Black Robe Killing God, Returned

"Brother Chen Wu, are you all right?" At his side, Feng Cheng, clad in iron armor and holding a long spear, looked at Chen Wu.

His voice carried excitement he could barely suppress.

Chen Wu raised his head and looked at the Martial Guards in black armor beside him.

Apart from a few recruits who had never seen blood and were now pale-faced, the others all had the same bright gleam in their eyes as Feng Cheng.

Was it because of the killing, or because this slaughter had displayed the Martial Guard Bureau's ruthless edge?

Was this the final lesson Brother Yuan wanted to teach him?

Ahead, Zhang Yuan turned and looked at Chen Wu.

"I have already discussed it with Young Master Tao. You will go to the border army to temper yourself."

"Today's lesson is to make you understand that all reverence comes from killing."

"Even the strongest lion, once its limbs are bound, will be watched hungrily by a pack of wolves."

Zhang Yuan's voice was not soft. He was not just speaking to Chen Wu, but to everyone else as well.

"Our Martial Guard Bureau is clearly one of the most powerful offices in the prefectural city, yet people dare look down on us. It is because we have seemed too mild in ordinary times, making everyone think they can ride roughshod over us."

"Chen Wu, if you had shown the strength of the Houtian Mid-stage with your first punch last night and shattered bones in a single blow, there would not have been today's affair."

"When you reach the border army and cross blades with enemy raiders, if you dare hold back, all we can do is wait for your corpse to return."

Zhang Yuan strode forward, his boots stepping into the bloody water.

When he reached the screen wall, he reached out and seized the hilt of the long blade he had thrown earlier. He gripped it one-handed and exerted force through his palm.

"Creak—"

The grinding sound of the blade being pulled free made all the soldiers stare wide-eyed.

Pulling a blade embedded in a wall out with one hand—how much strength did that require?

Ahead, Sergeant Qian Mu, Hu Yang, and the others had taut facial muscles and twitching eyes.

They were all in the middle to late Houtian stages, with at least Thousand Jin Strength in their hands. Only then did they know what this move meant!

To draw the blade with one arm, one needed no less than the Strength of One Ox!

The Strength of One Ox in a single arm!

The Xiantian Realm!

No, there was no circulation of qi and blood or true essence around Zhang Yuan at all. He possessed the Strength of One Ox through pure arm strength alone.

How had he done it?

Watching the blade slowly slide free, everyone felt as though their hearts had been viciously clenched in a hand.

Throughout Great Qin, martial might was revered above all. In the end, fists were what did the talking.

The strength Zhang Yuan displayed at this moment, reflected in the pools of blood covering the ground, branded itself into everyone's hearts.

This was what Zhang Yuan needed.

What had happened in the Tang Family estate today would be placed under a gag order. Even if word got out, it could only be discussed in private.

Only nearly a hundred Martial Guards present had witnessed the strength he revealed. Even if they spread it in private, outsiders would only take it for boasting.

Who would dare believe that the Martial Guard Bureau had an expert with the Strength of One Ox in a single arm?

What Zhang Yuan wanted was deterrence.

To lay the groundwork for the Martial Guard Bureau's coming expansion, and for the acting Martial Guard Commandant post he was about to assume.

With today's blade-drawing display alone, no one in the Martial Guard Bureau would dare question his strength again.

And with the bloody slaughter of the Tang Family that outsiders did not know about but everyone present had witnessed, no one in the Martial Guard Bureau would dare show disrespect to him, Zhang Erhe, again.

Righteous and Loyal Zhang Erhe—his reputation behind those words had been carved out through killing.

"Buzz—"

The long blade spun once in Zhang Yuan's hand before he tossed it to Chen Wu.

Chen Wu reached out and caught it, then looked up at Zhang Yuan.

It was the first time he had ever touched this blade.

"This blade was once the battle blade of Lord Yu Lin, Crimson Scale Army Commander. I give it to you today, hoping you will use it to win merit and establish your name on the battlefield. Do not let down this blade, tempered through a hundred battles."

Zhang Yuan's voice rang out brightly, and a hint of expectation shone in his eyes.

Chen Wu was one of the most outstanding disciples he and Young Master Tao had at Yulin Academy. They had always held expectations for Chen Wu.

Holding the long blade, Chen Wu gripped its hilt tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "Chen Wu will certainly not fail your great expectations."

A team after team of Martial Guards clad in heavy black armor walked out of the Tang Family estate. City patrol troops summoned in advance, along with yamen runners carrying fire-and-water staffs, had already sealed off the entrance.

