“Then you are welcome to try, but I must warn you first: if you lay a hand on us, everyone in the entire village will die, even the infants in swaddling clothes.” As Shangguan Hongyu spoke, she threw a punch, and with a loud bang, a large hole appeared in the wall on one side.

A hot breeze blew in from the hole, dispelling the coolness in the hall.

The man's pupils dilated and his face twitched; Shangguan Hongyu's punch was enough to prove that she was a cultivator.

The burly men behind the man had eyes filled with fear, and their hands gripping the knives were trembling.

Even if they have a large number of people, they are no match for cultivators.

Gong Ruhu was also a cultivator, but the reason they were able to kill him was because Gong Ruhu was extremely arrogant and had no sense of caution, so poison was sufficient.

However, Bian Lang and Shangguan Hongyu were clearly very vigilant, and from the beginning they had shown great hostility, so it was impossible to eliminate them with poison.

The man felt there was nothing he could do about fate's arrangement. Despite their struggle against it, the final result was still the same, so they could only accept their fate.

"This was all my doing, and has nothing to do with anyone else. I beg you two to be merciful and let them go." The man's attitude suddenly changed drastically, and his tone became much more amiable. It seemed that his previous fierceness and ruthlessness were all an act.

Shangguan Hongyu asked, "Why kill Gong Ruhu?"

"Because he is a beast," a servant said angrily.

The man gave a wry smile and said, "That's how it is."

The word "beast" is enough to describe Gong Ruhu. As for other things, the man didn't want to talk about them, and neither did the people in the village.

Shangguan Hongyu said, "If you have really suffered any injustice, you can speak up and we can help you resolve it."

"Even if the Empress comes, so what? Does she think she can help us destroy the Gong Family Village?" the man sneered.

After killing Gong Ruhu, their biggest fear now is retaliation from Gongjiazhuang.

Bian Lang said, "It seems you are very out of touch with the world. The Empress has already abdicated the throne to King Wei, Wei Qingyi."

"What?" The man was stunned.

When they were oppressed by Gong Ruhu, they cursed the Empress quite a bit. After all, it was under the Empress's rule that evil places like Gong Family Village sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

But they also knew that the Empress couldn't really be blamed for this. After all, she was just one person, and far away in the capital, she couldn't possibly know everything that was happening in the world.

If the empress were not on the throne, what would become of this country? I estimate that many people would be terrified.

At least the Empress was trying her best to improve the lives of the people. If a different emperor had been appointed, the world might have become chaotic and the people might have lived in misery.

“That’s impossible,” the man said again.

The empress has ruled this country for over ten thousand years; it's impossible for her to abdicate so easily.

Everyone knows that Wei Qingyi has always wanted to rebel. It would be truly terrifying to let such a person become emperor.

Bian Lang laughed and said, "Actually, it doesn't matter to the common people who is the emperor. However, we can help you solve the problems you have encountered. If the Gong Family Village is really that bad, we will wipe it off the face of the earth once we arrive at the Gong Family Village in the East China Sea."

"You..." The man stared wide-eyed, clearly not believing it, and felt that Bian Lang's words seemed like he was trying to trick him into revealing information.

In fact, Bian Lang had already found Gong Ruhu's body. There was really no need for this. Whether it was poisoning or smashing Gong Ruhu's head, it was all done by him alone. No matter how much investigation there was, that would be the case. After all, that was the truth.

"What exactly did Gong Ruhu do to you?" Shangguan Hongyu still wanted to know this.

One of the servants said, "What exactly do you want to do? Why do you have to rub salt into someone's wounds?"

The man waved his hand and said, "In that case, follow me."

Bringing up past misfortunes again could cause a second injury.

But for some reason, the man felt that the two men didn't seem like bad people, and perhaps he could take a gamble.

Even without gambling, it would be very easy for those two to kill them.

In the backyard, in a small attic, lived the man's daughter.

Two maids were taking good care of him, but even so, the man was still very worried and stayed with them personally the whole time.

Upon entering the room, one could see the little girl lying on the bed with her eyes wide open, and purplish-blue bruises visible all over her exposed skin.

"Did Gong Ruhu do it?" Shangguan Hongyu asked, frowning.

The man didn't speak. He walked to the bedside, whispered a few words to the girl, and then gently lifted her clothes.

The marks of pinching and scratching on his body were shocking.

Bian Lang could imagine what the little girl had gone through, and asked in a deep voice, "Was she...?"

The man nodded.

The injuries to his lower body were even more horrific.

Despite the man's efforts to hold back, he could no longer stop the tears from streaming down his face.

He regretted that he had drunk too much that night and slept too soundly to hear his beloved daughter's cries for help.

In fact, most people in the village got completely drunk that night.

Gong Ruhu could knock out the two maids who were taking care of his beloved daughter with a single slap.

In fact, he shouldn't have let Gong Ruhu in from the very beginning.

Gong Ruhu said he had gotten lost and that's why he came to the manor and wanted to stay the night.

The man was kind-hearted and treated Gong Ruhu to good wine and food.

Who could have imagined that Gong Ruhu was a beast in human form, whose actions that night were utterly outrageous and abhorrent to both gods and men?

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!