Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"He secretly studied for a year?"

Xiao Jiahui was very surprised.

"Yes, the second brother helped him cover it up. I also thought that someone might use the light from the hole in the wall to practice martial arts."

Zhou Tong seemed to find his past foolishness laughable, and actually plucked out a few of his own beard hairs.

"That time..."

"Second brother! What are you doing? You actually let someone steal your martial arts skills?"

In the courtyard, Lu Junyi and Shi Wengong knelt side by side, facing Zhou Tong, who was furious!

"Sir, I dug that hole; it has nothing to do with the young master."

At this time, Shi Wengong was quite loyal and didn't let Lu Junyi shoulder the burden alone.

"No, Master, it was I who gave Wen Gong the idea. Please punish me!"

Lu Junyi was also a man of great loyalty; how could he let Shi Wengong get into trouble alone?

"Well, I'm amazed that I've produced such a loyal disciple like you! What can I say about you!"

Zhou Tong was both angry and satisfied with Lu Junyi's act of loyalty.

I'm angry because he's stupid; it's so easy for someone to steal my martial arts techniques.

He was happy, but he still had a pure heart and valued relationships.

“Sir, I’ve been working for you for over a year now, and I’ve always volunteered to do all the dirty and hard work. Even if I haven’t done anything particularly meritorious, I’ve certainly put in the effort.”

Shi Wengong, standing tall, said to Zhou Tong:

"Besides, I only peeked at the old master passing on his skills through a small hole and then taught myself. I didn't ask the young master to teach me. So there's no way the young master would have revealed the old master's martial arts to me."

“I believe you are a good person, sir, and not a pedantic one. I did indeed secretly learn your martial arts, but that was only because of my own yearning for martial arts! Can’t I even earn the right to observe you with my hard work? Who is born lowly?”

"If the old man thinks that someone who is obsessed with martial arts is wrong, then kill me. After killing me, there will be no such risk!"

"What a sharp-tongued person!"

At that time, Zhou Tong was forced into a corner by Shi Wengong's words. What could he do after the deed was done?

Kill Shi Wengong? Or cripple him?

Zhou Tong simply disliked Shi Wengong's gaze, not hated the man. He had been a chivalrous man for many years and never took the life of an innocent person.

Shi Wengong merely stole martial arts skills, which, according to the law, is not a capital offense!

As for crippling him? Don't be ridiculous. Can't you see Lu Junyi pleading for mercy right now?

"I won't kill you, but you can't stay here any longer. You may escape the death penalty, but you won't escape punishment!"

"Shi Wengong, I'll give you ten blows. If you can endure them, then we'll call it even."

"Master, ten blows would kill Wen Gong! Your disciple will take ten blows for him!"

Lu Junyi was regretting giving Shi Wengong the suggestion of "carving a hole in the wall to steal light," but when he heard Zhou Tong was about to hit someone, he quickly prepared to stop him.

"Shut up! Second brother! Your master hasn't even settled your score with you yet! Go back and copy the sect rules a thousand times!"

This time, Zhou Tong ignored Lu Junyi. The second brother was a good person, but his eyesight wasn't very good, and he wasn't good at handling interpersonal relationships.

"No problem, sir. Ten strokes. After ten strokes, our business is settled!"

"Young Master, from today onwards, Wen Gong will no longer be able to serve you!"

At that time, Shi Wengong first kowtowed to Lu Junyi to repay his kindness, and then stood tall and took ten blows from Zhou Tong! His entire back was covered in red blood!

In the end, Zhou Tong even admired Shi Wengong's perseverance!

At the end of that day, Shi Wengong left Zhou Tong's courtyard without any help from anyone, limping away on his own.

He didn't even take the five taels of silver that Zhou Tong later sent him, and then disappeared without a trace.

All he left Zhou Tong with were those wolf-like eyes and a cold gaze.

"Old man, so you're saying Shi Wengong has a grudge against you?"

Having heard this, Xiao Jiahui had roughly figured out some of the relationships.

"A grudge? I wouldn't say so, but sometimes when I'm in the middle of the night, I always think of his eyes. They always give me a strange sense of familiarity."

Zhou Tong sighed deeply and continued:

"Life is unpredictable. I had a good friend in Jiangnan named Chen, who was skilled in using the halberd. Five years after Shi Wengong left, when I took Junyi to find my friend, I was surprised to find that Shi Wengong had become my friend's prospective son-in-law!"

"Oh, isn't that a good thing? Grandpa, didn't you take this opportunity to smooth things over between the two of them?"

Xiao Jiahui asked.

"A good thing?"

Zhou Tong looked at Xiao Jiasui and gave a strange laugh.

"A good thing like family ruin and death? Would you take it if I gave it to you?"

"My friend thought he had found a good son-in-law, but little did he know that Shi Wengong had initially set his sights on his family's halberd technique!"

"In order to obtain the halberd technique manual, Shi Wengong first started as a servant, then ingratiated himself with my friend's daughter, then gradually demonstrated his talent, and finally won over my friend!"

"Because his family's halberd technique was not passed down to outsiders, they took Shi Wengong as their son-in-law. Before the marriage, they passed on half of the halberd technique, and after the marriage, they passed on the other half."

"But when I went to my friend's house for his wedding again, all I saw was blood on the ground and corpses all over the yard."

"My friend's entire family of over fifty people perished, and of the guests who attended the banquet, only three survived!"

"Xiao Xiao, do you know who did this tragedy?"

"Shi Wengong? But why would he kill his own father-in-law?"

Xiao Jiahui was puzzled. Wasn't Shi Wengong supposed to be practicing martial arts? How could this be?

"Yes, I was also very puzzled at the time. You know, my friend's martial arts skills are no less than mine. With the Fangtian Halberd in hand, he would not be afraid of strong enemies. How could his whole family have been wiped out?"

"Later, the survivors told me that it was Shi Wengong who first poisoned the food and drink, and then colluded with a group of men in black to kill my friend's entire family."

“Those men in black, each of them had wolf-like eyes, exactly like Shi Wengong’s.”

"Inviting a wolf into the house! Inviting a wolf into the house!"

"Grandpa, Shi Wengong, Shi Wengong is a Jurchen??"

Xiao Jiasui was suddenly startled. The wolf—that was the totem of the Jurchens! (For example, Niohuru, in Manchu, means wolf.)

"No, he is indeed Han Chinese, but he was abducted by the Jurchens at a very young age and raised by them. Deep down, he is already a Jurchen!"

"Later, I learned that he was actually bait, a spy, for the child abduction organization in Daming Prefecture. Even the fact that the second brother was able to rescue him was a deliberate scheme by them."

"I guess those Jurchens originally intended to harm me, but they didn't expect to end up harming my friend!"

"Were those men in black back then the same people as Zengtou City today?"

Xiao Jiahui continued to ask.

"There is no direct evidence to suggest that it was them, but Zengtou City is indeed Jurchen territory now. And I am too old to fight my way through the entire Zengtou City by myself."

"As for Shi Wengong, he obtained all of my friend's halberd techniques and also stole some of my spear techniques. After years of hard training in seclusion, he has indeed become a master like my second son. He is not easy to kill."

There was an indescribable helplessness in Zhou Tong's tone.

"Good heavens, I never expected Shi Wengong to have such a past?"

Xiao Jiahui was somewhat stunned; he was trying hard to digest what he had just heard.

When my brother comes back in a little while, I must tell him, so he'll be shocked too...