Boom!
Lightning illuminated Jinling City, making it look eerie and terrifying.
Torrential rain poured down, frantically beating against the two vermilion gates of the Wang family mansion.
In the main hall, the underfloor heating was burning brightly, providing a cozy warmth that was a completely different world from the chilling atmosphere outside.
Giant beef tallow candles, as thick as a child's arm, lit up the hall brightly, and the golden nanmu furniture gleamed with an oily luster.
Wang Ruhai, wearing a purple-gold python robe, leaned comfortably in a grand chair draped with a tiger skin.
On the yellow rosewood desk in front of him sat a small red clay stove.
A pot of Zhuangyuanhong wine was warming on the stove, the aroma of the wine mixing with the smell of charcoal, making one's bones feel soft.
"What time is it?"
Wang Ruhai used silver chopsticks to pick up a very thin slice of venison, swished it in the boiling soup pot, and slowly put it into his mouth.
The butler, Wang Fu, who was standing nearby, immediately bowed, his face full of smiles.
"To answer the master, it's the third quarter of the Chou hour."
"By this time, that dilapidated garden of the Xu family has probably been flattened by Duan Tiande."
Wang Fu attentively filled his master's wine cup, his tone revealing a hint of ruthlessness.
"The heads of Xu Youde and his daughter are probably on their way here to accompany the master's drinks."
"Hahaha!"
Wang Ruhai let out a burst of smug laughter, picked up the wine cup, and gently twirled it between his fingers.
"That old fox Xie An is indeed a good knife."
"Using the hands of martial artists to wipe out the upstart Xu family, not only keeps his own hands clean but also removes a thorn in his side."
He narrowed his eyes, looking at the wine in the cup with a greedy gaze.
"But he probably never expected that the one to finally swallow the fat meat of the Xu family would be my Wang family!"
"The mountains of gold and seas of silver that the Xu family has accumulated over several generations will all bear the surname Wang after tonight!"
After saying that, he tilted his head back and downed the wine in the cup in one gulp.
The spicy liquid rolled down his throat, igniting his ambition.
Just then.
Bang!
A muffled sound rang out as a heavy object smashed onto the floor.
This was followed by a flurry of hurried and chaotic footsteps, mixed with the sound of weapons dragging on the ground, coming from the end of the corridor.
Wang Ruhai frowned and slammed the wine cup heavily onto the table.
"Bastards! No manners!"
"Which blind fool is it? Don't you know the master is tasting wine?"
Before he finished speaking.
The two carved wooden doors of the main hall were violently smashed open by a tremendous force.
Fierce winds and torrential rain instantly filled the entire hall.
The candlelight flickered wildly, casting long shadows across the room.
A blood-soaked figure stumbled in.
It was the Wang family's chief guard, usually a skilled fighter capable of taking on ten men.
At this moment, however, he was completely powerless. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he fell flat on his face.
"Mas... Master..."
He struggled to lift his head, spitting out a mouthful of bloody foam.
Wang Ruhai's pupils shrank sharply.
He saw a short crossbow bolt stuck in the guard's back.
It had no fletching and was completely black, buried deep into his back, leaving only a small piece of the tail still quivering slightly.
"This is..."
Before Wang Ruhai could react.
From the rain outside the door, several round objects were forcefully thrown in.
Thud, thud, thud...
The objects rolled across the carpet, leaving trails of blood.
Finally, they stopped right at Wang Ruhai's feet.
The butler, Wang Fu, brought a lantern closer to look, and was immediately frightened out of his wits, letting out a miserable scream.
"Ah!!!"
On the ground were three severed heads, their faces ferocious and eyes wide open, having clearly seen something terrifying before they died.
The one right in the middle was the head of the Cao Gang, Duan Tiande, known as the River-Churning Dragon!
Those eyes, usually fiercely glaring, were now filled with despair and fear, staring fixedly at Wang Ruhai.
The most ironic part was that a blood-soaked bank note was stuffed in his mouth.
It was the ten thousand taels deposit given by the Wang family.
Clatter.
The wine cup slipped from Wang Ruhai's hand and shattered into pieces.
He stared fixedly at the head, his body turning ice-cold, the previous intoxication instantly turning into cold sweat.
"Duan Tiande... is dead?"
"How is this possible?!"
"He brought over a hundred skilled men from the Cao Gang! And the Wang family's death squad! How could they be completely wiped out?!"
Wang Ruhai stood up abruptly, and because his movement was too fierce, he knocked over the desk in front of him.
The pot of boiling hot Zhuangyuanhong spilled all over the floor, sending up a cloud of white mist.
"The Xu family... where did the Xu family get this kind of ability?!"
He felt an unprecedented fear.
"Men! Come quickly!"
Wang Ruhai roared, his voice changing pitch.
"Call all the servants in the mansion! Close the doors! Defend to the death!"
He thought of something and grabbed the butler, who was slumped on the ground. This was his last hope.
"Quick! Send someone to the Xie residence!"
"Go beg Grand Secretary Xie! Tell him the Xu family has gone mad! Ask him to send troops to save me!"
