Chapter 60: Exterminate the Clan

Ding Hao stepped forward.

With Zheng Fan’s promise behind him, he finally let himself go completely.

The image in his mind was Wang Li dying before his eyes to protect him.

That image kept merging with the sight before him the woman in plain mourning clothes curled up in the corner.

“What are you doing?

“Don’t come closer!

“Don’t come closer!”

Registrar Chen pointed at Ding Hao and shouted.

Yet there was obvious fear beneath his bluster.

Ding Hao reached out and directly seized the finger pointed at him.

Then, CRACK!

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Registrar Chen’s finger was snapped outright.

Immediately afterward, Ding Hao kicked him in the knee, then hammered a fist into his back.

BANG!

Registrar Chen was beaten down onto his knees, his face twisted in agony.

Standing nearby, Zheng Fan did not feel much.

Perhaps the Demon Kings beneath him had raised his “aesthetic standards” for torture.

What Ding Hao was doing now simply lacked artistic flair.

Fan Li’s human-sticks.

Xue San’s “grow taller.”

A’Ming’s blood tasting.

Feng Siniang’s two brains...

Whenever those Demon Kings tortured someone, each had their own signature tricks.

Never vulgar.

Never clichéd.

Sigh.

Student Ding Hao still had plenty of room for improvement.

Apparently attracted by Registrar Chen’s screams, three servant-looking men hurried up from the stairwell.

Zheng Fan pointed one finger toward the side.

The meaning was obvious.

The five Centurions behind him exchanged glances.

Then they cupped their hands and accepted the order.

They knew Registrar Chen.

The Chen Clan was also a family with some standing in Tiger Head City.

For several generations, members of the clan had monopolized minor clerical posts within the local yamen.

But now, they had to make a choice.

And compared with the enormous vat known as the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei, the Chen Clan was nothing more than a tiny toothpick.

The five armored Centurions stationed themselves at the stairwell.

For the moment, Registrar Chen’s servants genuinely did not dare rush forward.

One of them, however, immediately turned and ran off to report what had happened.

“Impudent!

“Do you know who I am?!

“Do you know who I am?!”

Registrar Chen kept howling.

To his credit, he still had some guts.

Even in this situation, he could continue threatening people.

Presumably, no one in Tiger Head City had ever treated him this way in his life.

Zheng Fan ignored him.

Instead, he walked over to the woman, bent down, and asked, “What happened?”

“He...

“He said the authorities were going to punish my late husband.

“He told me... told me to come meet him here.

“Otherwise my whole family would be implicated...”

The instant Ding Hao heard this, he punched Registrar Chen in the back again.

BANG!

“Wang Li failed to escort a prisoner, but he died in battle.

“What crime could there possibly be?”

Ding Hao clearly understood the twists and turns of Yan officialdom.

The moment Xiaocui explained, he understood.

Registrar Chen had simply wanted to bully a widow.

Most importantly, Ding Hao himself was the real cause behind the entire situation.

If you want a beauty to look ravishing, dress her in mourning.

The instant that thought appeared in Zheng Fan’s mind, he felt it was terribly inappropriate.

The moral blemish was too large.

The Blind Man’s woman had almost been violated by this bony Registrar Chen.

Given the temperaments and methods of those Demon Kings, Zheng Fan felt he truly had no room left to choose.

If he handled the matter too mildly, if he responded without enough decisiveness, if the result was not bloody enough those Demon Kings would certainly be disappointed in him.

The others might be manageable.

But if that Blind Man became dissatisfied with him...

The feeling of being watched by that old scheming bastard while knowing he had a grievance against you was terrifying.

Therefore, Registrar Chen had to die!

The five Centurions standing at the door had also heard Xiaocui’s account.

Their expressions turned ugly.

Wang Li the former Patrol Lieutenant Commander of Tiger Head City had been a man of common birth.

So he had never belonged to their circle.

But all of them wore armor.

All of them belonged to Tiger Head City’s military establishment.

Different backgrounds or not, there was still the bond of comrades-in-arms.

A soldier had only just died in battle, and his orphaned family and widow were immediately bullied to this extent.

How could fellow soldiers not feel the sorrow of the rabbit when the fox died?

In the past, if they had encountered such a thing, they might merely have been angry inside.

Especially when the other party’s identity was not easy to provoke.

