272 Loneliness (1/2)

He Hanqing’s dead body was a macabre mess.

His head was gone, so was one of his arms; his lower abdomen was pierced straight through while both of his legs were broken; a stab wound ran through his chest and a hundred other wounds tore other parts of his body.

All ten Court of Yama Kings were dumbfounded.

The Concourse of the Underworld had dispatched all of its forces, yet this was a tough character they had failed to kill. How could he have just died here, with his head apart from his body?

They did not even know who's doing it was, and Venerable Lord Saber was nowhere to be seen.

The ten Yama Kings were stupefied.

Nine of the brothers breathed deeply in shock as they exchanged stares before glancing at their eldest, Emperor Song.

”So long as it’s He Hanqing, I have no further questions. With the body here, it will suffice as the mission’s answer. Return immediately!”

Emperor Song’s face was grim when he said, ”This case ends here but the grudge between the Concourse of the Underworld and the Four Seasons Tower begins here as well. Prepare yourselves well once we get back! From this moment onwards, we have become prey instead of predators. Be careful in whatever you do after this, it's better to be safe than sorry!”

The nine brothers and both Gold-ranked assassins Ox-Head and Horse-Face kept quiet as they stared at He Hanqing’s corpse on the ground as if they had seen the forthcoming mayhem.

The Concourse of the Underworld would undoubtedly be right at the center of this pandemonium.

”How many years has it been for the martial arts world to experience such an upheaval… This time, I’m afraid…” King Chujiang frowned and chuckled bitterly. ”Think of today as the warmup for the martial arts world’s upheaval that will soon come, everyone. The merrier moments will begin tomorrow, my brothers.”

However, the brothers felt like they had swallowed bitter pills; the tart taste better to be left forgotten. In spite of that, they could only acknowledge what had happened since all that had transpired.

What could they do if not so? Could they resurrect He Hanqing so that the brothers could kill him again? It was simply impossible, even when one thought with their buttocks.

The ghastly fog dissipated – clarity once again greeted heaven and earth.

…

Venerable Lord Saber was moving with the wind, feeling many degrees of fury and disservice.

It was merely the Concourse of the Underworld and merely the School of Spring and Autumn; how dare they make their move against the Four Seasons Tower? How could they even dream of kill Supreme Lord Spring Frost of the four Supreme Lords?

Ever since the birth of Four Seasons Tower, they had never suffered such a loss.

How could the Four Seasons Tower still speak about domineering the martial arts world if they did not seek revenge?

He was going back to report it to the boss – this would require his personal attention!

The wound on his body was burning with pain. His severe injury that almost took most of his life paled in comparison to the pain in Venerable Lord Saber’s heart.

How many years had it been since he had fled like a coward?

This was absurd! Something that would never occur even in his dreams.

He had to avenge his slight.

Venerable Lord Saber vanished into the sky like a glimmer of light.

He was resentful about this siege, revenge sworn as he sped back to report it to the Four Seasons Tower and begin to plot retaliatory plans.

After all, they would be facing the Concourse of the Underworld and the School of Spring and Autumn, two strong forces, at the same time. If they were to only tackle any one of them, the Four Seasons Tower was confident of their easy victory. However, facing both forces simultaneously, it was still a tricky business.

Despite dueling with Yun Yang directly and intimidated by Yun Yang’s impressive saber skill, Venerable Lord Saber had not assumed him to be a third party.

One of the reasons was Fang Mofei. Although his ability was insignificant, his assassination tactics and resilience to give him all had all reflected his identity as a Gold-ranked assassin in the Concourse of the Underworld.

Therefore, Venerable Lord Saber had instinctively assumed that the last person to appear using a saber was also from the Concourse of the Underworld.

Another reason was due to Bai Yixue. Bai Yixue’s official identity previously was Han Sanhe’s guard; he had made an undeniable act against He Hanqing too. Repeating his objective this time was more or less within prediction. To Venerable Lord Saber, Bei Yixue would at least be related to the School of Spring and Autumn even if he no longer belonged to the Empire of Dongxuan!

…

Until Yun Yang and the other two men had returned to Residence of Yun, all that had happened today still felt like a dream to them – unreal and unexpected.

Supreme Lord Spring Frost.

He was such a massive role in the martial arts world, one of the Four Seasons Tower’s pillars. Such a tough character that could survive despite meeting Ling Xiaozui back in the day, yet he had succumbed to Yun Yang’s plot!

To kill He Hanqing was something major that Yun Yang had been dreaming of for so long.

From the moment he knew of He Hanqing’s identity, Yun Yang had been planning – from entertaining Han Sanhe to setting up the events that followed.

First, it was Bai Yixue whom Yun Yang had unintentionally laid his eyes on; then, it was the Concourse of the Underworld’s First Court King Qinguang who accepted his assignment; afterward, it was Wei Xinglu whom Yun Yang spent some arduous effort to trick him into his scheme.

He did not think much about everything then, he only wanted to resolve the critical situation he was in. Yet it was one coincidence after another that the Concourse of the Underworld had to face right now.

Yun Yang had noticed it right away and notified Wei Xinglu, sending the noise over with a gust of conjured wind.

Everything seemed to look like coincidences from each aspect but they would never have happened if not for Yun Yang’s meticulous arrangements.

When the Divine Edge had beheaded He Hanqing in one slash, Yun Yang clearly felt his brothers watching him with smiles on their faces.