One Man Could Hold Back an Army

Su Fei shut the woodshed door, turned around with his saber in hand, and stood solemnly, glaring furiously at the Golden Saber Society men before him.

"What Qingzhou Prefecture's constables failed to discover, Qingzhou Prefecture's Imperial Guard did. The Golden Saber Society abducted children and used the blood essence of virgin boys and girls to refine medicine. Today, I, Su Fei, will arrest you and bring you to justice. If you resist, die."

Upon hearing the words "Imperial Guard," the Bearded Man's eyes flashed with a trace of panic. But after sweeping his gaze around and seeing that Su Fei was alone, dressed in plain clothes with no companions, his expression settled again.

He drew his steel saber and pointed it at Su Fei.

"So what if you're Qingzhou Prefecture's Imperial Guard? So what if you found out? You dare meddle in the Golden Saber Society's affairs? You're just a little brat whose feathers haven't even grown in. As long as I kill you and bury your corpse, who would ever know?"

His tone was incomparably calm. Clearly, this was far from the first time he had done something like this.

True Qi surged around the Bearded Man's body.

The dozen or so Golden Saber Society members behind him also drew their sabers. Blade light flickered with a chilling gleam beneath the night sky, and among them were two or three at the True Qi Realm.

This level of strength could not be considered weak.

With a furious roar, the Bearded Man stomped hard on the ground. The bluestone slabs shattered in response, and he shot forward on the rebounding force, the pressure of True Qi Realm Level Seven sweeping out like crashing waves.

"Brothers, get him! Chop him to pieces! This hall master will reward you with one hundred taels of silver!"

Hearing of the reward, the dozen or so Golden Saber Society members drew their sabers and closed in around Su Fei.

Most of them were martial artists at Body Tempering Realm Levels Eight and Nine, with a few in the early True Qi Realm. Forming a saber formation now, they did possess a measure of imposing force.

Su Fei's gaze turned icy as his right hand gripped the Spring Embroidered Saber.

The Nine Yang True Qi within his dantian circulated, perfectly merging with the essence of the Thunderbolt Saber Art.

A flash of saber light suddenly flared, sweeping into the Golden Saber Society crowd.

It was like a thunderclap exploding beside the Golden Saber Society members' ears.

The true essence of the Thunderbolt Saber Art was revealed in that instant. The saber moved so swiftly that it left only afterimages, as though countless bolts of lightning were detonating amid the crowd.

The two Golden Saber Society members rushing at the front saw only a blur before a chill touched their necks. Then agonizing pain struck. Blood gushed forth like fountains, and clutching their throats with eyes wide as saucers, the two crashed to the ground.

"What a fast saber!"

The Bearded Man's heart shook violently. He had never seen such a swift saber technique.

"Hold the formation! He's only one man!"

But Su Fei's momentum was such that one man could hold back an army.

His saber art swept through the crowd like thunder, and every swing claimed at least one life.

Wherever the saber light passed, severed limbs flew apart, and screams rose one after another.

One member saw Su Fei appear before him and hurriedly raised his saber to block. Yet Su Fei cut off his wrist with a single stroke, then continued the same motion into a diagonal chop that split him alive into two halves.

Blood and entrails splattered across the ground.

Another member tried to launch a sneak attack from behind, but Su Fei seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. With a backhand slash, that man's head shot into the sky as scorching blood sprayed out.

The Thunderbolt Saber Art carried the force of lightning, and combined with Su Fei's Nine Yang Divine Art, the two became one.

In merely a few breaths, seven or eight members had already fallen.

The Bearded Man's eyes were splitting with rage. He took a deep breath, and the True Qi in his body erupted without reservation, his long saber glowing with a faint layer of True Qi light.

"Little brat, don't be so arrogant! Take my saber!"

His strike was powerful and heavy, carrying the force to split mountains and shatter rocks as it came straight down at Su Fei's head.

Su Fei neither dodged nor evaded. His wrist turned sharply, and the Spring Embroidered Saber traced an arc.

Clang!

As the two sabers collided, the Bearded Man felt an immense force surge toward him. His arm throbbed with unbearable pain, and he nearly lost his grip on the hilt.

Terror filled his heart. This brat's strength was actually so terrifying.

Just as he stood stunned, Su Fei unleashed his second strike.

"True Qi Realm Level Seven. You could block one of my strikes. Not bad."

The saber light surged, like a bolt of lightning cleaving across the sky.

Splat.

A head flew up.

Blood burst forth, and the Bearded Man's eyes bulged wide.

"Why am I flying? And why is your saber so fast?"

He was filled with disbelief before his death. Even at the end, he could not understand it.

He had actually been killed by an Imperial Guard who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old.

With their leader dead, the remaining Golden Saber Society members completely lost their will to fight. Frightened out of their wits, they turned and tried to flee.

How could Su Fei allow them to leave?

He pushed off with his feet and followed like a shadow. The Spring Embroidered Saber seemed to come alive in his hand, lightning flashing incessantly, each flash heralding the end of a life.

A moment later, the courtyard fell completely silent.

More than twenty corpses lay scattered haphazardly across the yard. Blood gathered into streams and spread in every direction through the cracks between the bluestone slabs, while a thick stench of blood filled the air.

Su Fei held the Spring Embroidered Saber as his indifferent gaze swept over the corpses strewn across the ground, without the slightest stir of emotion.

For scum who used children's blood essence to refine medicine, mercy was cruelty toward those innocent children.

Su Fei sheathed his saber.

Stepping through the wreckage covering the ground, he walked to the Bearded Man's corpse, flipped it over with one kick, lifted his lapel with the tip of his saber, and after feeling around for a moment, pulled out a heavy money pouch.

Inside were more than thirty taels of silver.

He then searched the other corpses one by one. The Golden Saber Society members did not carry much silver on them, but altogether it amounted to more than fifty taels.

Su Fei put all the silver into his own money pouch.

After finishing all this, he walked to the entrance of the village and called out.

"Wang Meng!"

A moment later, Wang Meng's figure darted out of the darkness. He was still clutching a Spring Embroidered Saber, his expression tense.

"Lord Su, how did your investigation go? Why did you call for me so loudly? Aren't you afraid those human traffickers will hear?"

Su Fei laughed heartily.

"Wang Meng, come with me. They won't hear you. Don't worry."

"Oh, my lord, have they all gone to sleep?"

"Wang Meng, come with me. I'll show you."

"Yes, my lord."

When Wang Meng entered the courtyard gate and saw the scene within clearly, it was as though he had been struck by lightning. He froze in place at once.

Severed limbs covered the ground, blood flowed everywhere, weapons lay scattered about, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

Wang Meng's throat bobbed, and his stomach churned like rivers and seas overturning. He barely managed to keep himself from vomiting.

He looked at Su Fei standing amid the pile of corpses, his expression composed.

His eyes were calm, as though he had merely stepped on a few ants.

"These human traffickers were all Golden Saber Society members. They're all dead now."

Hearing this, Wang Meng checked their cuffs.

After confirming the Golden Saber insignia,

he raised his head, his mouth hanging open as he stammered out a question.

"Lord Su, did you kill all these people by yourself?"

Wang Meng's voice trembled.

He knew that Su Fei was quite formidable.

But he had never imagined Su Fei was powerful to such an extent. One man and one saber had actually slaughtered more than a dozen Golden Saber Society members to the last.

He had heard of the Golden Saber Society's reputation. These people were naturally no ordinary men; every one of them carried sabers and swords and was a martial artist.

Su Fei cast Wang Meng a glance.

"Who else, then? Did these corpses slit their own throats?"