The entire place was eerily quiet, so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone stared intently at Xiao Changshan's hand, waiting for the moment he would bring it down.
Just then, a voice echoed from a distance: "Stop!!!"
Xiao Changshan was ecstatic. This was the sound he had been waiting for! Finally, it had come.
Fearing his men might not have heard clearly, he shouted loudly again: "Stop! Everyone, put your guns away for now and let's see what's happening."
The gunmen were all stunned. They had never encountered anything like this before.
However, they dared not disobey the order and began to re-holster their weapons.
Xiao Changshan turned around, leading the way. Everyone simultaneously looked in the direction the voice had come from. They saw a woman dressed in a long white gown, her face veiled, walking gracefully towards them.
The woman appeared very mysterious, exuding an ethereal and transcendent aura.
The moment Xiao Changshan saw her, he showed great respect. He hurried forward and said reverently, "Ah, Qinglian Xianzi, why have you come? This place is dangerous; it's not a place for you."
Qinglian Xianzi?
Upon hearing this title, some people understood, while others didn't. Those who did understood now showed expressions of deep admiration.
Lu Ming curiously asked, "Is this woman very powerful?"
Su Wanran, standing beside him, explained, "You wouldn't understand. This woman is a famous sorceress in Wudu. She can divine yin and yang and command the universe. Many high-ranking officials find it extremely difficult to get an audience with her. It's said that Qinglian Xianzi has always helped Xiao Changshan divine his fortune and misfortune, and she is a favored guest of Xiao Changshan."
So that's how it is.
Lu Ming secretly chuckled. This Xiao Changshan truly knew how to get things done. When normal means couldn't solve a problem, he resorted to unconventional methods.
Regardless of the method, as long as it solved the problem.
Black cat, white cat, any cat that can catch mice is a good cat!
Xiao Changshan quietly inquired, "Qinglian Xianzi, you rushed over so urgently. Is there something you need to tell me?"
Qinglian Xianzi's face was stern, and she spoke with utmost sincerity, "Emperor Xiao, I have come to prevent you from making a grave mistake."
"Ah? What great mistake?" Xiao Changshan didn't understand.
Qinglian Xianzi said, "According to my calculations, the current head of the Su family—Su Wanran—is your benefactor of ten lifetimes! Her kindness towards you is as vast as the heavens and immeasurable! If you were to shoot and kill your great benefactor, all the good karma you have accumulated in this life will end. You will even suffer in the next life, and after death, you will descend into the eighteen layers of hell to endure eternal torment."
This was too far-fetched.
Lu Ming frowned as he listened. He had also said unreliable things before, but not even a tenth of what Qinglian Xianzi was saying.
Ten lifetimes as a benefactor, good karma, eighteen layers of hell, suffering in the next life—where did all this come from?
Her mind was quite sharp.
Xiao Changshan was greatly shocked. "N-no way?"
Qinglian Xianzi affirmed with great certainty, "If the matter were not serious, would I have rushed over here specifically? Emperor Xiao, the head of the Su family has shown you immense kindness. You must not be blinded by a single leaf and commit an unforgivable sin."
At this point, all eyes turned to Su Wanran.
Su Wanran herself felt very awkward.
How had she inexplicably become Xiao Changshan's benefactor? She hadn't done anything.
As for past lives and future lives, she had never even heard of such things.
However, it was evident that Xiao Changshan was a person who deeply believed in cause and effect. After hearing Qinglian Xianzi's words, he clasped his hands over his head, writhing in agony.
"How could this be? Why, why?!"
"The head of the Su family is my benefactor of ten lifetimes. If I kill her, I will be a sinner for eternity; yet Old Master Fan has shown me kindness in this life, and if I disobey him, I am worse than a pig or a dog!"
"Heavens, why do you torment me so? I am in so much pain!!!"
Everyone stared blankly at Xiao Changshan.
Lu Ming pressed his hand to his forehead, unable to bear his exaggerated acting. To absolve himself, Xiao Changshan would come up with any ridiculous excuse.
He was in pain?
Lu Ming found his clumsy acting even more painful!
After a long while.
Xiao Changshan picked up a knife. "Alas, alas. Loyalty and righteousness can never be fully reconciled. Since I cannot kill my ten-lifetime benefactor, nor can I defy Old Master Fan's command, I shall end my own life!"
Saying this, he was about to stab himself.
Following this, an even more clichéd drama unfolded.
Qinglian Xianzi and the extras who had been arranged beforehand, all acting their parts, rushed forward to grab Xiao Changshan, urging him not to act impulsively and to calm down.
Finally, under their persuasion, Xiao Changshan decided not to commit suicide.
He emulated Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms period and cut his hair as a substitute for his head!
He cut off his already short hair, treating it as if he had severed his own head, as a form of punishment.
In the end.
Xiao Changshan wailed to the sky, "Old Master Fan, I am sorry. I cannot fulfill the task you assigned me and have no face to see you. From this moment on, I will leave Wudu and never return. Old Master Fan, I have failed you!"
Good heavens.
He said all the right things, claiming he had no face to see Fan Wentao; in reality, he was afraid of punishment and dared not go.
Xiao Changshan had already planned his escape. He gathered his large contingent of men and left in a mighty procession! Without any hesitation or delay, he directly led his men away from Wudu, back to his base.
How ruthless.
Even more ruthless than Southern Emperor Xie Zhong yesterday.
Xie Zhong was merely humiliated but still remained to continue his confrontation with the Su family to the bitter end; Xiao Changshan, on the other hand, simply fled with his subordinates.
Xiao Changshan secretly thought to himself: On one side is Fan Wentao, and on the other is the Dragon Warlord. It's inappropriate to offend either of them; I won't get involved in such a thankless task. I'm out, goodbye!
And so.
A great calamity for the Su family ended inexplicably.
The dozens of people in the Su family, from top to bottom, didn't even realize what had happened. Many of them had prepared to die, some had even written their wills, and yet Xiao Changshan had run away!
It wasn't out of a change of heart, nor was he defeated and forced to retreat. He simply ran away because he believed in cause and effect, in some benefactor of ten lifetimes.
It sounded like a joke.
Of everyone present, besides Lu Ming, no one else understood what was going on.
In their eyes, Xiao Changshan was simply insane.
But they failed to consider how an insane person could become a regional Emperor. Xiao Changshan's actions had their own reasons.
After Xiao Changshan left, the most awkward person was Wu Hao.
He had intended to use a borrowed knife to kill, but this 'knife' hadn't harmed the Su family one bit; instead, it had shot Wu Hao.
To this day, Wu Hao lay on the ground, a gunshot wound in his thigh, bleeding profusely.
The pain was excruciating.
Wu Hao, abandoning all dignity, cried out in plea, "Chairman Su, please save my life. Can you call an ambulance for me and send me to the hospital? I'm in so much pain I'm dying."
There was no need to repay such an evil person who took advantage of a crisis with benevolence.
Su Wanran said with a cold face, "The person who injured you is not from my Su family. What obligation do we have to call an emergency number for you? Besides, don't you know what you just did? Not only did you take advantage of the situation, but you also tried to use a borrowed knife to kill, instigating Xiao Changshan to destroy my Su family. Heh, do you, a person with such a venomous heart, really think I would save you? Dream on!"
She waved her hand and ordered, "Everyone in the Su family, listen up! None of you are allowed to call 120 for an ambulance! Wu Hao, you can fend for yourself!"
The Su family members responded in unison, "Yes, ma'am!"
Wu Hao, in pain and rage, glared at Su Wanran, secretly cursing, "You b****, just you wait. One day I'll twist your head off and use it as a soccer ball!"