"It's... it's really nothing..."
An Zheyan shook his head awkwardly, drawing his hand back with a guilty conscience as he replied, "A few days ago, while you were in secluded cultivation, I helped the Yu family plant someone in the Li family. Then I had a bit too much wine and let slip some drunken nonsense."
Having said this, An Zheyan hurriedly waved his hands and forced an appeasing smile, swearing earnestly, "Rest assured, everyone present was a trusted confidant, utterly loyal! Not a word will ever leak out!"
"Nonsense?!"
Ignoring his father's excuses, An Jingming demanded in return. An ominous premonition seized him, and he muttered, "Don't tell me you claimed my breakthrough was at hand."
An Zheyan froze, his weathered face falling. Seeing his reaction, how could An Jingming not realize what his father's "nonsense" had been? His composure shattered completely. Shaken to the core, he gritted his teeth and hissed, "Father! Do you have any idea how grave this is?!"
Grown man though he was, An Zheyan hung his head like an errant child. An Jingming burned with fury and was just about to speak when he felt the mountain-protecting grand formation shudder violently. His face darkened as he looked up. Outside the barrier, a figure clad in gray appeared, looking down with a flat, cold gaze, glaring straight at the hall below.
"An Jingming! Roll out here!"
Yu Mugao paced on the air, thoroughly irritated. According to his original plan, he was to ambush and slaughter members of the Li family. All the planted clues had been prepared, and the Li family would naturally go to the An family to demand an explanation, or at least come to question them.
Yu Mugao had arranged his moles and stratagems, waiting only for the Li family to send people over. Who could have imagined that Li Xuanfeng would notice the traces, or that both Retainer Jiang and Yu Muyuan would be lost? The Li family had immediately fallen silent with no outward movement. Left with no choice, Yu Mugao had to take matters into his own hands and manufacture an excuse, hoping to shift at least part of the fallout onto the Li family.
"This man used vile schemes to murder the Young Patriarch of the Li family! Entrusted by the Li family, my Yu clan has come to execute him to uphold justice under the heavens! The witnesses and testimony are all here..."
Having delivered his proclamation in a heavy voice, Yu Mugao thought to himself:
*If I proceed like this, I cannot swallow the An family whole. I can only settle matters before the Li family reacts—kill An Zheyan and An Jingming, prop up a proxy to take charge, reduce the An family to a vassal, and use their mouths to invert black and white.*
Accustomed to such deeds, Yu Mugao knew well that right and wrong were merely matters of rhetoric. Within breaths, he had already devised his following moves and looked down toward the hall below.
Below, An Zheyan and An Jingming were both deeply shaken. His eyes wide with disbelief, An Zheyan cried out, "The Li family?! The Yu family?! What on earth is happening?"
An Jingming raised his brows and sighed, saying in a low voice, "Father... 'careless deeds breed catastrophe.' How many people in our clan do you truly think are still loyal? Spies from both clans have long since riddled us like a sieve... The person you planted has almost certainly pinned some crime on us. For them to mobilize with such fanfare, either Li Xuanxuan or Li Xuanfeng must have died."
"Th-this...!"
An Zheyan stammered, unable to form words. After a few breaths, his eyes turned bloodshot, tears streaming down his cheeks. In bitter remorse, he slapped himself hard across the face, shouting furiously, "That's... Yu Mugao... Go! I'll hold them off! As long as you survive, our An family will never truly fall!"
Grabbing An Jingming's hand, An Zheyan urged him desperately, "Didn't you have me build a secret passage leading directly outside the mountain? Go! Leave the people outside to your father... Just go..."
Sweat poured down his face, his expression frantic. Clearly, he no longer gave a thought to his own life—his entire mind was focused solely on An Jingming.
Yet An Jingming shook his head dejectedly and replied, "Father... it is too late. Do not be fooled into thinking it is only Yu Mugao who has come for me. Yu Xiaogui is likely watching silently outside as well. With a Foundation Establishment cultivator watching over this place, we cannot escape. If they do not kill me, the Yu family will never rest easy."
The mountain-protecting grand formation was already thundering under assault. Terrified wails and screams erupted from all around as approaching footsteps drew nearer. An Jingming stamped his foot, and the doors of the main hall snapped shut in unison, glowing with pulses of golden light.
"Patriarch! The Yu family is attacking! Patriarch!"
"Patriarch... save us!"
When his father An Zheyan had constructed the hall, An Jingming had quietly carved formations into it so the inner sanctum formed an array of its own. Little did he expect that it would end up being used to keep his own clansmen out. Outside the hall, people cried, wailed, and pounded against the doors, leaving palm prints upon the glowing barriers.
