I Sentence You To Death!

Li Pingsheng changed into the night-traveling clothes he had stripped from a Black Water Gang dead-soldier, pulling his mask high until only his eyes were visible.

He crouched in the shadows of the courtyard wall.

The [Wind Treading] talent activated.

On the street, the night watchman struck his clapper, signaling the third watch.

The watchman never noticed a black shadow "whoosh" past him, leaping over the eaves above his head.

The Zhao Family Estate was brightly lit, with guards stationed every three steps and sentries every five; patrols moved back and forth, creating a defense so tight it was suffocating.

Yet in Li Pingsheng's eyes, these defenses were riddled with holes.

With the [Martial Wisdom] talent active, his senses and insight surged significantly.

The patrol routes, the blind spots invisible to the sentries, and the gaps during shift changes were all crystal clear in his mind.

He didn't even need to memorize them; one glance was enough to understand everything.

With a few leaps, he bypassed all the overt and covert sentries, vaulted over the Zhao Family's towering wall, and landed in the shadows of a flower bed.

The entire process was completely silent.

According to his original plan, he intended to head straight for the room where Zhao Ming slept.

That spoiled second-generation heir would surely have personal items like jade pendants or seals on him; stealing one would be enough to frame him.

But just as he was about to move, his nose twitched slightly.

A faint, hidden stench drifted over on the night breeze.

The scent was subtle, mixed with the smell of soil and rotting meat, something an ordinary person would never detect.

But Li Pingsheng could not be mistaken.

This smell was identical to the one that had emanated from the black insect inside the brain of the hyena he had killed last time.

Li Pingsheng stopped in his tracks.

His gaze darkened.

The Zhao Family, demonic beasts, and gu-insects—what was the connection between these three?

A thought emerged in his mind.

Li Pingsheng immediately changed his plan.

Stealing to frame someone was only a minor tactic.

If the Zhao Family was involved in the beast disaster in the Outer City, the situation was far more serious than he had imagined.

He retracted his blood energy, sinking the power of [Tiger Bone] deep into his marrow.

With the [Wind Treading] talent pushed to its limit, his figure darted through the shadows of the pavilions and towers, racing toward the source of the stench: the direction of the Zhao Family's restricted back mountain.

The back mountain was a forest of jagged rocks designated as a restricted area, with security several times tighter than the front courtyard.

Squads of guards held blades, scanning their surroundings vigilantly.

Unfortunately, none of this could stop him.

The comprehension brought by [Martial Wisdom] allowed him to instinctively find the path for stealth without even needing to look.

The guards couldn't even sense a stir in the wind.

Soon, following the increasingly thick stench, Li Pingsheng arrived at a corner surrounded by large boulders.

The source of the smell was underneath.

He pushed aside waist-high weeds and discovered a cave entrance covered by vines and loose rocks.

The opening was small, just enough for one person to pass through.

It was pitch black inside, emitting a cold chill and that distinct stench.

It was a karst cave.

Li Pingsheng didn't go in; instead, he circled behind a pile of rocks above the cave and found a deeply hidden ventilation shaft.

He lay flat against the vent, holding his breath to minimize his presence, and peered down through the cracks in the stone.

Inside the cave, a few oil lamps flickered on the stone walls, casting long shadows of three figures.

Two of them were the Zhao Family heads, Zhao Zhentian and his son Zhao Ming.

The third person was draped in a wide black robe, his frame gaunt, revealing only a pair of sinister eyes and radiating an icy, cold aura.

In the black-robed man's hand, he was toying with a pitch-black beetle.

The beetle crawled back and forth over his withered fingers.

It was that kind of gu-insect.

Li Pingsheng's pupils constricted.

The [Enhanced Cognition] talent made his hearing exceptionally sharp; even from over a dozen yards away, the whispered conspiracy of the three men in the cave reached his ears.

"Sir, your gu-insect is truly miraculous! Haha, as long as you give me a little more time, I will definitely make that bastard Li Pingsheng wish he were dead!"

Zhao Ming's voice was thick with sycophancy and spite; he stared at the insect in the black-robed figure's hand with a fanatical gaze.

Zhao Zhentian, the head of the Li Family, spoke up: "Sir, why exactly did that incident in the Outer City spiral out of control? How did the hyenas we sent end up clashing with the Black Water Gang?"

The black-robed figure let out a laugh.

"Hahaha... that was merely an accident."

"According to the original plan, those blood slaves were supposed to sneak into Li Pingsheng's old residence and bite his entire family to death."

"Their flesh and blood would have been perfect for feeding the new insects..."

Upon hearing this, Li Pingsheng's fingernails dug deep into his palms.

So, the monsters that night had been targeting his family all along!!

If he hadn't happened to deal with Master Scar and the hyenas... the consequences were too terrifying to imagine.

A surge of killing intent rose in his chest.

But he forcefully used his Martial Wisdom talent to suppress the impulse.

The angrier one gets, the calmer one must remain.

Inside the cave, the black-robed figure continued:

"It's a pity that they happened to run into Master Scar and Master Qin of the Black Water Gang outside the Li Family residence. I don't know why the two sides started fighting, but that was what alerted the prey."

"Hmph."

Zhao Zhentian sneered, a look of smugness appearing on his face. "Those rats from the Black Water Gang, entrenched in the Outer City, probably mistook our blood slaves for beasts encroaching on their territory, leading to their mutual destruction. They probably still don't know, even in death, that the Zhao Family was pulling the strings behind it all."

"Father is truly brilliant!"

Zhao Ming immediately chimed in with flattery.

Zhao Zhentian stroked his beard triumphantly: "Although it is a pity we didn't manage to kill the family of that Li Pingsheng you hate so much."

"But! The plan to use the insects to create a beast disaster in the Outer City must absolutely not stop, do you understand?"

"As long as the Outer City becomes increasingly chaotic, the prices of those shops and farmlands will drop, and when that time comes, our Zhao Family will be able to swallow up the entire Outer City at the lowest possible price!"

This father and son pair, believing they controlled everything, rejoiced over the "mutual destruction" of the Black Water Gang and the monsters.

They had no idea that Li Pingsheng, the man they had schemed against and dismissed as merely "lucky," was watching them from the darkness, listening to their conspiracy.

The killing intent in Li Pingsheng's heart grew even firmer.

"Father, please, once the martial arts academy exam is over, regardless of whether that Li Pingsheng is dead or alive, you must have the sir make another move!"

"I want to watch with my own eyes as the monsters tear his whole family to shreds! Only then will my hatred be satisfied!"

Zhao Ming added through gritted teeth, his face twisted in a hideous expression.

The last shred of hesitation in Li Pingsheng's heart vanished.

The Zhao Family had thoroughly enraged him.

He had originally only intended to teach Zhao Ming a lesson.

But now, that was not enough.

Far from enough!

People this devoid of conscience, who would even target his family, must be wiped from this world!

Not a single one left!

Li Pingsheng swore to sentence the masterminds of the Zhao Family to death!