Mythical Three Kingdoms

If you have evidence, do you dare to accuse me in court? Who is there below, accusing me? I compiled the census, how could I not know how many I eliminated? Who is slandering me!

Recently, those whom Li Youu eliminated were all burned to ashes, even their dwellings were scorched to white ground. His crazed actions largely concealed the number of people he killed.

”Here we go, it’s up to you now,” Jia Xu said to Li Youu with a teasing tone. Li Youu glanced at Jia Xu silently, then withdrew his gaze.

”Jia Wenhe, Li Wenru, what did you two bastards tell me at the time!” Chen Xi rushed forward alone, with a twisted roar on his face.

”Kill fewer people,” Li Youu said calmly. ”But to be realistic, I’ve already done a great job controlling it. Over forty families are extremely guilty. If you don’t believe it, just look.”

”Even if they’re extremely guilty, that doesn’t mean you should slaughter the entire households!” Chen Xi twitched at the sight of the book about a foot thick pulled out from Li Youu’s saddle, which contained the dark materials Li Youu had compiled on the major aristocratic families over the years.

”I didn’t wipe out entire households; I just eliminated the majority!” Li Youu completely ignored Chen Xi’s expression, as he was on solid ground this time.

”You call that not wiping out entire households? You’ve killed thirty thousand people!” Chen Xi roared with anger. Thirty thousand people!

”No, I only killed fourteen thousand,” Li Youu had an expression as if he’d accuse Chen Xi of slander for speaking nonsense, nearly suffocating Chen Xi with his composure.

”Do you think I believe that!” Chen Xi shouted frantically.

”I only killed fourteen thousand, whether you believe it or not. If I hadn’t been concerned about your feelings, I would have exterminated them all by now, including the related wife’s clan. Didn’t I wipe out over forty families? If it were the past, not wiping out forty families would be strange!” Li Youu suddenly seemed to explode with a cold laugh.

”In the past, even without as much evidence, I could easily have killed half of them. If not for giving you face, over the past few years I have at least tried to cultivate my heart, or I would have cut down even their branch lineages!” Looking at Chen Xi, Li Youu showed an expression of suppressed frustration, killing too little, not enjoying enough, and not being happy.

Chen Xi was dumbfounded by Li Youu’s counter-roar, then recalled the intelligence sent back from his own side. At first, he only thought of how many people Li Youu had killed; now thinking about it, Li Youu was indeed holding back. Given his past style, perhaps he truly was considerate this time by showing restraint.

”But you still can’t kill that many people!” Chen Xi called out helplessly, but his momentum was obviously lacking.

”I’ve already controlled it to a great extent. If you don’t believe it, you can ask Zheng Wenye and Xun Ciming and their groups. If it were me before, entire households would have been exterminated!” Li Youu’s face twisted, ”Can’t you see, this time I really showed restraint!”

Alright, Chen Xi truly didn’t see it before, but now that Li Youu mentioned it, Chen Xi realized it. Considering this guy’s past style of doing things, wiping out entire families was practically normal. Now, he even knows to leave a branch lineage as a form of sacrifice; it seems he truly held back.

”But since you showed restraint, couldn’t you have killed a little less?” Chen Xi was now just being unreasonable, unable to argue against Li Youu. Unfortunately, Li Youu was adamant that he had already gone this far as a concession.

”I would have liked to kill fewer, but given the awful things they did, not wiping out entire households is already giving them face.” Li Youu expressed his irritation, emphasizing repeatedly, ”I’ve already cultivated my heart, if you don’t believe it, go ask those people!”

Now, those who know Li Youu’s identity, upon learning the whole situation, still find it unbelievable that he didn’t wipe out entire households, even thinking that he indeed showed restraint, at least setting a bit of a baseline compared to before. He still knew to leave a branch lineage as a form of sacrifice.

This isn’t about being a masochist, but simply that Li Youu’s previous actions were so dark, those who knew thought wiping out entire families was standard for this guy. Just like everyone thinking Chen Xi wouldn’t kill, so Li Youu not wiping out entire families is just as shocking as Chen Xi taking action.

As they say, it’s never too late to mend, and what Li Youu is doing now is like a lifetime villain suddenly showing signs of turning into a good person, making everyone feel fortunate.

Though it’s just a little, those who know will feel fortunate because of this. This is also why Li Youu had the confidence to retort Chen Xi. When it comes to playing with people’s hearts, Li Youu claims he is also talented.

Naturally, this exchange between Li Youu and Chen Xi unsurprisingly spread out, and those who knew Li Youu’s identity all silently believed that he truly had held back this time. Otherwise, the killing could have doubled. It seems that these years of following Chen Xi have indeed resulted in some cultivation of the heart.

Of course, no one believed the figure of fourteen thousand dead, except perhaps Chen Xi might convince himself of it. Yet, because of Li Youu’s fury, they significantly lowered their highest estimated numbers.

Chen Xi stared at Li Youu, and after a long silence, he sighed. With things already like this, there was no use in continuing to argue. People were dead, and cursing Li Youu wouldn’t resurrect them. Moreover, even Chen Xi had to admit that by not wiping out entire households, Li Youu did indeed show restraint.

”And what about you, Wen He?” Chen Xi, seeing that he couldn’t out-argue Li Youu, sighed and looked at Jia Xu.

”I truly showed restraint,” Jia Xu said slowly, compared to Li Youu’s so-called restraint which was fabricated, Jia Xu at least had some boundaries and didn’t act recklessly in this regard. He truly did hold back.

Li Youu glanced at Jia Xu, who stared back, both knowing about each other’s true colors despite appearing clean. In truth, they both understood how dark things were.

”Ah, I really want to hit someone! Though what you say seems reasonable, and you indeed showed restraint, I’m still so resentful!” Chen Xi shouted with a sense of dissatisfaction. He was truly frustrated as these two had killed so many yet still acted as if they had shown mercy.

”Alright, we’ve given our explanation. If you want to hit someone, go after Fengxiao.” Jia Xu pointed to Guo Jia, who was watching the commotion indifferently from the side, ”You can’t win against the two of us.”

After all, Jia Xu and Li Youu were both of the kind who had crawled out of pits like those in Xiliang, possessing martial force equivalent to Qi Refining to Gang. They might only be average against soldiers, but beating Chen Xi posed no pressure at all.

”Now that’s not right, Wen He,” Guo Jia raised an eyebrow and said, ”Look, I didn’t even join Zichuan to cause trouble for you, yet you’re pushing the blame onto me.”

”I just found it odd why you didn’t go with General Guan to guard Yuzhou,” Jia Xu said with a smile.