Chapter 20: Eradicating Evil; Blood on the Idol!

Dead!

Li Ji—the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King, a fearsome martial artist at the peak of Organ Refinement—was dead, slain by a mysterious figure dressed in black.

Inside the derelict temple, only a dozen or so bandits remained. They trembled as they stared at Lu Changsheng, fear plain on their faces. None of them could believe their mighty leader had fallen so easily.

However, a few held onto their rage. They knew they were doomed, and their desperation had ignited a final burst of madness as they charged straight at their master's killer.

Lu Changsheng faced them head-on, his gaze cold. The principle he lived by was to cut down evil at its root, leaving nothing behind. Li Ji's men all had blood on their hands; not one of them was innocent.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, Lu Changsheng's figure blurred, and his dagger flickered lightly in the air.

Shing! Squelch!

The bandits collapsed one after another, clutching their throats as they fell lifeless to the ground. Now, even more corpses littered the temple floor, and the stench of blood grew overpowering—thick and nauseating.

None of Li Ji's men had managed to escape. With Lu Changsheng's speed, none of them could have hoped to survive.

He now stood calmly within the temple. Despite the massacre, hardly a trace of blood clung to him.

In a shadowed corner, members of Miaoshou Garden remained huddled in fear. When Lu Changsheng's gaze fell upon them, Zheng Renxin and the others turned pale. Some even trembled uncontrollably, barely able to stand.

To them, Lu Changsheng now appeared even more terrifying than the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King. From their perspective, they could be his next victims.

But in the end, Lu Changsheng simply turned and began searching the corpses of Li Ji and his men.

"What is he doing?" someone whispered.

"It looks like he's searching for something," another replied in a trembling voice.

Zheng Renxin exchanged knowing looks with the other Organ Refinement martial artists. None of them dared to act rashly. Whatever that mysterious man was doing, they couldn't dare to provoke him.

Unbeknownst to them, Lu Changsheng was simply searching his fallen foes for loot, as he had done before. He quickly found a thick stack of silver notes, most likely plundered from Miaoshou Garden. But he had no intention of returning them.

In truth, there were even more silver taels, but he had no use for cartloads of wealth. With no plans to leave Nanyang City, he could not possibly carry such a burden, so he left it where it was.

Hm? Is this a martial arts manual?

He pulled a peculiar manual from Li Ji. What made it strange was that it seemed unrelated to either the Divine Strength Realm or the Organ Refinement Stage. And with Li Ji dead, Lu Changsheng had no way of knowing what kind of manual it was.

From the other corpses, Lu Changsheng also retrieved a number of manuals for martial techniques.

Rumble, rumble!

Thunder rolled, and a flash of lightning illuminated the idol within the temple, its surface stained crimson in the wake of the massacre.

Having searched all of the bodies, Lu Changsheng rose to his feet. As he walked past the huddled survivors of Miaoshou Garden, he did not spare them a single glance.

Whoosh!

Lu Changsheng's figure slipped into the night and disappeared within moments.

"Hoo..."

Zheng Renxin finally let out a long breath.

"Quick, untie the ropes," he ordered.

Everyone had been bound, but with Li Ji's men lying dead and no one left to guard them, the ropes were hardly an obstacle. Before long, the people of Miaoshou Garden freed themselves. Although they had escaped their captors, fear still gripped their hearts as they stared at the corpses scattered around them.

"That masked man was ruthless," someone muttered. "He went ahead and cut the weeds down to the roots, leaving no survivors[1]."

"

Hmph.

If he left no survivors, then what are we?" Zheng Renxin's cold snort silenced the room. He gazed over the crowd, and every head lowered beneath its weight.

He spoke the truth. If the masked figure had truly been merciless, intent on erasing every witness, then how could they still be alive? By rights, they should have been slaughtered alongside the bandits.

"Could it be... this man has ties to our Miaoshou Garden?" one voice wondered aloud.

"But how could the Zheng Clan of Nanyang City possibly have such a powerful ally?" another questioned in disbelief.

"Even the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King, Li Ji, fell into his hand. Below the Divine Strength Realm, no one in all of Nanyang City could compare..."

The group whispered anxiously among themselves, but a sudden creak of wagon wheels from outside the temple startled them. Zheng Renxin's expression shifted slightly, as though realizing something.

"That must be Yifeng," he murmured, more so to himself. He then turned toward his people. "Since Li Ji is already dead, we must finish the task. These bandits deserve nothing less than death! Everyone, we must make sure none of them live!"

