Chapter 164 — Section 166: Kill!

At the entrance of the great hall, a youth stood, towering alone. Ling Yan, taking the hint, hugged his silver spear and slipped to one side, clicking his tongue as he watched Tang Tang, who had already gone berserk.

This fellow has really gone for it...

Tang Tang's gaze swept over everyone in the hall, his eyes like furious, blazing fire; those swept by that gaze felt the air around them leap in temperature.

Tang Tang was truly furious.

He felt the blood in his body scalding, burning his skin until it stung; the violent rage sent a tremor deep through his frame, as though something were about to break out of its cocoon.

Every word the little girl had said was wiped clean from his mind; his blood-red vision locked hard onto Wu Zexing.

"I never thought a pack of old relics like you could be this shameless!" Tang Tang suddenly grinned, and even the breath he exhaled seemed to scorch like flame.

He strode forward, step by step, into the hall.

He was not fast.

Wu Zexing's pupils contracted sharply: with every step Tang Tang took, a clear footprint was left in the flagstones.

"I have long heard that Miss Gu has three very capable friends. Seeing them today, they are indeed out of the ordinary." Elder Yu chuckled, seemingly unconcerned. "But the affairs of the Gu family are for the Gu family to decide. It would be better for the youngsters to step aside. Elders, come out and speak — you are Miss Gu's seniors, so by all means, have your say."

Three clan elders stepped forward; there was a trace of dread in the eyes they turned on Tang Tang. They had seen with their own eyes just how formidable he was, and their hearts were filled with fear of him.

When the three elders came out, the blood drained from Gu Xue's face; she stared at them, unable to believe her eyes.

"There is nothing to fear." Elder Yu smiled gently. "With this old one here, and so many heroes present, no one will let you be wronged. Speak freely."

He noticed the change in Gu Xue, and the fear on the faces of the others; he understood that his methods had made these people afraid. He was immensely pleased with himself. He meant to show these fellows that no matter how strong their martial power, before him they could stir up no wave at all.

One of the elders mumbled, "Xue'er has reached the age for marriage..."

Gu Xue's face went white in a way that hurt to look at.

Elder Yu's smile deepened.

"Hahahahaha!"

Suddenly, grating laughter rang through the hall. Everyone turned as one; Tang Tang, as though he had heard the funniest thing in the world, was roaring with laughter all to himself.

Elder Yu's eyes narrowed, killing intent drifting in their murky depths. But the situation was in his grasp, and he felt no worry at all; without betraying a thing, he had already drawn the three elders over to his side.

Tang Tang abruptly stopped laughing, fixed his eyes on the three elders, and said nothing. The three elders felt their insides crawl, and the fear on their faces deepened.

Just as Elder Yu was about to speak, Tang Tang suddenly bared his teeth in a grim grin.

"A Gu family like this is not worth Xue'er's protection." Tang Tang shook his head to himself and said, light as a breath, "In that case, I may as well wash the Gu family in blood!"

Tang Tang's tone was calm, yet it fell among them like a bomb.

Everyone stared at the youth in horror. The words were uttered as casually as one might discuss what to have for dinner, yet the killing intent and the smell of blood seemed to rush at them head-on. For a moment, they seemed to see a street running red with blood, and a youth like an Asura standing proud amid it.

The three elders' breathing stopped short; the color drained from their faces in a flash; their bodies trembled uncontrollably, and the chattering of their teeth was plainly audible in the deathly still hall.

Elder Yu had not expected Tang Tang to utter such unbridled, such naked threats before so many people.

He was both shocked and furious; he realized he had miscalculated. His opponent was not a calculating middle-aged man, but a reckless greenhorn, a newborn calf that feared no tiger!

If he did not put this down at once, then his authority...

Ji Tian, standing before Elder Yu, could hold back no longer and shouted angrily, "What insolence...!"

Ha!

Tang Tang grinned again, white teeth bared and menacing.

Xue'er's heart right now must be full of despair and grief...

She must feel helpless...

She must feel cold...

Rage, like a howling storm, surged through Tang Tang.

You bastards, why do you treat her this way...

Why must you sacrifice her, abandon her...

For your filthy world, is it... for your great enterprise...

What right do you have to do this?

I will not, ab-so-lute-ly not, allow it!

Tang Tang's feet suddenly found their power, and he hurled himself at Ji Tian.

No one had expected Tang Tang to be the first to strike. Did he not know that his opponent was far stronger than he? As that flame-like youth tore through the air trailing a blazing afterimage, a cry of astonishment rose from the crowd.

The youth's airborne form, wreathed as though in leaping flame, froze in Gu Xue's blank, white vision.

In an instant scalding tears slid down her cheeks, and her cold, despairing face felt their warmth.

Tang'er...

Suddenly, out of the white of her vision, without the slightest warning, a green sword appeared, like a bamboo viper hidden in the dark, seizing its moment to strike a fatal blow.

"Tang'er, look out!"

In that instant Gu Xue cried out instinctively, and her heart felt as though a hand had clenched it hard; terror and despair filled her body and took away its last remaining warmth.

Wu Zexing struck!

From first to last he had not said a word, but now he struck. In that thrust he held nothing back. The look in Gu Xue's eyes when she saw Tang Tang a moment ago — he had taken it all in. In that instant, for the first time, he felt something pierce his heart, and that indescribable pain, and the rage that came hard on its heels, devoured him like poison.

Gu Xue liked him!

Endless killing intent flooded every corner of his body; the cultivation of temper he had always prided himself on was flung utterly from his mind.

Gu Xue's terrified scream fell on his ears now and gave him an inexplicable pleasure.

Kill him!

Gu Xue was his!

The voice sounded in his heart without ceasing; into this sword he poured utter focus. He even had the feeling that this was the strongest thrust he had ever made in his life!

No one could evade this sword!

Tang Tang, in midair, had nothing to borrow force from; he seemed certain to die on that blade. But then his body twisted with uncanny strangeness, as though he had foreseen the thrust all along, and slid past the tip.

Wu Zexing, gripping the hilt, felt the emptiness at the point of his sword — so familiar, and yet so inconceivable.

He was struck as if by lightning; his body went rigid, his mind blank, his eyes filled with uncomprehending bewilderment. He had missed... the thrust he had been so sure of had missed!

Impossible... impossible!

When they saw that silent, soundless thrust of Wu Zexing's, almost everyone believed Tang Tang was certain to die. They had just seen with their own eyes how that silent thrust had broken Li Xin's Bright King bloodline!

And this time Wu Zexing had struck from hiding, without the slightest warning!

Certain death!

But... Tang Tang had dodged it... truly dodged that sword...

No one was prepared for it; not even Ji Tian had the least preparation. When Ji Tian saw Wu Zexing's thrust, which seemed that of a god or a ghost, a look of admiration rose unbidden on his face.

That thrust, exquisite to the last hair, utterly without the smoke and fire of this world — even seeing it with his own eyes, he had not sensed the least killing intent!

Wu Zexing's swordsmanship had reached such an astonishing height!