Chapter 57: Mercy on the Blade
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Un—Uncle Hai?”
Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ took a few glances to recognize Jiang Yunhai. Once he did recognize him, it frightened him into a tremble. This person was his elder, the one who lost the Clan Head’s position to his father. In fury, Jiang Yunhai left the clan to venture in the outside world. He ended up serving the Western Garrison Liege Lord for over a dozen years. When he was back, Jiang Yuns.h.i.+’s father had already pa.s.sed away, and Jiang Yunshan was the new Clan Head while Jiang Yunhai took over the Disciplinary Court. It was precisely because of Jiang Yunhai that the Jiang Clan was able to rise abruptly in power within a few short years.
Jiang Yunhai had a violent temperament and was fond of battles and killings. In these recent years, he led the members of the Jiang Clan to eradicate three clans within the Skyplume City and obtain the ore mountain, as well as various stores that dealt in various products. He earned the nickname ‘Ma.s.sacre Maniac.’ Back then, most of the elders used this name to frighten the children. It was clear how much reputation Jiang Yunhai had.
Seven years ago, Jiang Yunhai went missing, and the Jiang Clan spent a large amount of manpower and wealth to search for him. They even offered huge rewards as a mission in the Martial Arts Hall. But after so many years, there was no news of Jiang Yunhai; and everyone regarded him as dead. It was precisely because of this that the Jiang Clan began to ostracize Jiang Yi.
Who would have thought that Jiang Yunhai would actually come back and at this perfect timing? Right when they were about to kill Jiang Yi.
No one knew who fathered Jiang Yi, but the Jiang Clan knew that it was Jiang Yunhai who brought him back. Many thought that Jiang Yi was possibly Jiang Yunhai’s illegitimate child, or else why would he treat Jiang Yi with such kindness?
It didn’t matter if Jiang Yi was the son of which individual; Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ now had a huge headache. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He reluctantly forced a smile and spoke, “Uncle Hai, a misunderstanding. This is a misunderstanding!”
Jiang Yunhai limped over and seemed to be very slow. But in just a few blinks of the eye, he was already in the center of this area. He ignored Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ and looked at Jiang Yi who was at the waist of the hill. His pair of turbid eyes was glistening with tears as he didn’t even stop and continued to limp until he reached the waist of the hills in a few steps.
He approached Jiang Yi who looked like a bloodied mess. There wasn’t an inch of his body that was still fine. Jiang Yunhai took a knee and spoke with a lowered head that was crying his old tears. “Old servant Jiang Yunhai pays his respects to Young Lord. This old servant has sinned to allow Young Lord to be subjected to such suffering…”
Everyone was in a state of confusion!
Jiang Yi was confused, too. When he heard Jiang Yunhai’s voice, he thought he was dreaming. By the time he awoke, Jiang Yunhai was already beside him, and he was kneeling? He even greeted him as Young Lord!
He struggled to swallow his saliva and opened his mouth, expending great effort to speak, “Grandfather, you, what are you doing…?”
Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ and Ma Yongji looked at each other while exchanging eye contact. Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ was now even more afraid while Ma Yongji’s eyes blinked softly; he gave a signal to the rest of the Ma clansmen and prepared to slip away.
“You dare to try and leave? Do you believe I will eradicate your Ma Clan?”
Jiang Yunhai wiped his tears while he returned to the original indifferent and icy cold expression. He shot a side glare at them, causing Ma Yongji and his men to tremble. They didn’t dare to move even half a step.
Jiang Yunhai stood up; he didn’t continue to say anything else and swiftly went to the side of Jiang Yi. He took out an elixir and fed Jiang Yi, placing his palms on the back of Jiang Yi while talking in a soft voice, “Young Lord, this old servant shall explain everything later on. Let me help you recuperate first!”
Feeling the elixir melted as soon as it was consumed, a surge of warm current rose from his abdomen. Jiang Yi knew this was an earth-tier recuperation medicine, and with it, he was probably saved from death.
Jiang Yunhai had such formidable strength that no one could possibly kill him here. Jiang Yi let out a breath of relieve but suddenly recalled something and exclaimed, “Grandfather, don’t bother about me! I will not die for now. Please save Xiaonu first! She is about to die from poison…”
“En!”
