On seeing that the situation couldn’t be saved, Xiong Xiao’s two aides wanted to turn on their heels and run—but it was too late. They were immediately cut off by Yuan Fang and Lai Yuhan, and after briefly crossing blades, they were executed; blood spewing as they fell to the ground.
Both ChunXue and Dong Xue were in a pitiful situation, they both knew that they wouldn’t be able to escape after losing their mounts. Wielding the long blades in their hands, both of them huddled together with their backs pressed against the other. They were trapped in the middle of dozens of cavalry keeping close watch on them, and unable to break themselves free.
Miao Yi leapt off Charcoal. A pair of savage wolven boots came smas.h.i.+ng onto the ground, creaking as they tread on the snow. His body of silver armor glimmered splendidly under the sunset, as he charged forward with the Inversed-Scales Spear in his hand.
He quickly came to a stop when he neared them. Raising his hand to lift the mask, he stared at Chun Xue with a sneer. "Huang Yue. It’s been a while! I don’t want to make things difficult for you, so tell me where Xiong Xiao is hiding. Help me find him, and I will promise to show you mercy!"
In the current situation, it would be quite troublesome to search for Xiong Xiao. Only the two well-informed handmaidens had the greatest probability of helping him find Xiong Xiao.
‘Pui!’ Chun Xue spat at him.
Miao Yi casually gestured with his hand, and a surge of transcendence energy emanated to block off the spit. "Do you really want it the hard way? I’ll give you one more chance!"
Chun Xue’s beautiful face abruptly turned menacing, and she began cursing uncontrollably, "Do you think a street butcher, and trash like you is even worthy of wagging your bottom as you beg for mercy before the Huang Clan’s gate?!"
Miao Yi remained unfazed. He s.h.i.+fted his spear to target Dong Xue. "She doesn’t want this chance. I’m giving this last chance to you."
"Sister! We’re bound to die anyway. Join me and fight him to our deaths!" Chun Xue cried out as she turned around.
Face ghastly pale, Dong Xue nodded. The two of them immediately joined forces, and brandished their long blades in a forward rush. They were really prepared to die rather than betray Xiong Xiao’s trust.
Those with cultivation higher than Miao Yi’s may not even be his match, let alone two handmaidens with cultivation levels not up to his. How could they be Miao Yi’s match? A trace of coldness flashed in Miao Yi’s eyes—the Inversed-Scale Spear roared, glimmering in the sunset light as he struck out.
‘CLANG! CLANG!’—two strikes rapidly rang out!
Two blades sliced forward—one high in the air by Dong Xue, while the other in Chun Xue’s hand swept low to hack at Miao Yi from the side. Mio swiftly stomped onto the back of that blade, immobilizing it.
‘BANG!’— Dong Xue loosened her grip on the long blade. She lowered her head to look at the b.l.o.o.d.y hole that had erupted in her chest. The sharp triple-edged spear head then lightly tapped her on the shoulder, and she collapsed to the ground—powerless; she was unable to withstand even a single blow!
"Sister!" Turning to look at beside her, Chun Xue instantly cried out in grief, tears cascading down her face.
Miao Yi invoked his arts and stomped harder a second time, the shaft of the blade tightly gripped in Chun Xue’s hand broke into pieces on the ground.
Before she could react, the sharp triple-edged spear head s.h.i.+fted from Dong Xue to strike her shoulder.
Miao Yi drew his arm back—the sharp barbs on the spearhead hooked onto the back of her shoulder—blood gushed out immediately; her shoulder blade was almost snapped by motion as he rapidly hooked her to him, and forced her into a kneeling position in an instant. She couldn’t keep herself on her feet no matter how much she struggled.
"Sc.u.m! LOWLY TRAs.h.!.+ YOU DOG…"
While being hooked on her shoulder bone by the sharp barb of the spearhead, she couldn’t move, and began cursing in rage. Her eyes looked as though flames were shooting from them as she glared daggers at Miao Yi.
It was clear that no matter what he did, he could no longer hope for this woman to cooperate.
