Chapter 595: This Is the Fate of Anyone Who Attacks Maolu Villa!

A man and a sword struck the ground one after the other.

Bang!

Zong Yuan crashed down first. Half his body was gone, and blood slowly spread beneath him.

The instant the sword touched earth, it vanished. Only the flower-robed man remained, drifting lightly down to land as he silently watched Zong Yuan's eyelids flutter faintly.

The attackers fighting nearby were terrified. Even Zong Yuan had been killed. Who would still dare approach this man? They immediately turned and fled.

“Zhao...” Zong Yuan stared at the flower-robed man and forced out a weak syllable. There seemed to be something in his eyes he wanted to entrust to him, but in the end he never managed to finish. His gaze went dull. He stopped moving, and his breath ceased.

When true experts fought, battles that dragged endlessly on were rare. In fact, not much time had passed since the two first exchanged blows. Victory and defeat had been decided quickly.

The flower-robed man let the rain of blood that had only now begun to fall spatter across him. His gaze left Zong Yuan's face and turned toward Maolu Villa.

His sleeves snapped once. He launched into the air, spread both arms like a great bird, and glided over the people still fighting below.

He did not care who won or lost down there, nor did he intend to chase down attackers one by one for the sake of Niu Youdao's black-clad masked men.

He drifted over Maolu Villa, floated down onto the pavilion, and slowly walked over to stand beside Niu Youdao. The false face he wore remained completely expressionless.

No one on the pavilion spoke.

They all stared at him in stunned silence.

Huang Lie looked at the flower-robed man, then at Niu Youdao.

Yin'er, hugging her food box, was filled with curiosity. She sidled over to the flower-robed man and craned her head forward to study his face. The man looked back at this bottomless pit of an eater.

Yin'er licked the grease from her fingers, then reached toward his face, intending to peel off his mask.

Disgust flashed through the flower-robed man's eyes. He swept up one sleeve and slapped her hand away.

Anyone unaware of the truth would have thought the woman an idiot. Was she trying to get herself killed?

Yin'er's eyes immediately widened. She looked extremely displeased.

This time, it was Guan Fangyi and the others who knew the truth who felt their hearts leap into their throats.

You can kill Zong Yuan, fine, but against this demon king you're probably still not enough. More importantly, don't drag us down with you!

Fortunately, Shang Shuqing, still shaken from the battle, was worried about Yin'er. She hurried over, pulled her away, and softly rebuked her. “Yin'er, don't make trouble.”

Yin'er allowed Shang Shuqing to drag her aside, but she still pouted at the flower-robed man and cursed, “Bad person!”

The flower-robed man had already decided she was little more than a gluttonous fool. He could not be bothered arguing with an idiot.

The attackers who had been air-dropped among the mountains were already scattering in every direction. Once Zong Yuan died, their morale collapsed completely.

They had already been struggling against the black-clad masked men. Now even Zong Yuan was dead. What was left to fight for? Even if they fought to the death, Niu Youdao had an expert like this protecting him. They could not kill him at all. Fighting on would only mean throwing away their lives.

Escape was the only option.

Seeing the black-clad masked men preparing to pursue, Niu Youdao spoke.

“Do not pursue a desperate enemy!”

One of the masked men standing atop the wall immediately released a long howl, calling off the chase.

“Duan Hu, Lei Zongkang, Wu Sanliang,” Niu Youdao called.

The three immediately stepped forward together and cupped their hands. “Master Dao!”

With his back to them and his gaze still fixed ahead, Niu Youdao said, “Each of you take one hundred men. Reinforce Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain.”

“Yes!” The three accepted the order. They went down, exchanged a few brief words with the masked men, then each led a hundred men away at speed.

The strongest enemy had already withdrawn. Niu Youdao was no longer afraid to strip away part of the villa's defenses.

Privately, he also released a long breath.

At first he had genuinely worried that the flower-robed man might not be Zong Yuan's match. The thought had kept his heart suspended for quite some time.

He was also thankful he had planned ahead and invited this man over first. Otherwise, judging by the confidence he had possessed at the beginning, he might truly have lifted a stone only to smash his own foot.

Of course, the opponent this time was the Yan court, an enormous power. From the start, Niu Youdao had been especially cautious about confronting something of that scale and had mobilized every force he could use.

