Stranger Danger

Chapter 314: Extermination

Technically speaking, this wasn’t the first time he saw an organized group fighting against a bunch of jianghu warriors. Back at Sky Gate Abyss, he had witnessed the Pacification Sentinels taking out opponents who were leagues above their level. However, the Pacification Sentinels normally fought in groups of five or ten, not thousands. Naturally, this battle was stunning on a level Ye Qing had never seen.

The Black Feather Guards operated like a robust yet intricate war machine. They were numerous, fast, aggressive, defensive, and capable of responding to orders at a moment’s notice. Technically speaking, the Sunset Hill disciples were stronger than the Black Feather Guards in terms of cultivation. But in an actual fight, it was a massacre completely in favor of the Black Feather Guards.

No wonder there were so few stories of jianghu warriors successfully resisting a regime. Even the strongest jianghu warrior in the world was just a bigger fish to fry before an endless sea of soldiers.

The Black Feather Guards weren’t even true elites. They were just the garrison troops of Luo Shui and the cooperators of the Pacification Bureau.

The true elites of the elites were the armies stationed at the borders facing Yan and Wei such as Dragon Serpent, Black Cavalry, White Horse, Green Wolf and more.

The Dragon Serpents once slew a Grandmaster of Wei, Zong Zhaotian, with a thousand soldiers.

The White Horses once slew the Nine Swords of Yan—all of them Grandmasters—with ten thousand soldiers.

And the Black Cavalry once exterminated a major sect called the Qianyuan Mountain of the Unbound with fifty thousand soldiers. The sect was guarded by one Sage, two Grandmasters, and over ten thousand disciples.

When a man got angry, blood was spilled.

When the Son of Heaven got angry, corpses floated for hundreds and hundreds of kilometers.

There were no exceptions.

Of course, this didn’t mean that warriors were weak. On the contrary, it was beyond stunning that a warrior could grow strong enough to battle thousands and thousands of soldiers by themselves. It was just that there was only so much one person could do sometimes.

The Black Feather Guards were pulling their weight. Naturally, Lin Yuhuai and Chu Nianjiu weren’t going to stand by and do nothing. They each led a troop of Pacification Sentinels and clashed against the Sunset Hill elders.

As more and more Sunset Hill disciples were killed, Mara Buddha grew weaker and weaker as well. In the end, he let out a scream of anger and exploded into countless fragments. While Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang were pushed away, he wrapped his Yin God and soul fragments in multiple gusts of demonic qi and scattered in every direction.

Fang Xiaoman was ready for this, however. Drawing Xuanhuang until it resembled a full moon, he shot a single arrow into the sky. A breath later, a massive column of light descended from above; each and every ray an arrow that vanquished all evil. Not a single wisp of demonic qi or Yin God was able to escape.

Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang had vanquished Mara Buddha. Xue Beikun had also killed Wang Luori, Lu Fanjiang, Du Yuanwu and Bai Xinran. Their heads were lined up in a row for all to see.

In fact, Xue Beikun had messaged Ye Qing in secret and asked him if he wanted to execute Wang Luori by his own hands. However, he wasn’t that type of person. He was fine so long as his vengeance was fulfilled, his enemies lay dead before his feet, and his troubles were resolved. So, he left it to Xue Beikun to finish the job.

Now that Mara Buddha and the Spirit Masters were dead, there was nothing Sunset Hill could possibly do to turn things around. A short while later, only a few pockets of Sunset Hill members still eluded annihilation.

The captain who took charge of the battlefield earlier reported to Xue Beikun, “Commander, we’ve annihilated everyone we can find. We lost twenty and suffered a hundred injuries.”

Xue Beikun ordered, “Good. Have a thousand men sweep the battlefield for stragglers. The rest of you may leave the hill and stand by for orders.”

“As you command!” The captain withdrew after receiving his orders.

“Chief.”

“Chief.”

