Chapter 13: You Can Return
"T-This matter has nothing to do with me! I'm just here to watch the show. Those targets, those targets... No, those people.... I haven’t-I haven’t killed a single one of them!” Li Huang stuttered.
The guards around glanced at one another and stepped closer to Li Huang, paying close attention to protect his vitals. They feared that Fang Chen could kill him at any moment.
“Is that so?” Fang Chen smiled mysteriously.
The martial artists from Qingsong finally started to understand that something was amiss. They took a closer look at Fang Chen.... And suddenly, their eyes wavered—horrified!
“That’s Fang Chen!”
“What is he doing here?!”
Everyone placed their food and drinks away and reached for their weapons. Some grabbed knives, others drew their swords, and the rest raised their longbows. They all stared intently at Fang Chen.
“Fang Chen, what brings you here?” At that moment, a figure approached. This person emitted a powerful aura and displayed agile movement. He seemed to be floating, not walking.
The footwork he showed proved that he was in the Qi Manipulation Stage.
“Master Tie Ma!” Li Huang's eyes showed a hint of surprise. He quickly regained his senses and exclaimed, "Master Tie Ma, be careful! Master Xiao was killed by him!"
What?!
“Master Xiao was killed by Fang Chen!?”
“How is that possible?!”
“Isn’t Fang Chen a cripple?!”
The martial artists from Qingsong were shocked.
Suddenly, Tie Ma swiftly drew his sword, and sword aura swept forth, extending for a yard. It swept across the vicinity and through the crowd.
The next moment, the heads of many martial artists from Qingsong fell.
Tie Ma did not stop there. He glided through the air like a ghostly phantom and took down several more martial artists from Qingsong, each with a stroke of his sword.
In just a short moment, many martial artists from the Qingsong, who were in the Qi Condensation Stage and Qi Detonation Stage perished under his sword.
Drip, Drip. Fresh blood traveled down Tie Ma's blade, forming little splashes on the ground.
Li Huang stared blankly at the scene, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. Why did Tie Ma kill his own people?
Li Huang's guards were equally shocked. They were shaken by the might of an expert at the Qi Manipulation Stage. They realized that if any one of them stood in Tie Ma's way, they would be slaughtered easily; they wouldn’t be able to take a single strike.
"My lord, Xiao Tianci was keeping an eye on me closely the other day, and I wasn’t able to head over to the Hidden Courtyard." Tie Ma shook his arm, clearing his edge off of the blood. He then bowed respectfully after approaching Fang Chen.
"It must have been hard for you to witness these scenes everyday. Don’t you think that the Qingsong Superior Academy has become a place harboring deep resentment?" Fang Chen muttered softly.
"No, my lord, It’s been hard on you.... You’re the one who has been through too much," Tie Ma whispered.
“Even though I knew about this, I was unable to stop it.” Fang Chen blamed himself.
Tie Ma growled, "My lord, don't think that way. They were fated for death. If you made a move any earlier, you would only be saving a life or two at most. But if Grand Xia loses you, many more would be at stake!”
The exchange left Li Huang stunned, bewildered, and his mind a whirlwind of confusion.
“Y-you guys... “ Stuttering, Li Huang’s shaky finger pointed at them.
"The Grand Xia Hidden Guards have been reinstated. Your mission has also come to an end. You should return to your unit after today." Fang Chen reached out and patted Tie Ma’s shoulder.
“Yes, my lord,” Tie Ma replied in a deep voice.
Despite his efforts to appear calm, the tremor in his voice betrayed him.
Many years ago, Fang Chen made the arrangements for him to enter the Qingsong Empire and infiltrate the Wolf Army in order to gain Marshall Xiao Lang’s trust and recognition.
He had relayed numerous pieces of crucial intelligence, which influenced the outcomes of many battles.
He might have understood the importance of his role, but staying in the enemy’s territory, and being forced to take the very lives of his brethren brought him endless torment.
Now, he could finally return to his unit!
