5 Chapter 5: Liu Bin

Seventy miles outside of Heyuan county lies Shizhuang.

This place is a sparsely populated small village, nestled in the mountains and by the water, with a pleasantly scenic view.

In a secluded, inconspicuous courtyard, a middle-aged farmer with a robust physique is aimlessly flipping and drying grains on his own threshing floor.

From time to time, this plain-looking farmer looks towards the direction of Heyuan city and a smile takes shape on his face.

"In less than a year, it will be twenty years complete. My past crimes will be beyond the statute of limitations of the Heyuan temple… If I can just survive this, then I can change my face and enter the city…"

As the honest farmer mumbled to himself, he is hit with the memory of the past murder case and a trace of ferocity flashes in his eyes.

"It wasn't my fault… It wasn't my fault… It was the He family who drove me to extremes, forced me to exterminate them all!! If you are looking to place the blame, then blame yourselves for pushing me to the edge without leaving me any way out!!"

At this moment, a childlike girl around five or six years old suddenly runs out from inside the house, still calling out:

"Daddy, Daddy, look, look what I made."

The savage expression on the farmer's face disappears instantly. When he turns around, he becomes a model of kindness, albeit the gloom in his eyes is impossible to erase.

"Lan'er, what have you made? Haha, is it a grasshopper made from straw rope? Come, let Daddy give it a kiss."

The farmer swiftly lifts the adorable girl in his arms, his face brimming with smiles.

"Daddy, it tickles!" giggled the little girl, seemingly a bit scared.

.........

Shen Zhui is hiding outside of this courtyard in a tree, watching the joyous interaction between the father and daughter, he can't help but feel sentimental.

"I had never expected that the murderer Liu Bin from nineteen years ago would actually be hiding here, in this quiet mountain village seventy miles away, even with a child of his own…"

If it wasn't for the fact that his system could never be wrong, he would've never connected the villanous criminal who slaughtered over seventy souls with the plain-looking man he now sees.

"This Liu Bin, he must have only recently come back here. The boundary of a hundred miles is conveniently the limit of the sacrifices and sweep inspection that takes place every few years, he must be planning to change his face, preparing to resume life in the city."

Taking a deep breath, Shen Zhui jumps down directly from the tree and slowly approaches the courtyard fence.

"Daddy, Daddy, there's a big brother coming over."

"Hm?" Liu Bin, who was immersed in joy, is taken by surprise, and turns to look.

Imperial edict for law enforcement, county office belt plaque, measure of punishment…

A chill instantly traverses through Liu Bin's heart and his face turns somewhat pale.

But seeing that Shen Zhui doesn't make any further move, just stands outside the fence, even making a playful expression towards his daughter, Liu Bin somewhat relieved.

He puts down his daughter, pats her head: "Lan'er, go inside. Daddy has some business with this big brother, don't come out, understood?"

"Yes! Lan'er understands!" the little girl replies timidly, then quickly enters the room.

Liu Bin steps out of the courtyard gate, closes the wooden door and looks at Shen Zhui.

Shen Zhui seems completely unguarded, allowing him to approach.

Only when he was twenty meters away did Shen Zhui open his mouth: "Liu Bin."

Having his identity exposed by Shen Zhui, Liu Bin's last bit of hope had also vanished.

He stops, his face expressing complex emotions. After a while, he said with deep respect, "Thank you for sparing my daughter and refraining from acting here."

"Sir, please." Liu Bin made a gesture, then turned around and lead the way.

Shen Zhui remained silent and kept a distance of twenty meters from Liu Bin as they walked on.

When they had reached a secluded forest with no signs of human presence, Liu Bin stopped.

Shen Zhui also stopped.

"This place is peaceful and secluded, I come here often to practice my blade. What does the sir think?"

"The Azure Dragon changes burrows, the White Tiger enters the clouds, mountains are densely wooded and streams surround. Indeed, it is a geomantic treasure spot, if someone was buried here, they would definitely bring blessings to their descendants."

Shen Zhui chuckled apparently making small talk with Liu Bin, yet his words concealed a hidden threat.

This may be the gravesite Liu Bin chose for himself, or perhaps it's for him, Shen Zhui.

"What an eye for it, sir!" Liu Bin dropped his previously farmer-like demeanor, radiating a dangerous aura.

"You only needed to hide for one more year, and you would have had the chance to survive, with the possibility of changing your face and living in the city. Why risk approaching the city?" Shen Zhui was puzzled.

