Chapter 197: Han Chuiyuan

With Mu Qingxia and Mei Yan both captured, no one within the Mei Manor anymore can stop Hu Rui and the others.

Under the control of the Life-and-Death Talisman, Mei Yan finds it even harder to resist; he reveals everything he knows without omission, confessing all that should and should not be said.

As a series of transfer orders personally issued by Mei Yan depart from the Mei Manor, the Tianjin Guard in the provincial capital begins to move first, setting out overnight for Lan Province.

As for the Tianjin Guard in other cities of Sheng Province, they will successively receive messages carried by falcons and act according to the orders issued by Mei Yan.

……

At the location of the Sheng Province garrison, atop a towering arrow tower, a middle-aged man over fifty years of age stands with his hands clasped behind his back.

The night is as dark as ink, and the wind howls.

The middle-aged man wears a plain black robe; his garment flaps wildly in the wind. He wears no military sword at his waist, only a bronze tiger tally hanging there.

His gaze, like a blade, cuts through the darkness before him, piercing straight toward the city lights of the provincial capital in the distance.

At this moment, a figure rushes swiftly from the darkness, lightly climbs the arrow tower, kneels half-bent behind him, and says:

"General, the Yuan, Zhu, and Cen families have all been annihilated and turned into seas of fire; the Bai family next is likely to suffer the same fate."

The instant these words fall, Han Chuiyuan's gaze shifts, looking toward the direction of the Bai family. There, a pillar of fire suddenly rises to the sky, illuminating that entire area with a sky full of red clouds.

At this time, the bronze bell hanging from the eaves of the arrow tower rings in the wind, and a strange expression flashes across Han Chuiyuan's iron-cast, cold face.

Immediately, he takes a yellow-silk letter from his bosom, flicks it casually, and the letter flies toward the kneeling person, who then catches it with his hand.

"Tonight, you will leave the provincial capital and deliver this letter to the Imperial Palace in the capital."

Han Chuiyuan speaks with a calm voice, while the figure in the darkness hesitates noticeably for a moment before saying:

"General, that person has annihilated four great families in such a short time; he must have come for the matter of the Lady Murong family, and his strength is likely unimaginable. We should withdraw now to temporarily avoid his edge."

Upon hearing this, Han Chuiyuan says nothing, his gaze fixed on the direction of the four great families in the provincial capital.

At this moment, a night owl suddenly sweeps over the battlements; the wind from its wings lifts his robe, causing the tiger tally at his waist to sway slightly, producing a sound in the dead night that resembles the clashing of metal weapons and charging horses.

Han Chuiyuan suddenly sighs and says:

"Look closely: now the Lady Murong family, the number one martial arts family in Sheng Province, has been destroyed, and the four great martial arts families have already turned into seas of fire."

Speaking thus, Han Chuiyuan turns his head to glance at the figure in the darkness behind him and says:

"Who do you think is the greatest winner in all of Sheng Province right now?"

The figure in the darkness falls silent for a moment, then clasps his hands and says:

"Naturally, it is you, General. After tonight, what martial arts force in all of Sheng Province can still oppose us? Once we take control of the five great families' power tomorrow, the entire Sheng Province will be ruled by your word alone."

Upon hearing this, a meaningful smile appears on Han Chuiyuan's face. He then slowly turns his head and speaks lightly:

"You are wrong. I, Han, have spent my life in military service, fighting on battlefields. Though I have personal motives, I have no ambition and have never thought of controlling Sheng Province."

The figure in the darkness frowns. At this moment, Han Chuiyuan waves his hand and orders:

"You may go."

Upon hearing this, the figure glances at Han Chuiyuan's back but asks:

"Will the General not leave?"

Han Chuiyuan shakes his head slightly and says:

"What needed to be done has already been done. In my life, I have never fled the battlefield. A general dies in a hundred battles; no matter who he is, no matter how strong he is, he will never make me retreat even a fraction!"

