Chapter 421: 395 Assassination

Meng Huazhou shuddered and suddenly turned his head to look at his father, almost thinking he had misheard.

Meng Tiansheng's voice was kept extremely low, but his expression grew increasingly solemn; his gaze revealed a sternness that usually brooked no doubt, yet hidden beneath that sternness were actually traces of weakness and pleading.

Meng Huazhou saw that pleading, and for a moment his heart shook violently, then he heard Meng Tiansheng continue: "Kill me, and inherit my sword..."

As for the word "inherit," Meng Huazhou had refused it a hundred times, yet at this moment, the words of refusal were stuck in his throat and he could not say them at all.

Meng Tiansheng said sternly: "You can take the Jingzhe Sword. Although it is not a perfect match, your aptitude is excellent, and it will acknowledge you. At this time, there is no other choice. Kill me, immediately inherit the Jingzhe Sword, and succeed as Manor Master. For... for the sake of Jingzhe Villa, this is the best method. You must... you must not lose it, nor can you hand it over to that woman."

Meng Huazhou had not expected him to be so guarded against Black Widow, preferring to end his life rather than pass on the position, so he said: "For the sake of Jingzhe Villa? Fine, I will not use the Jingzhe Sword. I will trick her into going to Cloud City and find an opportunity to kill her directly; that would be a permanent solution."

Meng Tiansheng said: "No, there is no time to wait! I will only be at ease once you have taken the sword. I... I actually want to die. I cannot move, I cannot even commit suicide, otherwise I would do it right now in front of you. You killing me is also fulfilling your father's wish."

Seeing Meng Huazhou's expression crumbling bit by bit, Meng Tiansheng hardened his voice and said: "Listen to me. After taking the sword, do not worry about my corpse; just leave it as it is, close the door from the outside, lock it well, do not allow anyone to enter, and pretend I am still alive. Then, do not say that you have taken the Jingzhe Sword, and leave immediately. Take them out, going to Cloud City is fine too. Then kill them all..."

Meng Huazhou did not know why he insisted on locking the door, but he just agreed repeatedly, saying: "I know, I will definitely kill Black Widow..."

Meng Tiansheng said: "No, kill all of them. Everyone outside!"

Meng Huazhou was startled, and Meng Tiansheng had already said: "You were not the heir, yet you suddenly took the Jingzhe Sword; how could they be willing to submit to you? They must all hate you deeply. These people cannot be used, and they must not be left as a scourge..."

Meng Huazhou nodded. Those people outside had nothing to do with him; if they were killed, they were killed, so why argue with the old man? He said: "I understand, Father. I will definitely protect Jingzhe Villa..."

Meng Tiansheng's pupils suddenly shrank, as if he had seen something terrifying, and he urged: "I have nothing more to say. Hurry and do it, hurry and do it, hurry..."

Suddenly, the sound of wind rose abruptly—

A figure appeared from nowhere, leaped directly over the high wall, and thrust a sword at Meng Tiansheng.

Meng Huazhou immediately drew his sword to meet the enemy, but that person's movement technique was extremely fast; in the blink of an eye, they swept past him and struck straight at Meng Tiansheng.

Meng Tiansheng let out a roar, his voice like thunder; the invisible sound transformed into a tangible wave, pushing outward in all directions, and the surrounding tables and chairs overturned one after another.

Meng Huazhou was too close and was sent staggering backward by the sound wave; his ears were deafened, and his vision went black.

In a daze, he only heard a roar, which seemed to be his father's voice, and then it stopped abruptly. He struggled to open his eyes and saw a sword plunged into Meng Tiansheng's chest. A figure draped in a black robe, revealing not a single feature, stood before him; although somewhat disheveled, they had already succeeded.

Meng Huazhou felt his mind go blank and his vision turn stark white, staring blankly at the figure.

The figure did not hesitate at all; they reached out and pulled the sword from Meng Tiansheng's chest. Fresh blood immediately spurted out, splashing all over them.

They did not linger, turned around, and exited through the window. By the time Meng Huazhou reacted, he only saw a black shadow merging into the darkness of dawn.

"Ah—ah!"

Meng Huazhou let out a beast-like roar, raised the Jingzhe Dharma Artifact in anger, and jumped out the window to pursue the direction where the person had left.

At this time, Meng Tiansheng was left at the scene, still maintaining a lying-down posture; the only movement was the wound on his chest still gushing blood.

The only candle had burned to its end, leaving only a bit of wick, yet the incense smoke had not dissipated; instead, it grew even more intense, and the room was extremely dim.

In the dimness, the scenery on one side of the room suddenly changed, as if a transparent curtain had been torn away, revealing a figure behind it. Someone stepped forward and looked down at Meng Tiansheng's body.

Meng Tiansheng had been pierced through the chest by a sword, and with the sword pulled out, his life force was completely gone. His Jingzhe Sword lay to one side, its luster gradually fading, as if rusting.

The treasure sword dimmed itself; the Sword Guest had truly died.

"I had not yet made a move, and you are already dead. You truly have many enemies." The person shook their head lightly, "Then so be it."

The last flicker of candlelight extinguished, and the room fell into a long darkness.

Meng Huazhou pursued them in a rage, the Dharma Artifact in his hand radiating thunder light; thin strands of Spring Thunder transformed into ten thousand rays of thunder light, circling around him as if a god of thunder had descended to the world.

At this moment, even if there were an army of thousands, he would blast them into ashes.

However, there was no army of thousands before him, nor was there a single person.

He had only been stunned for a moment, and that figure who had run out first had already disappeared without a trace; not a shadow could be seen in the vast night.

"Where are you? Where are you?"

