Chapter 421: Armageddon for the Wu Clan
“Arrange for them to be in the outer ring and send a contingent of royal experts to protect them!” Wu Tan could only compromise with this solution in the end.
It wouldn’t quite be giving up on them with this expression of intent.
However, he was well aware that this choice actually meant that he was giving up on them.
Indeed, when news of this spread, discontent had spread among those who were outside. This was just fobbing them off!
“This won’t do! This is something that the father and son duo instigated, why are we becoming the scapegoat?”
“Indeed! That newcomer has said that all will be fine as long as we hand over Wu Hong! Wu Hong has always been a troublemaker and now he’s brought about great trouble for the Wu family. Why is it that we do not have the heart to hand over such a trouble maker?”
“Give up Wu Hong!”
“Yes, we request to see His Majesty and we demand that Wu Hong is to be handed over!”
Many people had been unsatisfied when Wu Hong had been made crown prince. The princes who had the right to compete with him were even more filled with noble indignation.
Although their backgrounds weren’t as lofty as Wu Hong’s, but they were all royal sons and born of royal concubines as well. They were all toeing the same battle lines at the moment, and speaking out to condemn Wu Hong.
They felt that Wu Hong had been the one who brought disaster to the Wu clan!
No one would have to die as long as they handed Wu Hong over.
The protests outside became louder and traveled into the bedchambers.
Wu Tan’s face was livid. They were already in such disarray before the enemy at the gates had fought their way in. At this rate, the Wu clan would collapse altogether even before the enemy hacked their way in.
Wu Hong cursed loudly, “These traitorous parasites! Royal father, please allow me to lead the men and kill some of their leaders. Let’s see if they will still dare to kick up a fuss then!”
“Wu Hong, you blasted coward, get the hell out here now!”
“Troublemaker! You’ve pushed the royal family into a fire pit and now you don’t dare own up to what you’ve done?”
“Come out yourself if you’re a man! Offer yourself up for redemption!”
The curses outside grew ever louder.
“We’re all royal children and relatives, why is it that he can hide inside after causing trouble, but we innocent folk have to take the blame for him outside?”
“Your Majesty, you can’t be this biased!”
“Hmph, majesty? Perhaps this matter has something to do with His Majesty! Maybe he’s feeling guilty now himself!”
“I already said long ago that there’d be trouble sooner or later with this father and son in power!”
The situation was spiraling out of control, and the criticism had shifted from Wu Hong to the king now.
Wu Tan flicked an eyebrow and hardened his heart, giving an order to a royal expert captain. “Go, take a group of men and kill the loudest protesters. If they still protest after the first round, then execute the entire bunch of those pilfering traitors!”
The hearts of rulers were rocky or as hard as iron.
Those protesting outside were his sons, his brothers, his relatives, and his women.
But once they’d crossed his bottom line, there was only one ending for them—death.
The sounds outside changed to rounds of howls and screams after the execution order was given.
“Wu Tan, you actually dared to lay hands on your own son! You have crazed and cracked brains, the heavens will surely smite you!”
“Fatuous ruler, I’ll come get you and your son even as a ghost!”
“What’s happening in front of you is karma for the crimes that you and your son have committed!”
Wu Tan grew frenetic as he gave another order, “Kill. Kill them all!”
An insane light also dawned in Wu Hong’s eyes. He waved his fists around, “What are you all standing there for? My royal father has given you an order, so kill them all!”
When the royal experts made their moves, those helpless royal offspring and relatives naturally had no way to resist.
After a while, the sounds of protest gave way to complete and utter silence..
The royal experts walked back in, with their blades still dripping blood. They reported back in with heavy hearts.
A derisive laugh traveled in from the air at this time. “Wu Tan, you actually took it upon yourself to take action and didn’t need me at all. You’ve exterminated your own clan with your own hands. How very well done!”
