Since he had already slain Young Master Zhang, Qin Fengming naturally had no intention of stopping there. The Zhang Family was the greatest evil in Tenglong Town; unless he uprooted it by the roots, he would never let the matter rest.
When he returned to the Zhang residence, the banquet in the main hall had yet to end.
Qin Fengming concealed himself in the shadows once more, searching for an opportunity to kill the Zhang Family's chief villains as well.
"Someone, come quickly! Young Master Zhang is dead! Young Master Zhang is dead!"
"Young Master Zhang was murdered!"
Only the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed when the Zhang residence's rear compound, which had suddenly fallen silent, abruptly rang with a series of shrill cries. Several women soon began wailing as well.
The shrill cries traveled far into the depths of the night, making them seem all the more eerie and terrifying.
Everyone drinking in the main hall of the Zhang residence froze when they heard the sounds, unsure what had happened. Just as Zhang Chang, the Zhang Family's leading figure seated in the middle, shouted for his servants to investigate, a man came stumbling into the hall.
"Master, something terrible has happened! Young Master Zhang was murdered in the side room."
Before the man had even entered the hall, he had already dropped to his knees. His entire body trembled uncontrollably, and he looked utterly terrified.
"Zhang Rong, what exactly happened? Your young master was fine just a moment ago. How was he suddenly assassinated? Speak!" Shocked to the core, Zhang Chang was also greatly startled. He slammed his palm against the table and demanded the answer in a thunderous voice.
"Young Master Zhang died in the rear side room. Someone stabbed a huge hole through his chest. Blood covered the floor, and he has already stopped breathing." Zhang Rong came to his senses at Zhang Chang's shout and stammered out the words.
Upon hearing Zhang Rong's words, everyone in the hall rose to their feet and hurried after Zhang Chang toward the rear compound.
By the time they reached the room, quite a few servants had gathered outside. All of them stood helplessly at the doorway, terror in their eyes. Looking inside, they saw Young Master Zhang sprawled on the floor, unconscious, with blood covering the ground. The sight was horrifying.
An old man stepped forward and checked Young Master Zhang's breath with his hand. He then shook his head.
"How did your young master die? Tell me every detail!" Seeing that his own son was indeed dead, Zhang Chang's expression changed drastically. He faced Zhang Rong and the others and questioned them in a harsh voice.
Although his own son had died, Zhang Chang had not lost his reason.
After Zhang Chang's furious rebuke, Zhang Rong began trembling violently. Kneeling on the ground, he stammered, "Just now... just now, Young Master Zhang came here to inspect the girl we'd captured. He entered the room and then drove us all out, saying he would deal with the little girl himself."
"After we left the room, the time it took to finish a meal passed. When we saw there was no movement inside, we came to check. We called out several times from outside, but no one answered, so we pushed open the door. We saw the young master lying on the ground, covered in blood. He had already stopped breathing." After saying this, Zhang Rong seemed to have lost all the bones in his body. He collapsed limply onto the floor.
"What about that girl? Where is she now? Find her at once!" Hearing Zhang Rong's words, an old man immediately questioned him.
"When we came in, she was already gone. We don't know where she went," a servant answered boldly.
"Search the entire residence at once! No one is allowed to leave. We must find that girl!" Zhang Chang shouted furiously. All the guards agreed and scattered to search.
Seeing that everyone was at a loss, the old man said to the servants, "Find a coffin quickly and prepare the young master for burial." The servants descended into a flurry of activity and went off in different directions.
Zhang Chang led everyone back to the front hall in a fury.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the guards and servants had searched every inch of the Zhang residence. To their disappointment, no one had seen even the shadow of that woman.
Seeing that they had found nothing, Zhang Chang angrily ordered people to go to the woman's home and seize her.
"Father, don't be anxious. We can certainly get to the bottom of this. I'll personally go capture that woman, question her, and avenge Big Brother."
After saying this, a boy of twelve or thirteen walked out of the hall and led several servants toward the entrance of the Zhang residence.
Not long after the boy left, the lights in the hall suddenly went out all at once. In an instant, the spacious hall became pitch-black. Chaos erupted, and shouts rang out.
Someone shouted, "Don't panic! Light the lamps quickly!"
The servants scrambled about in a fluster and finally managed to light the lamps. But when everyone, still shaken, looked toward the Zhang Family's master seated in the middle, they saw him sprawled over the table, fresh blood steadily flowing from his neck.
"Ah! Master! The master was murdered too!"
Faced with such a bloody scene, no one present could remain calm any longer. Amid the cries, they rushed out of the hall, and the lamps they had just lit went out once more. With such an eerie event unfolding before their eyes, everyone was left trembling in fear, and no one dared take another step into the hall.
The boy had only just left through the main gate when he heard a great commotion coming from the Zhang residence in the distance. He faintly heard someone shout, "Master Zhang is dead!" He was startled and hurried back. When he saw the terrified crowd filling the courtyard and the hall sunk in darkness, his expression changed.
"Nephew, just now... just now, your father was murdered inside the hall."
Upon hearing this, the boy's face turned cold. Yet he showed little panic. With a wave of his hand, he formed a spell with his left hand and walked steadily toward the hall.
Darkness meant that ordinary people could see nothing. But to this boy, the hall was no different from broad daylight. Every object was laid out before his eyes, clear as crystal.
The hall reeked of blood. His father lay sprawled over the table, blood flowing across the floor. A sword slash was clearly visible across his neck.
After hesitating briefly, he reached into his robes and took out a yellow paper talisman. With a flick of his hand, a streak of yellow light adhered to his body. His figure blurred, and the Zhang Family's young master shot into the courtyard like a flying bird. With another flash, he had already risen into midair.
Seeing this, the several dozen people present were so stunned that they immediately fell silent.
The boy hovered in the air without the slightest trace of panic. After briefly surveying his surroundings, he spotted a figure flickering in and out of sight in the distance, speeding away.
"Hmph, you little brat! Where do you think you're going?" A sharp shout rang out. Amid the crowd's astonishment, the boy vanished from their sight like the wind.
After assassinating Zhang Chang, Qin Fengming did not remain in the Zhang residence. He leaped out of it and then planned to return to the inn.
In his view, with his astonishing speed, even that boy who possessed immortal arts absolutely could not catch him. Since he had never seen any immortal techniques before, he naturally had no desire to test himself against that young master.
When he was nearly back at the inn, Qin Fengming suddenly heard a faint sound. He whipped around and saw a black shadow speeding toward him from the distance. After only a moment's hesitation, the shadow had already come within thirty zhang of him.
The sight filled Qin Fengming with dread. Such incredible speed was something he had never witnessed apart from his own. Without time to think, he flashed away and unleashed the Azure Cloud Maze movement technique, racing madly toward the outskirts of town. In the blink of an eye, he had covered dozens of zhang.
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