Chapter 293 - 290: Eradication
SQUELCH!
"Argh!"
Agonized screams rose and fell, one after another.
The disciples who were only in the Qi Realm had no power to resist. Like they were made of paper, their skulls were caved in or their hearts pierced by the staff, killing them instantly.
Even the Spirit Realm disciples could only barely block one or two blows before the overwhelming Staff Intent that followed blasted them to bits.
At the same time, the Qiankun Ruyi Staff in Chen Li’s hand flared with a baleful black light. Wielding a terrifying power capable of crushing anything, he brought it down in a simple, direct strike on Feng Mengtong, who was desperately trying to stop him.
Feng Mengtong’s Joyful Sword Realm was useless against this absolute power. In desperation, he could only raise his sword to parry.
CRACK!
The longsword snapped in two.
The Qiankun Ruyi Staff continued its descent unimpeded, crashing down on Feng Mengtong’s head.
BAM!
Another flower of red and white bloomed.
Jian Xi, Feng Mengtong, was dead.
A few disciples who were quicker on the uptake or farther away were scared witless, scattering and fleeing wildly in different directions.
Chen Li’s eyes were like ice. His figure flickered and, like a phantom, he vanished from where he stood.
The next moment, he appeared behind a disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect. With a single, swift strike of his staff, the man collapsed without so much as a grunt.
Then, his figure flickered again. He caught up to another fleeing disciple and killed him with a single blow as well.
Within moments, aside from Chen Li, no one was left standing in the wilderness.
The bleak, cold moonlight shone down on a ground littered with mangled corpses.
The stench of blood hung heavy in the night air, so thick it was almost suffocating.
...
「Early morning. Jiangkou County.」
Where three rivers converged, the air was rich with moisture.
A thick, early spring fog, like heavy cotton, pressed down upon the world.
Luo Hanfeng squinted, trying to make out the slowly moving, green-canopied carriage on the road by the river.
Last night, on his master’s orders, he had begun tracking this carriage.
He painstakingly followed the wheel ruts it left in the muddy ground.
It wasn’t until dawn began to break that he finally caught sight of it again at a fork in the road.
He didn’t dare get any closer.
’After all, there’s an expert in that carriage, someone who could kill Junior Martial Uncle Mo in the blink of an eye.’
’If they spotted me, killing me would be effortless.’
He could only tail it from a great distance, relying on the wheel ruts and his own intuition to keep on its trail.
The carriage seemed exceptionally cautious as well, winding its way through the wharf district. It wasn’t until late morning that it finally merged with the stream of people entering the city and drove into Jiangkou County Town.
Once inside the city, the din of the marketplace washed over him.
The cries of street vendors, the haggling of customers, the laughter of playing children...
Strangely, the cacophony gave Luo Hanfeng an odd sense of security.
Feeling a bit bolder, he blended into the crowd and drew a little closer.
Finally, he watched as the green-canopied carriage crossed several streets before turning into a relatively quiet alley and stopping at the back door of a shop called the "Oolong Tea House."
He stopped at a flatbread stall at the mouth of the alley, took out three copper coins, and bought a greasy pancake. He pretended to wait, but his peripheral vision remained locked on the scene.
He watched as the carriage curtain was thrown open. Two people hurried out, carrying two large burlap sacks. They slipped into the rear courtyard, and the back door shut immediately behind them.
Luo Hanfeng’s heart settled. He committed the name "Oolong Tea House" to memory.
Then, he turned and left.
’Whatever this tea house’s connection to last night’s group is, just finding this location is a major success.’
’The rest is beyond my ability to handle. I must report back to my master as quickly as possible and wait for the sect’s experts to arrive.’
He hurried on his way.
As soon as he set foot in the cleared wilderness on the outskirts of Hidden Emperor Castle, the faint, coppery scent of blood tickled his nostrils.
Luo Hanfeng stopped short, his brow furrowing.
’The scent of blood?’
’Why is it so strong? Don’t tell me... last night...’
A terrible premonition welled up inside him, and he couldn’t help but quicken his pace.
The closer he got to Hidden Emperor Castle, the thicker and more acrid the stench of blood became.
When he rounded a bend and saw the scene before him, he froze as if struck by lightning, the blood in his veins turning to ice.
Bodies!
There were bodies everywhere!
The bodies of Celestial Sword Sect disciples were strewn everywhere—on the road, in the grass, beside tree stumps.
Broken weapons, shredded clothes, and dark, blackening bloodstains... It was the scene of an utterly gruesome massacre.
"This..."
Luo Hanfeng’s face paled as he rushed forward to investigate.
One body, two, three...
They were all familiar faces.
"No... impossible..."
To his horror, Luo Hanfeng saw his master, the Sword Madman Xie Jinglan, among the bodies.
There were no fatal external wounds on his body, but his frozen expression and vacant eyes were a silent declaration of his death.
"Master..."
A bitter laugh escaped Luo Hanfeng’s lips as he stumbled to Xie Jinglan’s side. He checked for breath, then felt for a pulse at his neck.
There was no pulse, no warmth.
’Was it them?!’
’They didn’t just kill Junior Martial Uncle Mo. They killed Master, and all the other Celestial Sword Sect members here.’
’But...’
Luo Hanfeng’s mind was in turmoil. ’I saw that carriage with my own eyes. It went all the way to Jiangkou, and the people inside never left it. How is this possible?’
’Could it be there was more than one person involved?’
’Was this an ambush set by another power, targeting the Celestial Sword Sect?’
The thought flashed through his mind, only to be drowned out by immense grief and cold reason.
’Who did this wasn’t important right now.’
’What matters is that Master is dead, and everyone from the Celestial Sword Sect here has likely been wiped out.’
’I’m only at the Inner Mansion Pass of the Spirit Realm. How could I possibly get revenge?’
’The most important thing right now is to stay alive and get this news back to the Celestial Sword Sect.’
Of course, he also had to deal with his master’s body. He couldn’t just leave it exposed in the wilderness.
He quickly thought of the tomb chamber from the night before.
Carrying Xie Jinglan’s body, he found the tomb raiders’ tunnel from the previous night. After crawling inside, he found a sarcophagus in the chamber, carefully placed his master inside, and closed the lid.
"Rest here for now, Master. In the future, I will find a proper place to lay you to rest."