“Hearken to me, all the followers who are inside. This matter has nothing to do with you. I only want Wu Tan and his son. Leave them immediately if you want to live. I will only give you 15 minutes to make your decision. Those who stubbornly resist after 15 minutes will all be killed!”
This ultimatum were like words from the underworld that hastened death. They hung heavily over the heads of those assembled, making all of their faces ashen and the color of dirt.
They had lost all morale now that things had progressed to this extent now. They had only stayed here out of trained instinct.
Even the four great champions had been decimated in one move. As strong as the royal experts they may be, how could they possibly match up to the four champions?
Wu Tan and his son had discarded even their own kin at critical moments, so what made them, the mere guards they are, indispensable to them?
Wu Tan hastened to say when he saw the situation, “Don’t listen to his evil doctrine. It will be a great accomplishment as long as we can wait until the Purple Sun Sect reinforcements have arrived. This kid surely lacks the ability to just charge in. Otherwise, why would he have wasted so much time in blathering on outside?”
“Right, we must stay united in a time like this. This kid will be like a fish in a barrel once the sect experts arrive. When that happens, only death awaits him!” Wu Hong also spoke up in encouragement.
However, no matter how the father and son duo acted, they couldn’t raise the morale back from the dead at all.
It was obvious that the situation had become awkwardly frozen after the Wu clan had been slaughtered.
Fifteen minutes passed by quickly.
Soon, successive screams of agony came in from outside.
“Your Majesty, Vice Commander Zhang of the palace guards has died in an ambush!”
“Your Majesty, Captain He has gone missing!”
What had happened before now repeated itself. Tragic wails rose and fell as a radius of several thousand meters became a living hell.
News of deaths and experts going missing in action continuously traveled in from those guarding the outside perimeter.
“I’ve already given you an opportunity, and I will give you one last chance. Hand over Wu Tan and his son and you will live. Otherwise, my next wave of attack will leave you all dead without a resting place. Remember, this is the final ultimatum!”
Jiang Chen’s detached voice once again echoed throughout the entire palace, bringing with it an unquestionable dignity.
His words were now an infallible law, no one dared suspect it.
In that moment, Wu Tan and Wu Hong only felt all the eyes around them sparkle immensely with a wicked light.
Wu Tan’s face darkened. “What? A few threats are enough to scare you to such an extent? Do you want to commit the crime of treason?”
“Hmph! My royal father is an elder of the Purple Sun Sect. Even if you do manage to survive this precarious situation by handing us over, will the Purple Sun Sect condone your actions?”
The royal experts were all hesitating. Their desire to live truly triumphed over their notions of loyalty at the moment.
They had also formed strong doubts about Wu Tan’s character when he had ordered them to kill his royal kin.
Suddenly, one of the cultivators called out, “We’re all dead if we don’t hand over this father and son pair. If we hand them over, we can make use of this time to escape the Shangyang Kingdom. I’ve had enough of being their lapdog!”
“Right! This father and son is devoid of loyalty and morals that they could kill even their family! Won’t they take revenge on us afterwards? Everyone, get them!”
“That’s right, we shall all work together to get them and flee after the deed’s done! Even though the Purple Sun Sect’s strength is undeniable, the world is thus vast, where will they go to capture us?”
What one feared most in situations like these was that no one would step forth to sound the call.
Once someone took the lead, it would instantly ignite similar thoughts and enthusiasm from others.
“Come on! Kill both father and son! It’ll be better than being killed by Jiang Chen anyhow!”
“Kill them, kill them, kill them!!! Kill that dog of a father and son!”
The royal experts had all been forced up a wall. Add to that the father and son’s usual overly violent methods in managing their underlings, and their inhumane treatments of them in critical moments, emotions were running high and fully erupted at this time.
Wu Tan was strong, but there were limits to his strength. His scalp grew numb when he was faced with the swarming of hundreds of royal experts.
He grabbed Wu Hong, “Let’s go!”
They shot through the air and made for the outer perimeter.
