Elder Zhao"s voice was boiling with fury. I didn"t blame him. Senior Kao Wen was a Blood Blade who served under him for years, and had proven his loyalty over and over again. For my part, I felt nothing but shock. I just saw him yesterday, even exchanged a few words with him after he tortured Gray Shadow, but I never thought he would be dead in just a few hours.

I felt…numb.

The rest of the Blood Blades gathered around Elder Zhao watched him in stony silence, some of them just as outraged and simmering in murderous fury, and others numb in shock and disbelief. Most of us had known Kao Wen for quite a while, and I could see Pang Feng being upset while Tong Xue"s expression was ashen.

Du Yan was standing in a corner, ashamed. His shoulders were slumped and his head was down. Clearly he blamed himself for letting Liang Shao Yang slip out of his sight for just a minute. Elder Zhao had already told him that it wasn"t, but he still couldn"t feeling the guilt.

I knew how he felt. If I was in the same position, I would have felt the same. Yet I knew it wasn"t his fault. Hu Mei Er was known for her bewitching charm. Had I been the one a.s.signed to watch Liang Shao Yang, I probably wouldn"t have been able to resist turning my attention away from him and focusing on her for a minute.

Speaking of which, we all knew who the culprit was, even though his name remained unspoken. Elder Zhao hesitated, but he swept his eyes across the waiting Blood Blades.

"Both murders were carried out using Divine Shadow Sect techniques," he announced. There was a stir within the Blood Blades when our suspicions were confirmed.

"We can"t let him get away with this!" one of the Blood Blades roared. "To h.e.l.l with what the Great Elders say! Let"s go arrest Liang Shao Yang!"

"Yeah!"

"Hurry! Let"s get Liang Shao Yang before he gets away!"

"We"ll never forgive him!"

"Wait." Elder Zhao raised his hand. "I only said the murders were carried out by Divine Shadow Sect techniques. We still have no evidence that it was Liang Shao Yang who committed them."

"What other evidence do we need?" Pang Feng bellowed. "Isn"t it obvious? Who else in the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect would know Divine Shadow Sect techniques? The only other person from there, Hao Ying, was killed last year!"

"That"s what I told the Great Elders," Elder Zhao replied, his face a cold mask. "And they told me they would personally handle the interrogation themselves. No doubt they would cover the killings up. Kao Wen is a Blood Blade, and Liang Shao Yang is one of the prime candidates to become the next sect leader, a top inner sect disciple. Their differences in status is too huge. Not to mention, the Great Elders would actually praise the killing of Gray Shadow as a good thing."

He spat out the last sentence, and the Blood Blades fell silent.

"But this…this is just injustice! This is unfair!" one of the other Blood Blades finally protested. "Our lives really worth that much less than Liang Shao Yang"s?! He can kill any of us and get away with this?! How can he be immune to the law!?"

"Sect Leader is working on that now, as we speak." However, Elder Zhao"s bitter expression told us that he did not expect anything to come out from that front. "He"ll ensure that Liang Shao Yang get some form of punishment. However, knowing the Great Elders, it"ll eventually be a slap on the wrist. Liang Shao Yang is simply too precious for the sect."

"All because he triggered a response from one of the Spirit Engraved Pillars?!" another Blood Blades growled in disbelief. Elder Zhao nodded.

"Precisely because of that."

"So we"re not allowed to defend ourselves?! What kind of bulls.h.i.t logic is that?!"

"If the sect doesn"t protect us, then why are we working to protect the sect?!"

"We might as well quit!"

Elder Zhao held his hand to forestall the protests and raised his voice to drown the dissenting voices out. "I understand how you feel. But I do have some good news."

That got our attention, you can be sure. Within a millisecond, everyone fell silent and listened to Elder Zhao intently. He smiled as he surveyed all of us, who were waiting in antic.i.p.ation. The old b.a.s.t.a.r.d enjoyed keeping us in suspense, didn"t he?

"As the killings were clearly carried out by someone from the Divine Shadow Sect, we now have reason to launch a raid on the Divine Shadow Sect base they set up in Tushan City." Elder Zhao"s grin widened. "Let"s see how Liang Shao Yang reacts to this, when his minions in Tushan City are wiped out or captured."

