Outside the Rongguo Mansion.
The Patrol Office guards arrived one after another, powerful crossbows in hand, ready for battle. At a single command from the Hundred-Household Commander, they would shoot the White-Haired Madman dead.
Inside the East and West Corner Gates, the Jia Family's ladies turned pale at the words "Life-and-Death Writ," while Madam Wang's eyes shone with excitement, her fingers working her Buddhist Prayer Beads in a frantic grip.
Baoyu was far too clever!
Without an audience, that vile brat would surely have drawn his head into his shell like a tortoise, either kneeling to avert disaster or relying on the Embroidered Uniform Guard to bully the White-Haired Young Man.
But before so many witnesses, given the brat's arrogant, impulsive nature, he would never willingly lose face. Even if he lost the fight, it would merely mean his skills were inferior.
She had never imagined he would have to sign a Life-and-Death Writ!
"Huan'er, don't sign it." Concubine Zhao's eyes were bloodshot as she pleaded through her tears.
Qingwen, Caiyun, Xiangling, and the others were beside themselves with panic, their eyes brimming with tears. If anything happened to their master, their sky would come crashing down.
"Patrol Office! He's breaking the law in broad daylight and threatening a duke's household! Shoot this wretch dead at once!"
In the end, Wang Xifeng was the one who kept her composure. Disregarding the reserve and restraint expected of a woman, she shouted fiercely at the guards along the street.
The guards remained unmoved.
Who would take responsibility if something went wrong?
The Hundred-Household Commander had to give the order himself.
Jia Huan remained expressionless as he walked toward the White-Haired Killing Demon, saying coldly:
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard oversees affairs in the Jianghu, so I don't actually mind challenges from my peers on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking. But swaggering around outside my home? You've touched the dragon's forbidden scale."
With that, he accepted the red paper beneath a sea of horrified gazes.
His Embroidered Spring Saber slid from its sheath, its edge drawing a drop of blood from his fingertip.
"Brother Huan, you have a boundless future ahead of you! Why insist on proving yourself right now? Let's steer clear of his blade!"
Xue Pan was flushed with anxiety. In the entire mansion, only he understood how terrifying the White-Haired Killing Demon was.
Jia Huan sneered:
"Steer clear of his blade?"
Using his blood as a seal, he pressed his mark onto the Life-and-Death Writ.
Concubine Zhao could barely breathe, her body convulsing as she dissolved into tears.
Jia Baoyu looked terrified. Matters had gone far beyond his expectations. He had only intended to humiliate the fellow thoroughly-at most, have his manhood cut off and his legs broken. The Rongguo Mansion could simply support him for the rest of his life.
He repeated silently to himself, It... it... it was you who insisted on showing off and playing the hero. If you really die, you can't blame anyone else.
"Rong'er, prepare funeral paper and a coffin. Put on mourning sackcloth." Jia Zhen tucked his hands into his sleeves and lowered his head to conceal the smugness on his face.
The White-Haired Killing Demon fixed his blood-red eyes on the Life-and-Death Writ, folded it, and tucked it into his sleeve. He retreated five paces and said casually:
"The Life-and-Death Writ is merely to keep me out of a lawsuit. Since you're barely eighteen and possess an exceptional gift for martial arts, I might spare your life beneath my sword."
"But remember this forever: you may be a savage wolf who triumphs wherever he goes, yet even you must bow your head before the blazing sun!"
Clang!
His longsword emerged, gleaming with chilling light.
The White-Haired Killing Demon advanced, dragging his sword behind him. Inner Qi surged from his dantian into his fingers. With just one step, the sword tip scored a deep crack in the ground.
At the sight, Jia Zhen and his son were utterly astonished, their spirits soaring.
The ground outside the Rongguo Mansion was paved with hard marble. One light stroke had split it as though a heavy hammer had driven in an iron nail. The force behind it was truly staggering.
No wonder the Foolish Tyrant had said he had once slain twenty-three Tatar armored horsemen single-handedly. His reputation was well deserved!
How could a battlefield god of slaughter compare to someone who bullied the weak, feared the strong, and only fought within his own household?
If that sword struck the brat's head, it would smash it to pulp!
"Brother Huan..."
Looking at the crack in the ground, the women of the household felt their hair stand on end.
However sheltered they were, however little they knew of Jianghu martial arts, they understood what it meant to split marble with one light stroke!
That mangled, bloodied face resembled a Rakshasa Demon from a storybook, brimming with a thirst for slaughter.
Before him, Brother Huan's presence seemed so insignificant, his life so fragile.
Deathly silence fell over the surroundings. The air seemed almost frozen, the tension stretched to its breaking point.