Not far away, Lin Yuhuai and the others were also making reports to Fang Xiaoman and Gui Suitang. When they were done, Gu Suitang said, ““Good. Good job, everyone. Yuhuai, go gather some men and coordinate with Commander Xue to annihilate the stragglers. No one must be left alive.”

After that, he and Fang Xiaoman made their way to Xue Beikun and saluted him. “It’s all thanks to your aid that we are able to annihilate Mara Buddha. Otherwise, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable. On behalf of the Pacification Bureau and the people of Luo Shui, we solemnly thank you for your service.”

“I am an imperial officer, and it is my duty to eliminate evil and protect the people. Your thanks are unnecessary,” Xue Beikun replied coolly.

“You are a good man, Commander Xue,” Fang Xiaoman offered him a compliment regardless.

Gu Suitang added, “Considering your score with the Pacification Bureau fully settled after what you did today, Commander Xue.”

He still thought that something was off with Xue Beikun, but he couldn’t really say what was strange with him either. So, he kept his mouth shut.

Xue Beikun didn’t even look at Gu Suitang. “Do correct yourself, Chief Gu. There were never any grievances between the Pacification Bureau and I, only Joyless. But since I have reconciled with Joyless, that is a moot point as well. In short, I don’t owe your shit.”

A vein immediately throbbed on Gu Suitang’s forehead. Bitch, if you haven’t done us a huge favor, I swear...

To be fair, Xue Beikun’s words made a lot of sense. However, the revelation only pissed off Gu Suitang even more.

Sensing the tension in the air, Ye Qing hurriedly interjected, “Let’s focus on the important matters, shall we? This isn’t over yet.”

Fang Xiaoman agreed. “Yes. Mara Buddha is dead, and Sunset Hill is no more, but the co-conspirators are still alive and well. So please accompany us for a while longer, Commander Xue.”

Xue Beikun answered simply, “It is my duty.”

When Fang Xiaoman talked about co-conspirators, he was referring to the Bai Clan and the Blood Shadow Palace. Both of the Bai Clan’s patriarchs and the deputy head of the Blood Shadow Palace were puppets of Mara Buddha, meaning that there was a chance that some of their members were puppets as well. That was why they needed to pay them a visit and root out the traitors as well.

The faction Lu Fanjiang belonged to wasn’t in Luo Shui, so they would deal with them at a later date.

“Come. Let’s visit the Bai Clan first,” Fang Xiaoman beckoned everyone before descending the hill. Before Ye Qing left, he looked back at the mountain of corpses littered across the hill and Wang Luori’s open-eyed head and let out a small sigh.

Wang Luori deserved what happened to him, but the Sunset Hill disciples including Xu Wushang and Lu Yuan could only be innocent of this matter.

Unfortunately, this was a world where the pitiful and innocent died every day.

Sometimes, you could only blame it all on fate.

The sun slowly rose to the center and cast down its bright rays across the world. Despite the massacre that just occurred, it all looked as beautiful as a painting.

“It’s a good day today.”

Ye Qing exhaled slightly before getting off the hill.

When they walked up the steps, the sky was cloudy, and their footsteps were heavy.

But now, they were walking briskly in the light.

......

Luo Shui’s wealth mostly came from two clans: The Luo Clan and the Bai Clan.

The Bai Clan was situated to the south of Luo Shui, and the Luo Clan to the north. Together, they held nearly half of Luo Shui’s wealth in their grasp. It was why people said that the two clans controlled half of the skies in Luo Shui.

The Bai Clan possessed hundreds of acres of land, and their residences were overflowing with luxury both inside and outside. They had entire forests full of flora and fauna as their garden, they had small streams running through ornamental bridges, they had towers, pavilions and kiosks of all shapes and sizes, they had everything.

The extravagance didn’t stick out like a sore thumb either. Somehow, they were a perfect blend of uniqueness and convention.

