The sword arrived in front of Yu He in an instant. A powerful force unleashed from its edge sliced off most of his hair, causing blood to gush out from his scalp and turn into a bloody mist.
Yu He let out a furious roar as he made a quick retreat. Even as he did that, his hands waved hurriedly to shoot out dozens of talismans, which turned into balls of ghost flame that blocked before the sword. But, it was a futile attempt, as the soldier was stronger than him and the attack came with full power. The hasty counterattack could never stop the sword that came with a thunderous force capable of crumbling a mountain. In the blink of an eye, the ghost flames were dispersed and the sword continued to strike toward Yu He's face.
All of a sudden, an unpleasant grinding sound rang out as Wu Qi emerged in front of Yu He, reaching out his hand and grabbing the sword. A strong force rushed out from the edge of the sword, and was immediately followed by another eight waves of force, all of which twisted and struggled violently in his palm like some wild dragons. The soldier was trying to hack through Wu Qi's palm and kill both of them at the same time. However, with his cultivation base skyrocketed recently, Wu Qi was now far stronger than the soldier. The sword could only produce brilliant sparks as it kept grinding against the palm, but failed to free itself from the grip.
"It seems the guards of Yu Clan have a lot of guts, so much so that they dare to assault a direct descendant of Yu Clan right outside of their residence, eh?" Wu Qi looked back and said with a sarcastic smile.
Yu He, with half of his head turned bald and blood dripping from his forehead, growled in a rage. "Kill him! I'll bear all the consequences! This is ridiculous! How dare a lowly servant attack me?"
Upon hearing Yu He's angry growl, the soldier suddenly loosened the hilt of his sword and made a backward dash. But, he was not as fast as Wu Qi. With just one small step, Wu Qi had appeared before the soldier, his left palm enshrouded in a faint purple mist as it casually slammed the soldier on the chest.
A loud boom echoed out as the soldier's sinewy and nearly ten feet tall body exploded, breaking into pieces together with his armor. Blood and gore splattered in a fan shape around Wu Qi, smearing the ground red with blood and pieces of flesh. The hundreds of soldiers posted outside the residence shouted in unison, all marching down the steps at the same time and charging toward Wu Qi with weapons in their hands.
Wu Qi's face darkened. With his right palm clenched into a fist, the sword splintered into pieces and fell to the ground. "Fools who have no idea of death or danger, do you have any idea what are you doing right now?" He shouted harshly.
Yu He stepped up to stand in front of Wu Qi, pulling out a green jade medallion and waving it before the soldiers. "What are you doing? Is this a revolt?" He snapped, "I'll slaughter the entire family of those who dare to attack us! Are you trying to rebel against the Great Oracle of Directorate of Celestials?"
The medallion that Yu He had shown them was not only the identity token as the Great Oracle of Directorate of Celestials in An Le County, but also the identity token of the lineal descendant of Zhong Province's Yu Clan. The display immediately halted all the soldiers. One after another, they placed down their weapons, dropped to one knee, and bowed their heads deeply in unison to offer Yu He their greeting.
As the private guards of the Yu Clan, the lives of these soldiers were in the hands of the members of the clan. If a lineal descendant like Yu He really wanted to teach them a lesson, he just had to give an order, and all their relatives and family members would be slaughtered in no time. In Great Yu, private guards and slaves were alike, both had little to none standing before their Master. The will of the Master was above all, and naturally, their lives meant nothing before the will.
A menacing gleam flickered in Yu He's eyes like ghost flames. Staring at the soldiers who knelt on one knee before him, he laughed strangely and said, "I want all the relatives and family members of that rascal captured alive and sent to the backyard!"
Before Yu He had finished announcing his punishment for the soldier's relatives and family members, a few young men dressed in black robes and bloated with pride walked out of the main entrance, surrounded by many Oracles. One of them, a youth with strange bright golden eyebrows, stood on the stone steps, glancing down at the sorry-looking Yu He and laughing suddenly, "Oh, isn't this Brother Seventeen? Why are you in such a mess? What is this bloody thing about? Are you killing someone for fun?"
While shaking his head with disapproval, the youth sighed faintly, pointed a finger at Yu He and said, "I know Brother Seventeen has accomplished something great recently, but there is no need for you to show your authority in front of these soldiers. Killing a lowly soldier and even wanting to punish his family members? Why so much fuss?"
Yu He's face darkened as he gave the youth a glance and said coldly, "Ah, so it's Brother Third."
He slapped his bloody and balded head, grinned hideously and said, "Brother Third only blames me for killing a man without reason, but why don't you ask me why? Do you know that this son of a b*tch had assaulted me right before the main entrance of Yu Clan's residence? I wonder who gave him so much courage."
Yu Mou, the third son of the current generation of the Yu Clan, the grandson of Yu Miao, raised his long golden eyebrows and said, "Aye? This is strange! There's actually someone who has the guts to do that? Well, it's good for you to kill him then. I think it's time for us to discipline these servants. They are getting out of hand recently!"
