Chapter 79: Human Skin Gu Mask, Hong Yuan Enters The City
Linjiang Prefecture City.
A cold wind swirled up withered yellow fallen leaves, drifting toward the Wei Family Mansion located in the east of the city.
Old Master Wei was already seventy-five years old, yet his hair remained jet black and glossy, without a single strand of white, and there were few wrinkles on his face, which was extremely ruddy and lustrous.
His appearance was ordinary, with a medium build, and his entire person exuded a lazy aura as he lay on a rocking chair in the courtyard, blowing in the wind, squinting his eyes at the withered leaves fluttering down from the sky.
His leisurely and relaxed demeanor made it impossible for anyone to associate him with the helmsman of the Wei Family, the foremost noble clan in Linjiang Prefecture.
An old butler with a honest face and deferential demeanor stood behind him, saying with concern: “Old Master, the weather is cold and the wind is chilly; you should still go inside to warm up.”
“Blowing in the cold wind is quite good; it clears the mind a bit, preventing foolish decisions.” Old Master Wei waved his hand and said indifferently: “I hear the Guo Family and Hua Family have both moved into Mingguang Courtyard?”
The old butler bowed his body and reported warmly: “Indeed, they have gathered their troops together, about two thousand men guarding the villa. In addition, they have privately contacted noble clans and great families in the city to borrow weapons and armor…”
“How much did our Wei Family lend?” Old Master Wei chuckled.
He didn’t ask if the Guo Family and Hua Family had come to the Wei Family to borrow; there was no need to ask—those two families, wanting to borrow armored soldiers, wouldn’t possibly spare the Wei Family no matter who else they overlooked.
“We lent a hundred leather armors and fifty lamellar armors; it was all arranged by the elders, and we haven’t had a chance to report it to you yet, Old Master.”
“Sigh!” Old Master Wei sighed.
The old butler kept his eyes downcast and obedient, only glancing with his peripheral vision to see Old Master Wei furrow his brows, and couldn’t help saying: “Did the elders act on their own? Should I go reprimand them?”
He was just a servant; even as Old Master Wei’s chief butler, uttering the word “reprimand” was overstepping, but Old Master Wei didn’t mind and said indifferently: “Since I let them make decisions, reprimanding them over such a small matter wouldn’t be right. It’s just… a bit stingy! Too stingy!”
The old butler was about to say something else when Old Master Wei waved his hand: “Never mind, leave it as is… It’s just lamentable that great clans like the Guo Family and Hua Family, rooted in Linjiang Prefecture for over ten generations with a foundation of one or two hundred years, have fallen into the hands of unworthy descendants, suffering such humiliation. It shows that the greater the clan, the more cautious one must be, lest a single misstep leads to utter ruin. Xiao Zhong, don’t you agree?”
“You are right, Old Master.” The old butler lowered his head in response.
“What Old Master? I’m your brother at least, and there are no outsiders here, so just call me brother.”
“This… Xiao Zhong dares not.”
“Sigh! You dare not, which shows you still harbor resentment. Fair enough—I was born of the legal wife, you of a concubine, yet both sons of father, but one becomes master and the other slave. It’s natural to have grievances.” Old Master Wei suddenly turned his head to look at the old butler; their eyes met, and their demeanors and appearances were extremely similar, though the old butler looked a bit older.
Old Master Wei reached out and virtually grasped, catching a withered yellow leaf. He rubbed the leaf and said indifferently: “In great families like ours, there are always main branches, side branches, leaves… When twigs and leaves rot, they must be pruned; rotten branches and leaves nourish the main trunk—that is the will of the family… Xiao Zhong, who have you been secretly meeting behind my back lately? What schemes do you have? Care to tell me?”
The old butler suddenly raised his head, and from within his sleeve, his palm shot out abruptly, striking toward the top of Old Master Wei’s head.
Puff!
Who knew that just as his palm extended, Old Master Wei’s arm had already coiled around like a snake, effortlessly neutralizing his palm force while his five fingers pinched, one finger jabbing at the old butler’s chest.
Force entered the body, and the old butler staggered back three steps with a ‘thud thud thud,’ his face turning deathly pale as he looked at Old Master Wei in shock: “You, your martial arts?”
Old Master Wei rose leisurely, smiling faintly at him: “Strange, is it? In this world, as the head of a family, if I didn’t have profound kung fu, how could I sit steadily in this position? How could I discipline you, my rebellious brother?”