Jiang Yunhai circulated a trace of essence force to make sure that Jiang Yi was indeed temporary fine. He quickly flashed to the side of Jiang Xiaonu and picked her up by the waist. He then fed her an elixir before checking on her body’s condition. Jiang Yunhai’s face turned serious and even had a denser killing intent.
“Young Lord, you should rest first. I will do my best to treat Xiaonu!” Jiang Yunhai placed Jiang Xiaonu beside Jiang Yi while speaking. He closed his eyes to circulate his essence force and help treat Jiang Xiaonu.
With Jiang Yunhai’s guarantee, Jiang Yi could finally be relieved. His eyelids became exceptionally heavy. After forcefully enduring the fatigue from his frail body, he couldn’t help and doze off.
Jiang Yunhai didn’t bother about Jiang Yi anymore and fully concentrated on helping Jiang Xiaonu to expel the poison instead. He knew well enough that if he didn’t expel the poison from Jiang Xiaonu’s body in time; she could only live as a cripple or a r.e.t.a.r.d even if she managed to survive. This black widow’s venom was too vicious.
Jiang Yunhai got busy at the waist of the hill while Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ and the rest were like ants on a hot pot. They wanted to flee but didn’t dare to. Even if they stayed behind, it seemed like they were still going to die.
“Swis.h.!.+”
After a short moment, a group of formidable experts arrived as they sprinted, which madly pleased everyone. The one who led this group was the Deputy General of the West Garrison Army; following behind him were a few dozens of troops. Further away were Ji Tian, Jiang Yunshan, Ma Kui, and the rest who kept up closely at the back. With all the strongest combatants of the Skyplume City here, Jiang Yunhai wouldn’t go killing people recklessly, right?
“Brother Jiang Huai!”
Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ smiled apologetically and greeted the Deputy General with cupped fists. This Deputy General accepted plenty of gifts from the Jiang Clan, and with him around, Jiang Yunhai would still offer some courtesy, right?
Who knew… the Deputy General Jiang Huai, who greeted Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ as brothers for the past few days, suddenly had a change of att.i.tude. His expression was ice cold as he ignored the flattery from Jiang Yuns.h.i.+; he even ordered the troops of the West Garrison Army, “Seize them all. Anyone who dares to resist, kill them!”
“Clang clang!”
Dozens of the troops drew their long saber in unison and rushed at the Jiang and the Ma clansmen like a pack of tigers and wolves. Essence force circulated their bodies, and killing aura was oozing from their body. Those fiendish expressions were giving out a message that if anyone resisted, their alternative was death!
“Brother Jiang Huai, you…”
Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ didn’t even have time to react and already had two officers of the West Garrison Army, putting their long sabers on his neck. Ma Yongji, who stood beside him, had also been seized. They didn’t dare to resist the West Garrison Army who represented the will of the Western Garrison Liege Lord. Within the entire Divine Martial Kingdom, none would dare to go against the will of the Western Garrison Liege Lord, except the Emperor!
Jiang Huai didn’t even look at Jiang Yuns.h.i.+. After affirming that everyone had been seized, he ran over to the waist of the hill and knelt in front of Jiang Yunhai. He reported with respect, “Lord Yunhai. Everyone has been seized. How should we deal with them?!”
Jiang Yunhai opened his eyes; he swept a look below and spoke, “Kill all the Ma clansmen! Jiang Clan’s Purple Mansion Realm martial artists… shall all be killed too! The rest of them shall have a single arm severed!”
“Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+”
The faces of all the seized individuals instantly lost all traces of blood. Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ looked around with an appalled expression; he soon saw Jiang Yunshan who was sprinting over frantically. Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ shouted, “Brother! Save me!”
Jiang Yunshan could see a whole patch of snow-white long sabers raised up high, which got him frightened stiff. He forcefully increased his speed and burst out roaring, “Uncle Hai! Brother Jiang Huai! Mercy on the blade!”
