Fire Burns the Golden House, Breaking Out of the "Fairyland"!

Whoosh!

The long-faced man said nothing. He bent slightly, his back drawn like a bow, the muscles in his thighs suddenly tightening. As the scrape of his foot against the floor sounded, he shot forward like a hunting leopard.

He gripped the steel blade in reverse in his right hand, muscles knotting along his arm, his icy killing intent utterly undisguised. In a breath, he swept before one of the burly women besieging Yang Lie.

The blade flashed coldly. His fully gathered strike flew like an arrow loosed from the bow, cleaving straight for her forehead. The burly woman's face changed drastically. She hastily retreated a step, gripping her cudgel with both hands and raising it crosswise to block.

"Bandit!" The burly woman holding a short blade at the side barked sharply. She sprang forward, circling behind the long-faced man, and drove her short blade toward the side of his neck.

The steel blade struck the cudgel with a crisp clang, like iron smashing against gold. The cudgel-wielding woman's wrist trembled, the web between her thumb and forefinger tearing open. She could barely keep hold of the weapon.

Yet the wooden cudgel was indeed exceptionally tough. Despite taking such a powerful slash, it did not break.

The long-faced man's expression remained cold and unmoving, like withered wood and green stone. He twisted his wrist, turning the collision between blade and cudgel into a parallel slide. The blade skimmed along the shaft, slicing swiftly at the cudgel-wielding woman's arm.

With a wet slash, a scream erupted. The cudgel-wielding woman had no time to evade. Three fingers were sheared from one hand, blood spraying as her cudgel fell.

The long-faced man's steel blade did not stop. It swept in a half-circle, twisting like a writhing serpent, then suddenly bent back to the rear of his neck and struck the incoming short blade, scattering sparks.

The blade-wielding woman was immediately forced back several steps.

The long-faced man followed through with another sweep of his steel blade, cutting across the throat of the woman who had lost several fingers and was still shrieking.

Yang Lie also swung his cudgel then, forcing back his opponent. He took several breaths. "Uncle Wu, you finally came. These women are no pushovers. Every one of them is monstrously strong and knows how to use cudgels. I could handle two, but three was really too much!"

"We had to set fires outside and avoid those guards. It delayed us somewhat." The long-faced man surnamed Wu spoke evenly, frowning. "I always told you to train hard in martial arts, but you were always content with being merely passable. At a critical moment like this, it proves useless. Once this is over, I'll drill you properly."

"Ah, this..." Yang Lie's face fell.

Before his words had faded, the blade-wielding burly woman gave a cold shout. "There will be no afterward. None of you are leaving here alive today."

Her tone brimmed with killing intent.

Although half of the eight women in this hall had already died, the forces guarding this entire "fairyland" included not only servant women like them, who had tempered their bodies year-round, but also a guard force of nearly eighty men.

Every one of those guards dared to fight and kill, with blood on their hands. They were normally fed good wine and rich meat, raised to be hardy and strong. All they needed was to stall for a moment. Once the guards arrived, how many fists could the four petty thieves in this hall withstand?

Besides, the guards were no fools. Would they come barehanded? Naturally, they would bring blades, spears, cudgels, and staves to kill their enemies.

The blade-wielding woman studied the man surnamed Wu with venomous eyes. Her gaze paused on the steel blade in his hand. Seeing the scale-like decorations on its guard, her voice sank. "A Fish-Scale Blade? This is a blade forged for the White Scale Guard. You came from the White Scale Guard—did you abandon your post, or are you a deserter who committed a crime?"

Hong Yuan raised a brow and glanced at the man surnamed Wu. He had heard of the White Scale Guard. They were one of the three prefectural armies defending Linjiang Prefecture.

Linjiang Prefecture stood at a vital water-and-land crossroads, its canal transport flourishing and naturally bringing prosperity to the prefectural city. Vast quantities of silver flowed in.

And what was most important for raising an elite army?

Money and grain!

