Chapter 182: Chapter 162: Permitting Murder and Arson, Treating People as Livestock

Let me analyze the source text first:

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese wuxia/xuanhuan web novel - a martial arts fantasy tale with elements of adventure, cultivation, and conflict.

Language style: The language is direct and straightforward with some martial arts terminology and descriptive action sequences. It has dialogue interspersed with action and internal thoughts.

Tone: Serious, occasionally violent, with some moments of tension and fear contrasted with the protagonist’s confidence.

Plot keywords: Mountain bandits, investigation, violence, martial arts, protection, journey, village burning

Characters:

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, powerful martial artist who can throw stones with deadly accuracy

- Bai Erya (白二丫): Female, appears to be Wu Liangchen’s fiancée/love interest

- The old man from the Bai family (白老头): Male, Bai Erya’s father and Wu Liangchen’s father-in-law

- Cong Bo (丛博): Male, the Seventh Village Chief from Cyan Cloud Mountain

- Chen Bamei (陈八妹): Female, previously mentioned character who provided information about the Cyan Cloud Mountain chiefs

Context: Wu Liangchen, Bai Erya and her father are traveling by cart. They encounter bandits/scouts from Cyan Cloud Mountain who are preparing for some military action. Wu Liangchen interrogates them, lets them go, then follows and kills them for their intentions to harm civilians. They continue their journey and discover villages that have been burned, showing the brutality of the Cyan Cloud Mountain forces.

Now I’ll translate the text while following all the guidelines:

T0 - CRITICAL RULES:

- I’ll strictly use all glossary terms as specified

- No Chinese characters or pinyin in the final output

- Preserve formatting and line breaks

- Make the translation sound natural in English

T1 & T2 - REFINEMENT RULES:

- Mark inner thoughts with single quotes

- Use logical word/character counts when translating meta-textual references

- Split run-on sentences for clarity

- Use natural English equivalents for idioms and expressions

- Format onomatopoeia in ALL CAPS

- Make dialogue and scene transitions read naturally

Here’s my translation:

Wu Liangchen remained silent, merely tapping the stone gently on the table twice. The crisp sound echoed through the eatery, causing the small leader to break into a cold sweat.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Very well, we were sent here by the Seventh Village Chief to scout the terrain and clear obstacles for the main forces that will follow."

"Oh? The Seventh Village Chief?" Wu Liangchen suddenly recalled the names of the various chiefs of Cyan Cloud Mountain that Chen Bamei had previously introduced.

This Seventh Village Chief was named Cong Bo, the very same man he had encountered before in Wuyang Guard.

"That’s correct, it is indeed Seventh Village Chief Cong Bo. As for what specific movements are happening on the mountain now, I’m merely a small team leader on patrol—how would I know such details?"

"However, we came down from the mountain with the Seventh Village Chief. And we’re not the only team dispatched—many other small teams are operating in secret as well. Judging from this situation, I expect the main forces will mobilize before long."

After sharing this information, the small leader stole a glance at Wu Liangchen’s reaction. Seeing his expression unchanged, revealing neither pleasure nor anger, the man grew increasingly uneasy.

’I wonder if this god of death is satisfied with my answer.’

’If he’s not, I’m finished today.’

Just then, Wu Liangchen spoke: "Since you say you came down from the mountain with Cong Bo, where is he now?"

"The Seventh Village Chief should currently be stationed at Xiaodian Town, about a hundred miles from here."

Xiaodian Town was a crucial passage on the route to Dinghai City, where various official roads converged—essentially a strategic chokepoint.

The Seventh Village Chief Cong Bo being stationed there made his intentions quite clear.

He was there to provide support for the upcoming military operation.

Wu Liangchen proceeded to ask about more details, and the small leader held nothing back, revealing everything he knew.

When he finished speaking, he looked anxiously at Wu Liangchen, uncertain of his intentions.

Wu Liangchen gently tapped the table, making the men grow increasingly desperate.

