Chapter 200 - 99: The Five Great Sects Besiege Gu the God of Slaughter (Part 2)
The long wind blew, seeming to disperse much of the blood stench. Within the manor halls of the Lingxi Sword Sect, there were still places shrouded in thick, lingering smoke,
and beneath that broken memorial arch,
two Horizontal Sabers were stabbed into the stone slabs, the dried blood upon them still reflecting under the morning sun.
Gu Zhan’s bloodstained long robe swayed,
as he gazed silently down the mountain.
Gu Fengwei wanted to persuade Gu Zhan, but the words reached his lips and he could not find what to say,
for he, too, was a Martial Artist, a Great Cultivator,
and knew deeply that though there are countless Martial Artists in this world, those who achieve anything are always one in ten thousand; these all share one trait,
and that is a distinctiveness unique to themselves. Every genius in martial arts possesses perceptions of their own, unmoved by others. Those easily swayed by the outside world rarely carve their own path in Martial Arts.
Just like Gu Mo, the Gu Family’s foremost young genius, who reached the Dao Realm at thirty, yet he was rather odd, ever aloof in all things, even during fights seeming wholly unfocused.
Because of this temperament,
Gu Mo was often chased all over the manor by his father, a scene so common it became a unique sight within the Gu Family.
As for Gu Zhan before his eyes,
though Gu Fengwei seldom interacted with him, he could clearly sense that this was an extremely domineering man, a God of Slaughter whose murderous nature chilled all who met him. For such a person, fleeing upon hearing his name was harder than dying by his hand.
The red glow of dawn spilled over,
Gu Fengwei gathered several hundred Gu Family disciples to hold the Lingxi Sword Sect’s training ground, blocking the end of the mountain path.
At the same time, the Embroidered Uniform Guards were assembling,
more than two hundred mounted Embroidered Uniform Guards, all had drawn their Brocade Spring Sabers laid flat across their saddles. The atmosphere was suffocating, murderous energy filling the air.
It was only two hundred riders—half the numbers of the Gu Family, their overall strength inferior to the Gu scions and disciples,
yet in momentum, they completely overwhelmed the Gu Family.
Gu Fengwei sighed inwardly,
as expected, the fastest way for a force to grow is through trials of blood and fire, and the leader’s role is especially crucial.
A flock of sheep, led by a tiger, dares to charge a wolf pack, even triumphing at times,
but if a wolf pack is led by a sheep, even facing hyenas, all they can do is flee in panic.
Looking at the young man standing proudly in the wind, he found himself, for once, yearning for the Gu Family’s future,
If, they could survive this calamity,
the Gu Family in days to come would surely surge forward, perhaps returning to its former glory in Qingzhou.
At this moment,
all of the Gu Family’s disciples could not help but look at the figure with his back to them—the slant of fiery sunlight falling just so, black robe melding with the light, a charisma all his own.
Noise rose from the foot of the mountain,
dense crowds began to climb upwards, footsteps chaotic and heavy, the surge of the crowd like a river reversing course to become a waterfall, banners waving beneath the morning sun.
Getting ever closer,
the turbulent mass of people—heroes of the Martial World—gathered together, the pressure overwhelming, stifling.
About ten zhang from the Lingxi Sword Sect’s mountain gate was a vast plaza, usually a place for sect leaders to review and evaluate their disciples.
As the vanguard was about to surge onto the plaza,
Gu Zhan suddenly stomped his foot,
in a flash, several dozen man-sized stone slabs rocketed into the air,
Gu Zhan swung his arm fiercely,
and the slabs shot downward at speed.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"...
Deafening explosions shook the surroundings, and those dozens of stone slabs stabbed upright into the ground, neat and blocking the path ahead.
Gu Zhan spoke slowly:
"Step no further. Cross this line, and you die!"
His tone was calm and devoid of emotion, but combined with his profound cultivation, it rolled through the mountains like thunder.
In an instant,
the surging torrent of people below suddenly stilled.
Then,
someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "Gu Zhan, you defy Heaven’s law! Today we of the Righteous Dao Martial World come to vanquish demons and defend justice, and you still dare to run rampant!"
With this reproachful shout,
several Martial Artists leapt skyward, trying to charge forward.
Gu Zhan gently stamped his foot,
a slab of stone shot out, splitting in midair into dozens of stone bricks that flew with deadly speed.
"Ah!" "Ah!"...
With shrill screams, the Martial Artists flying up were blasted backwards, crashing into the crowd, life and death unknown, stirring chaos.
At the same moment,
the stone slabs of the Heaven-Reaching Stone Steps shook violently all the way down,
"Rumble!" "Rumble!"...
Thunderous roars as if the entire mountain was shaking.
Meanwhile, behind Gu Zhan, a surge of horse hooves resounded, as the dense Embroidered Uniform Guard charged forth, Brocade Spring Sabers gleaming in the scarlet dawn.
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is handling official business here."
Gu Zhan’s indifferent voice rang through the mountains again,
"You come uninvited—do you intend to rebel?"
A question like thunder, like a flood’s roar.
"Hmph,"
Just then, a cold snort rang out from the crowd, and a formation under the Xiushan Lu Family banner emerged. Leading them was a middle-aged man gripping a Long Sword. He spoke coldly, "Gu Zhan, as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand Households you ought to act according to law, but you killed my Lu Family Grand Elder and slaughtered twenty-five of my disciples, defying law and justice. What have you to say? What right do you have to command the Embroidered Uniform Guard and enforce the law?"
Standing not far from Gu Zhan, Gu Fengwei quietly explained, "That is the Lu Family Patriarch, Lu Tianyang—First Realm Great Cultivator. The two beside him are also Great Cultivators, one First Realm, one Second Realm. The Lu Family comes fiercely prepared!"
Gu Zhan gazed down and spoke flatly, "Your Lu Family’s Grand Elder led the attack on this official, willfully obstructed the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s work, and I only killed them. I haven’t yet settled accounts with the Lu Family. Since you come on your own, we shall tally your crimes today!"
"Utter nonsense!" Lu Tianyang growled. "Clearly it was you, Gu Zhan, who wantonly murdered innocents. Now that people are dead, you seek to smear my Lu Family? Do you take all the Righteous Martial World for blind and deaf? Killing in the name of law needs proof, needs official process! You, Gu Zhan, have no right to wield private executions!"
"What Patriarch Lu says is reasonable."
At this, a very burly elder stepped forth, bare-chested, gripping an iron rod longer than a zhang. He dropped it lightly to the ground—the half-foot stone slab beneath it shattered instantly.
Behind him came a force of over a hundred, bearing the Mountain Moving Sect banner.
"Gu Thousand Households, government enforcement cannot rely on your word alone. Otherwise, could you not kill whoever you pleased, accuse anyone of a crime and murder at will? There is no such reason in this world!"