Chapter 52: Sneak Attack

 

The next morning, Pingyao Town is in an uproar. Many people died, and the officials and constables tried to calm the situation.

 

Because of so many deaths, the Beggar sect and other organizations began to investigate, and they found out that the merchants who died had involvement with the dead town thugs. From those few influential families in the town, names appear that relate to the thugs.

 

The influential families denied any involvement with the crime. Because of that, the official had no choice but to close the case. They don’t want to get involved in this mess.

 

When they thought everything was over, a piece of news came from the Huangshan mountain range. The mountain is burning, and the nearby villages leave the mountain and flee to the nearby town and city.

 

At the Lang courtyard house.

 

Zou Jie is drinking tea while Lang Lan's face is glowing, observing him like a girl in love. She only does this when his children are out.

 

“Sir Zou, there is a letter for you!” Lang Yan comes running.

 

Lang Lan's expression changes, and he takes a teacup to drink.

 

Zou Jie took the letter and read it.

 

"Mom, I will go and play with the neighbor.” Lang Yan quickly runs toward the gate. Afraid that Sir Zou will suddenly give him homework.

 

“Make sure to return for lunch.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Zou Jie, after reading the letter, doesn’t show any expression.

 

Lang Lan doesn’t say anything at the same time her body becomes hot. Because she remembers what happened last night. She never had such an intense experience in her life.

 

Zou Jie stands up and walks toward his room.

 

Lang Lan, seeing that, was not sure what to do.

 

“Do you want to enter my room to have a chat?” Zou Jie smiles.

 

“Yes.” She quickly follows.

 

-

 

Dense smoke covers the sky above the mountain. Even after a long time, the fire still has not subsided.

 

Drunken sword master, Crescent Moon fairy, and Fire Punch Master frown at seeing the burning mountain. They are not stupid; this is not an accident; someone must have burned the mountain. The suspect is either the Bai Kingdom army or the criminal. However, it makes no sense for the criminal to burn the mountain.

 

“What should we do?” The drunken sword master asked.

 

“We can only wait until the fire is gone.” Fire Punch Master replies.

 

The fire spread so fast that people could only watch helplessly. Fortunately, two days later, rain fell, and the fire was extinguished. However, everything that touched the fire had been destroyed and burned.

 

The Bai Kingdom army and remaining martial artists once again search the mountain. This time, they found a burned courtyard house on top of the mountain. But they don’t find the criminal.

 

“The criminal might have died by the fire or already fled the mountain.” Huang Ning gazes at the burned courtyard.

 

“Even if he dies, we need to find the criminal corpse.” Elder Tao Jing can’t return empty-handed.

 

“The corpse might already be unrecognizable, and it might not be him.”

 

The other martial masters were also with them, discussing what to do next.

 

A middle-aged, skinny man with a large saber behind his back walks toward them, smiling. Asura Demon is calm and doesn’t show any hostility. “I have something to report."

 

The martial masters gazed at him; they thought he was a vagrant martial artist.

 

It’s not surprising because most people who know his identity are dead.

 

“What is it?” Huang Ning inquired.

 

“I might have information about the criminal's whereabouts.”

 

“Quickly say it; the Azure Crane sect will reward you later.” Elder Tao Jing said it eagerly.

 

“I also don’t know.” Asura demon grins.

 

“Do you think this is a joke?" Elder Tao Jing is furious.

 

The other martial masters' frowns, However, Crescent Moon Fairy and Fire Punch Master had lived a long time and had experienced many things. Both of them suddenly sensed danger and leaped far away from the skinny man.

 

Like lightning, the Aura demon pulled the large, heavy saber from his back like it was nothing and slashed horizontally.

 

The attack suddenly caught the martial masters off-guard.

 

The two Azure Crane Sect martial masters quickly drew their swords to block the attack. But their expression changed when the large saber cut through their sword. When they finally realized the danger and wanted to dodge it, it was already too late. A crescent blade qi released from the saber bisected both of their bodies.

 

Drunken sword master, Elder Tao Jing and Huang Ning using their fastest speed manage to dodge the attack by hairbreadth.

