Massacre

"His weapon is broken! Don’t be afraid! Let’s take him down together, chop him up, and feed him to the dogs!"

One by one, the bandits were greatly encouraged when they saw the Jade Chill Blade in Gu Sheng’s hand had broken. As long as their opponent wasn’t an invincible Connate expert, what did they have to fear? With more than three thousand of them, they could drown this executioner who had killed so many of their brothers with nothing more than their spit.

"Heh~"

Gu Sheng chuckled softly, leaped down from the Black Wind Leopard, and sheathed the half of the Jade Chill Blade still attached to its hilt. After loosening his arms and legs, he glanced at the bandits slowly closing in around him yet daring not be the first to attack. A trace of disdain curled at the corners of his lips.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Gu Sheng sneered, then turned his head and shouted at the Black Wind Leopard, "Go, Black Wind! Kill them all. Leave no one alive!"

"Roar~"

The Black Wind Leopard let out an angry roar. Its four legs bounded forward, transforming it into a black blur that pierced through and tore apart the bandits closing in from behind. Following Gu Sheng had been its own choice, but the chance to slaughter to its heart’s content excited it even more.

"Attack!"

Seeing that the Black Wind Leopard had not attacked from their direction, several bandit leaders found their courage and ordered their men to attack Gu Sheng.

"Kill him!"

"Tear him apart!"

"Cut him into a thousand pieces!"

"I’ll kill him!"

The bandits charged at Gu Sheng with furious roars. They had endured and suppressed too much for too long, holding their ground instead of fleeing even as the Demon Beast slaughtered them. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was human nature. The instant they saw Gu Sheng alone, their fear found an outlet.

"Hmph~"

Gu Sheng snorted disdainfully. He pushed off with both feet and shot toward the crowd rushing straight at him, becoming a blurred gray shadow.

"Ah~"

"Ah~~"

Gu Sheng was no kind soul. Relying on his extraordinary strength, he sent several men who tried to block him flying. Each one had a sunken chest bearing a deep palm print. They could still draw breath, but not let it out; it was obvious they would not survive.

"Bang~ Bang~"

Gu Sheng halted and slammed his two bare palms into the heads of the two bald men in front of him. The similar-looking twin brothers vomited blood from their mouths and noses at the same time, after which streaks of blood ran from their seven orifices.

"Hmph~"

Gu Sheng released his hands, and the two corpses collapsed helplessly to the ground. Their waist-high executioner’s sabers also fell into Gu Sheng’s hands. Weighing nearly three hundred jin, an ordinary person could not even lift one, but Gu Sheng wielded them effortlessly in one hand each.

"Pfft~ Pfft~"

Gu Sheng swung both sabers backward, then swept them up again. The blades brushed across the throats of two attacking bandits. The executioner’s sabers were so sharp that a single stroke severed half of each man’s neck, sending two fountains of blood spraying wildly.

"Bang~ Bang~"

The two corpses fell one after the other. Blood continued to flow, soon leaving two pools on the ground.

With a saber in each hand, Gu Sheng slaughtered in every direction. As he strode toward the upper reaches of Iron Cloud Ridge, he cleared every obstacle in his path.

"Whoosh~"

Gu Sheng brought one saber down, and the bearded man, who had offered only the slightest resistance, was cleaved in two.

"Pops!"

"Pops!"

Two cries of shock and anguish rang out. Two half-grown boys who had been hiding behind the crowd suddenly pushed their way out. One was about fourteen, while the other might not even have been thirteen. Seeing the corpse of the man who had been unable to dodge Gu Sheng’s blade, they charged at Gu Sheng with red eyes, waving their sabers.

"What a damnable world!"

Gu Sheng flared his nostrils, irritation rising in his heart. He swung both sabers backward, knocking the two boys to the ground. What a damnable world indeed. At such young ages, they had already followed their Pops into banditry. A life spent walking the edge of a blade had no future.

