The air was thick with the scent of blood. Many servants began to retch upon seeing this gruesome scene, as the visual impact of over a dozen headless corpses was shocking beyond words.
“How dare you!”
A roar filled with irrepressible rage rang out.
Fengqingzi turned to look in the direction of the voice. The newcomer was bloated and portly, yet he was dressed in a crimson brocade robe, a jade belt wrapped around his waist, with coiled python patterns subtly woven into the chest and back of his garments.
Upon seeing this person's attire, his expression shifted. The newcomer was none other than Prince Ning.
At Prince Ning's roar, a large number of shadow guards quickly emerged from the surroundings, completely surrounding Fengqingzi and Jiang Moran.
They moved with a well-trained, tacit understanding, each of them possessing a level of strength that would make them at least second-class experts in the jianghu.
And standing at their front were two individuals with deep and heavy auras.
One was the Guard Commander of Prince Ning's Residence, and the other was the leader of the shadow guards.
One in the light and one in the shadows—the two pinnacles of the estate's martial force.
Looking at the headless corpses on the ground, Prince Ning's face turned completely livid. He had never suffered such a great humiliation, to have someone barge straight into his residence.
This was a complete and utter disregard for his authority!
“Break every bone in their bodies! Remember, leave them with a single breath of life. Do not let them die so easily!”
At Prince Ning's command, the surrounding shadow guards swarmed forward. In an instant, the scene erupted in a flurry of flashing blades and swords.
However, completely contrary to Prince Ning's expectations, not only were the two not immediately subdued,
but the black-robed man moved with ease even under the joint attack of several long sabers. In the blink of an eye, he swept two fingers across the throats of several guards, instantly tracing a line of blood across their necks before they collapsed, lifeless, to the ground.
The number of shadow guards rapidly dwindled. Jiang Moran's footwork was uncanny, allowing him to weave through them like a swimming dragon.
With every passing second, lives were snuffed out, as if the Grim Reaper himself were indiscriminately harvesting souls.
As their longtime comrades died one by one before their eyes, terror washed over the remaining shadow guards. Yet, it was in vain; the footsteps of death continued to draw nearer.
Seeing the situation spiral completely out of control, the shadow guard leader could no longer stand idly by.
He escalated to Jiang Moran's side in an instant, his long saber swinging furiously with the desperate force of someone burning his bridges!
Jiang Moran merely spared him a sideways glance, casually grabbing the neck of a shadow guard and pulling him in front of himself as a shield.
The shadow guard leader's pupils constricted at the sight, but he was unable to pull back his strike in time. With a wet squelch, his saber sliced the shadow guard's body clean in half.
Blood splattered onto his face. Jiang Moran remained expressionless, but with the addition of these few drops of blood, his face appeared even more eerie and demonic.
Fengqingzi pulled his saber out from the body of a shadow guard. Looking up, he caught sight of Jiang Moran's actions and could not help but marvel in his heart, “What a ruthless disposition. Truly worthy of being the senior.”
With a flick of his saber, the blood was flung clean from the blade, revealing its cold, gleaming edge.
“Senior, let me help you,” Fengqingzi said, about to step forward to assist him.
Suddenly, a howling wind tore through the air.
—Ching!
He quickly raised his saber to block the sudden strike. The weapons clashed with a crisp ring, and a numbing sensation traveled up from the web of his hand.
“What a fast blade!” Fengqingzi thought in alarm. Had he been even half a second slower, that strike would have claimed his life!
Seeing his first strike fail, the Guard Commander wasted no words, slipping past to deliver another slash.
Fengqingzi's expression tightened. The man before him was clearly no ordinary opponent. Facing this slash, he chose not to meet it head-on; instead, he dodged to the side before launching a counterattack.
However, the opponent's blade was too swift. Even after evading the strike, Fengqingzi was left with absolutely no room to breathe.
The long saber danced in the Guard Commander's hands, launching an endless barrage of attacks toward him. The blade was fast and fierce; after blocking just two strikes, the web of Fengqingzi's hand was already on the verge of splitting open.
The opponent pressed on relentlessly, offering absolutely no defensive moves but continuously attacking. Yet, even just defending against this onslaught required every ounce of Fengqingzi's strength.
The adage that the best defense is a good offense was perfectly epitomized at this very moment.
Seizing the opportunity, the Guard Commander thrust his saber straight forward. Fengqingzi's hand, already trembling as he held his weapon, could only rely on deflecting the thrust with a deft, angled parry.
Yet, the thrust was merely a feint. Just as Fengqingzi was about to deflect the weapon, the Guard Commander let out a cold snort. Internal energy surged into his wrist, causing the long saber to vibrate violently.
