Your Path to Survival Has Come to an End

Xu Fengqing wore a bitter smile on her face.

"Lord Lu is a straightforward man, so I won't beat around the bush either."

"If there is any shred of humanity left in Shen Yulou, I beg Lord Lu to show mercy and spare his life."

Lu Yuan was slightly surprised; why did someone suddenly pop up to plead for him?

Shen Yulou had personally slaughtered his entire family, which was a capital offense anywhere.

As the head of the Brocade Workshop, Xu Fengqing should have understood this principle.

"Do you have a connection with the Shen Family?"

"Shen Huaishan once did me a favor."

"We'll see."

Lu Yuan did not refuse outright.

That Shen Yulou had been bewitched by demons and posed a massive threat!

If he were to be stabbed in the back at a critical moment, he would be finished.

Therefore, if there was even the slightest sign of trouble once they entered the Sword Hall, he would kill him immediately.

Xu Fengqing nodded and bowed deeply, "Thank you, Lord Lu."

Lu Yuan took the Hidden Ink Jade Token and hung it at his waist; the surrounding ink aura instantly dispersed, and the air even became a bit fresher.

The three of them passed through the front courtyard and the central courtyard of the Shen Family, heading all the way toward the Sword Hall.

Along the way, Ink Spirits kept appearing, drifting silently around them.

But as long as the Hidden Ink Jade Token was present, these Ink Spirits acted as if they were blind, ignoring them completely.

Soon, they arrived at the Sword Hall.

Under the moonlight, the black-tiled, upturned eaves stood over an open gate, with an Ancient Painting hanging on the wall in the center of the main hall.

The scroll was three feet long, made of silk, and its edges were yellowed and curled, clearly showing its age.

The background of the painting featured mountains and water, but the center was left blank, clearly missing the main figure of the Lady.

At this moment, with a flash of green light, a young man in a white robe holding a long sword stepped out from the painting.

It was Shen Yulou.

He stepped quickly to the edge of the threshold, his eyes indifferent as he looked down at the three of them.

"Halt."

Su Ding'an stepped forward, brandishing the Horizontal Saber in his hand.

"The Demon Suppression Bureau is conducting an investigation; bystanders, back away!"

"The Demon Suppression Bureau?" Shen Yulou's expression remained unchanged. "This is the territory of the Scroll Fairy. Leave at once, or not even the Demon Suppression Bureau can protect you."

Su Ding'an took a step back and stood silently behind Lu Yuan.

The Scroll Fairy?

The name sounded like a demon the moment he heard it.

Don't think that just because it has the word "Fairy" in it, it can confuse the public!

Xu Fengqing stood to the side, her face pale, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she looked at Shen Yulou.

She had held onto a glimmer of hope when she arrived, but now, seeing the look in Shen Yulou's eyes, he was clearly no longer the person she once knew.

Lu Yuan turned his head and glanced at Xu Fengqing without speaking, but his meaning was clear.

You see it too.

How can I spare his life in this state?

In front of the Sword Hall, the night wind stagnated.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze from her and looked at Shen Yulou as if he were looking at a corpse.

"Call your master out."

Shen Yulou's expression was cold, his sword tip pointing diagonally at the ground. "Whoever dares to disturb the Fairy's meditation, dies!"

Lu Yuan gave a disdainful snort. "Then let me see your loyalty to the Fairy."

As the words fell, Shen Yulou made his move.

The sword stance was fierce, fast as lightning, and pierced toward Lu Yuan's throat with a reckless, desperate intensity.

Golden light flickered in the depths of Lu Yuan's eyes as he tilted his head to avoid the blade.

"Is this the Cold Abyss Sword Technique of the Cangwu Sword Pavilion? You've practiced it into a complete mess."

Shen Yulou's sword momentum faltered, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes.

"Then try this move!"

He roared, his sword blade turning to slash horizontally toward Lu Yuan's waist and abdomen.

Lu Yuan did not dodge or evade, relying on a physical body comparable to the Indestructible Bone of a corpse king, he spread his hand into a claw and grabbed toward the blade.

