Slaying Yu Meng

Chapter 27: Executing Yu Meng

On a desolate, towering hillside, three figures—one old and two young—quietly emerged.

In the distance, the dilapidated manor was being gradually swallowed by a sea of crimson flames.

"Look, just look. This is, in name, the ancestral land of our clan. It was already decrepit enough on ordinary days, but now it has been razed by a mysterious fire overnight. Let us see how the lords and nobles sitting high in the Imperial Capital react to this fury."

Elder Shi Jian'an watched the scene with a cold sneer.

A towering rage had long been buried in the old man's heart. He resented the Stone Kingdom's royal family for turning a blind eye, hated the Rain Clan for their arrogance and tyranny, and was even more furious at his own helplessness.

"Great-Grandfather, I want to go to Chongyun City and uproot the Rain Clan's stronghold there. A mere steward of the Rain Clan dares to bare his fangs at our Second Ancestral Land—this is a supreme humiliation to our entire Shi Clan. If I don't execute a few of them, my mind will never be at peace," Shi Hao said.

In the original story, the Stone Kingdom's attitude toward the Rain Clan was deeply problematic.

Little One had rescued Shi Qingfeng and burned down the Second Ancestral Land upon leaving, which enraged the Imperial Capital. The Human Emperor dispatched three nobles to investigate, exposing all of the Rain Clan's machinations regarding the ancestral land.

Logically, the Second Ancestral Land was the ancestral ground of the Stone Kingdom, housing the spirit tablets of many ancestors. Destroying it was a direct slap in the face to the entire royal family, bringing shame upon every noble of the Shi Clan.

When it was discovered that the Rain Clan had played such a disgraceful role, the royal family should have at least severed an arm of the Rain King—if not stormed the Rain King Mansion to cut down that old schemer himself—to show that the majesty of the ancient kingdom could not be violated.

Yet, instead, the three nobles sent by the Human Emperor investigated and made a great show of force, only to end up executing a peripheral lackey named Yu Meng before patting their backsides and returning to the capital to report.

If the Saint Emperor of the Stone Kingdom knew his descendants were such cowards, he would likely crawl out of his grave, cursing and swearing, to slaughter these spineless fools and feed them to the swine.

This time, Shi Hao would not let the Rain Clan off so lightly.

"Go to Chongyun City? To wipe out the Rain Clan members there?"

Shi Jian'an muttered to himself, then burst into loud laughter. "Good! I've wanted to do this for a long time. You truly are the seed of the Third."

"We must reach the fortress of Chongyun City, a thousand miles away, before the Rain Clan receives word, so we need a little help."

As he spoke, Little Shi took out a crystalline bone flute and blew into it.

"Screech!"

An exceptionally sharp cry pierced the heavens. A massive primordial avian flapped its deep-blue wings, tearing through the air at incredible speed, covering dozens of meters in a single instant.

"The primordial avian, the Azure Heaven Roc?"

Looking at the majestic, blue-feathered roc, the old man could not help but be moved.

It wasn't that this ancient relic was invincible—as a noble of the human race, he could easily kill a cub in the Spirit Transformation Realm—but its bloodline was exceptionally pure, a testament to the astonishing foundation of the Shi Clan's ancestral land.

"There are three more Azure Heaven Rocs in the ancestral land; they are all war beasts of our clan."

Shi Hao smiled, pulled the two others onto the back of the roc, and steered the eldest of the three into the thick clouds high above the nine heavens.

According to the plan, they would first bid farewell to the man known as Grandpa Hai, so that the kind old man would not worry about the two grandfather and grandson in the manor.

In a magnificent manor within Chongyun City.

"Is that child still alive?"

A middle-aged man with a clean-shaven face spoke nonchalantly. Deep within his pupils, cryptic runes intertwined—he was a master with profound attainments in Bone Text.

Yu Meng, a mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, hailed from the Rain King Mansion in the Imperial Capital.

He had been entrusted by a powerful elder in the mansion to descend upon this place, inspect the Rain Clan's various industries in the Western Frontier, and complete a secret mission on the side.