Fengqingzi felt a violent tremor run through the hilt of his weapon. A sudden, sharp pain numbed his hand, and before he could react, his saber flew from his grasp.
“Oh no!”
His heart sank. Seeing the tip of the blade pointing directly at his throat, a flash of despair crossed his eyes.
The Guard Commander sneered, thrusting his saber forward to impale him. But just as the blade was about to pierce through, a figure caught the corner of his eye, rapidly approaching.
He abruptly changed the trajectory of his saber, slashing at the person flying toward his flank.
But once he saw who the incoming person was, his expression dramatically changed, and his saber froze in midair.
The shadow guard leader crashed straight into him. He used his wrist to deflect most of the impact, but before they could even steady themselves, Jiang Moran appeared at their side in a flash, looking at them with a playful gaze. His slender right leg then whipped toward them like a steel rod.
—Crack!
His right leg slammed heavily into their midsections. Accompanied by a bone-chilling cracking sound, both of them were intensely sent flying backward.
Fengqingzi stared blankly at this scene, his mind still reeling from his brush with death. The situation had shifted too quickly; one second he was being suppressed and beaten, and the next, the tables had been completely turned.
Seeing the relaxed, effortless demeanor of his senior, he was filled with even greater shock.
He was basically shooting fish in a barrel?
In the distance, the Guard Commander and the shadow guard leader both cut incredibly pathetic figures. The shadow guard leader was in a worse state; his entire right arm was bent backward at the joint, and he couldn't stop vomiting blood.
The Guard Commander was not much better off. That kick had nearly snapped his neck; he could only crawl on the ground now, struggling even to breathe.
“Useless! A bunch of useless trash!” Prince Ning bellowed in a towering rage, his eyes terrifyingly sinister.
“I don't feed you just to have you groveling on the ground like dogs! What use are you if you can't even defeat a stray martial artist from the jianghu!”
The faces of the two leaders contorted with shame, but there was nothing they could do; even the slightest movement brought writhing pain.
Fengqingzi walked up to Jiang Moran's side and lowered his voice. “Someone in the capital has noticed the commotion here. The Imperial Guards are on their way!”
“Understood. Three minutes.”
Seeing this, Fengqingzi could only nod. Gripping his long saber, he walked toward the exit. From this moment on, not even a single fly would escape through the gates of the Prince's Residence.
From inside the residence came Prince Ning's terrified shriek, “What... what are you trying to do?! Guards! Help!”
“Aaaaaah!!!”
Following a horrific scream, Prince Ning's voice fell silent. The remaining people in the estate rushed frantically toward the gates, but their flight was met only by the sickening sound of blades carving into flesh and the thump of bodies hitting the ground.
Gradually, the commotion inside the residence died down.
Fengqingzi stood at the entrance. No one dared to approach him, but a look of sheer disbelief hung on his face.
It was not difficult to imagine the horrific scene unfolding inside from the noises he heard, but this was Prince Ning's Residence!
That was actual royalty.
The more Fengqingzi thought about it, the more apprehensive he became. Standing at the entrance now, the weight of what they had just done truly sank in.
“I must have gone completely mad...” he muttered with a wry smile.
Just then, a large hand patted his shoulder. “What are you thinking about?”
Fengqingzi turned around. Seeing a thoroughly satisfied Jiang Moran, he said helplessly, “Nothing...”
Before the words could fully leave his mouth, he peered past Jiang Moran's silhouette and caught a clear view of the scene inside.
Corpses lay strewn haphazardly across the ground, the blood pooling to form a horrific, crimson carpet that was deeply shocking to behold.
Yet, the most conspicuous sight was at the very center of the courtyard: Prince Ning's head had been pinned ruthlessly to the ground by a long saber driven straight through it.
“Senior... your actions are undoubtedly an open provocation to the royal authority,” Fengqingzi said with a shudder.
Jiang Moran exhaled a long, satisfied breath and said calmly, “I don't care about any royal authority or nobility. I only know that I am killing those who deserve to be killed.”
“He caused the deaths of that girl and her little brother. Do they not deserve justice? He allowed that girl to be tormented to death and her brother to be shamefully pinned to the wall. Why should he feel wronged to suffer such a death?”
Fengqingzi was left utterly speechless by his words. Jiang Moran gently wiped away the blood from his own face.
“I used to think that the dirtiest, most foul, and darkest place in existence was the jianghu.”
“But now I see that it is actually found among the ruling elite, hidden beneath the divide of highborn and lowborn.”
Rate on N.U.