Miao Yi lowered his gaze, there was nothing left to consider. "My siblings and I had intended to pa.s.s our days peacefully. We had no grudges or animosity with the Huang Clan, and yet, your clan still kicked us around and tortured us. No matter what, you lot never intended to leave us be. Your clan caused my siblings and I to feel ill at ease, even when we were trying to earn an honest-living, and forced us apart from one another, both in life and death! Making me disappoint my foster parents in the Heavens above—do you even know of the hatred I feel in my heart? The reason why the Huang Clan took advantage of their position to bully us was all because of you! If I let you go now, I won’t be able to face my unfortunate brother and sister! Nevermind! From now on, the enmity between your clan and mine will come to an end!"
"You sc.u.m! I’ll haunt you even after I’ve become a ghost!"
Chun Xue had thrown all cautions to the wind and only knew how to curse incessantly.
Miao Yi coldly scoffed and transmitted his voice instead, "I have no qualms about letting you die knowing the truth. Your brother died by my hands. Your father, the City Lord of Changfeng City hadn’t died at the hands of others—it was I who killed him. I will now grant you mercy, and send you to reunite with them!"
There was a reason why he had used voice transmission—news of him killing Head Guard Huang could not be leaked—these were the rules of the game. If Yuan Fang and the others heard it, they would have something to blackmail him with.
Chun Xue finally shut up, her eyes widening as she stared right at him; he was the one who killed her father…
A crazed scream eventually erupted from her throat. "AHHHHH!!! YOU FILTHY b.a.s.t.a.r.d..."
A cold glint flashed past—Miao Yi did not let her say anything further; the sharp spear head casually sliced through Chun Xue’s fair neck. Her severed head flew through the air, as fresh blood spurted out profusely from her neck, before falling to the ground!
Face devoid of emotions, Miao Yi leapt back off the ground, descending onto Charcoal’s back, light as a feather whilst keeping hold of the spear.
A couple of subordinates swiftly searched the corpses, and presented the items before Miao Yi; they had found a few Orbs of Will.
Miao Yi wasn’t at all interested; it was the first time that he lacked interest in Orbs of Will. He quickly swept his gaze across some of his wounded subordinates. It was fortunate that the battle had been quickly resolved, and his subordinates only suffered light injuries from it. Nothing had been lost. He calmly instructed, "Divide them among you all."
The crowd joyfully thanked him.
Miao Yi shot a glance at Chun Xue’s corpse, and gently exhaled a breath of air. The enmity he had with the Huang Clan had finally came to an end. That son conceived between Old Huang and Old Li’s daughter from the tofu store, had better stay put. Otherwise, he wouldn’t mind eliminating the Huang Clan completely.
"Move! Let’s head back!"
Miao Yi shouted aloud, and began leading his subordinates back to East Arrival Cave, thundering off on another path.
The man he truly wanted to kill had escaped, but it was clear to everyone that the search area was too large. If they lost him, it would be difficult to find him again; and searching for him aimlessly was futile, so they could only return...
The sky gradually darkened as the curtain of night closed in—the thunderous pounding of hooves was audible in the distance.
Under Xiong Xiao’s command, a company of two hundred and ten units were travelling towards them. Apart from the thirty men of certain Caves’ forces, the rest of the ninety-odd men were all finally present.
He was quite pleasantly surprised that the Sword Deviate Sect, Jade Lady Sect, and the School of Imperial Beasts’ forces had come earlier than expected; much faster than he had first imagined.
Yang Qing had a.s.signed a hundred and twenty men to him—with three Blue Lotus First Grade experts among them. Thus, he now had two hundred and ten mounted men before him.
Based on the income he was reaping by securing two Mountains, he could definitely afford to raise them.
With such a large force, along with three Blue Lotus First Grade experts, Xiong Xiao was no longer afraid of Miao Yi and his group.
Even if his own forces hadn’t been replenished with men from the three great sects, Xiong Xiao believed that he had already found a way to deal with Miao Yi’s men—by gathering the dragon steeds into a collective charge. Even at the risk of death, or being grievously wounded, they would charge ahead with their steeds—making use of the herd’s destructive impact in a gamble of life and death. He didn’t believe that Miao Yi wouldn’t die because of this.
Moreover, he had a well-disciplined and powerful army. While gathering his men and making his way back again, Xiong Xiao was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence.
