The lightning flashed past them, momentarily illuminating the assassins, and the thunder roared moments later. Trapped with nowhere to hide, Yongzheng stared coldly at the men in black. He knew that a fight was inevitable, so he stood his ground and looked at Xue Horan.
"When we fight, you run into the forest and hide."
Xue Horan turned to look at Yongzheng and instantly realized the Taoist wanted him to leave and fight the ten masked men by himself. "Yongzheng..."
Yongzheng insisted, his tone hardening. "If you stay, you'll only be in my way." He glanced sharply at Xue Horan. "Keep running, don't look back. I will come to find you."
Xue Horan, seeing the necessity in Yongzheng's eyes, began to run away.
One of the men in black sprinted toward Yongzheng. Yongzheng calmly grabbed the man's hand and snatched the sword from his grip. He turned the sword on its side and hit the man in black on the side of the head, knocking the assassin unconscious to the muddy ground.
Six more men jumped forward to attack Yongzheng, and the remaining two split off, running to chase Xue Horan. Yongzheng moved with blinding speed, flying in front of the two who were chasing his friend. He kicked one man fiercely, causing the assassin to fly backward toward the other seven, while he placed the point of his snatched sword on the throat of the second man in black.
He looked at the tip of the sword, which pointed menacingly at the man's white, rain-drenched throat. All he had to do was push the sword in, and this person would die.
His heart began to beat furiously. His hands were shaking, and his lips trembled violently. The trembling wasn't because of the coldness of the rain; it was the intense, suppressed temptation of wanting to kill. This violent instinct he had buried for so many years—the scent of blood from these men had suddenly arisen from the depths of hell.
The man in black under the sword slowly took out a knife from under his belt and stabbed toward Yongzheng, but Yongzheng's right hand quickly grabbed his wrist, stopping the knife just short of Yongzheng's lower abdomen.
Yongzheng's lips trembled as he spoke, his voice hoarse. "I won't hurt you, why do you think it is necessary to kill me?"
The man in black replied sternly, his voice void of fear. "Because either you die or I die."
Yongzheng's internal struggle ended. "Very good..."
Yongzheng's right hand twisted the man in black's left wrist tightly. The knife fell slowly to the ground. He backed up two steps quickly, then, holding the hilt, he pierced the sword through the throat of the man in black. He immediately sprinted forward, swirling in a circular motion with the sword in his hand, flying past the eight remaining people with the speed of a cyclone.
Yongzheng landed behind the eight men. He rolled his cold eyes down to the sword in his hand, and blood dripped from the bloody blade onto the mud.
The eight men in black grabbed at their throats, choking on their own blood. Blood spewed from their necks, mouths, and noses as they collapsed, dying instantly.
Yongzheng threw the sword onto the ground. He stood motionless in the pouring rain, looking at the one unconscious man and the eight people who lay fallen, choking on their own blood, without any regret.
Chief leader of the Seventy-Two Islands, Jiang Koshing and Wu Jinghua were standing hidden behind a few trees, observing the carnage.
Jiang Koshing, wiping the blood from his mouth, was still reeling from Yongzheng's blow. "When that little brat hit me unaware, I didn't expect his swordsmanship to be so good."
Wu Jinghua, fueled by pride, vowed revenge. "Since you can't kill him... I'll kill him." She wiped her dagger with a menacing swipe of her thumb and index finger.
Chief leader of the Seventy-Two Islands said, "Leader Seventh, you are not his opponent. His opponent should be someone in the upper class such as Kuo Jing Song, Mu Dishi, Monk Li, or Gu Tingfang."
Wu Jinghua bridled at the insult. "Chief, why do you praise others and look down on your own people?"
Chief leader of the Seventy-Two Islands explained his pragmatism. "We should know how to pick our fight if we want to come out victorious."
Wu Jinghua was unconvinced. "I haven't seen those martial artists you mentioned. I'm not afraid of him." She took a determined step forward.
Jiang Koshing offered reluctant support. "I will back you up."
Chief leader of the Seventy-Two Islands then addressed his two subordinates, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "How do you two plan to fight against someone from 'Man Of Thousand Faces Organization', especially someone who possessed the Lightning Sword skill?"
The words 'Lightning Sword' instantly froze Wu Jinghua. She halted her advance and turned around, her bravado completely gone. "Impossible... does it mean he is...?"
Chief Leader of the Seventy-Two Islands maintained a cryptic distance. "Maybe yes, maybe no." He began to walk away from Yongzheng, retreating into the darkness of the forest. He knew that no matter how skillful he was, he would not win a duel against one of the legendary, heartless assassins of the Men Of Thousand Faces. Therefore, it was best to not cross paths with them; as long as they were not in his way, he would leave them alone.
Yongzheng closed his eyes and tried to calm his furiously beating heart. He listened intently to the sound of the rain hitting the ground. Suddenly, his heart sank, and he was grabbed by a small hand on his left leg. He looked down, and what he saw was not the hand of the men in black he had just killed, but the tiny hand of Xie Diwei.
As he stared down, he was unsure if the person holding his leg was truly there or merely an image his dark past was creating to fool his mind. His heart raced, and his mind quickly brought him back to the day his nightmare began.
Inside the ruin courtyard behind the Xie Manor, Xie Diwei, choking on his own blood, grabbed Yongzheng's left ankle forcefully. The little boy said vaguely, "Shushu, why are you killing my family?" He coughed. "If you bully me, aren't you afraid your mother will scold you?"
Yongzheng looked at the dying child expressionlessly. "I don't have a mother who would scold me." He pointed his sword at Xie Diwei's left chest and, with a light push, the sharp sword pierced Xie Diwei's heart. Xie Diwei died on the spot.
A woman's crying and shouting came from the left—it was Xie Diwei's mother, Madame Xie. She cried out in pain, "Ying'er!" She rushed over, hugged Xie Diwei in her arms, and cried out with heartache. She then let go of her son and grabbed Yongzheng's front robe. "Give me back my child's life! Give me back my child's life! You heartless man, how can you kill a child who knows nothing? You are not fit to breathe!"
Yongzheng stabbed Madame Xie's abdomen with a sword. He pushed Madame Xie back with his left hand and pulled the sword out of her belly. He stared blankly at Madame Xie, whose wounds were bleeding profusely.
Madame Xie coughed, and blood spurted from her mouth. She slowly walked back to Xie Diwei and hugged him in her arms, looking at Yongzheng with bitter eyes. She gritted her teeth and said bitterly, "After I die, I will become a ferocious ghost, hunting you forever. Every night you will dream of my innocent child!" She held Xie Diwei tightly. She sighed and murmured, "Ying'er, Mother is with you. You don't have to be afraid of the dark." She died while holding her son.
Yongzheng looked at Madame Xie and Diwei Xie's bodies. He said coldly, "I am a man without a face. If you don't know what I look like, you can't hunt me down."
A masked man stood behind Yongzheng and said, "My lord, everything has been arranged."
Yongzheng gave the final command. "Light it up."
The twenty men flew up and stood on the roof. They fired forty light arrows at the Xie Manor. Instantly, the Xie Manor was burning from top to bottom. Fueled by spilled oil, the fire spread rapidly.
The group of unknown men appeared in the night like a group of hungry shadows and disappeared just as quietly, without a trace. No one ever truly knew what happened to the Xie family, but the public only assumed that the family was robbed and killed by some unknown bandits.