Chapter 24: Chapter 23: All Are Dead
Chen Yuan left through the cave entrance, but just as he walked out of the Government Office, he ran into five people.
The leader was a burly, bald man in black clothes. His head was so shiny it gleamed like black gold.
This was the Gang Leader of the Black Water Gang, ’Iron Head Arhat’ Yuan Dongtian. His Horizontal Training Techniques were astounding; it was said he was impervious to blades and spears and could shatter weapons with his bare hands.
The four men behind him were the remaining four Guardians of the Black Water Gang.
The Black Water Gang’s appearance here was, in fact, Chen Yuan’s doing.
Strange incidents had been occurring frequently in Lianshan City lately, and Yuan Dongtian had a vague feeling that something was wrong. He had already sent a message to the Sun-piercing Alliance.
Yuan Dongtian appeared boorish and rough, but he was actually cautious and meticulous in his actions.
Originally, Yuan Dongtian had not planned to make any other moves before the Sun-piercing Alliance arrived.
But the commotion Chen Yuan had just caused when he used Star Shifting to divert the impact of the Blood Fiend Power was too great.
The massive boom, like an earthquake, had been heard by nearly everyone in Lianshan City.
A disturbance this large was something Yuan Dongtian simply couldn’t ignore, which was why he had brought the other four Guardians to investigate.
He hadn’t brought any other gang members because he feared potential danger; this way, the strongest among them could escape in time if needed.
Now, bumping into Chen Yuan, Yuan Dongtian was slightly taken aback.
’So the commotion inside was caused by the Celestial Wolf Gang? Or was it Murong Qing?’
"What in the world happened in there? Where’s your adoptive father? Where is Young Master Murong Qing? Why are you the only one who came out?"
Yuan Dongtian looked at the bloody marks on Chen Yuan’s body and his current condition. His intuition told him something was very wrong.
Chen Yuan sighed.
’I thought I could save a trump card,’ he thought. ’Looks like I’ll have to waste it after all.’
One of the Guardians behind Yuan Dongtian chided impatiently, "The Gang Leader is asking you a question! Are you deaf?
You don’t even greet the Gang Leader when you see him. Is that how Jiang Kaitai taught you? No manners!"
Chen Yuan reached a hand into his robes and grinned at them. "They’re all dead, of course."
A chill instantly shot through Yuan Dongtian’s heart. He roared, "Run!"
The four Guardians behind him were all stunned.
’Run? Why run? What did the Gang Leader discover?’
The instant Yuan Dongtian turned to flee, Chen Yuan had already pulled Guanyin’s Tears from his robes and pressed the mechanism.
In a flash, a piercing shriek erupted.
From the small Jade Purification Bottle, thousands of blades as thin as a cicada’s wings shot out, like a shower of flower petals—gorgeous, yet filled with endless, savage killing intent!
The Bodhisattva lowers his gaze; Guanyin sheds a tear.
In an instant, the ten-zhang radius in front of Chen Yuan became a Hell of spinning blades.
The four Guardians were all at the Blood Movement Realm of cultivation. Before Guanyin’s Tears, they had almost no power to resist and were instantly diced into mincemeat.
It wasn’t just their flesh and blood; their internal organs and bones were all torn to shreds by the sharp blades.
The four men collapsed to the ground as a single pool of gore, making it impossible to even tell how many bodies were there!
As for Yuan Dongtian, his Horizontal Training of Hard Skills had clearly not been practiced in vain.
Under the assault of Guanyin’s Tears, he managed to take three steps before being killed.
Moreover, he was the only one who wasn’t turned into mincemeat. Most of the blades were lodged in his flesh, allowing his corpse to remain barely intact.
"Tsk, how bloody."
Chen Yuan grinned.
He truly hadn’t expected a hidden weapon from the Divine Strategy Pavilion to be so powerful. No wonder it was so expensive.