Liu Bin sighed, "My wife died of a difficult birth, and we had been living in the mountains for a while. The cold and damp environment and lack of contact with civilization led to my daughter being born weak and frequently ill. Without medicine to treat her and no other alternative, we had to leave the mountains."

Shen Zhui sighed inwardly. Liu Bin seemed to really care for his daughter.

Just as Shen Zhui was contemplating, Liu Bin suddenly prostrated himself: "I know I have committed a heinous crime and am beyond forgiveness. But my daughter is weak and frequently ill, I myself am willing to die to atone for my crimes, I ask that you take care of my daughter."

"Sigh, get up first." Shen Zhui sighed and stepped forward to help Liu Bin up.

Just at that moment—-

"Whoosh~" Out of nowhere, Liu Bin pulled out a short knife from under some bamboo, and slashed at Shen Zhui's belly!

The short knife was hidden under some leaves. It was impossible to predict, completely unexpected!

"Urgh!" Shen Zhui's mouth started to ooze blood as he retreated.

"Ha-ha, has the government really run out of people, sending a novice youth like you here?"

"Want to kill me? Maybe in your next life!"

Liu Bin sneered, holding the short knife in his hand and strode forward, slashing a huge arc aimed at Shen Zhui's head.

"Whoosh~"

After one slash, he was only hacking at empty air. Shen Zhui had sidestepped and drawn the Iron Ruler from his waist, already standing ten meters away.

"Such quick agility, how is that possible?" Liu Bin was secretly surprised - Shen Zhui had speed equal to his.

Shen Zhui let go of his hand on his stomach. His clothes were torn, revealing silver scale armor underneath, and on it was a shallow knife mark.

"Prepare to die!" catching Liu Bin off guard, Shen Zhui drew an Iron Ruler and rapidly moved toward his opponent.

"Wishful thinking!" Liu Bin, his eyes fierce, moved forward without fear, wielding his knife.

"Clang, clang, clang~"

The sounds of metal colliding. The blade meets the Iron Ruler, sparking off an array of sparks, a huge force transmitted to their wrists.

Shen Zhui fought with the Iron Ruler in either hand. The so-called Iron Ruler has a prototype of a three-pronged puncture, similar to a sword, with two side supports that can be used to block opponent's weapons. It has a substantial advantage against swords and knives.

The method he employed was called "Iron Ruler Ninefold," which could be done single-handedly.

It can also combine with a pair of rulers, either gripped directly or reversed, one for attacking and the other for defending.

"He can use a pair of rulers too? And his strength nearly matches mine?" Liu Bin was caught off guard when his dagger got stuck.

There is a stark difference between dual rulers and a single one.

The use of dual rulers for both attacking and defending proves several times stronger than the use of a single ruler. This technique can be said to be versatile and extremely agile.

Naturally, the difficulty is higher, but those who can wield dual rulers must be the elites among criminal catchers!

"Humph!" Liu Bin's dagger was stuck but far from retreating, he pressed on. He exerted a sudden force from his wrist, forcing energy from his body to the dagger, intending to thrust the dagger further in, breaking through the iron ruler and penetrating Shen Zhui's skull.

But at this moment, upon Shen Zhui's iron ruler a radiance was also pulsing, instantly stacking two energy essences.

In this contest of strength, Liu Bin's dagger couldn't penetrate further, but instead seemed to be pushing against him!

Helplessly, his dagger had to retreat, but Shen Zhui's iron rulers, full of life like a snake, pursued it closely and counterattacked from defense.

"Break, break, break!" Liu Bin, looking frantic, waved his dagger several times, the blade casting a misty glow, striking at Shen Zhui over and over again.

Shen Zhui was measured in his retreats and advancements, his dual rulers spinning around him like a wind, leaving no space. No matter how Liu Bin attacked, he simply couldn't break past those iron rulers.

Within ten breaths, Liu Bin had launched over thirty cuts, but despite his initial suppression of his opponent, his sense of control was gradually eroding, and he was seemingly being suppressed by his opponent!

"How could this happen?!"

Liu Bin's heart pounded.

The more he fought, the more frightened he became!

"His dual rulers leave no gaps. in every ten moves, there are seven illusions. This represents the pinnacle of ruler usage... how is this possible? How is this possible? How old is he?!"

Liu Bin, having trained in the sword technique for decades, was just slightly short of mastering it.

The best he could do was to achieve a basic level of mastery where he could use it as naturally as his fingers.

Because weapons are foreign objects, making a heavy weapon feel like a part of one's body is extremely difficult.

