Chapter 33: Smashing To Death, Knights Violate Bans With Martial Prowess
No excessive nonsense, just one word.
Smash!
Hong Yuan pinched Huang Shaotang’s neck, like a master blacksmith in an iron forge lifting a heavy hammer to forge weapons, swinging the rounded ‘hammer head’ down with a boom!
How tough was his strength now?
This ‘hammer’ swing probably carried a force of a thousand pounds.
A bang exploded.
In just one blow, Huang Shaotang’s lower body collided with Huang Yihe’s head, and in the shrill screams, it was impossible to tell whether it was Huang Shaotang or Huang Yihe who roared.
Or perhaps the father and son roared together.
The sound of bones shattering rang out, blood splattered everywhere, Huang Shaotang’s two legs snapped instantly, twisting into a twisted braid shape.
The large chair under Huang Yihe exploded and shattered directly as strength poured in.
Wood chips flew everywhere!
Huang Yihe’s body slumped into the broken wood blocks all at once, his head and face covered in blood, neck drooping low.
Whoosh!
Hong Yuan swung again.
Bang!
Bang bang!
Three consecutive ‘heavy hammer’ blows, like whack-a-mole, Huang Shaotang let out heart-wrenching screams from his throat, the skin, flesh, and bone on one leg could no longer hold together, and half a leg flew out bloody.
With a ‘plop’, it precisely smashed onto the face of a middle-aged noblewoman standing behind Huang Yihe.
This noblewoman had originally been stunned pale by the sudden change, her mind blank.
At this moment, the flying severed leg smashed into her face, only feeling intense pain in her nasal bone, thick bloody smell surging out, making her nearly faint, and finally she let out a sharp, piercing scream.
Accompanied by this scream, like throwing a pebble into a stagnant pond, the stiff and dazed guests in the Huang Mansion finally reacted.
In an instant, roars here and shrieks there, sharp cries everywhere.
Two or three hundred guests panicked and stood up like headless flies, fleeing in all directions, occasionally shouting and calling the names of their own attendants and guards.
Crash!
Tables and chairs toppled, cups, plates, and bowls fell and shattered, carefully cooked dishes rolled onto the floor, oil and water splattered, causing who knows how many people to slip and fall.
Cries of pain rose and fell, from guests who had fallen and were trampled by the crowd.
The whole scene was in chaos.
As a result, the guards and household guards of the Huang Mansion, who were originally rushing toward Huang Yihe’s position, were now blocked by the guests colliding everywhere.
Due to the status of these guests, they dared not punch or kick to clear a path.
These people were either fellow gentry and great families with Huang Yihe, or had business dealings, or were purely currying favor with him…
But at this moment, how could they afford to care?
They had no idea that Huang Yihe, the main character, had already perished, his neck broken, his head softly drooping onto his chest, his body pierced with countless wood chips.
Huang Shaotang’s throat bone had also been crushed.
Hong Yuan flung him backhand, and Huang Shaotang’s half-mangled body smashed into one of his brothers’ faces, the two instantly crashing several meters away, smashing through a table.
Without delaying a moment, Hong Yuan’s figure was like a fierce tiger descending the mountain.
Roar roar!
His whole body wrapped in the ferocious malevolent aura of a beast hunting prey, so fast it left an afterimage, only hearing several ‘thud thud thud’ muffled sounds, his fists quickly shattered four men’s throats.
Looking again, in less than two or three breaths, Huang Yihe dead, Huang Shaotang dead!
Huang Shaotang’s five legitimate and illegitimate brothers all dead.
The dozen or so women and female relatives who had previously gathered around Huang Yihe to offer congratulations now all screamed, their faces terrified, trembling, several already scared with legs going soft, slumping to the ground.
A stench of urine spread.
Having killed seven people in one go, Hong Yuan felt a sense of mental clarity and exhilarating satisfaction.
Not for revenge for the original host, completing some obsession of the original host, but the thrill of a knight violating taboos with martial prowess!
Pleasure!
Too pleasurable!
What is martial arts practice for? Isn’t it to draw the blade in anger, with no taboos?
No need to talk extravagantly about righteousness and evil.
Hong Yuan would not place himself in any position of chivalry; the greater chivalry of serving country and people is admirable, but that’s others’ path, it doesn’t define him.
At this time, Huang Mansion guards had already broken through the crowd, pouncing toward Hong Yuan’s location.
Without greeting, a steel saber chopped toward his neck, Hong Yuan seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, head tilting slightly, countering with an elbow strike.
