Chapter 7

"Stop him!" the black-clothed man wielding the iron flail shouted in a panic.

Two more black-clothed swordsmen broke away from the group surrounding Tan Qixiong and blocked Tan Yu.

Tan Yu lunged left and right, his spear moving like the wind, and blood splattered from the spear tassel, dripping down.

The two swordsmen were clearly skilled in defensive techniques, and with their dual swords, they barely managed to parry the attacks.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Tan Yu was in a frenzy, his black spear moving like a storm, but he couldn't break through the two men's stubborn defense for the moment.

Suddenly, a fierce and unparalleled roar erupted.

"Roar... Roar... Roar... Roar!"

It was Tan Qixiong, taking advantage of the reduced number of attackers, who began to unleash his fury. With one sweep of his staff, he knocked the iron flail out of the middle-aged black-clothed man's left hand. The middle-aged man retreated slightly to avoid the sharp edge, and the other black-clothed men also retreated in shock.

Seizing the opportunity, Tan Qixiong suddenly spread his arms wide and roared several times. Then, a series of clear "crack" sounds echoed as his limbs and body rapidly swelled unnaturally, and his height increased.

The transformed Tan Qixiong, with bloodshot eyes, casually tore off the fragments of his torn leather jacket and threw them away. In the bone-chilling wind, he stood bare-chested and roared to the sky: "Roar... Roar!"

The middle-aged man with the iron flail was terrified. "Bear Power! So you're from the Tan family of Wuling! Quickly, don't let him use it, take him down!"

The black-clothed men rushed forward, their weapons descending together.

A massive staff swung like a storm.

With one hand.

A sweeping strike.

Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!

Seven consecutive cries of agony.

The five black-clothed swordsmen surrounding him were flung away like chickens, spewing blood in mid-air.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three bloodied corpses fell to the ground, reduced to mush. The other two, even more unfortunate, crashed into the wall and hung there, their bodies completely deformed.

This strike was earth-shattering, truly unstoppable.

"An Internal Power Master?" The middle-aged man's eyes showed fear as he saw Tan Qixiong approaching step by step. He couldn't help but retreat, almost losing his grip on the iron flail.

In martial arts, there are roughly three realms: Manifest Power, Hidden Power, and Internal Power. Both were originally at the Hidden Power level, not far apart. Although Tan Qixiong had innate strength, the other man had a group of helpers. Now, the other side had reached the Internal Power realm, while his own subordinates were all dead. This was not good.

Suddenly, a black wind arose, and the thin man with the twin whips appeared from nowhere, rushing within three feet of Tan Qixiong.

Clearly, the transformed Tan Qixiong's reaction speed had greatly decreased.

Tan Yu, who was in the midst of the battle, saw this clearly and shouted, "Uncle, be careful!"

The man with the iron flail also shouted, "Don't go, retreat quickly!"

The man with the twin whips ignored them, and his whips, like a dragon and a phoenix, struck Tan Qixiong's bare chest.

Thud! Thud! The sound was like a whip striking a gong.

The man with the twin whips was overjoyed, thinking, "With my iron whips, your flesh will shatter into a pile of meat!"

But he saw a pair of bloodshot eyes glaring at him with a terrifying light.

"It's you, it's you! You killed Xin'er! Roar!" Tan Qixiong's right arm swung forcefully, and the staff and arm tightly gripped the man's body. "Roar!"

There was a terrible sound of bones grinding, and the man with the twin whips let out a scream of agony!

Tan Qixiong released his right arm, and the extremely thin body of the man with the twin whips slumped to the ground, lifeless.

He had been crushed to death by Tan Qixiong.

Tan Yu suddenly shouted, "Take this!" Two spear flowers shot out, and two red marks appeared on the throats of the two black-clothed men defending him.

The two men stopped abruptly, blood gushing from their throats.

Hearing their leader's scream, they had panicked and been directly broken through by Tan Yu, who delivered a fatal blow.