"Yeah!"

The Blood Blades roared in approval, throwing their hands up into the air in determination. I couldn"t help but get swept in by the atmosphere and join them too and yelled out in agreement. The atmosphere began to be saturated by bloodl.u.s.t.

"Let"s take them out!"

"How dare they underestimate us!"

"To think they were so impudent to set up a base in our Tushan City! Do they think our Blood Blades do not exist?"

"Get them!"

Elder Zhao nodded. "We"ll be moving out in an hour. Everyone get ready! Since the opponents are that terrifying Divine Shadow Sect, don"t hold anything back and bring your best Spirit Armaments and gear!"

*

Riding in a convoy of armored personnel carriers, the heavy vehicles bounced across the road with a thunderous roar as they sped toward the edge of Tushan City.

Shen Cha was seated in the first APC, leading the way to the Divine Shadow Sect base where the sneaky dudes had set up camp in. Similar to the dilapidated house they took up resideince in when they were plotting in Water Margin Town, it was another rundown house that was on the verge of falling apart. Being from the Divine Shadow Sect, the members were able to make it seem as if no one lived in that house, and scared away normal people who got too close.

For those stupidly brave enough to approach regardless, then…well, they went missing and were never heard of again. Which reinforced terrifying rumors about the house being haunted and populated by ghosts or demons.

"They"re still in there," Shen Cha informed us solemnly as he stopped some distance away from the house. The Blood Blades wisely spread out, forming a huge perimeter around the place. "Especially Black Shadow."

I recalled the b.a.s.t.a.r.d launching a sneak attack on me and Tang Qi Hong, and then clenched my fists. I wasn"t going to let him get away with that. I was going to make sure I destroyed him in our rematch, especially now that I had the Blood Blades" help.

We could sense the faint presences of the Divine Shadow Sect members inside the house. Even though they were skillful and were able to conceal their qi as much as possible, we had Spirit Artifacts that could help us detect their presences. Elder Zhao nodded as one of the holders of those Spirit Devices came up to report to him.

"There"s at least twenty experts inside the house," he reported. "Twenty-four presences detected by the qi omnispex, but some of them flicker in and out, so it could very well be more."

"Understood." Elder Zhao turned to glance at the fifty Blood Blades he had brought along, a sizeable strength. He had intended for us to make a statement and overwhelm the small force of Divine Shadow Sect members inside. "We"ll give them a chance to surrender and come with us. If they resist arrest, then show no mercy."

That last statement was unnecessary. We all knew that the Divine Shadow Sect would have no intention of surrendering. Given their background and known modus operandi, they would definitely attack us the moment we showed up.

Fortunately, we were armed with the best Spirit Armaments and armor that Nine-Tailed Fox Sect could forge, so the odds of the battle were overwhelmingly tilted our way. Furthermore, we were all simmering with rage at the injustice of Kao Wen"s murder, and the Great Elders" refusal to punish Liang Shao Yang for his nefarious deeds.

Well, then we would have to vent all that fury upon the hapless Divine Shadow Sect then.

Elder Zhao led from the front, moving toward the door. Flanked by two Blood Blades, he paused and knocked on the door.

"Blood Blades here!" he called out. "We would like to ask you Divine Shadow Sect members a few questions. If you cooperate with us, I promise we won"t make it too difficult for you…"

He never got to finish his sentence. A sudden surge of killing intent warned him of what was to come, and Elder Zhao and his two guards immediately jumped backward. The door exploded as a shadowy qi blasted through it, trying to scythe Elder Zhao down, but only splintering the porch where he was standing on a few seconds ago.

"Refusing to cooperate and resisting arrest, huh?" Elder Zhao was smiling, having expected that response and like us, he was itching for an excuse to fight. "Blood Blades! Subdue them! You have permission to kill in self-defense!"

"UOOOOH!"

We all bellowed in compliance and rushed into the house. Obviously the door was a killing zone where the Divine Shadow Sect could pick us off one at a time at their leisure, so we smashed our own entrances through the broken walls or fragile windows.

