Killing

"Why... why did it have to come to this... It's... it's a society ruled by law now... Whatever it is, can't we sit down and talk it over properly?"

Madam Jin's throat worked, her words halting. "You... you're so young, yet you already possess such martial prowess. Your future is boundless. There's no need to ruin your bright future for the sake of us helpless widow and child..."

"I know."

Li ChunJun said, "This is a society of connections. Pull out one radish, and bring up the mud with it. Killing your family alone definitely won't be enough, so everyone closely connected to you, I'll kill them too."

Madam Jin's pupils dilated.

A suffocating inability to answer, mixed with bone-piercing despair, rushed over her.

President Song and Madam Song beside her began trembling like they had the shakes at those words.

Closely connected!?

Did they count as connected!?

The posts Li ChunJun had published online to steer public opinion had been suppressed entirely by Star Gathering Media.

No!

That wasn't right!

What kind of close connection did they have with the Jin Family!?

Star Gathering Media had gone to every possible length just to latch onto the Jin Family's influence. Their relationship had never reached the level of being close.

So...

President Song quietly edged to one side.

He did not even spare a thought for his own wife.

Yet the moment he moved, Li ChunJun's gaze fell upon him.

One look sent President Song plunging into an ice cellar.

"Brother Li, we're just insignificant minor characters. We're not even in the same league as you or the Jin Family. Killing us would dirty your sword. Please, Brother Li, show mercy..."

He stammered.

He did not dare speak harshly and offend the Jin Family, yet he had to distance himself from them and beg for mercy. He...

Had it too hard.

"I know you."

Li ChunJun said.

President Song's expression froze instantly.

He knew!?

Then what Star Gathering Media had done...

Li ChunJun carried his sword and advanced step by step.

Every step he took seemed like a massive hammer striking President Song's heart, making him gasp for breath. As Li ChunJun drew nearer, his face turned increasingly pale, while cold sweat the size of beans streamed endlessly down his forehead.

Finally...

When they were less than five meters apart, his bodyguard Zhang Li let out a roar!

"Boss! Run!"

Yet rather than summoning the courage to intercept Li ChunJun, he lunged toward an open window the instant he shouted.

The windows of rich people's homes...

Did not have security bars!

Almost as soon as Zhang Li shouted and bolted, the more than ten people remaining in the house scattered like a flock of birds. Those heading upstairs rushed upstairs, while those climbing through windows climbed through windows.

At that very moment, force exploded beneath Li ChunJun's feet.

His body shot forth like a loosed arrow.

At the arrowhead, the icy sword light was like a startled swan gliding through the void!

"Ssh, ssh, ssh, ssh!"

Slaughter!

Merciless slaughter!

Assistants, secretaries, drivers, bodyguards!

Not one was spared!

Perhaps some among them were innocent.

Perhaps some did not deserve death.

Or perhaps they had even been idol-like social elites in someone's eyes.

But none of that mattered.

When they stood here, when they stood beside the Jin Family, regardless of why they worked for them, to him, their identities had become only one thing!

A part of the Jin Family's power!

A part of the Jin Family's power, serving as the tiger's accomplices!

When an avalanche falls, no snowflake is innocent.

His body like a roaming dragon, his sword like a startled swan!

In mere seconds, everyone rushing for that window fell into pools of blood.

Including bodyguard Zhang Li, who could have fought ten ordinary men by himself.

Then Li ChunJun spun sharply and strode forward in great sweeping steps. With one charge, he crossed more than twenty meters of the living room. The fierce wind howled around him, and the terrifying killing intent sent President Song and the others, who were scrambling out the window, fleeing out of their wits.

"Spare—"

Before he could even finish begging for mercy, the icy blade had pierced his skull, shredded his cranial nerves, and cut off every command his brain had yet to issue.

At that moment, his heart was filled with boundless regret.

If...

They had not accepted the Jin Family's task of handling public opinion suppression, Madam Jin would not have invited them here today.

If they had not come to the Jin Family as guests, they would not have encountered Li ChunJun, who had come for revenge.

If they had not encountered Li ChunJun, then naturally, he would not have had to die.

Had he not died, he could have continued being the president of Star Gathering Media, a successful man worth hundreds of millions.

