Chapter 138: Upholding the Laws of the Household
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
"Who? Who are you?" Their eyes then locked onto a man walking towards them. This person was showing such contempt, Meng Luo Gong was furious and agitated.
Everyone froze in their tracks, keeping their eyes glued onto the young man. It was Pei Zi Yun who showed up with Shen Wan Lin following closely behind him. She was dressed in plain and simple robes, although her sleeves were stained with dirt, and her eyes were puffy and swollen from all that crying.
Pei Zi Yun glanced at the scene before speaking, "Brother Shen, you can stop the Vitality Sacrificing technique. Let me handle this matter."
At that point, Pei Zi Yun had came to rescue him and stopped him from transferring all his life energy into present strength. Whether they would work together in future or not was not important. What was important was that Shen Zhen must live. Once he survives, he would naturally pit himself against Meng Luo Gong and Xie Cheng Dong.
Pei Zi Yun had heard everything that Meng Luo Gong said. He felt an uncontrollable sense of hatred and despise towards Meng Luo Gong. In order for him to get whatever he wanted, he married his own younger sister into the Shen family. After he acquired the martial arts skills and the family assets he killed Shen Zhen’s father. Shen Zhen’s mother then spent the remainder of her days in gloom and sadness. After all these, he even used Shen Wan Lin as a bait, in order to lure Shen Zhen out. He completely ignored the fact that Shen Wan Lin would never be able to find a suitor because of such an incident.
It was no wonder that Shen Zhen felt so much resentment towards his uncle and thus disappeared. Everything that happened then, resulted in such a dire situation today. He had used the technique to reduce his life energy and converted it into strength with the intention of killing everyone around. However, using this technique would mean that his energy would eventually be depleted. Even if he used the Eight Clarity Techniques, he would have no way of progressing.
It’s also been said that Shen Zhen seeked out a Pill Grandmaster and managed to find a pill concocted by him. He thus managed to break through the gates of heaven. However, he was permanently stuck at that stage and couldn’t progress any further.
Soon after Shen Zhen killed Meng Luo Gong, he found out that Xie Cheng Dong had a role to play in this as well. He then swore to make Xie Cheng Dong his eternal enemy, and would not rest until either of them was dead. However, in spite of his anger and hatred for Xie Cheng Dong, he would still fall under his hands. The reason he had died, was because he had transferred too much of his life energy in order to deal with Meng Luo Gong.
"Sister!" Shen Zhen saw his sister, his red and rosy cheeks immediately stopped pulsating, becoming pale once more. He was coughing violently.
Shen Wan Lin then took a step forward. With a pained expression she asked, "Uncle, did you really kill my father?"
Shen Wan Lin’s eyes showed a look of pain and anticipation. Frankly speaking, Meng Luo Gong treated her extremely well these past few years.
Meng Luo Gong gazed upon her face, his own expression turning soft. He then replied slowly and softly, "Didn’t you already hear everything just now?"
"Uncle, you!" Shen Wan Lin could not breathe after hearing her uncle’s confession to this horrendous act. She clutched her chest, almost as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
"Sister!" Shen Zhen stepped forward and held his sister in his arms. He then glared at Meng Luo Gong fiercely, teeth gritted. "Sister, I’m afraid that’s not all that he’s guilty of. During your wedding, he used a substitute for you in order to lure me out to kill me. This would not be possible without the help of Zhang Ping as well. With such an insult to us, it was clear he wished to drag us down to ashes. Not just you and I, but our family’s impeccable reputation as well."
"The Shen family has been the leading family of the Dagger Clan for three consecutive generations. This thief managed to usurp the authority by being the clan leader in my absence. However, he knew that unless we were all dead, he would never truly own the clan and its techniques. Hence, he came up with these vile ideas."
"No, that’s not possible!" Shen Wan Lin did not imagine that her uncle would go so far, all in the name of power. She still hung on to the hopes that all this was a misunderstanding. At this point, reality shattered her delusion. Her face turned pale, without a trace of color. "Uncle, you’re this vile and evil?"
Meng Luo Gong started sweating, his eyes looked subdued before they turned heavy with killing intent once more, "Ai, if your brother would just be good and die to my sword, none of these would’ve happened."
"Many people were still concerned about the whereabouts of the young clan leader. I had to purge them out and leave only those who were loyal to me. Uncle didn’t want to do this as well. Today’s matter had nothing to do with you. Zhang Ping is still fond of you. Although you can’t be his official bride anymore, you can still be his mistress."
Shen Wan Lin closed her eyes shut, clearly in pain, and did not speak.
