Li Mo's Fury

"Have everything been arranged?"

Inside the study, Wei Tuo held a teacup, lightly stirring the foam with its lid.

Ma Liu bowed. "Rest assured, Branch Master. The news that 'Black Wind Village was wiped out by an unknown righteous man from Yun Yuan County, village chief Li Batian was executed, not a single person in the village survived, and that righteous man has arrived at Dragon Snake Crossing in Azure Province' has already been released.

"Following your instructions, we especially emphasized that the righteous man was alone, that he slaughtered Black Wind Village until corpses lay everywhere, and that he was a ruthless figure who killed without blinking an eye."

Wei Tuo set down his teacup. "Very good. That is exactly how it should be spread. I want everyone to know that a fierce dragon has come to Dragon Snake Crossing—a fierce dragon daring to stroke a tiger's whiskers."

Ma Liu flattered him, "The Branch Master is wise. But is that brat surnamed Lu truly so formidable? He wiped out Black Wind Village by himself?

"Li Batian was a Super First-rate expert, after all."

"Does it matter whether he was the one who destroyed it?" Wei Tuo rose and walked to the window. "What matters is that everyone believes he did."

"He dared kill someone before my very eyes. That courage and skill were no lie. He is a blade—a sharp blade that can test the depth of the Blood Saber Sect for us."

Ma Liu lowered his head. "This subordinate understands. The Branch Master wishes to borrow a blade..."

"Go." Wei Tuo waved a hand. "Continue sending people to watch his every move. Also, spread the news even farther. The more outrageous, the better. Best if they make him sound like an asura crawling out of hell, specially made to cure all kinds of defiance."

"Yes, Branch Master!" Ma Liu accepted the order and swiftly withdrew.

Within three days, all of Dragon Snake Crossing was like a pond struck by a massive boulder, boiling over completely.

Inside an inn's main hall, a traveling merchant who had just arrived from elsewhere was surrounded by a group of idlers.

"Gentlemen, you did not see it! I came from Yun Yuan County, and I heard about it all along the way! Black Wind Village—that huge mountain stronghold—was simply gone!"

"How did it disappear? Tell us, tell us!" a man in coarse clothes urged impatiently.

The traveling merchant lowered his voice, putting on a mysterious air. "They say it was a lone hero. No one knows what deep-seated grudge he had against Black Wind Village. On a night dark with moonless skies and high winds, he charged in alone!"

"Whoa! One man?"

"Exactly! They say that righteous man wielded a jet-black iron staff. He killed whoever he saw, killed Buddha if he saw Buddha! Li Batian, a Super First-rate expert, could not even last three moves against him before his head was smashed apart like a watermelon!"

A scholar in blue robes at the next table shook his head and refuted him. "No, no, you are mistaken. They say that righteous man was dressed in white, fair as snow, with handsome features and an elegant bearing. He was originally a mere scholar, but after Black Wind Village massacred his village, he narrowly escaped with his life. From then on, he abandoned letters for martial arts, painstakingly practiced divine skills, and one day took his revenge, slaughtering Black Wind Village until blood flowed into rivers and corpses piled into mountains!"

"Why did I hear that the man was twelve feet tall, with a blue face and fangs, swallowing one person in a single bite..."

"Blue face and fangs? That righteous man was clearly dressed in white, fair as snow, peerlessly handsome! Because Black Wind Village had committed countless evils, he drew his sword in fury and pursued the villains for a thousand miles!" A lovestruck young woman glared and loudly argued back.

"No, no, it was a delicate little lady avenging her husband..."

All manner of bizarre rumors spread wildly through Dragon Snake Crossing's teahouses and taverns, its streets and alleys. The protagonist's image ranged from a murderous fiend to an immortal descended from heaven, with every version imaginable.

The only common point was the terror of his strength and the ruthlessness of his methods.

On the second floor of the tea house, by the window.

Lu Shaoyou took in every word of the clamorous discussion.

He slowly sipped his tea. Wei Tuo's fire had burned even more fiercely than he had expected.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

"Li Mo, you should have heard by now too, shouldn't you?" Lu Shaoyou set down his teacup, gazed at the bustling street, and murmured softly.

Like a plague that had grown wings, the news spread swiftly toward the heartland of Azure Province along the waterways of Yunmeng River and through merchants and wandering heroes traveling north and south.

Azure Province, Blood Saber Sect, Thunderclap Hall, inside a luxurious room.

"What did you say?! Say that damned thing again!" Li Mo's eyes were bloodshot as he seized his confidant by the collar. His knuckles cracked from the sheer force of his grip.

The confidant was scared out of his wits by Li Mo's savage appearance. His teeth chattered as he stammered, "Y-Young Master... they... they are all saying outside... Black Wind Village... Black Wind Village was... was wiped out! The village chief, he... he..."

"What happened to my father?! Speak!" Li Mo roared himself hoarse, his voice completely breaking under extreme fury and unimaginable terror.

"The village chief... he... he is dead..." The confidant delivering the news was on the verge of tears.

Boom!

Li Mo felt a deafening explosion in his mind, as though the entire world had collapsed in an instant.

His hand loosened weakly from the confidant's collar. He staggered backward and fell heavily onto the cold floor.

"No... impossible... My father was a Super First-rate Martial Artist... There were barely any opponents for him in all Yun Yuan County... How could he have died..." He muttered in a daze, tears and snot pouring out uncontrollably.

Black Wind Village had been his home, and Li Batian had been his only family.

Now, his home was gone.

After that brief stupor came hatred as vast as a volcanic eruption.

"Who was it! Who the hell was it..." Li Mo sprang up from the floor, his face twisted out of shape by utter rage, terrifying blood vessels filling his eyes. "I will tear you into ten thousand pieces! Slice you with a thousand blades!!"

