Chapter 81: Annihilation
Chapter 81: Annihilation
"Why has the lamp gone out?"
"We must have run out of oil. I'll go get some more."
Wei Sihai picked up the extinguished oil lamp, shook it, and stood up, heading outside.
The others didn't pay much attention, even though it was pitch black. They were all seasoned Skin Tempering Muscle Cultivation practitioners with robust Qi Energy, so they could still see the cups and teapots in the darkness and continued drinking and chatting.
But then...
After a while, Wei Sihai hadn't returned.
"Why hasn't Wei Sihai come back yet?"
"He's probably just refilling the oil in the dark. It's not like he'll fall into a pit." Sun Jiuli chuckled as he took a sip of wine, but his laughter gradually faded.
Through the window paper on the door, illuminated by the dim moonlight outside, a vague shadow appeared at the door. It seemed to have just arrived, yet it also felt like it had been there for a long time.
"Wei Sihai, what are you doing standing at the door?" Liu Lanshan furrowed his brows and called out to the figure outside.
Bang!
The door opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in. Wei Sihai's figure appeared at the entrance, standing still for a moment, and then... his entire body slowly leaned forward, and with a loud bang, he fell straight into the room, his body slamming into the floor like a collision on ice.
This was a shocking sight. Sun Jiuli and Liu Lanshan were startled, their faces filled with horror.
"Who's there?!"
"Who dares?!"
Neither of them bothered to check on Wei Sihai, who lay motionless on the floor like an ice pillar. Instead, they swiftly drew their weapons from their sides.
As experienced wanderers of the martial world, accustomed to the chaos of battle, they didn't easily lose their composure in the face of surprises. But at this moment, their hearts were filled with shock. Wei Sihai, a renowned master of the Blade Aura and a well-known figure, had died silently in the darkness, and they didn't even know who had done this—a truly terrifying thought.
If it weren't for the presence of Zhang Lang, the leader of the Evildoers Gang, they might not have been able to maintain their calm.
But because Zhang Lang was there, their shock was now mixed with anger. Someone had sneaked into their gang headquarters during the night and assassinated one of their deputy leaders!
In the brief silence that followed, only the howling wind could be heard.
"I don't know who this friend is, but since they've arrived uninvited, I must apologize for not greeting them properly," Zhang Lang finally spoke, seated at the head of the table.
In the blizzard outside, a figure in a black robe appeared silently, walking straight through the dim moonlight. They stepped over Wei Sihai's body and entered the room.
"Are you the 'Demon Blade' Zhang Lang?" Chen Mu's gaze fixed on Zhang Lang.
Zhang Lang slowly rose, a faint light glinting in his eyes, asked, "Yes, what is your purpose?"
"To kill," Chen Mu's voice was calm as he spoke.
In an instant, Chen Mu's entire body shimmered, and he vanished from his original spot. The next moment, he appeared before Sun Jiuli like a ghost.
Sun Jiuli's pupils constricted, his face revealing fear. But he was a seasoned survivor of life-and-death situations, and he roared, swinging his steel blade in a horizontal slash while retreating.
This strike wasn't meant to be effective; it was a distraction to buy time for Zhang Lang to save him.
However, a shocking scene unfolded.
Chen Mu faced Sun Jiuli's strike, and with a simple grip, he twisted and deformed the steel blade with his bare hands. The entire weapon contorted, and with a light flick, it flew forward, carrying an unstoppable force that shattered Sun Jiuli's grip. The blade shattered, breaking into pieces from the hilt, and the remaining fragment pierced Sun Jiuli's chest.
Bang! Sun Jiuli was sent flying backward, slamming into the wall behind him. He twitched a few times and then became still.
In his final moments, his eyes reflected shock.
When Chen Mu made his move, Sun Jiuli had expected his techniques to be fierce and hard to defend against, but he hadn't anticipated such brutality, not even drawing his weapon. This level of terror was clearly beyond the scope of Skin Tempering Muscle Cultivation, and even Zhang Lang seemed far from capable of it.
From Chen Mu's attack to Sun Jiuli's demise, it seemed like a lengthy process, but in reality, it was just a fleeting moment.
Liu Lanshan, witnessing Sun Jiuli's inability to block even a single strike, was filled with dread. Without hesitation, he dashed outside.
But at that moment, Chen Mu casually turned, his left hand lightly grabbing a wooden chopstick from the table. The chopstick spun in his palm, and with a flick, it launched towards Liu Lanshan, accompanied by a terrifying whoosh.
Liu Lanshan felt a surge of danger, and almost instinctively, he twisted his body, raising his steel blade horizontally to block the incoming attack.
Clang! The sound of metal clashing filled the air.
The chopstick shattered into fragments, but the front half, about an inch long, pierced through the steel blade, and the remaining half embedded itself into Liu Lanshan's chest.