Linjiang Prefecture lacked neither. Grain could nourish soldiers' physiques and strength; money could forge fine equipment. With both in hand, the White Scale Guard might not dare call itself the finest under heaven, but it was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

On the high platform, Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue writhed in pain, her fat trembling wildly, her small eyes seeming ready to bulge from their sockets. She roared, "White Scale Guard? Do you know who I am? Do you know whose household feeds the White Scale Guard? You dare offend 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 toward the blood-smeared "mountain of flesh" on the platform and gave a grim chuckle. "The Wei Clan of Linjiang—Wei Half-City! What a mighty name. How could I not know it? I also know you were born a young lady of the Wei household... Oh, no! Decades ago, you could still have been called a young lady. Now, you're only a pig. Wei Zhenzhu, bah! Your name truly suits you—you really are one enormous fat pig. Slaughtering you will make for a fat New Year."

The man surnamed Wu advanced with his blade.

"Kill him!" Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue, Wei Zhenzhu, roared again and again, but the two servant women on the platform dragged her toward the grand chair inlaid with gold and studded with jade, forcing her down.

The man surnamed Wu's expression changed. He quickened his pace, darting forward and leaping from below the hall up onto the high platform.

At the same time, the other man in black moved. Unlike the man surnamed Wu, he had wrapped black cloth and a headscarf over most of his face, revealing only a pair of bright, keen eyes.

With a sharp shout, he joined forces with Yang Lie to attack the two burly women below the platform.

Whoosh!

As the man surnamed Wu had just reached the platform, a cudgel swept down at his head. He had expected it. He tilted his body aside, slapped one palm onto the platform, and sent the cudgel-wielding servant woman sprawling with a sweeping kick.

With a sharp shick, light flashed from his blade. It plunged deep into the servant woman's chest. She cried out in pain and viciously reached for the man surnamed Wu's face, but she no longer had much strength.

With a click, the last servant woman supporting Wei Zhenzhu slapped the back of the grand chair. The platform immediately gave a humming tremor. Wei Zhenzhu and the chair vanished in an instant, dropping into a huge chute that had suddenly opened beneath them.

That servant woman did not jump into the hole after them. Instead, she bent down and thrust her short blade forward, piercing some mechanism within the wall of the passage. Amid a clattering of gears, a thick iron plate slid out and jammed itself across the opening.

The man surnamed Wu's face darkened. The servant woman on the platform grinned like a victor. "None of you will escape. Wait for the Buddha Mother's revenge. If I were you, I'd draw my blade and kill myself now. Otherwise, what awaits you will be a fate worse than death."

Bang!

Amid a dull, crisp crack, the servant woman's savage expression froze. Her head was struck with tremendous force as though hit by a bat, then with another thud, it smashed against the stone floor. She died on the spot.

"You sure talk a lot of nonsense!"

Hong Yuan had reached the platform at some point. He held his cudgel in one hand, fingers rubbing over its iron bands. After battering several people to death in succession, he felt himself growing more and more accustomed to using the cudgel.

"You are?" The man surnamed Wu looked somewhat puzzled. Though he knew Hong Yuan was not an enemy, his hand remained on his blade hilt, seemingly from long-formed habit. His sharp eyes, electric as lightning, carefully scrutinized Hong Yuan.

"Hong Yuan, a mere scholar!" Hong Yuan cupped his hands.

The man surnamed Wu looked at the blood still dripping from the tip of Hong Yuan's cudgel. Was there really such a violent scholar?

"Brother Hong truly is a scholar, though I never expected his skills to be so formidable." Yang Lie and the man in black had also dealt with the other two servant women below the platform and climbed up. Yang Lie pointed at Hong Yuan. "Brother Hong was also the first to act earlier, beating those evil servants to death!"

"Oh!" The man surnamed Wu's cold expression thawed. He squeezed out a faint smile at Hong Yuan, while the other man in black also looked at him kindly and nodded in greeting.

