The little fatty nodded solemnly while his fist were clenched tightly.
Hearing that, Wang Youyu was shocked. He tried hard to stop them. “What? Do you want to go back to Snow Province? No, don’t do that.”
“Why?” Ding Hao asked.
Wang Youyu answered with concern, “Dear son, I can understand how you feel, but you can’t act on impulse. You will be caught if you go back now. Now almost the entire Snow Province is hunting the remaining Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples. The major sects are wantonly carving up the former land and resources of the sect. Although you two are young geniuses, you are alone and without support. I’m afraid you will lose your lives fighting against the senior masters of the Tranquility Academy or the Falling Star Sect.”
Ding Hao shook his head and said, “Uncle Wang, please rest assured. I am not a reckless person; I will make plans.”
At the moment, he was capable enough to crush the entire Demon Clan and the Human Clan in Snow Province. Even in the entire Northern Region, he could be regarded as one of the top-tier experts. So, why should he be afraid of the senior masters?
“Don’t be offended, Ding. To be honest, I do hope that you can go back and help me find Da Jun, but I can’t go against my conscience. Da Jun has written me many letters telling me that you have taken good care of him in the sect…” Wang Youyu was very grateful and contended. “You are still young and talented. You should hide your identities and work hard on your cultivation. You can seek revenge when you are strong enough. That is the most sensible thing to do.”
Ding Hao just shook his head and did not explain anything.
Wang Youyu tried his best to persuade them. Seeing that he could not stop them, he gritted his teeth and said, “In that case, I will go back with you. Over the years, I have met a lot of people and gained some resources. I have a better knowledge of what happened. Maybe I can be of help to you.”
Wang Daying, who was more than four years old, said innocently, “Daddy, I also want to go. I want to go with Daddy to save my brother!”
Ding Hao picked up the stocky boy and said, “Great, brave boy. We’ll fight back together. If anyone dares to bully your brother, we’ll turn him into ashes.”
“Okay, I can do that,” Wang Daying said in an innocent tone.
Wang Youyu’s original plan was to let his youngest son and wife stay in Ice Province, while he went back with Ding Hao and the others. When he heard the conversation, he hesitated for a minute. Then he changed his mind. Life might not be easy for his son and wife if he left them. He then gritted his teeth and nodded. “Okay, let’s go back together. Even if we die, we will be together, instead of being stranded and alone in a foreign land.”
Ding Hao nodded.
He didn’t explain much.
If the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect was indeed destroyed, he would turn the whole Snow Province upside down in a killing spree when he returned.
As they were speaking, they arrived at the space transmission formation in the center of Star City at the fastest speed.
Snow Province.
On the banks of the Mirror Lake.
After the massive invasion of the Demon Race and the looting of the Swordsmanship-seeking Villa, this Martial Arts Holy Land of the Human Clan in Snow Province had been rebuilt, regaining its former prosperity.
Only the spot where the Swordsmanship-seeking Villa had been located was still in ruins. Gravel was scorched, walls were broken, and plants had withered. Among the debris, wild beasts wandered and birds screeched.
Of late, the Inspector of the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost, who had been traveling, was nowhere to be found. Only a few Mysterious Frost Holy Guards were stationed. The Tranquility Academy had gained a much greater power. It almost controlled the entire Mirror Lake and the surrounding area. The news that the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect had been destroyed was spread out. The oppression of the Tranquility Academy was something that no one dared to contend.
In those recent days, the disciples of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect were seen as notorious; they were being hunted by everyone.
In more than a month, hundreds of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples had been caught around the Mirror Lake.
That was the place where the only long-distance transmission formation in the whole Snow Province was located; the disciples of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect who were forced to flee from the turmoil could only go there. They mixed in the crowd, hoping to leave through the Transmission Formation.
The Tranquility Academy had made preparations well in advance. They had set up an ambush there, catching almost all of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples who had been lucky enough to survive the invasion of the villa and escape from the Sect.
It was high noon.
It was an unusually pleasant day. No snow was falling and it was cloudless for thousands of miles. The wind was gentle and the sun was bright.
Large crowds gathered around the Mirror Lake War God Square.
“I heard that they will execute the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect’s disciples today. Is that true?”
“It’s truly a sin. The Tranquility Academy is merciless, trying to wipe the sect out. Those are just ordinary disciples who just narrowly escaped. We are all humans. Why are they so cruel?”
“The world has changed. The Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost is not as prestigious as it used to be. The prospect is not optimistic for the Human Clan now that the sects are fighting against each other.”
