The 23rd year of Jiajing, the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Inside Li Miao's office at the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards).
"Kneel properly!"
Li Miao sat in the main seat, arms crossed, coldly watching the four people kneeling before him.
Wang Hai, Xiao Si, Mei Qinghe, and Gao Ling.
Except for Xiao Si, the other three had sword scabbards placed under their knees, propping them up.
Beside Li Miao sat Zhu Zai, who was savoring his tea with a mischievous expression.
"So, you finally got what was coming to you, kid?"
Zhu Zai thought to himself, feeling as though even the coarse tea had become sweet.
Li Miao shot Zhu Zai an annoyed glance, then turned back to the four people with their heads bowed low.
"Do you know your mistake?"
"Yes..."
The four replied in unison.
"Know my ass!"
Li Miao said coldly, standing up directly and reaching out his hand.
An Ziyang scurried over and handed a willow branch to Li Miao.
Li Miao walked behind the four and raised his hand, lashing out at their backs.
To be honest, after so many years, Li Miao had only ever angered others; being angered himself was truly a first.
He had eliminated several groups of Ming Cult members, and calculating the time, he figured it was about right, so he went to find Zhu Zai. The two discussed how to deal with Wan Tianzong and Cheng Yuanzhen's corpses, then returned to Shuntian Prefecture together.
Who knew that as soon as they arrived home, they ran into An Ziyang and You Zi'ang, who had run back, panting. After some questioning, they learned about the "Emperor's Mausoleum" message left by Ji Tianrui.
Afterward, Li Miao discovered that Wang Hai and the other three had disappeared.
Li Miao went to the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) prison, saw the traces left by Xiao Si's Dragon refining, and then looked through the Miao King's notes. He immediately knew what these people had gone to do.
He was instantly furious.
Since Ji Tianrui had left a message about the imperial mausoleum, the Ming Cult's plan was likely related to it. There was a high probability that these four had gone to the imperial mausoleum.
So, Li Miao took the Ji Tianrui mask he had found at the Miao King's place, rushed to the imperial mausoleum, and rescued these four fools.
And now, here they were.
"Xiao Mei, you and Elder Gao, go kneel by the side first."
Li Miao said.
Mei Qinghe was inherently foolish; aside from her good looks, her head was full of muscle, incapable of turning. He wasn't surprised at all that she would do something like this.
And Gao Ling had also been led astray by these three fools, her fault being the smallest.
The most infuriating were Wang Hai and Xiao Si, these two.
They had been by his side for over a decade, and knowing his temper, they still went and did this!
"Wang Hai, Baihu Wang!"
"Benefactor Wang!"
"Do you think you're being incredibly righteous? Huh? Do I have to thank you?"
Li Miao tapped the willow branch in his hand, saying sarcastically.
"And 'I won't allow Ji Tianrui to drag the Qianhu into this'~ Hmph, someone who didn't know would think you were a three-in-one, and I was some damn first-rate master!"
Li Miao looked up at the four sect leaders standing by: "I'm not talking about you, don't take it to heart."
The four sect leaders waved their hands in unison: "We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare, we are nothing, we are nothing."
Li Miao wasn't in the mood to joke with them. He turned his head, raised his hand, and lashed the willow branch across Wang Hai's back, instantly leaving a blue-purple mark, skin torn and flesh split.
"And you, Si'er, I really don't know what to say about you."
Li Miao looked at Xiao Si, shaking his head and sighing.
"When I saved you, you only came up to my knee. For the past decade, I've painstakingly used the Commander's silver to raise you, and this is how you repay me?"
"Just some damn Ji Tianrui, to trade for a daughter I've raised for over a decade? She's not worthy!"
"Cough cough—"
Zhu Zai coughed, but Li Miao didn't even look up: "I'm not talking about you, Commander, you just drink your tea."
Li Miao raised the willow branch and lashed it across Xiao Si's back, but no blood was drawn.
"Now do you know your mistake!"
"Yes... I shouldn't have led the three of them into danger and made you come rescue us..."
Wang Hai mumbled.
"Nonsense!"
Li Miao raised his hand and lashed Wang Hai's back again, creating another wound where the skin was torn and flesh split.
"Your mistake is that you value your lives too cheaply!"
Li Miao threw the willow branch onto Wang Hai's head, turned, walked to the chair, sat down, and said coldly.
"If you want to die, wait until I'm dead. Don't die in front of me and annoy me."
"Get out, and reflect on yourselves. I've healed the wounds on your faces, but keep the ones on your bodies, let them hurt for a few days, and learn your lesson."
The four nodded and exited the room.
Only then did Li Miao pick up a cup of tea and take a sip.
"Tell me about the discoveries of the past few days."
Baihu Wang, who had been affected by Xiao Si's insanity that day, spoke.
"Qianhu, we've captured eleven groups, a total of thirty-one Ming Cult disciples, in the past few days. They were all decoys, and we couldn't get anything out of them through interrogation."
Deng Boxuan said.
"We've also found several groups of Ming Cult members in the past few days. Their martial arts aren't high; they should also be sacrificial pawns."
"Besides that, when my disciples were gathering information, they bought this from a group of martial artists."
Deng Boxuan pulled out several sheets of paper from his Pregnant .
"This item has been circulating in the martial arts world of Shuntian Prefecture these past few days. News has spread, and many martial artists are already rushing to the capital."
"We investigated the source of these items, and it was a print shop. The other party paid to have them printed into booklets and then never appeared again, so they kept the items in the shop, waiting for someone to pick them up."
"A group of martial artists accidentally looked through them and started fighting over them. Later, more and more people arrived, and they were torn apart and scattered. We've found the bodies of that group of martial artists; their throats were cut with One Slash, extremely clean deaths, leaving no witnesses."
"We also asked about the appearance of the person who had them printed; they are untraceable, likely a Ming Cult member in disguise."
Li Miao took the papers, scanned them, and sneered.
"To use its sharpness, first dull its edge."
"Heh, they're quite willing to spend the capital."
The papers contained parts of the Jia Yi Divine Skill's mental cultivation techniques. Although incomplete, internal martial arts masters could naturally discern its extraordinary nature. For martial artists, it had enough appeal.
"Are there any other discoveries?"
Everyone shook their heads in unison: "Not yet."
"Then leave, I'll have a word with the Commander."
Everyone retreated as instructed, leaving only Li Miao and Zhu Zai in the room.
Li Miao turned to look at Zhu Zai.
"Commander, I want to discuss something with you."
Zhu Zai was initially sipping his tea at leisure, but upon hearing Li Miao's words, he was suddenly startled, a chill running from his feet straight to his head.
How many years had it been? When had Li Miao ever been so polite to him? When had he ever asked for his opinion before doing something?
Compared to Li Miao's previous attitude of a dead pig not fearing boiling water, his current demeanor could almost be described as fawning.
"Not good! This kid is going to do something big!"
Zhu Zai looked at Li Miao coldly, saying nothing.
Li Miao, however, didn't seem to care in the slightest, saying with a smile.
"I'm going to dig up your family's ancestral grave, and you..."
"...don't mind, right?"