However, he couldn’t find even a single trace of Miao Yi left. What greeted him was a couple of corpses, along with two dragon steeds unwilling to part with their masters.
Xiong Xiao leapt off his dragon steed and embraced Chun Xue’s body, burying his head and weeping before his subordinates—he was truly heartbroken.
With the ability to oversee a domain—regardless whether it was a Cave Master, Mountain Chieftain, Manor Head, or even a Palace Manor—the handmaiden’s beside them were incomparable to an ordinary cultivator’s handmaiden; they were all meticulously chosen. Not only was their beauty first-rate, but their cultivation apt.i.tudes were also nurtured as the trusted aides amongst all trusted aides.
To him, both Chun Xue and Dong Xue were his most trusted aides, the women who shared his bed; and the disciples he had imparted his arts to. When he was engaged in closed-door seclusion cultivation, there were matters he would a.s.sign them to handle without worry.
He once promised the two of them that one day, when matters were settled after he gained power and authority, he would have children with them.
Now, everything had vanished. The two women he had spent over two decades cultivating with, the ones who were already adept at dealing with matters for him—were dead. Nurturing another from the beginning would take a long time.
More importantly, during that time, he would probably have to take care of a lot of trivial matters himself, since it was impossible for novices to handle matters for him right at the start due to their lack of experience. This would definitely distract him from cultivation.
He had already lost two handmaidens when he was still a Cave Master in the past. Now two more had died; what’s more, they had died to save him. It definitely created great sorrow and grief in his heart.
The over two hundred men sitting upright on their dragon steeds behind fell into silence. Everyone knew the importance of handmaidens for those charged with an area. When it came to trusted aides, no one could even compare to the Elder Auntie and Little Auntie by the Mountain Chieftain’s side.
At the fore of the cavalry were three people. One of carried six long swords on his back, while another one had beast pouches hanging by his waist. Both of them were old men who had several years behind them. The first one was Tu Sanliang of the Sword Deviate Sect; the latter was Ma Hu, from the School of Imperial Beasts.
The beautiful lady in a silver muslin dress between them, was Lan Ye. She looked young, but her age was actually not far from the other two. The Jade Lady Sect was simply skilled at retaining their youthful appearances.
The three of them were obviously the first-rate Blue Lotus experts from the three great sects now serving under Xiong Xiao.
When they saw how much grief Xiong Xiao was in, as he wept non-stop; the three of them exchanged glances with one another before dismounting their dragon steeds in succession. As the representatives of the three sects, they cupped their hands and saluted Xiong Xiao simultaneously, "Mountain Cheiftain, our condolences!"
The three persons’ words seemed to have some effect on Xiong Xiao. He released the body and got to his feet. Facing the trio, he cried out in pain, "MIAO YI, YOU Sc.u.m. I will never let him go! Will the three of you a.s.sist me in taking vengeance?!"
The three looked at each other in dismay. They already had a rough idea of the situation on their journey here, but seeing that almost seventy men had failed to block little more than a dozen others, they were still quite surprised.
This wasn’t a one-on-one battle where those with the highest cultivation could emerge victorious. In a battle where a large number of forces were entangled with the formidable might of a herd of dragon steeds, even Blue Lotus cultivators would feel incredible threatened. It wasn’t something that could be easily dealt with just because of a high cultivation level.
Yet they had been unable to hold them off. It was uncertain whether the men of Mount Shaotai were too useless, or those dozens of men were too strong. To actually be killed by a Cave Master with a low cultivation, until they were thrown off their steeds.
"We are willing to obey Mountain Chieftain’s orders!" The trio cupped their hands together. The reason they came here was for their future prospects—how could they choose not to obey when they were newcomers?
However, Tu Sanliang still hesitantly added, "Mountain Chieftain. I’m uncertain whether this is appropriate for us to do so. I’ve heard that the East Arrival Cave is in the hands of the Manor Head’s adoptive daughter. Should we kill her subordinate, won’t the Manor Head..."
He didn’t finish his sentence, but his concerns were evident to everyone. Partic.i.p.ating in an internal power struggle right from the get go; even putting their hands on Yang Qing’s adopted daughter—it would be hard for the three of them not to worry.
