Trespassers, Kill!

When Void Form failed to utter a single word for a long while, Gu Yuanqing said mildly, "If you can't think of anything, there's no need to strain yourself. We needn't waste any more time, either. It's late at night. Why don't you sleep here forever, so I can get a good night's rest too?"

As he spoke, the Flying Sword shot out, thrusting toward Void Form's brow like lightning.

Void Form recoiled half a step in fright. He started to raise his hands, then lowered them again and dropped to his knees with a thud.

The Flying Sword followed closely, stopping steadily half an inch from his brow.

Cold sweat soaked his back. Void Form reached out, gently pushed the sword tip aside, and swallowed. "Young Master Gu, please don't be so quick to act. We can talk this over."

"Why did you kneel? Get up and speak. I don't like kneeling to others, and I'm not accustomed to others kneeling to me." Gu Yuanqing sounded utterly surprised.

Void Form felt that the young man before him was mercurial, and his apprehension deepened. Afraid that the slightest misstep would get him killed with a single stroke, he forced a smile. "I find it more convenient to talk on my knees. I've been standing too long tonight, and my legs have gone numb."

"Oh, in that case, suit yourself."

The Flying Sword flew back into its sheath. Gu Yuanqing took another sip of tea to moisten his throat, then said, "You master thieves must be very well informed. Tell me, do you know who's planning to come to North Spring Mountain?"

Void Form steadied himself a little. If he was being questioned, it meant he could still live for now. He poured out everything he knew. "The Six Heroes of Dragon Gallbladder Mountain—all six are at the profound martial high rank. Their leader, Miao Lifu, is at the profound martial ninth layer. Xie Ziwei, the master of the Flower Rain Pavilion, is at the true martial eighth layer. He also arrived at North Spring Mountain the day before yesterday..."

Void Form listed more than a dozen factions in succession, all with profound martial high rank experts! Among them were seven at the profound martial ninth layer.

Someone at the profound martial high rank could command an entire region in the army. Gu Yuanqing had rarely seen such figures even at the Prince's Manor. In the past, he had only seen these names on the Heavenly List, yet now they had all come to the outskirts of North Spring Mountain.

"These are the people I've seen in the mountains or heard about over the past two days. There may be others keeping their movements hidden, unknown to anyone." Void Form's mouth felt dry. He glanced at the tea Gu Yuanqing was drinking and bitterly regretted his actions. I've always been cautious. Since I'd already guessed this might be a trap laid by the Imperial Court, what possessed me to sneak in?

Gu Yuanqing nodded and was about to speak when he suddenly turned toward the West Cliff.

Void Form couldn't help following his gaze, but all he saw was the wall. While he was still puzzling over it, the Flying Sword hanging on the wall rang out of its sheath. His heart jolted, and he thought Gu Yuanqing was going to kill him. Yet in the next instant, the Flying Sword shot toward the window. The shutters opened without a breath of wind, and the sword flew out into the night sky.

Gu Yuanqing smiled. "Wait a moment. We'll continue shortly."

Void Form dared not speak. He only felt that the scene before him was wondrous beyond belief.

At the West Cliff, a figure soared upward through the air. On the narrow path below, several members of the Imperial Guard lay in pools of blood.

Three Divine Eagle Guard Signal Arrows shrieked through the night sky.

Yuan Yingsong sprang up in shock and fury at the army camp and rushed toward North Spring Mountain.

The towering figure had just reached the mountaintop and had yet to find his footing when his expression suddenly changed. The true qi throughout his body all but froze, and a streak of sword light came straight at his face.

He roared in shock and fury, trying to dodge. But with his true qi stalled and no phenomenon to empower him, he was relying almost entirely on his physical strength, his speed less than thirty percent of its usual level. How could he evade the sword light? He didn't even have time to lift the Heavy Hammer at his waist, only to shield himself with a hand trained until it was like a palm-leaf fan.

Without true qi empowerment or a profound martial phenomenon to fend off his enemy, even his body-hardening skills could do little. The Flying Sword deftly slipped past his palm and pierced his throat.

