Chapter 130 - 128: The Tiger That Devours Its Cub, Hong Yuanqing
Originally, Gu Lichuan had only intended to kill Hong Yuanqing's youngest son.
But now that Chen Yuan was here, slaughtering the entire Hong Family Castle seemed like a fine idea as well.
Ever since Gu Lichuan had stepped into the Jianghu, he had sought nothing but to settle scores as he pleased.
If he couldn't use his sword to right the injustices in his heart, what was the point of learning to wield one?
"Brother Chen, since you already have a plan, I will follow your lead."
Gu Lichuan agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Chen Yuan pointed to the mountain path and said in a low voice, "The Hong Family Castle's sentries pass signals up the mountain. If a higher post doesn't receive a signal from the one below, they'll know something is wrong.
"If we start killing them from the bottom up, even with your fast sword, Brother Gu, there are too many sentries. We'd be discovered sooner or later.
"So, we need to coordinate. I'll take out one sentry post, and you, Brother Gu, will bypass me and go up the mountain to kill the second. Then I'll bypass you to kill the third.
"This way, we can ascend the mountain at the fastest possible speed and eliminate all the sentries."
Gu Lichuan nodded.
Chen Yuan's method was simple, but only the two of them—one with a fast blade, the other with a fast sword—could pull it off.
Time was short, so Chen Yuan made the first move.
In the dead of night, Chen Yuan suppressed his aura to its absolute minimum. With a flash of his blade, the Hong Family Castle guard—who was only in the Meridian Passage Realm—was decapitated before he even had time to react.
Chen Yuan supported the body, letting it fall silently to the ground.
As Chen Yuan struck, Gu Lichuan had already bypassed him to assassinate the sentry further up.
The two coordinated perfectly, and in an instant, the twenty-odd sentry posts along the mountain path were all eliminated.
Reaching the base of the dock fortress, Chen Yuan looked up. The entire front wall was riddled with countless holes, likely housing no fewer than a hundred Siege Crossbows!
Gu Lichuan couldn't help but whisper, "What is Hong Yuanqing planning? Is he preparing a rebellion?"
Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes. "A rebellion is unlikely. He probably just feels insecure.
"Hong Yuanqing once followed Grand General Yuwen Tai of the Vigorous Martial Army. Twenty years ago, the Red Lotus Sect rebelled in Qin Province, one of the Nine Provinces of the Central Plains, and instantly swept through half the province.
"Wherever they passed, numerous Minor Sects and Small Noble Families were crushed, and half of Qin Province was turned to scorched earth.
"In the end, Yuwen Tai suppressed the Red Lotus Sect's rebellion. Hong Yuanqing must have witnessed the miserable state of Qin Province back then, which is why he built the Hong Family Dock Fortress to be like a military stronghold."
Once they reached the foot of the fortress, things became much simpler.
Although the main gate was sealed shut, with their strength, Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan could easily scale the walls, enter the fortress, and begin slaughtering the Hong Family Martial Artists on night duty.
While the outside of the Hong Family Castle was heavily guarded, the inside was brightly lit.
In the main hall, Hong Yuanqing and his nine sons were having dinner.
At the table, these same sons, who were so arrogant outside, didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. They all ate in silence.
Hong Yuanqing was in his fifties, tall and powerfully built, with a bristling beard and a long mustache. His skin had a dark, reddish hue from his long years in the military.
He came from the Great Xia Army and trained his sons at home as if they were elite soldiers, frequently scolding and beating them. His authority was absolute.
Therefore, inside the Hong Family Castle, his sons were impeccably behaved, not daring to defy a single one of the rules he had set.
Only when they left the castle did they dare to let loose and act like tyrants.
"Chengwen, did you take your men and go on a killing spree a few days ago?"
Hong Yuanqing put down his bowl and chopsticks, staring expressionlessly at his ninth son, Hong Chengwen.
Hong Chengwen flinched and forced a smile. "Father, don't listen to the servants' nonsense. I didn't go on a killing spree. Some villagers offended me and were badmouthing our Hong Family. I just couldn't help myself."
SLAP!
With a deadpan expression, Hong Yuanqing sent a slap across his face that sent Hong Chengwen flying.
The other Hong sons at the table seemed used to it, continuing to eat as if they hadn't seen a thing.
"Do you know why I hit you?"
Hong Chengwen clutched his face, looking aggrieved. "I know. I shouldn't have killed people indiscriminately."
SLAP!
Hong Chengwen was slapped again.
"Wrong! They were just a few peasants. If you killed them, you killed them. Am I supposed to make my own son pay for their lives with his?"
Hong Yuanqing looked at Hong Chengwen and said coldly, "I hit you because you're already twenty years old, yet you don't have a shred of responsibility!
"You don't dare to admit what you've done, you make up wild stories, and you're a compulsive liar. Look at you. How can you be a son of mine, Hong Yuanqing?
"When your father was twenty, I was already on the battlefield, killing enemies and building skull pyramids! And you? All you know is how to waste your days on cockfighting and dogfighting. You're a good-for-nothing!"
Hong Chengwen clutched his face and said with a placating smile, "It's enough that Big Brother is capable. The Hong Family Castle will be handed over to him sooner or later anyway."
He had eight older brothers. His eldest brother was the strongest in both power and ability. There was no way the Hong Family Castle would ever be his.
So, with the time he had, he might as well enjoy himself.
"If the Hong Family Castle is given to your brother, does that mean you are no longer part of the Hong Family?"
