When Chen Chen rode his flying sword and landed like a ghost, soundlessly, in a secluded grove outside Qingyang City, dawn had already begun to break.
He put away the flying sword, changed into the plainest gray cloth garments he had found in Wang Zhan's storage bag, smeared a special medicinal liquid over his skin to make it waxy yellow, then donned a bamboo hat that concealed most of his face.
Once he had done all that, his entire bearing changed. From a restrained yet razor-sharp Avengers, he became a travel-worn, utterly unremarkable wandering martial artist.
He knew perfectly well that Qingyang City must be in an uproar by now.
Entering under the identity of "Chen Chen" would be no different from walking straight into a net.
He strolled toward Qingyang City's towering gates.
Just as he had expected, the atmosphere at the gates was tense to the extreme.
Dozens of guards clad in Wang Family uniforms held weapons in hand, inspecting every person entering and leaving the city like wolves and tigers. The city walls were plastered with densely packed wanted notices bearing his former appearance.
The reward on those notices was frighteningly high.
A thousand taels of gold, along with a Mysterious Tier Low-grade Martial Skill!
Such a lavish reward was enough to drive ninety-nine percent of the city's martial artists mad.
Many Rogue Cultivators entering the city pointed at the wanted notices and discussed them animatedly.
"Hiss! The Wang Family has really gone all out! What unforgivable outrage did this Chen Family Remnant commit?"
"You still don't know? I heard that Wang Family Patriarch Wang Zhan personally led a team into the Black Wind Mountain Range to hunt down that brat, but then... none of them returned!"
"What?! Patriarch Wang Zhan was a peak Ninth Level of Body Tempering expert! Could it be..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Are you tired of living? This matter is now taboo in the city. They say the Wang Family has sealed off the news, but walls have ears. The Wang Family is like a powder keg that has been lit now—whoever touches it dies!"
Listening to the discussions around him, Chen Chen lowered his bamboo hat and stood expressionlessly in the line entering the city.
When it was his turn, a Wang Family guard impatiently tapped his chest with a scabbard and barked, "Raise your head!"
Chen Chen slowly lifted his head, revealing a waxy yellow, unfamiliar face. His eyes were cloudy, making him look like a lowly mercenary who had spent years toiling on the road.
The guard gave him a disdainful glance. Seeing that his cultivation was ordinary and his aura weak, he lost interest and waved a hand. "Get in!"
Chen Chen lowered his head and said nothing as he followed the crowd into this city that was both familiar and strange to him.
After only a few days, he had returned to his old home, yet people and things had changed beyond recognition.
Pedestrians hurried along the streets, their faces carrying traces of panic and unease.
The air was thick with the oppressive feeling of a storm gathering, wind filling the tower before the rain arrived.
Several shops that had once belonged to the Chen Family were now plastered with Wang Family seals. Guards stood watch outside, and the area was bleak and desolate.
Chen Chen went nowhere else. Instead, he headed straight toward the ruined district in the north of the city.
That place had once been his home.
From afar, he could already smell the lingering stench of charred ruin.
The Chen Family estate, once adorned with painted beams and carved rafters, its doors crowded with guests, was now nothing but broken walls and scorched earth.
The Wang Family had designated this place a forbidden zone. Guards patrolled the surroundings, forbidding anyone from approaching.
Chen Chen stood at a street corner, silently gazing at the ruins from afar. Beneath his bamboo hat, his fists clenched until they creaked.
His gaze settled upon the ancestral hall, burned until only its frame remained.
He could almost still see his father nailed to the plaque by a long spear.
He could almost still hear the unwilling screams and wails of his clansmen before they died.
A bone-chilling killing intent frantically bred and spread from the deepest depths of his heart.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the killing intent that nearly crushed his reason.
Now was not the time for recklessness.
He turned and melted into the shadows, disappearing at the end of the alley.
He needed intelligence.
Intelligence on everything concerning the Wang Family now.
Night fell.
Chen Chen appeared at a tavern in the west of the city called Wind Listening Pavilion.
This was Qingyang City's largest intelligence market, where people from every walk of life gathered and news traveled fastest.
He did not go upstairs. Instead, he sat in an inconspicuous corner of the first-floor hall, ordered a pot of the cheapest rotgut, and silently listened to the surrounding drinkers.
Before long, he obtained the information he wanted.
After Wang Zhan's death, the Wang Family had fallen into chaos.
The one presiding over matters now was Wang Zhan's younger brother, the Wang Family's Second Master, Wang Wei.
He too was a Ninth Level of Body Tempering expert, but his schemes and methods were even more sinister and ruthless than Wang Zhan's.
He had immediately concealed news of Wang Zhan's death while secretly contacting the other two families allied with the Wang Family—the Li Family and the Zhao Family. Offering them great benefits, he formed an alliance of mutual offense and defense.
The Wang Family had lost its pillar holding up the heavens, yet its defenses were even tighter than before.
The entire Wang Family Mansion was like an iron barrel, filled with experts. They had even invited a retainer skilled in formations to lay layer upon layer of restrictions throughout the residence.
Trying to force one's way in from outside would be no different from a fool dreaming.
"Looks like I can only break them apart from within..."
A cold gleam flashed through Chen Chen's eyes.
He drained the rotgut in his cup, left behind several copper coins, then rose and left the tavern.
He did not return to an inn. Instead, he walked in a direction from his memories.
After passing through several secluded alleys, he finally stopped before the gate of a dilapidated courtyard.
This had once been the residence of an old Chen Family servant.
This old servant was named Uncle Fu. He had watched Chen Chen grow up and had always been fiercely loyal.
When the Chen Family was exterminated, Uncle Fu had luckily escaped disaster because he had returned to his hometown to visit relatives.
Chen Chen was not sure whether he had returned, but he decided to try his luck.
He raised his hand and lightly knocked on the courtyard gate three times according to the secret signal from his memories.
One long, two short.
The courtyard remained deathly silent.
Chen Chen frowned and was about to leave.
"Creak—"
The old courtyard gate opened a narrow crack.
An aged yet wary face peered out through the gap.
When he saw the familiar yet unfamiliar face beneath the bamboo hat, he was struck as if by lightning. Tears of disbelief instantly welled up in his clouded old eyes.
"Young... Young Master?!"
Uncle Fu's voice trembled beyond recognition.
"Uncle Fu, it's me."
Chen Chen's voice was somewhat hoarse.
Thud!
Unable to endure any longer, Uncle Fu dropped to his knees. Tears streamed down his aged face as he cried, "Heaven has opened its eyes! Heaven has opened its eyes! Young Master, you're alive! The Chen Family... the Chen Family still has an heir!"
Chen Chen hurriedly helped him up, entered the courtyard, and shut the gate.
"Uncle Fu, I'll make this short. I need your help."
"Say the word, Young Master! This old servant's life is yours. Through mountains of blades and seas of fire, I will not shrink back!" Uncle Fu wiped away his tears and declared resolutely.
A grim killing intent flashed through Chen Chen's eyes.
"I need a list."
"A list of every Wang Family dog who took part in slaughtering my Chen Family clansmen on the night of the massacre!"
"I want them... to disappear from this world, one by one!"
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