Whoosh!
The long-faced man said nothing. He crouched slightly, his back drawn taut like a bow, his thigh muscles suddenly tightening. As his soles scraped against the floor, he shot forward like a hunting leopard.
He held his steel saber in a reverse grip, the muscles of his right arm knotted, making no attempt to conceal his icy killing intent. In the space of a breath, he reached one of the burly women besieging Yang Lie.
Cold steel flashed. His fully primed slash flew like an arrow loosed from its string, cleaving straight toward her forehead. The burly woman's expression changed in horror. She hastily retreated a step and raised her staff horizontally with both hands to block.
"Scoundrel!" The burly woman standing guard nearby with a short blade snapped. She sprang forward, circled behind the long-faced man, and thrust at the side of his neck.
The steel saber struck the staff with a sharp clang, as though metal had collided with metal. The staff-wielding woman's wrists trembled, the webs between her thumbs and forefingers tore, and she nearly lost her grip.
Yet the wood of her staff was indeed extraordinarily tough. Even under such a powerful slash, it did not break.
The long-faced man's expression remained cold, like dead wood or gray stone. Turning his wrist, he brought his saber parallel to the staff and slid it along the shaft, slicing swiftly toward the woman's arms.
With a wet tearing sound, a scream erupted. Unable to dodge in time, the staff-wielding woman lost three fingers from one hand. Blood spattered, and her staff fell.
The long-faced man's saber continued its sweep, tracing a semicircle, sinuous as a snake. Suddenly, it swept behind his neck and struck the incoming short blade, scattering sparks.
The blade-wielding woman was immediately forced back several steps.
Carrying the momentum through, the long-faced man swept his saber once more, slitting the throat of the woman who was still screaming over her severed fingers.
Yang Lie also swung his staff then, forcing his opponent back. He caught his breath a few times. "Uncle Wu, you finally made it! These women are no pushovers. Every one of them is astonishingly strong, and they know their way around a staff. I could handle two, but three was really stretching it!"
"Setting fires outside and avoiding the guards took some time." The long-faced man surnamed Wu spoke flatly, his brow furrowed. "Whenever I told you to put real effort into training, you always settled for good enough. Now that it matters, you can't measure up. Once this is over, I'll put you through some proper drills."
"Uh..." Yang Lie's face fell.
Before he could finish, the blade-wielding woman barked coldly, "There won't be an 'after this.' None of you are leaving today."
Her voice brimmed with murderous intent.
Although half of the eight women in the hall had already died, the forces protecting this entire "paradise" consisted of more than these serving women who had tempered their bodies for years. There was also a guard force nearly eighty strong.
Every guard dared to fight and kill, and every one had blood on his hands. Well supplied with good wine and meat, they had been raised into lean, powerful fighters. She only needed to stall for a moment. Once the guards arrived, how many fists could these four petty thieves in the hall withstand?
Besides, the guards were no fools. Why would they come empty-handed? Naturally, they would bring their sabers, spears, clubs, and staves to kill the intruders.
The blade-wielding woman scrutinized the man surnamed Wu with venomous eyes. Her gaze paused on the saber in his hand, and she noticed the scale-like decorations on its guard. Her voice darkened. "A Fish-Scale Blade? That's a regulation saber of the White Scale Guard. You're from the White Scale Guard. Did you abandon your post, or are you a fugitive soldier who committed a crime?"
Hong Yuan raised an eyebrow and glanced at the man surnamed Wu. He had heard of the White Scale Guard. It was one of the three prefectural military forces protecting Linjiang Prefecture.
Linjiang Prefecture lay at a major junction of land and water routes. Its thriving canal transport had naturally brought prosperity to the Prefectural City, with vast amounts of silver flowing in.
And what mattered most when building an elite force?
Money and grain!
Linjiang Prefecture lacked neither. Grain nourished the soldiers' bodies and strength, while money provided finely crafted equipment. With both working in tandem, the White Scale Guard might not rank among the finest troops under heaven, but it was certainly a force worth fielding.