"Reporting to Lord Yu Meng, that child is still alive. He has been weak and sickly since childhood, but according to our observations, he is likely an impostor—the offspring of some old monster in that dilapidated manor—and not the child from back then," the local steward replied, rising quickly and bowing obsequiously.

"Better to kill the wrong person than to let the right one go. That child must die. The elders in the mansion do not wish for him to remain alive. Do you... understand my meaning?"

The middle-aged man suddenly raised his head, his gaze chillingly cold.

"Yes, this subordinate understands. I will arrange for him to die in an accident as soon as possible. Some time ago, that Poison Flood Dragon only crippled him; this time, he must die."

The steward shuddered and hurriedly gave his word.

The middle-aged man squinted for a moment before giving a reserved nod. "Good. As long as you understand my meaning, arrange it quickly—"

"BOOM!!!"

"BOOM!!!"

The magnificent building was flattened in an instant. The steward, whose cultivation was only in the Blood Moving Realm, had no time to react before he was crushed to death by a deep-blue beast claw descending from the sky.

Dust billowed as Yu Meng tumbled out of the ruins in a wretched state.

"Yu Meng, your crimes have been exposed. Come with us."

High above the nine heavens, the primordial avian spread its wings, and a young god stood upon it, wearing a smile.

"You dare cause trouble for my Rain Clan? Have you grown tired of living?!"

Yu Meng, covered in dust and grime, let out a low roar and scrambled to his feet.

"The Rain Clan? How do you compare to my Shi Clan? You are nothing but a dog guarding the gate for us. Do you dare to rebel against the heavens?"

A loud, aged laugh rang out. The old man's burly frame appeared in Yu Meng's line of sight, causing the latter's pupils to constrict.

"Shi Jian'an? I thought you were on the verge of death!"

Yu Meng, hailing from the Rain King Mansion, instantly recognized this imperial marquis.

"Thanks to your Rain Clan's 'blessings,' I'm not dead yet."

Shi Jian'an laughed heartily at these words, then channeled his Bone Text to lower Little Shi to the ground beside him. "Hao'er, do it. Kill him."

"Hao'er? Could it be that you are that child from back then?"

Yu Meng turned his gaze toward Shi Hao, finding something vaguely familiar about his brow.

"The dead don't need to know too much. Make your move; you only have one chance."

Shi Hao landed on the ground as lightly as a fledgling Golden Winged Roc.

"Since I'm going to die either way, I'll kill you and pave the way for my clan's young master!"

With nowhere left to run, Yu Meng's expression turned ferocious as Bone Text intertwined in his palms.

The lake deep within the estate was stirred, summoning a torrential downpour that instantly transformed the surrounding hundreds of feet into a watery expanse, with monstrous waves crashing down like a collapsing sky.

Every single raindrop was as sharp as the finest arrow feather.

The Rain Clan possessed the bloodline of the ancient Rain God and was born with the ability to command the power of rain.

"The path of water, is it? I recall that water conducts electricity~"

Shi Hao smiled, pulling a crystalline ancient mirror from his robes.

Under Yu Meng's gaze of extreme terror, he activated his Bone Text, connecting with the divine lightning essence contained within the Suanni Treasure Mirror.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Boundless lightning descended, linking with the entire watery domain.

Enhanced by the power of the heavy water, the violent lightning was amplified to its peak, and the golden thunder filling the sky instantly submerged the figure in the water, reducing him to charred remains.

Wisps of white smoke rose into the air, and the torrential rain vanished in an instant.

Yu Meng, a mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, was dead!

ps: Regarding the naming of Shi Qingfeng.

In the original work, the name Qingfeng was chosen by Shi Qingfeng himself.

Here, since the old man is addressing his great-great-grandson in front of Little Shi, he must use his real name, so I have made a slight adjustment: the name Qingfeng is now given by the old man.

After all, when Little Shi's Supreme Bone was gouged out, he was a year and a half old, but his bodily functions had withered, making him appear only six months old.

Shi Qingfeng was exactly six months old at the time, one year younger than Little Shi, which allowed him to seamlessly impersonate the younger Little Shi.

It is logically sound for a six-month-old child to have his own name.