Chapter 4: Chance Meetings are Everywhere in Life

The Su Clan was pounding away at the gate, attempting to break it down by force.

Nearby, a mountain of over ninety bodies had been piled up, some of which had parts of their skeletons exposed from having so much flesh torn away.

Finally, under the collective efforts of the Su Clan's elites, the thick stone gate at the cave entrance was violently shattered.

"This is it!"

Su Yunhe was ecstatic, and all of the remaining members of the search party gathered together to peer into the cave with excitement in their eyes.

In this moment, they had completely forgotten their grief, and their minds were solely occupied by the inheritance of the Unmatched Sword Monarch.

For a small clan in the remote Green Wave City, the Unmatched Sword Monarch was like a deity in the heavens!

All monarchs were legendary figures that were admired and revered far and wide, and this was their clan's chance to finally elevate itself to another level!

All of a sudden, a cloud of gray mist surged out of the cave entrance at an alarming speed, encompassing the Su Clan's entire search party before they had a chance to react.

The gray mist was impossible to ward off, and a chorus of bloodcurdling howls instantly rang out.

The skin and flesh of all of the members of the search party began to necrose, with their eyes rotting away particularly quickly.

The twenty-eight men collapsed to the ground and began howling in desperate agony while rolling around frantically as if they had been set alight.

The poisonous mist took effect very swiftly, and the struggles of the twenty-eight men quickly ceased.

Their bodies were slowly rotting away as they laid completely still on the ground.

Among them was the heir apparent of the Su Clan and also Su Yue's oldest brother, Su Fei.

Su Fei had feared that Su Yue would usurp his position as the heir apparent after obtaining such an important piece of intelligence, so he had insisted on coming on this trip to make a contribution.

For his efforts, he now laid in the middle of nowhere in eternal rest.

The only two surviving members of the search party were Su Yue and Su Yun, the latter of which was the former's younger cousin, and both of them had been tasked with looking after the bodies of the dead.

Both of them were rooted to the spot with horrified and shellshocked looks on their faces, staring blankly at the lifeless bodies strewn over the ground in front of the cave entrance.

The bodies of their loved ones were rotting away before their very eyes.

This operation had been kept strictly confidential, so all members of the search party had been direct lineal members of the Su Clan, and even all of the consort kin had been kept out of the loop.

Essentially, the direct lineal branch of the Su Clan had just been entirely wiped out!

How could this be?

Both of the boys had been stunned into a daze, unable to come to terms with the sight of the twenty-eight bodies laid out before them.

It seemed just like a moment ago when they had over a hundred people, and now, there were only two.

The rustling of the surrounding leaves and branches in the wind resembled a chorus of ghostly sobs, and it was a particularly harrowing sound in such a remote and secluded place, and the sense of horror was only exacerbated by the harsh calls of some type of unknown bird that had been drawn here by the smell of blood and death.

Su Yue and Su Yun shuddered as they snapped back to their senses, and their legs gave out from under them as they howled with sobs and crawled toward their deceased relatives on their hands and knees.

"What happened to all of you?"

"Father! Wake up! Talk to me!"

The lifeless bodies were incapable of mustering up any response, leaving the two boys to howl and sob in grief and horror.

All of a sudden, a voice rang out from nearby.

"Hello there."

Fang Che emerged from the cave in a casual and relaxed manner, dressed in a black robe with golden patterns. His hands were clasped behind his back, and there was a warm smile on his face.

With the first step that he took out of the cave, he trod directly upon Su Yunhe's head, and his second step saw him bring his foot down onto Su Changying's head.

It was as if he were treading over a bridge of heads as he approached the two boys, and the entire time, his expression remained calm and benevolent.

Upon arriving before the dazed Su Yue, Fang Che greeted, "Fancy meeting you here, Brother Su. Chance meetings truly are everywhere in life."

Su Yue seemed to have realized something, but it wasn't a full realization.

He glowered intently at Fang Che as he spat through gritted teeth, "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to see you!" Fang Che replied with a smile. "You are my best friend, closer to me than a brother, so of course I had to come and repay you for everything that you've done for me over the years."

"Repay me?"

Something instantly clicked in Su Yue's dazed mind, and once again, he recalled what Fang Che had said to him during their previous meeting.

"I'm glad I was able to at least repay you somewhat for everything you've done for me."