Yet the An family consisted mostly of good-for-nothings—mere Embryonic Breathing cultivators. Aside from An Zheyan and An Jingming, there was not a single cultivator who possessed a Yujing Wheel. How could they possibly breach the array? They could only weep, scream, and shout outside, curses faintly echoing through their pleas.
An Zheyan collapsed to the ground with a loud wail and slapped himself viciously across the face, striking with such savage force that blood ran freely from the corner of his mouth and two teeth flew out. He wept, "It is all my fault! All your father's fault! I was selfish and greedy, lustful and drunk, of grand ambitions but petty talents... I have ruined you, I have ruined you..."
Tears streaming down his own face, An Jingming knelt on the ground and cupped An Zheyan's plump, fair face in his hands. Speaking almost like a father consoling a child, he instructed, "I will fight my way out... and you will leave through the secret tunnel. Yu Mugao's vigilance will be centered entirely on me, so you will still have a chance to escape..."
An Zheyan's legs trembled violently. He wanted to say something brave, but could only squeeze a question out from the back of his throat, "Where... where do I go?"
"The Li family."
Tears streamed from An Jingming's eyes, yet his gaze grew brighter and clearer. He whispered, "I finally understand... Time is short; I cannot say much more."
He pulled An Zheyan to his feet and said through choked tears, "Father, you must swear off wine, swear off women, guard your words and actions, and protect your own life. Do not think of vengeance... Father more children."
*Boom!*
The An family's mountain formation gave way with a resounding roar. Shivering in dread, An Zheyan wiped his tears and ran toward the rear of the hall.
Watching An Zheyan disappear into the secret passage, An Jingming finally turned around. Laughing through his tears, he untied his jade cap. His full head of black hair tumbled loose, spilling across his shoulders. Gone was his former serene disposition, replaced by a reckless, unbridled spirit.
Taking down a magical sword from the wall, he hung it at his waist and gripped his jade axe, the golden ring upon his wrist clinking. An Jingming walked slowly down the steps and kicked open the courtyard gate. Before him lay ground drenched in blood, with severed heads rolling and bumping down the steps.
"Yu Mugao of the Yu family."
The young man before him wore a savage expression, a band of white cloth bound around his forehead, glaring at him like a wolf. An Jingming looked intently at the man, who stared back at him just as coldly. An Jingming spoke no words of pleading, nor did he beg them to kill only him and spare his clan. Instead, he simply whispered:
"An Jingming of the An family."
His jade axe raised, An Jingming closed in. Yu Mugao merely stood and watched. A clansman at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement stepped forward from behind him, thrusting his magical sword forward to block An Jingming's jade axe.
With a ringing clink, the eighth-layer Qi Refinement Yu cultivator was forced back a step. As An Jingming flipped his jade axe, Yu Mugao raised an eyebrow. Another man stepped out from behind him—a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refinement—thrusting forth a magical sword to parry the jade axe away.
"Your cultivation progressed rapidly, yet your combat power could actually keep pace, even exceeding it by a measure," Yu Mugao sighed and laughed. "Had you not been born upon this lake, after a hundred years of dedicated cultivation, you would surely have made your name known throughout the Three Sects and Seven Gates and every great house."
An Jingming gave no reply. Stepping back, he brought the jade axe chopping forward. Tangled in combat with the two Yu cultivators, they traded over a dozen moves. Though he managed to hold his own against both of them, he had lost all room to advance or retreat.
A faint anxiety stirred in his heart; he still saw no sign of Yu Xiaogui. Left with no choice, An Jingming made every strike fierce and unyielding, forcing the two back regardless of the cost to his magical power, before leaping into the air.
He had taken only a single step into the sky when a gray-robed figure appeared before him. Temples flecked with white, hands like pale jade, the man stood quietly with hands clasped behind his back, eyes closed and silent.
"Yu Xiaogui."
An Jingming looked upon Yu Xiaogui before him. With a tranquil face, he tied the jade axe back to his waist, cupped his hands to Yu Xiaogui in a salute, and drew his sharp white magical sword. Reversing his grip, he rested the blade against his own neck, loose black hair tumbling gently over the edge. In a soft voice, An Jingming said:
"A great man should be like a river rushing to the sea, meeting all the heroes under heaven. Though I bore ambitions that reached the clouds, I was burdened by my clan..."
With that, his left hand made a slight motion. In an instant, blood sprayed and head was severed from body. His lifeless form slumped downward. Yu Xiaogui lifted his eyelids and used his magical power to draw the corpse up, examining it thoroughly before whispering softly:
"Truly, he was no immortal or god, and he is indeed dead... To think such a genius existed."
Chapter 199