The house guard raised an eyebrow. "Well, well-"
His collar was suddenly seized, pitching his body forward uncontrollably and choking the words in his throat.
Before he could even register how it had happened, the boy's calm face was already before him.
After a moment's stunned surprise, the guard's eyes widened in sudden fury. True qi surged from his dantian. "You fucking-"
The rest was abruptly strangled off. A knee had slammed viciously into his abdomen, sending searing pain through his entire body and folding him like a shrimp.
Pei Ye released the limp, trembling body. The other guard roared and charged, drawing his saber. Pei Ye unstrapped [Mountain Feather] from his back and, sword and scabbard together, swept him three zhang away.
Without looking aside, the boy shook his scabbard and kicked open the heavy gate before him.
The bolt burst apart with a crack. The crooked gate leaves crashed against the walls, a gale whipping up a skyful of scattering splinters as Pei Ye strode inside.
Chapter 276: The Carp Leaps
It was like an enormous hornets' nest that had stood for years. The hornets had only ever seen others shrink nervously away when they ventured out; never had they imagined someone would dare drive a fist into their nest.
Nearly twenty men sat or stood in the courtyard. Although they had just heard the guards' furious shouts outside, when they saw this gate, a symbol of dread and authority, collapse like rotten wood a moment later, several still froze with their hands on their swords.
Yet the gate truly groaned on its loosened hinges, and the boy walked straight inside without looking aside.
Shouts, curses, and demands erupted in confusion. A dark-faced, scarred man with a full beard leveled a long saber and barked a challenge. But