Death… and me

1252 Murder Must Be Paid For With One’s Life!

At the old site of the Heavenly Armament Pavilion.

Lan Ruo was in the midst of a lecture. “When that person comes later, everyone had better be on alert! Don’t you dare make any mistakes.”

“Lan Qi, I know that you were on good terms with the three of them. However, the dead cannot come back to life. If you hold up the clan’s important affairs because of this trivial grudge, nobody will be able to bear the responsibility for you!”

“Be respectful but you must not be ingratiating. Understand?”

…

After going over a list of things to take note of and even supplementing quite a few times, Lan Ruo was finally at ease.

The sound of galloping could be heard; two horses approached from afar.

Feng Qiliang was in the lead. He dashed into the Heavenly Armament Pavilion. “Eldest Young Master, he’s here!”

Lan Ruo’s spirits rose. Full of smiles, he went out to welcome him.

“Big Brother! Hurhur… You’re so early. I’m not used to it,” Lan Ruo said in jest.

“Yeah, I was afraid that you would be anxious if I kept you waiting.” Chu Yang laughed loudly and got off the horse. The two of them walked in side by side, as though close friends.

Upon seeing Chu Yang’s arrival, the four Supreme Martial Artists waiting in the yard rose to their feet as a sign of respect. Smiling, they nodded at him in greeting.

Other than that, six other people were standing on one side of the yard. They were walking over to pay their respects.

“This is my Big Brother, Chu Yang!” Lan Ruo announced imposingly, “From now on, seeing my Big Brother is like seeing me; no matter what kind of order or request, you must obey him without a sliver of negligence! Understand?”

“Yes!”

“Good.” Lan Ruo turned around. With a smile, he said, “Big Brother, these are our men. Are they enough?”

“Though the numbers are a little low, everyone here is an expert! In these Lower Three Heavens, they are of course enough.” Chu Yang smiled in satisfaction. “Have everyone wait for a while in the yard. Let’s go into the room and discuss some matters and make some arrangements.”

Chu Yang took a few steps before he seemingly suddenly recalled something. “The few Lan elders can come along too. Just as well, since we have so many people, we can have a good discussion.”

The four Lan Clan Supreme Martial Artists immediately felt very pleased.

This Nine Tribulations Sword Master surprisingly knew how to treat people. Just one sentence alone and these old men were placated at once.

Obviously, the feeling of being held in high regard was something that everyone needed.

Inside the room.

Lan Ruo sniffed the air and remarked jokingly, “Big Brother smells so fragrant… haha… Like the fragrance of women’s cosmetics.”

Chu Yang gave him a resigned smile. “Haha… This is unavoidable.”

Everyone got what he meant and burst into laughter.

Lan Ruo very attentively brewed tea for his guest. As the aroma of tea wafted in the room, the fragrance on Chu Yang seemed to become stronger and stronger.

“Big Brother, here.” Lan Ruo passed a cup of tea to Chu Yang. Smiling, he said, “Let’s discuss Big Brother’s important matters, haha.”

It was apparent that Eldest Young Master Lan couldn’t wait to be involved in the affairs of the Nine Tribulations.

Chu Yang raised his teacup and chuckled. “Actually, what I wanted to ask was about two Lan Clan experts who were by Crown Prince Butian’s side back then. They are a married couple, called Shadows.”

When he mentioned this, everyone’s countenances changed.

As if he didn’t realize, Chu Yang continued with a smile, “Those two are very practical and are good people. They are also very loyal. To be honest, if I had known that they were from the Lan Clan back then, I would have been filled with admiration toward the Lan Clan long ago.”

“I’m old friends with those two. Back then, we went through a lot of hardships together…” Chu Yang sighed and said heavily, “But I didn’t see them when I came back this time.”

The lively atmosphere from earlier suddenly quietened. The silence felt rather bizarre.

“Brother Lan, where are those two old friends of mine?” Chu Yang looked at Lan Ruo somewhat urgently. “Can I see them for a while?”

He smiled warmly. “We’ve not met for too long. I really miss them.”

Lan Ruo coughed a couple of times. “Yes, of course. Old friends must be reunited. But Big Brother, you should also know that we are facing a huge problem now, which is the fact that the Nine Heavens passageway has already been locked and is unable to be used. If Big Brother wants to see them, you’d have to wait till the Nine Heavens are unlocked.”

Chu Yang nodded dispassionately. “That makes sense. Lan Ruo, as the young master of the Lan Clan, you sure have a lot of treasures on you… Hurhur… Such as this jade pendant on Brother Lan’s neck… It’s truly a rare treasure.”

Lan Ruo’s countenance changed. He said, “It’s just a piece of Mysterious Yang Jade. If Brother Chu likes it, of course I would be willing to part with it.”

Chu Yang smiled. “I really like it a lot.”

The atmosphere was a little weird. Lan Xinhua hastily smiled and said, “Since Lord Sword Master holds those two in such high regard, I’m sure you’ll get to see them in the future. Our Lan Clan is also incredibly honored by this.”

Chu Yang nodded and replied, “The Lan Clan… is indeed the clan who holds the most intimate ties with me among the Nine Super Clans!”

Everyone let out awkward laughs and nodded in agreement, even though they didn’t understand what he meant.

Chu Yang smiled at them. “My woman, the current Emperor of Iron Cloud, Tie Butian. Her Teacher is your Lan Clan’s Lan Meixian. Perhaps all of you don’t know about this but my biological mother is also a disciple of Lan Meixian.”

As though a loud boom had gone through everyone’s minds, they all widened their eyes in astonishment.

Lan Ruo was dumbstruck. “Is… is that true?”

