Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Are You Looking for Him?

SWOOSH!

The second Death Warrior descended before the Bai and Ximen Family forces.

He instantly blocked the path of both families, who hadn’t managed to retreat very far.

In that moment, Ximen Gong and Bai Xiong were terrified to death.

Their bodies trembled uncontrollably, their courage shattered by sheer terror.

"Quick, run...!"

It was their only thought.

THWACK!

Right before their eyes, a clansman was struck dead by the Martial King Expert’s palm.

The color drained from Ximen Gong’s face.

’I can’t believe it... they’re really the Jiang Family’s hidden Martial King Experts.’

They had gravely miscalculated this night’s raid. They knew far, far too little about the Jiang Family.

Their regret was suffocating.

Furthermore, these Martial King Experts were clearly powerful even among their peers.

Hiding in the crowd and using the chaotic figures of others as cover, Ximen Gong and Bai Xiong exchanged a look.

’We have to split up, or neither of us will make it out alive.’

’We can’t stay in Hanwu City. We’ll regroup outside the city walls. Go!’

In an instant, they both understood the meaning in the other’s eyes.

What did the lives of their other clansmen matter? Only their own lives were important.

Paying no mind to their clansmen being slaughtered one by one by the two Martial King Experts, they frantically split up and fled.

They had to get back to their family compounds, gather the remaining members, and flee Hanwu City under the cover of night.

Fortunately for them, the two Martial King Experts seemed to have no interest in Ximen Gong and Bai Xiong, focused only on the slaughter.

In the end, Ximen Gong and Bai Xiong quickly vanished into the night, each heading back to their respective family compounds.

As for the others, they fell into the darkness amidst desperate screams.

Fresh blood stained a large swath of land outside the Jiang Family estate red.

Bodies littered the ground, a deeply unsettling sight.

"Ah...!"

With a final, wretched cry, all the men from the Bai and Ximen Families were slaughtered by the two Martial King Death Warriors.

Only Bai Xiong and Ximen Gong, who had the highest Cultivation, and a few other clansmen managed to escape.

All the rest, without exception, fell upon the earth tonight, to sleep for eternity.

THUD!

A head fell from the hand of one of the Death Warriors.

The Martial King Death Warrior stepped through the blood, his eyes cold and merciless.

ROAR!

The two Martial King Experts, seemingly unable to stop themselves, drew closer and closer, their eyes red as they regarded each other with endless killing intent.

Amidst the pools of blood, the two seemed ready to duel.

Each one was more ferocious than the last.

This was the terrifying effect of the Bloodthirst Pill; it caused a Martial Cultivator to lose all control.

Jiang Chen would never have used it unless absolutely necessary, but he had been forced into this.

Otherwise, the Jiang Family would have been washed in blood tonight.

Just as the two Death Warriors were about to attack each other...

"Stop. Stand still and do not move."

An indifferent voice echoed simultaneously in the minds of the two Death Warriors.

The voice was like a command, causing both Death Warriors to halt.

"Roar..."

"Roar..."

They let out one last snarl at each other, then truly did stop in place, completely motionless.

Meanwhile, the members of the Jiang Family could hardly believe what they were seeing.

They remained inside the Jiang Family courtyard, not daring to take a single step out. Many of them were frozen stiff, their hands and feet numb and cold.

Everything that had happened tonight would be an unforgettable memory for them.

As for Ximen Gong, he was running for his life, his mind a panicked blank.

He kept glancing back over his shoulder.

Finally, when he saw that the Martial King Expert was not pursuing him, he let out a sigh of relief.

Even so, he couldn’t stop gasping for breath.

It felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest.

’Damn it, how can there be Martial King experts?’

’How could the Jiang Family have Martial King Experts protecting them? This is impossible!’

He raced toward the Ximen Family compound, terrified and uneasy.

He knew that the Ximen Family’s reign in Hanwu City was over.

They had to leave Hanwu City tonight and stay far away from it forever.

Because starting tomorrow, the Jiang Family would completely take over their Ximen Family, and the Bai Family as well.

This was the fate of the defeated: to flee like frightened dogs.

Only when he was almost at the Ximen Family compound did Ximen Gong relax slightly.

"Hm?"

But as he stood before the main gate of his Ximen Family’s estate, he realized the entire compound was silent.

No, it was too quiet. Eerily quiet.

Especially tonight, after his defeat, this silence filled him with endless dread.

He had a bad feeling.

’The smell of blood?’

’It’s so thick.’

Suddenly, with his Cultivation as a Martial Master Seventh Heaven, Ximen Gong faintly detected the strange, coppery scent of blood wafting out from the Ximen Family compound.

The smell seemed to be getting closer and closer.

GURGLE...

A stream of liquid slowly trickled out from the gap beneath the courtyard gate.

No, that wasn’t water. It was blood.

Ximen Gong staggered back, staring in horror at the blood flowing out.

He felt a bone-deep chill that froze him to the core.

It was a piercing cold, like a frigid current from ten-thousand-year-old ice.

It invaded Ximen Gong’s heart.

His pupils contracted violently.

His bad feeling... it seemed to have come true.

’The Ximen Family... has been slaughtered.’

"No, impossible...!"

"Chen Ran! Chen Ran, you bastard! Get the hell out here!"

He began to roar like a madman.

He charged toward the tightly shut gates.

CREAK...

Before he could reach them, the closed gates suddenly swung open on their own.

Ximen Gong’s body froze.

He stood stunned, his gaze fixed on the slowly opening gates, peering deep inside.

There, just inside the gateway, a tall figure stood ramrod straight.

He wore a white robe and held a Blood Sword in his right hand.

His indifferent eyes watched Ximen Gong, who was about to charge in.

"Are you looking for him?"

The blood-stained figure asked, his voice flat.

With a sudden pull of his left hand, he dragged a cold corpse out from behind him.

Then he tossed it out of the gate.

THUMP!

Ximen Gong stared blankly at the dark shape that had rolled to a stop at his feet.

He could see it was a person’s body.

When he got a clear look at the corpse’s face...

...he cried out in shock.

"Chen Ran...!"

That’s right, it was Chen Ran, the Alchemist of their Ximen Family.

He was dead now, his neck torn open by what looked like a claw mark.

An involuntary shudder ran through him.

He then forced himself to look up again at the man standing within the gate.

He gritted his teeth. "Jiang Chen, what are you doing here?"

"What have you done to our Ximen Family?"

The person he was looking at was the man he wanted to tear limb from limb, Jiang Chen—the murderer of his son.

"Isn’t this what you hoped to see?"

"Ximen Gong."

Jiang Chen’s face was expressionless.

Standing amidst the blood, he remained utterly spotless.

"Ah...!"

"Jiang Chen, you actually massacred our Ximen Family."

"You’ll get what’s coming to you! Go to hell!"

Ximen Gong let out a sudden roar and charged madly at Jiang Chen.

A brilliant sword in his hand thrust toward Jiang Chen.