Chapter 196: Killing

As the troupe leader, Scholar Lü remained composed despite the chaos on stage. He first rushed onto the stage, stood before Scholar Lü (the younger), and repeatedly bowed to the audience with an apologetic smile.

After bowing, he gave a knowing look to his youngest son, then quickly pulled the distraught Scholar Lü (the younger) backstage. Scholar Lü (the senior), usually unreliable, didn't falter this time. He quickly somersaulted onto the stage, picked up the gong, flipped its concave side over, and humbly collected items from the ground, placing them into the gong.

"This situation with the Lü family... it's a bit complicated," Li Huowang murmured as he walked towards the carriage. He knew, of course, what Luo Juanhua had endured in the bandit lair, but there was little he could do to help with something like that.

As he approached the carriage, he saw Scholar Lü (the elder) forcefully hitting his eldest son on the head with a pipe. "She's your wife! Saying such things about her on stage! Whose face are you losing? You're losing your own face! You're disgracing the Lü family!"

Suddenly, Scholar Lü (the younger) reached out and snatched the pipe from his father's hand. Scholar Lü (the elder) stumbled, looking at his eldest son with a hint of unfamiliarity.

"Disgrace! What disgrace! We're all low-class performers! Isn't that shameful enough?! Our family is already at the very bottom! We have to call prostitutes from brothels 'auntie'! Is there anything more shameful than our family?" he raged. "Didn't you see her in the bandit lair? Her despicable behavior, laughing and joking with those bandits! She... she even did *that* with a bandit right in front of me! Father, I'm so humiliated, so utterly humiliated! It's killing me!"

Scholar Lü (the younger), his face filled with grief and indignation, knelt on the ground, repeatedly pounding it with his hands.

"Why do you think I apologize and smile to others? Don't you know? It's all for the Lü family! If I didn't humble myself, Xiuer would have been thrown away and killed by them long ago! You feel humiliated, but don't I?" she retorted. "Do you really think I have no shame? Do you really believe I, Luo Juanhua, am a promiscuous woman? But what choice do I have? I hurt inside too! But I know I'm not some young lady; I'm just the wife of a lowly performer! When I suffer injustice, I can only bear it! I can only pretend I don't care!"

Luo Juanhua, her belly now slightly showing, burst into loud sobs after speaking.

Li Huowang slowly exhaled, looking at the chaotic scene before him. The root of all this suffering stemmed from the bandits; as long as they existed, there would be countless Luo Juanhuas. Eradicating bandits should have been the soldiers' duty, yet paradoxically, the two groups were intertwined. Perhaps Wang Deqiu had been right earlier; soldiers and bandits were indeed quite similar. "This damned place is truly messed up."

There wasn't much Li Huowang could do. He turned sideways and whispered a few instructions to his fellow disciples. Soon, Sun Baolu and Gouwa led Scholar Lü (the younger) aside, while Bai Lingmiao and Chun Xiaoman helped Luo Juanhua to the other side.

"Master Lü, don't just stand there stunned. Pull yourself together, the show isn't over yet." Li Huowang walked up to Scholar Lü (the elder) and patted him on the shoulder.

Scholar Lü (the elder), who seemed to have aged several years in an instant, fumbled with his empty hands and shuffled towards the front of the stage with a hunched back. "That boy, Scholar Lü, has never been like this today..."

However, as soon as he emerged from backstage, he found that all the spectators had left. Other people on the street also looked panicked, gathering towards the outskirts of the town. At this point, he couldn't care less about his family's private matters. He quickly shouted, "Young Daoist! Young Daoist, come out quickly! There's trouble!"

Hearing the commotion, Li Huowang rushed over. After assessing the situation outside, he immediately told everyone to prepare for evacuation. Something was clearly amiss.

"Wait here for me! I'm going to see what's happening."

After saying this, Li Huowang rushed back to the carriage, grabbed his sword, concealed it within his theatrical robe, and then charged towards the town entrance. Pushing through the dense crowd and the smelly camels, Li Huowang soon saw the scene outside. It was soldiers—rows of fierce-looking infantrymen had surrounded the entire town.

These soldiers weren't wearing proper uniforms; their clothing was a motley assortment, and their weapons were just as varied. The only thing that identified them to Li Huowang was the greenish mark on each of their heads.

When Li Huowang spotted Hou Lao'er among them, carrying a heavy iron spear, he immediately understood their intentions. They were looking for him! Hou Lao'er, along with other short-range soldiers carrying heavy black iron spears, rode horses and stood beside a tall general, never leaving his side. This person was exceptionally tall, a head taller than those around him, wearing an iron mask and dark gold armor. The heavy halberd, twelve feet long, in his hand gleamed chillingly. Just by standing there, an intimidating aura radiated from him, growing stronger with each passing moment. Even from a distance, Li Huowang felt a profoundly unsettling presence, like a bomb ready to detonate at any moment.

Seeing these people, the crowd around them began to murmur nervously. As local residents of Later Shu, they seemed even more anxious than Li Huowang.

"Oh heavens, it's the bandit soldiers! It's the bandit soldiers!" someone cried. "What do we do now? We have to leave quickly!" "Leave for where? Our escape routes are blocked!"

Li Huowang retreated slightly deeper into the crowd, his mind racing. "They're probably here for me, but they likely don't know who we are yet, otherwise they would have attacked directly with their troops," he thought. "It'll be tough to get through their search later, but these soldiers don't seem to have good discipline. Maybe I can try bribing them..."

Just as Li Huowang was weighing his options, a stout man in silk clothes, wearing a humble expression, ran towards the distant army. As soon as he reached the general's large red horse, he took off his hat and began speaking softly. From his demeanor, he seemed to be a local official or gentry, someone in charge of the town.

"This is a transportation hub; I'm not the only outsider here. It's a mixed bag, and even if they question the locals, it won't help them."

However, what happened next made Li Huowang's heart clench. The enormous halberd was suddenly raised high and brought down with a heavy blow. The stout man's head and body were instantly cleaved in two. A sickly sweet breeze, carrying the scent of blood, wafted over everyone's faces.

*Clip-clop*, the iron hooves advanced a few steps. The distant general, using a hand encased in armor plates, slowly raised his face guard. Beneath it was a delicate, almost feminine face. No, it *was* a woman! Like the other bandit soldiers, her face was tattooed with characters. The four boldly calligraphic characters "Loyalty to the Nation" were directly inscribed across her face, transforming what should have been a refined countenance into something exceptionally grim.

"Everyone! There are spies from Sicheng among you, please bear with us!"

The female general's voice was pleasant, but her next words sent shivers down everyone's spines. *Clang*, the heavy face guard covered her face again. "Come on, lads! We won't sheathe our blades for a day. Slaughter them all, lest any Sicheng spies escape!" "Hah!" The cold glint of blade tips pointed at everyone in the town.