Chapter 125 - 124: Courting Death
The more than a hundred men of the Inspection Team blocked the entrance, their numbers all martial arts elites, their gathered aura imposing as thunderclouds before a storm, suffocating all who drew near.
From within the Hundred Households Office, many had already rushed out, standing in opposition,
The atmosphere was taut to the limit.
Rong Yichu, following behind Gu Zhan, quietly retreated, slipping back inside the Hundred Households Office.
Shen Minghe sat loftily atop his horse, looking down at Gu Zhan and handing over an official missive, speaking flatly: "Gu Qianhu, receive your orders!"
Gu Zhan stood unmoving at the door.
Shen Minghe’s face darkened as he snapped, "Gu Qianhu, do you need this official to repeat myself? You—"
"Get down here!"
Gu Zhan suddenly cut him off coldly: "I don’t like speaking to others with my head raised."
The Hundred Households was stunned for a moment, then said, "This official is merely here to announce the Inspector’s order. The document is delivered; my task is done. Lord Gu, you have only to comply—nothing further needs be said between us..."
"Go fuck your mother!"
Gu Zhan abruptly drew his blade, slashing out with a single stroke,
Terror-striking Saber Qi ripped through the air, surging toward the Hundred Households like a monstrous wave.
Shen Minghe started in fright,
He never expected Gu Zhan to attack, and in panic leapt into the air.
The mighty Saber Qi crashed down,
A tremendous saber shadow split the air, cleaving the mighty steed in two, blood erupting in a spray, cascading like a crimson rainstorm.
Shen Minghe’s face sank as he hastily retreated several steps, shouting angrily, "Gu Zhan, you dare defy your superior?"
Gu Zhan casually twisted his neck, dragging the Horizontal Saber as he strode toward Shen Minghe, his tone icy: "I said, I don’t like speaking to others while looking up. Are your fucking ears only for swatting mosquitoes?"
Shen Minghe’s expression grew darker, "Gu Zhan, do you intend to rebel?"
Gu Zhan sneered, "What, give a dog a little face and he thinks he’s Emperor? Rebel? You think you’re worthy?"
Shen Minghe said gravely, "Your Hundred Households colluded with the White Lotus Sect, the evidence is solid—people and goods both seized. As your superior, you’re implicated in their crimes. Now you publicly defy orders—if that’s not rebellion, what is?"
Gu Zhan scoffed, "Solid evidence? What evidence?"
Shen Minghe produced several letters: "These are their correspondences with the White Lotus Sect—this is proof. Gu Zhan, are you seeking to shield them?"
"What a joke," Gu Zhan said coldly, "Forge a few letters at random and you think someone’s fated? Then I’ll whip up a few for you right now—shouldn’t you, Shen Minghe, confess at once?"
Shen Minghe sneered, "Looks like you’ve grown too used to being a tyrant in this backwater, your vision clouded to your own insignificance. Do you really think you can defy the heavens?
Let me be honest, Gu Zhan, today—guilty or not, you’re finished either way. All you depend upon are your Martial World gangs and your Embroidered Uniform Guard lackeys. Without those two fangs, what use are you?"
With that, Shen Minghe took a step forward and lowered his voice: "Let me be frank—these letters were indeed forged by me. So what? If I say they’re true, then so they are. Understand?
I advise you to know your place. I have no wish to kill you, but don’t presume a Thousand Households is so valuable. I’ve spared you simply to avoid headaches. Push me further, and I’ll not hesitate to make more trouble!"
Gu Mo narrowed his eyes, voice cold: "You motherfucker, you’re courting death!"
In that instant, Gu Zhan slashed forth,
A snow-bright blade flashed—none could see the Horizontal Saber’s arc in Gu Zhan’s hand, so blindingly swift was it.
Upon the translucent blade surged mighty Saber Qi, swaying like the supple waist of a peerless beauty, a thousand charms, ten thousand blazing splendors; killing intent thick enough to choke, saber momentum both tragic and sinister, rending all before it,
And that blade crashed directly down atop Shen Minghe’s head,
Shen Minghe’s waist-hung saber leapt from the scabbard, ancient and light, the tip flicked, and in an instant the Southern Dipper Star Trace formed before him, sword momentum stretching endlessly, not a drop leaking through.
Their blades clashed, raising monstrous waves, torrents of True Qi seething, tempests stirring from nowhere in the street, spiraling, surging without end.
Shen Minghe staggered back several steps,
A flicker of terror in his eyes,
He could sense Gu Zhan’s cultivation was only Innate Sixth Layer,
Yet that strike had made his own Seventh Layer cultivation suffer greatly.
In that moment, he understood,
Gu Zhan must have cultivated a profound martial art—one of no low realm either.
A Martial Artist’s mastery of martial arts,
The higher and deeper the grade, the greater the combat power. Yet the harder the art, the harsher the path,
Most Innate Martial Artists only train in Profound Tier Lower Grade arts; those of superior talent in Middle Grade; those who manage Upper Grade are heroes in their lands. With high-grade martial arts, one can cross realms and kill their betters.
In that flickering instant,
Shen Minghe saw the truth: though his cultivation was a layer above Gu Zhan’s, in single combat, he was not his match at all.
Even as he kept staggering back, his voice rang loud: "Gu Zhan has publicly sheltered traitors, assaulted a superior, insubordination! He deserves execution! Inspection Team, take my command—kill without mercy! Whoever dares intervene, shares his crime!"
At his word, Shen Minghe’s saber erupted in a dazzling brilliance, myriad saber shadows cascading down like a torrential rain—chaotic, disorderly to the eye.
At the same time, several Innate Martial Artists from the Inspection Team launched their attack, waves of lethal intent enveloping the area—among them Innate Fifth and Sixth Layers; their combined assault was an avalanche of murderous force.
In that split second,
Gu Zhan suddenly stepped back,
To Shen Minghe’s and his men’s shock, a willow-leaf shaped dagger appeared in Gu Zhan’s hand. Its blade glimmered with a strange light—the killing intent in Gu Zhan’s eyes solidified into a murderous aura, fusing together, pouring into the dagger,
The blade spun from his hand, flaring with a dazzling, blood-stained light!
In that moment,
An Innate Martial Artist suddenly beheld endless Saber Intent before his eyes; as though in the very next breath he’d be swallowed within, panic sent him stumbling backward—
Yet, as if alive, the flying dagger
Drifted elusive and radiant, resembling drizzling rain at dusk: graceful, weightless, but pregnant with lethal intent and splendor!
With a soft "pu," the flying saber pierced straight through the Innate Martial Artist’s throat, leaving only a tiny red dot upon his neck.
The body crashed heavily to the ground!
This had been an Innate Sixth Layer Martial Artist,
And now—just like that—he was dead.
In that instant, Shen Minghe and his men felt a jolt of terror seize their hearts.
Simultaneously,
Gu Zhan surged forward, the Horizontal Saber in his hand weaving a curtain of blade momentum as delicate as the finest rain—then, in a breath, focused to a single line, True Qi breaking through heaven and earth with earth-shattering force,
And in that moment, a human head flew skyward,
Blood erupting like a geyser!