Crash!

Bang!

I followed Tong Xue and Pang Feng through one of the walls, diving through a shower of splinters. Three Divine Shadow Sect members reared up in surprise and turned to face us, having expecting us to come through the door, but the three of us barreled into them before they could react. Pang Feng smashed the face of his victim, his fist dripping with blood as he hammered the poor guy relentlessly. Tong Xue was a little more subtle, his dagger flashing before his victim screamed soundlessly and clutched his throat.

I didn"t even bother to get in close, my Snow Aegis hovering in front of me. using the newly crafted DRAGOON system that Tang Qi Hong helped me complete, I gunned down the third, and a few of the other Divine Shadow Sect members inside, incinerating them with azure laser blasts before they knew what hit them.

"What the f.u.c.k is that?!" Tong Xue demanded, staring at my new Spirit Weapon in bewilderment. I shrugged and grinned.

"A Spirit Shield."

"Spirit Shields don"t shoot qi blasts like that!"

"Well, mine does," I replied and then dashed into the interior of the house, protected by my Snow Aegis from any attacks.

There weren"t many Divine Shadow Sect members left, unfortunately. Thanks to the simultaneous attacks from the fifty Blood Blades members, we had overwhelmed the majority of them in short order taking them by surprise when we burst through the walls. The poor house was on the verge of collapsing in on itself, but it was slated for demolition anyway, and would be sold to some real estate agent to build a new house on it.

Even though the Divine Shadow Sect members were masters at a.s.sa.s.sination and subterfuge, they were pretty terrible in a direct fight. Furthermore, armed with high-quality Spirit Armaments, Artifacts, Armor and equipment, as well as being among the most powerful martial artists of their generation, there were few enemies the Blood Blades could not defeat. Never mind a bunch of shadowy a.s.sa.s.sins skulking around.

"!!!"

I suddenly sensed a familiar presence and my lips curled into a smile.

"Guys, heads up!" I shouted to Pang Feng and Tong Xue. "Jump back a few meters!"

"Huh? What about you?" Tong Xue demanded when he saw that I wasn"t taking my own advice and rushing forward instead.

"I"m going to flush out an old enemy," I informed him with a grin.

At that moment, Black Shadow burst out of the rotting wooden flooring, his drill spinning around violently. I brought my hovering Snow Aegis down with a thought and deflected the drill.

"We meet again," I told him, and his eyes widened when he recognized me. Hatred surged in his dark pupils and he infused more of his qi into it, trying to break my defenses.

However, unlike the last time we met, I wasn"t merely defending this time. Channeling my qi into my Snow Aegis, I detached the six petals from the core shield. Defying gravity and flying around in the air, they twisted around and unleashed a volley of qi beams that pierced through Black Shadow.

The shadowy a.s.sa.s.sin quickly dove to the side, evading as best as he could, but even he could not escape six different beams coming from different directions. A single beam lanced through his leg and he howled in pain, toppling over. Even so, he rolled away as the other five beam turrets spat laser fire at him, barely avoiding them.

Clutching his leg, he hobbled up, but I relentlessly bombarded his position with more qi beams. Realizing he wouldn"t be able to dodge, Black Shadow raised a hand and erected a qi barrier with his drill, deflecting the two beams from the front.

"Huff…they may be powerful, but I can still defend against them!" he muttered to himself, relieved.

"Against one or two of them," I agreed as I pointed up at my other mobile beam turrets. "But what about the rest of them?"

"!!!"

Black Shadow"s face turned pale before the other four beams. .h.i.t him from above and behind. Despite his protective earth qi aura shrouding his body, it was not enough to absorb the devastating qi beams. The azure laser beams practically tore through his body, puncturing tiny holes. However, there was very little blood, given that the intense heat cauterized his wounds at the points of entry and exit, leaving very little mess.

"Kuh!"

Seeing that he was alone and outmatched, and noticing that he was the sole survivor – the other twenty-three Divine Shadow Sect members had been slaughtered mercilessly by the overwhelming numbers of the Blood Blades – Black Shadow rolled away and leaped to the ground. Using his drill, he smashed it against the ground, carving a hole.

