Blazing fire, thick smoke, and heads soaring high into the sky.
Blood gushed from the broken necks, and under the flickering firelight, it shimmered with a strange, bewitching black.
Lu Xiao’s scalp tingled fiercely.
A surge of rage burst up from his heart, roaring angrily all the way to the crown of his head.
Last night, when Xiong Dingtian had smashed his long hair with a single punch, only about a foot of hair remained, standing almost strand by strand on end, nearly lifting his official black cap right off his head.
The headless corpses of six prison guards hit the ground heavily, their armor clanking with a dull sound on the stone floor.
Lu Xiao’s eyes suddenly reddened.
He felt nothing at all when fighting those ghostly women, even after over a hundred retainers and guards had died or been injured.
When a massive fire broke out in Siji Ward, and so many hostages and escorts died, he felt nothing.
In the alley, over twenty assassins took forbidden drugs, fighting desperately and dragging two to three hundred Imperial Guards and Palace Monitors down to the Yellow Springs with them—and still, Lu Xiao felt nothing.
What did the deaths and injuries of all those people have to do with him?
They were strangers.
Lu Xiao was no “saintly mother.” He would never waste his time lamenting the deaths of people unrelated to him.
But just now, six of his own prison guards had been killed.
They were Lu Xiao’s men.
They had recently been reassigned from the imperial Yulin Army specifically to guard duty.
By the emperor’s decree, they belonged to Lu Xiao.
Not long ago, everyone had still been having lively dinners together, drinking and eating heartily.
Lu Xiao remembered very clearly that these six guards had even toasted him together!
His own people had been killed!
The wind in the Lantian Garden suddenly turned wild and fierce.
What had been a smooth northwest breeze became chaotic.
Especially in the small patch of land centered around Lu Xiao, the cold wind staggered like a drunken old man, spinning and whirling in disorder.
On several exquisite halls, spirals of fire as thick as water buckets twirled atop the flames.
Such a strange sight!
All the young aristocrats gathered around watching the commotion shouted in unison, “They’re killing people!”
The guards clustered around the aristocrats scrambled back in disarray, not daring to look over their shoulders.
The fire-fighting teams all dropped their buckets, hoses, and tools, shoving their way out frantic to flee.
While running, they shouted, “They’re killing people! Murderers!”
Lu Xiao looked up and clearly saw the figures moving among the chaos.
They were a few slender women dressed head to toe in tight black night clothes, the fabric stretched tight over curves, every line on their bodies revealed.
Judging by their aura, they were very young, full of youthful vitality, and their presence carried a burning life force, vibrant and intense.
Their faces were covered under veils, and each held a strange, curved longsword about five feet long but only a finger’s width wide.
These blades were light, thin, and sharp.
Bathed in the firelight, the swords in the hands of those women seemed almost transparent.
Especially the blades, with a dark hue and a streak of crimson along the sharp edge that shimmered with a bewitching glow—deadly and alluring, enough to tempt the weak-willed to throw themselves forward, offering their necks gently to be kissed by the blade.
“Attack!”
The prison guards assigned to Lu Xiao were the elite of the Yulin Army stationed at Jiuqu Manor.
Upon seeing six comrades suddenly slain, the three centurions immediately reacted with roars of fury.
A squad of twenty guards pulled their blades and simultaneously stepped forward, sword lights like flying ribbons slashing downward at the advancing women.
Behind them, twenty guards raised their spears, lunging forward, the red tassels slicing through the air with sharp ‘swish’ sounds.
A little further off, several crossbowmen set their strings, nocked arrows, and pulled their triggers.
With a dull hum, a dozen short steel bolts shot through the air, aiming straight for the women’s vital spots in chest and abdomen.
In the firelight, the women laughed softly in unison—their laughter like tinkling silver bells—while their strange long blades swirled, crimson sword light transforming into dazzling ribbons of color beneath the fire’s glow.
The guards’ six-foot Yulin Army broadswords shattered cleanly.
Even the famed Yulin “Tiger-head” gilded spears snapped in half together.
The dozen or so steel crossbow bolts flew straight into the crimson sword light, silently shredded into bits, clinking as they hit the ground.
The women’s swordsmanship was unbelievably swift.
Their blades moved faster still.
Amid the guards’ curses and shouts, the women landed lightly, like withered leaves settling on a pile of snow—silent and without a sound.
Just as they touched down, the women rolled their bodies, like agile cats, pouncing rapidly toward the guards in front, whose broadswords had just snapped.
Sword light danced fiercely, the cold piercing to the bone.
Two guards failed to dodge in time.
The dragon scale armor on their chests split open deeply in two places, and fresh blood sprayed out from the wounds.
“Fall back!” Lu Xiao shouted loudly.
The moment his subordinates formed up to launch their attack, he leapt forward to meet the women head-on.
But those little eunuchs…
Lu Xiao didn’t know whether to praise them or scold them.
As he lunged ahead, several little eunuchs suddenly blocked his way, standing before his chest, while others grabbed his arms with multiple hands, desperately pulling him back!
Lu Xiao’s anger nearly made his nose bleed.
Then, it hit him.
