Chapter 38: Chapter 37: I’ll Give You a Chance
Zhu Chengze stormed out of the Council Hall, simmering with resentment.
The five Zhu brothers seemed to get along, but in reality, their standing within the family was far from equal.
He, Zhu Chengze, had the lowest standing of the five.
Zhu Cheng’an, the eldest, had helped Zhu Chaofeng manage the Zhu Family since he was young. As the saying goes, an eldest brother is like a father, so his standing was naturally high.
The second brother, Zhu Chengguo, was not one to compete or vie for power. With his steady personality and decent Martial Dao Talent, he was a pillar of the Zhu Family, second only to Zhu Chengzong.
The fourth, Zhu Chengzu, was handsome, silver-tongued, and knew how to handle matters, making him Zhu Chaofeng’s favorite.
And as for the fifth, Zhu Chengzong, there was even less to say. A Martial Dao genius who had been accepted into the Blazing Sect, he was the Zhu Family’s hope for the future.
But what about him, Zhu Chengze?
His looks were average, his Martial Dao Talent was average, and his dull personality meant he was a poor conversationalist.
He hadn’t reaped many benefits from the Zhu Family’s rise to power, yet now that his fourth brother had provoked a powerful enemy, he was expected to fight to the death alongside them. ’On what grounds?’
Grumbling, Zhu Chengze returned to his own quarters.
But the instant he pushed the door open, Zhu Chengze’s eyes flew wide in utter horror.
Chen Yuan, dressed in black with a conical hat, was sitting calmly inside, his hands resting on the pommel of his long saber as he waited leisurely.
Just as Zhu Chengze was about to scream, Chen Yuan raised a finger to his lips. "Don’t make a sound. If you do, I’ll kill you right now."
Zhu Chengze choked back the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.
He had seen Chen Yuan’s blade and knew just how fast it was.
If this man wanted him dead, he could certainly do the job before his father and eldest brother could arrive.
"You’ve got some nerve! How dare you sneak into the Zhu Family’s home at a time like this!"
Zhu Chengze hissed, his eyes filled with terror.
"I dare to wipe out your entire Zhu Family. What makes you think I wouldn’t dare to sneak inside?"
Chen Yuan scoffed. "I only came to give you a chance," he said lightly. "A chance to live. It’s up to you whether you want it or not."
"You’ll spare the Zhu Family?"
"No. But I can promise not to kill *you*."
Chen Yuan looked at Zhu Chengze, a faint, unreadable smile on his face. "I can sense that you’re afraid of dying. You really don’t want to die. That’s why I’m giving you this chance.
"If you can kill all the other members of the Zhu Family at the critical moment—a public betrayal—I won’t kill you.
"Of course, you don’t have to agree right now. Whether you live or die will depend on your actions."
With that, Chen Yuan’s figure blurred. He leaped out the window and vanished into the night.
Zhu Chengze’s fists clenched tightly, his eyes flickering with a tormented, internal struggle.
Chen Yuan had been right about one thing.
He was afraid of dying. Terrified...
Under the cover of darkness, a dozen or so Zhu Family Guests left the manor, preparing to descend the mountain. They moved in silence, not even daring to light torches.
Fearing any noise, they didn’t even dare ride their horses. They deliberately spread out, muffling their movements and taking different streets down the mountain.
But even as they suppressed all sound, to Chen Yuan’s preternaturally sharp senses, their movements were as clear as day.
A dazzling blade flashed in the darkness. One by one, the Zhu Family Guests were decapitated, falling to the ground without even a chance to scream.
Of the dozen-odd Guests, the one who made it the farthest was only a street away before Chen Yuan cut him down.
「The next morning.」
As dawn broke, some of the bolder residents of Lonely Mountain City cautiously ventured out to see what had happened.
They had all heard the commotion last night when the Zhu Family mobilized on a massive scale to hunt down their enemy.
However, what followed wasn’t the sound of a fierce battle, but of the Zhu Family’s Guests routing in terror.
Upon arriving at the scene, they were met with a sight too horrible to behold: the ground was littered with severed limbs and a pile of mangled flesh.
According to some of the Guests who had managed to escape, that pile of flesh was none other than the Zhu Family’s second son, Zhu Chengguo!
The area around the Zhu Family Manor was just as gruesome.
More than a dozen Zhu Family Guests had been beheaded, their headless corpses scattered everywhere.
Some lay near the manor itself, while others were found closer to the path leading down the mountain.
Everyone understood at once.
The Zhu Family was afraid!
They had been so thoroughly terrorized by a single person that they were trying to flee and call for aid.
Realizing this, the people of Lonely Mountain City wore strange, knowing expressions.
How insufferably arrogant had the Zhu Family been before?
They had run rampant through Lonely Mountain City, and no one dared to cross them.
Moreover, with one of their sons accepted into one of the Central Plains Major Sects, even surrounding factions stronger than the Zhu Family had to show them some respect.
