Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Human Head Rack Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Human Head Rack Editor: Atlas Studios Under the cold moon, the doors of the Sword Tasting Tower were wide open.
In front of the door lay a corpse, dressed exactly like the boorish man surnamed Wang.
However, whereas the boorish man surnamed Wang had a sturdy and robust build, the one before them was shriveled and withered, as if all the life had been drained out of him.
Su Mo’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed as his eyes swept through the interior of the Sword Tasting Tower.
This was the first floor. Apart from the corpse in front of him, there were stands arranged around.
Su Mo did not know what these stands originally held.
However, at this moment… they were all holding human heads!
The heads were shriveled and withered, and from the looks of the severed neck, they were clearly not cut off with a sharp weapon, but rudely torn from the bodies.
“The fist shakes the Southwest, Situ Xiong…
Thunder Strike Sword, Chen Shian…
Three Finger Break, Chu Wanfeng…
Ghost Wolf, Gu Ping…”
Su Mo identified each of the heads one by one, growing more alarmed as he did.
The original faces of these heads were extremely difficult to discern, even with Su Mo’s exceptional eyesight.
He was able to identify them only because… next to each head, on the edge of the stand, there were inscriptions.
Some had only inscriptions, without heads.
These carvings were quite fresh, less than a month old.
Among these names were some Su Mo recognized.
“I wondered where all those visitors to Yuliu Manor have been these past weeks… They all died here.”
However, not all the names corresponded to a head displayed here; others were unaccounted for.
Su Mo stepped forward, inspecting each stand; there were many heads, and many empty spots, but gradually he noticed certain phrases of interest.
Discarded pupil of Heavenly Blade Sect, Jiang Jiuge, Jiang Jiuchou.
“Heavenly Blade Sect…”
Something stirred in Su Mo’s heart as he continued to read.
Monk Jing Kong of Heavenly Buddha Temple.
Blood Mandarin Duck Saber, Ling Hongxia.
Poisonous Hand Scholar Ye Yichen.
Ugly gentleman, Luo Zhen.
Mang Boxing King Tai Heng.
Yang Xiaoyun from Iron Blood Escort Agency.
Su Mo from Ziyang Escort Agency…
Su Mo raised his eyebrows when he saw his own and Yang Xiaoyun’s names, not due to seeing their names listed.
If indeed all the individuals who had visited Yuliu Manor had perished here,
then those visiting tonight were probably due for the same fate.
It only made sense for their names to be engraved earlier.
What lifted his eyebrows, however, was the name that followed…
“Lengyue Palace… Wei??”
The granddaughter of Luofeng Alliance’s Alliance Hierarch Wei Ruhan and the secret child of Wei Qifeng, raised from infancy in the Lengyue Palace and later housed in Luoxia City’s City Lord Manor upon mastering her art.
Nobody knew her name, nor whether she aimed to claim the position of Alliance Hierarch of Luofeng Alliance.
But seeing such an inscription here today made Su Mo speculate.
“Could it be that this Wei is…”
As he murmured, his face suddenly grew stern:
“Come out!!!”
As his words fell, with a single motion he reached the window, swept his palm, flung open the window, and spotted someone outside who was peering in with shining eyes, stealthily listening.
Su Mo discovered that the action was too swift; he was also caught off guard for a moment. As he watched the fist, big as a casserole, about to land on him, the man hurriedly said:
“Hold on, hold on! Don’t hit, don’t hit!!”
Su Mo’s punch sent the sparse hairs on top of the man’s head fluttering.
It even made the wrinkles on his face ripple with the wind.
However, the punch ultimately stopped just an inch away from the man’s face: “Is it you?”
“It’s me, it’s me.”
This man was none other than the ugly gentleman, who claims to be a gentleman as jade, Luo Zhen.
While speaking, he rolled into the Sword Tasting Tower.
His eyes briefly scanned the racks, and his pupils suddenly constricted: “I knew it, this is a colossal lie!”
“??”
Su Mo glanced at him: “What are you talking about?”
“Obviously about Liu Suifeng being severely injured.”
“…Liu Suifeng is severely injured?”
“You didn’t know?”
Luo Zhen was stunned.
“I was just about to ask the senior to enlighten me.”
“…Can I not say it right now?”
“The senior can weigh it himself.”
“…”
Luo Zhen was speechless for a long while.
Inside the hall, he and Su Mo had already exchanged a move with Inner Strength, and he lost miserably.
If he didn’t speak now, he couldn’t guarantee that Su Mo, who didn’t know how to respect the elderly, might not give his old bones a thorough beating.
Hence he was forced to say: “What do you think brought so many people to visit Yuliu Manor?”
Su Mo silently watched him, not saying a word, but his aura was increasingly boiling.
Luo Zhen had no choice but to wave his hands repeatedly: “You should calm down a bit, why are the younger generations in Jianghu so impatient nowadays, unable to hold their composure?”
Seeing that Su Mo managed to suppress his impulse to act, Luo Zhen pondered for a bit before speaking:
“About a month ago, a rumor surfaced in Jianghu, saying that Yu Liu Sword Heart Liu Suifeng encountered an enemy by chance. The opponent’s martial arts were extremely high; the two fought for three days and three nights, but the Divine Rainbow Heart Seeking Sword was slightly inferior and got a touch on the chest.”
“…”
Of course, ‘got a touch’ was not meant literally; such a touch could endanger Yuliu Manor for quite a long time to come.
“You also know how formidable the Divine Rainbow Heart Seeking Sword is? How much fame did Liu Suifeng acquire with this sword skill?
“If he was unharmed, it would be fine, but since he’s severely injured now, it’s natural that some people will have ill intentions.
“Thus, for nearly a month, the visitors to Yuliu Manor have been endless.”
He said all this at once, then looked at Su Mo, noticing that the young man’s face remained unperturbed, which made him somewhat nervous.
The exchange in the hall really made him somewhat intimidated by Su Mo.
Seeing his expression unchanged, he had no idea what Su Mo was thinking, so he could only say:
“Originally, this could be deemed normal. In Jianghu, everyone strives for fame and profit by all means necessary. Liu Suifeng gave people an opportunity, so no wonder these flies come to buzz around this rotten egg.
“But the problem is, there are also people who do not wish to see Yuliu Manor go through this ordeal; hence, they have come to Yuliu Manor spontaneously to help Liu Suifeng.
“I have a friend who is exactly like that… you know, I am like a gentleman, humbly virtuous, my friend naturally wouldn’t be a petty villain.
“He initially thought Liu Suifeng suffered a great disaster, and as someone from the same stream of Jianghu, ultimately could not let the petty villains run amok.
“Therefore, he wrote me a letter explaining the situation, then came to Yuliu Manor to assist.
“And when I received that letter, based on the timing, my friend should already have been at Yuliu Manor.
“Logically speaking, with so many people visiting Yuliu Manor openly or covertly, a storm in Jianghu was inevitable.
“But… the outcome was unexpectedly calm.
“The only point being, whether harboring tricks or righteous intentions, after arriving at Yuliu Manor, they never left!
“After waiting impatiently at my friend’s house for seven days, I finally decided to come to Yuliu Manor to investigate.”