"We can't let that dead fat pig escape just like this!" The man surnamed Wu was still unwilling to accept it. He bent down to inspect the chute entrance and tried to pry open the iron plate with his steel blade, but it was wedged firmly into a recess in the wall. It was not something he could pry loose quickly.

"Even if we could open it, there might be traps below. Going down rashly would not be wise," Hong Yuan said.

The man surnamed Wu understood that as well. He could only sheath his steel blade and sigh softly. "What a waste, falling short at the very end. To make the fire spread as much as possible outside, we used up all the lamp oil. Otherwise, we could pour it down there now and turn that fat woman into roast pig."

The man in black shook his head. "With Wei Zhenzhu's size, she cannot move easily. The space below must be extremely broad to accommodate her. How much lamp oil would that take..."

"We came here to wipe out this pack of lustful wenches and wicked women. Yet now we've only killed some lackeys, while the real masterminds escaped clean away."

Yang Lie slapped his forehead, deeply annoyed.

To uncover the truth behind this "fairyland," working both inside and out, he had entered this place no fewer than three times.

That dead fat pig had even picked him once...

His sacrifice had been too great!

Tears welled in Yang Lie's eyes. He was utterly unwilling to let it go.

The air grew increasingly dry and hot. Outside the hall, the sky was red with fire, the crackling explosions of sparks and the crashing collapse of houses blending into one continuous roar.

Screams and clamor rose from every direction, broken now and then by fierce shouts and curses. Perhaps those fleeing in panic had run into the guards within the estate.

Then bursts of hurried footsteps sounded, racing rapidly toward this great hall.

The expressions of the man surnamed Wu and Yang Lie changed, and Hong Yuan too turned grave.

By his own assessment, he might already have reached the level of "Master Ye," but how many people he could truly fight was still unknown.

Moreover, while he had not yet seen any especially supernatural powers in this world, the eight sturdy servant women, Xiao Chan, and the men around him—such as the man surnamed Wu and Yang Lie—moved with such deftness and reacted with such speed that they could not be regarded as ordinary people.

The man surnamed Wu listened closely and analyzed the situation with great experience. "At least twenty or thirty men have surrounded us. These guards all have weapons, and a few may even be wearing cloth armor. Once we're blocked in, it'll be hard to get away. Move."

Hong Yuan lifted a curtain on the platform. Inside was an exquisitely arranged space, furnished with fruit, pastries, and wine, with a splendid carpet spread over the floor. Behind it stood a small dark-red door.

He gave it a push. It shook slightly. Without hesitation, he launched a flying kick!

With a boom, the doorframe shook violently. The small door flew backward from the kick, revealing a passage lined with wall lamps.

Hong Yuan possessed Clear Eyes Through the Nether. He carefully swept his gaze across both sides of the passage and found no hidden weapons or mechanisms. A few dozen paces ahead, the scenery of a courtyard appeared.

"There's a small door here leading to the outer courtyard. The six so-called Immortal Maidens escaped through here just now. If we chase quickly, we may still catch one or two."

Hong Yuan spoke.

"Quick!" Yang Lie's spirits lifted, and he squeezed into the passage first.

The group of four entered through the passage and, in moments, emerged into a courtyard. Yet after looking around, all of them felt at a loss.

They had not been able to see the outside clearly from the main hall before, but now that they were outdoors, Hong Yuan looked out to see fires blazing throughout the pavilions and towers, thick smoke billowing as a pungent odor spread through the air. The fiercest blaze engulfed a four-story tower. Tongues of fire rose into the sky, and under the firelight, they resembled brilliant clouds at sunset.

"We poured a bit too much lamp oil over there." Though the man in black's face was concealed, there was no hiding the pride in his voice.

Yang Lie's eyes swept around. This courtyard was deep and secluded, its corridors branching in every direction, with countless rock gardens, flowing streams, and quiet paths. Once someone darted into them, how could they possibly be found again?

Not to mention that hidden passages or secret rooms might lie anywhere. How were they supposed to search? He could not help sighing. "Let's go. We'll find another good opportunity later and settle the score with them then."

