The northern suburbs.
Inside a dark, secret room.
The candlelight flickered.
It stretched the shadows on the stone walls, making them shrink and grow like hideous, clawing specters ready to devour anyone who came near.
Upon the stone chairs.
Several figures sat shrouded in black robes, their hoods drawn low, revealing only the faint outlines of their jaws.
The black-robed man in the leading seat was a withered, elderly man.
His eyes were closed, and his shriveled lips moved to produce a voice like a demon grinding its teeth, both hoarse and grating:
“Ninth Brother... how is the intelligence gathering coming along?”
“Replying to Big Brother...”
From the stone chair at the very end, a burly figure rose to his feet and let out a sinister laugh:
“Everything has been cleared up!”
“That Old Dog Jiang is getting up there in years, and his health is failing. He hasn't seen any outside guests for a long time.”
“His personal bodyguard, who is at the Outer Gang Rank, departed for the imperial capital a few days ago. He won't have time to worry about this place for at least half a month.”
He paused slightly before smiling darkly:
“Right now is the perfect opportunity to eliminate that old dog!”
As soon as he spoke, a cold gleam flickered in the eyes of almost everyone present, like a pack of wolves smelling fresh blood.
The withered old man didn't open his eyes, but the killing intent rolling off him was already restless. He hissed:
“Very well! Let us set a date, then. We must strike a decisive blow—”
Thud... thud, thud!
Before he could finish, a knock—one long and two short—suddenly echoed from outside, instantly freezing the killing intent of the gathered fiends.
The withered old man snapped his eyes open!
His bizarre, completely ash-gray pupils darted to the side in a silent signal.
A dark shadow immediately glided along the wall and slipped out without a sound.
A moment later.
The shadow returned holding a bamboo slip, presenting it with both hands:
“Big Brother, it is urgent intelligence sent from the Wind-and-Cloud Pavilion!”
The withered old man took it, swept his gaze over it quickly, and flicked his wrist to pass the slip down.
Soon, it was passed down the line to the burly man at the end. He lowered his head to read it, and his breathing suddenly grew heavy!
“The Moonlight Sword... forging a sword at Liu's... collecting the sword in about fifteen days...”
Whoosh!
The burly man snapped his head up, overjoyed:
“Big Brother, it's that little beast surnamed Shen!”
“The intelligence states that he will go to Liu's Sword Shop to collect his sword in fifteen days!”
“We can easily set a death trap in advance and surround the brat!”
He spoke faster and faster, his knuckles popping as he clenched his fists, the killing intent in his eyes practically overflowing:
“A sword cultivator without a sword on hand—this is a god-given opportunity delivered right to our doorstep!”
“Indeed!”
Beside him, a dark-skinned man with a hideous scar running across his left cheek smiled grimly:
“That brat killing those useless trash like Ding Hong is a minor issue! But making our Young Master lose face is a massive matter!”
“If we do not sever his head, how is the Young Master supposed to hold his head high before the Holy Aunt?”
“Well said!”
From the opposite side, a somewhat lazy male voice rang out. The speaker leaned back against his stone chair, his tone casual but his words sharp.
“Big Brother, Third Brother and Ninth Brother have a point.”
“We have been waiting here dryly for days, and my hands happen to be itching for a fight. We might as well take care of that kid along the way. It won't delay our main objective.”
“We must avenge them!”
At the front, a cold woman spoke with equal hatred:
“Qiu Yingying is currently vying with the Young Master for power within the sect. With those six useless trash like Ding Hong dying at this critical juncture, it has caused a massive uproar throughout the city, making the Young Master lose face big time!”
“Qiu Yingying's lackeys have been wagging their tongues non-stop lately!”
“If we take that kid's head back to report our success this time, we will definitely shut those dogs' mouths!”
For a moment, the fiends in the secret room grew rowdy, their clamor for blood echoing back and forth.
Bang!
A loud explosion rang out!
The withered old man slammed a palm onto the stone table, which instantly cracked into a spiderweb pattern, sending stone fragments showering down.
He slowly stood up, his ash-gray pupils sweeping across everyone's faces. Wherever his gaze landed, that person would avert their eyes.
“Foolishness.”
His voice remained hoarse, but it was as heavy as a boulder, crushing the entire room into dead silence:
“Utterly brainless!”
“Have you forgotten why we snuck into the Nanxiang prefecture capital in the first place?”
“Nanxiang Prefectural Governor Jiang Qiliang may be a descendant of the Qi imperial clan, but his martial talent is laughably atrocious. He only managed to secure the governor's seat because of his background.”
“Over the years, he has consumed countless natural treasures just to barely pile his way up to the Great Accomplishment of the Huajin Rank.”
“Now, his lifespan is nearing its end, his blood qi is withered, and less than thirty percent of his combat strength remains.”
