Chapter 37: Tragic and Brutal
"My mother?" Jian Wushuang's heart stirred.
From childhood to adulthood, he had always been by his father Jian Nantian's side, until he was twelve years old, when his father suddenly left and disappeared without a trace. As for his mother... he had never seen her, and his father had never even mentioned her.
So even to this day, he had no idea who his mother was or what her name was.
"You know my mother?" Jian Wushuang was just about to ask when Ji Wuyue suddenly flicked her wrist, hurling him toward the burly man flying alongside them.
"Wuyue, you..." The burly man hurriedly caught Jian Wushuang, but his gaze turned toward Ji Wuyue—and at that sight, his expression changed drastically.
The veil on Ji Wuyue's face had fallen away, revealing a terrifying visage completely covered in festering sores. Green veins bulged and pulsed across that face, as if thousands of worms were gnawing at it, while Ji Wuyue let out shrill, crazed screams of agony, appearing to be in the utmost pain.
"Damn it, the poison has flared up." The burly man, Abu, said grimly, "It didn't flare up earlier or later, but had to flare up at this very moment."
"The poison flared up?" Jian Wushuang stared at Ji Wuyue in shock.
"Jian Wushuang." Ji Wuyue's voice, tinged with madness, burst from her mouth. "Listen carefully... Your mother's name was Ji Wumeng, the eldest daughter of the Ji clan. Three years ago, your father was hunted by Blood Feather Tower and had no choice but to flee to the Ji clan. To shelter your father, our Ji clan did not hesitate to break all ties with Blood Feather Tower. A large force of Blood Feather Tower experts stormed straight into our clan! Everyone in our Ji clan fought to the death to resist!"
"The result..."
"Your mother was cut down on the spot. Your father was taken away by Blood Feather Tower. And our Ji clan—our entire family, annihilated! I was the only one who managed to escape!"
"So you must remember: you are not only the son of Jian Nantian, but also the last living bloodline of our Ji clan besides me. You must live on well, grow slowly, and once your strength has matured, storm Blood Feather Tower and avenge my Ji clan's massacre!"
"And also... and also..." Ji Wuyue seemed to have gone mad, the extreme agony of the flaring poison making her words stutter and break. "The Three Kill Sword—you must keep it... safe. Your father... said... it is the... token to enter... the Ancestral Land!"
By the end, Ji Wuyue's voice had become hysterical.
"Go, Abu, take him and go, quickly!"
Ji Wuyue suddenly roared in fury once more.
Abu gave Ji Wuyue one deep, long look, then hoisted Jian Wushuang onto his back. "Let's go!"
"Little aunt—she's my little aunt." At this moment, Jian Wushuang finally understood Ji Wuyue's identity. "No, take my little aunt with us, let's go together!"
"Once Wuyue's poison flares up, she'll immediately lose her mind and fall into madness, even attacking everyone around her. If we bring her, none of us will escape." Abu said in a low voice.
"Even so, we can't leave her behind!" Jian Wushuang cried out urgently.
Abu's expression darkened, and then he struck the back of Jian Wushuang's neck with his palm. Jian Wushuang immediately lost consciousness.
Carrying the unconscious Jian Wushuang, Abu fled the area without looking back.
Before long, a purple-robed man from Blood Feather Tower found Ji Wuyue, who had already descended into madness.
"Hahaha, Ji Wuyue, come along with me like a good girl."
"Old dog Dark Shadow, may you die a horrible death!"
...
Half a day later, the slaughter within Qingxin Forest finally subsided completely.
On that battlefield of carnage, corpses littered the ground everywhere. More than ten masked figures in black robes stood there, led by the purple-robed man.
"Over thirty Silver Mask level assassins plus three Gold Mask assassins were all dispatched, and in the end, most of the Silver Mask assassins were killed or wounded—even one of the Gold Mask assassins perished. With losses this great, yet the target still not eliminated, what use are you?" The purple-robed man's face darkened.
Rustle— the many black-robed figures behind him immediately knelt down.
"Pass down the order: issue a blood-red warrant across all of Tianyan Province. Even if you have to turn the entire Tianyan Province upside down, you will find him for me!" The purple-robed man said coldly.
"Yes!" The many black-robed figures immediately answered.
"Fortunately, even though we failed to kill the target this time, we did capture Ji Wuyue, so it wasn't a complete loss." The purple-robed man murmured to himself. "With Ji Wuyue in hand, Jian Nantian won't be able to keep his mouth shut."
...
Within the Sword Marquis Manor, after that brutal great battle, the entire manor was covered in devastation, and the atmosphere was unbearably heavy.
Behind the central training grounds, corpses were being carried over one after another—at a single glance, there were over a hundred bodies.
A large number of the Sword Marquis Manor's experts and disciples stood at the edge of the training grounds, looking at the hundred-plus corpses before them, each one's face grim.
"Manor Lord, the casualties have all been tallied." An elder from the Blood Martial Hall came to Jian Xinhong's side.
"Speak."
Jian Xinhong's face was somewhat pale, and there was even a trace of fresh blood at the corner of his mouth. Clearly, he had been gravely injured in that great battle as well.
"Eight experts at the Huahai realm and above have fallen. Four of them were the Four Great Elders of the Sword Pavilion, and the other four were the four Stewards of the Sword Pavilion." That elder said.
"They were all from the Sword Pavilion?" Jian Xinhong's eyes widened, then he asked, "And the disciples who died?"
"Ninety-four disciples at the Lingdao realm died in total. Most of them never took part in the battle willingly, but were helplessly dragged into it. The youngest among them was only twelve years old, having only just condensed his spiritual power." The elder replied, his voice carrying a trace of grief.
Jian Xinhong trembled body and soul. Hearing these casualty numbers, his face turned from green to white, and after a long while, he heavily sighed. "Bury them properly."
On the training grounds, several other people stood there, their expressions equally heavy—they were Bai Chong and the others from the Life-and-Death Arena.
However, the golden-robed stewards following behind Bai Chong, who had once numbered six, now numbered only three.
And Bai Chong, looking at the densely packed corpses spread out before him, could not help but reach with his right hand toward his left sleeve. Beneath that blood-soaked sleeve was emptiness—his arm was gone.
"Jian Nantian, Ji Wumeng—the debt of gratitude I owed you, husband and wife, I, Bai Chong, have now repaid!"
That day, the great battle that erupted without warning—a battle so sudden that even the various powers could not understand why it had happened—ultimately ended with:
The Sword Marquis Manor's Four Great Elders of the Sword Pavilion—all dead!
Lord Jiu—dead!
The four Stewards of the Sword Pavilion and nearly a hundred ordinary disciples of the Lingdao realm were caught up in the catastrophe and likewise killed, the youngest among them only twelve years old.
Countless more throughout the Sword Marquis Manor were wounded.
Of the Life-and-Death Arena's six golden-robed stewards, three had fallen, and the remaining three were all gravely injured.
Bai Chong—lost an arm!
Ji Wuyue—captured alive!
A battle tragic and brutal beyond measure, and the source of this great battle's eruption was nothing more than the awakening of Jian Wushuang's Sword Soul!
...
PS: Brothers, if you didn't understand, you can read it again—you should be able to get it. If you really can't understand, that's fine too; there will be explanations later on.