The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword

He knelt down.

What everyone felt was no longer shock, but sheer terror.

The man still held Lu Feixin by the back of his neck, and he was squeezing hard. Lu Feixin's True Qi was erupting, about to burn him up, but he couldn't resist the terrifying strength.

BANG!

Lu Feixin's spine bent sharply, his forehead hitting the stone slab on the ground. His hands were desperately bracing against the ground, but they were already bent, his elbow joints crushed by the unbearable force.

Two more sounds rang out. Lu Feixin was forced to kowtow three times, and only then did the man release his grip.

"Opened your senses?"

King Mao's voice sounded again.

Lu Feixin's throat bobbed, but he couldn't utter a sound.

A scholar can be killed but not humiliated. This was not just a matter of integrity, but something inherent in every person with a backbone.

Suddenly, a corpse appeared before Lu Feixin. The corpse was headless, but he recognized it at a glance. It was the body of his eldest son. He had seven sons in total; four were seated upstairs. The other three were traveling and were known as the Three Heroes of the Lu Family.

Lu Feixin's body trembled, his eyes turning bloodshot and wild as he stared at King Mao.

In that instant, another corpse appeared before him. There was a hole in the chest, and the heart was gone.

It was his third son!

The bloodlust in Lu Feixin's eyes intensified, and he shakily got up from the ground.

Then, three more corpses appeared before him. They were his three grandsons, without hands or feet, only torsos left, yet not quite dead. Their twisted screams shook the heavens.

He had sixteen grandsons and eight granddaughters. Twenty in total were at Green Willow Manor.

In that moment, he finally understood. Everyone at Lu Family Manor combined wasn't enough to kill them. No matter how stubborn he was, how unwilling he was to bow his head, it would only lead to death. But his descendants had a future. He couldn't let the nearly thousand-year foundation of Lu Family Manor be ruined by his hands.

Lu Feixin finally nodded.

King Mao said, "You really don't know how to be a person!"

Lu Feixin mumbled, "I don't!"

King Mao said, "But now you seem to have learned a little. Good. Now, you and everyone at Lu Family Manor will kill everyone here. If even one escapes, your Lu Family Manor will pay with heads, starting with your descendants."

King Mao's voice was loud.

Everyone stirred and began to flee madly. Some of the more brutal individuals even repeatedly slashed and killed the Lu Family disciples and escorts who had surrounded them, tearing open a gap to escape.

Lu Feixin's eyes flared with bloodlust again, and he suddenly roared, "Kill!"

The word "kill" was distorted and hoarse. As if he had exhausted everything, he collapsed to the ground.

The Lu Family disciples and escorts began to attack. A melee broke out in the training ground, and upstairs, swords flashed. Screams erupted everywhere.

The woman in green looked around. Blood was everywhere. She stuck out her tongue, shivered, and sighed, "How terrifying!"

With that, she swaggered away.

From beginning to end, King Mao seemed not to have noticed her. Apart from the people of Lu Family Manor, no one else tried to stop her.

Old Man Mu suddenly scrambled up from the ground, shouting wildly. In the midst of the blood, he had gone mad like a headless fly, darting around, rushing wherever there was no blood.

He was about to charge into the willow forest.

The expressionless man suddenly moved, appearing silently behind Old Man Mu and unleashing a punch. That punch would have turned Old Man Mu into a pulp, but the sound it made was like striking a giant bell. Old Man Mu screamed and was sent flying, soaring for hundreds of feet. He then fell into the depths of the willow forest, his fly-like buzzing finally ceasing as he disappeared.

A headless fly was swatted away.

Divine Detective Eagle's expression changed, and King Mao's expression also turned grim. They both moved towards the willow forest. All that remained were the two men who carried the sedan chair, the chair itself, and the corpse of Mao Dongyue on it.

Ning Chang'an looked around and saw only blood and slaughter. He sighed and moved like the wind, leaping onto the arena, grabbing the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword, and then, taking advantage of King Mao and the others' absence, he fled.

"Fierce Wolf, it's up to you!" A man guarding Mao Dongyue's corpse stared intently at Ning Chang'an's retreating back and said, "This guy is running quite fast..."

Another man's expressionless face suddenly revealed a cold, ferocious smile. "Fierce Jackal, you're wrong. He's not fast at all..."

Fierce Jackal was the one who subdued Lu Feixin. Fierce Wolf and Fierce Jackal were King Mao's two ferocious dogs. Their primary purpose was to carry King Mao's sedan chair; wherever King Mao went, the chair would appear. They rarely had a chance to act. Today was an exception. Fierce Jackal had had his fill, but Fierce Wolf hadn't even started.

Fierce Wolf instinctively licked his lips, bent his body slightly, let out a suppressed growl, and suddenly charged forward.

The willow forest was directly in front of Green Willow Manor. Anyone entering Green Willow Manor would pass through it. However, Ning Chang'an's escape route was not through the willow forest. The chance of escaping through the willow forest was slim.