Hong Yuanqing snorted coldly. "Even if you can't contribute to the Hong Family, you shouldn't be stirring up trouble all day and provoking people you shouldn't provoke!
"The lesson from the Qiu Family is right before your eyes. Haven't you reflected on it at all?
"The Jianghu is vast. Who knows if someone you provoke has a backer you can't afford to offend?
"If you truly bring disaster upon the Hong Family Castle, it will be too late for tears!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a Hong Family Martial Artist rushed in from outside.
"Patriarch, it's bad! Someone has broken into the fortress!"
Hong Yuanqing's expression changed abruptly. "What about the twenty-eight sentry posts? Not a single one noticed anyone? Did they fly in?
"And the night patrol on the fortress walls? Were they all asleep? Useless! All of them are useless!"
Ever since returning home from the Vigorous Martial Army, Hong Yuanqing had been continuously reinforcing and building up the Hong Family Castle.
He had modeled his own fortress after the defenses needed during the great chaos in Qing Province. Its security was tight, rivaling even a military camp.
To have someone break in directly without a single warning was something Hong Yuanqing naturally could not accept.
"How many are there?"
"It seems there are only two."
A hint of terror appeared in the messenger's eyes. "Although there are only two, their strength is absolutely overwhelming.
"Our guards are no match for them. In the blink of an eye, a hundred guards have already been slain."
"Bring me my spear!"
Hong Yuanqing's eldest son, Hong Chengtao, hurried to the back hall and returned with a Profound Gold Long Spear as thick as a wrist and incredibly heavy.
But before Hong Yuanqing could go out to check the situation, Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan had already fought their way inside.
Seeing Chen Yuan wearing the Ghost Mask of General Yun, Hong Yuanqing's heart sank.
'The one who killed Qiu Tianzheng was said to be a powerful Sea of Reincarnation Realm Martial Artist wearing the Ghost Mask of General Yun!'
Hong Yuanqing came from a military background. Although he was related to Qiu Tianzheng by marriage, he looked down on the old man for his lack of ambition and his passive, defensive nature.
But no matter how much he looked down on him, Qiu Tianzheng was a genuine Condensing Truth Realm Middle Stage Martial Artist.
Yet, Qiu Tianzheng had been killed in a direct confrontation by the man before him, a testament to this man's terrifying power.
And then there was Gu Lichuan at his side. Despite his youth, his Sword Intent was practically bursting forth, unable to be contained.
He stood there like an unsheathed long sword, his edge dazzling and his presence piercingly sharp.
Hong Yuanqing took a deep breath and said gravely, "Gentlemen, even if my Hong Family deserves to die, we shouldn't have to die in ignorance. You should at least let me know how my Hong Family has offended you, and who it is we have provoked."
These two had killed so many of his family's people. Normally, Hong Yuanqing should have attacked them directly to take revenge and wipe away the shame.
But even with Chen Yuan wearing a mask, he could sense that he was just as young as Gu Lichuan.
In the Jianghu, Martial Artists who possessed such combat power and cultivation at such a young age were rarely nobodies.
If they truly came from some major power, then even if he managed to kill them, the Hong Family Castle would be doomed to annihilation in the future.
So, even though rage was boiling up inside him, Hong Yuanqing suppressed it and tried to probe their origins.
Gu Lichuan shook his head. "You haven't provoked me. But are you telling me you truly don't know what that beast of a son of yours did in Xiaoxi Village?
"I owe that girl a debt, and that debt can only be repaid with your beastly son's head."
Hong Chengwen's face instantly turned deathly pale.
'She was just a somewhat pretty village girl from a small village. I've had my fill of the city's fine dining and just wanted to try some coarse country fare for a change of pace. How could I have provoked such a terrifying opponent?'
Hong Yuanqing took a deep breath.
He had just been lecturing Hong Chengwen about this very matter, but he never expected the worst-case scenario to actually come true.
He wondered if his mouth had been blessed, for his words to be so prophetic.
Hong Yuanqing extended a hand, and a powerful surge of True Qi erupted, pulling Hong Chengwen into his grasp.
A look of terror filled Hong Chengwen's eyes. "Father..."
The word had barely left his lips when Hong Yuanqing twisted his neck, tossing his corpse in front of Gu Lichuan.
"This beast is not worthy of being my son!
"I, Hong Yuanqing, have failed to raise my son properly. It is fitting that I face this tribulation today.
"Young Hero, if you wish to use his head to commemorate the dead, feel free to take it. I only hope you will not harm the innocent members of my Hong Family!"
Hong Yuanqing's face was filled with anguish, as if he weren't the one who had just ruthlessly killed his own son.
Gu Lichuan, however, was completely thrown by Hong Yuanqing's move.
'According to my expectations, shouldn't Hong Yuanqing have first protected his son, and then ordered everyone to swarm and attack me?'
'But now he's taken the initiative to kill his own son as an apology. Such a display of sacrificing family for righteousness... could it be he really didn't know about it?'
Chen Yuan glanced at Hong Chengwen's body on the floor and chuckled. "Patriarch Hong, you are truly decisive and ruthless. Even a vicious tiger won't eat its own cubs, yet you kill your own son just like that.
"Hong Chengwen was indeed the main culprit, but he killed an entire family. One head doesn't seem like enough of a tribute.
"Patriarch Hong, if you are truly repentant, why don't you kill all your remaining sons?"
Hong Yuanqing lowered his head and took a deep breath.
When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with a murderous Evil Qi. "I offered you a way out, and you spat in my face! You're courting death!"