This time, he had effectively taken out everything he possessed and collided head-on with the Yan court.

Looking at the droplets of blood staining the flower-robed man's clothes, Niu Youdao raised a thumb toward him. “As expected of an expert!”

The flower-robed man gave him a cold sideways glance.

High above, it had been difficult to see clearly. Ga Miaoshui guided his flying mount into a low sweep over the battlefield and finally spotted Zong Yuan's broken corpse lying below. His heart shook.

With the other experts who had come to attack already collapsing and fleeing, Ga Miaoshui knew the operation could no longer continue. He immediately drove his flying mount upward and fled.

Niu Youdao happened to see it.

The fact that the man had apparently been supervising the battle from high above had already made him suspect the visitor's identity was not simple. He immediately pointed.

“Find out who that is. He's on a Scarlet Hunting Eagle. See if you can take him!”

Several black-clad masked men immediately leapt onto two Scarlet Hunting Eagles and shot into the sky in pursuit.

...

On the mountaintop, several cultivators who had been air-dropped earlier came rushing toward Yuan Gang.

Uncle Chen and Old Second Wu instantly moved in front of him. Their responsibility in this battle was to protect Yuan Gang.

The approaching cultivators, however, had no heart left for fighting. They were fleeing for their lives and had no intention of becoming entangled. They flashed over the group's heads, crossed the battlefield below, and rapidly escaped.

“Sect Leader, they're running!”

Someone shouted from among the Feihua Pavilion disciples who were being besieged.

Cao Yuer, hair disheveled and body covered in blood as she fought bitterly, swung several sword strikes to force back the people entangling her, then abruptly looked up.

She saw the air-dropped experts fleeing.

Then she looked around at the Feihua Pavilion disciples lying dead everywhere, near and far.

“Ah!” Cao Yuer threw back her head and released a grief-stricken cry.

She seemed to understand that the operation had failed.

Feihua Pavilion had paid such a terrible price and still failed. How was she supposed to bear it?

But this was not the time to indulge her emotions for long. The moment she regained some composure, she shouted, “Withdraw!”

Too late.

From the mountaintop above, more than a hundred black-clad masked men flew down and joined the battle, reinforcing Liuxian Sect.

Seeing such a large force of experts arrive to help, Fei Changliu did not know who they were, but anyone helping this side was naturally one of their own. Covered in blood himself, he immediately rallied.

What did this mean?

It meant Master Dao's side had won and was already beginning its counterattack.

“Kill!” Fei Changliu roared.

Similar scenes were unfolding all around the outer defensive perimeter.

...

When the sounds of killing finally died away completely, the garrison troops halfway up the mountains began advancing outward and clearing the battlefield, picking their way through forests of arrows and steel spears.

Whenever they found an enemy still groaning, struggling, or barely clinging to life, they yanked steel spears from the ground and swarmed forward. Spear after spear stabbed down until blood sprayed.

The dead were treated the same way.

Each corpse received several extra thrusts in case anyone was feigning death.

These soldiers had plenty of experience cleaning battlefields.

...

After the fighting went quiet, Yuan Fang stealthily emerged from wherever he had hidden himself and peered around to see what was happening.

When he saw Niu Youdao and the others coming calmly down from the pavilion, he immediately relaxed. With his sleeves flapping, he scampered over to Niu Youdao.

He had avoided the danger, but he had also missed the spectacular and eye-opening battle.

“Master Dao, did we win? Do you need me to take people and clean the battlefield?” Yuan Fang asked eagerly, his face full of ingratiation.

Guan Fangyi rolled her eyes.

She had dealt with him long enough to know how enthusiastic this fellow was about cleaning battlefields.

“Go, go, go!” She waved him away.

Leaning on his sword, Niu Youdao walked out through Maolu Villa's gate personally to receive the people of the three sects returning after their bloody battle.

Fei Changliu, Zheng Jiuxiao, and Xia Hua came back alongside Yuan Gang and the others, all of them filthy with blood.

Their disciples dragged two prisoners behind them.

One was barely alive.

The other was missing a leg.

When Yuan Gang reached Niu Youdao, he gave him a nod and moved aside.

“Master Dao, we did not fail the mission!” Fei Changliu, Zheng Jiuxiao, and Xia Hua cupped their hands in report.