The Chen Clan was not a small family by Tiger Head City standards.

It had always styled itself as a follower of the Beifeng Liu Clan.

And this Registrar Chen was said to be highly trusted by the true Registrar Liu.

But this time, with Zheng Fan taking the lead, they immediately possessed a backbone.

What did bootlickers fear most?

Having nowhere to lick.

“Master?”

Ding Hao was asking Zheng Fan for instructions.

The corner of Zheng Fan’s mouth twitched.

Then he answered cleanly, “Don’t give him a quick death.

“That would be too cheap for him.”

Before Ding Hao could act again, a crowd of armed men suddenly charged into the restaurant below.

The Chen Clan’s shops and residence were located in the alley directly opposite the restaurant.

That was also why Registrar Chen had arranged to meet the woman here.

Close to home.

Naturally, the moment trouble erupted, the Chen Clan’s people arrived almost immediately.

There were dozens of them.

Every one carried a weapon.

These were the Chen Clan’s private soldiers inside Tiger Head City.

Normally, they helped look after the family businesses.

Whenever violence was needed, they could arm themselves at once.

That was simply the atmosphere of the State of Yan.

Clans large and small did not merely possess political and cultural influence.

They also controlled land, dependent households, and their own... private soldiers.

In Yan’s earlier wartime years, this had been an advantage.

To the north were the barbarian tribes.

The powerful clans had no interest in letting the barbarians invade and forcing everyone to go herd sheep together.

To the south lay the states of Qian, Jin, and Chu.

Qian and Jin were ruled by scholar-officials who did not intend to share power with Yan’s clans.

Chu followed an aristocratic system of its own, and likewise had no place for them.

Therefore, in those earlier years, in order to resist foreign enemies and protect their own living environment, Yan’s great clans contributed their private forces.

Those troops could be summoned quickly and fight immediately.

They were effectively elite reserve forces and the imperial court did not even need to spend money maintaining them.

But later, once the barbarian Royal Court wrecked itself with its western expedition, Qian became the weak one, and Jin began tearing itself apart internally, the ruler of Yan began considering expansion beyond the borders.

At that point, the great clans stopped being enthusiastic about helping.

The newly conquered lands would be isolated enclaves from their perspective.

Most of the benefits would fall into the imperial house’s pocket.

And if the Yan ruler genuinely grew fat from conquest, what if he then centralized power and slaughtered the old hounds after the hunt?

That was one of the critical reasons the State of Yan had possessed the strategic initiative for decades yet remained unable to launch a war of unification.

Zheng Fan stepped out to assess the situation.

Below, the Chen Clan’s private soldiers were making a tremendous racket.

The restaurant’s other customers immediately fled to avoid disaster.

Even the proprietor and staff did not dare approach to mediate.

If cups and plates broke, so be it.

If a person got hacked apart, then truly nothing would remain.

Ding Hao dragged Registrar Chen along behind Zheng Fan like a dead dog.

“Save me!

“Save me!

“Save me!!!”

Registrar Chen began screaming.

The Chen Clan’s private soldiers started charging up the stairs.

The five Centurions instantly drew their sabers and prepared to protect Zheng Fan.

Ding Hao threw Registrar Chen onto the floor.

At the same time, he planted one foot on Registrar Chen’s lower left leg.

CRACK!

“AAAAAHHHH!!!”

Registrar Chen screamed.

That scream further enraged the private soldiers below.

They surged up the stairs even more violently.

“In broad daylight, you attempt to surround and murder an official of the imperial court.

“That makes you... rebels!

“Kill them without mercy!”

After Zheng Fan spoke, he swept one arm downward.

Open the gate.

Release...

“Lin Chong”!

Ding Hao seized his long spear and charged down the stairs.

BUZZ!

A dark radiance flashed across his body.

The private soldiers at the front immediately slowed.

Fear spread across their faces.

A graded Martial Artist!

But Ding Hao did not care whether they slowed down or not.

Ever since the Zhenbei Army captured him and reduced him to a prisoner, Ding Hao had accumulated a bellyful of rage with nowhere to vent it.

Now he finally had his chance!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

The spear thrust twice.

It directly punched through the chests of two private soldiers.

Then Ding Hao swept the shaft sideways.

Several more Chen Clan men behind them were knocked down the staircase.