Suddenly, Wu Liangchen waved his hand. "Get lost!"

The men felt as if they’d received an unexpected pardon. The small leader bowed with clasped hands.

"Thank you, Master Wu, for sparing our lives."

With that, he quickly led his men out of the place.

A moment later, the sound of hoofbeats could be heard outside, indicating that the group had fled.

Only then did Wu Liangchen’s expression soften as he turned to Erya and the old man: "Are you full?"

"Yes, I’m full!" Erya replied.

The old man from the Bai family, however, didn’t dare speak. His entire body was trembling.

For someone who had lived a simple, honest life for most of his years, what had just transpired was truly terrifying.

Although he knew his son-in-law was a man of great ability, seeing him casually toss a cup and shatter all of a man’s teeth still filled him with dread.

Seemingly noticing his fear, Wu Liangchen smiled, then stood up and tossed a silver coin onto the counter.

This was to pay for the meal and the damaged wall and tableware.

However, Wu Liangchen suspected the peasant woman would not dare to continue operating this small eatery after this.

After leaving and boarding the cart, Wu Liangchen asked the old man from the Bai family, "Father-in-law, do you know how to drive the cart?"

"I... I know a little."

"Good. You drive the cart first. I need to go take care of something. I’ll be back soon."

With those words, Wu Liangchen handed the reins to the old man.

The old man didn’t know what Wu Liangchen intended to do, but since he had been asked, he naturally didn’t question it.

Once the old man took control of the cart, Wu Liangchen leaped into the forest by the roadside and immediately disappeared from sight.

The old man was startled, nearly dropping the whip in his hand.

"What... what is he going to do?"

Compared to his unease, Bai Erya was much calmer.

"Father, don’t worry about what Brother Xiaowu is doing. Just focus on driving the cart."

"Alright, but will he be able to find us later?"

"Don’t worry, he definitely will!" Bai Erya stated with absolute confidence.

By now, she had developed an almost blind admiration for Wu Liangchen. In her eyes, there was nothing her lover couldn’t accomplish.

As the old man continued driving the cart forward, Wu Liangchen was sprinting through the forest.

His speed now far exceeded that of a galloping horse, so after only seven or eight minutes of pursuit, he could hear hoofbeats coming from ahead.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Wu Liangchen’s lips as he accelerated to catch up.

The Cyan Cloud Mountain thugs had been riding at full speed for a full quarter hour since leaving the small eatery, only slowing down when their horses could no longer sustain the pace.

"Damn it, this is infuriating! Since joining Cyan Cloud Mountain, when have we ever been humiliated like this?" one of the men complained bitterly.

The small leader’s face was also grim. "Don’t worry. Once we get back to Xiaodian Town and report this to the Seventh Village Chief, he’ll certainly kill that arrogant bastard."

"That’s right. Remember not to kill him right away. Keep him barely alive, then have our way with that little woman in front of him. That’ll satisfy my hatred."

His speech was slurred and whistling through gaps—the very man whose teeth Wu Liangchen had shattered earlier.

But as soon as he finished speaking, there came a sharp whistling sound through the air. The next instant, his head exploded like an overripe melon left in the scorching sun.

Brain matter splattered everywhere, covering the faces and clothes of those nearby.

"What happened?!"

"We’re under attack!"

Amid panicked shouts, the men hurriedly formed a circle and drew their swords, scanning the surrounding forest.

But the forest was completely silent, without a single human figure in sight.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench of blood. The men were terrified, their courage completely shattered. The small leader’s voice trembled as he called out.

"Is that Master Wu? We didn’t mean any disresp—"

THUNK!

A stone entered through his mouth and exited through the back of his head. The tremendous force blew off his occipital bone and the top of his skull.

"Run!"

The remaining men finally broke under the terrifying pressure and scattered on horseback in different directions, hoping to escape with their lives.