Niu Youdao's gaze fell on the bandaging around Xia Hua's shoulder. She was plainly injured.

Looking at the miserable condition of all three Sect Leaders, he did not need to have seen the fighting to know how brutal it had been.

“Sect Leader Xia, are you all right?”

“I won't die.” Xia Hua gave a bitter smile, then asked, “Master Dao, what exactly happened?”

Huang Lie's brow rose slightly.

He muttered inwardly.

They fought to this state and still don't know what happened? Really? You don't even know what happened, yet you still ran out and fought with your lives?

Niu Youdao said, “I received word beforehand that the imperial court intended to work with someone on the inside and move against me. I didn't know whether the information was true, so I told no one. You've all worked hard.”

“Someone on the inside?” the three Sect Leaders echoed in surprise, exchanging looks.

Still clinging to the phrase “inside and outside,” Guan Fangyi quietly glanced toward the people of Dachan Mountain.

As expected, none of them looked happy.

“The facts have already proven it had nothing to do with you. Perhaps someone else was involved.” Niu Youdao dismissed the matter with a single sentence.

Huang Lie's eyebrow twitched again.

Niu Youdao did not elaborate further. He lifted his chin toward the two prisoners. “Who are these two?”

Xia Hua pointed at the man who was barely breathing. “Jin Wuguang, Sect Leader of Zhenling Academy!”

Fei Changliu pointed to the one whose leg had been cut off. “Cao Yuer, Sect Leader of Feihua Pavilion. Those were the two sects attacking us from the outer perimeter. We've captured the chief culprits. The other survivors have all been gathered below the mountain.”

Zheng Jiuxiao added, “Some ran quickly enough to escape. Both sects got a few people away, but not many.”

In truth, without the assistance of the black-clad masked men, they would never have been able to capture these two Sect Leaders.

Niu Youdao gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment. He extended the scabbard in his hand and lifted Cao Yuer's chin with it.

Cao Yuer jerked her head away defiantly.

“Pah!”

She spat a mouthful of bloody saliva at him.

Niu Youdao circulated his power. The spittle fell away before it could reach him.

Duan Hu immediately stepped forward from behind.

Smack!

He slapped Cao Yuer hard across the face, then grabbed a fistful of her long hair and yanked backward, forcing her head up and exposing her face.

Niu Youdao used the scabbard to brush aside the tangled hair across her features. “Sect Leader Cao, didn't you say you'd come see me again in three days? Why were you in such a hurry to return?”

Forced to hold her head high, Cao Yuer glared through a face streaked with blood. “Niu Youdao, you were lucky today! The day will come when you die a miserable death!”

“When I saw you before, I thought you must have had some beauty in your younger days. Instead of marrying, raising children, and managing a household, you insisted on spending your life fighting and killing. Why put yourself through this?” Niu Youdao sighed, lowered his sword, and asked the others, “How do you think we should deal with them?”

Xia Hua gritted her teeth. “The number of disciples from our three sects who died at their hands is probably no fewer than two thousand. The garrison suffered even worse losses!”

Fei Changliu asked, “Master Dao isn't thinking of sparing her, is he?”

Zheng Jiuxiao looked at him expectantly as well.

Their three sects had suffered such a calamity and lost so many people. All three wished they could wipe Zhenling Academy and Feihua Pavilion out completely to avenge both the dead and the living.

Niu Youdao looked over their reactions and said calmly, “They're only pawns being used by someone else. Whether they live or die is not important. Wash their faces clean and give them enough treatment to keep them alive. Then take them, together with the other captives, and hang them from the walls of Qingshan Commandery as bait.”

“Lay an ambush. If disciples from either sect come to rescue them, kill them on the spot. Let all beneath Heaven know: this is the fate of anyone who attacks my Maolu Villa!”

The three Sect Leaders nodded after hearing this.

Indeed, letting these people die too easily would be letting them off cheaply.

The barely conscious Jin Wuguang suddenly became agitated. His breathing turned rapid and strained.

Cao Yuer, still held by the hair, struggled and howled, “Niu Youdao, you dog! Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go!”

“Take them away!” Zheng Jiuxiao barked with a wave of his hand.

[End of Chapter 595]