On the dais, the "Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue" trembled with pain, her fat quivering wildly. Her tiny eyes seemed ready to bulge from their sockets as she roared, "The White Scale Guard? Do you know who I am? Do you know whose household feeds the White Scale Guard? You dare attack me?"
The man surnamed Wu rolled his neck and looked at Yang Lie. "You can handle these two women, right?"
Without waiting for Yang Lie's response, he turned his gaze to the blood-smeared "mountain of flesh" on the dais and sneered. "The Wei Clan of Linjiang, Wei Half-City! Such a grand name—how could I not know it? I even know you were a young lady of the Wei household... Oh, no! You could have been called a young lady a few decades ago. Now you're nothing but a pig. Wei Zhenzhu? Pah! That name really does fit. A great fat pig indeed. Slaughtering you would make for a rich New Year's feast."
The man surnamed Wu advanced with his saber.
"Kill him!" the "Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue," Wei Zhenzhu, roared repeatedly, but the two serving women on the dais dragged her toward the great chair inlaid with gold and jade and pressed her into it.
The man surnamed Wu's expression changed. He quickened his pace, darted forward, and leaped from the hall floor onto the dais.
At the same time, the other black-clad figure moved. Unlike the man surnamed Wu, this one had covered most of his face with black cloth and a head wrap, leaving only a pair of bright, alert eyes exposed.
With a fierce shout, he joined Yang Lie in attacking the two burly women below the dais.
Whoosh!
As the man surnamed Wu rose over the edge of the dais, a staff swung down at his head. He had anticipated it. Twisting aside, he planted one palm on the platform and swept the serving woman's legs out from under her.
With a sharp hiss, the saber in his right hand flashed and plunged deep into her chest. She cried out in pain and viciously reached up to claw at his face, but there was already little strength left in her.
A clack sounded as the final serving woman supporting Wei Zhenzhu slapped a hand against the back of the great chair. The platform immediately shuddered with a low hum. Wei Zhenzhu and her chair vanished into a huge chute that suddenly opened beneath them.
The serving woman did not jump into the hole after her. Instead, she bent down and thrust her short blade into a mechanism in the wall of the chute. Amid the clicking of gears, a thick iron plate slid out and sealed the opening.
The man surnamed Wu's expression turned ugly. The serving woman on the dais gave a triumphant, savage grin. "None of you will escape. Just wait for the 'Venerable Mother' to take her revenge. If I were you, I'd draw my blade and kill myself now. Otherwise, what awaits you will leave you unable to live and unable to die."
Bang!
Amid a dull, sharp crack, the savage expression froze on the serving woman's face. Her head was struck with tremendous force like a baseball, then hit the stone slabs with another thud. She fell dead on the spot.
"You talk too much!"
At some point, Hong Yuan had also reached the dais. Holding the staff in one hand, he rubbed its iron band with his fingers. After using it to kill several people in succession, he felt it was becoming increasingly comfortable in his hands.
"And you are?" The man surnamed Wu looked somewhat puzzled. Though he knew the man before him was no enemy, his hand still rested on his saber hilt, seemingly a long-established habit. His keen eyes scrutinized Hong Yuan like flashes of lightning.
"Hong Yuan, merely a scholar!" Hong Yuan cupped his hands.
The man surnamed Wu looked at the tip of Hong Yuan's staff, which was still dripping blood. A scholar this violent?
"Brother Hong really is a scholar, though I never imagined he was so skilled." Below the dais, Yang Lie and the black-clad man had finished off the other two serving women and climbed up. Yang Lie pointed at Hong Yuan. "Brother Hong was also the first to act earlier, striking down those wicked servants!"
"Oh!" The man surnamed Wu's cold expression thawed, and he squeezed out a faint smile for Hong Yuan. The other black-clad man also gave him a friendly look and nodded in greeting.
