“Argh!” Many of the more timid cried out, almost falling down the stairs. Meanwhile, rumbles constantly rang out from the main hall behind the terrace. The large building tottered in the darkness as if it could collapse at any time.
Qian Rongzhi glanced back. As it seemed, Li Qingshan could still last a while longer, which would give her enough time to do what she wanted. She really was grateful to him.
Of course, you would be utterly wrong if you thought her opinion of Li Qingshan had changed. In her eyes, the best outcome of the battle would be for Li Qingshan and Qian Yannian to die together.
“Master! Master! Is it you?” A middle-aged woman identified the person on the ground from his hoarse shrieks. She choked back tears as she said, “Qian Rongzhi, you slut! You mad woman! Since when has our master done anything to you? Not only have you tried to seduce him, but you even want him dead?”
“I seduced him?” Qian Rongzhi licked the blood from the corner of her mouth. “Wasn’t he the one who said he wanted to skin me alive? I asked him whether this was the correct way about it, but he wouldn’t say anything. Did you know that?” She kicked the bloody person off the terrace, who rolled down the steps.
People parted to the sides, avoiding him like the plague. Just as their attention was drawn away by this blood person, a water arrow pierced through the crowd.
The middle-aged woman who had just spoken before had her throat pierced all the way through. She lowered her head and glanced at it in disbelief. This little slut was actually bold enough to attack me? That was her last thought before collapsing on the ground.
“Seems like you don’t know either,” Qian Rongzhi murmured.
Dark clouds shrouded the moon as the world turned dark.
Over a thousand people of the Qian family gathered on the terrace, only increasing in number. The flickering torches illuminated her bloody, beautiful face. It became twisted with the flickering firelight.
A young man in luxurious robes wailed, “Father! Mother!” Afterwards, he looked at Qian Rongzhi in utter hatred. “Let’s get her together, everyone! Let’s kill this mad woman and help out great-grandfather. Our Qian family will definitely survive this threat!”
With someone rousing them together, over a thousand people charged over menacingly. Their might was enough to frighten ordinary people to death. Even mosquitoes could kill elephants if they were sufficient in number. Moreover, even Qi Practitioners would run out of true qi, not to mention the fact that there were over a dozen first layer Qi Practitioners among them.
Qian Rongzhi was facing a dire situation.
However, there was no fear on her face at all. Instead, there was a hysteric smile. She moved her rosy lips gently and casually listing a bunch of names, “Qian Ronghui, Qian Rongcheng…”
There were old and young, men and women, out of the people that she had named. The one similarity they shared was that they were all Qi Practitioners, and their surnames were originally not Qian. However, they had been adopted by the Qian family due to their talent of being able to practise qi. They were taken aback when they were mentioned, and they halted.
“Haven’t you had enough of the abuse from the people of the Qian family? They view us as livestock, as slaves, yet you still want to die for them right now? The Qian family is already on the brink of destruction. Everyone from the Qian family will be slaughtered by the Hawkwolf Guard.”
Qian Xingwei’s son, the young man in luxurious robes, called out, “Don’t listen to her bullsh*t! Great-grandfather will deal with everything very soon. A horrible fate awaits all those who betray the Qian family!”
The people with the blood of the Qian family all echoed his words. The group pushed closer once more, and the swathe of weapons was only ten steps away from Qian Rongzhi now. However, due to their fear of Qian Rongzhi’s strength, they could not help but slow down.
Before they had even realised it, the people who Qian Rongzhi had named were avoided by the rest of the crowd. People even looked at them with gazes of caution.
Qian Rongzhi said, “The old coot Qian Yannian is in the main hall right behind here. If he could leave there, he would have left a long time ago. If you don’t consider for yourselves right now, it’ll be too late.”
Rumbles constantly rang out from the main hall. The people in there were clearly engaged in an intense battle. Qian Yannian, who had weighed on their hearts constantly and ruled over Ancient Wind city for almost an entire century, had clearly encountered a powerful opponent.
If Qian Yannian were present, all dissent would vanish. However, Qian Yannian was not here. Many people thought uneasily, is the Qian family really going to be destroyed?
The person who had been mentioned at the very beginning, Qian Ronghui, finally gave in. “What do you want?”
Qian Rongzhi said, “It’s still not too late for you to leave the Qian family right now, or none will be spared when the clan is destroyed!”
Qian Ronghui hesitated. Many people hesitated. The young man called out, “Qian Ronghui, are you betraying our Qian family as well?”
Qian Rongzhi said with a corrupting voice, “You see? That’s how the people of the Qian family treat you. Do you want to die under the Wind-entwining blades of the Hawkwolf Guard?”
Qian Ronghui glanced at the main hall in the darkness one last time before roaring out, “Alright, I’ll leave the Qian family. From now onwards, I have no ties with the Qian family anymore.” He turned around and made his way down the mountain. He did not plan on getting involved in this. He did not have the same, deep hatred for the Qian family as Qian Rongzhi. With him as a first, other people were tempted as well. They were prepared to leave.
The people of the Qian family cursed aloud. They pointed many of their weapons at Qian Ronghui. Qian Ronghui yelled out, “Move!”
“Did I say you could leave?” Qian Rongzhi’s icy-cold voice made Qian Ronghui halt. He turned around furiously. “What else do you want!?”
Qian Rongzhi said, “If you leave right now, just wait until the world turns against you and tries to hunt you down!” Afterwards, she said to everyone, “I know you all. None of you even think about leaving here today. Right now, as long as you are not a direct descendant of the Qian family, you can clear your names by offering up the heads of the people from the Qian family. Otherwise, only death awaits you.”
