Chapter 31: Pathetic?
At this moment, in the Sun Family estate, Patriarch Sun Qian sat in the main hall. His third son had been killed.
He was losing a son in his old age, and much of his hair had turned white in an instant.
His face was also visibly haggard, and a vicious glint was spreading through his cloudy eyes.
"Have you found him? We can’t even find a single damn City Guard in Icefield City? Drop everything and send everyone out to find him," the old man said, his voice hoarse.
Below, a middle-aged man with a grim expression said, "Father, the Zhou Family isn’t being very cooperative. They just keep making the excuse that the City Guard Army needs to defend the city. We’re a bit short-handed. Should we pull back the men who are secretly investigating Lu Yuan?"
After that man had joined the Zhou Family, he had accomplished a series of major feats, which naturally had not escaped the Sun Family’s notice.
Furthermore, Zhou Hongling’s arrangements for Lu Yuan far exceeded the normal treatment for a Centurion.
The Sun Family had been investigating this matter all along, just waiting for the right moment to report him.
But who would have thought something this major would happen now?
"Keep the evidence we have. Put the investigation on him on hold for now and bring everyone back. We’ll deal with it after this is over. Your third brother can’t have died for nothing." Sun Qian’s voice trembled slightly.
He had three sons, all of whom served as Centurions in the army.
The forces under their command numbered only a few hundred men.
Now, his youngest son had been murdered.
Their family’s power had weakened once again.
He found it truly hard to swallow this bitter pill of anger.
"I’ll see to it at once." The Sun Family’s eldest son replied before leaving.
Meanwhile, Zhou He glanced at Lu Yuan. Though anxious, he still said, "I just found out myself. That son of a bitch Sun Laosan... wasn’t he Wu Han’s Centurion?"
"Somehow, he started messing around with Wu Han’s new wife."
"Every time Wu Han was on night duty, he would climb the wall in the middle of the night to get into Wu Han’s house."
"This time, Wu Han’s younger brother discovered him. An argument broke out, and Sun Laosan not only killed Wu Han’s brother, but he even kicked his mother to death."
"That’s what sent Wu Han into a rage. He grabbed a blade and went to the house of the mistress Sun Laosan kept on the side. He happened to find Sun Laosan and their Centurion plotting how to frame him."
"He killed them both in one go."
Lu Yuan nodded upon hearing Zhou He’s explanation.
"Brother, in this life, a man needs a few brothers he can count on to have a steady footing. I consider Wu Han my man, and I have to save him."
"I also know you’re new here and have your own concerns. Actually, I shouldn’t have come today."
Seeing Lu Yuan remain silent, a flicker of disappointment crossed Zhou He’s eyes.
He turned and walked out the door.
After he left, Lu Yuan didn’t go back to rest. Instead, he changed into a set of night-crawling clothes, put on a mask, and leaped straight out the window behind his house.
’For the past few days, I’ve noticed people secretly watching and following me. I never called them out on it, because judging by their methods, I knew they had to be official agents of Dayong.’
’I didn’t want to make a move until I was certain.’
’That’s why I couldn’t rashly agree in front of Zhou He just now, lest the hidden spies notice something was up.’
’But, setting Wu Han aside for a moment, if Zhou He was determined to get involved, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.’
’So, I planned to slip out, deal with the people tailing me, and then go after Zhou He.’
However, to Lu Yuan’s surprise, when he got outside, those people were gone.
Though surprised, Lu Yuan didn’t hesitate.
With a light tap of his right foot, he leaped onto the eaves. In a few bounds, he was already over the alley’s entrance.
Icefield City wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t small either. If something was really happening...
...the commotion could be spotted from a high vantage point.
...
At that moment, Wu Han was hiding in a woodpile in an unknown alley. His abdomen had been pierced by a blade, and the wound on his shoulder was so deep the bone was visible.
Although he had managed to kill Sun Laosan by fighting with his life on the line, he was, after all, not as heaven-defying as Lu Yuan, who could chase down and beat a Tendon Refining expert while still in the Body Tempering Realm. He was now seriously injured.
Listening to the chaotic footsteps outside, he knew in his heart that he was probably about to be caught.
But he refused to be captured.
He tightened his grip on his blade, his once-handsome face now clouded with a grim expression.
"There are bloodstains here! He’s over there!"
THUD THUD THUD...
Someone shouted, and the sound of footsteps grew denser.
It was as if everyone was rushing toward his location.
BANG!
Wu Han knew he’d been exposed. He threw aside the firewood and stood up.
The long blade in his hand was stained with blood.
