Shadow Attack

Magistrate Wu lashed his whip fiercely and shouted, "Are you all dead? What are you standing around for? Put out the fire for me!"

Seeing the fine horse beneath Magistrate Wu rear up, ready to bolt, Zhou Shirong, who had just settled back onto his horse, suddenly struck out and seized Magistrate Wu's reins.

By the time Zhou Shirong made his move, Magistrate Wu's steed was already airborne. Yet when Zhou Shirong's jade-white hand reached out, the leaping horse could not struggle free in the slightest and was steadily pressed back to the ground.

Such divine strength instantly shocked everyone present. The color drained entirely from Magistrate Wu's face.

"The blaze reaches the heavens. Even if it is saved, there will be nothing left but broken hills and ruined waters. Better to burn it all clean!"

Zhou Shirong's voice was icy, sharp as a blade. "Ma Zhao, go. Clear out every ant within five li of this place!"

"Gasp!"

Magistrate Wu sucked in a cold breath.

Though countless figures can be seen darting around the distant blaze, how can one be certain they are looting the Zhou Family's property? Perhaps they are trying to fight the fire. How can he kill them all with a single word? This is my jurisdiction!

Zhou Shirong cast Magistrate Wu a cold glance. "My family has suffered such a catastrophe, yet this rabble could not come to our aid in our hour of need. Their crime is already grave. Should they not be killed?" Killing intent filled his brows and eyes as he spoke; not a trace remained of his earlier gentle, jade-like manner.

Zhou Daogan is no longer what he once was. He has long since become one of Lingxiao Pavilion's Four Great Hall Masters, exalted beyond measure. Zhou Shirong looks like a gentleman, but he is arrogant to the bone. Even if I stop him, he may insist on carrying this through. Not only might I fail to save anyone, I would offend Zhou Daogan for nothing. No matter how I calculate it, this bargain is a losing one.

Having made up his mind, Magistrate Wu said grimly, "They naturally deserve to die! Captain Zhao, take your men and coordinate with Mr. Ma. Surround them. Within five li, leave not a single suit of armor behind!"

In an instant, hooves thundered and long blades flew from their sheaths. Though the cavalry troop numbered only a dozen or so, it charged forward with the momentum of an army of thousands.

No sooner had the riders departed than Magistrate Wu recalled something. Frowning, he said, "Brother Zhou, such a great fire could hardly have been an accident. Your uncle's family, I fear..."

He had served as a local official for many years and had seen more than a handful of family exterminations. How could a household as grand as the Zhou Family's turn to ashes overnight from a mere accidental fire?

As the saying went, when murder and arson came together, the murder came before the fire.

Zhou Shirong said expressionlessly, "Life and death are fated; fortune and calamity lie in Heaven's hands. My uncle had passed fifty. It was not an untimely death. He spent half his life amid bells and cauldrons, enjoying immense honor and wealth, savoring what others could never savor. Now that he is gone, what is there to regret? As for that cousin of mine, he achieved nothing in letters and nothing in martial arts—a wastrel and a libertine. Alive, he was nothing more than a grain-eating parasite. He could not bring glory to the Lineage, and instead repeatedly made the Lineage clean up his messes. A scum like that is better off dead!"

Magistrate Wu stared in utter astonishment. Even if he racked his brains until they split, he could never have imagined Zhou Shirong uttering such cold-blooded words. For a moment, he stood dumbfounded.

"Damnable! Damnable! How utterly audacious!"

Zhou Shirong lightly patted his saddle and muttered to himself. As he spoke, his handsome face had already twisted.

Magistrate Wu found this exceedingly strange. Since he does not grieve for his dead uncle's family, why is he so enraged?

As he was still wondering, Zhou Shirong gritted his teeth and said, "Within Guang'an, even a dog of my Zhou Family ought to be nobler than kings and marquises. And now someone dares lay claws upon my Zhou Family. Whoever it is, they can wait to taste every misery under heaven!"

