22: Chapter 22 You think you can mess with the Gu family?

The pouring rain washed over the bluestone slabs in the Gu Family's front courtyard, as well as the blood and corpses covering the ground.

In the air, the thick stench of blood mixed with the earthy smell of mud, making one feel nauseous.

Chief carried his massive ghost-head saber, kicked a Gu Family servant who tried to resist, and walked to the center of the courtyard, stepping over corpses.

Behind him, dozens of fierce bandits from the Black Wind Stronghold were like a pack of hungry wolves breaking into a sheepfold, wantonly slaughtering and destroying.

The resistance of the Gu Family was fragile and vulnerable before these desperadoes.

"Hahaha! Satisfying!" Chief laughed up at the sky, the rainwater washing over the hideous scar on his face, making him look even more terrifying, "That old bastard, Family Head, actually found a good place for me!"

He took a deep breath, as if savoring the fragrance of fear.

"Go, drag that old thing Gu Yan out for me!" he ordered his subordinates, "I want to twist off his head with my own hands!"

However, just as his voice fell, a calm figure slowly walked out from the moon gate leading to the inner courtyard, holding an ordinary iron sword.

The rain was heavy, and the wind was fierce.

But strangely, the falling rain automatically parted to both sides when it reached three feet in front of him, and not a single drop could wet the hem of his clothes.

He walked step by step, his pace neither hurried nor slow, stepping on the water-logged ground without splashing a single drop.

Just like that, under the gaze of a pack of fierce bandits, he walked to the center of the courtyard with a leisurely gait and stood still in front of Chief.

The clamor in the front courtyard strangely quieted down at this moment.

All the bandits stopped their actions and cast their gazes toward this suddenly appearing young man, whose temperament was completely at odds with the surrounding environment.

Chief narrowed his copper-bell-like eyes.

He swept his Qi Refining Level 5 Divine Sense over the young man.

Qi Refining Stage 4.

Hmm?

A trace of surprise appeared on Chief's face.

In Family Head's intelligence, didn't it say that the old thing Gu Yan was just a beginner at Qi Refining Stage 2?

How... did it become Qi Refining Stage 4?

However, he immediately threw this surprise to the back of his mind.

So what if he is at Qi Refining Stage 4?

In front of him, a "Senior" at Qi Refining Level 5, he was still just an ant that could be crushed at will!

Perhaps this was the greatest secret of the old thing.

Thinking of this, the ferocious grin on Chief's face became even more cruel and greedy.

"You are Gu Yan?" He pointed his ghost-head saber at Gu Yan from a distance, his gaze contemptuous.

Gu Yan did not answer him.

His gaze swept over the servants and guards lying in pools of blood in the courtyard—some familiar, some not—swept over the smashed doors, windows, and furniture, and finally landed on Chief's face, which was filled with cruelty and greed.

"I thought it was some remarkable figure." Seeing the other party remained silent, the mockery on Chief's face deepened, "After all that, it's just a piece of trash at Qi Refining Stage 4!"

"Kid, you have guts. Knowing I've arrived, you didn't hide, and even dared to run out to court death."

"How about this," he smiled cruelly, like a cat playing with a mouse, "Kneel down now and tell me all the secrets you have. If I'm happy, I might just leave you with a whole corpse."

The bandits behind him also burst into unbridled laughter.

In their view, this battle had no suspense left.

Their leader was a powerhouse at Qi Refining Level 5, while the opponent was merely at Qi Refining Stage 4; the gap between them was like a natural chasm!

Gu Yan finally reacted.

He slowly raised his eyes and looked at Chief with a calm gaze, as if looking at a dead thing.

"Just because of you,"

His voice was not loud, but it clearly pierced through the rain curtain, overpowered the wind, and rang in everyone's ears.

"You dare to touch my Gu Family?"

Chief's smile instantly froze on his face.

The laughter behind him also came to an abrupt halt.

An unprecedented and extreme sense of humiliation surged into Chief's heart.

How had he ever been so despised by anyone?!

"You ignorant fool!"

Chief was completely enraged, his killing intent surging!

But he still did not do it himself.

In his view, dealing with a mere Qi Refining Stage 4 was not worth his personal intervention as the leader.

He snarled at a confidant beside him: "Ah Bao! Go! