The rain came down hard. By the time Su Wenji stepped forward, he was already shivering from head to toe, soaked through. This sudden onslaught by the Liangshan men had, without question, been a nightmare beyond anything the Su family had ever imagined. People who had lived lives of peace for so long had never once experienced this kind of unrestrained slaughter; watching their own kin fall one after another, some grievously wounded, groaning in pain, many had already reached their breaking point. But being driven out of the courtyards at blade-point by these Liangshan men, forced out into the open, made the reality of their impending deaths press down on every single one of them with new and terrible clarity.
Su Wenji’s outburst probably didn’t reflect his feelings alone—many others had already had their courage shattered. Even before he spoke, some had already been clutching their children, weeping and begging for mercy on their knees. In that moment, there were surely others who wanted to say exactly what Su Wenji had said—he had simply been the first to voice it, and everyone else’s expressions already carried the same silent agreement.
None of this had gone entirely unforeseen. The moment Su Yu had learned that the attackers were led by Xi Junyu and his band of Liangshan bandits, he had immediately begun planning to get Tan’er away to find Ning Yi. He had quietly pulled Steward Geng away from guarding Tan’er at that time, which was exactly why Steward Geng and his men hadn’t been killed when Li Kui and the others came charging in—but in the end, no chance to escape had ever presented itself.
The moment Su Wenji spoke those words, everyone’s eyes turned at once toward Su Tan’er. The protection of a handful of retainers would clearly do nothing to spare her now. But even as they looked toward Su Tan’er, they were also watching for Xi Junyu’s reaction. This man, once the Su family’s shopkeeper, now standing there leading a horde of bandits back into the estate, pressing a hand against the wound on his stomach, already carried an air of someone standing above them all—yet when his gaze turned toward Su Tan’er, he found himself, for a moment, unable to speak. He had imagined countless times before exactly how he would take his revenge when this moment came, but now that it was actually in front of him, he found himself hesitating, uncertain of how to even begin. It was at this very moment that Su Yu, leaning on his cane, began walking toward Su Wenji.
Even now, this old man still commanded a certain authority within the Su family. The crowd instinctively parted to let him through. Seeing that Xi Junyu hadn’t spoken up yet, the Liangshan men held back too, waiting to see how things would unfold. Su Yu walked toward Su Wenji, who instinctively felt a stab of fear at his approach, backing away several steps. “Grandfather… Grandfather! I didn’t say anything wrong…”
He kept backing away for several more steps before forcing himself to stand still. The old man, soaked through completely by now, his hand trembling slightly around his cane, shook his head as he approached. “No. You were wrong. I know you’re afraid to die, child… but you’re still a member of the Su family. We may be merchants, but at the very least, we know right from wrong. The ones who killed your family today, who are killing me—it’s these bandits, these thieves! And even if they were willing to let you live for saying what you just said… I would kill you myself, with my own two hands—”
As Su Yu let out this trembling, guttural roar, Su Wenji screamed in agony, blood bursting into the air. In all his life, Su Yu had likely never actually killed anyone before—but in that instant, he plunged the dagger straight into his own grandson’s belly. As Su Wenji staggered backward, Su Yu pulled the blade free and slashed again, the cut running from Su Wenji’s left shoulder all the way down to his right side. Su Wenji, screaming, shoved the old man away almost by pure reflex and fell backward. The force sent Su Yu stumbling back five or six steps before he too fell to the ground.
Everyone in the square stood frozen. The old man on the ground struggled hard, clawing his way up several times before finally forcing himself upright with the support of his cane, the dagger still gripped in his hand. “All of you, remember this well! Tan’er is your family! Your sister! She’s never once done anything wrong! I know you’re all afraid to die, but being afraid to die is no excuse to become an animal! The ones who owe this blood debt are these beasts, this Xi—this ungrateful dog who turned traitor against us! Wenji—since you’re so afraid to die… your grandfather will send you on your way himself!”
The old man raised the dagger, meaning to charge forward again, but the people around him rushed over in tears to hold him back, wresting the blade from his hand. In their hearts, they might not have felt so differently from Su Wenji—but under these circumstances, no one dared say so aloud anymore. Once restrained, the old man turned, planting his cane firmly against the ground. “Xi Junyu, you beast—if you want your revenge, then come and take it out on this old man!”