"It was you!" Su Yue exclaimed with a sense of rage and realization. "Did you plan all of this? How could you!"

Fang Che merely smiled as he casually drew a saber before slashing it through the air, and the dumbstruck Su Yun was decapitated before he even had a chance to register his fate.

Su Yun was nothing more than a Warrior Disciple, possessing a cultivation base inferior even to that of Fang Che's prior to his breakthrough, and he had only been brought along to gain some experience. Furthermore, he was understandably shellshocked from what he had just witnessed, making him an easy target to strike down for Fang Che.

Fang Che wiped Su Yun's blood from his saber on Su Yue's clothes, then hovered the tip of his saber right in front of Su Yue's right knee in what seemed to have been an unconscious gesture as he smiled and said, "It just doesn't feel right to have someone else listening in on a heart-to-heart conversation between us two brothers, wouldn't you agree?"

His voice was very gentle, but Su Yue involuntarily recoiled.

He looked on with a dazed expression as blood came pouring out of his cousin's decapitated body before dripping down from the edge of a rock with a slow and gruesome pitter-patter.

Su Yun's eyes were still wide with shock and confusion even in death, and Su Yue's entire body began to tremble as his gaze settled upon those wide and lifeless eyes.

As he turned his gaze back to Fang Che, his eyes were filled with horror as he roared, "You're a demon!"

He reached down to draw his sword, only to grab onto nothing more than a handful of viscous blood, blood that belonged to his cousin.

All of a sudden, everything felt so surreal.

"I'm a demon?" Fang Che scoffed with an amused smile. "I'm practically an angel compared with your Su Clan!"

Su Yue let loose a guttural roar as he drew his sword and sprang forward, only for Fang Che to pierce his saber through his knee without any hesitation.

The tip of his saber had been hovering there all along, and Su Yue had run into it in his furious charge.

An agonized howl erupted out of his mouth, only to be cut short by a rock that was swung into his face, sending shattered rock fragments and broken teeth splattering down onto the ground.

Su Yue fell onto his back, immediately following which Fang Che stepped down onto his chest right beneath his throat, exerting just enough downward pressure to prevent Su Yue from making any sound.

"Don't yell, let's have a nice chat. I need you to help me figure some things out, Brother Su," Fang Che said in an earnest manner.

Su Yue was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and his entire body was trembling uncontrollably.

Never had he imagined that the obedient lackey that he had taken for granted for all these years would suddenly turn into such a horrific demon.

At this point, the fear in his heart far outweighed his resentment and his desire for vengeance, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Wh... What do you want to talk about?"

"Tell me about your Su Clan. Tell me your objectives. Why did you begin actively influencing me starting from when I was just twelve years old? What are you trying to accomplish? You know what answers I want from you," Fang Che said as he slapped Su Yue's cheek with the flat side of his saber.

Su Yue was trembling more and more violently.

Fang Che sighed as he continued, "Honestly, I find your Su Clan despicable. For your own nefarious objectives, you were willing to stoop to using a child, one who didn't know any better and was very sensitive, feeling as if he was an outsider and an imposter living in his grandfather's estate. Don't you think that's a little too depraved?"

Su Yue's lips were trembling, and he was in so much pain that he was unable to form any coherent thoughts.

Fang Che was in no hurry, and he began gathering his spoils, looting the bodies of the Su Clan's search party members.

He had no fear of Su Yue. Even though the latter possessed a superior cultivation base, his vast wealth of battle experience from his past life would be more than enough to bridge this gap in power.

On top of that, Su Yue's mental fortitude was very mediocre as a result of his pampered upbringing, and he was already completely broken on the inside.

To further compound his woes, his right leg had been disabled, so there was no chance of him staging an effective retaliation.

Furthermore, he had clearly felt the Five Spirit Parasite in his body move as he cut down Su Yun and brutalized Su Yue.

A sense of bloodlust had abruptly arisen in his heart, and it was fueling his killing intent.

Fang Che was slightly alarmed by this turn of events, and a sense of realization dawned upon him.

Could it be?

He immediately channeled his Boundless Sutra to completely suppress the Five Spirit Parasite, quelling the bloodlust in his heart.

I was right, that really is the case!

***

Some time later, Su Yue was finally able to speak under Fang Che's interrogation.

He didn't know much, but he knew enough to answer Fang Che's questions.