The one leading the group was Sun Laoer. He was burly with a large head, his face fleshy and covered in lumps, giving him a particularly fierce appearance.
His strange eyes stared at Wu Han. "I never thought a good-for-nothing like you would dare kill my third brother. Today, I’m going to drag you back and grind your bones to dust."
"Heh, I’m a good-for-nothing? Well, this good-for-nothing slaughtered your brother. If I still had the strength today, I’d slaughter you too. If I had nothing left to lose, what the hell would you people even be?"
As he spoke, Wu Han actually took the initiative and charged at Sun Laoer. He was clearly ready to fight to the death.
In a panic, Sun Laoer also raised his blade and slashed down.
But not only did Wu Han not dodge, his movements were even faster. As the blade fell, he changed its direction and chopped at Sun Laoer’s waist.
SCRAPE!
Sun Laoer was wearing iron armor, and sparks flew as the blade scraped across it.
SHLICK!
At the same time, Sun Laoer’s blade landed on Wu Han’s shoulder. Blood sprayed across Wu Han’s face, but he showed no intention of dodging. Instead, he grabbed the back of the blade with a reverse grip and brought his own blade chopping down at Sun Laoer’s head with his other hand.
He was utterly fearless of death.
BANG!
Sun Laoer didn’t dare to trade his life. He let go of his blade’s hilt and kicked at Wu Han, trying to create some distance.
But Wu Han simply pulled the long blade from his own shoulder and slammed it into Sun Laoer’s leg.
Blood splattered. The blade had pierced straight through his opponent’s lower leg.
"AHHH!" A shrill scream rang out.
Blood trickled from the corner of Wu Han’s mouth. "Am I a good-for-nothing?"
His fighting style was insane. He completely disregarded his own life, with only one goal: to kill his opponent.
Sun Laoer roared, "Are you all blind? Get him!"
Only then did the surrounding men react, raising their weapons and charging at Wu Han.
There were too many of them, and he was nearly exhausted. He no longer had the strength to resist.
However, Wu Han didn’t give up the fight. Instead, he gripped the hilt of his blade even tighter. The moment his family died, he had sworn that from that day forward, no one would ever make him lower his weapon.
WHOOSH!
But just then, a rope shot out from behind a wall, lassoed him, and pulled him upward. After Wu Han was pulled up onto the wall, a figure with a covered face hissed, "It’s me. Let’s go, quickly."
With that, he pulled Wu Han along and ran toward another alley.
The City Guards swinging their weapons struck nothing but air.
Sun Laoer, furious and panicked, shouted, "Go around! After them! Bring back his rescuer too! I want to see who dares to oppose my Sun Family!"
Zhou He knew he had been careless. Although he had just found the right opportunity to rescue Wu Han from the crowd, the City Guards had surrounded them too quickly.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two of them were surrounded.
His palms were sweating from nervousness.
Wu Han felt a pang of bitterness. Looking at the brother who had always taken care of him, he felt he had dragged him down once again today.
He wished he could just rip his own heart out.
"I’ll hold them off. You go," he said in a hoarse voice.
"Look at you, you useless bastard. You’re just asking for a scolding. What are your eyes all red for? The worst that can happen is we die. In eighteen years, we’ll be reborn as heroes again. You think you can hold off this many people?" Zhou He cursed under his breath, just like he always did.
But a dense layer of sweat had already beaded on his forehead.
This time, Sun Laoer didn’t get close. He stood at the back, limping, and watched the two men surrounded in the center. His eyes were filled with venomous hatred. Then he ground his teeth and said, "Wu Han, I’ve paid a visit to your home too, haha!"
Then, he waved his hand, signaling his men to capture the two of them.
At this moment, both Zhou He and Wu Han knew they were finished.
But in the next instant...
A figure appeared from behind. He clamped a hand on Sun Laoer’s head and yanked hard.
RRRIP!
His opponent’s head was torn clean off.
Then, with no fancy moves, just a flurry of fists and feet that left no discernible trace, he knocked all dozen or so City Guards on the perimeter to the ground.
He was incredibly fast and utterly ruthless.
Seeing this, the other City Guards scattered in an uproar. The ones who had just been struck down were all Sun Laoer’s trusted men. The rest were just ordinary members of the City Guard Army. With their leader dead, who would want to stay and fight to the death?
Besides, everyone already sympathized with Wu Han over this whole affair.
"Follow me!" Lu Yuan said in a low voice after everyone had fled.
A light shone in Zhou He’s eyes. He hoisted the nearly unconscious Wu Han onto his back and followed.