"We can't just let that damned fat pig escape!" Still unwilling to give up, the man surnamed Wu bent over to inspect the chute's opening and even tried to pry it open with his saber. But the iron plate was wedged firmly into recesses in the chute walls. It was certainly not something he could pry loose quickly.
"Even if we get it open, there could be traps below. Rushing down would be unwise," Hong Yuan said.
The man surnamed Wu understood that too. He could only put away his saber and sigh softly. "All our efforts failed at the final hurdle. Unfortunately, we used up all the lamp oil outside to spread the fire as much as possible. Otherwise, we could pour some down now and turn that fat woman into roast pork."
The black-clad man shook his head. "With Wei Zhenzhu's size, she can barely move. The space below must be very roomy, large enough for her to live in. How much lamp oil would we need for that...?"
"We came here to wipe out this pack of lewd, wicked women. And now look—we only killed some lackeys, while the ones we actually wanted all got away."
Yang Lie slapped his forehead, thoroughly annoyed.
To uncover the truth about this "paradise" and coordinate the attack from inside, he had entered this place no fewer than three times. That damned fat pig had even picked him once...
He had sacrificed far too much!
Tears welled in Yang Lie's eyes. He could not accept it.
The air grew increasingly hot and dry. Outside the hall, everything glowed red. The crackle of bursting sparks mingled with the crashing of collapsing buildings.
Screams and clamor rose everywhere, interspersed with harsh shouts and curses. Perhaps some of the fleeing people had run into the estate's guards.
Then came a series of hurried footsteps, racing toward the great hall.
The expressions of the man surnamed Wu and Yang Lie changed, and Hong Yuan's face grew serious as well.
Although his own assessment suggested he might have already reached "Master Ip" levels, just how many opponents he could fight remained unknown.
Besides, although he had yet to see any particularly supernatural powers in this world, the eight burly serving women, Xiao Chan, and the man surnamed Wu, Yang Lie, and the others beside him all moved with such skill and reacted so quickly that they could not be treated as ordinary people.
The man surnamed Wu tilted his head to listen, then gave an experienced assessment. "At least twenty or thirty are closing in. These guards all have weapons, and a few might even be wearing cloth armor. If they corner us, getting out won't be easy. Move."
Hong Yuan lifted a curtain on the dais and found a cleverly arranged, exquisite space behind it, stocked with fruit, pastries, and wine. A magnificent carpet covered the floor, and a small dark-red door stood at the back.
He pushed it. It shifted slightly. Without hesitation, he kicked out!
With a crash, the doorframe shook violently, and the small door flew backward, revealing a passage lined with wall lamps.
With his [Clear Eyes Through the Nether] ability, Hong Yuan carefully scanned both sides of the passage. He spotted no hidden weapons or traps, and a courtyard was visible only a few dozen paces away.
"There's a little door here leading to the outer courtyard. Those six so-called Immortal Maidens escaped this way earlier. If we hurry, we might still catch one or two."
Hong Yuan spoke.
"Quick!" Yang Lie perked up and squeezed into the passage first.
The four entered the passage and soon emerged into a courtyard. Looking around, however, they were all left at a loss.
Inside the main hall, they had been unable to see the situation outside clearly. Now that they were outdoors, Hong Yuan looked around and saw buildings burning everywhere, thick smoke billowing as an acrid smell spread through the air. The fiercest blaze engulfed a four-story tower. Tongues of flame shot skyward, their glow like brilliant sunset clouds.
"I poured a little more lamp oil over there." Though the black-clad man's face was hidden, his tone carried a distinct note of pride.
Yang Lie's eyes swept the surroundings. The courtyard was deep and secluded, its corridors branching in every direction, with numerous artificial hills, flowing streams, and quiet paths. Now that the women had fled into this maze, finding them would be anything but easy.
Besides, who knew where hidden passages or secret rooms might lie? How could they search? He could not help sighing. "Let's go! We'll find another opportunity to settle the whole account with them."
