Before Wang Anfeng appeared in front of Wind Character Tower.
Fufeng County City·Ministry of Punishment.
Yan Ling, dressed in vermilion clothes, yawned. His eye bags had gotten heavier compared to two years ago, and though he seemed somewhat lazy, his aura was much deeper than before.
He held a scroll in his hand, sent from the Ministry of Punishment in Xi Dingzhou City. Yan Ling’s gaze swept over the scroll, showing a thoughtful expression.
"What’s wrong?"
The man sitting beside him had a rather imposing stature. Curious about Yan Ling’s expression, he raised his eyes and smiled casually, saying, "Nothing much, just that the power dynamics in Jianghu of Xi Dingzhou have shifted. The once dominant Twenty-Seven Allied Gangs have been destroyed and replaced by the Giant Whale Gang of Xi Dingzhou."
"A new master named Ying Lie has emerged, almost on par with Middle Third Rank."
He, sounding a bit helpless, rubbed his temples before adding pensively, "The Blade Madman first wreaked havoc through Jianghu of Xi Dingzhou and Zhongzhou, almost breaking through to Evergreen Mountain."
"Then the Giant Whale Gang brought out some bizarre new Lord."
"I don’t know what kind of geniuses or treasures Xi Dingzhou produces, but within a short span, two young masters with Martial Arts both of Sixth Rank and extraordinary combat power, emerged. Impressive indeed."
Another man, with a slightly solemn expression, asked:
"Do you think there’s a connection between these two?"
Yan Ling, rubbing his temples as he seemed very tired and thus quite fond of this gesture, chuckled and replied:
"I didn’t say that."
"But it doesn’t hurt to check."
The man across did not take Yan Ling’s vague words lightly and nodded seriously, saying:
"I understand."
"There’s no time to delay, I’ll give the orders now."
"Wait, come back..."
Yan Ling stretched out his hand to stop the somewhat impetuous man, his eyes slightly sharpened, then asked again:
"Before this, all the members of the Xue Family had left, right?"
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"Those few are coming today. If they run into the Xue Family, it would be somewhat inconvenient. Hmm, just to be safe, deploy more personnel. You understand, right?"
The man nodded and said:
"Subordinate understands."
A few moments later, the man hurried off, leaving Yan Ling alone, looking rather solemn as he gazed at the scroll in his hand. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the window, casting a flowing light on him, making him appear like a statue. After a moment, he sighed deeply.
"Xue Family..."
...............
"Xue Family is the number one Assassin Noble Clan under heaven, you are Xue’s daughter; you don’t need these trinkets!"
At the age of five, a distant cousin had put her first beaded flower on her.
Then, it was harshly broken by that person, thrown in front of her while she kneeled on the bluestone slab, hearing her sister’s screams of agony during punishment.
She had kneeled for 24 hours.
It was winter then, and the snow was very deep.
She did not cry.
"Emotions make people full of weaknesses. Once there are emotions, the strong will no longer be strong," he admonished her.
Then he stabbed her white rabbit to death with his sword, the blade’s chill penetrating to the bone - a speed unmatched even by thunder, yet he did no harm to her. But he forgot, she too was a descendant of the ones who assassinated the Ancestral Dragon, she could feel it.
The sword blade hesitated just a moment before her chest.
That year, she was seven years old.
The third young master of the Xue Family in Jianghu.
Everyone in Jianghu knew Xue had no daughter.
He was one of the top three assassins under heaven, her biological father.
She opened her eyes.
It was just noon, and she had just been resting in her clothes for a while. Her sword lay beside the bed, within easy reach, and although her right shoulder still hurt, it no longer affected her movements, and she did not mind.
The first time she was injured, she might have cried.
But after the hundredth, or the thousandth time, anyone would become numb to pain.
She remembered, at that time she was twelve.
Dressed in a gray vigorous attire, her face grimy, her shoulder wrapped in bandages, her expression as cold as frost.
In front of her, her uncle’s daughter ran past in a goose-yellow dress, her uncle carefully protecting her from behind, his face wearing a smile she had never seen on that person’s face.
"In the future, you can only cry in front of dad and mom, outside, you must be strong..." her uncle told her cousin as she left the house for the first time. Read new chapters at freewebnovel
She didn’t agree with him; even elders can be wrong sometimes.
If you want to live well, you cannot cry.
Crying is a luxury.
That year, she was thirteen and had already made a name for herself as invincible among the younger generation in Jianghu, at the cost of twenty-three penetrating injuries, seven internal injuries, and forty-eight painful awakenings from her dreams. That year, her brother was eight. When his wrist swelled after a sword match, the entire Xue Family was alarmed.
Everyone in Jianghu knew, Xue Qinshuang was tearless.
Yet that night, she seemed unable to control herself, kneeling in front of her mother’s grave, her amber eyes sharply open.
Even while crying, she was silent.
Xue Qinshuang gently moved her wrists. Outside the courtyard, a faint killing intent had already appeared, signalling that the family pursuers had come again.
She put aside her Taiqing sword and Plain Sword.
On her lower back, she also carried an inconspicuous short sword, barely a foot in length.
Not very eye-catching.
But only a few knew, this short sword was even more dangerous than the well-known sword in her hand.
Outside the courtyard, a faint malevolence surrounded the area, an old woman crossed with a basket selling snacks, children ran about, and a woodcutter passed by shouting his wares. Although to others, it was still a scene of peace, in the eyes of the descendant of the world’s top assassin noble clan, this peaceful scene was full of hidden dangers.