The Choice

The Commandery Governor of a city and its Wing General being suddenly murdered was no small matter. Even Prince Guangyun could not suppress it. It would alarm the Imperial City, bring a thorough investigation by the Secret Guard, and might even draw a Great Grandmaster here.

"Father, why does it have to come to this?"

Song Lingxue found it difficult to understand. The consequences of killing officials were far too severe—it was a provocation against Imperial Authority.

"Over all these years since Yuan Xingcai took office, I don't know how many benefits I sent him. Now he turns around and kicks us when we're down. He is courting death."

Song Tonghai's hands did not stop moving. He paid no heed to the wounds still seeping blood across his body, his gaze ice-cold.

"One step back leads to step after step back, until there is nothing but a dead end. We might as well make this matter enormous and deal with each move as it comes."

Only three Grandmasters had come today. Next time, perhaps a Great Grandmaster would arrive.

And after killing the city lord, if an Imperial Envoy from the Imperial Capital truly came, every martial artist would lower their banners and beat their drums for a time.

No one would dare commit crimes against the wind anymore. The consequences of provoking Great Zhou's Imperial Authority were not something any Grandmaster, or even a Great Grandmaster, could bear.

Before the truth was uncovered, this would instead buy them a brief chance to catch their breath—a chance to make arrangements for what came after.

"There was clearly another choice."

Song Lingxue blocked the door, her expression dimming slightly. "Perhaps Prince Guangyun..."

"Shut your mouth!"

Song Tonghai roared, rare loss of control showing in his emotions. His tone grew ever colder. "If you dare act on your own, I will strip you of the Song surname, drive you from this family, and sever all ties with you before our ancestral graves!"

"Do you think those people today were acting on no one's orders?! Open your eyes and look at the people who died in this estate today! How many of them were uncles and elders who guarded caravans with your father and me in the past? Can you say such words and still face them?!"

If there had still been room to turn things around before tonight, then from this moment onward, it was a fight to the death.

Grandmasters were not figures found on every street. Three had appeared at once. If Zhao Yunheng knew absolutely nothing about it, not even ghosts would believe it.

Song Lingxue lowered her head in silence. After a long while, she quietly stepped aside.

Song Tonghai slowly walked up to Song Lingxue, reached out to stroke her head, and sighed softly.

"Bring out all the gold and silver remaining in the estate. Let anyone willing to take money and leave go."

To put it plainly, the only blood relatives left in the Song Family were Song Tonghai and Song Lingxue, along with Song Tonghai's two concubines. Most of those caravan guards merely worked for money, and the servants and maids needed no mention.

A great family that had endured for over three hundred years would ultimately collapse after this battle.

"Understood."

Song Lingxue nodded. "I'll wait for Father to return."

Crash—

Before her words had faded, the door flew open, and Song Tonghai was already nowhere to be seen.

Heavy snow began drifting outside once more. The northern wind howled, thick with biting cold that pierced flesh and bone.

The following morning.

Before the Storehouse.

Having just completed his cycle of cultivation, Chu Zheng sat by the table with a freshly steamed bun between his teeth, staring at the sun overhead as he sank into thought.

Leave or stay—this was a difficult choice.

"Are you full? Want some more? What else would you like to eat? I'll tell the kitchen to make it."

Song Lingxue sat beside him, one hand propping up her chin. The corners of her eyes curved as though the smile might overflow from their depths.

Chu Zheng swallowed the bun in his mouth and shook his head, sighing inwardly.

With Song Lingxue acting like this, how could he bring himself to heartlessly run away?

Though Song Lingxue had said last night that she would restore his freedom, he could not bring himself to owe someone a favor and then care only about saving his own life.

His most basic moral principles restrained him. In truth, he did not place much importance on life and death.

Everyone died eventually. Whether that death had value, however, was another matter.

Chu Zheng simply did not want to die too soon. After all, the world he had seen was still far too small.

Having finally come to another world, only to die without accomplishing anything—it was far too much of a loss no matter how he looked at it.

Perhaps...

He could leave together with Song Tonghai and Song Lingxue. Running alone was running; bringing a few more people along did not seem to matter.

The instant that thought arose, Chu Zheng shook his head. That clearly would not work.

Every point of conflict now revolved around Song Lingqing. Song Tonghai and Song Lingxue stood at the heart of the vortex.

Taking those two with him meant being hunted at every moment. Incidents like last night's would inevitably emerge one after another.

Trouble was only a matter of time. The risk was too great, and escape would be difficult.

Thinking of last night, Chu Zheng suddenly felt puzzled. It seemed he had forgotten something.

Song Lingxue filled a bowl with soup, scooped up a spoonful, and brought it to Chu Zheng's lips. "This deer bone soup has been simmering for nearly two hours. I specifically instructed them to make it. Don't waste it. Finish it—it will be good for your body."

Chu Zheng was still racking his brains over what exactly he had forgotten when movement suddenly came from inside the room.

Crack—

Watching the scene before him, Song Yun stood by the doorway, his heart going numb as a crisp crack rang in his ears, as though something had shattered.

Only when he saw Song Yun stagger out of the room did Chu Zheng finally realize. Understanding dawned on his face—he had completely forgotten about this.

The shock of killing people one after another had been too great. For a while, it had made him cast Song Yun's very existence entirely to the back of his mind.

For a moment, Chu Zheng felt somewhat ashamed. Song Yun had dragged his grievously wounded body here to save him, yet he had nearly forgotten Song Yun altogether and left him beneath the bed for an entire night.

Song Yun stared at Chu Zheng in a daze. This world was too cruel, forcing him once again to confront the gap between people.

But the moment he turned and saw Song Lingxue, he felt that none of it... mattered anymore.

"Eldest Young Lady..."

Song Yun dropped to his knees and covered his face as he sobbed.

At least the Eldest Young Lady was still alive. The sky had not fallen.

When he had awakened alone beneath the bed, he had felt as though the sky truly were about to collapse. After such wild rises and falls, he could hardly suppress his emotions.

"Song Yun?" Song Lingxue froze upon seeing him. "Why are you here?"

Those people last night had not even broken through the Central Courtyard. No outsiders had entered the place where Song Yun had been; it had remained sealed off the entire time.

Seeing Song Yun now, she could not help but be surprised.

Luofeng City's Commandery Governor and the Wing General responsible for defending the city were dead, their heads hung before the city lord's estate.

The news swiftly spread across the city, sparking enormous panic. At the mere rustle of wind and cry of cranes, everyone feared for themselves.

This carried an entirely different meaning from the heads hung atop the city gate the day before.

Great Zhou was heaven, and The Emperor governed the people in heaven's stead. No matter how ferocious or frenzied the Demonic Cultivators, they would be arrested and imprisoned by the Government Office—this had once been the shared conviction in every commoner's heart.

But now, even officials had died.

For a time, the credibility of Great Zhou's Government Office in Luofeng City suffered an unparalleled blow, nearly crumbling like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting apart.

Less than a day after the news spread, commoners began fleeing with their families, scattering toward nearby cities.

The news howled onward like a wild wind, expanding at terrifying speed. In less than two days, it crossed tens of thousands of miles and reached the Great Zhou Imperial Capital.