There was no time to waste. Chen Yuan immediately rushed back to the Celestial Wolf Gang’s headquarters.
Most of the Celestial Wolf Gang’s members had been sent out to lie in wait, so few people were left inside the headquarters.
Chen Yuan went straight to Jiang Kaitai’s room, first finding the Celestial Wolf Gang’s roster and destroying it.
In the original story, the Murong Family was able to hunt down and kill the Celestial Wolf Gang members one by one to vent their anger precisely because they had obtained the roster.
If he didn’t destroy the roster, even if the Murong Family didn’t know he was the culprit, they might still track him down.
Afterwards, Chen Yuan also scavenged some gold bars and silver notes.
When you’re out and about, you can lack anything but money.
Before leaving, Chen Yuan went to wake up Zhang Xiaoyi, who was fast asleep.
His strength was not great, and Chen Yuan didn’t want to send him to his death, so he had never sent him out to watch for Jiang Kaitai’s death warriors.
Zhang Xiaoyi woke up in a daze, surprised. "Young Master..."
Before he could finish, Chen Yuan stuffed a wad of silver notes into his hand.
"Get up now and leave the city immediately. I don’t care where you go, just get as far away from Lianshan City as possible. For the rest of your life, never mention that you were once a member of the Celestial Wolf Gang."
After speaking, Chen Yuan’s figure flickered, and he left the room, leaving a bewildered Zhang Xiaoyi scratching his head.
Chen Yuan didn’t care whether the other members of the Celestial Wolf Gang lived or died.
Only Zhang Xiaoyi, who had been unfailingly loyal and served him diligently since he transmigrated, had helped him with many things.
That was why, before leaving, Chen Yuan had also arranged an escape route for Zhang Xiaoyi.
Whether he would listen or not was up to his own fate.
After Chen Yuan left, Zhang Xiaoyi stared at the thick stack of silver notes in his hand, still bewildered and unable to make sense of the situation.
But a moment later, he quickly changed his clothes, packed a simple bag, and rode out of the city on horseback.
Zhang Xiaoyi knew he wasn’t smart. And since he wasn’t smart, he shouldn’t overthink things; he just needed to obey.
The Young Master had saved his life, and he believed the Young Master would not harm him.
Since that was the case, he would simply do as the Young Master said.
「The next morning」
The entire city of Lianshan was in an uproar.
The members of the Celestial Wolf Gang and the Black Water Gang were all running around like headless chickens, unable to find their Gang Leaders.
After searching all over Lianshan City, they finally discovered the pile of mincemeat in front of the Government Office, along with Yuan Dongtian, who had barely escaped the same fate.
Afterwards, members of both gangs entered the tunnel together and saw the bodies of Jiang Kaitai and Murong Qing. At that moment, everyone was utterly dumbfounded.
The top leaders of both gangs had died here at the same time, and even someone from the Murong Family had died here. This was a monumental event!
And now, the problem before them was that no one knew what to do.
The Gang Leaders of both gangs were dead, and the Three Heroes of the Celestial Wolf Gang and the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang were all dead too.
In their view, although Chen Yuan’s body wasn’t found, with so many people dead, he must be dead too. Perhaps he was part of that pile of mincemeat.
Because the bodies had been so thoroughly minced by Guanyin’s Tears, they had turned into a large pile of gore. At a glance, you could have said there were seven or eight people in it, and no one would have argued.
Even a veteran coroner would be unable to tell just how many people were in that mess.
With no leaders, the two gangs could only temporarily dispatch men to surround the Government Office and prevent outsiders from entering.
After that, the Hall Masters of both gangs returned to their own territories to scheme, contemplating how to position themselves in the days to come.
After some deliberation, two types of people emerged in both the Celestial Wolf Gang and the Black Water Gang.
One type sensed that the atmosphere in Lianshan City was off, so they packed their bags and valuables, believing it was best to retreat first.
The other type was bursting with ambition, wanting to take advantage of the chaos to rise up.