An inch longer an inch stronger.

Combined with the strength and speed of a Ninth Grade Martial Artist, inside this narrow stairwell, Ding Hao was practically a heavy tank charging into a flock of sheep!

The five Centurions beside Zheng Fan watched the servant at his side reveal himself as a graded Martial Artist.

Their fear and reverence toward Zheng Fan deepened yet again.

They had seen with their own eyes how respectful this graded expert had been toward Zheng Fan earlier.

They had even heard Zheng Fan solemnly tell him:

You are my hound.

Only someone genuinely treasured within the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei could possess this kind of confidence and this kind of prestige!

Ding Hao slaughtered his way from upstairs to downstairs.

Once he reached the bottom—

BANG!

He planted the butt of his spear against the floor.

Blood continued dripping from its lower end.

Behind and around him lay corpse after corpse.

Several wounded men writhed and howled in pools of blood.

Zheng Fan looked down at Registrar Chen, who had already forgotten how to scream.

A trace of irritation rose inside him.

Then he lifted his foot and kicked Registrar Chen squarely in the face.

BANG!

Registrar Chen’s head snapped sideways.

Snot and tears mixed with blood and streamed from his face.

Originally, Zheng Fan had only wanted to teach a bullying bastard a lesson, glow a little while he was at it, and do some minor showing off.

Instead, he had run into this bastard.

And this bastard just had to launch an “offensive” against the Blind Man’s widow.

Fine.

He had forced Zheng Fan into a corner.

Now only the most extreme response would do.

And at present, dozens more people had charged in.

So many had already died.

If this affair spiraled out of control, Zheng Fan might have to return home shortly, pack everything with Feng Siniang, and run.

The residence.

The bathing pool.

The young women attending him.

All of it suddenly seemed to sprout wings and prepare to fly away from him.

How could Zheng Fan not be angry?

Tap.

Tap.

Tap...

Zheng Fan began descending.

His boots stepped onto blood-slick stairs, occasionally producing wet, greasy sounds.

He descended with perfect calm.

At the same time, his mind worked at high speed, analyzing the situation.

By the time he reached the foot of the stairs, Zheng Fan had reached a conclusion.

The remaining Chen Clan private soldiers below could only stand near the entrance and stare warily.

Ding Hao’s earlier slaughter had completely shattered their courage.

The five Centurions followed Zheng Fan downstairs.

The most perceptive among them, Wang Duan, even remembered to sling the half-crippled Registrar Chen over his shoulder and carry him down as well.

At that moment, the street outside filled with the clatter of armor.

Squad after squad of leather-armored soldiers surrounded the restaurant entrance.

Zheng Fan turned in surprise toward Wang Duan, who stood behind him carrying Registrar Chen.

He asked, “Your men?”

Wang Duan replied with great humility, “Lieutenant Commander, this bastard bullied the widow of one of our army comrades.

“How could those of us who wear armor swallow that kind of humiliation?

“Otherwise outsiders might genuinely think every soldier in Tiger Head City is a woman.

“Besides, Lieutenant Commander, you were standing up for us.

“How could we let you place yourself in danger?

“It’s only that... we didn’t expect such an expert to be serving at your side.

“It seems our efforts were unnecessary.”

When Wang Duan finished, he smiled somewhat sheepishly.

The other four Centurions behind him revealed similarly embarrassed expressions.

The flattery they had delivered it.

The men they had summoned them.

The imposing scene they had established it.

As for the Chen Clan people who died here, they had not killed them.

If the Chen Clan settled accounts later, they would only settle them with Zheng Fan.

Nothing to do with us.

A profitable arrangement.

They had mobilized their soldiers for two reasons.

First, to support Zheng Fan’s position.

Second, to stabilize the situation.

From here onward, the big figures could argue and clean up the mess.

Small households like theirs did not intend to become involved any further.

But Zheng Fan’s next sentence left all five Centurions frozen.

“Good.

“You mobilized the troops at exactly the right time.

“I can use them.”

Hm?

Wang Duan asked with some confusion, “Lieutenant Commander Zheng... what do you intend to mobilize the troops for?”

Zheng Fan smiled.

He reached out and gently stroked Registrar Chen’s blood-smeared face.

Then slowly said, “Exterminate the clan.”

(End of Chapter)