Amid the sound of chest bones cracking, that guard was not knocked flying; Hong Yuan had already grabbed his knife-holding hand, twisting with force, turning that arm into a twisted braid shape, the steel saber falling from his hand.
Hong Yuan raised his hand to catch it, then slashed backhand, ending the life of the ambushing guard.
In the mansion courtyard, at the same moment, a furious shout rang out, “All guests, don’t move, don’t panic!”
County Lieutenant Zhang kicked flying a shouting, head-hugging, frantically fleeing guest, then hooked his foot under another, kicking up an overturned table.
This table rolled a few times, landing on another table top; County Lieutenant Zhang toed off, leaping up, steadily landing on the platform formed by the two square tables.
Looking down from above, his roar like thunder: “Everyone obey my orders, guests must not move chaotically, household guards assist the injured, all guards follow my command, come with me to capture that thief and rescue my brother Guiling.”
His voice like thunderbolts, in that instant silencing the whole scene, the panicking crowd halting, only ‘ouch ouch’ cries of pain.
And those household guards and guards seemed to have found their backbone, all gathering toward County Lieutenant Zhang.
County Lieutenant Zhang looked at this scene, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.
Rescue Huang Guiling?
What a joke?
He had glanced earlier, his brother Guiling was nearly beaten into turtle jelly paste, time to collect the corpse instead.
‘Moreover, Huang Guiling relied on bribes and providing medicinal ingredients and pills to Commander Xiang, yet dared to call me, Zhang Mouren, brother? If he curries favor with Commander Xiang for a few more years of kung fu, won’t he climb over my Zhang Family?’
County Lieutenant Zhang’s expression was stern, cold laughs in his heart.
‘Good that he’s dead, too good, truly thanks to that murderous madman…’
County Lieutenant Zhang looked toward Hong Yuan, a hint of wariness in his eyes.
With the Great Yin Dynasty’s central authority weakened, power devolved to local areas; the benefit was that they gentry and great families rose, controlling all civil and military posts.
The drawback was also obvious.
In the Great Yin Dynasty’s prosperous era…
No, even decades ago, when the Great Yin central authority still retained some prestige.
Encountering such a madman daring to publicly assassinate a noble clan member, just report upward, bounties would be issued everywhere, even microscopic level masters would be forced to hide east and west.
But not anymore.
Great Yin’s power went to local noble clans and great families, but was simultaneously fragmented into countless pieces; not to mention one prefecture or one county, even one county or one town’s clan forces became like independent kingdoms.
Issue a bounty?
Issue it if you want.
Not to mention crossing prefectures, other counties and towns have to acknowledge it.
This is the best era for noble families, nobles, clans, and gentry, and also the most rampant and surging era for wandering knights who violate taboos with martial prowess.
In this heaven and earth, there are indeed strong men who can fight one against a hundred.
No one can lightly ignore their strength.
But there’s no saying of martial artists being despised.
On the contrary, literati have declined, even the imperial examination abolished.
For wandering knights and the like, County Lieutenant Zhang would not underestimate them.
‘Huang Guiling these years exploited herbal farmers, squeezed competitors, used who knows how many shady tactics in secret, and not only took concubines every two or three years, but also whenever he saw a pretty woman, secretly instructed some ruffians to bind her…’
‘Women entering the Huang Mansion, without any background, surviving one or two years was considered long-lived.’
‘Huang Guiling finally suffered backlash…’
County Lieutenant Zhang stepped down from the high table, immediately surrounded by many guards clustering around him.
He had no intention of avenging Huang Yihe.
But under the banner of catching the thief, he definitely intended to stir things up, and a lot.
‘Huang Guiling dead, the medicinal ingredients business cannot be cut off; he was Commander Xiang’s leg, my Zhang Family can take over that leg.’
‘This way, the Huang Family needs a thorough cleanup.’
Huang Guiling and his six sons all dead, but there were still grandsons, granddaughters, female relatives in the mansion, and collateral uncles, brothers, nephews, etc.
‘Lucky that Zhang Mouren thought to come to the Huang Mansion, otherwise would miss the good opportunity to intervene… Heaven helps my Zhang Family.’
He waved his hand, sending four personal guards wearing leather armor forward.
These four were either Zhang Family collateral branches or hereditary servants loyal for generations, loyalty beyond doubt.
County Lieutenant Zhang had them come forward, giving low instructions.
And one more thing, no big chapters today…