"We are relatives by marriage! We are in the same boat! He won't ignore me!"
The butler scrambled toward the side door, shouting, "This servant will go right away! Right away!"
However.
Before his foot could even step out of the corridor.
Pfft!
A soft sound.
The butler's body stiffened violently, and then he collapsed.
A mist of blood sprayed onto the window paper, instantly dyeing a large area red.
The hall instantly fell dead silent.
Only the sound of the rain outside, splashing loudly, made one's heart tremble.
Tap, tap, tap.
Heavy footsteps, stepping through the rainwater, approached step by step.
Dozens of figures wearing gray straw rain capes silently flipped down from the surrounding high walls.
They wore pale masks and held slender crossblades, the rainwater sliding down the blades.
No shouts, no nonsense.
They had no emotions, only knowing slaughter. As soon as they landed, they advanced toward the hall.
The Wang family's martial arts guards roared and rushed forward to stop them.
"Who are you?! How dare you trespass into the Wang mansion!"
The leader of the men in gray flicked his wrist.
A flash of a blade.
The guard's roar stopped, and he fell, clutching his throat, blood gushing through his fingers.
Chop, stab, slice.
Three simple and direct moves.
Yet every move was fatal, leaving no survivors.
The rainwater in the courtyard instantly turned pale red, merging into a stream of blood, washing over the steps.
This was a one-sided massacre.
Wang Ruhai watched this scene, his legs trembling.
He shakily drew the precious sword hanging on the wall, retreated to the center of the hall, and roared with false bravado:
"Who are you?!"
"This is the Wang family of Jiangnan! I am an official of the imperial court!"
"Who gave you the audacity to exterminate a noble family?!"
The leader in gray stepped over the threshold.
He stopped ten paces in front of Wang Ruhai and slowly took off his mask.
Revealing a face devoid of any expression, cold and hard without a trace of warmth.
And on his neck, there was a dark blue tattoo of the character "Hidden".
Wang Ruhai's pupils trembled violently.
"The Xie family's... Ghost Soldiers?!"
This squad was Xie An's trump card used to purge political enemies. Besides the core members of the major noble families in Jinling City, no one knew about them!
Why would they turn their blades against their own people?!
"This is impossible! This is impossible!"
Wang Ruhai roared in a breakdown, the precious sword in his hand trembling.
"I am his brother-in-law! Our two families have been related by marriage for a hundred years!"
"I want to see Xie An! Tell him to come out and see me! Is there some misunderstanding?!"
The leader in gray looked at him coldly, his eyes without a ripple.
He didn't answer, but simply raised his hand slightly.
The gray-clad men behind him quickly fanned out.
Unfastening leather pouches from their waists, they splashed the prepared lamp oil over the draperies and pillars of the Wang family's main hall.
The pungent stench of oil instantly overpowered the aroma of wine.
"Patriarch Xie has given his orders."
The gray-clad leader's voice was hoarse, as if reading a death sentence.
"Wipe out the entire Wang family. Spare no living soul."
"Even the dogs must die."
"No!!!"
Wang Ruhai let out a roar of absolute despair.
In this moment, he finally understood.
Xie An knew.
The secret the Wang family had buried for fifteen years, the truth behind Shen Rou's tragic death, Xie An knew it all!
This was no misunderstanding.
This was revenge! A vengeance from Xie An, the man who had endured in silence for half his life, the man he had played for a fool!
"Xie An! You lunatic!"
"If you destroy the Wang family, you won't meet a good end either!!"
Dropping his sword, Wang Ruhai slumped into his grand armchair. Watching the approaching flames and the glint of blades, he shrieked a chilling curse.
The gray-clad leader raised his blade and brought it down.
A flash of cold steel.
The head, frozen in a mask of resentment and terror, flew high into the air before rolling to a stop beside a platter of half-eaten venison.
Blood sprayed out in a fountain, dying the tiger-skin rug crimson.
Whoosh.
Torches were tossed down.
Eerily, the massive fire ignited despite the torrential rain. It spread rapidly along the oil, swallowing the entire main hall in an instant.
The roaring flames shot into the sky, painting half the heavens over Jinling City a bloody red.
The fiery red glow reflected on the faces of every Wang family member, illuminating their utter despair.
Screams, wails, and begs for mercy rose and fell, eventually swallowed by the sound of the pouring rain and the raging inferno.
At the end of the street.
A pitch-black carriage sat quietly in the curtain of rain.
A corner of the carriage curtain was lifted by a pale hand.
Xie An sat inside, his bloodshot eyes staring coldly at the fiercely burning Wang estate in the distance.
His expression was terrifyingly calm, as if entirely unsurprised by the scene unfolding before him.
Only his hand, gripping the edge of the window frame so tightly that his knuckles turned white, betrayed the storm raging within his heart.
"Let's go."
He dropped the curtain, his voice exhausted and hoarse.
The carriage slowly rolled forward, crushing the puddles on the ground beneath its wheels as it vanished into the long night.
