The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 138 Conquer the Jianghu

After walking into the gate, Li Ye looked at the major hall of the Taoist temple. His loud voice was sent out like waves and sounded like bombs exploding at every corner of the temple, “Anyone else? Come out to fight right away. I’m busy!”

Dozens of disciples of the sect flitted out from around with sharp swords in their hands. They surrounded Li Ye far away, each of which looked angry enough to swallow him alive. While nobody dared to start the fight.

In front of the area under Li Ye’s feet, there was a slope, where lied more than one hundred stone steps leading to the major hall. At this moment, a group of Taoist men appeared on the other side of the steps. They looked down from the height and stared at Li Ye with hostility.

Among them were two navy-gowned middle-aged Taoist men and they were surrounding a leading elder Taoist man in a black gown.

The navy-gowned Taoist men on the left stared at Li Ye coldly. He looked disdainful and prestigious, like an immortal looking at a mortal, as if he could decide Li Ye’s life and death with his slightest move.

He scolded as if he were scolding someone who made a mistake, “Bastard! Don’t you know here is the Huafuzhu Mountain? How dare you break into the forbidden land of our Taoist sect and hurt our disciples? Having committed such a crime, why don’t you kneel at once to confess your sins?”

Li Ye raised his head, his hands holding behind, and looked at the man with ridicule, “I hate you the most, who always stick to principles. Don’t make yourself the Emperor and all the others folks.”

“How dare you speak impolitely to our elders in the forbidden land of our Taoist sect? Don’t you know that you’ve committed an unforgivable crime? By insulting the Taoist sect, you’ll find nowhere to hide no matter how large the world is!” The Taoist man said fiercely, “Hesitate no more to kneel, or you’ll find it impossible to stay anywhere in Jiuzhou!”

Li Ye inclined a glance at him, “Done talking?”

“You!”

“Enough,” the black-gowned elder Taoist man waved his hand. He looked peaceful and kind, projecting a natural dignity and power. His manner was extraordinary. He looked at Li Ye and said indifferently, “You can’t break into the forbidden land of the Taoist sect, neither can you, as a layman, beat or kill the disciples of the Taoist sect. Since you have committed the crimes, you can’t escape from punishment. I have mercy on you. Young fellows in such an age are just rude. I have no intention to kill you. If you are willing to kneel and confess your sins in the major hall and spend the rest of your life serving the immortals, I can spare your life.”

Li Ye laughed out loud, “I hate you even more, compared to the man on the left. He is bad but not hypocritical. While you appear tolerant and understanding only to show your superior. You are such a goody-goody. I hate you the most.”

The face of the elder black-gowned Taoist man fell. He looked kind when he wanted to. When he was angry, there came the scary pressure, much bigger than that of the former Taoist man. The intention to kill also became sensible, “You’re stubborn and hopeless! Then I will enforce justice on behalf of Heaven and take you down!”

“Head master. Say no more to such bastard. I’ll get rid of him!” the Taoist man on the left folded his hands in anger.

The elder black-gowned Taoist man nodded slowly.

He presented a peaceful manner. But in fact, it was an overbearing manner which distinguished black from white or decided life and death all in a word.

Li Ye shook his head, “You are standing too high and talking too much. I don’t like looking up at people, especially for a long time. Then you could move your asses down here!”

At this moment, the navy-gowned Taoist man on the left was just about to draw his sword and jump out.

Li Ye lowered his eyebrows and converged his eyes. Toward the stone steps, he fiercely smashed out a fist, “Cloud-gathering Punch!”

The Taoist temple was suddenly cloud-wrapped where the purple Qi was raised just like the extraordinary view of clouds at the top of the mountains during sunrise.

In the middle of the purple clouds, there was a huge fist blowing fierce wind. The plants in the Taoist temple were violently whistling, the mud and dirt were flying around, the bricks and tiles were lifted away and the nearby disciples of the Taoist sect were flying backward one after another.

Under the power of this fist, the one hundred stone steps were broken step by step until completely crashed, the powders of which spread sideways. The power of the fist directly plowed a huge gully on the whole slope!

Since the power of the fist traveled extremely fast, it soon reached the top of the steps, where the Taoist man on the left had just drawn his sword and jumped out. Then he became the first victim of the power. His body was lifted high in the sky like a leaf and floated away to nowhere.

The elder black-gowned Taoist man and other Taoist men could not maintain their superior manner as the power came. They stepped back right away in a panic to avoid the fist.

But they failed!

All of the Taoist men on the top of the steps, including the elder black-gowned Taoist man, were smashed away by the power of the fist. They had already begun to spit blood before they hit the ground.

The Taoist men who were low in cultivation died immediately with their bodies exploded and blood spread, which then turned into powder.

In a huge boom, the hall on the top of the steps was skated over by the power of the fist. Then its roof disappeared right away!

After the power of the fist died and the purple clouds went away, peace fell around again. But the Taoist temple had completely changed into ashes.

The houses fell down and the broken wood and stones were everywhere. The gully on the slope was 1.5 meters in width, tens of decimeters in depth and over one hundred steps in length. It was so striking.

The elder black-gowned Taoist man fell down at the front of the major hall. He could not get up but kept vomiting blood, whose hair was in a mess and black gown broken. In his desperate eyes, Li Ye walked step by step toward him and looked down upon him with emotionless eyes.

“What made you think you could address me as a layman in a superior manner? The Taoist sect is not the Immortal Court. How dare you behave like an immortal?”

