Chapter Ninety-Seven: Total Defeat

Everyone who could be reached was being contacted at once.

Sun Wu was practically glowing with excitement.

At last, the battle was about to begin.

He clenched his fists.

“Shen An, let’s see if you still die this time.” He wanted to tear Shen An apart with his own hands.

Shen An had killed his father. No matter what, he would never let it rest.

In the main hall, not long after the orders had been issued, someone suddenly rushed in.

The man staggered badly and fell after only a few steps, but he quickly scrambled up again, his face tight with panic.

“What is it? Why are you panicking like this?” Sun Qidao asked, displeased.

The man replied in alarm, “Something’s wrong. One of the awakened experts in the north district is dead.”

The moment he finished speaking, Sun Qidao’s expression changed drastically. He grabbed the man by the collar. “What did you say?”

Even Sun Wu beside him shot to his feet.

The rest of them also changed color and looked over anxiously.

For a top expert to die so abruptly was far too strange, especially at a time like this. They could not help but feel uneasy.

Just then, another panicked figure hurried in.

He was no calmer than the first, just as frantic.

“This is bad.”

Before he even arrived, his voice had already reached them.

When the crowd heard it, their hearts lurched at once, and they immediately sensed trouble.

“Sun Lixin from the South Street crossing is dead. He died at home. Poison.”

The faces of everyone present turned grim.

The patriarch, Sun Qidao, released the man’s collar. His expression was so dark it seemed ready to drip water, and his eyes narrowed to slits as though he were thinking of something.

“Bad news. Sun Bai from East Pond crossing is dead. No killer was found, and no surveillance caught anything.”

“Bad news. Baiji is dead, burned alive.”

“Bad news...”

Reports came in one after another.

By now, no one in the room said a word.

Sun Qidao’s face grew more and more terrifying.

Then he suddenly lifted his head.

At that instant, everyone’s hearts jolted.

Even Sun Wu froze.

The once vigorous Sun Qidao seemed to age by decades in an instant; the wrinkles on his face had all come out.

“My Sun family cannot possibly fall like this,” he said through gritted teeth.

He had never imagined that the other side would move first and wipe out all the experts stationed outside.

“How did that brat Shen An learn the details of our family’s experts?” someone could not help but blurt out.

Sun Wu raised his head and slowly stood up.

“However he found out, it’s very likely he already knows our objective now.”

He paused, then continued, “Besides, the higher-ups have already spoken on this matter. If we keep dragging it out, the losses will still fall on us. In that case, let’s fight to the death. I refuse to believe that with our family’s foundation, we still can’t deal with a newly risen Shen An.”

His words rang out with force, and everyone nodded.

“That’s right. My Sun family still has experts, and we are not short of elites.”

“Give the order. Put the family into emergency combat readiness.”

As he spoke, one of the experts on the scene immediately took the order and withdrew.

He was one of the awakened ones present, and he was very strong.

Seeing this, the patriarch said nothing.

Sun Wu nodded.

Suddenly—

Bang!

From outside came a deafening crash.

The closed doors of the council hall were suddenly blasted open by brute force.

At the same time, a blood-soaked figure crashed to the ground.

It was the very man who had just been sent out with orders.

At that moment, everyone’s pupils constricted as they saw the man standing in the hall.

Their expressions flickered wildly.

Sun Wu felt the oppressive aura radiating from the newcomer, and his chest tightened.

Sun Qidao’s eyes were filled with fury, as though he wanted nothing more than to flay Shen An alive.

“I’m right here. If any of you are not convinced, come up and try.”

Shen An stood there, casting a contemptuous glance over everyone present. They all hurriedly looked away; none of them dared meet his eyes.

“Sun Li’s death was his own doing. I never kill innocent people.”

Shen An looked at Sun Qidao at the head of the room. “Patriarch Sun, tell me, should you be killed?”

His words were steeped in murderous intent.

Seeing him turn that killing gaze on his grandfather, Sun Wu roared, “Shen An, you’re courting death!”

He suddenly charged forward.

Shen An did not even look at him, only sweeping out with his right hand.

At once, Sun Wu was sent flying, smashed into the wall, and dropped to the floor.

He struggled back up, his face ugly and his heart still pounding with fear.

“You’re Sun Wu, aren’t you?”

Shen An turned and clapped once. “Jiang Meng, your turn.”

The words had barely fallen when a youth with a huge head appeared outside.

Jiang Meng poked his head in. “Boss, I’m here.”

As soon as Jiang Meng came over, he immediately saw Sun Wu, who had just gotten back on his feet.

“Jiang Meng, I said I’d leave this to you. Do you have the confidence?”

Jiang Meng looked at the other man and slowly walked forward. “Boss, don’t worry. I’ll get this one back.”

Last time, Jiang Meng had been badly wounded by Sun Wu. Shen An had once said that he should reclaim that humiliation himself.

Now he had come, and Shen An had given him the chance.

Without another word, Jiang Meng suddenly lunged forward.

He had been practicing the breathing method and body techniques Shen An had taught him all this time.

For such a long stretch, whenever he had time, Jiang Meng had never once stopped. He always trained until he was utterly spent before resting.

He had been quietly cultivating all along.

After that beating, Jiang Meng had truly understood the gap between himself and his opponent.

On the field, Jiang Meng and Sun Wu were already fighting.

The two of them seemed evenly matched at first glance.

Though it still looked as if Jiang Meng was a little weaker.

The others in the hall prepared to join in, but Shen An fixed them with a glance and drove them back.

A few of them tried to circle around Shen An from the side and kill Jiang Meng, but before they could even move, Shen An flicked his hand and sent several blades flying.

They struck their targets squarely in the throat.

A few figures clutched their necks and collapsed.

All of the ones who died were only at the second rank.

Jiang Meng had also reached the second rank by now, while Sun Wu was at roughly the same level, though he was at the late stage of the second rank.

Jiang Meng was only at the early stage.

Of course, such rankings were not necessarily exact. There was still no universally accepted system; people could only roughly sort strength by degree for now.

When the others saw Shen An’s display of force, none of them dared move again.

Sun Qidao stared at Shen An for a long time, and in the end, he let out a sigh.

He knew the tide had turned. He had underestimated Shen An’s ability and never imagined that Shen An would come to them first.

Moreover, the strength Shen An had just revealed was not something he could handle anymore.

He was old.

With a scream of agony, everyone finally looked over.

Jiang Meng walked back to Shen An with a grin on his face.

Sun Wu was lying on the floor, both legs already broken.

Jiang Meng had not killed him. That was already mercy enough.

After all, the conflict between the two sides had long since gone far beyond their original grudges.

Sun Qidao waved his hand, and someone hurried forward to carry Sun Wu away.

Sun Wu let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

“Grandfather, have him killed for me! Kill him!”

His legs were ruined, and he had completely lost control of himself.

Some time ago, he had beaten Jiang Meng so badly that the man looked like a dead dog.

And now, upon meeting Jiang Meng again, he found that the other man’s progress had exceeded all imagination.

That fellow had only been following Shen An for less than a month. Why had he changed so drastically?

Sun Wu could not understand it. He kept struggling.

The men carrying him slipped, and he broke free from their grasp before crashing to the ground again.

Immediately, his cries grew even louder, until his throat was hoarse from screaming.

Sun Qidao closed his eyes, and from his tiger-like eyes rolled cloudy tears.

At this moment, he had lost everything.