Chapter 160: Wicked creature, where do you think you are going! (First update)

Seeing Cheng Chumo suddenly let out a loud roar and charge forward with all his might, adopting the posture of a relentless pursuer sworn to hunt him down to the bitter end, Boss Hong began to run at top speed while casting anxious glances backward, unable to stop himself from cursing inwardly.

"There are other people right beside you, you damn fool! Why must you ignore them and chase after me instead? Are you out of your mind?!"

Boss Hong glared fiercely at Cheng Chumo, but the situation was perilous in the extreme, and he simply had no time to deal with him.

Frowning as he looked back, Boss Hong could only focus on fleeing with all his might.

Now that the assassination plan against Li Yi had failed and Kazuo Yamana of the nation of Wa had already been captured on the spot, Boss Hong had no desire to follow in his footsteps, and therefore he bolted forward like a flying arrow.

Just at that moment, however, Boss Hong suddenly heard a theatrical singing voice ring out from behind him, echoing sharply through the air: "Unholy beast, where do you think you're fleeing~!"

Instantly, Boss Hong's stride faltered, and with a twitching mouth, he spun around, glaring with murderous intent at the charging Cheng Chumo.

Seeing Boss Hong suddenly halt, Cheng Chumo was also momentarily stunned, unable to understand why Boss Hong, who had been running for his life, would suddenly stop in his tracks.

Yet right at that very instant, the whistling sound of a cold arrow tore through the sky.

The incoming arrow pierced with absolute, instantaneous precision right through the tendon of Boss Hong's lower leg, driving its arrowhead deep into the ground like a fired heavy artillery shell.

"Swish!"

Another piercing sound rang out as a second arrow flew straight toward him. Identical to the first, it struck home with pinpoint accuracy, piercing the tendon of his other lower leg as well.

Only then did the delayed sensation of agony hit Boss Hong, a piercing, soul-deep pain spreading upward from his calves and coursing through every single part of his body.

"Hiss—" Drawing a sharp breath of cold air through his teeth, Boss Hong clenched his jaw tight.

Boss Hong still wanted to run.

But the moment he tried to lift his foot, the pain grew progressively worse, feeling far more agonizing than having flesh sliced from his bones. Moreover, his legs felt as heavy as a thousand catties, rendering him completely immobile.

When he lowered his head to look, he was shocked to discover that both of his lower legs had been pierced clean through by the arrows.

The shafts acted like iron chains, securely locking him to the spot.

Taking a deep breath of cold air, Boss Hong narrowed his eyes and glared at Li Yi and Yue'er, who were leisurely lowering their bows not far away, regretting his actions so deeply that his very entrails turned green.

"Baka!"

"Didn't Ambassador Inugami say that Li Bo'an was extremely weak and frail?"

"How is it that not only is his martial arts skill impressive, but his archery is also so extraordinary?!"

Rage surged directly to Boss Hong's face. He glared at the captured Kazuo Yamana, grinding his teeth in bitter hatred.

Yet at that same moment, seeing Boss Hong pinned to the spot by two arrows, Cheng Chumo was slightly startled at first before bursting into a hearty, triumphant laugh.

"Unholy beast, why did you stop running? Weren't you running so hard just a moment ago?"

Standing three meters away from Boss Hong, Cheng Chumo planted his hands on his hips, stared at him, and laughed with unrestrained glee: "What are you waiting for? Keep running!"

"Hurry up, start running!"

"If you don't run, your Grandpa Cheng won't have any fun left to enjoy!"

Cheng Chumo mocked him with an utterly smug expression, feeling immensely gratified in his heart.

Boss Hong: "..."

Seeing that Boss Hong refused to answer him, only clenching his teeth and glaring furiously, Cheng Chumo suddenly took a step forward, circled around Boss Hong, and flipped his blade over, bringing the back of the saber down hard against Boss Hong's back.

The force behind Cheng Chumo's blow was immense.

It nearly caused Boss Hong's body to topple forward to the ground on the spot.

