Night of Slaughter

"You seem less devoted to your Buddha than you were to the Zhu Family."

With a casual kick, Chen Yuan sent Uncle Zhou's head flying off the cliff.

Hearing Uncle Zhou's scream, Zhu Chengzu, who was ahead, felt his heart sink.

Uncle Zhou was different from the other retainers. He was an Attendant of the Zhu Family and a sworn friend of his father, Zhu Chaofeng—a trusted elder they could rely on without question.

Moreover, Uncle Zhou was formidable. He had been a disciple of a major sect like Vajra Prajna Temple, not someone those lowly wanderers of the martial world could compare to.

Yet even Uncle Zhou had failed to stop that man. Just how terrifying was his strength?

When Zhu Chengzu finally made his way down Sunwatch Peak's narrow mountain path, he immediately let out a breath of relief.

But before he could finish exhaling, a voice that filled him with terror suddenly sounded behind him.

"You ran awfully slowly. That old monk risked his life to hold me back so you could flee, but what a pity—you failed to cherish that time."

Zhu Chengzu did not even dare turn his head. He frantically circulated his inner strength and sprinted forward.

But with the ringing cry of a blade, he suddenly realized that his field of vision was getting lower and lower.

When he saw a headless corpse still running forward on momentum, his own head had already fallen to the ground and begun rolling without end.

The Zhu Family retainers around him immediately scattered in all directions.

They had taken the Zhu Family's money to serve as retainers. They were nowhere near as loyal to the Zhu Family as Uncle Zhou had been.

Besides, Zhu Chengzu was already dead. What were they risking their lives for?

Chen Yuan did not pursue them far. He merely caught up to and killed every Zhu Family retainer within his sight.

Leaving them alive would better allow panic to shroud the entire Zhu Family.

As the sky darkened, within Zhu Family Manor.

Zhu Chengan felt restless and uneasy.

But Uncle Zhou had gone along with them. There should not have been a problem.

Just then, something was suddenly thrown into the manor.

The Zhu Family servants went to inspect it and discovered that it was Zhu Chengzu's head. They screamed in panic and hurriedly reported it to Zhu Chengan.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Chengan swayed, his face turning deathly pale.

It was over!

A quarter of an hour later, inside the Zhu Family's main hall.

Zhu Chaofeng placed a hand over Zhu Chengzu's face, trying to close his eyelids, only to find that he could not do so no matter what.

Just as Zhu Chengan was about to speak, Zhu Chaofeng suddenly swung a slap across his face, striking him hard enough to draw blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Your fourth brother is dead! Your carelessness got your fourth brother killed!"

Zhu Chaofeng's hand trembled, his eyes filled with fury and grief.

This had been his most beloved fourth son!

"Father, please calm your anger! Eldest Brother did not mean for this to happen."

"That's right, Father. The most important thing now is to find the man who killed Fourth Brother and take revenge."

The two men consoled him from the side.

One was thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, with a square face and Qi Forging Realm cultivation. He was the second son, Zhu Chengguo.

The other was just over thirty and somewhat short in stature. He was the third son, Zhu Chengze.

Zhu Chaofeng took two deep breaths, suppressing the grief and rage in his heart. He said coldly, "Who exactly is the man who killed Fourth? Even Old Zhou died by his hand."

Zhu Chengan lowered his head and said, "I had one of the retainers who escaped at the time captured and questioned him about what happened.

"Fourth Brother had already invoked the Radiant Extreme Sect, but that man still insisted on wiping out our Zhu Family to the last man.

"However, according to the retainer, that man was immensely powerful and unlike an ordinary martial wanderer. He must have an extraordinary background!"

"Nonsense! Old Zhou came from Vajra Prajna Temple. Could an ordinary martial artist have killed him?"

Zhu Chaofeng cursed, his gaze cold and sharp as a hawk's.

"No matter where he comes from, even if someone from the Murong Clan wants to destroy our Zhu Family, we will not sit still and wait for death!"

Zhu Chaofeng said in a deep voice, "Eldest, take fifty men and the crossbows to seal off the mountain road. No one is allowed in, and no one is allowed out.

"Second, you and I will each take fifty retainers and search Lone Mountain City for that bastard's trail.

"Third, take the remaining retainers and stay behind to guard the manor."

"Yes, Father!"

Zhu Chaofeng's arrangement was fairly reasonable.

There was only one mountain road. With Zhu Chengan and the retainers guarding it with crossbows, the enemy would not be able to escape even if he wanted to.

And aside from Zhu Chaofeng himself, the strongest member of the Zhu Family was not the eldest son, Zhu Chengan, but the second son, Zhu Chengguo.

With these two leading the elite retainers, once they found Chen Yuan's trail, they could bury him beneath sheer numbers.

After a single command, more than a hundred Zhu Family retainers streamed out of the manor in grand force and began searching the entire city for Chen Yuan.

By then, Lone Mountain City had also erupted like a pot boiling over, with everyone discussing the Zhu Family's misfortune.