Upon hearing these words, the figure in the darkness is slightly stunned, but he finally says no more, bowing deeply and saying:

"This subordinate will surely complete the General's trust."

Having spoken, the figure sways slightly, floats down from the arrow tower, and then disappears into the night.

Only then does Han Chuiyuan turn his head slightly, looking toward the direction of the city gate.

There, a group of people disguised as an escort is protecting a line of women, children, and the elderly, quietly and quickly leaving the provincial capital under the cover of night.

After a long while, Han Chuiyuan slowly withdraws his gaze, then turns to look at that pillar of fire rising to the sky in the city.

"It has always been my Han's way to attack others; sitting idle and waiting for death is not my style."

Kill intent overflows in Han Chuiyuan's eyes. In the next instant, the entire person leaps upward; the terrifying true qi radiating from his body directly crushes the arrow tower beneath him into fragments, which explode with a boom.

At this moment, Han Chuiyuan stands suspended in the night, reaching out his hand to grasp.

In an instant, a deafening clanging of metal weapons suddenly erupts from a hall below. Then, a streak of green light suddenly pierces through the hall, transforming into a green light-shadow that instantly falls into Han Chuiyuan's hand.

Han Chuiyuan glances at the long spear in his hand. In the next instant, his figure vanishes from the spot, rushing straight toward the direction of the Bai family to kill.

Lady Murong Xiaoya, who was originally heading toward the Han Manor, seems to sense something. In the pitch-black night, she suddenly halts her movement, then turns her head to look.

A chill flashes through her clear eyes; immediately, her figure turns and vanishes.

"Han Chuiyuan!"

A cold voice comes from mid-air. Han Chuiyuan, who was attacking the Bai family, suddenly looks up.

He wastes no words, steps into the void, and his figure, like a black lightning bolt, tears through the sky.

Then, the green-gold coiled-dragon spear, entirely wreathed in green radiance, thrusts out abruptly. In an instant, the spear tip's cold light intensifies, piercing the night, as if capable of piercing mountains, with boundless kill intent and peerless spear edge!

This spear thrust, like a green dragon emerging from the world; before the spear even arrives, the air ahead has already been compressed into rolling shockwaves. Wherever it passes, the vast heaven and earth's true qi swirls wildly with the spear's momentum, seeking to slaughter everything.

Lady Murong Xiaoya's figure appears in mid-air. Her skin flows with crimson-gold fire patterns. A Zhu Que phantom appears and disappears behind her; with a single spread of her wings, she showers down a sky full of flowing fire.

Facing the terrifying spear light rushing through the sky, Lady Murong Xiaoya's expression remains unmoved; she simply extends one finger and presses downward.

Boom—!

A line of fire erupts from her fingertip. The instant it collides with the spear tip, blinding crimson and green light explodes. The shockwave completely covers the space within a hundred zhang!

Just then, Han Chuiyuan's spear momentum suddenly changes. The green-gold coiled-dragon spear suddenly splits into a thousand phantom images. Each spear is condensed into solid substance, dotting out streaks of green starlight, connecting into a net of slaughter.

At this moment, the blazing space around them even shows cracks, as if unable to withstand this extreme sharpness!

Lady Murong Xiaoya remains expressionless. The Zhu Que phantom swings its wings downward in a slash; the air distorts and steams. The so-called net of slaughter silently vanishes under the fleeting crimson-gold firelight.

The green-gold coiled-dragon spear in Han Chuiyuan's hand silently twists. The spear body glows crimson, then melts into streams of red molten liquid that flow down from mid-air.

Seeing this, horror appears in Han Chuiyuan's eyes. Meanwhile, Lady Murong Xiaoya's black robe flaps wildly; the space around her is burned, distorted, and collapsed by flames, already transformed into a terrifying vortex.

She gazed at Han Chuiyuan and slowly spoke:

"You should die."

As her words fell, a flash of firelight darted from the scalding slurry, flowing into Han Chuiyuan's body. It began to burn from his arm, then spread to every part of his body.

(End of this chapter)