Chapter 336 - 324: Annihilation

Chapter 336: Chapter 324: Annihilation

Terror seized Brother Tian. He cast all other thoughts aside as his Longsword erupted in a blinding green light. He retreated in a flurry, narrowly avoiding the fatal combined attack and cutting a sorry figure.

"Chen Jieyuan, stop!"

In the nick of time, Zhao Yuanhong’s thunderous roar boomed like a clap of thunder.

Seizing the opening, he cast all hesitation aside. In a flash, he leaped into the center of the fray, temporarily separating the two sides.

Hearing his voice, Chen Shouheng and Zhou Shuwei immediately halted their attack.

They exchanged a glance, instantly retracting their auras and standing shoulder to shoulder.

They knew perfectly well that if they actually killed He Zhanglin and the young man here in the Governor’s Mansion, under everyone’s watchful eyes, the trouble that followed would be immense.

Zhao Yuanhong stepping in to stop them was the perfect excuse to stand down.

Seeing them stop, Zhao Yuanhong felt his heart settle, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He turned, his gaze complex as he looked at He Zhanglin. "Miss He, I know you are in pain from losing a loved one and that you care for the Sun Family. But the Court has its laws. The autumn tax is the Court’s highest priority, a matter concerning the very foundation of the nation.

"The Commandery Magistrate’s Office is acting impartially by seizing their assets in accordance with the law. I hope you will consider the bigger picture, Miss He, and stop causing trouble. Otherwise, you will not blame me for enforcing the law."

Just then, Brother Tian steadied himself and hurried to He Zhanglin’s side. He reached out to support her swaying body, his lips moving slightly as he condensed his qi into a thread to send a Secret Transmission.

He Zhanglin’s chest heaved violently, her white clothes stained with blood. She stared daggers at Chen Shouheng and Zhou Shuwei in the distance, the venom in her gaze so potent it was almost tangible.

She ground her teeth, but what little rationality she had left told her that continuing this fight would only lead to her death.

"Brother, let’s go!"

Finally, she forced up a breath of Inner Qi. Her figure became a streak of white light, shooting toward the exit of the mansion. After a few leaps, she vanished behind the layers of rooftops.

Brother Tian gave a bitter smile. Without another word, he vanished in a flash, following closely behind He Zhanglin.

In the blink of an eye, the backyard that had been overflowing with killing intent just moments before was now left with nothing but devastation and a heavy silence.

Zhao Yuanhong stared in the direction they had vanished for a moment before turning around.

"I have been blind. I had no idea Chen Jieyuan had already broken through to the Divine Hall and achieved the rank of Grandmaster. Truly, heroes are born young! Congratulations, congratulations. At your age and with your Cultivation, achieving the rank of First-Class Scholar in next year’s spring examination will be as easy as taking something from your own pocket. Allow me to congratulate you in advance."

Facing Chen Shouheng and Zhou Shuwei again, the expression on his face had undergone a subtle change. He solemnly clasped his hands in a salute toward Chen Shouheng.

He then turned to Zhou Shuwei, equally polite. "And Madam Chen is a heroine who is every bit a man’s equal. You and the Jieyuan are a perfect match, truly made in heaven. When you two were wed last year, I was swamped with official duties and unable to attend to offer my congratulations. It was exceedingly rude of me. I hope you will both be magnanimous and forgive my transgression."

With these words, he had adopted an extremely humble posture.

He was well aware that the Chen Family of today was no longer what it once was. It was not an entity that the Liyang commandery alone could trifle with.

Chen Shouheng returned the salute humbly. "Lord Governor, you speak too highly. This junior’s Cultivation is meager; it was a stroke of luck that I broke through. I am unworthy of such praise. Our wedding was a small affair, and we wouldn’t dare trouble you to think on it."

"Chen Jieyuan, you are too modest."

Zhao Yuanhong waved his hands repeatedly, then changed the subject and lowered his voice. "As for the Sun Family’s assets, Chen Jieyuan can rest assured. The Commandery Magistrate’s Office will expedite the procedures. We will appraise all the Textile Workshops, farmlands, and shops under the Sun Family’s name and put them up for public auction.

