Chapter Twenty: A River of Blood

At these words, a rare flicker of emotion finally appeared on Liang Yuyan’s usually impassive face. She gazed at Lin Xiong with deep affection and said, “From now on, you can live with me and Yu’er in the Liang family. Husband, the Liang family will never treat you unfairly!”

By the end of her speech, tears shimmered at the corners of her eyes. “Husband, will you swear upon your soul?”

Lin Xiong stared at Liang Yuyan in disbelief, suddenly feeling as if she were a stranger. Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “What about Fan’er? What about Ya’er? What will become of Ruoxue and the old master?”

“The old master must die. That’s the very purpose of the alliance between the three great families. As long as the old master lives, they will never know peace. Unless he cripples his own cultivation, perhaps then they might spare his life,” she replied coldly. “As for those three little bastards you mentioned… let them die.”

When Lin Xiong brought up the four names, the tenderness vanished from Liang Yuyan’s face. In its place, there was only icy ruthlessness.

“Liang Yuyan, how cruel you are. You want me to kill my father and sons, to bury the entire Lin family, and then live out my days with you in disgrace?”

Lin Xiong shivered with rage at her merciless words, his heart turning to ice. He turned away, not sparing her another glance.

Whatever affection he had left for Liang Yuyan was utterly severed by her words.

He looked toward Lin Yu, who was lying propped up in a chair, carried there by others, and asked, “Yu’er, are you really going to cut ties with your father? Why have you chosen to stand against me with your mother?”

“My uncle told me long ago, since he was injured and can have no children, the Liang family will be passed to me. He had hoped that one day I would take charge of the Lin family and become its master. But now that grandfather is gravely wounded and the three great families are set on destroying us, I have no choice but to return to the Liang family.”

Lin Yu’s injuries were still severe as he lay on the chair and tried to persuade Lin Xiong: “Father, as long as you swear an oath to my uncle, we can still be a family. One day I’ll be the head of the Liang family, and you will be the father of the clan leader—far more status and power than you ever had in the Lin family, which has always struggled to survive.”

Then, an incongruous hatred and malice flashed in the boy’s eyes as he looked toward Lin Fan behind Lin Xiong.

“Besides, that bastard wounded me so terribly, and after you returned, you did nothing to punish him. Since you won’t avenge me, I’ll have uncle do it for me—he’ll kill that wretch and satisfy my grievances!”

The resentment and venom in Lin Yu’s eyes were now undisguised. He didn’t care if he called his own brother a bastard; perhaps, in his heart, he had never considered Lin Fan a brother at all.

“Good! Good! Good!”

Lin Xiong’s heart was pierced even deeper by Lin Yu’s words than by Liang Yuyan’s. He trembled all over, so furious he began to laugh, repeating the word “good” several times.

“I underestimated your wolfish ambition. So young, yet you understand the art of intrigue so well. Truly, the blood of the Liang family runs strong in you. How did I ever father such a beast?”

At last, Lin Xiong could not restrain himself. And with those words, his last feelings for Lin Yu died, just as they had for Liang Yuyan.

“Enough words. The Lin family’s downfall is already sealed. Lin Xiong, swear your soul’s loyalty to us now, and we’ll spare your life. If not, you’ll perish with your clan. The choice is yours,” Bai Xuefeng interjected, his patience worn thin by the drawn-out exchange. He stepped forward, voice cold as ice.

He was confident—the Lin family was doomed this day, utterly unable to resist.

For tonight, each of the three great families had left only one Qi Vein expert and ten Qi Gathering experts at home to guard their clan’s compound; the rest were all here. They had brought their full force.

Over thirty Qi Gathering experts, eight Qi Vein experts—against a Lin family with only four or five Qi Gathering, one Qi Vein, and their patriarch Lin Batian so gravely wounded he might not even be able to fight. How could they fail? Even if Lin Batian could fight, six Qi Vein experts would be enough to kill him, while two more could besiege Lin Xiong, sealing his fate. The thirty-some Qi Gathering experts would easily overwhelm the Lin family’s handful.

Where was the suspense?

Now it was only a question of whether Lin Xiong would kill his father and sons, and swear fealty to the Liang family.

In truth, Bai Xuefeng had been strongly opposed to sparing Lin Xiong’s life, especially since his own brother had died at the Lin family’s hands, and the Hong family’s patriarch, Hong Jiu, also objected.

However, Liang family head Liang Yutao promised that of the Lin family’s three mines and twelve stores, he would take only one mine, leaving the rest to the Bai and Hong families, in exchange for Lin Xiong’s life. Lin Xiong would also swear a soul oath never to act against their families. Measured against such benefits, Bai Xuefeng and Hong Jiu had agreed.

