Chapter Thirty-One: Pathetic?

At this moment, inside the Sun Family estate, the patriarch Sun Gan sat in the main hall. His third son had been murdered.

Losing a son in his old age, a patch of white hair had appeared on his head in an instant.

His complexion was visibly haggard, and a sinister, vicious light continuously spread through his clouded eyes.

"Have you found the person? In Ice Plain City, can you not even find a mere City Guard? Drop everything else and send everyone out to search!" the old man rasped.

Below him, a middle-aged man said with a grim expression, "Father, the Zhou Family is not being very cooperative. They only offer excuses that the City Guard is needed to defend the city and that they are short-handed. Should we pull back the men secretly investigating Lu Yuan?"

After that man joined the Zhou Family, he had accomplished a series of major feats, which naturally caught the attention of the Sun Family.

Moreover, Zhou Hongling's arrangements for Lu Yuan had exceeded the standard treatment for a Squad Leader.

The Sun Family had been investigating this matter all along, waiting for the right opportunity to file a formal complaint.

But who would have thought such a major incident would occur now?

"Keep the existing evidence, pause the investigation into him for now, and pull everyone back. We will deal with that after this matter is finished. Your third brother cannot die in vain," Sun Gan said, his voice trembling.

He had three sons, all of whom served as Centurions in the military.

Each controlled a force of several hundred men.

Now, his youngest son had been killed.

His influence had weakened once more.

The bitter resentment in his heart was truly hard to swallow.

"I will go handle it at once." The eldest son of the Sun Family acknowledged the order and left.

On the other side, Zhou He glanced at Lu Yuan. Though anxious, he said, "I only just found out myself. That dog-son Sun the Third—wasn't he a Centurion under Wu Han?

I don't know when it started, but he had been fooling around with Wu Han's new wife.

Every time Wu Han was on night duty, he would climb over the wall into Wu Han's home in the middle of the night.

This time, Wu Han's younger brother discovered them. After a dispute broke out, Sun the Third not only killed Wu Han's brother but even kicked Wu Han's mother to death.

That was what enraged Wu Han. He grabbed his blade and went straight to the house Sun the Third kept for his mistress. He happened to run into Sun the Third and their Squad Leader plotting how to frame him.

In one breath, he killed them both."

Hearing Zhou He say this, Lu Yuan nodded.

"Brother, in this life, one must have a few brothers they can rely on to walk more steadily. Wu Han is a man I have acknowledged; I must save him.

I also know you are new here and have your own concerns. Honestly, I shouldn't have come today."

Seeing that Lu Yuan did not respond, a flash of disappointment crossed Zhou He's eyes.

He turned and walked out the door.

After he left, Lu Yuan did not return to rest. Instead, he changed into a night-traveling outfit, donned a mask, and leaped straight out of the window behind the house.

For the past few days, he had noticed people secretly observing and tailing him. Lu Yuan had not exposed them, because based on their style of operation, he knew they must be officials from the Great Yong government.

He did not want to act rashly without absolute certainty.

That was why he could not impulsively agree in front of Zhou He just now, lest the hidden watchers see through his intentions.

However, setting Wu Han aside, if Zhou He were to get involved, he could not just stand by and watch.

Therefore, he prepared to slip out to deal with those tailing him before going to pursue Zhou He.

Yet, to Lu Yuan's surprise, after he emerged, those people were nowhere to be found.

Though puzzled, Lu Yuan did not hesitate.

With a light tap of his right foot, he vaulted onto the eaves, and within a few bounds, he had cleared the alley entrance.

Ice Plain City was neither large nor small; if something truly happened, the commotion could still be seen from a high vantage point.

At this moment, Wu Han was hiding in a pile of firewood in an obscure alley. His abdomen had been pierced by a blade, and the wound on his shoulder was deep enough to reveal bone.

Although he had fought desperately to finish off Sun the Third, he was not as monstrous as Lu Yuan, who could chase down a Body Tempering Realm expert while still in the same realm. He had sustained heavy injuries.

Listening to the chaotic footsteps outside, he knew in his heart that he was likely about to be captured.

But he was unwilling to be taken.

He tightened his grip on his blade, and a grim expression surfaced on his handsome face.

"There is blood over there! Over there!"

"Clatter, clatter..."

Someone shouted, and the footsteps grew more dense.

It seemed as if everyone was rushing toward this location.