She was amidst danger, but not only did she not beg out of fear, but she even threatened everyone present viciously.
Everyone was thrown into a state of disarray. There were not a lot of direct descendants of the Qian family. Even they did not have the determination to die for the Qian family. They had just been tied to the Qian family, which dragged them down, let alone others.
She could understand what Li Qingshan felt; this feeling was utterly fantastic.
The pressure reached the limit. The air was reeking with the smell of blood. In the scorching summer night, under the illumination of firelight, droplets of sweat rolled down the foreheads of many people. Everyone was wary of the people around them as they tried their best to distinguish who was a direct descendant and who might try to clear their names between the firelight and darkness.
Within a century-old clan, the connections between the people were as dense and complicated as a spider’s web, with countless grievances and resentments woven into it all.
Within the darkness, no one knew where the first blade fell and where the first shriek rose up. It seemed to set off a chain reaction. The first splash of blood was like a tiny spark falling on a swathe of dried grassy plains. It rapidly evolved into a raging wildfire.
Someone called out, “Kill these traitors!” “Encircle the Qian family!” Others called out, “For revenge!” There were even more shrieks and wails.
Pairs of eyes that had been dyed red by blood were unable to recognise whether the people beside them were family or foe. They swung their blades at everyone who approached them.
Many talismans turned into lightning and fire, erupting within the crowd.
The sounds of spears stabbing into flesh and blades cutting through bone wove together into a requiem. The estate of the Qian family devolved into a purgatory of asura.
Qian Rongzhi laughed crazily at the centre of the massacre. Great joy flooded her heart and head. All of her memories burned brightly. She had forgotten about the hidden threat from Qian Yannian. She had even forgotten about the boundary of life and death. She felt like this was heaven and that she was in paradise right now. Even if she died here immediately, none of it would matter anymore.
There were people who wanted to kill this traitor of the Qian family out of anger, as well as people who charged towards her after being carried away by the bloodbath.
However, out of everyone present, just who could kill a second layer Qi Practitioner? They all died to the Water-splitting bard, reduced to corpses, forming a ring around her. Gradually, no one dared to approach her. The tiny ring formed by corpses became the only land of peace within this purgatory of massacre.
Not a single person of Ancient Wind city would be able to forget about this night. They all raised their heads and watched this from within the city. They watched as the prosperous clan that had dominated Ancient Wind city for a century collapsed in the flames of disaster. They showed mixed emotions of fear, surprise, and joy.
Most of the Qi Practitioners who had fled from the hall had not left. They watched on in the darkness as well. They saw the horrific sights within the firelight and were all taken aback. None of them had thought that this would happen.
Originally, they thought Li Qingshan’s declaration was just a joke where he bit off more than he could chew, something that would lead to his death. Qian Yannian would kill these three Hawkwolf guards swiftly before fleeing with the core members of the clan.
However, the matter had developed beyond their expectations. The Qian family was being destroyed! Qian Yannian remained in the main hall. He did not come out to end all of this. Someone had actually managed to stop him.
This was impossible! Even if they worked together, just a single arm from Qian Yannian was more than enough to kill a third layer Qi Practitioner and two second layer Qi Practitioners, unless there were other people from the Hawkwolf Guard hidden away, or had that Zhuo Zhibo already arrived in Ancient Wind city silently?
This was the most logical conclusion. It also explained why Li Qingshan was so arrogant. All of the Qi Practitioners felt fortunate that they did not remain on the mountain. In their eyes, the Hawkwolf Guard was not a system that could be reasoned with. It was even less likely for any of them to go assist the Qian family.
Once fire ran out of fuel, it would be the time for it to be extinguished. The flames of disaster used people as fuel. When most of the people were dead, it gradually subsided as well.
In an extremely short amount of time, over a thousand people were dead or injured. Blood flowed down the steps as corpses lay strewn.
On the top of a tree that no one noticed, the blood-red flames in Xiao An’s eyes flickered as he watched all of these horrific sights unfold from beginning to end. He did not show surprise or fear like ordinary people. Instead, he was in thought as if he had comprehended something.
Tonight, Li Qingshan had made up his mind about striking, so he did not bring Xiao An with him, which was why he was not trapped in the jar and could move about freely. He could not help but worry for Li Qingshan. No matter how powerful Li Qingshan was, Xiao An still arrived outside the main hall using the darkness of the night, but he ended up seeing this, and he was unable to shift his gaze anymore. Li Qingshan’s aura was extremely strong. He did not need his worry.
An eminent monk of buddhism created the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty. The essence behind it originated from buddhism. As a result, he read and studied many buddhist scriptures to comprehend the true meaning behind it.
However, the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty completely overturned the scriptures, reversing the essential ideas. Even for him, a person that the black ox had deemed to be very talented, would frequently be confused.
In Li Qingshan’s eyes, he just had to devour flesh and blood with great ease, and his cultivation would advance rapidly. He did not even need to eat pills. However, only he understood the difficulties behind it all. Whenever he hid within the dark jar, he never felt bored at all. He had not even considered boredom before. He constantly thought about the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty; he was like an ascetic monk in seclusion.
Now that he had witnessed this, he comprehended something.
Suddenly, a figure flew out from the main hall, landing on the terrace heavily. He wore a tattered Black Wolf uniform and seemed to be in a rather horrible shape. He was Li Qingshan.