Magistrate Wu was left speechless.

On the western highway, a Green-robed man came racing over. He ran at astonishing speed, trailing rolling clouds of dust. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before them, collapsed to the ground with a thud, and wailed, "Young Master, you have finally returned! Master... Young Master... they... ah, wuwuwu..."

Magistrate Wu had been worried that this family extermination case would become a headless case. Now that a Zhou Family servant had fled here, he could at least obtain a few clues. Overjoyed, he rolled off his horse, strode forward, yanked the Green-robed man up, and urgently demanded, "Quickly, tell me who the murderer was! What exactly happened?"

"The murderer was me!"

Boom! The Green-robed man suddenly sprang into action and struck with his palm, slamming it onto Magistrate Wu's crown. With a crisp crack, his skull caved in and blood sprayed wildly. Magistrate Wu did not even manage a groan before he fell dead.

Needless to say, this Green-robed man was none other than Xu Yi.

After Xu Yi had stolen two Crimson Gold Cakes from Old Master Zhou's study and set the fire, he had been preparing to flee when thunderous hoofbeats reached his ears.

He climbed a nearby ancient tree and looked out from high above. At once, he spotted a mounted troop charging toward him. Looking farther into the distance, his gaze immediately locked onto Zhou Shirong's face.

Though he had never seen Zhou Shirong before, Zhou Shirong's handsome face bore a five-part resemblance to Young Master Zhou's. How could he not know whose man Zhou Shirong was?

The moment he guessed Zhou Shirong's identity, Xu Yi's blood began to boil. The Zhou Family had only two branches: one belonged to Old Master Zhou, while the other belonged to Zhou Daogan.

Old Master Zhou had only one son. Clearly, Zhou Shirong had to be Zhou Daogan's bastard offspring.

Xu Yi hated the Zhou Family to the bone. If he had to name the point where his hatred erupted, it would naturally be Zhou Daogan.

The Xu Family's blood-deep enmity and tragic fate could be said to have been wrought single-handedly by Zhou Daogan.

Xu Yi knew that with his current abilities, he could not even match one of Zhou Daogan's fingers. But if he could not kill Zhou Daogan, slaughtering his bastard offspring should let that old thief taste what it meant to have one's heart torn apart.

With that thought, Xu Yi climbed down from the tree and found a secluded spot. He molded earth into a grave mound, lit three sticks of incense, set the heads of the Zhou father and son before the grave, and knelt to offer sacrifice to his deceased forebears. Then he rose to his full height, kicked the Zhou father and son's heads into the fire, avoided the charging cavalry, and sped toward Zhou Shirong.

Xu Yi's calculations were precise. He would never underestimate Zhou Shirong. Knowing that the mere fact Zhou Shirong was Zhou Daogan's son meant no degree of caution was excessive, he understood that the easiest way to gain an advantage over Zhou Shirong was through a scheme—to catch him completely off guard.

Sure enough, taking advantage of the other side's ignorance of his identity, he successfully approached him, launched a sudden attack, and killed Magistrate Wu—also at the Body Tempering Peak—with a single blow.

It sounded like a long tale, but Xu Yi's killing of Magistrate Wu had taken no more than a flash of lightning. Zhou Shirong had been listening for the details when the shocking change erupted.

As Xu Yi's palm descended, his body drifted like a willow catkin. In a lightning-fast turn, he arrived before Zhou Shirong. His pair of iron fists crashed out like thunder. His fists had already brushed Zhou Shirong's white robes, and their force was about to land solidly.

What a Zhou Shirong! His body vanished into thin air, like a great bird soaring into the boundless dark sky—without shadow or trace.

The shock instantly made Xu Yi's spine go numb. He knew exactly how fast that punch had been. He had almost struck with all his strength; even if he himself had stood in Zhou Shirong's place, he definitely could not have evaded it.

Just as thunderclaps erupted in Xu Yi's heart, fierce wind howled behind his ear. The powerful force made his entire body turn cold, prickling him like needles.