In the dead of night, Liu Lanshan's heart seemed to burst, and he flew out of the door, landing on his knees in the snow. He wasn't quite dead yet, and with difficulty, he lowered his head to see the steel blade in front of him, pierced through by a wooden skewer, leaving a gaping hole. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
Inside the house, Zhang Lang stood frozen, his Round Moon Saber stiff in his hand, his eyes wide with horror as he looked at Chen Mu. The calm and depth he had displayed earlier were now gone.
"Who... who are you?" he asked.
Zhang Lang was not Liu Lanshan or Sun Jiuli; he was the leader of the Evildoers Gang, a Sinew Transformation Realm cultivator. Although he had never truly climbed to the upper echelons of Yu City, he had seen glimpses of that world.
Chen Mu's method of killing Sun Jiuli was impressive, but it was the sight of Liu Lanshan being impaled by a wooden skewer that sent a chill down Zhang Lang's spine.
Intention Realm! Only those who had mastered the Intention Realm could perform such a feat, turning the mundane into the extraordinary.
Looking across Yu City, how many people had truly mastered the Intention Realm? Each one of them was a big shot in the Inner City, far beyond Zhang Lang's ability to provoke.
How could he have attracted the attention of such a powerful figure? Zhang Lang's mind raced with thoughts, but he couldn't remember doing anything that would bring such a formidable opponent to his doorstep.
"Where is the silver that the Evildoers Gang recently acquired?" Chen Mu asked, his hands still empty.
Zhang Lang forced a stiff smile and replied, "Most of it was sent to He Zongchasi, and the rest is here..."
"Oh," Chen Mu nodded slightly.
Zhang Lang's right hand tightened around the hilt of his Round Moon Saber as Chen Mu remained silent. His heart sank, and his left hand slowly reached into his bosom.
Bang! In the next moment, Zhang Lang suddenly sprang into action, pulling out a black sphere and throwing it with force. It exploded with a loud bang, and a gray mist instantly enveloped the entire house.
Zhang Lang had already retreated, his back smashing through the wall as he disappeared into the night, not daring to look back as he fled.
Facing a master of the Intention Realm, Zhang Lang had no thoughts of resistance. He only hoped that his Corpse Poison Jade would buy him some time, allowing him a chance to escape.
However, after fleeing for just a few hundred meters, a faint light pierced through the dim moonlight, like a meteor breaking through the darkness.
Zhang Lang's body tensed, his muscles suddenly swelling. With a powerful pull, all his strength focused on a single point, and he swung his Round Moon Saber with all his might.
Clang!!! Sparks flew.
Chen Mu's figure silently passed Zhang Lang, and a trail of blood appeared on his rusty sword.
Zhang Lang stood frozen, his Round Moon Saber falling to the ground. He clutched his neck with one hand and turned to look at Chen Mu, but even then, he couldn't make out Chen Mu's features. Zhang Lang staggered and fell into the snow, his blood staining it red.
"Sinew Transformation Minor Completion..." Chen Mu turned around, lowering his rusty sword as he shook his head at Zhang Lang's corpse.
Zhang Lang, known as the 'Evil Blade', had fallen so easily to Chen Mu, a fellow Minor Completion cultivator. He couldn't even last a single move.
This was partly due to Zhang Lang's Golden Body, a powerful physique that could burst forth with energy. But more so, it was because of the Intention Realm. Compared to Blade Aura, the difference was like heaven and earth, like the divide between immortals and mortals.
Without the Intention Realm, even a Major Completion cultivator would struggle to kill Zhang Lang so effortlessly. It would take more than a single move to defeat him.
Chen Mu sheathed his sword and bent down to search Zhang Lang's body, but he only found a thin account book. It seemed to hold something, but under the dim moonlight, he couldn't make out the details.
Shaking his head, Chen Mu didn't bother to examine it further. He kept the book and headed back to the Evildoers Gang headquarters.
At that moment, in the courtyard of the gang's headquarters, over a dozen people had gathered. The commotion had awakened many, but those who arrived were filled with shock. They stared at Liu Lanshan's corpse, kneeling in the snow, their faces pale with fear.
Silently, Chen Mu appeared among the crowd, his eyes cold as he raised his rusty sword.
A dark cloud obscured the moon, plunging the courtyard into darkness. When a faint moonbeam finally pierced through, the courtyard was littered with bodies, their blood staining the snow and freezing into blocks of crimson ice. Chen Mu's figure had long since disappeared.
The next morning, news spread like wildfire—the Evildoers Gang headquarters had been raided, and their leader, Zhang Lang, along with several deputy leaders and hundreds of gang members, had all been slaughtered.
In an instant, the entire western part of the city was shaken to its core!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
