The Killing

Chapter 681: The Killing

A thud. Chi Baishui’s head hit the ground, rolled, and came to rest against the bound foot of Yang Xiaohai’s eldest sister.

Her expression shifted from cold indifference to shock, then from shock to terror. Tears pooled in her eyes. “Father!”

That single word seemed to flip a switch. The air erupted around them—roars of fury and flying harpoons all aimed at Li Huowang.

A harpoon punched into his chest and emerged, unchanged, from his back.

Li Huowang stomped hard into the ground and charged, gripping the Purple-Tasseled Sword.

He was busy. He didn’t have time to reason with these people.

Besides, Yang Xiaohai’s injuries, the old man’s theft of the Decaying-Wood Ruyi earlier, and that woman from the Fa Sect—there wasn’t much to discuss. A direct fight was more practical.

Seeing Li Huowang was just one man, the Dan-min’s able-bodied men tried to coordinate and surround him, using the skills they used to hunt fish in the sea.

But once Li Huowang truly began to move, the smell of blood thickened in the air. He started a slaughter that was never in doubt.

The tattoos that let them move as freely as fish in the water could not protect them now. The sword in Li Huowang’s hand carved through the Dan-min’s bodies, cutting through their dragon-scale markings without pause.

Yang Xiaohai and Zhao Xiumei stood frozen, watching the growing pile of bodies in stunned silence. These were his relatives.

Yang Xiaohai wanted to shout something at Li Huowang’s back, but for a moment, he couldn’t find the words.

The fight ended before it had even truly begun. Seeing Li Huowang’s terrifying strength, the Dan-min’s brief anger evaporated.

They scattered like startled birds, sprinting desperately toward the distant shore. This only made them easier targets; they offered no resistance at all.

“Elder Brother Li!! Enough! Enough!” Yang Xiaohai finally managed to shout.

Li Huowang didn’t stop. But he didn’t chase the others. Instead, he charged straight at the bound-foot woman with the black cloth on her shoulder. She was the only Fa Sect member here.

Just as Li Huowang reached her and raised his longsword, Yang Xiaohai’s voice came from behind. “Elder Brother Li!! No!”

The blade aimed for her neck shifted a fraction downward and sliced off her left foot.

Li Huowang turned, holding the dripping sword, and looked at Yang Xiaohai. “What? You know this Fa Sect follower?”

“I… I…” Yang Xiaohai looked at the headless corpse of Chi Baishui, then at the Dan-min lying in pools of blood. His trembling lips parted again, his voice laced with pain and conflict. “No. I don’t know her.”

Shwick! As Li Huowang flicked a line of blood from the blade onto the ground, Yang Xiaohai—eyes wide—watched his eldest sister’s body split diagonally and fall into two halves.

The next moment, Yang Xiaohai’s whole body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

Had Elder Brother Li done something wrong? No. He had come to save him. But Yang Xiaohai couldn’t explain why it felt like this wasn’t how things should have gone.

“Father.” Li Sui walked over from a distance, followed by the White Lotus Society’s carriage.

Bai Lingmiao approached as well. Her expression was conflicted, as if she had overheard something. Her gaze flickered between Li Huowang, Yang Xiaohai, and Chi Baishui’s corpse on the ground. The relic within her let her hear farther than anyone else.

“Are all the Fa Sect in the Later Shu this weak? Or is it because they expanded too fast?” Li Huowang nudged the bloodstained, bound foot with his shoe, a hint of confusion in his thoughts.

The Fa Sect followers he had encountered before—even if their strength wasn’t exceptional—wouldn’t have broken and run after losing this few people.

After thinking for a few moments, Li Huowang lifted his longsword, wiped both sides clean on his red ritual robe, and slid it back into the scabbard on his back.

He walked back to Yang Xiaohai and frowned at him. “What’s wrong with you? You knew the Later Shu was having trouble with the Fa Sect, so why did you still rush over here? You don’t value your own life, do you?”

“When you see things aren’t safe, you should turn back to Niuxin Village immediately! Wait until all this blows over!”

Yang Xiaohai sniffled hard, forcing back tears as he looked at his Elder Brother Li. “Elder Brother Li… how did you come?”

“I had something to deal with in the Later Shu. When I visited Sun Baolu in Qingqiu, he told me you were heading this way too.”

“Luckily, I knew you were ahead and I pushed hard. If I had been even one step slower, you and your wife would have been killed by the Fa Sect.”

As he spoke, Li Huowang grabbed the harpoons stuck in Yang Xiaohai’s hands and feet, pulled them out, and began tending to his wounds using the True Sutra of the Fire Vestments.

Amid the crackling of burning flesh and Yang Xiaohai’s screams, the bleeding holes were gradually replaced by horrifying burns.

When Li Huowang finished, Bai Lingmiao walked over, pulled out some gauze, and began bandaging Yang Xiaohai.

Li Huowang glanced at the pitch-black sky, then at the dark sea in the distance. Frowning in thought for a moment, he said to Yang Xiaohai, “I’m not comfortable with you two going back the way you came alone. Stick with me for now. Once I find the Supervisory Heavenly Office in the Later Shu, I’ll have them send a few people to take you back to Niuxin Village.”

Yang Xiaohai clutched his injured hand and nodded silently. “Mm. I understand.”

“What are these three things?” Li Huowang’s attention shifted to the three children.

Though dressed like children, their behavior was like monkeys, extremely strange. The moment he saw them, the overwhelming sense of wrongness made Li Huowang think they were three evil spirits.

“They… they’re people I saved on the road. Poor souls, just like us.” Yang Xiaohai then told Li Huowang the origin of the Monkey-Children.

As he spoke, he gradually calmed down, his emotions no longer so volatile.

Even though his birth father had just died, he couldn’t bring himself to grieve for a man who had wanted to sell his wife.

He wasn’t his family. None of the Chi family were his family. Elder Brother Li and the others were.

Still, the death of those relatives and his eldest sister did cause him some sorrow. They had wronged him, yes, but they hadn’t deserved to die.

“Let’s go.” Li Huowang gestured and led Yang Xiaohai toward a dirt path along the distant shore.

His foot injured, Yang Xiaohai limped, clearly in pain. Though the wound had been treated, burns still hurt.

Seeing this, Li Huowang turned and shouted toward the carriage behind them. “Xiucai! Come carry the boy onto the cart!”

“Yes, Master.” Lyu Xiucai walked over and, without a word, hoisted Yang Xiaohai onto his back and headed toward the carriage.

Lying on Lyu Xiucai’s back, Yang Xiaohai looked at his haggard face. A memory stirred, and he asked with hesitant caution, “Xiucai… your older brother, Juren… is he doing well?”