These little eunuchs were all inner palace elites trained in the Forbidden Palace.
Their training likely wasn’t about frontline combat like the Yulin Army, but about how to best protect important “nobles”!
When danger arises, some take up arms to hold the rear, while others flee with the noble person at top speed—these little eunuchs were doing exactly what they had been trained to do!
But their quick reaction here nearly got everyone killed!
Lu Xiao barked sharply, scolding the eunuchs fiercely, kicking several of them down with flying legs, and charged forward with all his might.
Though he reacted swiftly, several guards were stabbed in the abdomen by the blades, bleeding heavily as they collapsed hard.
The swords in these women’s hands were astonishingly sharp.
The guards’ dragon scale armor was forged from special alloy, tough enough to withstand volleys of heavy crossbow bolts and withstand prolonged cutting from large mountain-cleaving blades.
Yet these women easily sliced through the armor with gentle swings, inflicting terrible wounds on the guards.
Such craftsmanship!
The guards cried out in pain continuously.
The women giggled lightly, bounding and weaving with their combat skills, their crimson sword lights splashing blood everywhere.
Disarmed weapons and shattered armor fragments tinkled all over the ground.
Lu Xiao shouted, ordering the guards to retreat.
But the women’s sudden appearance had thrown the guards into chaos.
Entangled in the fight, the guards were unable to withdraw despite Lu Xiao’s commands.
Amid the confusion came an odd, echoing “ha ha” laughter.
A white shadow slipped nimbly between rows of guards’ legs, suddenly closing on a woman spinning rapidly like a top, her swirling sword light scattering three guards aside.
Lu Xiao’s pet rabbit cat suddenly leapt, fiercely slashing with its two front paws.
In its thick paw pads, dozens of sharp, silver-white claws about an inch long flashed like metal.
In a flash, the beast tore wildly across the woman’s face dozens of times with savage scratches.
The woman’s black veil was shredded into tatters, revealing her face underneath.
Well… what remained of a face, anyway.
After the rabbit cat’s violent assault, it was like a broken mess of bloodied tofu.
Filled with excitement, the rabbit cat let out wild howls, then gave a powerful kick with its short, chubby hind legs on the woman’s chest, using the force to leap onto another woman’s back nearby.
“Swish, swish, swish!”
More frantic scratching raked the other woman’s nape—not even the slightest warning before the sharp claws tore at her neck, nearly wrenching out her cervical vertebrae.
Both women screamed horribly, dropping their weapons and collapsing, writhing madly on the ground.
“I might as well keep a cat myself!” Lu Xiao gaped, staring at the lightning-quick rabbit cat, claws glinting coldly with murderous intent.
“Damn beast!” The fastest and most adept of the women suddenly lunged at the rabbit cat, spinning her longsword in an arc aimed straight for its neck.
“Master, watch out!” Lu Xiao shouted.
With a fierce howl, the rabbit cat’s right paw slammed hard on the crimson blade.
Sparks flew with a sharp ‘ding’ sound.
The rabbit cat was sent flying backward by the blade’s immense force, claws untouched.
But the woman’s eyes widened in horror—the sharp blade, which effortlessly sliced dragon scale armor like tofu, now had three sesame seed-sized chips along the edge!
“A demonic beast?” Her gaze burned fiercely, staring at the rabbit cat.
A fierce wind blew.
Riding the wind, Lu Xiao surged forward before the woman.
He noticed her intent gaze on the rabbit cat, and grinned bitterly—this beast was his beloved treasure, how could he let an outsider covet it?
Calling upon the power of the Canghai Force Yuan Gang, Lu Xiao’s left hand glowed faint blue as he forcefully struck the woman’s liver area.
Even to an ordinary person, a punch to that spot would knock them unconscious from pain.
Lu Xiao’s strength was greater still, and his Jingtao Hand technique a forceful martial secret.
The blow made an indentation in her slender waist.
With a loud ‘thump’, the delicate woman was blasted tens of meters into the air.
“Ah!”
She spat blood, a ripping sensation inside her.
Her internal organs shattered from Lu Xiao’s strike, and she died instantly before even hitting the ground.
As she soared upward, Lu Xiao quickly snatched her longsword, shaking it and slashing dozens of times at another woman.
The second woman’s sword skills surpassed even Lu Xiao’s speed.
Blades clashed, creating a flurry of bright, continuous strikes.
In moments, the swords had struck over a hundred times, ringing ‘cling clang’ in the firelight.
Lu Xiao’s strength was more than twice hers, and each collision pushed her back a step.
Within heartbeats, the edges of their blades became jagged and serrated.
“Lu Xiao, you’ve invaded my home, killing and setting fires—you’re seeking death!”
From within the firelight, Bai Lang leapt forward with a twisted, pale face.
Still ten yards away from Lu Xiao, Bai Lang suddenly pointed a finger.
With a sharp ‘shhh’, a gust sliced through the air like an arrow, flying over ten yards instantly.
Lu Xiao and his men were shocked all at once.
Force energy unleashed outside the body, killing through the air—Bai Lang was indeed a formidable expert who had broken through to the Scripture-Opening Realm, that pinnacle of the Meridian Opening stage!
(End of Chapter)