“The shit king’s getting away! After him!”
“Don’t let them get away!”
It was obviously too much for Wu Tan to abruptly face spirit realm cultivators, but he had confidence in escaping from a place like this.
He broke free from the large numbers of experts attempting to encircle him with a few leaps and bounds, arriving in a small garden. He lifted up a section of the floorboards and revealed a long passageway.
“Hong’er, you go first, I’ll bring up the rear!”
Wu Hong was willing to flee into any path in his panic, and he immediately jumped down into the passageway.
He suddenly screamed in horror and scrambled out, wearing an expression like he’d seen a ghost.
“Rats, rats, so many rats!” Wu Hong’s face was ashen as he stammered.
There were countless numbers of golden colored rats in the passageway, piling out as endlessly as a geyser.
“How goes it, Wu Tan, Wu Hong? How does it feel to be deserted by your followers?”
Jiang Chen’s silhouette came diving down from the sky at this moment. He stood on an eave of the roof with crossed arms, looking down at the bedraggled father and son from his vantage point, his eyes full of mockery.
A violent light pierced out of Wu Tan’s eyes as he rasped out, “Jiang Chen, must you go this far? Have you thought that your actions today are utterly putting you against the Purple Sun Sect? You might exult in your slaughter today, but won’t you worry about the Purple Sun Sect knocking on your doorstep tomorrow?”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “When you and your son slaughtered the Jiang clan and the Hall of Healing, did you ever think that someone would punish you for each of these crimes you committed?”
“Jiang Chen, we were only following orders. The amount of Wu clan members you’ve killed have long since exceeded the numbers of Jiang clan members who’ve died at my hands. Why don’t you go and seek revenge on the Purple Sun Sect if you’ve the guts to!” Wu Hong roared furiously.
“Purple Sun Sect?” Jiang Chen snorted coldly. “I’ll naturally be visiting them eventually, or they might even show up here quite soon. However, the two of you are the chief offenders. Did you think that you would be able to avoid death just by flapping your tongue and lips? Not on your life!”
He pounced with a flash of golden light after he finished speaking.
Bam, bam!
Wu Tan thrust out his two palms and connected solidly with Jiang Chen. An enormous surge of power invaded his spirit ocean, making Wu Tan open his mouth and causing a great mouthful of blood to spew forward.
Jiang Chen had slapped him down with two indifferent blows.
“I have you now. I’m going to personally behead these two in the skies above the Shangyang Kingdom so as to awe and frighten all those who live within this kingdom!”
When he ordinarily took no action, he was calm and kept a low profile, but he would shock all those present and take the limelight as soon as he did take action. He would make it so that all those in the Shangyang Kingdom would have nightmares whenever they thought of him, Jiang Chen.
Only then would people think about the consequences before taking actions against him in the future.
High up in the skies above the capital, Wu Tan and Wu Hong were being dragged about by two Goldwing Swordbirds as if they were dead dogs. They’re were being hung high up in the sky and paraded in all directions.
Countless citizens fixed their attention on the lofty ruler and crown prince of a nation suspended in mid air.
The royal clan of the Shangyang Kingdom had suddenly collapsed, like a skyscraper had come crashing down, and the prestige that they had built in the general populace also instantly tumbled.
“Wu Tan and his son have killed my kin and annihilated my clan. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! Today, I will slaughter only the Wu clan. Those of this kingdom should take heed from their demise!”
Jiang Chen’s voice rang out from all corners in the capital.
A shout roared from thin air at this moment. “Crooked Jiang Chen, how dare you act thus atrociously? Hand over your life!”
“Jiang Chen, you’re a sect disciple, yet have embroiled yourself in the conflicts of the secular world. You must die!”
“Jiang Chen, I will settle with you today the accounts of killing my disciples! Die!”
The voices were each more resonant and domineering than the last. The senior executives of the Purple Sun Sect had descended on the Shangyang Kingdom, accompanied with a vast amount of experts!