"In order for a great man to accomplish great things, he would not be affected by trivial matters. Shen Zhen, hand over the Eight Steps of Clarity Manual, and I will let you die a fast and painless death." Meng Luo Gong glanced at Shen Zhen’s pale face. He was being affected by the effects of the poison, and emanating black energy. He then laughed, "The edge of the dagger had been dipped into Thousand Thread Poison. Since you’ve already been poisoned for such a long time, even if you can use your inner strength to suppress the spread of the poison, how much longer can you suppress it for?"
"Haha!" Pei Zi Yun started laughing.
"My friend, this matter is between the Shen family, and is none of your business. You better step aside, or else this time next year would be your death anniversary." Meng Luo Gong said coldly. At this point, he was unsure what role Pei Zi Yun had in all of this, and hence did not make a move to kill him.
"Meng Luo Gong, the gangs on the streets said that you are a prudent man. It seems like they were right."
"Even though you have a large fighting force behind you that far outnumbered Shen Zhen, you still wish to antagonize him further, preventing him from using the Eight Clarity Manual. It’s smart of you to stall him that way, for each second you delay him, the blood flows further, and the poison runs deeper."
"As for me, you have no idea who I am, and thus haven’t tried to kill me. However, you’ve wasted much time speaking rubbish. Your life shall pay for my time."
"You!" Meng Luo Gong was agitated. He pointed a finger, wanting to say something. Pei Zi Yun did not hesitate. He drew his sword and pointed back at them, "Blinding Light Technique!"
"Feng!" A screen of white light burst forward. Anyone who was not prepared for this were temporarily blinded by the bright white ray of light, and were stunned by it.
Pei Zi Yun capitalized on this moment and acted decisively. Once he decided to act, he would use all his efforts to neutralize the threat. With the flash of the sword, only the sound of him killing men could be heard. "Pu pu pu!" The three nearest men clutched their throat as they fell onto their knees, blood spurting out forcefully, before falling face down onto the ground.
In that instant, the next man standing, closest to Pei Zi Yun rolled away instinctively from his strike. Despite the tears welling up within his eyes, obscuring his vision, he could faintly see Pei Zi Yun’s shadow and threw all his weight into an assault, without thinking to guard himself. It looked like he was crazed and wanted to hack his way to survival. With another flash of a faster blade, the entire atmosphere was pierced by his blood curdling scream.
Pei Zi Yun was not on the offensive at this point, being rushed on by so many people. At such a critical juncture where his life was threatened by the overwhelming numbers, he could not afford to kill everyone cleanly. Instead, he knew that he had to deliver the most precise and lethal blows.
"Pu" Once again, Pei Zi Yun’s sword was faster than his next opponent, as he stabbed half the length of his blade into the abdomen of his enemy. Pei Zi Yun then withdrew his sword from the person’s belly, as blood sprayed out onto the floor. As always, his face remained expressionless, and yet there was a hint of confidence in the way he carried himself. He dashed to avoid a sword, before twisting his body to dodge another sword before turning around.
"Pu" Pei Zi Yun severed the arm of a warrior, his five fingers were still clutching onto his dagger, a mist of blood spraying out.
Shen Zhen looked at his sword techniques, and his eyes had a look of astonishment. "Sister, did you teach him the Shen family Thirty Seven Techniques?"
Although Pei Zi Yun was wielding a sword and not a dagger, and his strokes were slightly different. Shen Zhen could still distinguish the familiar techniques, being the true heir to receive the dagger techniques from his father. "Based on his ferocity and rhythm, he has even reached the seventh level of this technique."
"He said that nobody taught him, and that he learnt it by looking at the wounds of those who perished under this technique." Shen Wan Lin replied. She then described to him the entire sequence of events. Just after several breaths, everyone seemed to start surrounding them.
"You even know Dao arts? Which sect do you come from? I belong to Young Master Xie of the Black Altar Sect!" Meng Luo gong was furious and startled, as he shouted loudly.
As the blinding ray of light gradually dissipated, everyone started to regain their vision. The next thing they noticed, several dagger wielding warriors clutched their throats as they rolled on the ground, thrashing in pain. They would die die immediately, but have no chance of survival.
'Dao arts are being used to oppress this world. Indeed, Xie Cheng Dong’s reputation is well deserved.'
'These men are gangsters who had experience with close combat. However, they were not as disciplined as military men. Even the most proficient fighter, with the strongest body was no match for a well trained soldier.'
'Even by using insignificant Dao techniques, they could not even defend themselves against me. And I killed five of them easily.'
Just as he was thinking, he noticed that several men who were on the ground thrashing violently just now had stopped moving. Pei Zi Yun then looked up, took a deep breath and smiled. Raising his sword high up, he charged forward.
