Chapter 2

Chu Ye and Chu Feng were momentarily stunned, frowning as they looked at Jiang Kui’s fist. "What is it?"

Jiang Kui smiled and opened his fists, revealing two small, three-inch-long paper figures made of rough yellow paper. On the paper figures, blackish-red stains formed several twisted, worm-like patterns.

Chu Ye and Chu Feng were visibly shaken. With a hiss of anger, the sound of swords being drawn rose around them. The two men let out a long howl, their arms like swords, and thrust fiercely at Jiang Kui’s vital points on his chest.

Around the Chu family mansion, on the rooftops of nearby and distant high-rise buildings, nearly a hundred lean figures shrouded in black mist appeared quietly. They crouched on the high ridges, agilely drawing out peculiar weapons.

These weapons, eight feet long and entirely black, had a streamlined shape. Segments of greenish light glowed on them, and when the green light illuminated the entire weapon, these lean figures gently pulled the triggers. Their bodies trembled slightly, and beams of fist-sized green light shot out.

Inside the Chu family mansion, nearly a hundred guards clad in soft armor, who were patrolling, suddenly had their heads explode, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere.

Before the other guards could react, beams of green light zipped through the air, instantly enveloping the entire Chu family mansion. The heads of the guards exploded, or their chests burst, and not a single guard could utter a cry, all of them being sniped by the distant enemies.

Hundreds of ferocious mastiffs opened their mouths to roar, but from their shadows, countless emaciated claws suddenly emerged, grabbing their necks and dragging them into their shadows.

The servants and guards standing stiffly at key points around the mansion simultaneously stiffened. From their shadows, thin wisps of smoke rapidly shot out, piercing their orifices like lightning. Black shadows appeared on their faces, and their pupils suddenly glowed with green ghostly fire.

With a 'crackling' sound, the walls around the Chu family mansion flickered with glaring electric light. Blood-red seals extended from the ground to the top of the walls, like a light veil covering the walls.

From the walls, gnarled, bony black hands slowly emerged, tearing at these blood-red seals.

In the high-rise buildings and courtyards of the Chu family mansion, countless glaring red streams of light wound out from the ground, forming huge seals that resonated with each other, creating a massive barrier that enveloped the entire mansion.

The large hands that emerged from the walls were scorched by the red seals, which suddenly flared up several times brighter. Low, growling and roaring sounds came from within the walls, as if many terrifying creatures were hiding inside.

Underground in the Chu family mansion, a network of tunnels connected many large and small chambers and halls.

In the chambers, groups of tough men either sat in meditation, hit iron sandbags and wooden dummies, practiced with spears and staffs, or slept soundly on neatly arranged beds.

At the center of the numerous tunnels, forty-nine bronze pillars as thick as water jars had countless blood-red seals faintly visible. These bronze pillars were the core of the Chu family mansion’s defensive array.

In one of the halls, nearly a hundred elite warriors in full armor, either sitting or standing, were chatting and laughing with a few familiar tough men.

"Does Lord Jiang have some urgent matter? Why the rush to work at night?"

"Isn’t that so? These days, Shuzhou has been calm, with no major events."

"Could it be that he knows our young master of the Chu family is about to be born and has hurried over to present gifts?"

The tough men laughed, and the fully armed elite warriors joined in. As they laughed, a distant 'chirping' ghostly sound came, and the elite warriors simultaneously drew their swords, rising up. The tough men, caught off guard and without weapons, were hacked into meat paste by the elite warriors.

"Kill!" With a roar, nearly a hundred armored warriors charged forward. Wherever they went, over two hundred tough men, either resting or practicing, were beheaded, as if they were entering a land of no resistance. In an instant, the nearly a hundred armored warriors reached the hall at the core of the array.

The leading armored warrior took out a fist-sized metal sphere and smashed it against a bronze pillar.

A loud explosion and a burst of flames spread, and the intense heat swept in all directions. Over a dozen of the forty-nine bronze pillars were blown apart, and the remaining pillars flickered with blood-red light as the seals disintegrated.

On the ground, thousands of emaciated, bony creatures with fierce faces struggled out of the walls. They tore through the weakening blood-red seals, trailing long black smoke as they rushed into the Chu family mansion.

These creatures 'chirped' with a strange laugh, pouncing on the Chu family’s maids, servants, and guards. The bony creatures merged into the bodies of the Chu family’s subordinates, causing them to fall to the ground, roll a few times, and then leap up.

These Chu family subordinates grinned with a 'chirping' laugh, their eyes glowing with green light. They drew their weapons and charged deeper into the Chu family mansion.

Beams of green light silently zipped through the air, and the lean figures on the high-rise buildings fired their peculiar weapons. The Chu family mansion occasionally saw groups of elite guards organizing large forces to counterattack, but they were mercilessly sniped.

In the center of the Chu family mansion, the courtyard was covered in blood.

Dozens of tough women lay dead, and three times as many tough men lay around them.

Chu Ye and Chu Feng, father and son, stood stiffly at the entrance of the main house, their eyes bloodshot, staring at Jiang Kui. "Jiang Kui, why go to such lengths?"

Above their heads, a paper figure made of yellow paper floated, enveloped in thick black mist. The cold, sinister aura continuously invaded their bodies, making it extremely difficult for them to move.

Jiang Kui’s left arm was severed at the shoulder, and his chest had eight transparent wounds.

Spitting out large mouthfuls of blood, Jiang Kui looked at Chu Ye and Chu Feng with a bitter smile. "I thought I had overestimated you, but I underestimated you even more! But it’s understandable, with the Chu family controlling half the resources of the state, using the power of half the state to support you two, you should have this strength!"

Chu Ye’s beard stood straight up, and he roared, "Why go to such lengths?"

Jiang Kui spat out a mouthful of blood and screamed, "What else is there to say? The Chu family has had a single descendant for nine generations, and today, it should end!"

The walls around them collapsed, and dozens of bloodied tough men, mixed with countless bony creatures, slowly approached Chu Ye and his son.

Chu Ye drew a sharp breath.

Chu Feng gritted his teeth and hissed, "The legends of the refugees are true!"

Jiang Kui 'cackled' and drew a sparrow-winged saber, leading the charge against Chu Ye.

The courtyard was instantly enveloped in the glow of swords and the mist of blood.

After a long while, the cry of a newborn baby echoed from the courtyard.

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