Chapter 352: Bloody Twilight

The light emitted by the lanterns made the Ma Family residence as bright as day.

Ma Chong finished the cup of Wine in his hand and said slowly, "My arrangement is not to welcome Ma Han back!"

"What!" The people sitting cross-legged before the low tables were greatly shocked.

Ma Chong had long anticipated that these clan elders would have such a reaction.

Ma Jin glanced at the clan elders, said nothing, and merely lowered his head to drink Wine.

He raised his hand to signal the clan elders to remain calm and continued, "According to the Ma Family ancestral teachings, no clan descendant may harm the interests of the Ma Family; otherwise, the entire clan shall execute them."

With a cold sneer, he continued, "Yet since Ma Han is alive, not only has he not returned to the Ma Family, but he has instead colluded with Yan Wang. How is this any different from betraying the clan?"

"Well said." Ma Jin shouted at this moment.

Holding his wine cup, he stood up, "This Yan Wang is an Imperial Prince, representing the Royal Clan, and has always been at odds with us powerful families. Ma Han has defected to Yan Wang; if this is not betraying the clan, then what is it?"

He paused and said, "By comparison, after Ma Chong succeeded to the position of Head of the Family, he basically severed all dealings with Yan Wang. This is what truly conforms to the interests of our Ma Family."

"This..."

The clan elders immediately whispered among themselves; some nodded, while others shook their heads.

Ma Yue narrowed his eyes slightly; he always remembered the Ma Family's ancestral teachings and had never violated them for a single moment.

However, the words of Ma Chong and Ma Jin seemed reasonable but were actually extremely absurd.

He stood up and said sternly, "That is complete nonsense. Yan Wang is indeed of the Royal Clan, but currently, powerful families are one after another showing favor to him in order to purchase Artillery. Setting aside prejudices for the sake of interests—this is what is truly for the sake of the Ma Family, rather than blindly making enemies based on personal preferences while disregarding the Ma Family's interests. Do you know that Western Liang and Northern Di are about to hold an alliance at the foot of Yin Mountain? I ask you, if the Ma Family has no Artillery, what chance do we have of holding Xiao Pass?"

"What? An alliance between Western Liang and Northern Di!"

"This is bad. One Western Liang is already like this; what are we to do if Northern Di is added to the mix?"

"It is said that the Han Family and the Liang Family purchased Artillery from Yan Wang long ago, while our Ma Family has been slow to act. This is truly inexcusable."

"..."

This news immediately caused the clan elders to erupt in an uproar.

If Northern Di and Western Liang broke through Xiao Pass, the Ma Family would cease to exist.

The expressions of Ma Chong and Ma Jin changed.

Ma Jin said to Ma Yue, "Alarmist talk. How could I not know of this matter?"

"If you do not know, naturally there are others who do." Ma Yue snorted, "When my elder brother was still alive, he planned to live in harmony with Yan Wang to jointly resist foreign enemies. This is where the interests of the Ma Family lie."

Upon hearing this, Ma Jin's expression changed several times. Seeing that the other clan elders all agreed with Ma Yue's words, he and Ma Chong exchanged a glance, and their faces suddenly twisted.

"Today, I say we will not welcome Ma Han back, so we will not welcome Ma Han back. From now on, only Ma Chong and I have the final say in the Ma Family; we do not need you old fools to wag your tongues." Ma Jin was furious, and he then smashed his wine cup to pieces.

At this moment, the soldiers hidden in the surrounding rooms heard the sound of the wine cup shattering and immediately rushed out one after another.

They drew their swords and blades, swarming out to surround the clan elders.

Seeing the gleaming blades, Ma Yue's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

The other clan elders were likewise frightened and panicked.

"Ma Jin, what do you want to do? This is betraying the clan."

A hot-tempered clan elder stood up and pointed at Ma Jin.

Ma Jin's expression was cold, and he gave the commanding officer a look.

The officer immediately stepped forward, and with a "shing" sound, his Long Sword pierced through the clan elder.

Seeing that someone had been killed, several other clan elders immediately collapsed onto their chairs.

