Patriarch Gao’s words made Xi Qingyue’s eyes widen. She had never seen anyone so shameless.
Even Xi Weilan muttered, “Hmph. Shameless.”
Xi Qingyue stared at Patriarch Gao for a while. Then, suddenly, a handgun appeared in her hand.
Under Patriarch Gao’s horrified gaze, the bullet pierced his brow, followed by two more shots that took down the two hidden guards.
Looking at the corpses on the floor, Xi Qingyue sneered. “Idiot. Did you really think a few lies would fool me? I came here to wipe out your entire family, not to chat with you.”
With that, she stored everything in the room inside her spatial realm.
Then she turned to Xi Weilan. “Lan’er, why don’t you rest for a while? We still have several more families to visit. If you don’t get enough rest, you won’t grow any taller.”
At the mention of not growing taller, Xi Weilan hurriedly nodded. “Mm-hmm. I’ll listen to Big Sis.”
The moment she finished speaking, she disappeared into the room.
Mu Jin immediately turned her head away, pretending not to have seen anything. Ever since she had been assigned to accompany Xi Qingyue, she had kept one principle firmly in mind: do more and speak less.
Regardless of whose subordinate she had once been, she was Xi Qingyue’s guard now. Though she was hardly of much use as a guard, keeping secrets was a basic requirement.
Xi Qingyue showed no mercy. In less than fifteen minutes, she and Mu Jin had wiped out the entire Gao family.
She had killed only one thoroughly evil provincial governor, yet these people had taken their anger out on her and tried to kill her. If she showed mercy tonight, she would only be inviting endless trouble in the future. She wanted to live out the rest of her life in peace, not be bothered by people every day.
Before leaving, she activated her earth-element ability. The ground beneath the Gao residence began to shake as though an earth dragon were turning over, and soon the entire estate began collapsing on a massive scale.
In the blink of an eye, the Gao residence had become a field of ruins, while the neighboring homes remained completely untouched. Not even the slightest sound had reached them.
Xi Qingyue smiled in satisfaction. “Perfect. Now I don’t even have to deal with the corpses.”
Mu Jin stood nearby, staring in utter astonishment. This method of burying bodies was truly unheard of.
Even as she was shocked, she thought to herself, Commandery Princess, you’re becoming less and less discreet.
It was not only the Gao family. Several other families also vanished from Xinzhou overnight.
When the heads of those great clans died, their expressions were identical to Patriarch Gao’s: shock mixed with a trace of regret. They did not regret what they had done. They regretted provoking someone they should never have offended.
As for the wealth of the great clans, Xi Qingyue took it all. This time, she even used the property deeds and land deeds to claim the families’ grain stores and jewelry shops. She wasted nothing.
Inside the governor’s residence, the dense volley of gunshots startled many people.
When some of the townspeople heard the commotion and came to the entrance of the governor’s residence, they saw only the gates standing wide open. Countless corpses lay scattered across the grounds, and under the moonlight, the blood-red earth was a horrifying sight.
Everyone drew in a sharp breath. The corpses had been piled together into a small mountain.
“My heavens! Who came to the governor’s residence in the middle of the night to kill all these people? Is the Commandery Princess all right?”
“Exactly. They don’t look like bandits, though. Some of them seem familiar.”
A few of the bolder townspeople studied the corpses closely. The longer they looked, the more familiar the faces became.
Nan Yun smiled at the townspeople who had come to help and said, “Thank you all for risking your safety and coming here in the middle of the night. These people came to assassinate the Commandery Princess, but everything is fine now. You may all rest assured. If you have nothing else to do, please return home and get some sleep. You’ll learn the identities of these corpses tomorrow.”
One burly man could not help asking as he looked at the pile of bodies, “Don’t you need our help carrying them away?”
Nan Yun shook her head. “No need. These corpses aren’t enough to frighten us. Go home and rest tonight. Come back tomorrow to help.”
After hearing this, the townspeople gradually left the governor’s residence. Standing around a pile of corpses in the middle of the night made them uneasy as well.
Watching them leave, Nan Yun’s lips curved into a faint smile.
She knew that the gunshots would attract the nearby townspeople. She had deliberately left the gates unlocked that night so the assassins could enter with ease. She had killed them in the outermost courtyard specifically so the townspeople could come and see the bodies for themselves.
By the time Xi Qingyue returned, the townspeople had already gone home, and the residence had once again fallen silent. The only difference was that several hundred corpses now filled the outer courtyard.
Xi Qingyue nodded approvingly at Nan Yun. “Well done. Reward everyone with one hundred taels of silver. Also, give every townsman who comes to carry the bodies away tomorrow one tael as thanks. Take out some more silver and buy plenty of steamed buns and mantou to distribute among the beggars and refugees in the city. Make sure everyone gets something to eat.”
Xi Qingyue felt that she had obtained more than enough money. Providing people with one full meal was no problem.
Of course, she would not provide free meals indefinitely. Once she finished dealing with these matters tomorrow, it would be time to leave.
The next morning, before Xi Qingyue had even gotten out of bed, the governor’s residence was already bustling with activity.
Early in the morning, some townspeople came of their own accord to help carry away the corpses. This time, they clearly recognized many of the faces. Naturally, they also learned which families had come there to kill people.
“Isn’t that the Gao family’s steward? They actually came to assassinate the Commandery Princess! How bold can they be?” a young man exclaimed.
At that, someone slapped his forehead. “Ah, the Gao family? No way. I heard this morning that the Gao family had suffered Heaven’s punishment. Their entire estate had become a ruin, and not a single building remained. Apparently, everyone was buried underground, so they don’t even need to look for graves. I was planning to go take a look after we finished carrying these bodies.”
“Really? Could it actually be retribution?”
“That’s not all. The Zhong family, the Zhou family, and the Guo family too. They all became ruins overnight, with everyone buried underground. If it were an earthquake, the neighboring houses wouldn’t have remained untouched. It has to be divine retribution.”
The townspeople chatted animatedly as they carried the corpses one by one onto carts, preparing to take them to the mass burial grounds outside the city.
They planned to finish disposing of the bodies as quickly as possible, then go look at the ruins of those great families.
Hearing the townspeople’s discussion, even Nan Yun was surprised.
She knew that Xi Qingyue had gone out to kill people the previous night, and she also knew that several great clans had been wiped out. But she had never expected that the estates would be reduced to ruins overnight. What a tremendous undertaking. Could it be that the Commandery Princess had done this because she did not want to deal with the corpses?
The more Nan Yun thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She decided to ask Mu Jin about it later.
At that moment, Xi Qingyue had only just woken up. After she and Xi Weilan washed up inside the motorhome, they sat down and began eating.
Mu Jin climbed aboard and told them what had happened outside, including what the townspeople had been saying.
“Commandery Princess, the townspeople all believe that the Gao family and the others suffered retribution. This misunderstanding is quite beneficial.”
Xi Weilan looked regretful after hearing this. “Big Sis, I didn’t get to see you display your power last night. I didn’t even see the houses turn into ruins.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and gently stroked her head. “Don’t worry. There will be plenty of chances in the future. Next time, Big Sis will let you watch. We’ll do it during the day so you can see everything clearly.”
Mu Jin silently rolled her eyes. Xi Qingyue spoiled her little sister beyond reason.
Last night, she had found an excuse to keep Xi Weilan from killing anyone. Today, she was coaxing her by promising to bring down someone’s house in broad daylight next time.
What an unusual kind of sister.
But then another question occurred to her: Xi Qingyue seemed to be hiding her abilities less and less. Had she simply forgotten to keep them hidden, or were her abilities so formidable now that she no longer needed to?