The heroes of Liangshan weren’t without their own tempers, and being provoked like this by an old man was more than one of the black-clad men could stand; one started forward. “And what if I just finish you off right here!” But Lin Chong tilted his head slightly and murmured to Song Wan, the “Cloud-Wrapped Vajra,” standing beside him, “Now that’s a man of true iron will…”
Li Kui, taking stock of the situation below, shouted, “Ning Liheng, if you don’t come out now, I’ll kill this old man first!”
No sooner had he said this than the black-clad man had already closed most of the distance toward Su Yu. Su Tan’er cried out sharply, “Stop!”
She had been kept behind, shielded by Steward Geng and the others, but now she threw off the rain cloth covering her and strode forward several steps. “Don’t you dare kill my grandfather! Xi Junyu, isn’t it revenge you want! Then kill me instead…” She lifted her face into the rain, her gaze sweeping over the assembled Liangshan men. “It was my decision to kill you back then! Isn’t that right? If I die, will you let the rest of them go?”
Xi Junyu waved a hand. “I… I never meant to kill you. But I will have Ning Liheng’s life, no matter what!”
“That’s never going to happen, Xi Junyu.” Su Tan’er’s face carried a cold, mocking smile as she shook her head. “My husband will come and kill you. He’ll kill every last one of you…”
Su Tan’er had never been a soft, yielding sort of woman to begin with; gentleness might have been part of her upbringing, but right now her face carried nothing but contempt, cold scorn, and a kind of bleak, resolute determination—an expression that, without meaning to, reminded Xi Junyu sharply of the look on Ning Yi’s face when he’d turned to face them earlier in that courtyard. But of course, he wasn’t about to let any of that show now. He laughed loudly. “Keep dreaming! Your whole marriage was a farce to begin with! Where is he now, hm? Probably found himself some hole to hide in already, wetting his pants in fear right about now…”
Before he’d even finished speaking, Su Tan’er had stopped looking at him entirely. She simply said, “Suit yourself…” and drew out a dagger of her own, pressing the tip against her chest. Taking a deep breath, her gaze sweeping across the crowd, she said, “I know you’re all heroes of Liangshan—every grievance has its debtor. If I die today, will you let the rest of them go free—”
No one answered. Xi Junyu, for his part, had no idea what to say either. He had hoped that one day Su Tan’er would suffer, would regret everything—but he had never imagined she’d prove this fierce, this unyielding, even now. Whatever thoughts were running through his own mind, there was no way he could voice them at this moment. Su Tan’er gave a bleak, forlorn smile, pressed the dagger’s tip against her chest, took a breath, closed her eyes, tried once to move, then took another deep breath. Nearby, one of the black-clad men laughed. “What are you hesitating for, then? Want me to give you a hand?”
The black-clad man started down from the platform. From the sidelines, Su Yu cried out, “Tan’er, don’t do this…” Steward Geng had no idea whether he should rush in to save her; everyone else simply stood there, frozen, watching the scene unfold. It was at this moment that a wooden club came whistling through the air.
“If I were you, I’d give her some room—”
The voice cut through the curtain of rain. The club flew across the square, aimed straight at the black-clad man closing in on Su Tan’er, but the distance was too great and the force too weak—the man dodged aside easily. Yet under these circumstances, everyone understood at once that the true protagonist of this scene had finally arrived. Every eye turned toward a corner of the square, where Ning Yi, wounded all over his body with only a bit of hasty bandaging, appeared, stumbling forward unsteadily toward them. Su Tan’er turned around and burst into tears, pulling the dagger away from her chest, sobbing, “Go! Run, please, just go!”
