Qingyang Manor had originally been the summer retreat of the Xu family of Guangning City.
At its peak, the Xu family had extensive business dealings, largely thanks to its patriarch, Xu Zeyuan.
He was known in the jianghu as Hundred-Catty Blade.
In his youth, he had swept through the three mountains and six strongholds with his [Unskilled Blade Technique], making a great name for himself.
He later settled in Guangning City, and with his reputation behind them, the younger generations of his family prospered in business and every other trade they pursued.
But a few years ago, Hundred-Catty Blade Xu Zeyuan had left home on a long journey, seemingly to keep an appointment with an old friend.
Unexpectedly, less than seven days after he set out, he was found dead by the side of a jianghu road.
Without this pillar holding the seas steady, the Xu family immediately fell into decline.
Though his descendants had inherited his martial arts, they had not mastered their essence and had made no name for themselves in the jianghu.
On top of that, the Xu family had made many enemies over the years while relying on Xu Zeyuan's prestige.
When the wall fell, everyone gave it a push, and the family estate began to shrink at a frightening pace.
Qingyang Manor had also been given up to settle debts at the time, but no one knew who its current owner was.
That was the information Fang Mingxuan had gathered about Qingyang Manor in less than a shichen.
As they spurred their horses toward Qingyang Manor, Fang Mingxuan passed it along to Fang Shuwen as idle talk.
For the most part, the information had no bearing on their present situation.
By the time he finished, Qingyang Manor was already in sight.
From a distance, it looked like a very quiet manor. It was not particularly large, and it sat at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by farmland.
The crops now covered the fields and were growing vigorously.
Fang Mingxuan ordered the men to be careful not to trample the crops as they went. No matter who owned them, they would become grain one day and must not be wasted.
The torch-bearing men advanced through the gaps between the fields and surrounded Qingyang Manor.
Yet the manor beneath the night sky seemed extraordinarily quiet.
Fang Shuwen cocked his ear, but could not hear the slightest sound.
He looked at Zhang Fang.
"Brother Zhang, did they notice you while you were watching them?"
"No."
Zhang Fang was extremely confident.
"I'm very careful in my work. How could they possibly have spotted me? Why do you ask?"
"There doesn't seem to be anyone in the manor."
Zhou Qingmei said,
"Why don't we go straight in and take a look?"
Fang Shuwen nodded.
"Then make sure you stay by my side."
Only then could he protect her at the first sign of danger.
Zhang Fang's eyes widened.
"Hold on, something doesn't sound right about that exchange. Just what is the relationship between you two?"
Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei ignored him. After they said a few words to Fang Mingxuan, the Fang family patriarch came with them to the gates of Qingyang Manor.
Fang Shuwen gave the gates a gentle push. They were barred from the inside.
Once he discovered that, Fang Shuwen wasted no more time on courtesy. He thrust out his palm, and the gates immediately broke open.
Fang Shuwen and his companions led the charge, while the others filed in behind them.
Some of the men remained outside, maintaining the encirclement to keep anyone from escaping in the confusion.
But at a glance, the manor really did appear deserted. There was not even a light to be seen.
"But the manor gates were barred, which means the people are still inside... Hmm, there's movement!"
Before Fang Shuwen had finished speaking, he darted out and charged toward a room.
Without bothering to open or close the door, he slammed into it, smashing it to pieces.
In the time it took a hare to spring up and a falcon to swoop down, he returned with a man in his hand.
The man looked stunned, seemingly still unable to understand what had happened. He looked up to see a sea of torches around him and pairs of eyes fixed on him.
His heart tightened. He raised both palms, black Qi gathering in each, and prepared to strike.
"[Black Sha Demonic Art]!"
Zhang Fang cried out in alarm.
But before the man could strike, two cracks rang out. Fang Shuwen had crushed both his shoulders.
His arms could only hang limply at his sides.
The sight made the corner of Zhang Fang's eye twitch slightly.
After Fang Shuwen had captured the man, someone else had rushed into the room to investigate. Now he emerged and called out loudly:
"We found something! There's a hidden passage in the room."
That meant there was more to what lay beneath Qingyang Manor.
Fang Shuwen looked at the man in his grasp.
"Are the people from the Black Sha Cult all hiding underground?"
The man clenched his teeth and said nothing.
Fang Shuwen asked no more. He brought his palm down on the man's head and killed him on the spot.
"What should we do now? We don't know what's down there, so rushing in may not be wise.
"What about attacking with fire?"
Fang Mingxuan said,
"We could light a fire at the entrance and send thick smoke underground to drive them out."
But Fang Shuwen shook his head.
"That won't do. First, we don't know the exact situation below, and the Black Sha Cult had no reason to hide down there for nothing.
"If they're using this time to practice their martial arts down there... there may still be innocent people alive.
"Second, no one can say for certain that this is the only entrance or exit.
"If the smoke goes in and they realize something is wrong, what if they escape through another exit? Wouldn't all our efforts be wasted?"
Everyone nodded at his words, feeling that Fang Shuwen had a point.
But that left them in a quandary over what to do.
Going down was a risk. Not only might they find themselves surrounded, they might also walk into a trap.
If they did not go down, they could only stand up above and stare helplessly.
At last, Fang Shuwen glanced at Zhou Qingmei.
"Are you willing to go down and investigate with me?"
Zhou Qingmei immediately smiled.
"I was just thinking the same thing!"
Zhang Fang was taken aback.
"You're really going down there?"
"This is dangerous. You should think it over."
Fang Mingxuan also spoke up to dissuade them.
Fang Shuwen felt somewhat helpless. Until the Black Sha Cult was eliminated, Zhou Qingmei would remain in danger.
They had already made enough of a disturbance tonight to beat the grass and startle the snake.
If they could not wipe out all the Black Sha Cult members in Qingyang Manor, they would inevitably be forced onto the defensive afterward.
A long defense was bound to fail, and the mission might fail with it.
So even if it was risky, he had to go down and investigate.
With that thought, he waved his hand.
"Say no more, everyone. Brother Zhang risked his life to gather information. Having built a mountain nine ren high, how can we let it fail for want of one final basket of earth?
"If we let those Black Sha Cult villains escape, they will surely cause endless trouble afterward!"
Hearing this, Zhang Fang immediately said,
"Then I'll go with you."
"Count this old man in as well."
Fang Mingxuan laughed.
"I never thought that at my age, I'd still get to experience the generous, heroic spirit of a young hero!"
"This..."
Hearing him say that, Fang Shuwen found himself somewhat torn.
Although Fang Lingxin had said he knew martial arts, it was hard to say just how good he was... If his martial arts were really that formidable, how could he have gotten himself lost back then?
And now that he was so old, who knew whether his health was still sound?
If he went down with them and something happened to him, what would they do?
P.S. Starting today, updates will change to two chapters a day.
I originally said I'd switch to two updates at 60,000 words. The plan was to sign the contract at 40,000 words, but it didn't happen yesterday because it was the weekend, and it didn't happen today either because the backend was being upgraded. With the word count almost there, my editor asked me to switch to two updates early.
But looking at it closely, it's only one day early, so I hope everyone will understand~
Once the book has made it through the recommendations and gone premium, I expect to update 10,000 words a day.
Please help by keeping up with the latest chapters~ Thank you!!