Chapter 22: Fengzhou Shaken!

Clutching his bleeding throat, Liang You remained immersed in deep shock, never dreaming even in his wildest fantasies that this youth's blade work could be so utterly exquisite.

The fundamental reason why the second form of the Thirteen Ghost Gate Blades was named the Treacherous Butterfly Blade by Li Chang'an was that its trajectory was so cunning, catching foes completely off guard.

To parry this single strike, Liang You had racked his brains, focusing his entire mind on the hacking path of the long blade, yet in truth, the genuine killing blow of the Treacherous Butterfly Blade lay in the subtle, clever leverage applied the very instant the weapon was retracted after being blocked.

This was the real reason Liang You died without ever understanding how.

As the long blade withdrew, the spraying blood nearly drenched Master Wang's head.

Master Wang was by now practically frightened out of his wits.

One must know that Liang You was a peak martial artist whom he had hired with a heavy sum of gold from the Liang Family Martial Arts Hall in Fengzhou Prefectural City.

By virtue of his naturally miraculous, colossal build, he could even exchange dozens of moves with an ordinary martial master without suffering defeat.

Yet now, a martial artist of this caliber, who possessed a modicum of fame in the entirety of Sanhuang County, could not even survive three moves before Li Chang'an.

How could this not strike terror into his heart?

Looking at the youth before him, who was shrouded in malevolent aura like a demon, Master Wang swallowed his spit involuntarily and stammered, "Young... Young hero, don't... don't kill me, I admit my wrongs to you... I will kowtow and admit my wrongs!"

He was completely broken by fear.

He now wished nothing more than to prostrate himself entirely to beg Li Chang'an to grant him a path of survival.

However, Li Chang'an's gaze remained as coldly sharp as a blade, without the slightest wavering, as he said flatly, "When you threatened and targeted me and Senior Brother Lu, I couldn't even be bothered to settle accounts with you, but since you dared to set your sights on my family, then do not blame me for slaughtering your whole household!"

Without hesitation, the hand rose and the blade fell.

Master Wang collapsed to the ground in bitter despair.

After finishing all this, Li Chang'an did not bring this slaughter to an end; he was a man who did not easily anger, but if someone truly provoked him to his head, he would not care about any consequences when executing his vengeance.

On this day, the Sanhuang County Magistrate's office ran thick with rivers of blood.

Magistrate Chai led his subordinates as they fled in utter panic toward the back gate, intending to escape, but the rear entrance of the magistrate's compound had already been tightly blocked by a crowd of commoners who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

Witnessing this scene, Magistrate Chai felt his eyes nearly split with rage, crying out in shock and fury, "Did I not order people to seal the city gates long ago? Where did these mud-legged peasants come from?"

—His doubts were quickly answered.

The old Daoist priest Wang Su and First Senior Brother Lu Changning stepped out from the crowd, looking at him with mockery in their eyes as Wang Su spoke, "Lord Chai, of all the people to provoke in this small patch of land, why did you absolutely have to provoke that prickly lad?"

Magistrate Chai did not recognize Lu Changning, but he recognized Wang Su, the leader of the rebel army.

To be precise, he recognized Wang Su's portrait!

The moment his eyes met the other's, Magistrate Chai instantly knew what had transpired, his face turning the color of ash as he stammered, "You, you... you band of rebels, how dare you seize the county seat, the imperial court will never let you off!"

Wang Su, however, had no interest in wasting words with him; he turned his head to glance at the attendants behind him, and with a flick of his eyes, men from the rebel army stepped forward to bind him securely.

After squeezing out his remaining value, Magistrate Chai would certainly have to die, but it was evidently not yet the time.

...

While they completed all of this outside, Li Chang'an had also finished cleaning up the scum inside and outside the magistrate's office.

Seeing him walk calmly out of the main entrance of the compound, the old Daoist's gaze turned somewhat complex.

Ever since the first time he met Li Chang'an, Wang Su knew that this young man before him was by no means a creature to remain in a shallow pool, and his future achievements would boundlessly exceed all limits.

Yet even so, he had never imagined that Li Chang'an's speed of ascent would be this swift.

How much time had passed since then?

This boy actually dared to charge into the county magistrate's office entirely alone!

Given another few years, would he not be able to ascend the heavens, pierce the earth, and become omnipotent?

After a long silence, the old Daoist said half-jokingly, "You lad truly have massive courage; after learning of my identity, you still dared to actively entangle yourself with me!"

Li Chang'an casually tossed aside the long blade, which had already been hacked into a battered mess, and replied with a bitter smile, "Look at what you are saying, Senior, did I have a choice?"

"That is indeed true!" The old Daoist Wang Su laughed heartily. "How can a golden scale remain a mere creature of the pool? Once it encounters the wind and clouds, it transforms into a dragon. With your shocking natural talent and a mind as steadfast as rock, even if you do not seek trouble, trouble would have found you sooner or later!"

Speaking up to this point, his voice paused, and he slowly pulled back the expression on his face, saying solemnly, "But since you made this choice today, you must be prepared to make an enemy of the entire world. This path... may be far more difficult than you imagine!"

Li Chang'an naturally understood what he was referring to.

The methods any imperial court employed to handle rebels were bloody and cruel.

If before today he still had the slightest chance to strip away the label of a rebel, then after today, he had completely boarded the pirate ship and could never step down.

Between the demonic Qing Dynasty and himself, only one could exist!

...

After the news spread that the rebel army had seized the Sanhuang county seat without blowing away a speck of dust, the entirety of Fengzhou was shaken.

When he heard this news, the Prefect of Fengzhou, Ha'erchi, was sleeping, and it took him a long while to climb up and curse furiously, "Chai Bushan, that son of a bitch, this official knew he would ruin things!"

Loudly greeting the ancestors of Magistrate Chai's entire family, Ha'erchi's nose was nearly crooked with rage.

—According to the original arrangements, a significant amount of military force had long been gathered around Sanhuang County, waiting with weapons in hand; no matter where the rebel army attacked, the troops from the other county seats would swiftly ride to reinforce.

Under such circumstances, the rebel army, which lacked heavy siege weaponry and consisted merely of scattered braves, would not dare to make any move lightly, and could only reap some minor gains at several traffic arteries outside the city.

Without even needing to deploy a single soldier, merely by compressing their sphere of activity and reducing the volume of transported goods, Ha'erchi was confident he could easily starve these rebels to death.

Yet despite all his calculations, he failed to account for Magistrate Chai, that useless bucket of filth who ruined everything he touched, who had actually deployed the city-guarding soldiers of Sanhuang County to his own compound, directly causing the city gates of Sanhuang to be seized by the rebel army, who were already prepared.

A county seat with a population of nearly one hundred thousand was thus easily snatched away by the rebel army.

It was only because he could not find Magistrate Chai himself right now; otherwise, the utterly enraged Ha'erchi would surely have him dragged back to be torn apart by five horses!

After a bout of impotent fury, Ha'erchi calmed down and began to mobilize troops from various locations, preparing to completely extinguish this rebel army that resembled maggots on a bone.

At the same time, within the reports of his subordinates, Ha'erchi also noticed the unfamiliar name of Li Chang'an.

Pondering for a moment to confirm that he had no impression of this name, Ha'erchi opened his mouth to inquire, "This Li Chang'an you just mentioned, what is his background?"

...