Chapter 73: Killing

Chapter 73: Murder

"This is impossible, absolutely impossible!! How could he still be alive!!"

Staring at the thing emerging from the water before him, Yuan Er couldn't help but cry out.

Never had a single soul escaped the grasp of the River Earl, yet this man had actually done it.

He recognized this man; the one before him was the red-robed Daoist who had caused the deaths of dozens of his brothers back then!

Before these men could even comprehend what was happening, he saw the bizarre Daoist slowly raise his head, leaving a bloody footprint with every step, walking straight toward them.

"Kill him! Kill him quickly!! Hurry! Don't let him ring the bell!" Yuan Er's voice carried a trace of nervous tension.

Although there was only one opponent and several hundred of his own men, Yuan Er inexplicably felt the urge to turn and flee.

A continuous whistling filled the air as dozens of arrowheads gleamed with cold light, shooting toward the Daoist, yet not a single one found its mark.

With a tearing sound, a man's body was ripped apart limb from limb, right before everyone's eyes, by Li Huowang.

The river bandits initially attempted to swarm him, but soon, the increasingly gory spectacle cooled their boiling blood.

This scene, rivaling the eighteenth level of hell, gradually replaced the anger and hatred in everyone's eyes with sheer terror.

Finally, they could hold on no longer, their legs trembling as they began to flee for their lives.

Even Yuan Er's orders at this moment could not make them pause for a second; they were thoroughly terrified out of their wits.

When these men completely lost their will to resist and turned their backs on Li Huowang, a naked massacre unfolded entirely across the reed island.

"Great-Grandfather, Great-Grandfather, think of something quickly!" Seeing his own younger brother torn apart alive, Yuan Er was utterly bereft of his senses.

Only now did he realize just what kind of terrifying existence he had provoked.

The old man, previously immensely imposing, was now panicked; he clasped his hands together in a flustered manner, muttering lowly toward the dark red lake water beside him.

This chanting did not last long; upon seeing a mass of flesh the size of a large boat float up from the lake bottom, the old man felt his vision go black, his body about to topple backward.

That was the River Earl their ancestors had worshipped for generations, and it had actually been slain just like that by the Daoist!

Seeing this, Yuan Er's heart trembled violently; without a word, he hoisted his Great-Grandfather onto his back and sprinted toward the village.

Deaf to the wails and screams of agony behind him, Yuan Er gritted his teeth and fled swiftly.

Li Huowang watched Danyangzi in the distance slowly killing the river bandits one by one; with each kill, the redness before his own eyes deepened, until finally, it was so red he could no longer see the path.

At first, Li Huowang had no desire to intervene, but when he saw Danyangzi grab another person, he finally could not hold back.

"No more killing, stop killing!"

Amid Li Huowang's shouts, Danyangzi grabbed the man with the red dot painted on his brow.

Slowly turning around, a cruel smile appeared on his blood-red face. "Boy... why not?"

Li Huowang opened his mouth to say something, but as he turned his head to look at the lake completely plunged into pitch darkness, remembering his companions whose fates were unknown, he suddenly found he had no reason to refute.

The agony in his heart nearly swallowed everything in an instant; clutching his throbbing head, he screamed desperately, "Why not! Why can't I kill them when they killed our people?"

When he came to his senses, Danyangzi was gone, and he found himself standing in Danyangzi's place.

Before him now was a plump woman.

Weeping bitterly, she cradled a man whose head was half shriveled, sobbing uncontrollably; the man appeared to be her husband.

"Kill her! If you're going to kill, don't just kill one! Kill the whole family!" A voice exploded out of thin air right beside his ear.

The corners of his eyes twitching ceaselessly, Li Huowang reached for the hilt of the sword at his neck and slowly drew it.

With a forceful swing, a white arc flashed, and the miserable wailing abruptly ceased.

In that instant of action, Li Huowang felt a peculiar sensation surge from the base of his spine straight to the back of his head.

This sensation scattered the despair and pain in his heart.

"Heh, hehe." Unable to suppress the manic laughter on his face, Li Huowang gripped the sword in his hand and walked toward the reed village, leaving a footprint with every step.

Before long, a storm of blood and gore swept through the village.

Watching various faces easily torn to shreds, watching vibrant lives wither away, Li Huowang laughed; the more people he killed, the louder he laughed, bursting into uncontrollable guffaws.

The sound of blades piercing flesh rang out continuously, and the dark yellow reed island was gradually covered in red.

As night fully descended, the screams of agony across the island gradually faded.

Inside the Yuan family's ancestral hall, a blood-soaked Li Huowang, wielding his bloody sword, stepped slowly toward a gaunt young man.

There was no sound anywhere else; this man must be the last person on the island.

Faced with the blood-drenched butcher before him, the young man was terrified into complete collapse; urinating uncontrollably, he waved his hands wildly, babbling incoherently.

Just as Li Huowang slowly raised the long sword in his hand, a familiar voice came from behind.

When he turned around woodenly, he saw Bai Lingmiao, soaked to the skin, standing by the door, shivering as she clutched a glowing stone.

The moment he saw her, the murderous intent in his heart and that strange sensation at the back of his head receded like the ebbing tide. "You're not dead?"

The moment he spoke, Li Huowang realized his voice had changed; what should have been a clear, ringing voice had become extremely hoarse.

That sword strike to the neck had, fortunately yet most unfortunately, injured his vocal cords.

"I know how to swim; there's a pond in front of my village, and I've been playing in it since I was little."

Li Huowang walked over with his sword, took off his Daoist robe, which was encrusted with a layer of dried blood, and draped it over Bai Lingmiao.

At this moment, as if waking from a daze, Li Huowang looked blankly at everything around him, at the corpses scattered about in various gruesome poses.

Regardless of age or gender, everyone was dead, all killed by his own hands.

Looking at the dead young girl embracing her mother, and the lifeless cradle nearby, the guilt and pain that had previously vanished surged back into his heart, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

Li Huowang slowly bent down, picked up a dagger from the ground, gritted his teeth, and thrust it fiercely into his own palm.

He had never understood why Sister Hu next door at the psychiatric hospital mutilated herself, but now he understood.