Chapter 39

At this moment, clad in black, Ning Chang'an was no longer Ning Chang'an. He was Soulbreaker.

East Yongan Prefecture, Yang Manor.

An old general lived in Yang Manor: Yang Qianjun. Yang Qianjun had a son named Yang Wudou, twenty-three years old and skilled with a saber. This time, Yang Wudou was Ning Chang'an's target.

He did not know what wrong Yang Wudou had committed or whom he had offended. All he knew was that someone wanted him dead, and Ning Chang'an was the one tasked with killing him.

That was enough!

Outside Yang Manor, in a shadowy corner, Ning Chang'an let out a soft breath, his eyes narrowing slightly on instinct. He did not kill at night; that was one of his rules. Nor did he like killing people for no reason. Yet having come this far, he felt only helplessness and sorrow.

Behind the involuntary lives of the martial world lay endless bitterness and helplessness, filled with far too many things one had no choice but to do against one's heart.

Ning Chang'an steadied himself, silently leaped onto the wall battlements, and slipped over the courtyard wall into Yang Manor.

In a grand estate like this, lanterns burned through the night. Servants patrolled constantly, while sentries hidden in the dark watched for unusual activity throughout the residence. It looked ordinary enough, but the defenses were tight.

Ning Chang'an moved through the darkness along the base of the wall, circling past the western wing of Yang Manor. Ahead lay a garden thick with flowers and trees. In its center was a pond roughly half an acre wide, its green waters deep and still. A winding covered bridge stretched over the pond, leading straight to a round archway into the rear courtyard. He knew Yang Wudou lived in the rear courtyard, where the defenses were most stringent.

Ning Chang'an slowed, intending to leap onto the roof of the side building to get a clear look at the rear courtyard. Suddenly, a line of servants and maids carrying lanterns filed out through the rear courtyard archway, each with lowered eyes and bowed heads, impeccably proper. Behind them followed two household guards with sabers and swords at their waists, their faces solemn and their strides square and measured, radiating authority as they walked.

The moment the two guards crossed through the archway, one abruptly halted and shouted, "Who's skulking around? Come out!"

With a hiss, a gleaming saber left its sheath. The servants and maids all started, stopping where they stood and warily looking about in every direction.

Ning Chang'an, concealed in the darkness, was startled. He suppressed his doubts and remained still, hiding at the corner of the side building as he watched closely.

The guard who had drawn his saber strode several paces forward and darted into the garden. Before long, he emerged with someone in hand. Once he reached the light, he snorted coldly and viciously flung the person to the ground. Three lanterns immediately shone over, and only then did everyone see what the person looked like.

The one thrown to the ground was a woman dressed as a maid, delicate and pretty. With a blade pointed at her, her face was pale, yet there was no fear in her eyes as she stared coldly at the guard.

Only then did the others get a clear look at her face, and once they did, they were all shocked.

The saber-wielding guard shouted, "Damn it, you still had the nerve to come back? You slut who seduced the young master! Sneaking into the manor in the middle of the night—what exactly are you plotting? If you can't give me a proper explanation, then prepare to die!"

The woman on the ground clenched her teeth and sneered. "Plotting? What could I possibly be plotting? The Yang family owes me. I want back everything that belongs to me. That is my plot."

The saber-wielding guard seemed to hold some standing in the Yang family, and he immediately snapped, "You lowly thing, shameless beyond measure, and you still dare say the Yang family owes you?! Fine, then I'll lock you in the woodshed first. Once the young master is done with his business tonight, he'll deal with you tomorrow, you ignorant little bitch who does not know the height of heaven or the depth of earth!"

As he spoke, the guard sheathed his saber, grabbed the woman from the ground, and headed toward the woodshed. The rest did not even dare breathe loudly. They scattered, each returning to their quarters.

An idea struck Ning Chang'an, and he quietly followed the guard all the way to the woodshed, watching him throw the woman inside. The guard should have left once his task was done, but he looked around, then slipped into the woodshed as well. The door creaked shut tightly behind him, yet the guard did not emerge for a long time.

Ning Chang'an had already thought there was something off about the guard. He carried the air of one accustomed to throwing his weight around, and his intentions were clearly impure. Now Ning Chang'an grew even more suspicious that there was something fishy going on.

He slowly approached the woodshed. When he was still about ten feet away, he heard rustling from inside, along with muffled whimpers.

Ning Chang'an immediately knew what was happening inside.

He silently climbed onto the roof. Seeing no one around, he lay prone and carefully removed several roof tiles to peer down. At once, he saw the burly guard covering the woman's mouth with one hand and pinning her to the ground, while his other hand tore at her upper garments. The woman clearly did not know martial arts. How could she possibly resist him? She could only struggle with instinctive desperation, whimpering and crying in terror. But with her mouth covered, even her tears made no sound, and her face was streaked with tears of humiliation.

Ning Chang'an's anger flared at once. This was the act of a beast kicking a man when he was down.

He gently replaced the tiles, climbed down along the ridge, and silently dropped from the eaves before the woodshed door. Drawing a dagger, he slipped it through the crack in the door and slowly pried open the bolt.