"Die!"

The two young bandits did not care about the mercy Gu Sheng had shown by not killing them. After scrambling back up, they raised their long sabers and charged in with the surrounding bandits.

"Sweeping Across a Thousand Armies!"

Gu Sheng was enraged. He held his executioner’s saber horizontally and swept it out with tremendous force, showing no mercy. He did not know whether he was angry at the two boys for failing to appreciate their reprieve, merely venting his dissatisfaction with this chaotic era, or both. Probably both.

"Pfft~"

Gu Sheng’s strike, fueled by rage, was extraordinary. In a single sweep, everyone in front of him—including the boy of about fourteen—was severed at the waist. Those behind them, including the bandit boy who was not yet thirteen, were so frightened that they stood dumbfounded, unable to advance or retreat.

"Run!"

Just then, another twist occurred. The fourteen-year-old boy whom Gu Sheng had cut in half had not died yet. He wrapped both arms around the executioner’s saber, preventing Gu Sheng from moving, then turned and shouted at the other boy, who was presumably his brother, "Hei Wa, run! Hurry! Don’t come ba—"

His face was deathly pale and twisted with pain. Unfortunately, before he could finish, Gu Sheng reacted and shook the blade with a backhanded strike. The boy’s upper body, still clinging to the saber, was flung helplessly away and dropped to the ground like a tattered sandbag.

"Ah! Ah! Ah~~"

Hei Wa, who was not yet thirteen, screamed at the top of his lungs. After taking a deep look at Gu Sheng, he turned and fled. He had memorized his enemy’s face. Once he was safe, he would definitely make Gu Sheng pay. Ambushing the Li family and assassinating their relatives would be an excellent idea.

"Ugh~"

While Hei Wa was still imagining the future, he suddenly pitched forward. The world spun around him, and his final memory was of seeing a headless corpse that looked remarkably similar to him falling forward. Wait, whose corpse was that? Carrying that question with him, he ended his short life.

"Failing to uproot the weeds?"

Gu Sheng swung his saber, scattering the several bandits closing in around him. After glancing at the two boys’ corpses, he suppressed the stirring in his heart and continued forward.

Kill, advance, kill in great numbers, continue advancing, massacre, advance again.

Gu Sheng repeated the same actions, creating a massacre in which he claimed more than three hundred heads.

Along the way, his body was drenched in the blood of his enemies. Some had been old, others young, but neither the underage bandits nor the gray-haired old bandits could make Gu Sheng stop. Even less could they make him waver.

"Everyone, fall back!"

Amid a great shout, the bandits, who had long since neared the brink of collapse, abandoned their weapons and retreated at top speed. Gu Sheng pressed forward step by step, reaching a place not far from the mountaintop in an instant.

"Esteemed hero, we admit defeat. Let’s stop here, shall we?"

The Silver-Haired Elder stepped forward. He placed one hand on Liu Sanlong’s shoulder and dragged the already terrified Liu Sanlong before Gu Sheng.

"What are you trying to say?"

Gu Sheng planted both executioner’s sabers into the ground and stared directly at the Silver-Haired Elder opposite him.

"This was all Liu Sanlong’s doing. We’ll hand him over to you, and this matter ends here, all right?"

While signaling his subordinates with his eyes, the Silver-Haired Elder brought Liu Sanlong forward, standing alone against Gu Sheng, who looked like a demon god.

"You’re dreaming. What if I say no?"

Gu Sheng curled his lips in a light smile. They had been the ones to ambush him and try to kill him, yet now that the situation had turned against them, they wanted to end things just like that. Did they really think he was so easygoing? Besides, even without them, he had already decided to kill Liu Sanlong.

"Don’t push us too far!"

A bandit chief stepped forward and shouted bravely, "We didn’t lay a finger on your people, yet you’ve already killed so many of ours. If you refuse to let this go, then at worst we’ll all die together!"