Unfortunately...

The real world did not have so many ifs.

One peck, one sip—nothing lies beyond it.

With his treasured sword in hand, Li ChunJun cut down the more than ten fleeing people as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

Other than Jin Haoxuan, whose legs had been pierced through and who crawled in terror, not a single living person remained on the first floor.

As for the second floor...

"Whoosh!"

Sharp Sword flew through the air!

Like an arrow launched from a powerful crossbow, it accurately and fiercely pierced Madam Jin's arm just as she was about to open the door, nailing her jewel-laden arm to it.

"Aah! Aah! Aah!"

Pain sweeping through her body and the terror of imminent death made Madam Jin let out piercing Screams.

Elegance!?

To hell with elegance!

Wave after wave of pain surged through her body, leaving her unable to remain standing. Half-collapsed and leaning against the wall, her face instantly turned so pale it looked bluish.

"Whoosh!"

His body leaped forward.

In a few strides, Li ChunJun returned upstairs and arrived before Madam Jin.

"Don't... Please let me go. As long as you let me go, I'm willing to do anything... Aah!"

Madam Jin's painful pleading ended with Li ChunJun pulling out the sword that had pinned her arm.

The pain left her unable to support herself any longer, and she slid limply down the wall to the floor.

Blood flowed continuously down her arm, quickly dyeing red the expensive dress that an ordinary person might not be able to afford even after ten years of work.

"Does it hurt?"

Li ChunJun said.

Had she hurt this much back then?

Madam Jin lay limp on the floor, trembling as she knelt and bowed. Tears streamed down her face, smearing her makeup. "I admit my wrongdoing. I'm willing to accept every punishment. It was my indulgence that allowed Xuan'er to commit such a terrible wrong against Miss Wan Qing. Please give me one chance. I'm willing to kneel before her and apologize..."

"Don't trouble yourself. No need. You only need to die."

Li ChunJun spoke in an even tone, yet his words made Madam Jin tremble from head to toe.

"Life deserves reverence. I do not torture people to death. But piercing your skull with a single sword would be too easy, so I will slit your throat and let you listen to the sound of blood surging from your carotid artery, playing the final movement of your life."

"No!"

Madam Jin's eyes flew wide open.

An unprecedented terror erupted from her heart, carrying a chill that froze her soul and spread through her entire body.

Her desperate yearning to live actually made her struggle to her feet, trying to flee once more.

But the next instant, a point of cold light flashed before her eyes.

"Don't..."

A despairing cry rang out.

Then waves of coldness spread across her throat.

She lowered her head and saw crimson blood spraying from the slit in her throat like water from a showerhead.

The sound of blood flowing...

Just as Li ChunJun had said, it was the final sound she heard as her life reached its end.

Madam Jin's corpse twitched for a moment, then went still.

Blood gathered and flowed from the second-floor corridor through the gaps in the dragon-and-phoenix-carved railing, dripping down to the first floor.

Splashing into tiny red flowers.

Drip, drip.

Echoing the heavy breathing of Jin Haoxuan, who was dragging himself across the first-floor living room in terror.

"Bang!"

Li ChunJun flipped over the second-floor railing and landed steadily back on the first floor.

The sound of his landing drove Jin Haoxuan's fear, now fully aware of what had happened, to its absolute peak.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me! I was wrong! Please, don't kill me!"

He screamed in terror, doing everything he could to crawl toward the house.

As though hiding inside, behind a door, would make him safe.

The wound torn open in his legs dragged a nine-meter-long trail of blood across the ground.

Crimson and glaring.

"So..."

Li ChunJun reached a preliminary conclusion to the question he wanted answered.

"All things and all beings are no different when facing death. No one is nobler than another."

He stopped before Jin Haoxuan, raised his sword, and aimed it at his head.

"No! Don't! Don't..."

Jin Haoxuan screamed miserably and struggled. His expression collapsed, his face twisted, tears streaming down his cheeks.

He had not the slightest trace left of the Jin Family's young master's carefree poise.

But his Screams did not stop Li ChunJun's descending blade.

"Whoosh!"

Sharp Sword, aimed at Jin Haoxuan's head, came crashing down!

To all the friends heading out, staying in, and stuck on the road, happy National Day.