With a smile on his face, Yu Mou nodded to Yu He while he gave Wu Qi a quick glance. "Brother Seventeen, you better go in now and quickly clean yourself," he said as if nothing had happened. "The Grand Council is about to convene, and you have to compete for the position of Prefecture Overseer. Judging from so many people you've brought here, I suppose Brother Seventeen is poised to claim the power of a province, eh?"
Yu He snorted coldly as he gave Yu Mou a deep look, then entered the residence with Wu Qi and the rest following closely behind. He did not speak a word to his brother. As Wu Qi walked past Yu Mou, he smiled and nodded to the youth. Yu Mou returned the greeting with an affable nod and smile as well. When Wu Qi and the rest of his party entered the Yu Residence, he shook his head indifferently and pointed to the flesh and blood on the ground.
"Who is so sick in his head that he is trying to make things difficult for Brother Seventeen? Such a vile method is too inferior to be shown in public!"
Laughing sarcastically, Yu Mou waved his hand and said, "Take down that fellow's relatives and send them to Uncle Seven's yard. Let Brother Seventeen handle them himself." He shook his head and grumbled, "What a bloody thing to do on a good day like this!"
Afterward, he gave the several hundred armored soldiers standing in front of the entrance a stately glance, and said with a cold grin, "Make clear of your status! You are just the private guards of Yu Clan, and you better write that in your head and not forget it! There are some things that you shall never meddle with, because if you do, you will be dead in no time. I know some of you have no fear of death, but think of your family!"
Wu Qi's ears twitched slightly. He could clearly hear the words Yu Mou had said at the main entrance even though he had walked more than a mile into the residence and bypassed dozens of courtyards. He nodded and told Yu He in a low voice, "It seems to have nothing to do with your third brother."
Yu He said calmly, "Even if he is not involved, he knew at least that someone was going to make me look ugly at the main entrance. Hmph, I know who that man is. When I went to An Le County to take up the office of Great Oracle, someone from my clan was playing a dirty trick behind my back, and it nearly got me. I still keep that score in mind."
With Wu Qi and the two hundred Oracles following him, Yu He went all the way to the backyard of Yu Residence, and into a large mansion that occupied dozens of acres of land in the northeast corner. Along the way, Wu Qi saw many other members of the Yu Clan who were dressed like Yu He, and all accompanied by a few to many Oracles. As Yu He offered them greetings, Wu Qi could only admire the thriving population of the Yu Clan. He had counted over one hundred lineal descendants, and he wondered how many more were there in the branches of Yu Clan.
After leaving the Oracles he brought here in a small hall to rest for tea, Yu He led Wu Qi, bypassing a garden and arriving at a dark, forbidding, and chilling grand hall. It gave the sense of a gloomy and creepy place to anyone who glanced at it, and the dozens of soldiers standing in front of it were expressionless, each emanating an aura that felt like that of zombies.
Wu Qi could not help but give these soldiers a glance. Their cultivation base was extremely appalling, and when they breathed occasionally, there was a faint, acrid smell of herbs in the wisps of evil air that came out of their nostrils. In addition, their fingernails were dark-green in color, an obvious sign that there was a very strong venom in their bodies. These soldiers were simply man-made killing machines, which could no longer be considered as living humans.
After showing these soldiers his identity medallion, Yu He held his breath and led Wu Qi into the hall.
The cavernous hall was bare and empty. From the outside, it looked not more than a hundred feet in both width and length. But once inside, Wu Qi realized that it had been deployed with an extremely brilliant space restrictive spell. The interior of the hall was more than thirty miles in both width and length, and about ten miles in height, with only a row of one hundred and eight coffins carved out from black stones placed in the middle. A skinny man who kept breathing deeply was standing in front of the coffins.
The hall was filled with the sound of the middle-aged man's breath. Every breath he took would kick up a gust of evil wind, sticky and cold as it swirled about the hall and sent a chill through Wu Qi's pores. He felt as if some evil existences were trying to squeeze into his body, and he could not help but have his muscles tensed up.
"Father." Yu He bowed to the man and said respectfully.
Clad in a black robe and emanating a towering evil aura, the man gave a deep laugh and said kindly, "There was trouble just now?"
Yu He sneered, then straightened his body and said in a deep voice, "Yes. Some brother of mine cannot bear the sight of me, and was trying to make me look ugly."
The middle-aged man sighed. "What's the point of doing that? It serves no purpose other than the loss of lives of those servants." He said while shaking his head. "When the family members of that audacious rascal arrive, I'll turn them into meals and slowly feed them to the one hundred and eight Fiend Corpses. That will help you vent your anger."
Turning slowly, he stared at Wu Qi and said, "So, you are the helper Yu He has found? It seems you do have a decent cultivation base."
Wu Qi's heart began to pound violently when he gave the middle-aged man a look. How could this man, the father of Yu He and the son of Yu Mu, look like this?
Was this man standing in front of him still human?