“It’s only been a little more than a month, and the Snow Province is in such a mess. Sects, big or small, are fighting against each other, and the Demon Clan is killing humans wantonly. If it goes on like this, chaos will be inevitable!”
“Shh, keep your voice down. Don’t let the Tranquility Academy hear you, or you’ll be in serious trouble!”
“Have you heard that at least 100 disciples of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect will be killed today?”
“Yeah, it is said that there are several experts above the Primordial Realm!”
The crowd gathered around and discussed amongst themselves.
Suddenly, drum rolls came from afar. Soon, a large troop of armored warriors came out in groups. Their armor was heavily fortified, and cold lights gleamed on their blades and spears. They separated the crowd as they galloped toward the War God Square. Each of the armored warriors was dragging a chain in their hands. The chain was stained with blood. Five to six men were tied up behind them, all dressed in prisoner’s clothes. They were disheveled and their bodies were covered in blood…
“Haha, hurry, dead meat!”
“Where is the glory of your old days? The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect has fallen, and you still think you can escape? Today, I’ll send you to hell to meet your Head!”
“Don’t play dead. Go!”
Those half-dead people were all captured disciples of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. They seemed to have gone through torture. Their Qi was sealed, and there were scars all over their bodies. They were extremely weak. Some of them had lost their senses and were being dragged on the ground by the iron chain. They were helped to stand up by others next to them…
There were armored warriors behind them. They were riding on horses, waving iron whips, whipping them forward.
The soft whips with barbs struck their bodies, leaving traces of bloody wounds on the skin.
When the onlookers saw this, they all shook their heads and sighed.
“These Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples are tough. They don’t even say a word!”
“They are all decent men of the Human Clan. What a pity…”
“I heard that Lu Xiongfei, the top expert of the Tranquility Academy, will come to supervise the execution in person!”
Under the gazes of all the people, more than a hundred wounded disciples of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect were being dragged to the War God Square like animals. The warriors in armor surrounded them from all directions. The center of the square was ablaze with fire, and a few big oil pots were set up. Smoke permeated the air. Six glinting machetes were placed on the other side. A well-equipped executioner stood half-naked, with a ghost-head knife in his arms and a grim on his face.
A temporary guillotine was set up under the statue of the War God.
Loud drumbeats rang out.
Five or six masters in brocade robes with strong Qi appeared near the guillotine. One whose head looked like a lion’s. He was tall, strong and gray-haired. He was the former top master in Snow Province, Lu Xiongfei. Following him were the leaders of the big and small sects that recently rallied to the Tranquility Academy.
Under the guillotine, a master shouted, his voice loud as thunder, “Silence! Time’s up.”
All of a sudden, the whole square quieted down.
More than a hundred blood-stained Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples were driven together in handcuffs and fetters.
After more than a month of torture, most of them were already extremely weak, but they still helped each other to stand upright. The majority was young, some in their teens. There were both men and women, all of them had been tortured. They stood in the cold wind while dressed in ragged prison clothes.
There was the sound of oil boiling in the pots.
The executioner was adjusting the machete and honing the blade, making terrifying clangs.
Lu Xiongfei stood up, his eyes as sharp as a knife; he looked at the disciples of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect who had been escorted to the guillotine. He sneered and said loudly, “God has mercy. If anyone is willing to announce loudly to all that he will quit the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect and no longer be a disciple, I will show mercy and spare his life!”
On the opposite side.
No one spoke.
Lu Xiongfei pointed to a white line marked on the square and said, “Well, let’s start. Within half an hour, if anyone wants to live, stand on the right side of the white line.”
For a moment, all eyes were cast on those powerless disciples in the square.
Even a fool could understand that the Tranquility Academy’s intention was to shatter their beliefs and their loyalty toward the sect. Just one disciple standing on the other side of the white line would mean a crisis of faith; the other disciples would collapse from the inside.
However, knowing this, when they asked themselves what they would choose if they were in those disciples’ shoes, many would probably decide to stand on that side of the line.
After all, with a step forward, there would be a chance to survive.
It was better to live than to die.
Time passed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, 30 minutes had gone by.
On the square, the 118 disciples of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect were all quietly standing still. No one moved, not even a single.
Although they looked exhausted and were too weak to hold their swords, they didn’t surrender to the tempting choice.
“Well, you are all elite martial artists, who have managed to come all the way here after the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect was destroyed. Your sect is gone, so why bother persisting?” Lu Xiongfei said in a seemingly kind tone, “I promise you that as long as you leave your sect, you can get the opportunity to enter the Tranquility Academy, immediately becoming core disciples and getting the best cultivation resources. You must think twice!”
This was a naked temptation.
