Chapter 1404: The Nine Nether Great Emperor Has Arrived

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? He might as well try being the oriole: "Do you think their target is Qiyun Sheng or Xue Zongwu?"

"Naturally it's Xue Zongwu!" He Lingchuan said without hesitation, "Qiyun Sheng does indeed provoke hatred, but he's ultimately a retired old man. Why not bomb earlier or later, but choose to bomb precisely when Xue Zongwu arrives?"

"Xue Zongwu himself thinks the same, so he will undoubtedly be on high alert next. And we are more certain than Xue Zongwu of one thing: the other side began scheming against him in Frost Creek City."

The Soul-Capturing Mirror exclaimed: "The ones who robbed and killed Qian Yu in Frost Creek Town—were they them?"

"Such crude methods, causing a scene in public—yeah, it's similar." Of course, He Lingchuan was only speculating: "If the other side is as relentless as we are, they'd also follow us to Mangzhou."

……

Qiyun Sheng and Xue Zongwu met up, just about to speak, when they were interrupted by three or four consecutive explosions, all occurring in the eastern and northern parts of the manor, with a scale no smaller than the first.

"How outrageous!" Even if Qiyun Sheng had a good temper, he was now furious: "What kind of rat scum dares to run amok on my territory!"

"Outside the manor, I still have one hundred and seventy-one people. Hearing the explosions, they will all rush into the manor to find me."

Qiyun Sheng's face froze like frost: "The first explosion was on the west side; the gates and walls must be damaged. I've already ordered the activation of the Escape Technique Ban—those causing trouble won't be able to escape."

He took a deep breath: "I need to calm the guests and check for hidden dangers; you..."

With such a major incident at Xiaotao Mountain Villa, as the host, he bears the responsibility to soothe the guests' emotions.

Xue Zongwu immediately said: "The arsonist is mine to handle. I will capture these people and then break every bone in their bodies!"

Xiaotao Mountain Villa now has over two thousand people, but they are either guests or servants, with guards numbering only over two hundred. There's no logic in preparing for a thousand days against thieves—how could Qiyun Sheng know the other side would pull off such a grand scheme? The villa's manpower is insufficient, making the current situation somewhat strained, and they still need to rely on Xue Zongwu's forces.

Qiyun Sheng nodded: "There are still two hundred and sixty guards on the villa; I'll keep only sixty, and the rest will be under your command."

In a few words, the division of labor was complete.

Xue Zongwu turned on his heel and headed west. His personal guards casually tossed an order arrow into the sky, and green fireworks rose halfway up.

The elite troops at the Horse-Resting Pavilion will rush into the villa upon seeing the green smoke. As long as Xue Zongwu heads southwest, he'll soon be able to rendezvous with them.

Qiyun Sheng then said to the steward beside him: "Steward Yu, you go assist the son-in-law in gathering manpower!"

Steward Yu wore a dazed expression, as if he couldn't recall what had just happened.

Where am I? What am I doing? Earlier, I seemed to have been dazed.

Qiyun Sheng snapped: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!"

Steward Yu came to his senses, spurred on by him into a sudden jolt, and hurriedly chased after Xue Zongwu.

After all, Xiaotao Mountain Villa is not a proper walled city—it lacks high walls and strong fortifications. If they move even a little slower, the saboteurs might escape or succeed.

Xue Zongwu, connecting recent anomalies, naturally suspected that the ones causing such a commotion were targeting him.

Hah, he let out a cold laugh—then let's see who kills whom!

He is a man who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood—does he still fear this little showdown? Xue Zongwu strode westward, encountering panicked guests all along the way. Explosions occurred in three directions of the villa, and people instinctively gathered toward the south, hoping to flee quickly through the main gate.

Along the way, every guard they met would be detained by Steward Yu and added to Xue Zongwu's forces.

After advancing more than ten zhang, the number of people behind him had swelled to over twenty.

As long as he links up with the elite troops outside the gate, Xue Zongwu's force can expand to over two hundred.

At that moment, Xue Zongwu seemed to sense something, suddenly turning his head toward the fork in the road.

To the west was a greenhouse, filled with many rare and precious plants, pitch black at night. Yet, under Xue Zongwu's gaze, something moved in the darkness, approaching the crowd.

A voice then rang out: "Xue Zongwu!"

It had been a long time since anyone dared address him so directly. Xue Zongwu furrowed his brow, seeing a black-clad figure stride out from the shadows of the greenhouse, wearing a mask, with black smoke curling faintly around his body.

"You've committed heinous crimes, unforgivable sins." This person both roared and bellowed: "I've come to take your dog's life!"

Xue Zongwu sneered: "Hiding your head and showing your tail—what are you even supposed to be?"

"Who I am, you know full well." The black-clad man laughed loudly: "Heaven's principle is clear—now it's your turn to face retribution!"

Xue Zongwu's brow twitched. From the intelligence he had received, those words "Heaven's principle is clear" were indeed the catchphrase of the Nine Nether Great Emperor. But these words had no official certification—anyone could claim them.

Yet this fellow's attire lacked any menace, bore no relation to "Nine Nether" at all, and at most had a hint of "mystery."

Then he smelled a burnt odor coming from the other's body.

Well, scrap that "mystery" too.

"The last batch who came seeking revenge against me—had their skins peeled off. Hah, that was several years ago."

Moreover, it was done publicly.

He had slaughtered a small town, with two survivors' descendants coming years later to seek revenge, only to be ordered by him to have their skins peeled alive over two days—complete hides stripped intact and hung at the town gate.

Since then, no one has dared to come knocking.

Heh heh, they're all cowards, only worried about their own petty lives—where would any "eager for revenge" come from?

Xue Zongwu waved his hand at the black-clad man and said sternly: "Seize him—death or injury, no matter!"

The people behind him shouted in unison: "Yes!"

Then, several people rushed out.

Among them were three of his personal attendants, the rest being guards from Xiaotao Mountain Villa.

Seeing this, the black-clad man said nothing, turned, and ran! He really just took off running—ungraceful posture, zero idol baggage.

Xue Zongwu nearly laughed out loud from anger.

Those ten pursued the black-clad figure into the greenhouse and immediately vanished into the darkness.

Xue Zongwu pursued a few zhang, then stopped.

Lone-wolf rashness isn't his habit. He still doesn't know these two's capabilities.

Sure enough, after just a few breaths, another boom rang out—flames shot into the sky before his eyes—

The greenhouse had exploded too!

This blast was fiercer than the previous ones; Xue Zongwu, still three zhang from the greenhouse, was nearly toppled by the blast wave hitting him head-on. He had elemental energy protecting his body, and in the first instant he channeled power into his feet, which kept him from being overturned. The few villa guards right behind him, however, were instantly flung outward, landing in disarray—two of them even had their faces sliced by flying shrapnel, crying out in pain.

One doesn't know how the black-clad man set up such an explosive, but everyone who followed him in suffered badly. Xue Zongwu's men had elemental energy shielding them, so they might fare better, but the Qifu guards were mostly doomed.

The blinding light of the explosion also made Xue Zongwu instinctively close his eyes and turn his head.

He instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes, avoiding injury to his head and face from the incoming sharp weapon.

(End of Chapter)