"Bang!"

Knowing he had been exposed, Wu Han kicked aside the firewood and stood up.

The long blade gripped in his hand was stained with blood.

Leading the group was Sun the Second of the Sun Family. He was burly with a massive head, his face covered in thick, bumpy flesh, giving him a rather ferocious appearance.

His strange eyes locked onto Wu Han. "I never expected a coward like you to dare kill my third brother. Today, I'm going to drag you back and grind your bones to dust."

"Heh, I'm a coward? Yet it was this coward who slaughtered your brother. If I still have the strength today, I'll slaughter you right along with him. If I didn't have burdens, you lot wouldn't even be worth mentioning."

As Wu Han spoke, he charged straight at Sun the Second, clearly intent on a fight to the death.

In a panic, Sun the Second raised his blade to strike.

Wu Han didn't dodge; instead, he moved even faster. As his blade fell, he shifted its trajectory to hack at his opponent's waist.

"Clang!"

Sun the Second was wearing iron armor, and sparks flew as the blade grazed him.

"Squelch!"

At the same time, Sun the Second's blade landed on Wu Han's shoulder. Blood sprayed, drenching Wu Han's cheek. He showed no intention of dodging, instead grabbing the back of the blade with one hand and swinging his own weapon toward Sun the Second's head with the other.

He was utterly fearless.

"Bang!"

Sun the Second dared not risk his life. He released the hilt and kicked out with his right foot, trying to put some distance between them.

But Wu Han pulled the blade from his own shoulder and smashed it into Sun the Second's leg.

Blood spurted as the blade pierced straight through the man's lower leg.

"Ah!" A shrill scream rang out.

Blood trickled from the corner of Wu Han's mouth. "Am I a coward?"

His fighting style was manic, completely indifferent to his own life; he had only one goal, and that was to kill his opponent.

Sun the Second roared, "Are you all blind? Get him!"

Only then did the surrounding men react, raising their weapons to strike at Wu Han.

There were too many of them, and he was nearing exhaustion; he no longer had the strength to defend himself.

Yet, Wu Han did not give up. He gripped his hilt even tighter. From the moment his family died, he had sworn that from that day on, no one would ever make him drop his blade.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, a rope snaked out from behind a wall, looped around him, and hauled him upward. Once Wu Han was pulled to the top of the wall, a figure with a covered face whispered, "It's me. Let's go."

With that, he dragged Wu Han toward another alleyway.

The weapons of the City Guard struck only empty air.

Sun the Second shouted in a rage, "Go around! Chase them! Bring the one who saved him back too; I want to see who dares to cross my Sun Family."

Zhou He knew he had been careless. Although he had found an opening to save Wu Han from the crowd, the City Guard had surrounded them too quickly.

In less than a moment, the two of them were cornered.

Sweat beaded on his palms.

Wu Han felt a pang of sorrow, looking at the brother who had always taken care of him, only to be dragged down by him again today.

He wished he could tear his own heart out.

"I'll hold them off. You go," he rasped.

"Look at that pathetic look on your face. You're just asking for a scolding. Why are your eyes red? The worst that happens is we die. Eighteen years later, we'll be heroes again. Can you even hold off this many people?" Zhou He muttered, scolding him just as he always did.

However, a dense layer of sweat had already coated his forehead.

Sun the Second didn't step forward this time. He stood at the back, favoring his injured leg, his eyes filled with venom as he gritted his teeth. "Wu Han, I've been to your home, too. Ha!"

He waved his hand, signaling his men to seize the two.

Both Zhou He and Wu Han knew they were finished.

But in the next instant.

A figure appeared from behind, clamped a hand onto Sun the Second's skull, and yanked.

"Crunch!"

The man's head was torn clean off.

Then, without any flair or wasted movement, the figure unleashed a series of strikes so fast they were impossible to track, knocking the dozen City Guards on the perimeter to the ground.

The speed was immense, the strikes brutal.

"Boom!"

Seeing this, the rest of the City Guard scattered in a panic. The ones who had been hit were Sun the Second's confidants; the others were just ordinary guards. With their leader dead, no one was willing to throw their life away.

Besides, everyone already felt a measure of sympathy for Wu Han.

"Follow me!" Lu Yuan said in a low voice once everyone had fled.

A glimmer of hope shone in Zhou He's eyes as he hoisted the nearly unconscious Wu Han onto his back and followed.