"My master has been buried, and the funeral is over. Relatives and friends, if you wish to stay as guests, please return to the guest rooms. For those going home, I have hired several carriages to give you a ride. But if you’re deliberately staying to cause trouble for my mistress and my two brothers..."
At this, his voice trailed off. He lifted the long saber in his hand, gesturing to the crowd. "Then don’t blame me for being heavy-handed and showing no quarter."
His voice wasn’t loud.
But as he stood there holding a long saber, his face radiating killing intent, he instantly commanded everyone’s attention.
The young man glanced at Li Chang’an, still dismissive, and sneered, "This is a Cao Family matter. Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to speak?"
But just mocking him wasn’t enough.
The young man then strode up to Li Chang’an. He brazenly reached out and patted the saber in Li Chang’an’s hand, saying fearlessly, "You little brat, still wet behind the ears. You think you’re so tough after learning a few moves? Daring to threaten the Cao Family with a saber? You’re obviously just an ungrateful turncoat!"
He had studied the Martial Dao with Cao Shu for a time in his youth.
Although he only ended up a half-baked martial artist, his rudimentary skills were enough to make him arrogant and domineering. Thus, he didn’t give Li Chang’an a second thought.
The Cao Family’s third uncle frowned.
Blades have no eyes. His son getting so close was a bit too risky.
But after a moment’s thought, he didn’t stop him.
After all, he didn’t take Li Chang’an seriously either. It never once crossed his mind that a boy barely over a meter tall would dare to cut someone down with a saber.
And even if, by some wild chance, Li Chang’an did dare to hurt someone, so what?
It would only put Zhang Xiang in an even more disadvantageous position.
Watching this arrogant, foolish son of the Cao Family’s third master actually dare to approach him,
even Li Chang’an couldn’t help but let out an exasperated laugh. After sizing the young man up and down for a few moments, he gave him a thumbs-up. "I have to say, you’ve got guts!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Li Chang’an’s hand rose and fell. The long saber sliced down diagonally from behind the young man’s head, and his skull tumbled to the ground.
Fresh blood sprayed more than a meter into the air.
Li Chang’an took a step back, avoiding the blood still gushing from the corpse, and gave another thumbs-up. "A true hero with guts, just as I thought. Even in death, you spurt an impressive amount of blood. A shame your neck was a bit soft, though. It broke without much effort at all!"
Staring at the blood splattered all over the ground and the head that was still rolling,
everyone, including Zhang Xiang, was completely stunned.
The Cao Family’s third master reacted the fastest. Clutching his chest, he stammered, "Y-y-you... How could you? How could you dare?"
He clutched his chest, gasping for a long moment. His eyes darted around until they landed on a nearby chair. In a surge of fury, he snatched it up and brought it crashing down on Li Chang’an’s head.
"SCHLICK!"
THUMP... RUMBLE...
The long saber was incredibly sharp. It effortlessly split the chair and slit the third master’s throat. A head, its eyes wide with fury, fell to the ground once more and began to roll.
Li Chang’an’s tone was still light and cheerful. He flicked the blood from his saber and said, "Just as I thought. Like father, like son. A hero and his heroic dad. One swing of the blade, and the blood sprays just as far!"
After saying this,
Li Chang’an looked up again. Leisurely dragging his dripping saber, he scanned the assembled relatives and asked with a grin, "Are there any other heroes who’d like to step forward?"
This time, as his gaze swept over them,
all the Cao Family relatives instinctively recoiled. They were so terrified they skipped the screaming and pandemonium, feeling only goosebumps prickle their skin from head to toe.
Seeing that no one else spoke up, Li Chang’an nodded in satisfaction. "So, no more heroes? That’s more like it. Since you’re not going to be heroes, you should go back to where you came from. The Champion Scholar’s Mansion isn’t serving meals today!"
He took a step back, clearing the way to the main gate.
The crowd of relatives didn’t dare say another word. They scurried out the gate with their tails between their legs and immediately bolted, terrified that Li Chang’an would chase after them and give their necks a taste of his blade.
It was too terrifying.
It was truly, utterly terrifying!
Where in the world did Zhang Xiang find such a young grim reaper?
He hadn’t even finished puberty, yet he killed people as easily as slaughtering chickens.
...
Once all the Cao Family relatives had left, Li Chang’an casually tossed aside his saber and asked, "Mistress, are you all right?"
Hearing his voice, Zhang Xiang shuddered involuntarily.
She finally snapped out of her daze.
After taking a couple of deep breaths to force herself to calm down, Zhang Xiang didn’t reply. Instead, she looked at Li Fusan, who was peeking in from outside the gate to see what was happening. "Chief Steward Li, go find a few reliable servants. Take this father and son and bury them somewhere remote. And remember to be clean about it!"
She didn’t answer Li Chang’an directly with words.
But her blunt and decisive actions showed him exactly where she stood on the matter.
After the bodies had been dragged away and taken care of,
Zhang Xiang finally looked at Li Chang’an again. The more she looked, the more she liked what she saw. She nodded with a smile. "I’m fine. You did very well. That father and son were shameless leeches who have been sucking this mansion dry for years. Your master was too sentimental and could never bring himself to be harsh with them, always insisting on protecting them. For them to end up like this... it’s let me vent a lot of pent-up anger!"
The Cao Family’s third master, or rather, most of the Cao Family relatives, had all been plotting to prey on the widowed family.
It was just that no one dared to show it while Cao Shu was still alive.
With that, Zhang Xiang shot a sideways glance at her two disappointing sons and snorted coldly. "Tianlong, Dilong, your father is dead now. He can’t shelter you from the storm anymore. You two need to learn from Chang’an. If you remain as useless as you’ve been, you won’t even know what hit you when you die!"
Hearing their mother’s scolding, Cao Tianlong and Cao Dilong both nodded sheepishly.
They weren’t stupid, just overprotected. They had never weathered any real storms, so when the day came for them to stand on their own two feet, their lack of experience meant they always dropped the ball.
Recalling the vile expressions on their relatives’ faces earlier, a deep sense of crisis welled up inside both brothers.
This was just a crisis from within their own family, just a group of poor relatives trying to prey on a widow and her sons.
And yet, they had been powerless to resist even something this small.
To say nothing of the countless eyes outside, now fixed on the Champion Scholar’s Mansion.
The Martial Champion Scholar was dead, and the Martial Champion’s Mansion was a juicy piece of meat.
Anyone could take a bite.
And they could do nothing but watch helplessly.
Even when their own mother was surrounded by relatives, they had to rely on Li Chang’an’s martial might to intimidate them.
This forced the two brothers, who had been somewhat cynical and carefree, to mature quickly.
Cao Tianlong and Cao Dilong glanced at each other, their minds made up. They rose together and bowed to Li Chang’an. "Brother Chang’an, our father always told us to be patient and learn martial arts. He said only by mastering them could we stand tall and protect everything."
"But we couldn’t endure the hardship back then, and we were too focused on playing. Our father poured his heart and soul into training us, but in the end, we have nothing to show for it..."
"Now that our father is dead, we finally realize how bloody and cruel this world truly is, filled with lethal tigers, leopards, and wolves!"
"So... so we want to learn martial arts from you. We hope you can help us, your brothers!"
As they said this, both brothers blushed.
After all, they were already fifteen or sixteen years old. To ask a child so much younger than them to be their master required a great deal of courage to cast aside their pride.
But their voices were firm and filled with unwavering resolve.
Looking at the two young men before him, Li Chang’an nodded. "Of course. As long as you two are willing to learn, I’ll naturally teach you everything I know without holding anything back."
...