Chapter 57: The Name Hong Yuan
These twenty-plus men with surging killing intent were precisely from the Guo Family.
From the time Guo Zhen’s and Guo Jun’s corpses were carried back to the Guo Family by a group of defeated remnants, the entire Guo Mansion immediately fell into chaos.
From initial shock and terror, to anger, wailing, cursing, and then accepting reality, they began questioning the remnants for details.
The events in the Moon Embracing Garden quickly spread out.
A peerless fierce person had broken into the Moon Embracing Garden, set fires to wreak havoc, killed and injured dozens from powerful great families, single-handedly crushed hundreds of sturdy fighters, and under the guard of over a hundred armored soldiers from the Guo Family, slaughtered the armored soldiers and killed two prominent figures from the Guo Family, Guo Zhen and Guo Jun.
Most tragic of all, Guo Zhen had been nailed to the wall with a flagpole by that fierce person.
In addition, Hua Family Young Master Hua Feiyun and Grain Transport Gang’s Jin San also failed to escape that evil god’s poisonous hands.
Hearing this, everyone in the Guo Mansion found it hard to believe, utterly shocked and horrified.
Immediately after, they gnashed their teeth at that murderer ‘Hong Yuan’, hurling all sorts of vicious curses back and forth, until an armored soldier tremblingly mentioned that Hong Yuan had close ties with a man named Yang Erhu.
Moreover, Yang Erhu had been brought into the Hero’s Arena by Hua Feiyun.
Regardless of the pouring rain, the people in the Guo Mansion immediately sent men to the Hua Family to gather news.
Hua Feiyun had wanted to use Yang Erhu’s life to let Wei Zhenzhu vent her anger, so he naturally collected all information on Yang Erhu to cut the grass at the root at any time.
However, the Hua Family had likewise fallen into chaos and panic due to Hua Feiyun’s death.
Thus, after some time, the Guo and Hua families met, exchanged information, and learned that Hong Yuan was precisely Yang Erhu’s disciple.
And Yang Erhu even had a younger brother in the prefecture city.
Without delaying a single moment, the Guo Family urgently dispatched men to capture Yang Jinbao.
The leader was named Guo Ju, who was cousins with Guo Jun, with deep affection between them, and both were leading figures among the Guo Family’s third generation.
Guo Ju’s silver armor gleamed brightly, flames of ruthless fury shooting from his eyes, his anger at its peak.
Hong Yuan and Yang Erhu could not be captured for the time being, so he now only wanted to seize Yang Jinbao and dismember him into pieces to vent his rage.
“Hurry!”
Guo Ju bellowed sharply, his footsteps quickening, mud and water splashing everywhere.
This group’s fierce and evil appearance caused many pedestrians who had returned to the streets after the sudden stop of wind and rain to scatter and dodge.
At the same time, they cast timid and puzzled gazes toward Guo Ju and the others.
Among those in the prefecture city, there were many well-informed people who naturally recognized them as Guo Family members, yet did not know why they were so enraged, each one ferocious, their expressions like they were about to devour someone.
At that moment, Guo Ju suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound in his ears, piercing his eardrums with a buzz, and from the corner of his eye, he saw a white light falling from midair, rapidly slicing through the air.
Before Guo Ju could react, the white light had smashed into his helmet, producing a ‘buzz’ of vibrating sound as it shattered into countless fragments that splashed open.
Guo Ju felt his mind go blank, briefly lost in a daze and emptiness, his head as if struck heavily, his body swaying and toppling backward.
“Captain!”
Guo Ju’s position was the same as Guo Jun’s, both captains in the Golden Soup Camp.
His fall immediately made those around him shout out, several rushing over to support him, while the others urgently called: “Enemy attack, stay alert.”
While shouting, the group scanned their surroundings, drawing steel sabers one after another, killing intent overflowing.
This scene sent the dodging pedestrians fleeing in panic.
The group that came with Guo Ju included outstanding soldiers from the Golden Soup Camp as well as Jianghu experts recruited by the Guo Family; in a breath’s time, some cast their gazes toward the second-floor window of a restaurant on the side.
However, Hong Yuan had no intention of hiding; after throwing the wine cup, he slowly stood up, leaped down from the windowsill, and walked unhurriedly toward the Guo Family group, still holding the unfinished wine pot in his hand.