“Therefore, we have only one objective for this trip: to take Jiang Qiliang's head!”
“If this grand task is accomplished...”
“The Qi imperial court will lose all face, the Young Master will reclaim his dignity, and even Qiu Yingying's momentum will be suppressed once more.”
“This is a plan that kills three birds with one stone. It is our absolute priority. If anyone dares to expose our whereabouts at this time...”
At this, his ash-gray eyes shifted slightly, locking onto the burly man's face:
“...then do not blame this old man for ignoring our old brotherly ties.”
When his voice fell, the room fell into a dead silence!
Even the candlelight seemed to shrink under the weight of his killing intent, making the twisted black shadows on the stone walls look even more menacing.
The burly man's face turned pale and red in turn, his chest heaving violently, clearly filled with rage.
Yet, in the end, he did not dare to disobey the old man's orders. After a long moment, he slowly lowered his head and remained silent.
“Hmph!”
The withered old man snorted coldly. With a flick of his sleeve, his figure turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished from the stone chair in an instant.
The other fiends also stood up one after another, disappearing in succession.
As the candlelight flickered, only the burly man and the cold woman remained.
Only after the others' auras had completely faded did the woman sigh softly:
“Ninth Brother, it is best to listen to Big Brother on this. If we ruin the plan... neither you nor I can bear the consequences.”
“What plan could it possibly ruin!”
The burly man could no longer suppress his emotions. He slammed a fist against the stone wall, panting heavily, his voice hoarse and warped with fury:
“Just to become an Elder and advance to the Gangjin Rank, he no longer cares about the brotherly bonds of our Nine Anhuai Fiends!”
“Ninth Brother!”
The woman's voice suddenly turned ice-cold, like a bucket of freezing water poured over his head, filled with an unquestionable warning:
“Watch your mouth!”
The burly man shuddered. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but in the end, he did not dare to say anything more.
Seeing him like this, the woman softened her tone:
“I know your relationship with Chen Hongyuan was... out of the ordinary, and that your urge to kill that Shen kid is hard to suppress. But you absolutely cannot act personally and ruin Big Brother's plans!”
Hearing this, the burly man froze.
Though reckless, he was not so stupid that he could not read between the lines.
The burly man's breathing quickened slightly, and he abruptly looked up, whispering:
“Second Sister... do you have a way around this?”
The black-robed woman glanced at him, her voice deep and mysterious:
“A few days ago, I looked at the Wind-and-Cloud Pavilion's intelligence. It stated that Shen Xiuhan previously did not hesitate to offend his fellow senior brother, He Tunan, just to protect a merchant firm from a lower county...”
Hearing this, the burly man's eyes flashed with a sharp light:
“Second Sister!”
“Are you saying... I should slaughter that lower county merchant firm's entire family, smash their shops, and burn their ships to enrage that little beast surnamed Shen? The more he cares about something, the more I will destroy it!”
“...”
The woman's face, hidden beneath her black robe, twitched twice. She took a deep breath and cursed:
“You idiot!”
“Can't you use that pig brain of yours to think for a moment? Do you still remember that family of three who came to seek refuge with us a month ago?”
The burly man looked blank and muttered:
“Second Sister, do you mean... the three who practice Tongbei Fist?”
“Indeed.”
The woman's voice was grim as she said:
“To join our Sacred Sect, they naturally need to present a token of allegiance.”
“That kid does not have a suitable sword on him, so his combat strength will definitely be compromised. Thus, they aren't without a chance of success.”
“Have those three either kill or injure him. As long as they succeed, it will prove their worth.”
“What does it matter if I help them deal with that run-down martial arts hall in their hometown and their Huajin Rank enemy in that lower county later on?”
She slowly turned around, the hem of her black robe silently brushing the ground. Her tone was casual, but her words were deadly:
“And if they fail, they are just three useless pieces of trash. If they die, they die! What does it have to do with us?”
“They do not carry the aura of our Sacred Sect's cultivation techniques. Even if they die, the trail will never lead back to us, the Nine Anhuai Fiends!”
The burly man finally understood. The gloom on his face vanished instantly, and his voice trembled with excitement:
“Good, good! Second Sister, this plan is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! You little beast, Shen Xiuhan...”
As he spoke, his voice suddenly choked up.
His mountain-like body actually began to tremble, his bell-like eyes turning bloodshot as they slowly welled with tears:
“I will make him... pay with his life for my husband!”
Hearing this, the woman's face twitched once more. She took a deep breath, said not another word, and took a step, her figure vanishing from the secret room.
Only the burly man was left standing alone under the flickering candlelight, his eyes red, still murmuring his husband's name.
“Hongyuan... Hongyuan, my husband...”
Rate on N.U.