Normally, the Bai Clan was a boisterous place where countless people visited them to negotiate business, ask for a job, or even to admire their extravagance. But today, it was surrounded with soldiers with their armor coated in dry blood, and their sabers already unsheathed.

“What’s happening?” “How would I know?”

“Look! Chief Fang, Chief Gu and Commander Xue are all present, and the soldiers are a mix of Black Feather Guards and Pacification Sentinels. The Bai Clan must have committed a grave crime for all these people to show up at once.”

“One hundred percent.”

“What do you think they did to earn the ire of the Pacification Bureau and the Black Feather Guards?”

“Who cares? It’s not like the Bai Clan doesn’t deserve it. Everyone here has suffered in their hands in one way or another. They think they can do anything just because they’re rich. They should’ve been wiped out a long time ago.”

“Agreed, brother!”

Outside the encirclement, countless people were gossiping about the Bai Clan’s plight. Only a handful of them were sympathizers.

At the entrance, the Bai Clan’s steward, Bai Ren, was quaking in his boots. Cold sweat was dripping profusely from his forehead.

Gu Suitang took a step forward and declared, “Bai Xinran and Bai Xinhu have been found guilty of colluding with demons, entrapping members of the Pacification Bureau, and doing harm to Luo Shui. They had already been executed for their crimes.”

“I am now ordering every member of the Bai Clan to step out and be interrogated. Anyone who resists will be killed without question.”

“W-what? That’s impossible!” Bai Ren’s face turned as pale as a sheet. “My lord has always been a kind and compassionate person. There’s no way he would do such a thing!”

“Hmph! Show him!” Gu Suitang ordered, and a Pacification Sentinel stepped forth to toss two human heads on the ground.

When Bai Ren saw the heads—the heads of Bai Xinran and Bai Xinhu—he collapsed to the ground and screamed, “Ahhhh! My lords! Ah... ah...”

His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fainted just like that.

“Hmph! Useless.” Gu Suitang harrumphed and sucked in a deep breath. His voice boomed across the entire residence. “All Bai Clan members are to show themselves and accept interrogation this instant! Otherwise, we will kill all of you on sight!”

“Close the gates!”

It was at this moment a shrill voice broke out. Then, the Bai Clan’s gates slammed shut on its own.

“How nice of them to confirm our suspicions!” Gu Suitang sneered. He then stepped forward and punched the doors with his fist.

The doors were made of refined steel and weighed at least hundreds of kilograms, but one punch was all he needed to send them flying off their hinges. A few guards and guest warriors who failed to get out of the way in time were flattened like pancakes as a result.

“The Bai Clan colluded with demons but refused to repent for their sins. Men! Enter the residence and capture all Bai Clan members. Don’t allow even a fly to escape your grasp. If anyone resists, kill them.”

“At once!”

“Black Feather Guards, coordinate with the Pacification Sentinels and capture the Bai Clan members. Kill anyone who resists.”

“Hu!”

“Hu!”

“Hu!”

......

The battle ended even faster than the one that had taken place at Sunset Hill. With Fang Xiaoman, Gu Suitang and Xue Beikun to suppress the Bai Clan’s strongest combatants, and thousands and thousands of Pacification Sentinels and Black Feather Guards to sweep every nook and cranny without fail, there was simply nothing the Bai Clan could do to resist. The battle was over just half a teatime later.

This time, both armies only suffered a dozen or so injuries. No one was killed in the process. On the other hand, the Bai Clan lost over half their numbers. Not only that, they discovered that Bai Xinran and Bai Xinhu’s descendants and a handful of guest warriors had Mara Buddha’s scent on them. Clearly, they had been corrupted and twisted by Mara Buddha.

Surprisingly—and thankfully—most of the servants were in the clear. They were still escorted back to the Pacification Bureau for further inspection, but they would be released eventually.

They wouldn’t have a Bai Clan to return to, however. Today was the day the Bai Clan was no more.

“Come. It’s time to visit the Blood Shadow Palace next.”