Meng Huazhou transformed into a starving wolf, sprinting wildly across the rooftops. His Dharma Artifact remained in an activated state, and the electric light around him accumulated more and more, emitting a sizzling sound, finally almost turning into a thundercloud that shot into the sky. His footsteps landed on the tiles, and the thunder light left scorched marks wherever it touched.

He rampaged like this for a long time, but found no trace of the enemy; that person seemed to have vanished into thin air. He could only clench his teeth, making them sizzle like the lightning.

As he swept past the main gate, Meng Huazhou caught a glimpse and saw a dense crowd of people on the ground; they were the very people he had brought and the original people of the villa. More than half of the villa's people were gathered here tonight.

"Right—"

Suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, and Meng Huazhou stopped abruptly.

He had pursued so quickly, searching in all directions; even if he couldn't catch the person, how could he not see even a shadow? How could there be no trace at all?

Could it be... that the person never ran away at all?

Could they have simply blended into this crowd?

Because they were originally one of the people who came, returning would not make anyone suspicious.

One must know that the intruder could disguise themselves; even if they couldn't, it wouldn't matter. Meng Huazhou remembered that the assassin was in a full black robe, revealing no face at all, and the bloodstains were only on the outer robe. As long as they came out, took off the outer robe, and blended into the crowd while no one noticed, wouldn't it be done without anyone knowing?

If this were true, wouldn't it mean... that by bringing so many people, he had fulfilled the murderer's wish and was also a step in killing his father?

This assumption was too painful, and Meng Huazhou could not accept it. He forced himself not to think about this point, only grinding his teeth, wanting to swallow the murderer of his father alive.

He wished he could jump into the crowd immediately and drag that person out, or if he couldn't drag them out, kill them all. In any case, it was better to kill the wrong person than to let one go; if he killed them all, he would surely kill the real murderer. But at this very moment, he could not be impulsive.

Firstly, he did not have the ability to be an enemy to everyone; he feared that he would not be able to take revenge and would put himself in danger.

Secondly, his father's final instructions still lingered in his ears.

In the end, Meng Tiansheng was not afraid of death, but afraid that the Jingzhe Sword could not be passed on, and afraid that Jingzhe Villa would encounter a disaster and be destroyed in one fell swoop. Before the dust settled, he could not let anyone know that his father was dead.

Should he go... take the sword and lock the door?

A thought popped into Meng Huazhou's mind, but he immediately set it aside; there would be a gap in time for him to go back and forth, and perhaps the murderer would run away.

He flipped down from the roof, stood in the courtyard, and circulated his Qi, forcibly suppressing his emotions that were on the verge of spiraling out of control, and walked out through the main gate.

As soon as Meng Huazhou came out, everyone's gaze brushed onto his face.

The time he spent inside was neither long nor short; he went in neatly and came out neatly, not looking like he had just committed patricide or done anything major. As for his expression, it was hard to see clearly in the darkness, making it easy to conceal.

Huang Protector stepped forward and said: "Young Villa Master, how is it?"

Meng Huazhou scanned the people in front of him, guessing in his heart whether they were trustworthy, and said: "It is nothing, the Manor Master has instructions..."

He decided to give a portion of trust for the time being; this person was the focus of his side and could not possibly have slipped out under everyone's eyes to kill someone and then return. He said: "Everyone line up and stand here; no one is allowed to leave."

Just then, he happened to see the Disciple who had brought out all the servants; he remembered that this man was his father's trusted aide, and that driving everyone out was indeed the Manor Master's decision, which meant he had been acting under orders all along and seemed trustworthy, so he said: "Li Cai! Take the Disciples and secure this place. No one is allowed to leave. Anyone who attempts to leave without authorization is to be detained immediately!"

Black Widow raised an eyebrow, and Meng Huazhou stepped forward, saying: "Senior Sister Yin, I mean no offense toward you; this is my father's will, and I am merely acting under orders. Rest assured, Senior Sister, I will certainly not get in your way. By the way, are the people who came out of our branch courtyard still here?"

The reason he could still be so amiable while speaking to Black Widow was that, in his heart, Black Widow was already a dead woman—although she was likely not the murderer, his father had given instructions, and she would undoubtedly die.

Black Widow said with a cryptic smile: "Mm, they are all here." She pointed them out one by one, "Little Tang, Si Yao, Si Yao's little brother, and that young brother Yue Lai, not a single one is missing."

Meng Huazhou looked at them one by one and saw that they were indeed all there; he nodded slightly, appearing to value these people highly, and if he hadn't been unable to force a smile, he would have even wanted to chat and laugh with them.

After saying a few words, Meng Huazhou then said: "Huang Protector, my father is calling for you."

Huang Protector did not suspect anything and followed Meng Huazhou inside.

Once inside, Meng Huazhou drew his Dharma Artifact and struck with a bolt of Thunder Light.

Caught off guard, Huang Protector was struck instantly, his entire body paralyzed, and he collapsed.

He opened his mouth, but his tongue was numb, and he could not utter a single word.

Meng Huazhou walked up, first tugging at his facial skin; it was natural skin, with no Mask, and then he scraped it with his hand, but no powder fell off, so he nodded and said: "My apologies, Huang Protector, I cannot trust anyone right now, so I have to offend you. Do you dare to swear that you have not betrayed my father?"

Huang Protector managed to say: "I... of course..." but the paralysis had not yet faded, and his oral muscles were acting strangely, so he could not yet speak naturally.

Meng Huazhou said: "Swear that if you have betrayed him, you will be struck by lightning and die in the Ten Thousand Poison Pit."

Huang Protector was filled with anger and fear, but unable to resist, he had no choice but to force himself to swear the oath.

Meng Huazhou said: "Good, now tell me, during the time I just went inside, among the people outside, especially those five outsiders, did anyone leave?"