When those yamen runners saw the iron-armored Martial Guards with their cold, expressionless faces, they unconsciously lowered their heads.

The blood flowing from the Tang Family courtyard had soaked half the alley.

Who would not feel their scalp tingle at such a sight?

Chen Wu held the long blade in his hand, while Zhang Yuan pressed a hand against the hilt at his waist. When the two reached the gate, they drew the attention of the yamen runners standing guard nearby.

Zhang Yuan and Chen Wu were the only ones among the Martial Guards not wearing armor.

"Chen Wu..."

"Z-Zhang, Second Master Zhang—"

Someone recognized Zhang Yuan and Chen Wu. Their eyes widened, and they stammered out the words.

The blood on both men was so thick that it had formed dark red scabs.

How many people had they killed?

Zhang Yuan stopped and looked to the side.

"Captain Zheng," Zhang Yuan's blood-covered face Revealed a hint of a smile, carrying a chilling savagery. "You brothers have worked hard."

His gaze swept over the several yamen runners he had seen outside the prefectural prison earlier that day, and he said flatly, "The Tang Family said that we Black Robe Guards are the court's hawks and hounds. Naturally, we had to show them what the court's hawks and hounds look like."

Those words made the yamen runners and patrol soldiers at the gate shudder all over.

They, too, had been among those who spoke behind the Black Robe Guards' backs, calling them the court's hawks and hounds.

Zhang Yuan seemed not to see their embarrassment. He pointed behind him at the courtyard, and his voice slowly Sounded. "That Third Master Tang has been nailed to death in the hall. That arrogant Seventh Young Master was cleaved in two."

"This is the fate of those who provoke our Martial Guard Bureau."

"Do you all think Zhang is right?"

Right?

Who would dare say he was wrong?

With things as they were now, whoever dared utter even half a word of disagreement would be cut down with a single slash and tossed into the pool of blood in the courtyard. If things went smoothly, they would report him as a combat casualty and pay twenty taels in pensions. If not, he would be branded a traitor colluding with rebels and executed alongside them.

Rules were only rules when everyone followed them.

The Martial Guard Bureau had already wiped out the Tang Family. At a time like this, they would not speak of rules with anyone.

"Second Master is right. The Tang Family was courting death." Captain Zheng forced a smile onto his face and cupped his hands as he spoke.

"Yes, courting death."

The other yamen runners echoed him in low voices.

Zhang Yuan nodded, his voice turning cold and stern. "Brothers, when you search the place later, be thorough."

"There are no survivors inside anymore. Remember that."

There were no survivors inside, yet they still had to search thoroughly?

That meant that if they found survivors, they were to deal with them!

Leave no one alive!

Captain Zheng's facial muscles twitched. He looked up at Zhang Yuan's blood-covered form, then could not help lowering his head.

"Rest assured, Second Master. I-I understand."

How could he dare not understand?

Righteous and Loyal Second Master Zhang—only now did those yamen runners who had seen Zhang Yuan that morning truly understand the meaning of those four words, "Righteous and Loyal."

Zhang Yuan nodded and, together with Chen Wu, followed the tide of iron armor out of the Tang Family estate.

Only after the iron-armored Martial Guards formed ranks outside the gate and prepared to leave did several civil officials from the prefectural yamen arrive. Standing on tiptoe, they led several yamen runners and patrol soldiers from the entrance into the courtyard.

"Sergeant says that all rebels who were executed must be dragged outside for identification."

"Nothing in the rooms is to be touched. The Tang Family was considered a wealthy household, so do not think of slipping something into your pockets. Today, this... this thing on the ground, intestines, urgh—"

The sight outside the estate was merely of flowing blood, enough to make one's scalp tingle. But the scene within the estate was like an asura battlefield, horrifying beyond measure!

Mangled bodies, severed limbs.

Some had their necks severed, their heads separated from their bodies. Some had been split in half by a single slash. Others had their bodies smashed apart by crossbow bolts...

Only when the Martial Guards outside urged them on did old yamen runners who had seen such things use Door Panel Shields to carry the corpses out.

The others had already collapsed against the Walls, trembling all over, their legs so weak they could not stand.

"In Year Yuan Kang 3, the Guo Family in the city plotted rebellion. Back then, the Martial Guard Bureau did not have this many men."

"They surrounded the Guo Family, sealed the gates, and killed through the entire night."

The old man speaking wore a cloth robe. Looking at the bodies still being carried out one after another before the Tang Family gates, the Corner of the mouth Twitched.

"The Black Robe Killing God has returned..."