Blood spurted out. His iron-tower frame toppled backward and fell from the cliff.

The Flying Sword traced an arc and flew back to Gu Yuanqing's Courtyard, entering through the window and returning to its sheath.

"Where were we? Oh, right. Have you heard of any Grandmasters coming?" Gu Yuanqing asked with a calm smile.

Void Form didn't know exactly what had happened, but he had heard the Divine Eagle Guard's whistling arrows calling for aid against an enemy attack. The sound had come from quite far away. If his guess was right, Gu Yuanqing had sent his sword to kill an enemy in the distance, then brought it back.

Anyone who dared charge up North Spring Mountain at a time like this was either a fool or an expert.

The more likely possibility was naturally an expert who feared no Imperial Guard, had absolute confidence in his own abilities, and stood a chance of escaping even if he encountered a Grandmaster!

Yet had someone like that really been killed from several miles away in just a few breaths?

The realization made Void Form's heart sink even further. It meant that even if he found a chance to escape, he would very likely be slain from afar just like that man!

He forced a smile. "How could people like us keep track of a Grandmaster's movements? Even if one came to North Spring Mountain, unless he deliberately spread the news, it would be difficult for anyone to notice."

Yuan Yingsong, Deputy Commander of Divine Eagle Guard, stood on a rock halfway up the mountain, looking at the bloody corpse below his feet. There was a gaping hole in its neck, and terror was frozen on its face and in its eyes.

"This is... Ghost Butcher Shentu Hong! His throat was pierced with a single sword thrust. No, a sword must have flown straight through his throat."

He recognized the man. As Deputy Commander of Imperial Guards, he had to commit every portrait on the Black List to memory.

He looked up, recalling the sword's whistle he had heard just as he rushed onto North Spring Mountain, and reached a conclusion.

"A twenty-one-year-old Grandmaster, or even beyond a Grandmaster?" Such a prodigy stirred an involuntary pang of jealousy in Yuan Yingsong, who had remained at the true martial eighth layer for eleven years.

"General!"

Zhang Zhuo, who had followed him, landed on a nearby rock. Once he saw the corpse's face clearly, he was startled. "Shen Tu Hong, Fourth on the Black List! Did you kill him, General?"

Yuan Yingsong glanced at Zhang Zhuo without answering. If I could kill Shen Tu Hong that quickly, I wouldn't be merely a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard Army.

Zhang Zhuo knew he had misspoken. Looking somewhat embarrassed, he asked, "Did one of the Grandmaster Attendants make a move?"

"Don't ask any more questions. Take the corpse back to camp. I'll go down and check on the men at the foot of the mountain."

Early the next morning, at the foot of North Spring Mountain, a head hung from a tree beside the road, a little over a li from the Imperial Guard's encampment.

Below it stood a wooden board ten feet high, bearing several large, blood-red words.

Trespassers in the Forbidden Ground will be killed without mercy!

The Soldiers who had erected the board had barely left when a group of martial artists gathered from afar.

"I saw the Imperial Guard Army's Signal Sword at the foot of North Spring Mountain last night. This must be the man who broke in. He certainly had guts. I just didn't expect him to get killed!"

"Does anyone here recognize him?"

"Let me see... uh, he looks a little unfamiliar."

"I know! I recognize him!" someone exclaimed.

"Who is he?"

Before that man could answer, an old man standing a little farther away, dressed in hemp clothes with a gourd tied at his waist, studied the head and said with mild surprise, "Ghost Butcher Shentu Hong?"

"Ghost Butcher Shentu Hong? The one ranked fourth on the Black List?"

"Yes, that's him. I've seen his portrait posted at the Heavenly Policy Mansion before. It simply didn't occur to me just now that it could be him."

Everyone present sucked in a breath of cold air.

Ghost Butcher Shentu Hong was at the profound martial ninth layer. He had roamed the martial world unchecked for twenty years, killed countless people, and fought several of the Twelve Heavenly Catchers, yet still remained beyond the reach of the law. Who would have thought he would meet his end here!