 

After evading the attack, all martial masters attacked at the same time. Although the attacker is strong, they are not a pushover. They were just caught off-guard by the sneak attack.

 

Elder Tao Jing's eyes are bloodshot. The Azure Crane Sect not only lost disciples but also two martial masters. If people find out his sect will be a laughingstock of Jianghu. He jumps to the sky and thrusts his sword releasing a qi beam. “Die!”

 

The crescent moon fairy slashes her sword, creating a rotating crescent qi.

 

Fire Punch Master infused his qi into his punch from the friction in the air; his hand is enveloped with flame.

 

The drunken sword master slashes his sword vertically, releasing a sword qi to fall from the sky.

 

Huang Ning released a Qi blade, aiming at the attacker's neck.

Seeing the attack coming in all directions, the Asura demon smiles and doesn’t show any fear. A large, crimson-armored humanoid with six arms holding a saber came out of his body. With a slash of the six saber, all the attack gets nullified.

 

The martial masters initially attack with confidence when pale.

 

“Spirit qi manifestation, why is there a transcendent realm here?”

 

“Senior, there might be a misunderstanding.” Huang Ning stopped the attack and cupped his hand.

 

“Yes, senior there might be a misunderstanding.” The other also followed.

 

Asura Demon frowns; he is dissatisfied because they give up too fast. “Come and fight me!”

 

"No, no, senior, we don’t dare.” Huang Ning said it respectfully.

 

The others also agreed, except for Elder Tao Jing, who remained quiet. This mountain is bad luck for the Azure Crane Sect.

 

Asura Demon is contemplating killing people who have no will to fight, which is boring. After a while, the large armored humanoid with each of his six arms disappeared, and he put his large blade at his back. He already killed two martial masters; it's already enough, and he came here without the patriarch's permission. He should return before she sends the other to watch over him.

 

“What are you doing? He is from a demon sect!” Elder Tao Jing doesn’t know if the transcendent, real expert is from the demon sect. He is trying to force the others to fight. If they don’t do anything, their reputation will be ruined. However, he is mistaken.

 

The martial masters from the martial alliance are not stupid. Although the Azure Crane sect is also a member of the martial alliance, they are just the representative and don’t take orders from the martial alliance. Different from them not from any sect or clan, they had seen many iniquities and atrocities that had been done by the members of the martial alliance.

 

Nevertheless, they can’t do anything to stop the injustice and force to maintain the peace.

 

Rather than say anything they move far away from him.

 

“What are you doing? At a time like this, we should be united.”

 

“A few years ago, your sect's core disciple raped and killed the whole family of innocent villagers. Then the Azure Crane Sect accused them as Demons sect followers.” The Crescent Moon fairy spoke calmly.

 

“How dare you slander my sect!"

 

“What am I going to say, we are not stupid to believe your lies. Even if it is true we can’t win against the transcendent realm.”

 

Elder Tao Jing hesitates, but he is not reconciled. "Senior, who are you, and why did you attack us?”

 

“I am bored; it's fine if you want to fight together again.” Asura Demon smiles and draws his large saber again. He is not stupid enough to reveal his identity.

 

“You attack us because you are bored?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Elder Tao Jing tried to calm down, but it was useless. Two martial masters from his sect died because the transcendent realm expert was bored. “Let’s die together!” He channels all his qi to lunch, a forbidden technique to create Spirit qi manifestation for a short time. As a side effect, he doesn’t care as long as he can kill the enemy.

 

A large azure wing with feathers as sharp as a sword appears behind Elder Tao Jing's back.

 

Asura demon smile grew wider, and he was ready to fight.

 

-

 

Pingyao Town, inside a room.

 

Zou Jie read the report that he got, Azure Crane sect two martial masters died and one was injured. The other martial masters fled the mountain. He doesn’t know who is the transcendent realm expert that appears but thanks to him, he can proceed with the next plan.

 

"It’s time." Zou Jie wanted to see if there were any differences when he killed a martial master. As a result, he is waiting for an appropriate opportunity to strike. Last time, the unknown voice told him there wasn't enough karma and that he needed to kill people. What happens if he kills a strong person? If nothing changes, he can continue to kill bad people.