“Heh, what nonsense…” Ning Yi walked forward through the rain, his steps somewhat unsteady, but he was smiling now. “Why would I run? If anyone should be running, it’s you fine heroes of Liangshan. So… who all came along on this little trip? I only know of one Wei Dingguo, God of Fire General—I’ve already killed him. Your Doom Star, Brother Bao Xu, is still alive, at least. What are the rest of your names? Did Song Jiang come? Lu Junyi? Wu Song? Oh, forgive me—allow me to introduce myself properly. In the jianghu, they call me the Butcher with Bloody Hands, Ning Liheng…”
He continued forward at a pace neither too fast nor too slow, rubbing his forehead with one hand as he spoke, seemingly entirely unafraid of the assembled Liangshan forces around him. His mention of Wei Dingguo and Bao Xu’s fates drew a visible shock from the crowd. As he crossed the small square, a black-clad man hiding off to one side, up on a raised platform, suddenly leapt down at him. In the same instant, Ning Yi’s hand shot out, grabbing the man by the collar and slamming him hard onto the ground, sending up a spray of water. The two figures traded several rapid blows in the rain, tumbling more than ten feet apart before the black-clad man let out a sharp cry of pain—Ning Yi had already snapped his arm with a sickening crack. In the next instant, Ning Yi swung his blade and stopped it, with a hiss, right at the man’s throat—the man’s one arm now bent into a grotesquely twisted shape, kneeling in the rain with the blade held to his neck. Five or six more black-clad men had already rushed forward.
“You think I was joking!?”
Ning Yi turned and bellowed the words. The fury boiling in his chest could only find release like this now. Even the Liangshan men, along with the Su family captives watching, felt a shudder at seeing this kind of skill from him.
While he’d been fighting, a large cart had also rolled slowly out from a corner of the square—an open cart with no cover, several men bound tightly on top of it. Su Wending, Su Wenfang, and others stood guard around the cart, blades in hand, ready to strike down at any moment.
Aside from a few black-clad men, the cart also carried the gravely wounded Xue Yong and Bao Xu. The moment Li Kui and the others saw this, their eyes burned with fury. “The name’s Li Kui—I’ll cut you to pieces!” he roared, already leaping down from the rooftop. Ning Yi gave a cold, thin smile. “Good. I’ll remember that name.” He gave a sharp tug, sending the man he’d subdued sprawling on the ground with a splash, the blade still pointed at him as he looked around, catching his breath.
“So this is what passes for a hero of Liangshan. Nothing much, really. This man grew up on the Su family’s charity, married into money, and became a shopkeeper here—but because the Su family wouldn’t take him in as a son-in-law, he let jealousy fester in his heart, colluded with outsiders, and betrayed the very family that raised him. Heh… but no matter. You’re all probably shameless dogs cut from the same cloth. As for what happened today—I’ll accept it as it stands.”
As Ning Yi spoke, Lin Chong and the others frowned and glanced toward Xi Junyu. In truth, the men of Liangshan already knew that Xi Junyu and Ou Peng had tried and failed to seize the Su family’s fortune for themselves. But most men on the mountain were much the same in that regard—having lost a brother here, they naturally had to have their revenge—yet said out loud like this, it truly didn’t sound good at all.
Ning Yi only gave a faint smile.
“Nothing more to discuss. You’ve come into the city, and it’s about time you left. You’ve killed half the Su family today—we accept that. Whichever of your brothers are still alive are right here behind me. If you truly value the bonds of brotherhood, take your men and go. We’ll settle the rest of this debt another day. But if you take one more Su family life today, we’ll fight this to the last, and you’ll pay dearly for every gain you’ve made here!” As he finished, his face iron with anger, he pointed his blade at the cart behind him. “Well!?”
He was ruthless, and the Liangshan men were seasoned veterans of the jianghu themselves. “Eight-Armed Nezha” Xiang Chong gritted his teeth. “I’ll just kill a few more, then—I don’t believe you’ve got the guts to fight to the death!” A few lives for a few lives—that’s the way of the jianghu!”
“Then go ahead and see whether I bother with the way of the jianghu!”
Ning Yi’s response came back instantly, without an ounce of give. He left no room for the man to save face, and the man’s expression only grew more vicious in turn; the whole crowd of Liangshan men stirred with unease. The square fell into a long, tense silence, everyone’s hearts in their throats—some silently cursing Ning Yi for not giving anyone an easy way out even now, wasn’t he practically asking to get his whole family killed?
In truth, none of them understood: as ruthless as the Liangshan men were, if Ning Yi had shown even the slightest hesitation right now, they would absolutely have killed one or two more Su family members just to gauge his reaction. Ning Yi had no choice but to commit to fighting this to the death—because if he didn’t dare, the Liangshan men would see straight through his bluff and seize the chance to wipe out the entire Su family without mercy.