"It wasn't entirely a wasted trip." The man surnamed Wu stroked his chin. At this point, he had come to terms with it. Pointing at the row upon row of burning pavilions, he said, "Such a lavish, magnificent estate has been reduced to ashes. Never mind how much wealth was spent furnishing it—just rebuilding this carefully designed garden would likely take several years. Even with Wei Zhenzhu's vast wealth and power, it must hurt her like death."

"Best if it angers her to death," Yang Lie said bitterly.

The man in black led the way, but rather than heading straight for the outer walls, he skirted the fiercest flames. After several twists and turns, they unexpectedly returned to the scenic lake.

It was where Hong Yuan had first awakened.

Seeing this, Hong Yuan fell into thought. The man in black knew this estate so well. Aside from Yang Lie and the two Colorful-Clad Attendants, there were likely other insiders as well.

To set this vast estate ablaze on all sides required a great deal of lamp oil. How could so much lamp oil have been secretly transported in and hidden away? And setting fires everywhere was not something one or two people could accomplish.

A man stood by the lake with his hands hanging at his sides, blankly staring at the lake surface illuminated by the flames. The seductive firelight rose and fell with the ripples, making the clearly shallow lake seem deep and unfathomable as an abyss.

Hong Yuan looked over. The man standing there in a daze was the only man who appeared to be around forty.

His temples had only been faintly frosted before, yet now he seemed to have passed through more than a dozen winters in the blink of an eye. Much of his hair had turned dry and white, the wrinkles on his face had deepened, and his eyes no longer shone. They had become dim and unfocused. He merely muttered, "Gone... It was clearly here. How could it be gone?"

His right fist was clenched tight, and his body trembled faintly.

"Master Qin... Did you find the child Zi Yue?" The man in black coughed and called out.

Master Qin turned his head woodenly and opened his clenched right hand. In his palm lay a yellow talisman marked with strange crimson patterns. Yet a scorch mark ran through its center, severing those patterns.

Hong Yuan inhaled softly through his nose and caught the faint scent of blood. His eyes flickered. "What is this?"

"A Blood Pact Talisman," Yang Lie said quietly. Looking at Master Qin, several traces of pity unconsciously appeared in his eyes.

At this answer, Hong Yuan's heart stirred slightly, but this was not the time to get to the bottom of it.

The man surnamed Wu seemed to understand something. His gaze fell upon the scenic lake, firelight flickering in his hawk-like eyes, shifting between light and shadow.

The man in black sighed. He wanted to offer some comfort, yet did not know what to say. At that moment, several panicked servant girls rushed past. He reached out, seized one of them, and demanded harshly, "The people you brought here—the ones who never got out—where are they all?"

The servant girl's face went pale with fear. Her head involuntarily turned toward the scenic lake, her lips trembling.

"Speak!" The man in black tightened his grip, seeming ready to crush her shoulder blade. The servant girl hurriedly cried, "The dead... the dead were all sunk in the lake by the Buddha Mother and the Immortal Maidens! It has nothing to do with me. I'm only a lowly maidservant... Sob, sob..."

"Get lost!" The man in black kicked her away.

At those words, Master Qin's face instantly turned ashen. He swayed as though about to faint. The man surnamed Wu signaled with his eyes, and the man in black and Yang Lie hurried forward, supporting Master Qin from either side.

At that moment, the bright moon hung overhead, its clear light washing the earth.

Amid the raging inferno, Hong Yuan and the man surnamed Wu led the way, forcing their path out of the estate. They encountered several isolated guards along the way, all easily dispatched by the two of them. Before long, the group of five had fought their way out of the estate.

"Where is this?"

Hidden in the shadows, Hong Yuan glanced back at the estate still burning behind them, then looked around. He saw rows of houses and cool, quiet streets, not a place that seemed heavily populated. Only the street outside the estate was rather lively, with many figures rushing from the houses on both sides toward the estate.