture.

Shu Yang couldn’t help but pause slightly, thinking things over carefully again.

‘If I know where they are going, there is no need to kill them.’

Shu Yang breathed a sigh of relief and slowly backed away from the camp, leaving as unnoticed as he had appeared.

He really didn’t want to kill them here; there were too many risks. Even if he took away their bodies and got rid of the evidence, anyone with a brain could figure out that Shu Yang had been involved. He was betting on no one being willing to investigate it carefully enough. But that wasn’t a good plan.

He still remembered the ability Lady Jiangxi possessed. There had to be more abilities out there that could trip him up if he wasn’t careful. It would be a real shame if he were suddenly brought to death one day, years from now, when a random Grandmaster used their bloodline ability to sense he had killed.

In this circumstance, he truly believed that it would be better to take a step back and do things by the law, just like he planned from the beginning.

‘It’s going to take a while longer, which is bothersome. But looking at it from the bright side, the Liang family now has no one to defend them. Since they ran away and gave up their right to speak for themselves, let’s see if we can’t add a few charges.’

‘After I make sure they have been convicted of the most crimes possible, I’ll make plans with Lady Jiangxi again and see if she has any connections around Hurong Town. Either way, I’m sure I can get them to help if the charges are serious enough.’