"When the time comes, I will send someone to inform you immediately. As for the bidders, the Commandery Magistrate’s Office will strictly vet their qualifications and control the process as much as possible. Of course, Court law dictates that a public auction must have at least three participating parties to be considered fair. I hope Chen Jieyuan can understand this point."

His words made it clear that he would do his best to facilitate the Chen Family’s takeover of the Sun Family’s assets.

Chen Shouheng understood the unspoken meaning. He clasped his hands and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Lord Governor. I am endlessly grateful."

The two sides exchanged a few more pleasantries before Chen Shouheng, Zhou Shuwei, and Jiang Nanyue made their excuses, saying they wouldn’t impose any longer, and took their leave.

Zhao Yuanhong personally escorted the three to the second gate, his attitude solicitous.

’A Divine Hall Grandmaster in his early twenties... The Lingxi Chen Family has become a real force, right under our noses.’

As he watched the Shouheng couple disappear, the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a complex, unreadable expression.

’If there’s no one to keep them in check, from now on, Liyang will belong to the Chen Family. How can my position as Governor remain secure?’

...

「West Liyang City.」

He Zhanglin and Brother Tian returned to their small courtyard.

He Zhanglin’s face was grim. Her chest heaved, and the shoulder blade Chen Shouheng had injured throbbed with a dull ache. But what she found even harder to bear was the bone-deep humiliation and overwhelming hatred.

The Sun Family’s assets were seized, and her plan was in ruins.

She had tried to kill her enemy, only to be grievously wounded in public and forced to flee in disgrace.

Her meticulously planned revenge had suffered one setback after another before it had even truly begun. How could she possibly accept this!

"COUGH, COUGH..."

Brother Tian regulated his breathing for a moment. His complexion eased slightly, but his brow was tightly furrowed. "Sister," he warned, "we’ve exposed ourselves in Liyang today, and we’ve completely torn away all pretense with the Chen Family. This is no longer a place we can stay. Any delay could bring disaster. We must leave immediately!"

He Zhanglin took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her churning qi, blood, and murderous intent.

Though her resentment was hard to quell, she knew Brother Tian was right.

Staying here was tantamount to waiting for death.

She hesitated no longer. She hastily gathered some essential personal belongings and valuables, tossed a few scattered silver coins to her maidservant and sent her off to find her own way, then joined Brother Tian. Each on their own horse, they spurred them out of Liyang City.

After galloping west along the main road for over ten li, with no one else in sight, He Zhanglin abruptly yanked her reins. Her steed reared up with a sharp neigh, coming to a halt in the middle of the road.

The rage, frustration, and unwillingness in her chest surged like magma, no longer suppressible.

"SHWIIING!"

With a backhand motion, she drew the Soft Sword from her waist. The blade flared with an eerie blue light as she viciously slashed toward a patch of withered grass by the roadside.

An incomparably sharp beam of blue Sword Qi shot from her blade like a waterfall of ice falling from the highest heavens, slamming viciously into the ground.

BOOM!

Dust and grass clippings flew into the air. A terrifying gash over a hundred feet long and more than a foot deep was violently gouged into the hard earth.

That single strike had nearly exhausted her remaining Inner Qi, but it also eased the stifling pressure in her heart just a little.

She remained on her horse, panting heavily, her eyes locked on the gash she had just carved, as if it were the loathsome faces of Chen Shouheng, Zhou Shuwei, and even Zhao Yuanhong.

He Zhanglin ground her teeth. "You scoundrels, just you wait! For today’s humiliation and my family’s vengeance, I will repay you a hundred times over! I’ll slice you into a thousand pieces, grind your bones to dust, and make sure you die without a burial!"

Brother Tian reined in his horse nearby, silently watching his junior sister vent, making no move to stop her.

Only when He Zhanglin’s breathing steadied did he sigh and advise, "Sister, our priority now is to return to the Si Zhong as quickly as possible and report the situation to Master in detail. With his methods and the Si Zhong’s power, he will certainly find a way to get justice for you."

The crazed look in He Zhanglin’s eyes receded slightly, and a sliver of clarity returned.

