The old man"s eyes narrowed as the grip of death enshrouded him. With his heart stuck in his throat, he wished to scream out in terror. Try as he might, though, it was as if a pair of hands gripped him tight by the throat, and he couldn"t so much as muster a whisper.

Without even touching the old man, the Golden Core Cultivator s.h.i.+fted the spiritual qi with the gesture of his hand. The now visible spiritual qi wrapped tightly around the old man"s head and with a savage, bone-chilling crunch, the old man"s head was crushed like a melon, sending his brains, shards of bone, blood, and bits of hair flying...

The other old man bellowed out in horror, his face now ashen, as he madly rushed forward trying to escape their reach. A split second later, the three figures had already materialized in his path. The mounting fear and gloom that swelled from his heart caused his feet to tremble and grow weak. Unconsciously, he slammed to the ground.

"Sp-spare me!"

The greater one"s cultivation base, the greater one"s fear of death. The two of them had grown far older than any ordinary man, and so too had their strength and status surpa.s.sed that of the common cultivator. With that kind of power, they ought to have whatever they pleased, and indeed, he still wished to enjoy the spoils. No, he couldn"t die. He wasn"t ready for death!

"Y-Young Miss Feng! Have mercy! Spare me!!"

Frantically turning his head back, he watched as Feng Jiu slowly walked away, her head bowed in solemnity. This dignified master of a great martial sect at the peak of cultivation had, in this instant, been reduced to a blubbering, groveling coward. It wasn"t that he didn"t wish to fight, it was that the staggering might of his opponents floored him. With even just the slightest amount of pressure, they had pinned him to the ground. How could he even hope to fight?

If he had known that the Feng Residence hid a power of such immensity, they would have never toyed with such a hopeless notion of attacking Feng Xiao! Finding himself now at the gates of the underworld, his scheming mind had crystallized on a single notion - how could he escape this execution?

But now that he knew the great secret of the Feng Residence"s power, how would she ever let him live to see another day?

Standing off at a distance, Feng Jiu observed the old man prostrated on the ground begging for his life. With a chilling glare, she said, "Spare you? If I were to spare you, who would spare my family? If it weren"t for my father"s tenacious will to live, he would have died at your hands! Tell me, how could I possibly spare you?!"

Hearing this, the old man"s heart quaked and he pleaded, "Young Miss Feng! It wasn"t us! Honestly, it wasn"t us! We were only following the orders of Murong Bo! We didn"t want to kill General Feng, honestly! Honestly, we didn"t want to! We were forced..."

Before he could even finish, Feng Jiu had turned away, and in that instant, a pair of hands capped about his temples, and with a heavy thud, the old man keeled over, dead as a doornail...

"Once you"ve cleaned the bodies, head back to the Peach Blossom Ridge," Feng Jiu said as she mounted Old White, cradling Little Ball as she galloped back towards the city.

After days of wandering through the lands with Old White to ensnare them in her trap and after snuffing out their lives, tomorrow, she could finally enjoy a much-needed rest.

Seeing Feng Jiu return so early, the guard was taken aback. Stepping forward to bow and greet her, he smiled and said, "You"re back awful early today, Young Miss!"

"Mm," she nodded with a smile as she placed Little Ball on the ground. Then, she said to the guard, "Help me prepare something nice for Old White and Little Ball."

"Yes, Miss. Don"t you worry, I"ll have something ready right away," he said with a laugh and a bow as he led Old White and Little Ball away.

Watching him go, she headed to the main courtyard. Seeing her father"s steadfast guards standing at attention in the courtyard, she nodded to them and went inside.

"Little Jiu, you"re back early today?" her father said quizzically as he supped at his bowl of medicinal porridge.