Ma Kui’s expression was even worse, but he didn’t dare to say a word more. Ji Tian and the rest looked at one another, thinking: was this Jiang Yunhai truly this ruthless? He actually wanted to kill his own clansmen for Jiang Yi?
“Kill!”
When Deputy General Jiang Huai saw Jiang Yunhai closed his eyes and continued treatment for Jiang Xiaonu, he had no choice but to give out his order with an indifferent expression. It didn’t matter if Jiang Yi was the son of the Western Garrison Liege Lord; he decided to solely listen to the orders from Jiang Yunhai—on the basis that he once served beside the Western Garrison Liege Lord and also because he had the strength of a Soul Travel Realm. After all, killing these few individuals wasn’t much of an issue for him.
“Rustle!”
Countless sabers swung downwards as streaks of blood shot upwards. Over a dozen heads fell onto the ground. This group of individuals from the West Garrison Army was all experts of the Purple Mansion Realm. The West Garrison Army was famed for their military might; hence, no one dared to dodge or resist. When Jiang Yuns.h.i.+’s head fell to the ground, his eyes were still wide opened, seemingly in disbelief that he died this easily.
The Jiang clansmen that Jiang Yunmeng sent out were all fighters at the seventh or eighth stage of the Cast Tripod Realm. They were lucky that they didn’t need to die, but every one of them got one of their arms completely severed. All of them hugged their severed arm and tumbled on the ground, yelling in pain.
The Jiang Clan had a total of 17 members involved but didn’t have much Purple Mansion Realm martial artists. With Jiang Yunshe included, a total of six Purple Mansion Realm experts were dead. The Ma Clan was much more miserable: they only brought along a total of 13 members, but all of them were of the Purple Mansion Realm. The Ma Clan suffered huge losses this time.
Jiang Yunhai used nearly twenty heads to announced his mighty return and also clearly displayed his frightening wrath. At the same time, he also declared that if he turned into a frenzy, he would not merely kill outsiders but even his own clansmen!
“Bang!”
Jiang Yunshan, who was frantically running, suddenly paused. He witnessed Jiang Yuns.h.i.+ died with the remaining grievance in his eyes and couldn’t help but fall to his knees. His face was filled with despair and resentment. Not just because of the dead members of the Jiang Clan, but of Jiang Yunhai’s heart.
Jiang Yunhai was willing to kill his own clansmen, showing how coldhearted he treated the Jiang Clan! Jiang Yunhai’s entire mind was overwhelmed with confusion, grudge, wrath, and—most of all—remorse. If the Jiang Clan had treated Jiang Yi a bit better, or if he had stepped in when Jiang Ruhu and his group bullied Jiang Yi, perhaps… today’s tragedy could have been avoided. The Jiang Clan wouldn’t lose this great opportunity to rise to the top!
A Soul Travel Realm expert!
If Jiang Yunhai had returned earlier, today’s matter might have never happened, and Jiang Yunhai would have definitely brought glory and prosperity to the Jiang Clan.
True enough.
Jiang Yunhai’s eyes opened, and he carried Jiang Xiaonu. He looked Jiang Huai in the eye and said, “Carry Jiang Yi and follow me! Move the army to surround the entire Skyplume City. I want to know everything that happened to Jiang Yi during these years!”
“Understood!”
Jiang Huai instinctively placed his hand on his chest and did a military bow. It was because he could feel the prowess of an upper echelon from Jiang Yunhai, one that felt like a seasoned general who gave out his orders.
Jiang Huai carried Jiang Yi and headed down the hill along with Jiang Yunhai.
Jiang Yunhai’s eyes locked onto Ji Tian, and he spoke indifferently, “Ji Tian, lend me your residence for a few days! Don’t worry… I am not senile yet.”
When Ji Tian heard the words of Jiang Yunhai, he was completely relieved. He nodded and replied, “Let’s go, I have some superior recuperation elixirs at my place!”
Jiang Yunhai nodded and turned into an afterimage as he rushed towards the city lord’s manor with Ji Tian. They soon vanished from the eyes of everyone.
From start to end, Jiang Yunhai didn’t even cast a single look at Jiang Yunshan!