“Of course it’s true!” Chu Yang smiled and asked, “Would I lie about such things?”

Lan Ruo shook his head in confusion. “How come I’ve never heard about it?”

“Because Lan Meixian doesn’t know… And neither does my mother know that I’m the Nine Tribulations Sword Master!” Chu Yang explained with great patience.

The five Lan Clan members were overcome with a wave of dizziness.

“Besides, the two Supreme Martial Artists, Moon Breeze, are also the ones who support the Nine Tribulations Sword Master the most among the law-enforcement officers. Similarly, Moon Breeze also has deep ties with the Lan Clan!” Chu Yang went on.

“Also, I don’t have many friends but the two Shadows are definitely part of them.”

Chu Yang smiled coldly. “See, my ties with you Lan Clan are still connected by veins even after the bones have been broken.”

Lan Ruo was utterly confused. “Indeed, indeed.”

Chu Yang went on, “What a shame… that all of you have destroyed everything.” He looked icily at Lan Ruo. “Lan Ruo, the Shadows… are dead, right?”

Lan Ruo’s countenance changed.

He finally realized that something was not quite right. “Big Brother, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Actually, what I’m saying is very simple.” Chu Yang gave them a frightening smile. “Murder must be paid for with one’s life, and debts paid for with money!”

Lan Ruo stared at him in disbelief. “You… want to kill me?”

Chu Yang replied, “What, can’t I?”

Lan Ruo’s eyes continued to widen larger and larger. “You want to kill the successor to one of the Nine Super Clans just because of two insignificant ants? Especially when it’s someone who’s going to conquer the world with you?”

“You won’t conquer the world with me! And neither are they ants; they are my friends,” replied Chu Yang heavily. The scene of the two Shadows protecting him and Tie Butian while charging among endless enemy soldiers suddenly surfaced in his mind; his heart was filled with an intense ache.

“Those two are trash! Trash, you know?!” Lan Ruo shouted in a deep voice, “When they were in the Lan Clan in the Upper Three Heavens, they had the best of everything, be it resources or the environment. But they actually only broke through to King-level at an age of over forty years old! Too many people in the same batch as them had already become Emperor-level or even Monarch-level but they were only first-grade King-levels! These are trash who were thrown out by the Lan Clan! But you actually want to kill me because of these trash!”

Chu Yang sneered at him. “Saying all this is useless! I only ask, were you the one who killed them?! And stole their Mysterious Yang Jade?!”

Lan Ruo retorted furiously, “Yes, I was the one who killed them! So what? They were Lan Clan members yet they had the audacity to keep the truth from me! No matter what I asked, they feigned ignorance! What’s the harm in me killing two ungrateful bastards?”

Chu Yang fell into silence for a moment. “They can rest in peace today.”

He raised his head. “Because I’m about to avenge them. My friends will not die in vain!”

Chu Yang sighed. “To be honest, I don’t mind telling you… In the Upper Three Heavens, during the huge fight in the Medicine Banquet, 60 Lan Clan Supreme Martial Artists have all died! Including the Lan Clan’s Second Grandmaster, Lan Muxue!”

Chu Yang added heavily, “Under the hands of my allies.”

These few sentences of his were practically devastating! The five Lan Clan members swayed dizzily simultaneously.

The Second Grandmaster was dead? How could that be?

Wait… He was talking about the Upper Three Heavens? Medicine Banquet? Tianji City?

He… How did he go up? How did he come down?

Could it be that…

“Outside Tianji City, Lan Qingtian brought over twenty Supreme Martial Artists but they have also all been wiped out by my men!” Chu Yang raised his teacup and took a sip leisurely. “Lan Ruo, you won’t be able to join me.”

Lan Ruo was dumbfounded.

“You’re speaking the truth?” Lan Xinhua staggered as he questioned Chu Yang.

“There’s no need for me to lie to you.” Chu Yang smiled warmly at them. “And there’s even less of a need for me to lie to you now! If you don’t believe me, I can prove it further to you.”

“How so?” Lan Xinhua’s eyes looked as though they were about to spew fire.

“Like this!” Laughing, Chu Yang flew into the air. With a flash of sword light, the Nine Tribulations Sword flew out of its sheath. With a swoosh, among a dazzling light, the heads of the two first-grade Supreme Martial Artists flew into the air out of the blue just like that.

The two Supreme Martial Artists had wanted to duck but the moment they were about to activate their cultivation, they suddenly discovered that their dantians were completely empty. Not one bit of internal energy remained within.

Before they could even panic, sword light had already flashed past their necks.

With an expression full of indignation, grief, hopelessness and fear, their heads had already left their bodies.

Two thuds resounded; the two heads had landed on the ground. With a slight smile, Chu Yang asked, “Do you believe me now?”

Lan Ruo was enraged. He wanted to jump up but he immediately discovered that his dantian had also been drained empty. The cultivation which he had always been so proud of had already disappeared without a trace at some point…

Lan Chengfeng’s countenance changed drastically.

His cultivation had also disappeared. Owing to his deep and powerful cultivation, he could still more or less retain less than 10% of his original cultivation with great effort. However, this 10% was also draining at a high speed.

Lan Xinhua let out a long sigh. He took a seat steadily instead. “I only wish to know how we have been poisoned!”

He was a sixth-grade Supreme Martial Artist, yet he was only left with less than 30% of his cultivation!

However, he was a steady and calm man after all. A sixth-grade Supreme Martial Artist already possessed the ability to neutralize poison. In his eyes, as long as he had enough time, even if he only had half of his cultivation, it was enough for him to circulate all his energy to purge the poison.