She knew very well that with her current strength, getting revenge would be harder than ascending to the heavens.

She took a deep breath of the cold night air, forcibly pushed her churning killing intent back down, and nodded. "You’re right, Brother. Let’s go—"

However, just as the word "go" left her lips and she was about to resume their journey.

Disaster struck!

Without any warning, an indescribably piercing presence appeared out of thin air, instantly locking onto the two of them and the mounts beneath them.

The two steeds were the first to sense the fatal danger. They let out terrified neighs, reared up, and struggled wildly, nearly throwing their riders off.

The terror of this presence far surpassed that of any opponent they had ever faced.

It was cold, deathly still, and carried an indifference and absolute control, like a giant looking down upon ants.

He Zhanglin and Brother Tian felt as if the blood in their veins had frozen solid. Every hair on their bodies stood on end, and their hearts nearly stopped beating.

What was happening?!

The color drained from their faces. Almost instinctively, they whipped their heads around to look in the direction the terrifying presence was coming from.

There, in the middle of the main road, a figure had appeared, silent and unnoticed.

It was as if the man had been standing there all along, yet also as if he had just stepped out of the void.

He wore the most ordinary of gray cloth robes. His figure was slightly portly, and his face was utterly unremarkable.

Yet, it was this seemingly ordinary person, standing there quietly without a single movement, not even glancing their way, who terrified the two Divine Hall Grandmasters out of their wits.

"Who are you?"

He Zhanglin fought to suppress the trembling of her Divine Soul as she subconsciously raised her sword, its tip pointing straight at the gray-robed man.

There was no reply.

The gray-robed man didn’t even bother to look up at them.

The answer to He Zhanglin’s sharp cry was a golden light that slowly began to rise from the top of the gray-robed man’s head!

The golden light solidified into a small figure about a foot tall, with clear facial features identical to the gray-robed man.

It had a solemn, majestic appearance. As its eyes opened and closed, it seemed as if the sun, moon, and stars were being born and destroyed within them.

Primordial Spirit Emergence!

A Grandmaster!

This desperate thought exploded in the minds of both He Zhanglin and Brother Tian.

They wanted to struggle, to flee, but under the vast, abyss-like pressure of the Primordial Spirit, they couldn’t even move a single finger.

The Primordial Spirit hovered in the air. Its indifferent gaze swept over the two of them before it slowly raised a finger. It pointed at He Zhanglin and, seemingly at random, tapped gently from across the distance.

There was no earth-shattering sound, no dazzling brilliance. An intangible, formless Finger Force crossed the distance in an instant and entered the sea of consciousness between He Zhanglin’s brows.

The terror, venom, and unwillingness on He Zhanglin’s face instantly froze.

The light in her eyes, once bloodshot and filled with hatred, was extinguished like a candle flame in a gale. The vitality visibly drained away, leaving behind only empty, dead ash.

Her delicate body went limp and tumbled from horseback. With a THUD, she fell into the cold dust of the main road, without a single trace of life left.

"Senior! Wait! Please show mercy! I am—"

Brother Tian was scared out of his wits. Seeing He Zhanglin killed in an instant, he let out a desperate scream of terror, trying to beg for his life.

However, the golden Primordial Spirit did not pause for even a moment.

After killing He Zhanglin with a tap, the finger of destruction nonchalantly turned toward him.

It was another equally casual tap.

Brother Tian’s pleas cut off abruptly. He saw the finger pointing at him, which was more than He Zhanglin had seen, but that was all.

The next moment, his consciousness was completely swallowed by an endless darkness.

"THUD!"

Another dull thud.

Brother Tian, his face frozen in an expression of utter horror, also fell heavily from his horse, landing beside He Zhanglin, breathless.

The two masterless steeds, as if only now freed from the suffocatingly terrifying presence, let out panicked neighs. They reared up, broke their reins, and bolted, disappearing into the deepening twilight of the wilderness.

On the main road, all that remained were two still-warm corpses and the hundred-foot-long gash in the earth, which still emanated faint wisps of cold air.

Even in death, neither He Zhanglin nor Brother Tian knew who had taken their lives.