"Trying to escape?" I growled, directing my beam turrets at the fleeing Black Shadow. He merely smirked and then dove into the hole that his drill…well, drilled. I cursed when my beams missed, but it was because Black Shadow was moving much faster than I expected despite his injuries. It was those very same reflexes that had saved him earlier when my qi beams struck him – he had moved so that the beams didn"t sear through the vital points I was aiming at. Thanks to that, he had sustained relatively minor injuries.

He was badly hurt, but not too badly hurt to escape. He disappeared underground, despite my furious bombardment of qi beams, and vanished.

"Ugh!"

Frustrated, I tried to dive into the tunnel he made, only to come up against solid earth. It would be difficult to pursue Black Shadow without any earth techniques. Forced to give up, I emerged back to the surface, where the Blood Blades had gathered.

Other than Black Shadow, who had fled underground despite my best attempts to chase him, all the other Divine Shadow Sect pract.i.tioners had been slaughtered by the Blood Blades. Elder Zhao was surveying the house, upon which bodies were scattered. The metallic scent of blood filled the air, but all the Blood Blades were hardened veterans who were used to the gruesome sight and smell, and their expressions remained grim.

"Don"t worry. Black Shadow won"t be able to set foot inside our Nine-Tailed Fox Sect," Elder Zhao a.s.sured me, despite the grim expression on his face. "I have another contingent of Blood Blades waiting in there, led by Elder Cheng Ping."

"Yeah, but we all have smartphones in this day and age. He"ll just call Liang Shao Yang and inform him of what happened here." I shook my head bitterly.

"Even if he does that, what can Liang Shao Yang do?" Tong Xue looked amused. "Attack us for revenge? That would prove his guilt beyond a doubt."

That was right. Tong Xue had a great point there. Liang Shao Yang"s hands were tied. He couldn"t afford to do anything that proved that he was related to the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on Tang Qi Hong, or even the Great Elders wouldn"t be able to protect him from the Sect Leader"s wrath. This was Sect Leader Zi"s adopted daughter we were talking about here. he – or to be more precise, Sect Lady Zi Da Ji – would absolutely murder Liang Shao Yang once they had solid evidence that he was the one who ordered the attempt on her life.

"We"ll still need to keep an eye out, to ensure that this Black Shadow doesn"t try anything funny. I doubt he"ll leave Tushan City entirely. He"ll most likely continue lurking around Tushan City to a.s.sist Liang Shao Yang if necessary."

Elder Zhao looked grim. He then turned to Shen Cha.

"I"ll need you to track Black Shadow down. When you find him, contact us immediately. Do not try and take him alone, do you understand?"

"Understood." Shen Cha nodded obediently. He was about to leave, but Elder Zhao shook his head and held him back.

"You"ve done more than enough for today, Shen Cha. You can rest for today. I doubt he"ll show up anytime soon. Start looking for him tomorrow."

"I"m more afraid that he will bring reinforcements from the Divine Shadow Sect into Tushan City," Pang Feng muttered.

"If they dare, then we"ll bring the full might of the Blood Blades upon them," Elder Zhao replied. "We have justification. We asked them to cooperate with our investigation, but they attacked us first. Tried to kill me without provocation." He shrugged. Though we knew that was how they would react, that didn"t change the fact that they committed a crime and blatantly a.s.saulted us when we hadn"t actually done anything to threaten them. "If they want to complain and take revenge, we"ll welcome them with open arms." He grinned. "We might as well take this chance to weaken Divine Shadow Sect."

"Understood!"

The Blood Blades around him chorused enthusiastically, even as they were cleaning their bloodstained Spirit Weapons.

"We"ll leave the bodies to the cleanup crew. Let"s return to the sect…I"ll have to report to Sect Leader and Sect Lady."

Elder Zhao gave an order, and we all began returning to the armored personnel carriers that had ferried us here. Tong Xue, Pang Feng and I stayed with the last APC, along with another seven Blood Baldes. Since Elder Zhao was the commander, he was expected to return first. But unlike us, who could rest and relax upon returning to the sect, Elder Zhao"s responsibilities meant that he had to write a detailed report and submit it to the Sect Leader.