Tan Qixiong, now covered in blood, his eyes like those of a fierce beast, stared at the man with the copper flail, kicked the body of the man with the twin whips away, and slowly approached him.

The man with the copper flail was in a panic, and the middle-aged man was terrified. Looking around, he saw no standing teammates.

He panicked and turned to run.

Tan Yu shouted, "Dog thief!" and thrust his spear, hitting the man's right shoulder.

"Ah!" The middle-aged man with the iron flail screamed in pain, dropping his copper flail. He didn't bother to pick it up, turned, and crashed through a decorative screen, fleeing quickly.

"Where are you going!" Tan Yu, his eyes bloodshot, turned to chase.

"Xiao Yu, don't chase! ... Xiao... Yu!"

Thud, Tan Qixiong fell to his knees heavily.

Tan Yu's heart trembled, and he rushed over to support his uncle.

Glancing to the side, he saw a wooden bed where his aunt had a large wound on her neck, blood covering her face, and a child lying dead on the floor beside her.

"Uncle, Uncle! What happened?" Tan Yu knelt down, his voice trembling with tears.

"Xiao Yu..." Tan Qixiong's tired face showed a hint of relief. "You did well! Very well!"

Tan Yu quickly supported his uncle, leaning him against his chest. "Uncle, Xiao Yu is here, Xiao Yu is here!"

Tan Qixiong strained to open his eyes and tightly grabbed him. "It's dangerous here, you... must leave quickly, go to... Wuling, find my elder brother, he will help you..."

"Uncle, what happened? What happened?"

"Man is the butcher, I am the fish! The demon whip He Shi, the ghost flail Jiang An, and the two villains have been aiding the tyrant for many years. Killing a few women and children is nothing to them." Tan Qixiong's face was ashen, his eyes dark and angry. "I regret! I didn't listen to my elder brother and trusted Liu Biao... leading to this disaster today..."

"Liu Biao?" Tan Yu's eyebrows furrowed, his heart racing. What did this have to do with Liu Biao? Could these black-clothed swordsmen be sent by Liu Biao?

Why would he do this?

"Xiao Yu, remember... in a chaotic world... never show weakness..." Tan Qixiong's breathing grew rapid. "Remember! You must... be a fierce tiger, and those who oppose you are your prey, to be torn apart and devoured..."

"Xiao Yu, I remember!" Tan Yu clenched his teeth, speaking each word clearly. "Uncle, rest in peace! No matter who it is, Xiao Yu will make them pay a hundredfold!"

Tan Qixiong smiled in relief, then suddenly opened his mouth, and a large amount of blood gushed out.

...

In the vast cold night, the snow began to fall again.

Feathers of snow drifted down, swirling in the air.

Tan Yu started a fire.

He first set fire to the side room where he lived.

Towels, paper, ink, chairs, benches, tables, felt mats, clothes, bed boards... everything in the room was familiar, things he used often.

He threw everything into the fire.

The crackling sound and the red flames began to spread to the windows and doors.

With a quick movement, Tan Yu picked up a deep-bottomed earthen crucible, looked at it for a moment, and threw it away, stomping it to pieces.

Then, holding a torch, he slowly walked through the back courtyard, setting fire to the main hall, kitchen, and servants' quarters.

After finishing, Tan Yu walked to the entrance of the estate, put on a felt hat, and took a lollipop from his pocket, peeled off the wrapper, and put it in his mouth, sucking it gently.

Then, he slung a large leather bag he had prepared, shouldered his spear, and left the estate, striding down the mountain.

Halfway down the mountain, Tan Yu suddenly saw the wine gourd he had thrown away earlier. He extended his spear and picked it up, finding it still intact, not a drop of the full gourd of wine spilled.

Tan Yu's eyes widened as he looked back at the mountain top, where the flames were burning fiercely.

Uncle is gone! Cousin is gone! Home is gone!

Gone! All gone!

Tears welled up in Tan Yu's eyes.

This blood feud, I will avenge!

The Tan family estate on Xianshou Mountain was reduced to ashes.