Chapter 177: Your Act Is Over, Mine Begins

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Your Act Is Over, Mine Begins

There were over ninety people on Hu Jishan’s side, and the three of them—all Sect Leaders—were undoubtedly the ones with the highest cultivation.

But the Red Blood Mansion had laid an ambush with several times their numbers, and none of the ambushers had low cultivation.

Before the three of them could even fight their way into the fray, more than half of their ninety-plus people had already fallen.

Shui Zebo’s grievously injured son, who was already being carried, was now tossed aside, his fate unknown.

When Shui Zebo saw this, his eyes went bloodshot. He drew his sword, charged into the battle, and began to attack with the frenzy of a man with nothing to lose.

But before he could kill more than a few men, two Divine Separation Realm cultivators closed in on him.

It wasn’t just Shui Zebo; Yu Haiyuan and Hu Jishan were also confronted by two Divine Separation Realm experts who were just as strong as they were.

In other words, the three Sects were completely suppressed at the valley entrance.

And the situation was even worse than that. Not far from the battlefield, more than a hundred other people were watching leisurely, showing no intention of joining in.

Hu Jishan and the others couldn’t help but recall what Chu Fan had said as they were leaving the grand hall.

"With all the commotion surrounding the Tengxing Grand Assembly, the Red Blood Mansion can’t possibly be unprepared. I hope you can all return to your Sects safely."

In other words, Chu Fan had long predicted that the Red Blood Mansion would lay a deadly trap for them along the main path through Taiyue Mountain.

’So, Chu Fan let them—the three Sects that opposed the unification of the Eastern Domain—leave Taiyue Mountain just to send them to their deaths?’

"Stop! Stop at once! We’ve all fallen for Chu Fan’s scheme!" Hu Jishan shouted as he fought and retreated.

"Hu Jishan, do you even believe what you’re saying? The Chu Fan you speak of died on Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain three years ago," an elderly Divine Separation Realm expert from the Red Blood Mansion sneered.

"I’m not lying! This is all a trap set by that villain Chu Fan! He even boasted that he would destroy the Red Blood Mansion within half a month," Hu Jishan explained frantically.

"Yes, that’s right! I can vouch for him," Yu Haiyuan added.

"Hahaha! Do you take us for fools? Chu Fan? What could a snot-nosed kid like him possibly accomplish?"

"Yu Haiyuan, the Red Blood Mansion and your Wuji Sect are already mortal enemies. You can save your breath trying to deceive us. Today, you die!"

"Goddammit, are you all fucking idiots?" Yu Haiyuan cursed, unable to contain his rage.

These old geezers from the Red Blood Mansion were incorrigibly stubborn; it was impossible to reason with any of them.

Desperation. This was without a doubt the most critical moment of their lives. Trapped and surrounded with no hope of aid, their only chance of survival was to break out.

But could they really break out?

Hatred!

They hated the Red Blood Mansion, they hated the other Sects even more, but the one they hated most of all was Chu Fan.

They also hated themselves. Why had they let Chu Fan, with just a few words, pressure them into leading their men away from the Cyan Cloud Sect the moment he appeared?

But they forgot that if it weren’t for their own selfishness, if it weren’t for the fact they looked down on Chu Fan as a mere upstart junior, they would never have acted so rashly.

But it was all useless now.

"Stop fighting! The Celestial Sect is willing to surrender to the Red Blood Mansion!" In the end, Hu Jishan still feared death.

"Surrender? Haven’t you people from the Six Sects and Eight Gates gone back on your word countless times? We can’t trust you. Once we’ve killed you, everything the Celestial Sect owns will belong to the Red Blood Mansion anyway."

Hu Jishan’s declaration—"The Celestial Sect is willing to surrender to the Red Blood Mansion"—was heard with perfect clarity by those who had followed Chu Fan to a nearby mountaintop to watch the show.

Watching this scene unfold, Chu Fan couldn’t help but find it laughable.

’Some people are just base. They’re like donkeys—refusing to be led, yet backing away when beaten.’ ℯ

’At the same time, Yan Qi must have had a screw loose sending these old fools to lay this trap. If I were in his shoes and Hu Jishan offered to surrender, I’d give him what looked like a way out, regardless of his true intentions.’