I didn"t envy him his job.

One last squad of Blood Blades remained behind to wait for the cleanup crew. It would be a waste for Blood Blades, the highly elite combat forces, to spend time cleaning up the mess, so for some reason we had a crew specialized in that. It was kind of weird – in my previous timeline, the police and military would just handle the cleaning of the murder scene themselves, but here, we actually had specialized vocations for that.

It boggled my mind, but I didn"t complain. If I could hand the grisly job to someone else, I would be more than happy to.

"We will take it from here, honored Blood Blades," the old man in charge of cleaning told us with a bow. For some reason, his crew reminded me of the dudes from John Wick, the ones who went into his house and cleaned up the mess after a bunch of idiots were stupid enough to try and shoot him in his own house.

"We"ll leave it to you then. Thank you, uncle."

Pang Feng bowed politely, and Tong Xue and I quickly followed his lead. We then boarded the APC with the other seven members and spent the journey back to the main sect grounds in contemplative silence.

"How do you think Liang Shao Yang will react to this?" Tong Xue suddenly asked. Pang Feng inclined his head toward him.

"What are you talking about? Haven"t we already been through this? Liang Shao Yang can"t do anything, not unless he wants to admit that he was behind the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on Senior Tang, right?"

"No, I don"t mean what he will do, exactly…but I mean, surely Liang Shao Yang will be pretty upset, right? There"s no way he"ll take this lying down. We just wiped out a good number of his fellow sect members."

"What can he do?" Pang Feng asked curiously. Tong Xue sighed.

"Again, I"m not asking what he can do, but how he will react."

"Is there a difference?" Pang Feng was confused. I quickly stepped in.

"I think Tong Xue means more like his mood…or reaction. He won"t recklessly attack the Blood Blades or complain or anything, but he"ll definitely show some signs of emotion. Like…being angry about this or being in a foul mood."

"Ah…I see. And if he has a black face after we return to the sect, it is proof that he was related to all this." Pang Feng nodded in understanding.

"Not solid, tangible proof, but it goes one step further in confirming our suspicions."

"That"s right," Tong Xue agreed. "It won"t be of much help, but if we know for sure that he"s behind this and he"s aware of the demise of the Divine Shadow Sect cell that infiltrated Tushan City, we can plan our next move." He then leaned back in his seat and grinned. "I can"t wait to see his expression!"

"You might get your wish soon," I remarked as the APC pulled up in the parking lot just inside the main sect entrance. I caught a glimpse of Liang Shao Yang waiting for us near the entrance, just outside the parking lot.

We disembarked from the APC and proceeded toward the Blood Blades headquarters near the foot of Flame Volcano, but Liang Shao Yang strode over to stand in our way. He glared at me, his eyes murderous.

"I see you"ve just returned from a mission for Blood Blades," he said coldly. Pang Feng, Tong Xue and I exchanged a glance.

"So what?" Pang Feng retorted, his tone just as frosty. "It"s none of your business if we did."

Liang Shao Yang ignored him and continued glaring at me.

"I heard you almost killed an a.s.sociate of mine."

"Who is your a.s.sociate?" I responded, pretending to think. "Black Shadow? That"s the only person I tried to kill."

Because I successfully killed the rest, but obviously I didn"t mention that.

Liang Shao Yang was also smart enough not to affirm that. He merely curled his lip, his eyes boring intensely into me. If looks could kill, I would have been murdered several times over.

Then again, I could say the same for him. It wasn"t just me, both Pang Feng and Tong Xue were also glaring murderously at him, obviously remembering the death of Senior Kao Wen last night. Liang Shao Yang was clearly the culprit, and he was standing in front of us, yet we couldn"t make a move against him because of a lack of evidence.

Fortunately, Liang Shao Yang had decided to move on his own. Narrowing his eyes as his bloodl.u.s.t surged, he sneered.

"I"ll be the future sect leader of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Even if I kill a trash like you, the Great Elders won"t do anything to me."

With that, he lunged forward and attacked.