"Stand in formation, use metal chains and attack him from afar. This man’s sword techniques are extremely fatal. And he even knows Dao techniques too. Stand in formation to prevent taking serious damage." Meng Luo Gong waved his hands as all his dagger wielding underlings picked up their metal chains.
"Quicksand!" Pei Zi Yun pointed at the ground where most of the men were standing on. Immediately their feet started sinking deep into the ground, which had turned soft and squishy like quicksand. Meng Luo Gong gave an angry shout as he charged forward himself. Pei Zi Yun however, was much quicker. His entire body moved like a beam of light as he darted forward. He moved so quickly that the eyes could not catch him. Since the distance between them was only but a couple of meters, his enemies had no chance of catching him at all. With the flash of his sword, three heads flew into the air. Only after he had decapitated them, came the sound of wind on his back, followed by the sound of the sword moving. That how was fast he moved.
"Pu" Meng Luo Gong flipped and fell to the ground. Both his hands moved to cover his wound as blood seeped out. The wound was not fatal, and wasn’t very deep, and he wasn’t bleeding very much as well. However, in the clash, he had been hit and wounded. His entire face fell.
"He is right. He did not learn the Thirty Seven Techniques from anyone. Based on his sword strokes, it did seem as though it came from my family. However, he had modified it to suit his own style, and it became many times more lethal and potent."
"Also, Black Altar Sect’s young master Xie was the person who incited and advised uncle to do all this?" Shen Zhen’s expression changed to one of anger.
"Die!" A long screech rang out. Although they were in the rain, there was still some light. At this point, the winds started rumbling, and the dust on the floor was being blown across by the wind. Darkness took over temporarily. For a fraction of a second, it was so dark that a person could not see beyond arm’s length. With a flash of the dagger, more screams of agony could be heard.
The darkness only lasted for a second before the rays of the stars shone through and permeated through the night. Three new bodies could be seen on the ground. There were still twenty sword wielded warriors standing. They all had horrified looks on their faces. Someone even shouted, "Sorcery!"
"Hm, all of you old gangsters. Haven’t you heard of Dao arts?" Meng Luo Gong cleared his throat. "All of you, stay close to him. This man knows Dao arts. Stick close to him so that he has no time to conjure his Dao arts, as it takes time."
"Also, Dao arts drains energy. Let’s see how long he can keep this up for."
"Die!" The warriors wielding knives looked quite uncomfortable, seeing a target with skills that were beyond their imagination scared them. However, when they heard Meng Luo Gong’s words, they remembered that they were supposed to be brave gangsters. They eyed their target before rushing at them.
"Indeed, you are right about Dao arts being this way. But do you think I only know these Dao arts" Pei Zi Yun shouted across. He then drew some energy before imbuing it into the blade of his sword. It glistened with a white ray of light, "Dao arts fuse with my sword."
"Pu" His sword clashed with a dagger. The warrior wielding the dagger felt a strange sensation flooding into his body from the blade. It felt like a thin surge of energy, penetrating into internal organs as it ripped its way through, causing havoc within his body. Even before he could scream out in pain, he was stabbed by Pei Zi Yun’s sword. Pei Zi Yun turned his sword, still within the warrior, before drawing it out.
This man had rushed forward, and was stopped in his tracks the moment their blades met. His eyes widened before almost bulging out when the stab was dealt to him. Fresh blood spilled out.
"Capture that person!" Meng Luo Gong then changed directions and headed towards Shen Wan Lin. Anyone who was looking on knew that he was trying to take his niece as hostage.
"Despicable!"
Just as Meng Luo Gong was near, Shen Zhen stepped forward to protect his sister. However, the moment he tried to gather his energy, he started coughing profusely. All of a sudden, the green flash of a fast moving dagger darted past.
Both their daggers interlocked, as Meng Luo Gong retreated several steps. His eyes could not believe what he was witnessing, "You, how could you know the Shen household’s dagger techniques?"
"I am the daughter of the Shen family, how could I not know? Uncle, what do you think of my moves?" Shen Wan Lin looked up, with her gorgeous and delicate features, her dagger gliding through the air seamlessly.
They entwined for several moment's before breaking apart. Shen Wan Lin spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell down to the ground. Meng Luo Gong took several steps back as well, his face was both white and red at the same time. He looked at Shen Wan Lin and scolded her, "You bitch, you dare to break the family tradition. Women are not supposed to learn this family’s dagger techniques. You learnt the techniques secretly, and even modified it to such a weird extent. Thankfully you didn’t inherit the Eight Steps of Clarity as well, if not I would have been destroyed by you."
"I thought I was cunning and scheming, it seems like you are not that far off, my niece. Damn it. Today I shall uphold the laws of this household, and kill you for breaking the laws of our family, you traitor."