Chapter 87: You’re Teaching Me How to Do Things
"Buzz."
In the darkness of night, a humming sound could be heard.
At the same time, feathered arrows streaked through the night at high speed, letting out a deep, eerie whistling, like some strange musical instrument. Three streaks of light flashed by in an instant, swift as meteors, then vanished without a trace.
In the very next moment,
a feathered arrow suddenly appeared out of nowhere, flying smoothly and elegantly, skimming low across the floor before rising up, piercing through a pillar, the arrowhead smashing into the long sword of the Innate Martial Artist.
The tremendous impact sparked in the darkness, knocking the Innate Martial Artist back, sending him flying.
In that instant, a deep slash appeared on the wall beside him, and another feathered arrow, fired from the opposite direction, hugged the stone wall and shot straight through the Innate Martial Artist’s back.
The arrowhead burst out from the chest, followed by a spray of blood.
This scene fell into the eyes of the last remaining Innate Martial Artist,
who was hiding in a corner of the wall, his scalp prickling,
suddenly realizing that they had still underestimated Gu Zhan’s archery—this had already gone beyond imagination.
"Young masters, fall back now!"
The Innate Martial Artist shouted loudly, "Gu Zhan’s archery is too terrifying! Those covers are useless! We can only fight our way out, or he’ll pick us off one by one..."
Before he could finish,
the Innate Martial Artist suddenly looked up, horrified, as a feathered arrow dropped from the sky, bringing with it overwhelming momentum and speed, plunging straight into his gaping mouth,
"Bang!"
Blood sprayed everywhere, the corpse fell back, the arrowhead piercing through the back of the skull and nailing into the stone wall.
This arrow—Mysterious Appearance and Disappearance—untraceable, formless!
In only a short span of time,
the last two Innate Martial Artists died without accomplishing anything, plunging Wu Ming and the other young masters into instant despair.
"Quick! Fire the signal flare! Our clan’s people will come!"
"Hurry, now!"
"..."
Panic gripped them all, so-called Noble Family composure entirely gone, their expressions ruled by terror and hysteria.
At that moment,
from a distant rooftop, Gu Zhan handed the Cold Iron Bow to his Personal Guard, then leapt down with Horizontal Saber on his back.
At the same time, the Embroidered Uniform Guards also rushed out en masse, charging toward the entrance of Baihua Manor.
In the night,
the air was thick with despair.
Gu Zhan dragged Horizontal Saber, scoring lines in the ground, sending out a chilling "zzzz" sound, like Death itself chanting,
while those young masters turned pale, faces twisted in dread.
Outside the door, who knew how many South City Embroidered Uniform Guards and Martial World thugs waited for them, and inside, Gu Zhan—the so-called God of Slaughter—had already butchered all six elite fighters, crushing their greatest hope.
Born to stand above others, when had they ever felt such despair? Never did they imagine that, facing death, they would tremble and cower like ordinary people, equally terrified.
As Gu Zhan closed in with his men,
the remaining guards of the Six Great Families all retreated step by step,
their numbers much reduced, most wounded; their momentum was long gone.
"Gu...Lord Gu..."
Wu Ming mustered his courage and said, "Really, you and the great families have no major direct conflict, our interests don’t clash much. The reason things escalated this far is all because of Wan Yan and Yang Yuzhi scheming behind the scenes. We could join forces—Wan Yan and the others don’t mean to let you live either..."
"Pfft."
A flash of blade-light sliced through the night,
and Gu Zhan hurled Horizontal Saber, slashing down two guards blocking Wu Ming, then dashed forward, seized the saber, and brought it down in a single stroke.
Wu Ming’s eyes widened. His head flew from his shoulders.
"Bang!"
The headless corpse collapsed to the ground.
Gu Zhan kicked the severed head aside and said coldly, "When I told you this before, where the hell were you, huh? Only willing to lower that high and mighty head of yours after I start killing? Then you might as well not keep it!"
Muttering as he spoke, Gu Zhan turned his gaze to the other young masters. Instantly they all reeled back in terror, including the trembling guards.
"Gu...Lord Gu," Young Master Liu, Liu Yijie, swallowed and said, "Lord Gu, today’s events were because we failed to recognize your greatness and forced you into this corner. But all Six Great Families are gathered here; you’ve killed plenty. Your outrage should be spent by now. If you keep going, the consequences will be severe. You’ll make an enemy of all of Linjiang County!"
Gu Zhan sneered and said, "Never mind that you can’t represent Linjiang County—even if you could, so what? At worst, I’ll kill my way through the whole damn county. From South to North, down to the last soul!"
As soon as the words left his mouth,
Gu Zhan swung his blade. With a wet thud, Horizontal Saber split open a martial artist’s skull. As he drew the saber out, it trailed bloody flesh like a bloodthirsty demon worm, twisting through the air!
Gu Zhan beckoned with a wave, "Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
Suddenly, right at that moment,
outside Hundred Flowers Garden, an Embroidered Uniform Guard signal flare lit the sky.
At the same time, a panicked Embroidered Uniform Guard ran in, cupping his fists to Gu Zhan: "Sir, the Inspection Team is here!"
"Hmph!"
Gu Zhan snorted coldly, "Ignore them. Not a single one of the Six Great Families is to be spared!"
"Lord Gu, please stop!"
A thunderous shout echoed overhead, True Qi rippling through the darkness like a clap of thunder.
The Inspection Team surged down the long street—over a hundred men, all in matching black robes, faces grave and solemn.
Leading them was Hundred Households Liu Yong and the Vice Hundred Households of the Inspection Team.
The squad burst out of the crowded street,
facing little obstruction as the Inspection Team.
Liu Yong rushed into the manor, scanned the carnage, and on seeing Wu Ming’s corpse, his face darkened. He pointed at the five remaining young masters, cupping his fists: "Lord Gu, you’ve killed enough here tonight. The score is settled. By order, I’m to take these people away. Please show some consideration."
Gu Zhan shot Liu Yong a glance and said, "Are you out of your mind? You think the Embroidered Uniform Guard slaughters people for personal revenge? Is that our style? This is an arrest of wanted criminals. What’s your Inspection Team playing at—sheltering the murderers?"
Liu Yong took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, Lord Gu, you’re right. The Embroidered Uniform Guard always follows due process. Which is why, by order of Lord Thousand Households, I’m here to take these people in for questioning. Please hand them over!"
Then, in a low voice, Liu Yong added, "Lord Gu, your usual arrogance is one thing, but tonight is different. Not one more of these young masters can die by your hand, or else I won’t mind showing you why the Inspection Team is called Ghostmaker..."
Gu Zhan stepped forward, gently slapped Liu Yong on the cheek, and said,
"Are you teaching me how to do my job?"
As he spoke, Gu Zhan suddenly reversed his grip and slashed Liu Yijie’s neck. Blood sprayed, spattering Liu Yong’s face in crimson.