It was precisely this response of his that kept the Liangshan men from testing him by killing again. Xiang Chong, having been talked down like that, raised his flame-tipped spear and pressed forward instead. “Cloud-Wrapped Vajra” Song Wan frowned. “This one can’t be allowed to live…”
In the course of this assault, the Liangshan men had struck without warning and, in the span of moments, killed nearly half the Su family—a blood debt like that was something no one could simply swallow. And yet, once Ning Yi had come forward, he’d said remarkably little about it, even going out of his way to keep as many of their own brothers alive as possible to trade back. What he was effectively saying was: you’ve killed nearly half my family, and I won’t hold it against you—your brothers who are still alive, I’ll return them to you. Let’s call it settled for today. This kind of composure was, frankly, more than a little unnerving. Most people, faced with something like this, even with the resolve to swallow their own broken teeth along with the blood, would at least fire off a few harsh words. But he’d barely said anything sharp at all—just that the debt would be settled some other day. There was no telling how much fury he must have been holding back inside.
Just as Xiang Chong, his face full of rage, started down the steps, a long spear suddenly swept in, catching his spear tip and blocking it. He turned his head—it was Lin Chong, his expression clouded and unreadable. At the same moment, an object came whistling in from one side of the square, aimed at the tall, imposing “Cloud-Wrapped Vajra” Song Wan; his greatsword deflected it, sending it flying up into the air, and as it fell, a figure caught it neatly in one hand—a long spear. “Flying Sage” Li Gun, who knew this sort of weapon best among those present, muttered in confusion, “The Qi family’s Soul-Seeking Spear?” On the square’s edge, the three Qi brothers—Qi Xinyong among them—had arrived.
Almost in the same instant, a figure burst through the black curtain of rain, charging straight toward Ning Yi. The long spear swept up into the sky, then slashed down with a furious cry; the six or seven black-clad men who had been surrounding Ning Yi found their weapons and formations scattered by that single stroke, water flying in a burst several meters wide, weapons crashing to the ground. These men were all elite fighters, and several more rushed forward at once—only for the iron spear to sweep out in a wide horizontal arc, sending several men flying in a single stroke, some losing their weapons entirely, others managing to hang on despite the searing pain in their palms, and one man knocked flat onto the ground outright.
The power behind that single strike was genuinely astonishing. Once it had swept through, the iron spear settled horizontally in front of Ning Yi—clearly meant to shield him—and the force of it even made Ning Yi rock back slightly on his feet. He blinked, startled, then reached out and patted the spear’s shaft. More figures began appearing through the curtain of rain—mostly men from the Secret Investigation Bureau. Wenren Buer hurried to Ning Yi’s side, first cupping his hands in a bow toward the young officer. “Officer Yue, my thanks.” Then, turning to Ning Yi, “My apologies—we’ve arrived a bit late.”
The Secret Investigation Bureau’s numbers had never been large, and what few men could be hastily mustered now were only enough to stand off against the Liangshan men, nothing more. Ning Yi called out toward them, “You’re running out of time—what are you still thinking about!?”
The man standing on the platform, blocking Xiang Chong with his great spear, called back, “Fine!” He gestured toward the crowd of Su family members below. “We’re leaving right now. If you don’t release the prisoners by the time we reach the edge of the square, we’ll charge straight back in—we’ll see how many of your family are left alive after that.”
The Liangshan men weren’t afraid of the reinforcements that had just shown up—there simply weren’t enough of them to matter—they just didn’t want to keep dragging this out any longer. Having said his piece, the man began waving orders; the black-clad men and Liangshan chieftains who had been surrounding the Su family members started moving toward the square’s exit. The burly man with the twin axes added, “The name’s Li Kui—remember it well, you bastard.”
Ning Yi frowned and ignored him. As the Liangshan men withdrew, several of his own people began moving toward the Su family members to separate the two groups. Su Tan’er hurried over, looking at the badly wounded Ning Yi, unsure where she could safely take hold of him. Ning Yi waved a hand to show he was fine. As the Liangshan men retreated to the edge of the square, Ning Yi said, “Release them.” Su Wending and the others driving the cart still hesitated a moment, but eventually let the cart roll forward toward the enemy line. Black-clad men came at once to check the cart above and below for any hidden devices, then examined the wounds on Bao Xu and the others.