But what about now? They were nothing but panicked, helpless lambs waiting for the slaughter.
’So this is all the Zhu Family amounts to!’
Inside the Zhu residence, neither Zhu Cheng’an nor Zhu Chaofeng had slept a wink.
It wasn’t that they dared not sleep, but that they could not.
At dawn, a Guest who stepped outside the manor to investigate saw nothing but a field of headless corpses.
"All the Guests we sent out are dead!" Zhu Cheng’an’s voice was laced with dread. "After yesterday’s battle, he didn’t leave. He’s been watching our Zhu Family from the shadows, pinning us down!"
He was truly afraid this time, and he was out of ideas.
Their enemy had latched onto the Zhu Family like a maggot feeding on a corpse—impossible to shake off.
"Such vicious methods!" Zhu Chaofeng’s expression was grim.
To put it nicely, Lonely Mountain City’s terrain was easy to defend and difficult to assault.
But by that same token, if someone sealed the exits, it was nearly impossible to escape.
There was only one road leading down the mountain. Were they supposed to jump off a cliff?
"Gather all the remaining Guests. After dark, have them all charge out of the Zhu Family Manor.
"If a hundred men scatter at once, how can one person possibly kill them all?
"Even catching a hundred pigs wouldn’t be that easy."
After a moment’s thought, Zhu Chaofeng finalized his plan.
Zhu Cheng’an nodded. It was the only option they had left.
But before Zhu Cheng’an could issue the command, Zhu Chengze ran in, frantic.
"Father! Eldest Brother! It’s terrible! All the Guests have fled!"
Zhu Chaofeng shot to his feet. "What?! They all fled? Not a single one is left?"
A bitter, twisted smile—more horrid than a grimace of tears—appeared on Zhu Chengze’s face. "Not one. We couldn’t stop them! Some even stole our money and jewels before they fled."
"Damn them! They deserve to die!"
Zhu Chaofeng slammed his palm onto the table beside him, and the fine mahogany shattered into splinters.
But it was nothing more than a display of impotent rage.
Everyone had already fled. Who was there left to kill?
"Third Brother, go and bar the main gate! Lock every door in the manor!"
After Zhu Chengze left, Zhu Chaofeng collapsed back into his chair, seeming to age several years in an instant.
"One wrong step has led to every step being wrong."
Zhu Chaofeng, once the son of a mere butcher, had spent decades clawing his way up to dominate Lonely Mountain City and build the Zhu Family into what it was. He was, by all accounts, a man of great and ruthless ambition.
But he had grown old and had gradually lost the cautiousness of his youth.
The series of blows the Zhu Family had suffered all stemmed from a single core cause: his own arrogant negligence!
When he had chosen to wipe out the Chu Family, he should have been thorough and left no one alive.
After learning that someone was coming to destroy his family, he shouldn’t have tested the waters so cautiously. He should have used the full force of a lion to pounce on a rabbit. With hundreds of Guests and four Qi Casting Realm masters attacking at once, how could his opponent possibly have stood a chance?
But he had misstepped at every turn, and as a result, the Zhu Family had been pushed to this state by a single man.
"Father, we can’t let ourselves be trapped here to die!"
Zhu Cheng’an said suddenly. "The Guests are all gone. Panic has gripped the Zhu Family, and we can’t even sleep in peace.
"As the saying goes, a thief can be a thief for a thousand days, but no one can stand guard for a thousand days. Right now, he’s just wearing us down.
"He’s waiting for us to be completely exhausted. Then he’ll storm the manor and kill us with ease!
"Rather than wait passively for him to break down our door, the two of us should make a break for it down the mountain.
"Once we’re off this mountain, the world is vast. We’ll have a chance to live!"
Zhu Chaofeng frowned slightly. "And what about your brothers? What about the rest of our family? Do we take them with us?"
"We can’t take them!"
Zhu Cheng’an’s voice was low and heavy. "If we bring a group of burdens, we’ll all die!
"Have Third Brother stay here with the rest of the family while we, father and son, descend the mountain.
"Our enemy is only one man. He can’t be in two places at once.
"If he chases us, Third Brother and the others will be safe, and we’ll have a fighting chance to hold him off.
"If he attacks the manor to kill Third Brother, we’ll have more time to escape down the mountain.
"Father, at a time like this, a choice must be made!"
At this life-or-death juncture, Zhu Cheng’an was remarkably decisive—one might even say cold-blooded.
The family members he proposed leaving behind weren’t just distant relatives; they included his own wives, concubines, and sons.
But wives and concubines could be replaced. New sons could be fathered. If he himself died, however, that would be the end of everything.
Zhu Chaofeng closed his eyes, lost in thought. He finally let out a long sigh and nodded slowly.
Though Zhu Cheng’an had framed it honorably, the plan was, in reality, nothing more than abandoning the "burdens" of the Zhu Family so that the two of them could escape with their lives.
"Go get your third brother. Explain the situation to him. Tell him to consider the bigger picture."
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