“What petty scoundrel from where?”
A guard bellowed loudly, while signaling with his eyes to his companions; the others understood, raising steel sabers and circling around in an encircling formation.
“This one is surnamed Hong, single name Yuan!”
Hong Yuan ignored them as if they were nothing, slowly draining the last of the wine from the pot while speaking.
“Hong Yuan?!”
The encircling Guo Family group was first stunned, then all shocked and astonished: the murderer who committed such a great crime hadn’t fled, but dared to enter the city to provoke them?
How arrogant!
“That’s the evil thief, take him down!”
Immediately, someone roared in fury, their minds clouded by rage.
The group of remnants who returned carrying Guo Zhen’s corpse hadn’t even been given a chance at ‘redeeming their crimes through merit’ by the Guo Family; they were all directly seized and imprisoned, awaiting trial together after the murderer was captured.
Even those brought by Guo Ju, though they had heard of the tragedy in the Moon Embracing Garden, had not witnessed the prowess firsthand and inevitably harbored doubts.
Whoosh!
The wine pot flew out from his hand, carrying immense strength, smashing fiercely onto the roaring guard’s face; the latter’s face immediately burst into a spray of blood, and as pain surged, a white shadow flickered, arriving at his side.
Hong Yuan pressed down with one hand on the guard’s chest, sending the guard flying horizontally; the steel saber in the guard’s hand flew out and landed in Hong Yuan’s palm.
A swift wind rose from behind as steel sabers chopped down one after another without pause.
Hong Yuan raised his hand and swung; the long saber spun rapidly, instantly becoming like a whirling windmill. Seven or eight steel sabers chopped down together, yet were all blocked by his single saber; the fierce and sharp force surged, directly sending the long sabers flying back.
Immediately, the saber light slashed out; amid “puchi puchi” sounds, the clothes on the chests of the three leading men split open, their skin and flesh tearing wide.
Hong Yuan advanced, using his saber to cut through several blockers, and in a flash, arrived before Guo Ju.
Guo Ju’s head throbbed and buzzed, his consciousness still somewhat unclear, but the few supporting him to stand had drastic changes in expression, all chopping down with their sabers.
Hong Yuan reached out and grabbed; his five fingers instantly clamped onto Guo Ju’s chest armor, claws seizing and pulling Guo Ju right before him, followed by successive “clang clang” sounds of metal clashing.
Several sabers all struck Guo Ju’s helmet and back armor.
The clear ringing vibrations also cleared Guo Ju’s mind; his eyes met Hong Yuan’s gaze, his body shuddering violently.
“Release the captain!”
The Guo Family guards surged from front, back, left, and right, all with panicked and terrified expressions, both because Guo Ju had fallen into Hong Yuan’s hands and because the opponent’s move was as fast as lightning, impossible to block.
Pedestrians who had scattered far away, as well as heads popping out from shops and inside the restaurant on both sides of the street, included some bold ones who became spectators.
“I am Hong Yuan!”
Hong Yuan looked at Guo Ju, meeting his gaze, and spoke leisurely: “Remember my name, remember my face. If you want revenge on me, Hong is more than willing.”
“But if you vent anger on others, what you can raid, I can raid back. Your family is great and powerful, with so many clansmen—keeping them alive is just wasting grain.”
“Dog thief!” Guo Ju’s eyes nearly split, roaring hoarsely.
“I’ve said my piece; do as you will!” Hong Yuan smiled, his tone turning indifferent: “But before I go, let me teach you a lesson: once you’re in the enemy’s hands, you must learn to speak properly.”
Guo Ju’s eyes suddenly widened; he saw a cold light flash, slicing through the air with a whoosh, followed by intense pain in his right ear as one ear flew into the air.
Amid splashing blood, a white shadow flickered; Hong Yuan leaped up, his foot tapping the side wall of the nearby restaurant, his voice drifting over.
“Ear in place of head, sparing your little life.”
“No need to thank me!”
Whoosh!
The long saber sliced through the air downward, piercing through the tumbling ear in midair, ‘clang’ as it nailed into the green stone under Guo Ju’s feet.
Guo Ju’s face turned deathly pale, staring blankly at the ear pierced by the saber tip at his feet, momentarily stunned.
Wind howled.
The scene fell into dead silence.