At a distance of roughly six or seven zhang, the Liangshan men began withdrawing toward the outside of the Su estate, the two sides holding their final standoff. Weak from his wounds, Ning Yi turned to Wenren Buer beside him. “What we talked about before—I’ll do it.”
“Eh?”
“Prince Consort Kang mentioned to me that there’s something coming up soon dealing with them, didn’t he? I want to see if there’s anything I can do to help. Just a small effort on my part—I’d appreciate it if you’d keep me informed…”
“Wonderful.” Wenren Buer cupped his hands together. “With Brother Ning joining us, we’ll be all the stronger for it.”
Ning Yi swallowed, looking toward the retreating Liangshan men. “There aren’t many of them, and they’re carrying wounded. We should find a way to keep them pinned down—there’s no reason we should let them make it back to Liangshan alive.”
Wenren Buer nodded. “Naturally. But… Brother Ning, your injuries are severe. Perhaps you should first—”
“How many people does Liangshan have in total right now?” Ning Yi asked with a faint smile, cutting him off.
“Bandits together with their families—probably forty or fifty thousand, all told.”
“Forty or fifty thousand, huh. That’s quite a workload. Let’s not waste any time, then. I’m fine.” Ning Yi paused, then turned to the young officer nearby. “And this brother here is…?”
For some reason, the young officer seemed to hold him in unusual regard, cupping his hands in a respectful bow. “This one’s surname is Yue, given name Fei—single character. I serve as vanguard under Commander Xin. It is truly an honor to meet Master Ning in person.”
He spoke of this with evident pride, beaming at the chance to stand alongside a hero like Ning Yi. Ning Yi stared blankly for a long moment. “…Who?”
The officer, mistaking his confusion for a question about who “Commander Xin” was, explained, “Commander Xin Xingzong. Officer Wenren tells me it was entirely thanks to Master Ning’s planning that the gates of Hangzhou were opened that day—and we were among the first to enter the city.”
He spoke of it with clear pride, smiling broadly at the honor of standing beside a hero like Ning Yi. Ning Yi licked his lips, then nodded. “Ah… well then… I’ll leave it to you…”
“Huh?”
The young officer blinked, glancing over at the Liangshan men who had already withdrawn. Skilled and upright as he was, he understood well enough that this wasn’t a situation he alone could resolve. Just as bewilderment was setting in, Ning Yi’s body swayed. “Alright, then—next…” His blade slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground. Ning Yi looked down at it in confusion, then at his own hand, and only then did his vision begin to swim and blur. He could no longer hold onto anything; his body had truly given out.
As the scene faded from view, he could hear Tan’er and the others crying out in alarm somewhere behind him…
Over at the square, as the Liangshan men streamed out of the Su estate, some tended to Bao Xu and the others on the cart. As for Xue Yong’s injuries, they could more or less guess what had happened, but Bao Xu’s condition was bizarre—all manner of wounds large and small, his head and face marked with burns and bruises from being beaten and corroded, with no telling how much suffering he must have endured to end up in this state. Li Kui, who had always been close with Bao Xu, watched with eyes burning with rage, longing to charge back in that very instant and wipe out the entire family.
Suddenly, Bao Xu’s body twitched, and he mumbled something in a raw, cracked voice, blood streaming from his eyes—already swollen shut, unable to see anything around him. Li Kui and the others called out loudly beside him: “Brother, it’s over now! It’s all over! We’re heading back! We’ll come back for them! We’ll wipe out every last one of that family, down to the roots!” There was no telling whether Bao Xu heard any of it. On the cart, his throat worked with a faint, choking sound, and then he let out one more cry: “Shameless! You coward! Shameless—” His voice carried what sounded like boundless grief and bitterness, and this time, everyone around him heard it clearly.
They had always known Bao Xu to be a man of iron will, cruel and eager for killing, someone people feared on sight. No one could say exactly what he must have gone through to be reduced to this state. Thinking back on the face and bearing of that son-in-law in the square, hardened as they all were to bloodshed themselves, a chill crept quietly through every one of them…