He clapped his hands, and in an instant, over a dozen figures leaped out from all sides of the courtyard, surrounding them.
Old Master Wei glanced indifferently at the old butler: “Take him down, pry open his mouth, and see which ghosts and snakes are stirring trouble. Hmph! These people have forgotten that in this Linjiang Prefecture, be it Microscopic Level or Soaring Swan Spear, the Wei Family is the true…”
Pfft!
A short sword suddenly pierced through his chest; Old Master Wei’s words cut off, and he looked down in horror to see blood already spurting out. From behind him came a teasing, pleasant female voice: “Your martial arts aren’t all that profound either. I’m curious—how many years has it been since you last fought? Twenty years? Thirty? What makes you so confident?”
“You all…” Old Master Wei looked over to see the dozen or so people all with cold expressions, watching quietly, and he couldn’t help but be shaken with fear.
He opened his mouth to cry out in pain, but a slender index finger pressed on his throat, instantly blocking all sound.
The person behind slowly stepped out—a man dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, face covered with black cloth, yet with a pair of seductive eyes.
At this time, the old butler also walked up to Old Master Wei with a smile, shaking his head: “Old Master, these people are all ones I recruited. How could you forget that? And… who told you I was Xiao Zhong?”
He wiped his face, and in an instant, a thin, crystalline skin membrane fell off, revealing a face that was utterly featureless except for its whiteness.
“Your brother, Steward Wei Zhong, was utterly loyal to you—would rather die than submit. I had no choice but to take his skin to refine this ‘Human Skin Gu Mask.’ Hilariously, you’ve been guarding against him all along! Oh? From your look, you want to know who we are? Better to die a confused ghost!”
He pinched with one hand, and the crystalline skin membrane in his hand suddenly decomposed into numerous transparent tiny insects the size of rice grains. With a puff from his mouth, they landed on Old Master Wei’s face.
……
“Mingguang Courtyard?”
Hong Yuan wore a conical hat with the brim pulled low; his Life-Snatching Throat-Locking Spear was disassembled into two sections, wrapped in cloth, and placed on the restaurant table.
He had now arrived in the prefecture city, sitting in a restaurant, and without even deliberately inquiring, he knew of the recent major events in the city.
The Guo Family and Hua Family, these two great families, had all their clan disciples move together to Mingguang Courtyard, and even dispatched two thousand elites to guard it. While it made the people in the city secretly laugh, they were also shocked by the prowess of that “Peerless Soaring Swan.”
The man hadn’t even arrived, yet he had already scared great clans like Guo and Hua into proactively shrinking into their turtle shells.
One person with such deterrent power—how powerful was Hong Yuan, now renowned throughout the prefecture, with his fame gradually spreading toward the entire Mingzhou?
Just how inconceivable had his martial arts reached?
On the long street, profligate young masters of noble clans galloped past on horseback, startling pedestrians to scatter aside one after another; the youth on the horse burst into loud laughter, arrogant and wild.
Even seeing the current predicaments of the Guo Family and Hua Family, the noble clans in the city had begun to restrain their own disciples, but great families had flourishing populations, and there were plenty of profligate young masters who were debauched and unrestrained—how could they change so easily?
Hong Yuan swept his gaze over and saw that the horse beneath him was extremely sleek. His figure moved abruptly, grabbing the cloth package in hand. With just a flash, the arrogant youth let out an “ah” of miserable cry and tumbled onto the green stone street.
Hong Yuan landed steadily on the horse’s back; the horse sank down and neighed in fright, but Hong Yuan clamped its belly, swiftly turning its head.
The youth also had martial arts and, after being knocked to the ground and eating dirt, looked up angrily and cursed: “You…”
The words behind stuck in his throat; the youth’s body trembled, his face turning terrified as if he had seen a ghost—because as the horse’s head turned, a gust of wind suddenly blew, sending Hong Yuan’s conical hat flying off.
The youth happened to meet the other’s backward glance, immediately shrinking his neck in terror. Even if only from portraits, he could recognize him at a glance.
That evil god had entered the city again!
Hong Yuan ignored the man and urged his horse forward unhurriedly; the long street instantly fell silent, with many eyes looking over, all mouths agape, as they hurriedly stepped aside to clear a path.
Hong Yuan spurred his horse faster, heading toward Mingguang Courtyard in Jinming Ward.