Meanwhile, the pain radiating from his back, combined with the agonizing strain placed upon his wounded legs as they struggled to support his weight, caused Boss Hong excruciating torment, turning his face as red as lacquer.

Seeing that he still remained silent, Cheng Chumo smiled slightly and directly snatched the weapon from Boss Hong's hand.

"Brother Bo'an, hurry up and send a few men over to tie up this unholy beast!" Cheng Chumo turned around and waved with a smile at Li Yi.

With that, he slowly squatted down and began tapping relentlessly against Boss Hong's wounded calves with the back of his blade.

At this moment, Cheng Chumo had completely transformed into a blacksmith, tapping away with great relish.

"Baka!" Boss Hong roared in agony, cursing loudly on the spot.

Yet the more he cursed and the more he put on a fierce expression of wanting to hit someone, the happier Cheng Chumo felt inside.

"Oh? You actually know what pain feels like?" Cheng Chumo stared at Boss Hong with an expression of exaggerated surprise.

Afterward, Cheng Chumo once again picked up the back of his blade, continued tapping on Boss Hong's lower leg, and chanted rhythmically: "Oh dear, oh dear, my head hurts, my head hurts... No wait, it should be oh dear, oh dear, my dog leg hurts, my dog leg hurts..."

"..." Boss Hong.

Right at this very moment, a countless number of mythical grass-mud horses were stampeding across Boss Hong's heart, and he wished nothing more than for that entire herd to trample this irritating pest Cheng Chumo to death.

He was simply too damn despicable!

He was clearly already a prisoner, yet he still had to endure this inhumane torture at Cheng Chumo's hands...

"Is this any way to treat a prisoner?!" Tears of pain streamed down Boss Hong's face.

Seeing this scene, Li Yi gave Cheng Chumo a speechless look, smiled wryly, and turned to instruct a few of the caravan guards, "You few, hurry over there and tie him up for me."

"Understood, Young Master." The designated guards twitched the corners of their mouths as they nodded repeatedly, walking briskly over to tie Boss Hong up.

As for the rest of the men in black, just as Li Yi had ordered, not a single one was left alive.

Before long, both Kazuo Yamana and Boss Hong were securely bound by the caravan guards and tossed carelessly onto a carriage like sacks of trash.

Li Yi also stepped forward to inspect them, making sure neither of them had any poison hidden in their mouths before finally setting his mind at ease.

Seeing that the crisis had been averted, the deeply shaken Zheng An felt the heavy stone in his chest finally drop a little.

"Young Master, exactly... what kind of people are these?" Zheng An asked out of curiosity, "To be so utterly ruthless?"

He had originally thought these men might be government soldiers, but during the earlier clash with Li Yi, the saber techniques displayed by Kazuo Yamana were ones he had never witnessed before, inevitably arousing his curiosity.

Prompted by Zheng An's words, the rest of the crowd also stared curiously at Li Yi while casting angry glares at the two captives.

Li Yi smiled without answering Zheng An immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Cheng Chumo and asked, "Brother Chumo, do you happen to know who these people are?"

"Hmph!" Cheng Chumo let out a cold snort on the spot and said indignantly, "Brother Bo'an, who would have thought that these Wa dogs would actually dare to carry out an assassination on Tang soil! Don't you worry, once I return, I'll immediately lead a troop of men and slaughter every last one of these Wa dogs!"

"What, people from Wa?!" Hearing Cheng Chumo's words, everyone widened their eyes in shock.

They never imagined the people of Wa could be so audacious.

For a moment, cries of "Young Master, kill them!" rose up continuously from the crowd.

"Everyone, don't be rash!" Seeing this, Li Yi immediately raised a hand slightly to quiet the crowd before continuing, "Since they dared to assassinate us and raid the imperial merchant caravan, this is no longer a trivial matter. Let's take them back first and report this to His Majesty. I'm sure His Majesty will make his own imperial judgment!"

Hearing Li Yi say this, everyone understood the gravity of the situation.

"Well said, let's do as the Young Master (Brother Bo'an) says!" Cheng Chumo and Zheng An nodded in unison upon grasping the implication behind Li Yi's words.