But this young man had mastered the utilization of the ruler, and his moves subtly carried a sort of 'momentum'. Despite Liu Bin holding a higher rank and possessing more strength, he was being suppressed!

"Kill, kill, kill!"

Liu Bin was also maddened.

Finding a glimmer of hope, how would he let it slip away easily?

Shen Zhui remained silent, his dual rulers spinning tightly, kicking up many shadows of the rulers, pulling further ahead of him!

"Slash~!"

Shen Zhui's iron ruler sliced across Liu Bin's waist, instantly drawing blood!

"Damn, I can't drag this out!" Liu Bin suddenly sobered up, breaking away from his frenzied state amidst the pain.

In the first sixty blows he could rely on his rank and strength to suppress his opponent, but after sixty strikes he had been injured, if this continued, he feared he would fall at the hands of Shen Zhui!

"Die!" A faint glow surfaced on Liu Bin's dagger, in an instant, he expended all his energy essence.

The energy essence, every bit of it hard to come by, is the essence of the body's energy. If it was used up entirely and yet fails to kill the enemy, he would be left powerless and at their mercy.

If he did win, he would also need to recuperate for a long time before he recovered. Unless one was entirely certain, no one would dare to use their energy essence to fight the enemy until the last moment.

Liu Bin, who had been in exile for more than a decade, also understood the mysteries of Shen Zhui's "Blood Burning" technique. In terms of 'quality', the energy essence of Shen Zhui, at the eighth rank, might not be as good as his own cultivated technique.

But in terms of quantity, he was far behind the other party!

However, he was out of options. If he delayed any longer, death was certain!

He had no choice but to take a gamble!

No matter how exquisite your ruler technique, using the explosive power of energy essence, I shall break you with sheer force!

Shen Zhui shuddered, knowing that the other party was fighting for his life.

It must be noted that, no matter how exquisite the swordwork, if the gap in strength between the two is too large, for example, one is at the third rank and the other at the ninth rank, it would amount to nothing!

However, if Liu Bin could erupt with energy essence, so could Shen Zhui!

"Humph!"

He roared instantly, his left hand blocking horizontally while his body's energy essence surged out.

Sixteen energy essences erupted in unison!

With a boost in strength, the right ruler suddenly accelerated, heading straight towards his opponent's skull!

"Swipe, swipe~"

The light of the dagger and the shadow of the ruler flashed past.

"Spurt~" Shen Zhui spat out fresh blood and was flung backward.

Looking at Liu Bin again, an iron ruler was lodged in his chest, his face pale, he staggered a few steps backward, and had to lean on the blade to barely stay standing.

"Thanks to this silver-scale soft armor, this blade only shocked me, but did not cut through the armor."

Shen Zhui exclaimed, feeling his abdomen. Under his clothes, there was a large score in his silver-scale soft armor.

He was both startled and afraid now. A full-blown stab from a ninth-rank martial artist, combined with an outburst of energy essence, was indeed terrible.

In the final moment, he had barely managed to block, but was still breached by the enemy, scoring his body. Without this silver-scale soft armor, he would surely be gravely injured, even if not dead.

But now, only he was shocked, while the enemy was pierced through the internal organs by him.

"Your judge-ship is young but has achieved mastery in knife technique. I do not resent my defeat…" Liu Bin finally lost his strength, crashing to the ground, spitting out large mouthfuls of fresh blood.

Shen Zhui stood up, looking at Liu Bin with icy eyes.

According to divine law, murder cases that had gone unsolved for twenty years, and during which the culprit had not committed any crime, had a chance to escape punishment.

Because crimes committed outside the city, according to divine law, whether involving matters or people, usually only go back twenty years.

Of course, the case would still be downgraded and filed, handed over to the 'human' authorities for investigation.

But even so, the suspect would have it much easier, able to swagger into the city disguised and under a new name, with hardly any chance of being discovered.

He had originally thought there was some hidden truth, but now it seems that was not the case at all. Thinking of that innocent young girl, he calmly gazed at Liu Bin: "Was that all a lie?"

Liu Bin smirked, "Of course it was a lie. That girl was merely bought to act out a scene with me. It was merely a strategy to lower the guard of those who came to arrest me. But who would have known, though I deceived you, I couldn't kill you."

Shen Zhui nodded.

"I understand. You can die now."

"Spurt~" Pulling out the iron ruler, blood splattered everywhere, Liu Bin breathed his last, devoid of any signs of life.