The Su Clan and the Fang Clan were both ninth-tier warrior clans, but the difference between the two was that the Fang Clan had suffered extremely heavy losses during an incident that had taken place twenty years ago, leaving the clan in a severely weakened state, constantly teetering on the edge of falling out of the ninth-tier altogether.

In contrast, the Su Clan had secretly joined the One Heart Church, a subsidiary church of the Church of the Self-Righteous, and they had managed to remain very stable for all these years thanks to the church's support.

Eventually, they developed ambitions of devouring the Fang Clan, which could possibly elevate them into an eighth-tier clan.

There were a total of twelve clan tiers. Twelfth-tier clans were generally newly formed clans in their infancy, while eleventh-tier clans were ones in the early developmental stages. Tenth-tier clans were essentially more powerful versions of their eleventh-tier counterparts, while ninth-tier clans were ones that had reached stability.

Ninth-tier clans were already quite enormous, consisting of at least several hundred members sharing the same bloodline, with at least one Warrior Grandmaster among their ranks.

Twenty years ago, Fang Xingmeng, one of the Fang Clan's two Grandmasters, had perished while on a mission.

The Fang Clan's foremost cultivation prodigy, Fang Qianyi, had disappeared while out on a trip with a close friend.

Two years ago, she had returned with a child, and that was none other than Fang Che.

At the time, that had caused a massive stir.

The Su Clan had been targeting the Fang Clan on multiple fronts, whether it be in business, staging direct attacks, and even interfering with members of the Fang Clan while they were carrying out missions from the Hall of Protectionists.

As Fang Qianyi's cultivation base steadily improved, she gradually became a key figure in the Fang Clan, and that was when the Su Clan had begun exerting its influence on the young Fang Che.

They were able to plant a seed of indignation into the heart of the rebellious and impressionable young boy, convincing him that he was somewhere that he didn't belong, that he was an outsider that his grandfather had only taken in out of pity.

As a result, he began to develop a strong sense of distaste and resentment toward his clan.

Even though Fang Che had become a very hateful and disobedient child, he was still Fang Qianyi's son, and the Su Clan was able to wear her down through their influence on Fang Che.

On one hand, she was facing the looming crisis of her clan potentially falling out of the ninth-tier, and on the other hand, the pressure of the missions that she had to complete were weighing down upon her.

To further compound her woes, there was a resentful little brat at home that she had to constantly mollycoddle, and it was certainly not an enviable position to be in.

After a few years spent in limbo, the Fang Clan had been granted an opportunity in the form of an incomplete treasure map that they had obtained by chance.

Hence, Su Yue began manipulating Fang Che once again.

It just so happened that a powerful member of the One Heart Church was passing through Green Wave City in search of Five Spirit Seeds, and the Su Clan volunteered Fang Che as a tribute without a second thought.

If he were to survive, then he would become a lapdog of the One Heart Church. Once he completed a few missions, the Su Clan would report him to the Hall of Protectionists in exchange for a reward, and the Fang Clan would also be brought down in association with him.

If he were to die, then Fang Qianyi would surely be furious and distraught at the fact that her son had perished while staying in her father's home.

In any case, both outcomes were positive to the Su Clan, and at the very least, they would be able to drive a wedge between Fang Qianyi and the Fang Clan.

That would undoubtedly be a heavy blow for the Fang Clan, making it highly likely that they would fall down to the tenth-tier, and the resources that they previously enjoyed as a ninth-tier clan would be split among the Su Clan and several other clans.

With the support of the One Heart Church, the Su Clan would be sure to benefit more than others.

Everything had been meticulously planned out, and never had the Su Clan anticipated that they would be shooting themselves in the foot in such calamitous fashion.

The bait that Fang Che had tossed out in the form of the so-called inheritance of the Unmatched Sword Monarch had been irresistible to the Su Clan, leading to all of its elites perishing in this godforsaken place.

To make matters even worse, no one even knew that they had all perished here because all those who were privy to this operation had been part of the search party.

Su Yunhe had brought along everyone with knowledge of this operation to avoid the secret being leaked to the envoy from the One Heart Church.

If the envoy were to uncover this information, then the Su Clan would have no claim on the Unmatched Sword Monarch's inheritance.

Who could've imagined that a car driving down a highway in a stable fashion would suddenly swerve and dive headfirst into a ditch with no error on the driver's part? And who could've imagined that this ditch would actually be a cliff leading straight into the depths of hell?