Staring at the two corpses, Ian Song's expression didn't change in the slightest. After all, before his reincarnation, he had lost count of how many lives he'd taken—why would he care about two ordinary men now?
He reached out, grabbed both bodies, and tossed them into the roadside thicket before continuing on his way.
As for whether the Ma Family would make a fuss over their deaths, he wasn't worried. These two had followed him with ill intent from the start. Besides, in outsiders' eyes, he was just a frail scholar—no one would believe he could kill them, even if the Ma Family accused him.
While walking, he pulled up the System interface.
He instinctively believed that killing other beings should let him seize their Qi Luck. Sure enough, checking the System, he found his Qi Luck had increased by two points, now reaching fifteen.
"No wonder they died by my hand—their Qi Luck was terrible!"
Ian Song thought to himself, then closed the System interface.
Half an hour later, Ian Song returned to Songjia Village. Along the way, he ran into quite a few villagers, all greeting him warmly, with a hint of flattery.
Ian didn't put on any airs, smiling and returning their greetings to everyone.
"Young Master, you're back!"
Yoyo Chen came up with a face full of joy and took the bundle from Ian Song's hands.
Elsewhere, at Treasure Gathering Studio.
Malin Ma paced back and forth, feeling anxious. After all, this incident involved the county laureate. If things went well, fine—but if it got exposed, even the Ma Family might not be able to protect him.
Time ticked by slowly.
By rights, Zhou San and Wang Gui should have returned by now, but there was still no sign of either.
For a moment, panic mixed with suspicion—could those two have gotten greedy, robbed Ian, and run off?
But soon, he dismissed that idea as impossible.
He knew those two inside out, and with the Ma Family backing him, if they really ran off after robbing Ian, they'd never be able to return to Huangshan County for the rest of their lives.
An hour passed.
Then two hours.
Three hours passed.
With only an hour left before the city gates closed, Malin Ma could no longer sit still. He summoned two men and sent them out to search along the route.
Finally—
Just before the city gates closed.
The two men sent out to search returned.
Zhou San and Wang Gui were both dead, their bodies dumped in the roadside brush. Their internal organs had been shattered by a heavy blow, and judging by the scene, both had been killed instantly.
To crush a person's internal organs with a single strike—ordinary martial artists couldn't do that. Only an inner-qi expert, a true martial master, could use inner qi to shatter someone's insides.
"Could there be an inner-qi master secretly protecting Ian Song?"
At this thought, Malin Ma's face turned ugly, regret surging up inside him. If the other side came for revenge, could he possibly escape?
Suddenly, Malin Ma thought of something and a glimmer of hope rose in him. He asked the two men, "How did you deal with the bodies?"
"We hid them away!"
One of the men replied.
Malin Ma threw ten taels of silver to them and said, "Go out of the city tonight and bury both of them. This involves Young Master Charles Ma—I need to report to him right away!"
After giving his orders, Malin Ma grabbed the crystal wolf and hurried to the Ma Family estate.
Now, only Young Master Charles Ma could save him.
A quarter of an hour later—
Malin Ma arrived at the Ma Family estate. After the maid announced his arrival, Charles Ma summoned him inside.
"This old servant greets Young Master!"
Malin Ma knelt respectfully before Charles Ma, kowtowing. Though he shared the Ma surname, he was only a collateral branch. Outsiders might treat him as Ma Family, but before Charles Ma, he could only regard himself as a servant.
Charles Ma was built like a bull, nearly two meters tall, with a fierce, brutal face. A vertical scar ran down his forehead, making him look even more menacing.