After all, the Gang Leaders were gone, the Three Heroes of the Celestial Wolf Gang and the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang were gone too. That made the Hall Masters the strongest and most powerful figures left in all of Lianshan City.
This was the perfect opportunity to annex other halls. When that happened, Lianshan City might just become theirs to command!
And so, after a single day of quiet, the two gangs began to fight and slaughter each other within Lianshan City.
And it wasn’t a simple two-sided conflict; instead, the individual halls formed their own alliances and fought chaotically amongst themselves, a true free-for-all.
Atop the Forget Sorrow Building, Wen Rou gazed at the gang wars erupting throughout Lianshan City, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
’Jiang Kaitai is dead, Yuan Dongtian is dead, and even Murong Qing is dead.’
’What on earth did that boy Chen Yuan do?’
Although rumors outside claimed Chen Yuan was also dead, Wen Rou absolutely did not believe it.
Sending a message to the Murong Family to lure them here had been that boy’s idea in the first place.
Shaking her head lightly, Wen Rou stopped thinking about these matters, because she too would be leaving today.
Thanks to Chen Yuan, the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower had completely verified the earth-shattering intelligence that there was a problem with the Sun-piercing Alliance’s Divine Weapon, the Sun-piercing Sword.
This piece of intelligence alone was enough for Wen Rou to be promoted two levels within the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower.
A small city like Lianshan could no longer hold her. Her next step might be to leave You Province and go directly to a Central Plains Province to become a Wind Media Leader.
Therefore, the developments in Lianshan City no longer concerned her. It was time for the next Wind Media Leader to worry about them.
Wen Rou went downstairs and had the waiter close the Forget Sorrow Building, hanging up a "Closed" sign.
From now on, there would be no more Forget Sorrow Building in Lianshan City.
The new Wind Media Leader, besides taking over the existing files, would not continue to use the Forget Sorrow Building as a base but would start fresh elsewhere.
This was also a rule of the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower. They never operated from a single base for too long; whenever the agent changed, the base had to change too. This was for better security.
With all of Lianshan City in chaos, most Jianghu people wouldn’t notice the closing of the Forget Sorrow Building.
Only some low-level Jianghu people felt a bit wistful, knowing they would never again find a tavern with such cheap wine.
Of course, what they would miss even more was the flirtatious and charming proprietress.
The chaos in Lianshan City lasted less than a day before it subsided.
Because people from the Murong Family and the Sun-piercing Alliance had arrived.
The Sun-piercing Alliance was able to come because the Black Water Gang had sent them a message long ago.
As for the Murong Family, they came because they discovered that Murong Qing had used the Divine Artifact Incarnation of Star Shifting.
Creating a Divine Artifact Incarnation of Star Shifting was not easy. It required selecting a piece of Ancient Jade with great age, which was then reinforced by engraving an array onto it.
Finally, a Commander-in-Chief who had mastered Star Shifting had to personally act, sealing the Divine Artifact’s power into the Ancient Jade to complete the creation of a Divine Artifact Incarnation.
Therefore, for members of the Murong Family, they would only use a Divine Artifact Incarnation in a true life-or-death situation.
And once it was used, the main Star Shifting artifact would also react.
In Longcheng, upon sensing that Murong Qing had used Star Shifting, the family felt that something was amiss. They immediately dispatched people to rush over and investigate, using a secret technique to travel at great speed regardless of the cost. Riding nonstop, they just so happened to arrive at the same time as the people from the Sun-piercing Alliance.
Even more coincidentally, the person sent by the Murong Family this time was none other than Murong Li, the very same person who came to Lianshan City in the original story.
And the person sent by the Sun-piercing Alliance was a young man in his twenties named Shi Tianxing, who was also the one sent to Lianshan City in the original story.
If Chen Yuan were here, he would surely lament that although the plot had changed, it seemed that fate had somehow brought everything back to its starting point.
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