Invasion

They'd scouted the place long ago. Xiao Cha pulled Lu Li straight toward a stretch of courtyard wall beside a drainage ditch in the Wang Family's back alley.

It was a filthy, desolate spot to begin with, and with everyone drawn away by the Governor's daughter, there wasn't a soul in sight.

Xiao Cha wrapped an arm around Lu Li's waist, then thrust off with her long, jade-white legs. In a flash, she vaulted over the three-meter-high wall!

When they landed, Xiao Cha took the full impact herself. Lu Li barely felt a thing.

Just like that, they slipped into the Wang Family's manor with ease. No one would ever have imagined anyone daring to commit a crime today.

The Wang Family was practically crawling with experts right now. The uncles overseeing the funeral, along with the guests who'd come to pay their respects, were no ordinary people.

Even if they really had enemies, none would choose this moment to invite trouble.

But that was exactly why the element of surprise mattered. The two audacious young people seized their chance!

They were in the servants' quarters. Xiao Cha knew the place like the back of her hand.

"Go to the study. The coffin's there, and the burial goods include cultivation manuals. Wang Siqi's the only one keeping vigil."

Lu Li nodded, unstrapped the Children's Rifle from his leg, and loaded it with Continuous Spray ammunition.

Just then, a door nearby suddenly opened, and the sharp-tongued butler from earlier stepped out.

He was holding a large iron syringe. The instant he saw them, his face filled with shock, and he opened his mouth to shout!

His mouth had barely opened halfway when Xiao Cha swept a hand across her waist and flicked out a silver streak. It whipped across the butler's head!

It was the Nine-Section Whip. With a thump, it burst the butler's head like a rotten watermelon.

"Impressive!" Lu Li praised. "It's every bit as powerful as a shotgun!"

Xiao Cha said smugly, "That move's called Soaring Dragon Startles. It's a technique from the White Dragon Whip. I'll teach you once you reach Bone Forging~"

As they spoke, they each took hold of their guns.

While screwing on his silencer, Lu Li noticed that the butler's syringe had fallen to the ground, spilling a great deal of gleaming silver liquid...

"Is this... mercury?"

"It's used to make Spirit Children. They inject mercury into the children while they're still alive, then bury them in the tomb as companions for the dead..."

After death, blood no longer circulated, so the mercury had to be injected while they were alive to spread through their entire bodies and preserve them.

The two of them looked grim at such a vicious act.

Just then, a suona blared with earth-shaking force.

The sound was unbelievable. Even from this far away, it made their heads ring.

With the other instruments playing too, no one in the front courtyard would hear a thing from here unless they started tearing down the house.

"Let's begin!"

They spoke in unison, both pulling back their gun bolts at the same time.

They exchanged smiles, then charged forward together with their guns raised!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making six Spirit Children required a great deal of mercury.

Mercury was poisonous and evaporated easily, so it was stored separately and drawn into syringes only when needed.

Lu Li and Xiao Cha had barely gone a few steps when a young servant came toward them, carrying four large iron syringes in his arms.

Xiao Cha raised her shotgun and pulled the trigger without hesitation!

With a dull thump, the syringes in the servant's arms burst apart. A gaping hole was blown through his chest, and he toppled to the ground, drenched in mercury and blood.

Though they had silencers, the guns still made some noise. Two servants heard them and came over to investigate.

Lu Li raised his gun and fired twice. Thump, thump. Countless pellets blasted the two into sprays of blood and gore.

At the same time, in the side room not far from the study, Qin Chuan was staring wide-eyed at several guards and servants.

"Why hasn't the butler come back yet?"

Qin Chuan was getting anxious.

There were six children beside him, along with several syringes of mercury.

But administering the injections was a delicate job. Only the butler had the experience, and none of them dared to act rashly.

Suddenly, Qin Chuan's ears twitched. He heard a strange noise outside.

A guard who was a Martial Master heard it too. Frowning, he went to investigate.

But as soon as he reached the doorway, a dull thump rang out, and a huge hole appeared in the wooden door!

The Martial Master's abdomen was instantly blown open. Blood and gore burst out as he fell to the ground.

"Firearms!?"

The scene was plainly the result of being shot through the door with a firearm. The people inside the room panicked at once!

Qin Chuan sprang to his feet and kicked a servant toward the doorway, then leaped out the window himself.

The poor servant managed only half a scream before the second shotgun blast tore through the door and reduced him to a rag.

Qin Chuan landed in the courtyard and saw the two intruders clearly. He cried out in shock:

"You've got some nerve! You're dead!"

As he spoke, he darted toward the courtyard wall like a great cat, clearly intent on escaping to call for help.

After all, he was a constable with Organ Refining cultivation. His movements were so swift that ordinary people would struggle to aim at him even with a gun!

But under the influence of Alpha Brainwave, Lu Li's reaction speed had reached an astonishing fifty milliseconds. He could lock onto his target without even entering Bullet Time.

Xiao Cha's reflexes were like those of a Fierce Tiger, and she swung her muzzle around as well.

The next second, two Benelli M4s roared to life!

Dull thump, thump, thump sounds rang out without pause as clusters of scorching pellets screamed toward him!

"What kind of firearm is this?!"

Faced with the terrifying firepower of Continuous Spray, Qin Chuan was scared out of his wits. He summoned every ounce of skill he'd ever learned, zigzagging back and forth until his body blurred into afterimages.

But there was only so much a person could do. Within the shotgun's optimal range, there was no way he could escape their clutches.

Qin Chuan had taken only five steps, still nowhere near the wall, when pellets had already struck him in several places.

An Organ Refining martial artist had the physique of a Fierce Tiger, but was still made of flesh and blood.

The pellets mercilessly tore Qin Chuan apart. Blood gushed from his wounds like little fountains, and in an instant he was covered in it.

His body began to fail. He pitched to the ground, eyes full of terror, and tried to beg for mercy...

But Lu Li and Xiao Cha had already aimed at him together.

Lu Li deliberately held back for a beat, letting Xiao Cha blast the man's head apart and settle their old score.

Xiao Cha nodded to thank him. Then the two of them entered the room together, and the six children were the first thing they saw.

Their hands and feet were bound, and they were wearing hoods. Xiao Cha hurried forward to check on them.

Lu Li, meanwhile, searched the room to make sure it was safe.

He spotted a foot beneath the curtain, trembling.

He used his gun to lift the curtain. A servant from the Wang Family was hiding there, his features twisted with terror. Instinctively, he was holding a mercury syringe against his chest.

Lu Li gently lowered the curtain, then pulled the trigger.

With a thump, the curtain was splattered with mercury and blood.

The mournful, plaintive notes of the suona drifted over from afar. Only a minute had passed since the two of them broke in!

In the study, Wang Siqi stood guard beside his father's coffin, still unaware of what was happening outside.

Every so often, the coffin rattled with slaps and scraping sounds, as if something inside were impatient to get out.