Watching Bai Xuefeng’s arrogant display, Lin Xiong, who had been trembling with rage at his wife and younger son’s betrayal, suddenly stilled.

In that instant, a murderous intent blazed in his eyes. He said in a low, cold voice, “My choice? My choice is to kill every last one of you from the three great families!”

Bai Xuefeng burst out laughing, as if he’d heard the world’s greatest joke. “Just with your four or five Qi Gathering cultivators, and a single Qi Vein expert?”

“No, not just that. With the Lin family’s forty-plus Qi Gathering experts and a Pulse Master!”

A mocking smile curled Lin Xiong’s lips. As he finished speaking, figures began leaping from the Lin family’s rear courtyard—more than forty men, instantly surrounding the three great families’ forces.

From the assembly hall behind Lin Xiong, a massive, imposing elder strode out with the gait of a tiger. He came to stand before Lin Xiong, towering over the leaders of the three families, murderous intent glinting in his eyes. An overwhelming aura crashed down upon them.

The faces of the three families’ men changed dramatically.

They could sense the forty-odd men encircling them were all Qi Gathering experts—even if most were only at the early stage, the three families had few mid-stage experts themselves.

And beyond that, now the Lin family had dozens more Qi Gathering cultivators on their side!

The heads of the three families, upon seeing the elder’s appearance and sensing his power, paled with dread. Bai Xuefeng could not help but cry out, “Lin Batian, you’re not injured? Have you been pretending all these years?!”

He could not believe Lin Batian had appeared, nor that his aura was anything like an injured man’s.

“Kill—!”

Lin Batian’s only answer was a cold, deadly word. He lunged forward, appearing before Bai Xuefeng in a flash. Before Bai could react, a palm slammed into his chest.

A great spurt of blood shot forth; Bai Xuefeng’s chest caved in, his eyes widened in disbelief, and his body flew backward as though struck by lightning. With a crash, he hit the ground. He didn’t even have time to scream before he was dead.

“Kill—!”

Lin Batian’s sudden attack was like the sounding of a bloody gong. All the Lin family’s Qi Gathering experts roared as one, their voices thunderous as they charged at the three families’ cultivators.

At the same time, Lin Xiong threw himself at the Liang family head, Liang Yutao. But faster than him, a jet-black gleam of murderous light streaked past, like lightning, and pierced the heart of a Qi Vein expert at Liang Yutao’s side, nailing him to the spot before he could even make a move at the outbreak of battle.

With a sickening crack, the man’s head burst apart, white bone and crimson flesh spraying everywhere.

In that moment, Lin Batian had already shattered another Qi Vein expert’s skull with a single palm, ending his life. For a Pulse Master, killing Qi Vein experts was child’s play; the gap between their realms was as great as the distance between heaven and earth.

In the span of mere moments, three Qi Vein experts lay dead. The sight made the faces of Hong Jiu and Liang Yutao change drastically; both were instantly seized with the urge to flee.

They knew that if this continued, death was certain. Who knew if Lin Batian would come for them next?

But Liang Yutao was already entangled by Lin Xiong. Though his cultivation was higher, it wasn’t by much—he couldn’t break free for the moment.

Hong Jiu, who had no one near him, immediately tried to escape. At his side, the Hong family elder, Hong Hai, was even faster, darting toward the main door at once.

At that instant, Lin Batian snatched up a longsword and hurled it.

With a shrill, piercing whistle, the blade became a streak of light, like an arrow loosed from a taut bow. In a blink, it caught up to Hong Hai, impaling him through the chest and pinning him to the door.

Yet Hong Hai was not dead; he had avoided a mortal wound and still struggled to break free.

But then, a black flash, swift as a viper, followed close behind the sword. With a crash, it blew Hong Hai’s head apart.

Seeing this, Hong Jiu was seized by terror. His eyes darted to Liang Yuyan and Lin Yu, who had been stunned into numbness since Lin Batian’s entrance, and he dashed toward them.

Lin Fan, watching all this from afar, paid no heed. He simply kept squeezing the trigger, killing off the three families’ Qi Gathering experts one by one. Crimson blossoms of blood bloomed again and again among the crowd.

He targeted only those above the early stage of Qi Gathering.

With the Godbreaker Crossbow, whose bolts packed the power of a Pulse Master’s strike, shooting these mid- and late-stage Qi Gathering experts was as easy as shooting balloons with a real gun. They had no power to resist.

Each shot was a sure kill.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood sprayed in all directions, and life after life was snuffed out, carried away on the wind.