Tie Ma calmed himself down and asked, “My lord, I’ve taken care of the other guy. There should no longer be any more Qi Manipulation martial artists from the Qingsong Empire left in our Grand Xia. What’s our next move?”
“We’re not leaving any of them alive,” Fang Chen said confidently. “There is no need to keep up our pretense with Qingsong any longer. The first step is to purge the martial artists of Qingsong from the capital city.”
“Then what about these people?” Tie Ma turned to stare at Li Huang and the rest.
Falling to his knees with a thud, Li Huang begged, "Divine General Fang, I was wrong, I was wrong! I am also a citizen of our Grand Xia. For the sake of my aunt, for the sake of the empress, please spare my life!” He kowtowed repeatedly. Witnessing this sight, his guards were at a loss at what to do and awaited Fang Chen’s judgment.
A faint smile appeared on Fang Chen’s face. "Perhaps, in your next life, you'd prefer to be a citizen of Qingsong. If you are ever reborn, don’t make the mistake of returning to our Grand Xia.”
Li Huang jerked his head at his words, resentment in his eyes. “Fang Chen, are you really going to kill me? If you kill me, my aunt will never let you off! Don’t think that you can act however you want because you’re the Divine General. The emperor has long since regarded you as a thorn in his side that needs to be blotted out!”
Chop!
Tie Ma’s sword came slicing down as it cut through Li Huang’s waist. It didn’t kill him immediately, but the excruciating pain and the inevitable fate of death was enough to torment him and make his last moments a living hell.
“Ah Ah Ah!" Li Huang screamed in agony.
His guards remained motionless as cold sweat dripped down their foreheads.
“Those who were involved should not be spared either.” Tie Ma chuckled coldly and slashed, beheading them as well.
"Fang Chen, The emperor wasn’t mistaken! You've harbored dissent for a long time and have been training your soldiers secretly. Haha! even if I become a ghost, I’ll haunt you to the ends of the earth!" A maniacal laughter escaped Li Huang’s lips as he gazed at Fang Chen with a gaze full of mockery. "If the emperor catches wind of this, you'll be joining me soon! You don’t know how terrifying the emperor actually is! Hahaha!”
His crazed laughter grew fainter by the second until the light finally left his eyes.
"Have you made a name for yourself around here?" Fang Chen looked at Tie Ma.
"Not yet," Tie Ma said softly.
A smile appeared on Fang Chen’s face, and he muttered, “Alright, look for me in my residence’s private study.”
“Thank you, my lord!” Tie Ma felt excited. With his given posting, he would be able to see Fang Chen regularly!
With that said, Fang Chen walked out alone from the academy.
Countless commoners and martial artists of Grand Xia had gathered around by then, and they didn’t seem to know what had happened earlier. Even so, the word quickly spread.
"Have you heard the news? Divine General Fang made a move and slaughtered the martial artists from the Qingsong Superior Academy. Even their academy master wasn’t spared!”
“Is that true?!”
“Absolutely!”
"What are we waiting for then?" A scholar rolled up his sleeve and gave a loud warcry. He charged into Qingsong Superior Academy. Behind him, a peddler handed his child to his wife and followed behind the scholar. His eyes were completely bloodshot as he grabbed a pole from the side. More and more people lurched into Qingsong Superior Academy. All manner of people, commoners, soldiers clad in leather armor, and martial artists who brandished their swords, all charged into the building.
They might have different identities and backgrounds, but at that moment, all of them were one and the same, and they were all united. They were citizens of the Grand Xia Empire!
It didn’t take long for a fire to blaze fiercely through the Qingsong Superior Academy. Those who went in earlier had emerged, but not a single martial artist from Qingsong was in sight.
"Divine General Fang, we managed to kill as many martial artists from the Qingsong Empire in the academy as we could. Only a few of them managed to escape,” You Longchang reported softly as he looked at the Qingsong Superior Academy that had been engulfed in flames.
“It seems this night will be a sleepless one...” Fang Chen chuckled softly in response.
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