Inside, the woman's upper clothing had already been torn to pieces. The guard growled excitedly, "What use is a woman the young master has already had enough of? Bitch, you were nothing but one of the young master's toys. You got to enjoy wealth and comfort in Yang Manor for all those days—you should have known contentment. Even when you leave, you should leave cleanly and completely. Yet you actually dared come back. You really don't want to live. Heh heh, I, Chen Wang, have served the young master like a horse before his carriage and a soldier at his saddle for so many years. It's about time I got to enjoy myself too..."

The woman shook her head again and again, despair rising in her eyes, but she no longer had the strength to resist.

When all was said and done, she was only a helpless woman.

Chen Wang gave a low roar and completely stripped away the woman's remaining clothes, then pounced on her like a wolf and tiger.

Just as he pressed down onto her, the woodshed door suddenly opened, then slammed shut again. The shed was dark, and only a shadow flashed through it. Apart from the woman's pale naked body, nothing else could be seen clearly.

Though Chen Wang was blinded by lust, he was still highly alert. He immediately wrapped his arms around the woman beneath him and rolled to the wall, putting his back against it as his sharp eyes swept the room. He shouted coldly, "Who is it?"

His answer was a dagger flashing with cold light, silently slicing straight across his throat. Chen Wang tried to scream, but not a sound came out. A huge gash opened in his throat, blood spraying wildly. Within moments, he was dead.

Smelling the pungent stench of blood, the woman hurriedly pried open Chen Wang's hand and crawled away. Just as she was about to scream, Ning Chang'an grabbed her and covered her mouth. The woman kicked and struck out in terror—before one wave had settled, another rose.

Ning Chang'an shouted coldly, "If you don't want to die, calm down!" He deliberately waved the dagger, still beaded with blood, before her eyes. The woman shuddered from head to toe and finally stopped struggling, though she was scared half to death. Only then did Ning Chang'an release her.

The woman was now too frightened to move. The moment Ning Chang'an let go, she collapsed limply to the ground, curling into a ball and trembling. Ning Chang'an sighed inwardly and said gravely, "Put your clothes on. I have questions for you, and you'd best answer truthfully. Otherwise, your end will be worse than his!"

The woman whimpered, "Don't kill me, don't kill me... I can't die..."

Ning Chang'an asked in surprise, "Why can't you die?" Anyone facing death would fear it, would be consumed by terror. Unless they had something to rely on, they could not possibly say such a thing. This woman was merely a maid Yang Wudou had tired of and cast out. What gave her the grounds to speak that way?!

The woman whimpered, "I... I'm carrying a child... I can't die... I still have to wait for my child to kill that heartless wolf!" So it was not that she had anything to rely on, but that she bore an immense grievance. Her great wish remained unfulfilled, and she could not resign herself to death.

Ning Chang'an said gravely, "A child? Yang Wudou's child?" The heartless wolf she spoke of naturally referred to Yang Wudou.

The woman fell silent, tacitly admitting it as she carefully and nervously put on her clothes. Her heart was not exactly kind either—she actually wanted her child to kill his father someday.

Ning Chang'an said, "What sort of person is Yang Wudou? Tell me everything you know, especially about the people around him who know martial arts!"

The woman froze and looked toward Ning Chang'an in the darkness. "Y-you... why are you asking this?"

A cold glint flashed in Ning Chang'an's eyes. "To kill him!"

The woman shuddered, then said softly, "He deserves to die. Apart from me, he has ruined more than ten maids. Whenever he tires of one, he mercilessly drives her out of Yang Manor without even giving her a single coin in compensation. He treats women as toys. He is also vicious and ruthless, crafty and overbearing, always using his family's power to bully others."

Ning Chang'an did not take all of that as truth. A woman consumed by resentment would not hesitate to use every ugly word she could think of for the person she hated; her words were bound to be biased. He only wanted to know what he needed to know. Ning Chang'an asked, "How good is his martial arts?"

The woman said, "He is skilled with a saber. His blade is accurate and steady. Once, he demonstrated it before me by using his personal saber to split one of my hairs in two. Splitting a hair with a swift blade—there is no second person in all of Yang Manor who can do it. His saber is precise, precise enough to terrify people."

Split a strand of hair in two?!

That degree of precision and skill was indeed astonishing, enough to make any opponent's heart turn cold. Even Ning Chang'an could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

Ning Chang'an took a deep breath. "What about the people around him?"

The woman said, "There are only three people by his side, three very strange people. I have never seen them make a move. Yang Wudou has acted more times than they have. They are like useless decorations beside him. But the way those three look at people is terrifying. It makes your entire body go cold."

Ning Chang'an thought for a moment, then asked, "What habits does Yang Wudou have?"

Without hesitation, the woman answered, "Only three. First is martial arts, second is wine, and third is women. He likes to rape young girls. Whenever he has guests, he drinks until he is dead drunk. Once he is drunk, everyone becomes his friend, and he completely lets down his guard. But his three guards never drink, nor do they leave his side for even a moment." Her eyes suddenly turned icy, brimming with hatred. In the darkness, faint ghostly glimmers seemed to flash within them as she whispered coldly, "If you want to kill him, when he is drunk is your best chance!"