Over the years, the Zhu Family had dominated Lone Mountain City alone, acting tyrannically and brutally.

Anyone who dared defy the Zhu Family would suffer a ruined household at best and extermination at worst.

Not long ago, the Zhu Family had even wiped out the ever-peaceful, law-abiding Chu Family, leaving everyone in Lone Mountain City fearing for their own safety.

Now that the Zhu Family was in trouble, no one dared say much openly, but in secret, they were all rejoicing in its misfortune.

Still, even as they rejoiced, they did not believe the Zhu Family could truly be exterminated.

Zhu Chaofeng and his four sons were all quite powerful, and the Zhu Family had hundreds of retainers.

One man claiming he would destroy the Zhu Family was simply too absurd, like a fantasy spun from thin air.

In the darkness of night, Chen Yuan, dressed in black, concealed himself in a tree less than fifty zhang from the Zhu Family, watching the manor's movements.

After throwing in the head, Chen Yuan had not left. He had remained hidden here the entire time.

The Zhu Family could never have imagined that Chen Yuan would be so bold as to hide right beside them.

Three groups departed from the Zhu Family, their many retainers holding torches that stood out in the night like three fire dragons.

When Chen Yuan saw that Zhu Chengan's group was even carrying crossbows, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

The Zhu Family truly was brazen beyond measure to possess such things.

But Youzhou was far from the emperor's reach, and no one really cared about such matters here.

For a Qi Forging Realm martial artist, dodging a single crossbow bolt was effortless, and cutting it apart was no great difficulty.

But when dozens of crossbow bolts were fired in unison, their power became rather alarming.

Even if you could block them, how much strength would you have left after several volleys?

Zhu Chaofeng had once served in the Great Xia Military in his younger days. He was exceedingly experienced in dealing with individually powerful martial artists.

Lone Mountain City was not large. After estimating the time and waiting until the three groups had gone sufficiently far, Chen Yuan moved, leaping straight into Zhu Family Manor.

The slaughter was about to begin.

"Enemy attack!"

The instant Chen Yuan stepped into Zhu Family Manor, a retainer immediately shouted.

Hearing the cry, Zhu Chengze, who had remained behind to guard the manor, abruptly changed expression.

He had not yet reached the Qi Forging Realm. Staying behind to guard the Zhu Family should have been the safest assignment, yet this man refused to follow the expected script and actually dared charge into the Zhu Family!

"Fire arrows! Beat the drums! Ready the bows! Shields to the front!"

Zhu Chengze steadied himself and began issuing calm commands.

Zhu Chaofeng had come from the military, and the way he trained the Zhu Family retainers bore many traces of the Great Xia Military.

Arrows wrapped in fire oil shot into the sky as drums began to thunder—a show of morale, but also a warning to Zhu Chaofeng and the others that the Zhu Family was under attack.

More than ten retainers raised shields at the front, while behind them stood retainers wielding every sort of weapon, surrounding Chen Yuan in the center.

Huge refined-iron shields as tall as a man stood before them, pressing continuously toward Chen Yuan with immense force.

Chen Yuan moved. The Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula stirred the inner strength within his acupoints, and in an instant, immense power surged forth like rolling tidal waves.

Azure Dragon Blooddrinker left its sheath, blade shadows cascading through the sky and blooming with dazzling brilliance in the night.

Autumn Waters, Startled Goose—Autumn Wind Slash!

Explosions and thunderous roars rang out one after another. Savage blade marks appeared across the refined-iron shields around him, some even cleaved straight through.

The Zhu Family retainers behind the shields could not withstand that overwhelming force and staggered backward one after another.

The Meridian-Unblocking Realm retainers fared somewhat better, though blood still streamed from the webs between their thumbs and forefingers.

Some Body-Tempering Realm retainers, having never cultivated internal arts, were directly shaken by the tremendous force of Chen Yuan's strike until their organs ruptured, killing them on the spot!

As soon as someone fell, a gap immediately appeared in the shield formation.

Chen Yuan charged directly into that gap. His swift blade left no shadow, and in the blink of an eye, severed limbs and arms covered the ground around him!

Zhu Chengze's face was filled with horror. What kind of monster was this?

In truth, there had been nothing wrong with his tactics. When the Great Xia Military encircled and suppressed certain experts, they often used such methods.

There had been nothing wrong with the weapons either. Though the refined-iron shields were of ordinary material, they were as thick and heavy as a palm. Even Mystic Weapons would struggle to cleave through them at once.

The problem was that Chen Yuan was too strong, while the Zhu Family's retainers were too weak.

When the Great Xia Military employed such tactics, the men they used were never ordinary soldiers, but elites among elites.

The shield bearers at the front had to be martial artists who cultivated external hardening techniques in order to withstand an expert's first wave of attacks.

But the Zhu Family retainers were a mixed bag, each cultivating different techniques. At best, they were only slightly better than a rabble.