’Then, I’d deal with him slowly over time.’

’After all, even a cornered rabbit will bite.’

’Besides, the ones being cornered here were several Divine Separation Realm experts. Knowing that their only sliver of hope for survival lay in breaking out, they would certainly unleash their full potential in the fight.’

’That old fool has lived for so long, and yet he doesn’t even understand such a simple principle?’

Sure enough, after hearing the old expert’s words, the last glimmer of hope for Hu Jishan and his men was shattered. It was replaced by the desperate backlash of those who had hit rock bottom.

They began to fight with reckless abandon.

People often unleash incredible potential when pushed into a desperate corner.

And so it was for Hu Jishan and his men.

Each of them was facing two other Divine Separation Realm experts of comparable strength. The outcome should have been a foregone conclusion.

However, once Hu Jishan and his men unleashed their potential, they managed to grievously wound two of their opponents.

Of course, the three of them paid a heavy price for it as well.

The battle in the valley raged, so chaotic it seemed to blot out the sun. Boulders and splintered trees flew everywhere.

The battle had reached a point where Divine Separation experts were fighting without any fear of death, a state that defied all logic.

Since they fought with no regard for their lives, they held nothing back, paying no mind to whether their overflowing True Qi Sword Gang would harm their own disciples below. The scene was one of utter devastation.

In the desperate counterattack that followed their charge, Hu Jishan managed to kill one of the two Divine Separation experts he was facing, forcing the other to flee with grievous injuries. However, Hu Jishan himself was also significantly wounded in the exchange.

Before Hu Jishan could give chase, another Divine Separation expert moved in to fill the gap.

By this point in the battle, the disciples of the Celestial Sect and their allies had been almost completely annihilated. Only a handful of Elders and Minor Sect Leaders were left, still fighting desperately.

The Red Blood Mansion, for their part, had not anticipated the kind of potential their foes could unleash when pushed to the brink.

What should have been an easy victory had turned into a costly battle for the Red Blood Mansion.

They had deployed over three hundred men, yet their casualties were just as high as their opponents’.

As the battle wore on, worn down by waves of fresh opponents, Hu Jishan, Shui Zebo, and Yu Haiyuan were all slain.

However, they took many of the enemy down with them before they died.

Between the three of them, they had managed to kill four of the Red Blood Mansion’s Divine Separation experts and grievously wound five more.

Among the Sect Leaders and Elders standing behind Chu Fan, several who witnessed the tragic heroism of Hu Jishan’s group wanted to rush down and help, but each time, Chu Fan ruthlessly stopped them.

"Let’s not even talk about whether you could actually save them. Even if you did, would they be grateful? If not for their extreme selfishness, why would they have led their people away from the Cyan Cloud Sect in the first place?"

As the battle below concluded, Chu Fan gave a slight wave of his hand. Che Dagui lit a flare, and a brilliant firework soared into the sky.

The Sect Leaders behind Chu Fan were baffled.

Down in the valley, the Red Blood Mansion members, who were in the middle of recuperating, looked up at the ascending firework and sprang to their feet in alarm.

But before they could fully process what was happening, earth-shattering battle cries rose from all sides, seeming to pierce the very clouds.

Then, the Sect Leaders behind Chu Fan watched in shock as thousands of figures swarmed down from the surrounding peaks, trapping the few hundred surviving Red Blood Mansion members in the valley below.

The way many of the people standing near Chu Fan looked at him changed.

Chu Fan’s expression remained placid, showing neither joy nor sorrow.

Yet, a storm of shock and terror was raging in the hearts of many.

It was obvious that Chu Fan had long anticipated that the Red Blood Mansion would lay a trap here to annihilate the various sect members leaving after the Tengxing Grand Assembly.

And Chu Fan, in turn, had long since laid a counter-trap to annihilate the Red Blood Mansion’s forces.

Yet, even so, he had still used the Red Blood Mansion to eliminate the sects unwilling to support his plan, while simultaneously using those same sects to whittle down the Red Blood Mansion’s forces.

His scheming was truly unfathomable.

’But how did he know that the Red Blood Mansion would definitely lay a trap here, allowing him to prepare his own in advance?’