"It wasn't entirely a wasted trip." Stroking his chin, the man surnamed Wu had now come to terms with it instead. He pointed at the burning buildings stretching one after another. "An estate this lavish and beautiful, reduced to ashes—not even counting all the valuables inside, rebuilding this painstakingly designed garden alone would probably take years. Even with Wei Zhenzhu's wealth and power, the heartache will likely all but kill her."
"Better if it does kill her," Yang Lie said bitterly.
The black-clad man led the way, but did not head straight for the estate wall. Avoiding the fiercest flames, he took a few turns and unexpectedly brought them back to the ornamental lake.
It was the place where Hong Yuan had first awakened.
Seeing this, Hong Yuan grew thoughtful. The black-clad man knew the estate so well. Besides Yang Lie and the two people in colorful clothes, there were probably other accomplices inside.
Setting an enormous estate ablaze on all sides required a great deal of lamp oil. How had they smuggled it in and hidden it without a sound? Nor could one or two people have started fires everywhere.
Someone stood by the lake with his arms hanging at his sides, staring blankly at the water illuminated by the blaze. Bewitching firelight rippled with the waves, making the clearly shallow lake seem as fathomless as an abyss.
Hong Yuan glanced over. The man standing there in a daze was the sole man of around forty among the earlier group.
Originally, only his temples had held a touch of frosty white. Now, however, he looked as though a dozen years had passed in an instant. Much of his hair had turned withered white, and his face had gained many deep wrinkles. His eyes had lost their brightness, becoming dim and unfocused. He merely murmured, "Gone. It was clearly right here. How could it be gone?"
His right fist was clenched tightly, and his body trembled faintly.
"Master Qin... did you find Zi Yue?" The black-clad man coughed and called to him.
Master Qin turned his head woodenly and opened his clenched right fist. A yellow talisman lay in his palm, covered in strange crimson markings. A scorch mark ran through its center, breaking the pattern.
Hong Yuan inhaled lightly and caught faint traces of fresh blood. His gaze flickered. "What is that?"
"A Blood Pact Talisman!" Yang Lie answered quietly. Looking at Master Qin, he could not help showing a little pity in his eyes.
Hearing that answer stirred Hong Yuan's thoughts slightly, but this was not the time to get to the bottom of it.
The man surnamed Wu seemed to understand something. He turned his gaze toward the ornamental lake, flickering firelight reflected in his hawk-like eyes, alternating between brightness and shadow.
The black-clad man sighed. He wanted to offer a few words of comfort, but did not know what to say. Just then, several panicked maids rushed past. His large hand shot out and grabbed one of them. "Where are the people you brought here—the ones who never left?"
The maid looked terrified. Her head involuntarily turned toward the ornamental lake, and her lips trembled.
"Speak!" The black-clad man tightened his grip, squeezing her shoulder blade as though he would crack it. The maid hurriedly said, "Dead! The Venerable Mother and the Immortal Maidens sank all the dead people in the lake! It had nothing to do with me. I'm just a lowly maid... boohoo..."
"Get lost!" The black-clad man kicked her away.
At those words, Master Qin's face instantly turned ashen. He swayed, on the verge of fainting. The man surnamed Wu gave the others a look, and the black-clad man and Yang Lie hurried forward, supporting Master Qin between them.
At that moment, the bright moon hung overhead, its clear light washing the sky.
Amid the raging flames, Hong Yuan and the man surnamed Wu took the lead, fighting their way out of the estate. They encountered a few isolated guards along the way, but the two dispatched them easily. Before long, all five had broken free of the estate.
"Where is this?"
Hidden in the shadows, Hong Yuan glanced back at the still-burning estate, then surveyed his surroundings. Rows of houses met his eyes, but the streets were quiet and seemed sparsely inhabited. Only one street outside the estate bustled with activity. Numerous figures rushed out of the houses on either side, converging on the estate.
Before you continue