He had thought that with Divine Detective Eagle's arrival, the situation might turn around, and his keen eyes would be able to find some clues. Now, it seemed Divine Detective Eagle was completely incapable. Clearly, Divine Detective Eagle had received the news of Mao Dongyue's impending death before everyone else and had immediately notified King Mao.

King Mao had arrived too quickly, and the assassins behind the scenes had retreated too quickly.

The moment Ning Chang'an thought of Old Man Mu being sent flying with one punch, his scalp tingled. It seemed that Liu Ruyan, a mere woman, could thrive in the martial world, drawing the covetous gazes and admiration of countless men while remaining at ease, single-handedly managing Spring Breeze Tower, such a large enterprise, without anyone daring to challenge her. Her hidden forces must be astonishingly powerful. Ning Chang'an found it both unbelievable and logical.

Any tree with lush branches and leaves had countless developed roots hidden beneath the ground. These roots were the foundation that allowed the tree to stand tall and not wither, and they were not easily exposed.

Ning Chang'an rapidly moved away from the area, desperately needing to expel the accumulated water in his lungs. He was having real difficulty breathing. However, he managed to hold his breath, which could sustain him for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

Ning Chang'an was as agile as a leopard in the mountains, leaping towards the mountain forest behind Green Willow Manor.

Green Willow Manor was built against a range of continuous mountains. Not far behind it was a rocky area overgrown with weeds. Dark green cypress trees stood silently, making the area particularly gloomy.

Ning Chang'an quickly crossed three small hills and entered the depths of the cypress forest.

The cypress trees grew densely, thick and lush, their branches and leaves forming a canopy that almost completely obscured the sky.

The woods were damp and chilling.

A thick layer of cypress leaves covered the ground. The leaves, like broken pieces of pine needles, were blackened by dampness and decay, dotted with patches of moss. Walking on them made almost no sound.

Ning Chang'an stopped among several large rocks.

His stomach felt truly awful.

He squatted down and retched, expelling the well water that had filled his stomach. He immediately felt much better, but his breathing was still difficult. The water in his lungs was slow to drain. He decided to rest here for a while, to catch his breath and get used to his changes.

There were crows in the cypress grove, and only crows. They perched motionlessly among the dense branches and leaves, occasionally flapping their wings with a pū pū pū sound as they flew off. In the unusually quiet cypress grove, this sound seemed strangely eerie, unsettling him.

Ning Chang'an ignored it, leaning against a large, moss-covered black rock and spitting out small mouthfuls of water periodically.

His sword never left his hand, as unease still clouded his heart.

Pū pū pū!

A flock of crows suddenly took flight, not only flying but also cawing loudly.

Ning Chang'an slowly sat up straight and began to listen intently.

These crows weren't incapable of making noise, they just didn't make it easily. When they did, it usually signaled bad news, at least indicating they had seen or sensed something that frightened them.

Ning Chang'an heard a rhythmic rustling sound, faint but consistently spaced. It was the sound of footsteps, the precise and light gait only a master of Qinggong could achieve.

If it were before, he would never have noticed it.

The rustling grew louder, like a large snake slowly approaching.

Ning Chang'an suddenly stood up and spun around. What he saw wasn't a large snake with a flickering tongue, but a pair of eyes, a pair of wild eyes filled with an eerie, cold light, like those of a hungry wolf.

They were the eyes of Fierce Wolf. He was currently half-crouched on a large rock, his expressionless face and indifferent gaze fixed on Ning Chang'an.

Ning Chang'an said in a deep voice, "A wolf or a dog?" He truly couldn't believe someone could track him all the way here. Unless they had a dog's sense of smell to follow his scent.

Fierce Wolf's eyes grew colder, a murderous glint appearing. He said in a low voice, "A person! You think no one can keep up with you?"

Ning Chang'an replied, "Indeed!" He was confident in his speed, more than three times faster than before. If not for the water in his stomach, his depleted stamina, and his injuries, he was sure he could have surpassed the speed Fierce Jackal displayed when dealing with Lu Feixin. Moreover, he had been extremely careful along the way, leaving very few traces. It would be impossible for an ordinary person to track him. He already knew this person was extraordinary; how could someone who could help carry that chair with Fierce Jackal be simple?!

Fierce Wolf sneered contemptuously, "A blacksmith accustomed to wielding a large hammer can never properly use a needle."

Ning Chang'an pondered the meaning of this sentence carefully, then looked at the cypress leaves on the ground where he had walked. The leaves he had stepped on showed different conditions. Some of the more decayed lower branches had been turned up. If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't notice such a subtle difference.

He suddenly realized the problem.

Even though he had been meticulous with every step, landing each footfall so that the withered cypress leaves would sink and then spring back, erasing his footprints, the increase in his strength had been too great, causing him to lose his usual precision in controlling himself.