Chapter 20: A Day of Slaughter

Chapter 20: A Day of Slaughter

Fifty or so second- and third-rate martial artists, their faces taut with tension, scanned the forest around them. They’d split into groups, hacking through the underbrush with relentless swings of their blades, carving out five or six narrow paths wide enough for two or three men to pass. Where thorny thickets once choked the forest floor, a clearing had emerged. At its center, Hua Ruyu and Xing Xuan stood with weapons drawn, eyes sweeping the trees. They hadn’t joined the path-clearing effort—they were waiting for the inevitable clash.

As the last gaps in the foliage were severed, the group found the corpses of ten men. Hua Ruyu knelt, picking up a broken iron whip, his gaze narrowing. Li Chaofeng’s blade wasn’t just sturdy—it was razor-sharp.

As Azure Dragon Society’s Altar Master, Hua Ruyu was no fool. He knew an assassin’s greatest strength lay in their first strike. Block that, and the assassin became vulnerable.

And indeed, Li Chaofeng now felt trapped. The dense thicket where he’d lain in wait had been reduced to a clearing, forcing him to fight a defensive game.

Earlier, ten men had fallen—only two were first-rate. The rest, second- and third-rate. Though Li Chaofeng’s inner energy was weak, his close-quarters killing skill was lethal. A single strike had felled the strongest among them. Then, relying on his acute senses, he’d weaved through attacks from three or four foes before vanishing into the woods.

Appear, vanish, reappear, vanish again—each time striking decisively before fading back into the shadows. Victory came at a cost, though. He hadn’t expected the enemy to be this stubborn. Fifty men had turned the forest into a battlefield, hacking the dense undergrowth into open ground. Now, any move he made would draw the entire swarm.

Earlier, he’d faced attacks from three directions at most. With his reflexes, he could always escape to the fourth. But fifty men? He took a deep breath and roared, his voice echoing through the trees.

“Are you lot starting a Black Tortoise Sect branch for the Azure Dragon Society?”

The sheer volume reverberated through the forest. No matter how sharp their hearing, they couldn’t pinpoint his location.

Hua Ruyu paused, then laughed aloud. “You hide like a coward. I’d hate for any of my men to die before they’ve earned their place in the afterlife.”

His words rang bold and clear. The Azure Dragon Society members nodded in grim agreement. They weren’t here for honor—they served the Society’s authority to avoid trouble and conserve effort. Losing face meant little compared to the wrath of the sect’s elders.

Li Chaofeng’s voice returned, cold and cutting.

“Facing fifty men head-on? That’s not dying—that’s stupidity.”

A distant horsewhinny echoed from the road. Hua Ruyu’s face darkened. “The brat’s fleeing! After him!”

The formation shattered as they surged toward the forest’s edge. The fastest among them reached the road, only to find Li Chaofeng’s horse still tethered to a tree.

Hua Ruyu and Xing Xuan turned sharply. Five or six men were missing. Not skilled fighters, but how had Li Chaofeng killed them silently?

A chill crept down Hua Ruyu’s spine. He regretted choosing this forest for a fight. Better the city or an inn, where at least he could see his enemy. Now, he couldn’t even track him.

Li Chaofeng hadn’t vanished. His body, smeared with green moss, blended seamlessly with the foliage. The stench was unbearable, but the camouflage worked.

He watched the group through sharp eyes, waiting for Hua Ruyu’s decision: retreat or press on.

Hua Ruyu disappointed him. “Kill the horses!” he barked.

Without mounts, Li Chaofeng would have no choice but to fight. The surplus horses fell, and the remaining riders led their steeds into the forest. The woods filled with panicked whinnies.

The group regrouped, forty or fifty men moving cautiously through the dense terrain. As distant cries rose, Hua Ruyu approached a corner of the clearing.

A dead subordinate lay there, weapon intact. But a small hole pierced his throat—close-range, precise.

Yet how? The man had lagged slightly, yes, but surely he’d have heard an attack. Why hadn’t he turned to defend himself?

Hua Ruyu’s eyes narrowed. The wound was a frontal strike. He gestured to a subordinate, mimicking the attack. Xing Xuan and the others paled.

If someone could materialize from the front-left and strike your throat, who wouldn’t fear for their life?

What martial art was this? Hua Ruyu frowned, then heard a faint groan.

“There!”

Xing Xuan had already turned, catching a flash of green in the trees. Three strides, a serpentine path—then nothing.

Before them, another comrade fell.

They’d come with sixty-four: one Altar Master, one deputy, two Executioners, and sixty ordinary members. Now, nearly twenty were dead, the Executioners among them. One’s iron whip was shattered; the other’s sword had been severed at the tip.

Such losses would demand answers from the sect’s elders.

The “Yuchang Dagger” was worth any price.

“Hunt him!” Hua Ruyu snarled. Redemption lay in killing this “Little Gourmet God” and delivering the dagger to the sect’s leader.

The turtle formation dissolved.

High in a tree, Li Chaofeng smiled. He was no chivalrous hero—more a beast, his senses honed to perfection.

Never play hide-and-seek with a beast in its domain. It will always find you first.

And unlike a beast, Li Chaofeng had human cunning.

A Society member passed beneath his tree. Li Chaofeng tightened his grip on the Five Insect Blade Art, his body coiling like a viper.

A gust of wind above. The man looked up—then felt the cold kiss of steel.

Chaos erupted. Li Chaofeng vanished into the trees, leaving Hua Ruyu a mocking smile.

Appear, vanish, vanish, appear.

Each reappearance claimed a life. No matter how many surrounded him, Li Chaofeng could always slip away.

Xing Xuan once closed in, just a tree’s width away. Li Chaofeng’s Soulbound Dagger pierced a throat, then deflected Xing Xuan’s sword strike—shifting from left to right in a blur, severing the blade in three strikes.

As the group rallied, Li Chaofeng slithered up a tree, disappearing into the canopy. Xing Xuan followed, only to face a sea of green.

Hua Ruyu stood on a boulder, blade planted, scanning his remaining thirty men. Fear crept into their faces. They avoided the thorns—too many had died to sudden dagger strikes from the undergrowth.

Some remembered Li Chaofeng’s warning before he vanished into the forest:

“Leave the forest, and you’re human. Enter it, and you’re prey.”

They wanted out.

The “Little Gourmet God” was just a cook. He only killed beasts.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end