No one dared breathe as they watched the White-Haired Killing Demon raise his sword.
"Full of yourself."
Jia Huan's expression remained indifferent as he sank his qi into his dantian.
"The first level of the innate realm? Inner qi approaching the second? No wonder you have the courage to face me."
The White-Haired Killing Demon dared not take him lightly. His blade vibrated rapidly, and in an instant, he thrust straight ahead, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Jia Huan stepped into a bow stance and snapped his wrist. Dense inner qi gathered in his palm as he struck.
It was the ninth form of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, Maybe Leaping in the Abyss.
Unmatched in its hardness, thunderous in its momentum, yet supple as water, transforming all things!
At point-blank range, the sword tip seemed to strike an invisible wall, unable to advance another half-inch.
The White-Haired Killing Demon's pupils contracted sharply. He involuntarily staggered five paces backward, his acupoints inexplicably blocked. The wrist gripping his sword went numb and powerless, and the longsword clattered to the ground.
"You still dare call yourself the blazing sun? Crossing hands with me is already the greatest honor of your life."
Jia Huan used the One Reed Crossing the River movement technique, sweeping before him in the blink of an eye. He raised his hand and thrust out another palm, its force wheeling like a cartwheel, swift as a skimming boat.
The seventh form, Crossing the Great River!
Bam!
The palm struck his chest. The White-Haired Killing Demon flew backward like a kite with its string severed, three ribs snapping as blood gushed from his mouth.
"If I had no ability, how could I have become an Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Commander at seventeen?"
Jia Huan advanced step by step. Then, beneath the White-Haired Killing Demon's disbelieving gaze, he planted his Skyward Boot viciously on his face.
Inside and outside the Rongguo Mansion, there was not a sound.
It was as still as a tomb.
The Patrol Office guards' hair stood on end. Watching from a shop, Sun Shaozu wore a look of sheer terror.
Jia Zhen's heart clenched, his mind going blank.
"My son..."
Concubine Zhao sagged into Caiyun's arms, her fingers trembling as she cried out, "Huan'er won! Look at Huan'er!"
The tears on her face had yet to dry, but even now she did not forget to lift her chin proudly. She stood and paraded back and forth by the corner gate, showing off.
Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, Shi Xiangyun, and the other ladies had long since fallen into a daze, their eyes filled with profound shock.
"No wonder..."
At that moment, Xue Baochai suddenly understood why her elder brother admired Jia Huan so much.
Perhaps her brother had once witnessed Jia Huan's heroic bearing with his own eyes!
Was the white-haired man lying on the ground not powerful?
One man, one sword, slaughtering more than twenty Tatar armored horsemen!
Never mind sheltered young ladies like them being stunned by the tale-even military officers from the Capital Camp would have admired him immensely.
What was more, one light stroke of his sword had split even the hardest marble.
Such intimidating power made her scalp prickle just watching it.
Yet this utterly terrifying figure had been as helpless as a small child before Brother Huan, his face trampled beneath a foot in full public view!
Then just how formidable were Brother Huan's martial skills?
"He frightened me to death." Sweat beaded on Lin Daiyu's palms as she clutched the hem of Xueyan's skirt and let out a long breath of relief.
Her eyes were filled with admiration. She understood better than anyone that Brother Huan excelled in both letters and arms-and his gift for poetry was even more dazzling!
"Brother Huan."
Wang Xifeng's phoenix eyes were filled with horror. A moment later, a smile spread across her incomparably beautiful face.
Had she been a man, she would have wanted to forge ahead with ambition, pursue power with a consuming passion, and be fearless, valiant, and extraordinary in bearing. Brother Huan fulfilled precisely those dreams.
This was a true man of the Jia Family!
"Twin Whips, take him to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison!"
"Scholar, take my Waist Token to the treasury office at the Ministry of War Office and examine his military merits."
Jia Huan issued his orders coldly.
The two subordinates who had followed him clasped their fists and accepted their orders.
They were already accustomed to their boss's strength. What sort of clay chicken or pottery dog dared come to his door and provoke him?
Jia Huan looked down at the White-Haired Killing Demon on the ground and said, enunciating every word:
"If you have earned merit by killing barbarians and have no innocent blood on your hands, I'll grant you one hour to think. Name the mastermind behind you, and I'll spare your wretched life. Otherwise, with the Life-and-Death Writ signed, I am fully entitled to kill you."
The White-Haired Killing Demon was utterly broken, dragged away by Twin Whips and the Patrol Office guards together.
Hearing this from inside the shop, Sun Shaozu shook like chaff in a sieve, even his lips trembling.
Before you continue