The Ma Family was about to fall into great chaos.

Ma Yue's heart sank like stone; he now deeply regretted not listening to Dian Zhang's words.

He had not expected Ma Chong and Ma Jin to be this insane.

This was simply destroying the foundation of the Ma Family.

"Take Ma Yue for me." Having intimidated the other clan elders, Ma Jin looked at Ma Yue.

In the Ma Family, besides himself, only Ma Yue could stand on equal footing with him.

Now, he naturally could not let Ma Yue live.

"Ma Jin, you will come to a bad end." Ma Yue said, word by word.

Although he had taken precautions, the personal guards who came with him all had short swords hidden on their persons.

However, there were many of Ma Jin's soldiers in the courtyard, and he thought to himself that he probably would not be able to escape.

But knowing he would surely die, he was not a man to stretch out his neck to be slaughtered.

Lifting the hem of his long robe, he drew a short sword from the scabbard on his leg wrap and pointed it at Ma Jin.

Seeing this, Ma Jin merely gave a disdainful smile and nodded at the officer.

At this time, the soldiers rushed toward the clan elders at the banquet; blade light flashed, and one by one, the Ma Family elders fell into pools of blood, screaming.

The soldiers also lunged toward Ma Jin.

The personal guards who had come with Ma Yue simultaneously drew their short swords, protected Ma Yue behind them, and fought with Ma Jin's soldiers.

Although they were all highly skilled, they could not withstand the sheer number of Ma Jin's soldiers; as they fought their way toward the main gate, people were constantly being killed.

Having moved less than thirty meters, only three of the twelve personal guards remained.

By now, the soldiers who had finished killing the other clan elders all surrounded them, trapping Ma Yue in the center.

Ma Yue knew he would surely die and closed his eyes.

But just at this moment, suddenly, a "thud" was heard.

The main gate of the Ma Family residence was suddenly smashed open.

Dian Zhang, holding twin axes and clad in Armor, rushed in like a god of slaughter.

Behind him followed dozens of Personal Guards.

Although Ma Yue had been dismissive of his conjectures, he felt a drum beating in his heart.

After all, Ma Yue had saved his life.

Furthermore, if anything were to happen to Ma Yue, there would be no one left in the Ma Family capable of keeping Ma Jin in check.

Yet despite this, he could only fret anxiously within the military camp.

After all, for him to rashly lead troops there would be tantamount to treason.

But just at this moment, a soldier suddenly brought him a note.

The note bore a Flame mark, revealing that Ma Jin had dispatched soldiers to enter through the back gate of the residence and lie in ambush.

Upon reading the note, he immediately brought his Personal Guards and rushed over.

He had not expected to hear the sounds of slaughter the moment he reached the entrance.

He immediately led his troops to kill the guards at the entrance and charged inside.

"Kill!" Dian Zhang was also a first-rate fierce general in the Ma Family army.

Wielding a heavy axe, he fought with wide, sweeping movements, immediately scattering the soldiers surrounding Ma Yue.

Grabbing Ma Yue, he said, "My lord, come with me quickly."

Having said this, he left soldiers behind to cover their retreat and dragged Ma Yue toward the gate.

Ma Jin's expression changed in shock at the sudden turn of events.

But seeing that Dian Zhang had only a few dozen men, he immediately shouted, "Ma Chang, take the troops and pursue them for me."

The general known as Ma Chang immediately led his troops and charged out.

But by this time, Dian Zhang had already helped Ma Yue onto a horse, and they headed toward the city gate together.

Ma Chang ordered the Cavalry to pursue while simultaneously sending someone to report back to Ma Jin.

"Uncle, what should we do? If Ma Yue returns to Sizhou, he will surely welcome back Ma Han and lead troops to crusade against us," Ma Chong said anxiously.

Ma Jin gritted his teeth and said, "Now we have no way back. Immediately declare Ma Han and Ma Yue to be traitors to the Ma Family; anyone who assists Ma Han or Ma Yue will be treated by our Ma Family as an enemy."