Misty Rain of the Old Times

Along with the roar, a flash of gleaming blade light appeared, slashing across the sky towards Chen Xuan, illuminating a patch of night like a bolt of lightning tearing through the darkness.

Without even lifting his eyelids, Chen Xuan quickly read out a few names for Wu Hongliang to identify.

As he quickly pointed out the source of the attack, he focused on the direction from which the blade was coming. With a flick of his toe and a kick, a tile shot out, its speed so fast that the air currents exploded like white mist in the night. The tile itself seemed to burn as it rubbed against the air, leaving a trail of fire in the night sky.

Bang~!

A buzzing sound echoed through the night sky, the aftershocks rolled, tiles turned into fragments that scattered and pierced through the walls of houses. The blade of light that came from nowhere was shattered, and the scattered sharpness tore apart and collapsed buildings within a range of several dozen feet.

Wu Hongliang had already quickly identified the person Chen Xuan had named. A butcher's knife flew out from beside him, reaping heads. His gaze fell on the person who had made the move a hundred feet away. He was dressed in a black robe with red trim, holding a long knife, and was dressed as a junior commander of the Martial Arts Department.

"Today I am only targeting the Wu family. Those who are not involved should stay away. Otherwise, I will treat everyone equally. Considering your duty, I will not hold it against you this time. But if you make another move, I will not be polite. That's all I have to say. I hope you will respect yourself," Chen Xuan said coldly, staring at the other party.

After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze back to continue calling roll.

Standing on the rooftop, dozens of feet away, the junior commander of the Forbidden Martial Arts Division, who had arrived earlier, looked at Chen Xuan with shock and anger. He had actually managed to shatter his powerful sword strike with a mere kick of a tile. Where did this man come from? How dare he raise a butcher's knife against the Wu family? Did he have a death wish? Did he want to make an enemy of the whole world?
Going against the powerful families, and killing their direct members one by one, is no longer just a matter for the Wu family. Other powerful families will not stand idly by. Not to mention the powerful families of Jing Kingdom, powerful families of other countries will not allow anyone to shake their position!
Once such a precedent is set and they are allowed to go unpunished, who will take them seriously in the future?
"You dare~!"

Without time to think, seeing Chen Xuan about to unleash his blade again, he roared and charged at Chen Xuan with his knife, trying to stop his evil deeds.

The blade flashed with a sharp edge, like a lightning bolt in the night, and arrived in the blink of an eye, its high-speed movement creating a gust of wind.

As his hair flew wildly, Chen Xuan raised his hand and grasped the blade, gently shattering its sharpness. With a flick of his wrist, he broke the long sword in two, and with the broken blade in hand, he pierced the man's shoulder with a soft "plop," blood spurting out. As the man flew backward, Chen Xuan said calmly, "This is the second time. There won't be a third. If you bother me again, next time it will be your head!"

With a bang, he smashed through a house and rushed out, his face pale. He quickly applied pressure to stop the bleeding, and a palm-width through wound on his shoulder was shocking to behold.

Knowing that Chen Xuan had already shown mercy, she hesitated for a moment before stepping forward again. Seeing Chen Xuan continue to point out names and brandish the sword, she exclaimed in alarm, "Stop! Can't we talk this out? Do you know the consequences of what you're doing?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan ignored it, noticing that more than a dozen innate masters were rushing in from all directions. They quickly called out the remaining twenty or thirty names, and Wu Hongliang pointed at one and a head fell off.

A few breaths later, all the people on the list were dead in this mansion. There were a few more who were not at home. Chen Xuan circled their names, but some of the people who were missing from Wu Hongliang's family before were here, and he crossed out their names.

After putting away the list of dead, Chen Xuan grabbed Wu Hongliang's shoulder and slipped away to the next location, asking him about the details of the people who had been missing from his third uncle's house along the way.

I have no interest in wasting time and talking nonsense here.

No matter who comes, it won't work. Can you arrive faster or can I kill them faster?

When the group of innate masters arrived at Wu Hongliang's third uncle's house, the scene of corpses strewn everywhere was shocking and chilling to the bone.

Those who died were all members of the Wu family, including Wu Hongliang's third uncle, who was the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works!
"Who did this? Where is he?!" Zuo Kaiqiu, one of the commanders of the Imperial Guard who rushed over, asked in shock and anger as he approached the junior commander who had been injured by Chen Xuan.

The other person shook his head and said, "I don't know, he's already gone. He left with Lord Wu Hongliang."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Zuo Kaiqiu asked anxiously.

The junior commander, with an expression that said, "You flatter me, sir," replied, "I couldn't stop him. He only struck casually, and I almost died. It was only because he showed mercy that I survived. Otherwise, you would be seeing my corpse now, sir."

"Useless trash, do you know where we're going?" Zuo Kaichou said with a grim face. He wasn't targeting his subordinates, but he was anxious. Such a terrible incident was already shocking enough to shake the world. If it continued to develop, who knew how many heads would roll!
The junior commander said with a wry smile, "It was too fast; we couldn't even see how they left."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Kaiqiu paused, opened his mouth, and ordered, "Have this place sealed off. No one is allowed to leave or approach. The others with innate cultivation levels, split up and search. Once you have any news, send a signal. Lord Si Cheng has already gone to investigate the matter in conjunction with the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Personnel. We should have results soon. Wait for orders. In the process, we must do our best to prevent such a thing from happening again. Tonight... ha, don't even think about resting for the next while."

After giving his instructions, Zuo Kaiqiu sighed inwardly, found a random place, and left. This was no longer something they could handle.

What exactly did the Wu family do to provoke such a killer?
Soon Chen Xuan led Wu Hongliang to the next location. With the experience from the previous two times, he moved even faster this time.