Shen Yulou sneered in his heart.

The long sword in his hand, while not a divine weapon, had long been imbued with the Fairy's magic, allowing it to slice through iron as if it were mud.

For Lu Yuan to grab his blade with his bare fingers was clearly courting death.

Since that was the case, he would start by breaking a few of his fingers to let him know that the Fairy could not be insulted.

The moment the claw made contact with the blade, Shen Yulou felt as if the sword had been pinned down by a massive mountain.

Lu Yuan's five fingers locked onto the blade, completely unscathed, and no matter how much force the other man exerted, the long sword remained motionless in his grip.

"Let go!"

Shen Yulou let out a cold shout, only then realizing that something was wrong.

However, it was already too late.

Suddenly, Lu Yuan exerted force, and a vast, overwhelming power traveled along the blade to Shen Yulou's wrist, followed by a clever twist and a jolt.

With a few crisp cracking sounds, the wrist of Shen Yulou's right hand holding the sword snapped, his sleeve burst open, and his five fingers were reduced to a bloody mess.

The refined steel long sword flew from his hand, clattering as it hit the ground.

Shen Yulou let out a muffled groan, his entire right arm dripping with blood.

He staggered backward, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

Lu Yuan did not stop.

He stepped forward, striking his elbow horizontally against the other man's chest.

The move was as fast as lightning; before Shen Yulou could react, he took the blow squarely in the chest.

His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his white lapels with specks of crimson.

Shen Yulou endured the intense pain, his eyes filled with resentment.

"You people from the Demon Suppression Bureau are being far too overbearing!"

"My strikes were all feints; I didn't even hurt you in the slightest. Is it necessary to cripple my arm?"

Lu Yuan sneered in disdain, "So if you couldn't hurt me, it was just a feint?"

His arm was ruined, yet his mouth remained stubborn.

"Enough of this nonsense. Daring to draw your sword against this official means your path to survival has come to an end!"

Shen Yulou gritted his teeth, knowing he could not handle this.

"Fine, fine, fine! I will remember you! I will surely repay this grudge tenfold in the future!"

Before the words had even faded, he stomped his foot and shot toward the horizon like an arrow released from a bow, his speed astonishingly fast.

Su Ding'an cried out in surprise, and Xu Fengqing instinctively moved to intercept him.

But Shen Yulou moved like a swallow, one foot already touching the edge of the courtyard wall.

"Still thinking of revenge? Try the next life!"

A sharp whistle of tearing air rang out in the darkness, and a crystalline glint flashed in an instant.

A Sharp Crystal Spike struck abruptly, piercing through his right shoulder blade from above and pinning him to the ground with a spray of blood mist.

Shen Yulou spat blood, struggling to crawl up, yet the crystal spike held him firmly in place.

The broken bones and torn muscles forced a painful groan from his throat.

Lu Yuan walked over leisurely, looking down at him from above.

"Where is the Fairy?"

Shen Yulou's eyes were filled with pain and hatred, a savage grin twisting his lips.

"Do you think I would tell you?"

"If you don't want to talk, then don't."

A crystal spike condensed in Lu Yuan's palm, carrying an indestructible sharpness as it shot out.

Shen Yulou's expression stiffened.

He had never expected this young official to be so decisive in his killing.

His pupils contracted; he wanted to flee, he wanted to scream.

Yet the overwhelming killing intent left him in despair.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the side.

The stone slabs on the ground suddenly turned into ink-colored liquid, and Shen Yulou's body sank, dropping into it and disappearing from sight.

The next instant, the entrance to the Sword Hall was stained with ink, and ripples spread across the ground.

Ripples spread outward, circle by circle, from the center.

At the heart of the ripples, two figures slowly rose, untouched by a speck of dust.

One was Shen Yulou.

The other was a woman dressed in palace attire.

Her features were as picturesque as a painting, her face so exquisitely delicate that it lacked any sense of reality; she looked as if she had stepped right out of a canvas.

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