Like a trapped beast driven into a dead end, he roared madly through the side hall, smashing every teacup, ornament, table, and chair within reach into smithereens.

"Ahhh!!"

Only after venting for a long while did Li Mo gasp for breath and calm down somewhat.

He knew perfectly well that with his paltry, three-legged-cat skills, seeking out the righteous man capable of killing his father would be no different from a moth flying into a flame—courting death.

"Uncle Lei... right, Uncle Lei!"

Suddenly, as if he had caught hold of the last straw that could save his life, a glimmer of hope flashed through his eyes. He rushed out of the side hall and sprinted desperately toward Thunderclap Hall's main hall.

Thunderclap Hall's main hall.

A middle-aged man with an exceptionally burly build, a rugged face, and a vicious scar over an inch long stretching across his forehead was carefully wiping a broad-backed saber gleaming with cold light using a piece of tiger hide.

The blade was broad and weighty, clearly a heavy weapon.

This man was Lei Xiaotian, Hall Master of Thunderclap Hall, one of the Blood Saber Sect's ten great halls.

He was a genuine Super First-rate Martial Artist, as well as one of Li Batian's few friends before his death.

More importantly, Li Mo's mother and Lei Xiaotian were distantly related, the sort of relation that took eight poles to reach.

"Hall Master," a subordinate hurried in from outside and bowed as he reported, "Li Mo requests an audience. From the look of him... it seems something earthshaking has happened."

Lei Xiaotian's hand paused slightly as he wiped the saber, and his thick brows furrowed. "Li Mo? Let him in."

Before his words had even faded, Li Mo charged in like a gust of wind, wailing and crying without any regard for his appearance. With a thud, he dropped to his knees before Lei Xiaotian and clutched his leg tightly.

"Uncle Lei! Uncle Lei! You must seek justice for your nephew!" Li Mo wailed, snot and tears streaming down his face. "My father... my father was killed! Black Wind Village... the whole of Black Wind Village is gone! Boohoo... Uncle Lei!"

Lei Xiaotian's body shook. The broad-backed saber in his hand crashed onto the hard bluestone floor with a clang, producing a piercing bang.

He hurriedly helped Li Mo up. "Worthy nephew, you... stop crying first! Tell me slowly, what exactly happened? Your father... his martial arts were not weak. How could something like this happen in Yun Yuan County..."

Li Mo was sobbing too hard to speak clearly. In broken, disordered fragments, he poured out every bit of news he had heard outside, along with all his own guesses.

The more Lei Xiaotian listened, the more somber his expression became. By the end, his weathered face was so grim it seemed water could be wrung from it.

Though he and Li Batian were not the sort of friends who would cut their throats for one another, when Li Batian had gained a foothold in Yun Yuan County all those years ago, Lei Xiaotian had indeed secretly lent him some help.

The scar on Lei Xiaotian's forehead twitched lightly as if it had come alive. Fierce light flickered in his tiger eyes. "What audacity! They dared lay hands on a friend of my Blood Saber Sect—and even chased him into Azure Province!"

"Uncle Lei!" Seeing Lei Xiaotian grow angry, Li Mo was like a drowning man clutching driftwood. He hurriedly said, "That man is vicious and ruthless, his martial arts unfathomably deep. Even my father was no match for him!"

"Your nephew... your nephew's meager abilities make revenge harder than ascending to heaven!"

"I beg Uncle Lei to show mercy. For the sake of my dead parents, avenge my father's blood-deep hatred! In the future, your nephew is willing to be an ox or a horse for you, to brave boiling water and tread on fire, never refusing!"

As he spoke, he tried to kowtow desperately once more.

Lei Xiaotian looked at the young man before him, his face streaked with tears and snot, utterly bedraggled, and felt a complicated mix of emotions.

With Li Batian dead, this child had truly lost all support.

That distant cousin of his, Li Mo's mother, had also helped him somewhat in his early years.

He had to give some thought to that debt of affection.

He was silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh. "Worthy nephew, get up first."

At those words, a powerful hope immediately rose in Li Mo's heart. He stopped crying, lifted his head, and looked eagerly at Lei Xiaotian with reddened eyes.

Lei Xiaotian picked up his saber from the floor and paced several steps through the hall, every step seeming to land on Li Mo's heart.

At last, he stopped and said solemnly, "Regarding your father, I, Lei Xiaotian, will not stand by and do nothing. I will avenge this grudge for you."

"Thank you, Uncle Lei! Thank you, Uncle Lei, for granting this! Your immense kindness and great virtue will never be forgotten by your nephew!" Li Mo was instantly overjoyed and, overwhelmed with excitement, tried to kneel and kowtow again.

"But..."

Lei Xiaotian's tone suddenly changed, and his voice cooled by several degrees. He raised a hand to stop Li Mo. "My Blood Saber Sect has its own rules. Thunderclap Hall will not send men and expend effort on your behalf for nothing."

"This matter is no small one. That man wiped out Black Wind Village with his own strength; he is certainly no ordinary martial wanderer."

"To deal with him, I fear Thunderclap Hall alone may not be enough to take him down easily."

"Perhaps... we may even need to alarm higher-ranking figures within the sect."

The wild joy on Li Mo's face abruptly froze. He looked at Lei Xiaotian uneasily. "Uncle Lei... what do you mean..."

Lei Xiaotian turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning as he stared directly at Li Mo. "I mean that if you want revenge, you must be prepared to pay the price."

"In this world, there has never been a free lunch, nor a blood feud avenged for free."

He spoke slowly, one word at a time. "Are you ready?"