Since these people from Wa dared to act so lawlessly, handing the matter over to the Emperor for disposition was indeed the most prudent decision.

Killing them now to vent their anger would simply let these Wa scoundrels off too lightly.

Seeing that the crowd had quieted down, Li Yi took two steps forward to stand before Kazuo Yamana and his companion, and asked with a smile, "Well then, will you talk or not?"

"Hmph!" Kazuo Yamana glared fiercely at Li Yi on the spot and stubbornly turned his head away.

Unfazed, Li Yi turned his attention to Boss Hong. Boss Hong mirrored Kazuo Yamana's actions, turning his head away with an icy expression as he said, "Since we've already been captured, do as you please—kill us or torture us, we're at your mercy!"

"Heh." Li Yi chuckled lightly and said, "You want to find an easy way out through death now? You might have an ugly mug, but you sure harbor some beautiful thoughts!"

"Brother Bo'an." Seeing this, Cheng Chumo strode over, glanced at Li Yi, and grinned, "If they won't talk, I have my own ways!"

"Then I'll have to trouble Brother Chumo." Li Yi said with a smile.

"Heh heh, don't worry, Brother Bo-an, leave this to me!" Cheng Chumo said with a wicked grin.

Without missing a beat, Cheng Chumo picked up the back of his saber, walked over to Boss Hong's feet, and brought the blade down in a heavy, sweeping blow that instantly elicited a miserable howl from Boss Hong.

"Ah—!"

The wretched shriek pierced the heavens.

"Well? Will you talk or not?" Cheng Chumo raised his Tang saber threateningly and demanded.

"I won't! Even if you beat me to death, I won't talk!" Boss Hong gritted his teeth and declared.

"Oh ho, quite the backbone you've got!" Cheng Chumo let out a cold laugh, immediately turned to the guards nearby, and instructed, "You lot, go find some ants and let him experience the thrill of ants eating away at his bones!"

"Understood... General Cheng!" The nearby guards were slightly startled before breaking into grins and turning away to search for ants.

Hearing Cheng Chumo's words, Boss Hong's complexion instantly turned as pale as snow.

Being eaten alive by ants was far more terrifying than ordinary torture; the agonizing sensation alone was dreadful just to imagine.

"Brute, you can't treat me like this!" Boss Hong cursed through clenched teeth at Cheng Chumo.

Yet Cheng Chumo paid him no mind.

Neither did Li Yi or the others.

A short while later, the guards returned with ants collected in a bamboo container they carried with them, handing it directly to Cheng Chumo.

"Will you talk or not? It's just a matter of a single word!" Cheng Chumo smiled as he took out the ants and began pouring them directly onto the wounded tendons of Boss Hong's legs.

"No... I'll talk, I'll talk!" Gazing at the ants in Cheng Chumo's hands, Boss Hong gritted his teeth in surrender and began recounting the entire sequence of events from beginning to end.

Hearing this, everyone finally realized that the captured Kazuo Yamana was actually the mastermind behind the assassination group, acting under the direct orders of Inugami no Ototakumi!

Meanwhile, Li Yi turned to Yue'er and asked, "Have you finished recording the confession transcript?"

"Don't worry, Young Master!" Yue'er nodded and said, "Everything has been recorded down."

"Good." Li Yi nodded and gestured to Yue'er, saying, "Yue'er, take the confession transcript over and have the two of them sign and press their thumbprints."

Yue'er nodded, took two steps forward, and used a blade to nick both men's fingers, pressing their bloody prints onto the confession document before returning to Li Yi's side to show him the transcript.

Seeing that the evidence on the document was ironclad, Li Yi smiled faintly and commanded, "Let's go, we're returning to the capital to enter the palace and have an audience with the Emperor."

"Agreed!" Everyone nodded in unison, gathered up the bodies of the fallen, and set off together toward Chang'an.

I'll put out this first chapter for now and write more after eating; I fell asleep while writing last night. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

(End of this chapter)