But they could never outpace the high-speed flying stones. White flashes of light streaked through the air, and their heads exploded one after another like fireworks.

Moments later, none of the thugs remained alive. Every one of them had their heads shattered, their lives ended by the stones.

The riderless horses paced back and forth anxiously.

Some of the bodies had their feet caught in the stirrups when they fell, and were being dragged along the ground by the horses.

The headless corpses were like writing brushes, leaving long trails of blood on the ground.

Wu Liangchen then emerged from the forest.

He had rushed here specifically to end the lives of these thugs.

There was no notion of punishing only the ringleaders and sparing the followers.

Based on what they had just said, it was clear they had committed such acts before.

So killing them was entirely justified.

The reason he hadn’t acted in the small eatery was mainly to avoid frightening the father and daughter from the Bai family.

After all, not everyone could handle such bloodshed.

Next, Wu Liangchen searched through the bodies one by one, but aside from a few waist tokens and some scattered copper coins, he found nothing of value.

This wasn’t surprising, though.

These mountain bandits lived to drink heavily and feast on meat. How could they be expected to save money?

Afterward, Wu Liangchen dragged the bodies into the nearby forest and briefly cleaned up the blood on the ground.

In the current weather, it wouldn’t take more than two or three days for these bodies to decompose into mud, but that was no longer his concern.

Wu Liangchen had another reason for killing these small-time thugs—to cut off information and buy himself time.

As long as he could get past Xiaodian Town, that would be enough.

Wu Liangchen returned the way he had come and soon spotted the cart, then jumped directly onto it.

The old man from the Bai family was startled again, but when he realized it was Wu Liangchen, he finally relaxed.

"Did you finish what you needed to do?"

"Yes, it’s done. Let me drive now. You should rest a bit."

"Ah, good!"

The old man was indeed getting tired. The heat of the day made him drowsy, and he could barely stay alert.

Wu Liangchen didn’t feel much fatigue and drove the cart at full speed, but a hundred-mile journey was no small distance for a cart. By the afternoon, they had only covered half the distance.

Wu Liangchen wasn’t in a hurry, though. If they couldn’t make it today, there was always tomorrow. So he slowed down and began looking for a place to stay for the night.

They had now left the outskirts of Dinghai City, and villages were becoming increasingly sparse. There were no more roadside eateries or inns along the way.

The further they went, the more apparent this situation became.

Some villages looked fine from a distance, but upon closer inspection, they discovered no one was there.

And in some places, there were obvious signs of burning.

These marks were fresh—they hadn’t been there when Wu Liangchen passed through a few days ago. They must have appeared very recently.

Wu Liangchen’s expression grew cold.

He realized he had clearly overestimated the standards of Cyan Cloud Mountain.

Originally, Wu Liangchen had thought that since Cyan Cloud Mountain aimed to conquer the world, they must have some basic principles. After all, if they left nothing but scorched earth wherever they went, what would be left of the world once they conquered it?

But now he understood he was wrong.

Cyan Cloud Mountain didn’t care about such things at all. They even encouraged their men to burn, kill, and plunder.

The reason was simple: in the eyes of the Great Village Chief of Cyan Cloud Mountain, these ordinary civilians weren’t even considered human—they were merely talking livestock.

Killing a few head of livestock to reward his troops and boost morale was a worthwhile trade-off for this Great Village Chief.

As for winning or losing the hearts of the people, that wasn’t even a consideration for these men.

Erya also sensed the oppressive atmosphere and became nervous.

After traveling a bit farther, when the day was neither light nor dark, thick smoke suddenly rose in the distance with flickering flames visible.

Wu Liangchen snapped the reins and headed toward the fire.

As they got closer, they saw that a village had been engulfed in flames. Faintly, they could hear crying and maniacal laughter.

"Brother Xiaowu, this..." Erya said with a trembling voice.

Wu Liangchen’s face was as cold as water. "When we get there, if you don’t want to see it, just close your eyes!"