Chapter 23: Chapter 23 A Complete Family

Chen Youguang turned his head and his eyes suddenly widened.A flash of cold light passed in his eyes.

Pff!

The sharp arrowhead instantly pierced through the clothing on his chest and penetrated his skin.

Flesh was violently torn apart, fresh blood spurted out, scattering in the air like blossoming petals.

The momentum of the arrow did not subside, embedding deeply into his chest, the strong recoil caused him to stagger back into the wall.

Chen Youguang looked down at his chest, frantically covered it with his hands, crimson blood continuously seeping out between his fingers.

The next moment, intense pain spread throughout his body, nearly rendering him unable to stand.

Yet, a single arrow was not enough to take his life.

This old hunter, who had battled the wilderness for years, quickly calmed down driven by a strong desire to survive.

He hurriedly struggled, supporting his body with all his strength, and rushed into the courtyard, hoping to catch his breath behind the walls of the courtyard.

Seeing his intention, Tian Xiaohu, who was at the forefront, suddenly accelerated, reaching the Chen family's gate before Shen Qing.

With the full force of his body's inertia, he violently burst open the gate of the Chen family.

Behind the door, Chen Youguang, already severely weakened from blood loss, staggered.

He was knocked down to the ground.

Tian Xiaohu's eyes were fierce as he pulled out a rope from his body, wrapped it around Chen Youguang's neck, lifted him up, and then hung him from the door lintel.

Desperation and struggle covered Chen Youguang's face as his legs kicked wildly in the air.

His hands tightly gripped the coarse rope, his fingertips turning white from the strain, and a faint moan could be heard from his throat, barely making out the words "save me."

Unfortunately, there was no one to rescue him.

Soon, Chen Youguang's facial expression twisted, his lips tightly closed, veins on his forehead bulged, and his complexion began to turn red and then purple.

But Tian Xiaohu firmly gripped the rope, showing no signs of letting go.

Gradually, Chen Youguang's body grew weaker and eventually hung motionless in the air.

Blood from his chest dripped down his cotton clothes and pants, trickling drop by drop from his heels.

"Ah!"

The previous generation's patriarch of the Chen family, Chen Kaijun, was terrified at the sight, scrambling to escape from the place.

He had barely taken a few steps when he saw a pair of old leather shoes.

Chen Kaijun slowly looked up, only to see a dark and handsome young man, with his bow drawn tight, the arrow aimed directly at him.

His face turned pale as he was about to open his mouth.

A muffled thud sounded.

Shen Qing released his fingers.

The arrow, like lightning, cut through the air and pierced through Chen Kaijun's head.

Chen Kaijun's eyes quickly lost their light, and his body slumped to the ground.

Shen Qing walked over Chen Kaijun's body expressionlessly and headed towards the Chen family's main gate.

The Tian family members and several villagers who had followed stopped in their tracks.

Seeing Chen Youguang, once a commanding figure in Hongshan Village, hanged at his own front gate moved everyone.

They had not expected Shen Qing and Tian Xiaohu to act so swiftly and decisively, with hardly any hesitation.

At that moment, Shen Er, along with Shen Xiaohu and Shen Xiaoshan, finally arrived near the Chen family's residence.

Seeing the three bodies ahead, his face drastically changed, and he abruptly stopped.

"Dad, what exactly do you want us to do?"

Shen Xiaohu, not paying attention, bumped into Shen Er's back, stopping as well.

He and his brother Shen Xiaoshan curiously passed by Shen Er and looked forward.

Upon seeing the bloodstains on the ground and the three bodies of the Chen family, the faces of the two brothers simultaneously turned deathly pale.

"Grandpa, what... what is going on... why is Brother Qingzi there..." It was the first time Shen Xiaohu had seen a killing, and suddenly he found himself stuttering and tongue-tied.

However, Shen Er was equally shocked and did not respond.

At the entrance of the Chen family, Tian Xiaohu secured the other end of the rope and fiercely spat a thick phlegm at the hanging body of Chen Youguang.

"He cursed with relish, 'I didn't expect you, old bastard, to have this day too, hahaha...'"

Over the years, as newcomers, the Tian family had not had an easy time in Hongshan Village.

A major reason was the oppression and exclusion led by Chen Youguang of the Chen family.

Tian Chuan of the Tian family said if someone died, they just died; there wasn't even a place to reason out the matter.

Had it not been for Shen Qing standing up today, Tian Xiaohu would probably have been more unlucky than not.

Thus, when he killed Chen Youguang, he felt no psychological burden.

After cursing, Tian Xiaohu looked toward Shen Qing.

In his eyes, the formerly gentle youth was now eerily calm after killing the Chen family members, without a trace of turmoil on his face.

Although he was three years older than Shen Qing, he questioned himself and knew he definitely couldn't achieve this level of composure.

In his heart, he couldn't help but feel even more convinced.

Shen Qing turned around to look back.

Having just killed a man, his demeanor was incredibly fierce.

His eyes carried a bit of ferocity, like a hungry tiger descending the mountain, freezing to the marrow in this winter cold.

Everyone glanced at by him involuntarily took a step back.

"Brother Qingzi of the Shen family, why so fierce?"

"Normally it doesn't show, but his killing is just like hunting, too ruthless."

"..."

After many days of sideways investigation, Shen Qing understood that the costs of learning martial arts in the county far exceeded his expectations.

It was not something an ordinary family could afford.

Beside the entry fee and the bribe, there were also apprenticeship fees, medicine fees, and a host of supplemental expenses.

Casually put, hundred of taels of silver could be spent without hearing a sound.

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Thus, when he saw Chen Youguang trying to monopolize the mountain goods channels of Hongshan Village, he was slightly tempted.

Chen Youguang, in paving the way for Chen Yuan's martial arts, must have established a steady channel in the county.

If he could seize this channel for himself and secure a stable income, then his martial arts training could receive better support.

It so happened that Chen Yuan came to him, giving him an opportunity.

He used this to provoke the other party successfully and captured all these "mountain drivers" in one fell swoop.

The whole family, neat and tidy.

However, it was not enough.

The Chen family had more than ten households in Hongshan Village, and four of them were quite close to Chen Youguang and liked to stick together.

Now that he had killed Chen Youguang and his entire family, he had, to some extent, harmed their interests.

It's possible that some of those households could still connect with people in the county.

According to the laws of Great Zhou, a murderer must pay with his life.

If he were to be judged according to the law, he would not die but would be deeply wounded.

He didn't have the connections like the Chen family did.

If left unchecked, it would definitely be a problem later.

While he had every legitimate reason to kill Chen Youguang and his family, clearing out the other households of Chen family members could be troublesome.

Definitely, the Tian Family would not make another move against him.

However, with the stage set to this extent, Shen Qing would not miss this rare opportunity and planned to push further in this moment.

He dived into the Chen family household and started searching.

A moment later, he found a chest of money.

Shen Qing opened it and saw, amongst a pile of copper coins, about twenty silver ingots were hidden.

Shen Qing's face lit up with joy, and he placed the largest few silver ingots entirely into his chest.

Then, carrying the chest, he walked to the front gate and held it up high.