Upon arriving at the destination, he first gathered everyone together. Then, with purple light flashing in his eyes, he used the Purple Mystic Illusionary Eye, causing all members of the Wu family listed in the family tree to step forward, state their names, and then be killed. He only needed to quickly cross out each name.

Efficiency skyrocketed, the entire process took less than three minutes, and he left behind a pile of corpses before leading Wu Hongliang to the next location. By the time someone arrived, he had already begun a new round.

The reason for bringing Wu Hongliang along was simply to keep him alive to investigate and fill any gaps.

Throughout the capital, the Wu family had seven distribution points. Chen Xuan followed the planned route and headed towards the Wu family ancestral hall one by one, where there were the most people.

The entire capital was in an uproar. Constables, yamen runners, martial arts inspectors, secret agents, and martial arts practitioners were running around everywhere, but how could they keep up with Chen Xuan's movements?

But no matter how fast he was, no one's brain could work as fast. Based on his previous actions, the various departments quickly identified his target and arranged for people to stake out various locations within the Wu family compound. When Chen Xuan brought Wu Hongliang to the fifth location, a Grand Commander of the Forbidden Martial Arts Division arrived there with his men.

But what good would it do to come? Before they could speak or stop him, Chen Xuan remotely struck their pressure points. Then, amidst their shock and helplessness, he gathered them together and made those listed in the family tree step forward to sign up for their deaths. A few minutes later, leaving behind a mess, he took Wu Hongliang and left for the next place.

By the time they reached the sixth location, the Wu family members there had already received the news and were preparing to disperse and flee. Fortunately, Chen Xuan arrived in time, quickly finished harvesting, and headed straight for the seventh location, which was also the last one in the capital, the main base where the Wu family ancestral hall was located!
In less than half an hour, Chen Xuan had already taken down three-quarters of the Wu family members. At this point, the Wu family could no longer be said to have been crippled. Even if he stopped there, they would be in a long period of decline. But a powerful family is a powerful family; its foundation is there. If its main base is not completely eradicated, it can still reappear in its former glory given enough time.

When Chen Xuan led Wu Hongliang straight to the Wu family's headquarters, the brightly lit imperial palace was under heightened security to a level second only to a change of dynasty.

Emperor Shangxuan, who had already been resting, was awakened by Eunuch Wang's request. After roughly understanding what had happened, he was furious and said, "Issue my decree: send a team of imperial guards to protect the Grand Commandant."

"According to the decree..."

Even if he wished the Wu family would be wiped out, he still had to put on a show.

After he issued the decree, news kept pouring in, each a list of deaths. The old emperor's face darkened with each new message he received, though he was secretly delighted and wanted to drink a glass of wine, but he managed to restrain himself.

It's like a pillow being delivered to someone who's about to fall asleep. He originally wanted to take a group of people away and was racking his brains for an excuse, but someone actually did it for him.

How could the reclusive Rong Lao, who remained secluded in the palace, be completely unaware of what was happening outside? After reporting to Emperor Shangxuan, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, may I go and make a trip?"

Before him, the old emperor dropped his pretense, smiled, and said, "With such a thing happening, the palace needs the care of an elder."

"I understand," Elder Rong nodded.

Looking out the window, the old emperor pondered for a moment and said, "Who do you think would dare to do such a thing, Elder Rong?"

"Judging from the information we've received, no one at the Innate Realm has the guts to do that unless they're crazy, and besides, they don't have the ability either," Elder Rong said expressionlessly.

At their level, there's no need to be so blunt; they understand perfectly well what's going on.

Turning his gaze away, the old emperor said, "In that case, I mustn't leave, especially now that I'm getting old."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I am here," said Rong Lao, standing behind the old emperor. His attitude spoke volumes; the emperor's will was his guiding principle.

The old emperor's gaze returned to the window, as if taking in the entire capital city, his heart not as calm as it appeared.

Since one is inherently incapable of such a thing, it goes without saying what level of cultivation would be required to dare to defy the world.

However, the number of Grandmaster-level experts is limited, so the old emperor probably already had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

'You brat, what did the Wu family do to offend you? You really are my good son-in-law! Go ahead and cause trouble. No matter how big the trouble, I'll bail you out. But you should be careful not to put yourself in danger. Other families won't stand idly by. I hope you know your limits. If things get out of hand, come to me. If you dare make my daughter a widow before she's even married, I'll make sure you regret it…'

Before countless people could react or even understand the situation, Chen Xuan, along with Wu Hongliang, had already forcefully approached the Wu family's headquarters.

It was a vast manor with a history of several hundred years. Although there were signs of renovation, it revealed the weight of time everywhere.

He stopped before he even got close to Chen Xuan, because a figure was blocking his way on the long street ahead.

The other party spoke first: "Wei family, Wei Wuyai, may I ask your name?"

'It's true that powerful families won't just stand by and watch another family perish.'

Thinking this to himself, and sensing the undisguised aura of a grandmaster emanating from the other party, Chen Xuan became more serious and pondered for a moment before saying, "Huang Xiaochao greets senior." He paused for a moment and then added, "Senior, did you come here to stop me?"

“With me here, you won’t get through this. Stop now. Know when to stop. With your cultivation, you should have calmed down by now, no matter what the grudge is. The Wu family won’t cause you any trouble later. I can guarantee that. How about giving me some face?” Wei Wuyai said in a deep voice.

With a smile, Chen Xuan said, "Senior, please leave. Just pretend we never met. Today, I'm only targeting the Wu family. Why bother sticking your neck out? You'll die!"

Do you think I'm giving you face?

If you don't listen to my advice, believe me or not, I'll remove the small character from the pseudonym you've chosen for now!
...(End of chapter)