Zheng Renxin began organizing his men and preparing, waiting in silence for the inevitable clash.

Before long, another group of bandits arrived outside the temple. They escorted more than a dozen carts piled high with treasure, grinning from ear to ear. Right as they were about to enter, they laughed loudly.

"Heavenly King, this time we struck it rich! More than ten carts of gold and silver..."

The moment they stepped into the temple, the heavy stench of blood struck them. They stopped, recognizing their comrades, all lying in a massive pool of blood, along with the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King.

"Heavenly King!" the bandits cried in shock.

They reacted quickly, nearly turning to flee at once, but it was already too late.

"You vile bandits! Dieee...!"

Zheng Renxin was the first to strike, driving his blade into a bandit's back and piercing straight through. Blood spilled onto the ground, quickly diluted by the rain.

"Kill them!"

At Zheng Renxin's command, the martial artists of Miaoshou Garden surged forward, charging into the group of bandits. The clash ended within moments. With Miaoshou Garden's overwhelming numbers, the outcome had been decided from the start.

Even so, Zheng Renxin's face darkened.

"We had four Organ Refinement experts and dozens of martial artists surround their ten or so Blood Strengthening and Bone Tempering bandits, and we still managed to let one escape?"

Zheng Renxin was furious, yet helpless. The Zheng Clan of Nanyang had grown complacent after years of wealth and peace. They rarely fought anymore, and that lack of experience in killing had allowed even their overwhelming advantage to slip.

Fortunately, only a single man had escaped—a mere Bone Tempering martial artist. With the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King already dead, a lone fugitive of that skill could stir no lasting trouble. The matter was of little consequence.

"Patriarch, there are so many corpses. Dealing with them should be quite troublesome. Why don't we report to the authorities and let the prefecture handle it?" someone suggested.

"Report to the authorities?" Zheng Renxin's face darkened instantly. "No. Absolutely not! These bandits, especially the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King, were already declared dead by the imperial army in an official court announcement. Not long ago, several officials even received promotions because of that. If we report now that Li Ji wasn't dead, what do you think those officials would do?

"The imperial army fabricated their victory, even murdering innocents to claim credit. Whether or not those officials are punished, if we report the truth, Miaoshou Garden will certainly suffer the consequences.

"So, you guys will dispose of the corpses yourselves. Remember to keep silent to outsiders. Say only that they were common bandits. Don't mention anything about Li Ji."

Realizing the severity of the situation, the members of Miaoshou Garden shuddered. The Saber-Dragging Heavenly King had already "died" once, so for him to die again at their hands would be unacceptable. They had no choice but to feign ignorance.

"Also, that masked man might have some connection with Miaoshou Garden..." whispered one of the Organ Refinement martial artists.

They couldn't gloss over the fact that the mysterious man had slaughtered Li Ji and his bandits but had let the people from Miaoshou Garden walk away. They weren't fools.

"Don't try to find out who that was, "Zheng Renxin warned coldly. "In fact, pretend you never even saw him. Don't forget, today we only faced and defeated a bunch of ordinary bandits. No masked man, and certainly no Saber-Dragging Heavenly King."

"Yes, Patriarch."

At his command, the disciples hurried to bury the corpses and clean the temple.

***

Lu Changsheng changed out of his night attire and quietly returned to his small courtyard. Pouring a cup of wine, he faced the direction where Old Wen had been murdered and spilled it to the ground.

"Old Wen, I've avenged you..." Lu Changsheng whispered under his breath.

With Li Ji's death, his heart was finally at peace. Now, he could resume his training. His blood qi surged as he began tempering his bones—once, twice, thrice...

The rain did not abate, thunder crashing again and again, yet Lu Changsheng's spirit remained utterly calm. That tranquility seemed to enhance his cultivation, sharpening his focus with every cycle.

Rumble!

Suddenly, as the thunder roared, his entire body trembled. A line of small text appeared before his eyes.

Wild Ox Bone Tempering Art: Perfection. Perception +4.

1. 斩草除根 is a Chinese idiom that refers to the act of eliminating an enemy so thoroughly that no trace remains. Just as grass will grow back if its roots are left intact, an enemy's allies may one day rise to seek revenge. Thus, the phrase embodies a ruthless principle often seen in the martial and cultivation world: to completely uproot threats, destroying not only the target but also their foundation to prevent future reprisals. ☜