Night Raid

The residence of Mister Li, at the eastern end of town!

"Butler Tang, there's no movement in the Luo Family's courtyard. We think the brother and sister have probably gone to sleep. Should we make our move now and bring them back for questioning?"

Hearing his subordinate's question, Mister Li's butler, Tang Cong, looked toward the three oddly built men standing in the courtyard.

The Qi Family Trio were triplets, and all three were late-stage Skin Refining Realm martial artists. A few years ago, they had committed a terrible crime in Ying County, Youzhou, raping and murdering the young lady of a prominent Yingshan Clan family while she was out traveling alone.

When the crime came to light, the woman's family had been enraged. The Yingshan the Mountain Clan had sent experts to hunt the three down and offered an additional thousand taels of silver for their heads.

Realizing they were in deep trouble, the three fled the village under cover of night, but the people who had taken the bounty caught up with them all the same.

Hunted from Youzhou, they had fled for their lives, surviving one close call after another along the way, until they finally reached Dongsheng Town, near Yunlu County.

Standing outside town and gazing at Mister Li's luxurious residence, the three had been seized by a wicked idea: to take over the place for themselves.

Their plan was to kill every man in the residence and keep all the women as playthings.

The three had just climbed over the rear wall of Mister Li's residence and entered the backyard when they happened upon the terrifying sight of a demon devouring a person.

The three had dropped to their knees in terror and begged for mercy. The noblewoman demon was about to eat them.

"Don't eat me!" "Don't eat me!" We can work for you.

The noblewoman looked at the three men on the ground. All were late-stage Skin Refining Realm martial artists, and she was badly injured. If she fought them head-on, even if she won, her injuries would worsen. It didn't seem worth the cost.

Black qi gathered in the noblewoman demon's hand, taking the shape of three pills. She tossed them down in front of the men.

"Eat these pills, and I'll spare your lives today."

Looking at the pills the woman had conjured from thin air, the three hesitated.

"My lady! Could we—"

"Eat them, or I'll send you on your way right now."

Seeing the demon lunge toward them, the three knew that if they hesitated any longer, none of them would survive. They hurriedly swallowed the pills.

After watching the three eat them, she said, "From now on, you'll work for him and follow his orders."

As she spoke, the noblewoman pointed at Mister Li.

"You're sure Luo Wei disappeared after taking a group of people into the Mountain with his nephew?"

"Absolutely, Butler Tang. A few young ruffians who came to the residence yesterday told us so themselves. Mister Li confirmed the whole story, too. There can't be any mistake."

Hearing that his master had confirmed it as well, Butler Tang nodded.

"That boy went into the Mountain alone a couple of days ago and killed a six- or seven-hundred-pound tiger. Can you three handle him?"

"Don't worry, Butler Tang. You know how reliable the Qi Family Brothers are! As long as he's not a Flesh Refining Realm martial artist, the three of us can get the job done beautifully."

Seeing how confident they were, Butler Tang nodded. "Go. If anything goes wrong, don't expose your identities or Lady's. You know what'll happen otherwise."

At Butler Tang's threat, the three thought of the terrifying demon living in the rear wing of the residence and shivered involuntarily.

After leaving Mister Li's residence, the three made their way through the dark night to the wall around Luo Yi's home.

They didn't bother picking the lock. Instead, they climbed straight over the wall and entered Luo Yi's courtyard.

Luo Yi had just fallen asleep when he heard the faint sound of footsteps landing in the courtyard. Who would come to his house this late—and not even use the front door?

Alerted, he grabbed the Dao from beside him and crept to the front door.

He pressed himself against the wall and listened carefully to the sounds outside.

Elder Qi smacked Qi the Third on the back of the head.

"Third, I've told you again and again to eat less! Stop getting so fat. You made the loudest noise when you jumped down. If you wake the boy inside and he calls for help, ruining Lady's plans, you'll pay for it when we get back."

"Eldest, it's not like I want to eat so much. Compared to what we used to eat, everything we've had lately is so delicious. I can't help myself!" Qi the Third rubbed the back of his head and looked utterly innocent.

Looking at his brother's innocent expression, Elder Qi could only shake his head helplessly.

"Eldest, Third, stop arguing. You'll really wake the boy." Second Qi cut them off, then cautiously approached Luo Yi's room. He poked a hole through the window with his finger, took out a bamboo tube, and poured in a mixture of specially prepared poison and a sleeping drug.

Listening to the conversation outside, Luo Yi wondered, "Lady"? Was there a palace lady living in Dongsheng Town? Why had he never heard anyone mention her before? Unable to make sense of it, he silently concluded that the three had come sneaking around in the middle of the night with ill intentions. He tightened his grip on the Dao.

He planned to wait until the three entered the room, then strike suddenly and take one of them out before they could react.

He waited a while, but none of them came in. Just as Luo Yi began to think they had already discovered him, he saw someone poke a hole through the window from outside and push in a bamboo tube. Remembering the television dramas he had watched in his previous life, he figured it was probably a sleeping drug or some other poison. He didn't know how resistant his body was to poison now.

Luo Yi drew in a deep breath and blew into the end of the bamboo tube poking inside.

Second Qi had just poured the mixture of poison and sleeping drug into the tube and put his mouth to it, ready to blow, when Luo Yi's sudden gust sent the whole dose rushing into his mouth. He began coughing violently.

Realizing the man outside who had tried to poison him had been hit by the dose instead, Luo Yi kicked the door open and charged at the other two with his Dao.

Elder Qi and Qi the Third stood in the courtyard, watching their brother administer the drug. Suddenly, Second Qi clutched his throat and thrashed about wildly.

The two were about to rush over and see what was wrong when they saw the door open from within.

A young man wielding a Dao kicked the door open and charged out of the room.

"Bold of you! You should've stayed inside and waited, but instead you dare come out to die!"

The two drew the long sabers from their backs.

"Together! Kill him!"

With a roar from Elder Qi, Qi the Third swung his saber. The two attacked Luo Yi from either side.

As they came at him, Luo Yi held his Dao crosswise to block Elder Qi's strike, while turning sideways to evade Qi the Third's slash.

After dodging their attacks, Luo Yi spun around and swung his Dao at Qi the Third's head.

Seeing the gleaming blade, Qi the Third hurriedly retreated.

At that moment, Elder Qi swung his saber and attacked Luo Yi from behind.

Feeling the rush of air from the attack behind him, Luo Yi pulled back his Dao from its strike at Qi the Third and forced himself to turn around. He put all his strength into a slash at the approaching Elder Qi.

With a deafening clang, the two blades collided, sparks flying.

Luo Yi stood firm without moving, while Elder Qi staggered back from the force of Luo Yi's full-strength blow. He had to stamp several times before he regained his footing.

"Where did he get so much strength?"

While Elder Qi was still reeling, Luo Yi swung with all his strength at him again.

Seeing the Dao coming for him, Elder Qi's eyes widened in terror. He tried to raise his saber to block, but the earlier clash had left his arm numb, and his movements were sluggish.

With a crack, the blade cut Elder Qi in half at the waist.

"Eldest!" Seeing his big brother cut in two and his second brother unconscious from the poison, Qi the Third knew he was no match for this man. Staying would only get him killed. He pulled the hidden weapon from his waist, flung it toward Luo Yi, then turned and ran.

Luo Yi dodged the flying weapons. Worried the man might have accomplices waiting outside, he didn't pursue Qi the Third as he escaped.