Li Ye came to the front of the elder black-gowned Taoist man and stepped onto his body, “Associating with the corrupted officers to bully the civilians, you could even receive the pilgrims’ donation without qualms of conscience. Being so shameless, why don’t you confess your sins?”

The elder black-gowned Taoist man struggled, “You cannot kill me. I... I am the headmaster of the Taoist sect and I am supreme in the Taoist sect! I am a grand seigneur. One day I will be the National Master after the Taoist sect conquers the world. All people should worship me. You are only a layman... you cannot kill me!”

Li Ye’s foot fell down with a boom and broke the neck of the elder black-gowned Taoist man. The head of the latter fell from the body directly since Li Ye had used quite a big strength.

Glanced the body indifferent, Li Ye left with his hands held behind, “Only the True Dragon deserves all people’s worship!”

...

When Li Ye got out of the Taoist temple, Song Jiao arrived leading the cultivators from the Black Office.

Li Ye did not leave right away. Instead, he sat down on the stone steps at the front of the temple. Song Jiao looked into the temple and got surprised. She turned her head and measured Li Ye seriously. She clicked her tongue, “You did it with such a heavy hand!”

Li Ye did not reply because it was unnecessary. The view from the gate was good. There were no trees blocking the eyesight so the hill view could be spotted. He lowered his voice, “You cope with the aftermath of the Huafuzhu Mountain. The Black Office should take over the matters of Jianghu in Qizhou. From now on, the whole Pinglu should be administrated by the Black Office.”

Song Jiao squatted beside Li Ye. The stone steps were not wide where she felt a little narrow. Her clothes on the back closely stick to her waist and got no fold at all. Then the full curve of her hip was presented perfectly. She supported her small and exquisite chin with one hand. Her curled fingers squeezed her red lips and made them more attractive.

She looked at Li Ye’s side face. Her chin was moving up and down as she was speaking, “Isn’t the Black Office the office of spies and hitmen?”

The office of spies and hitmen simply meant the agent for information and assassinations.

“Providing spies is only a part of the Black Office’s duty. As soon as you step into the land of Pinglu, you were assigned the second duty, which is ruling Pinglu.”

It was obvious that Li Ye had planned this beforehand. He spoke fast, “Jianghu cannot be doomed but only conquered. I killed a lot of people on the Huafuzhu Mountain, but my purpose was not to doom the Taoist sect of the mountain. There were a lot of Jianghu powers in Qizhou. All the sects are depending on different powers. I need the Black Office to guide them to work for the government and get along with the civilians peacefully. They shouldn’t violate the prohibitions and run wild in the counties, nor should they rob the villages and become the disaster of the state.”

Song Jiao answered with a hum and said in low voice, “It’s easy. Jianghu in Qizhou had been oppressed by the Taoist sect of the Huafuzhu Mountain. Now that the Taoist sect of the Huafuzhu Mountain had been weakened greatly, we could support another sect to replace the Huafuzhu Mountain, which could lead the Jianghu powers to follow your command.”

Li Ye shook his head and said seriously, “That’s not what I mean. Jianghu powers should follow orders from the Black Office. It’s not necessary to have another power to lead them. To be simple, I need balance among the Jianghu powers in Qizhou. Nobody gets to be dominance. At the same time, all the powers work for me. I will compensate them according to their contributions. Then the competition among the powers will transit from the Jianghu to my task list.”

Song Jiao gradually understood, “That being the case, there will be no frictions and killings among the powers. The Jianghu will be much more of peace. At the same time, your control over the Jianghu will be strengthened.”

Li Ye nodded and smiled, “That’s it.”

Song Jiao knitted her beautiful brows, “The Jianghu powers have been used to be in the status of idleness. Are they going to listen to you?”

“Compared with the association of the Wu family and the Huafuzhu Mountain, which occupied the whole benefits in Qizhou and oppressed them too much, the Jianghu Powers will find them fairly treated under my administration, and they all enjoy the opportunity to grow. Why don’t they accept me?” Li Ye was quite confident, “The key is a clear and strict standard of prize and punishment.”

Song Jiao giggled, “You saying so, I feel my burdens are very heavy!”

Li Ye turned his head and looked at her, “I believe you.”

Song Jiao stunned a little and then winked at Li Ye. She laughed covering her mouth, “You made me shy!”

Li Ye found that Song Jiao was being self-sentimental and quickly turned back his head, “For no matter the Jianghu power or the local government, I have only one request, which is to benefit people. Aren’t the Jianghu people like to enforce justice? They can. I give them the right. But before action, there should be research on the facts. I’ll praise those who did the right things and punish those who did otherwise. If the river gangs want more qualifications of carrier transportation, I will give them, on the basis that they should abide by the laws and do good jobs. Other kinds of qualification can be granted accordingly.”

Stopped for a while, he continued, “Not only for Qizhou, should the whole Pinglu follow the same way in the future. You can have a try here and accumulate experience.”

“Got it.” Song Jiao nodded.

Li Ye sighed with relief, “The chaos will come. We have no time to spare. I need to gather all the strengths to make some accomplishments. We have got all the powers then we need to coordinate and unite!”

Then Li Ye stood up and shook off the dust, “Time to go. I’ll leave everything here to you.”

“You can count on me.” Song Jiao laughed.

Li Ye suddenly stopped and turned around. He looked at Song Jiao and said slowly, “At the Niushou Mountain, you wanted to come back to Chang’an with me to revenge your father. Now you’ve accomplished that. Why did you still come with me to Pinglu rather than staying with your father?”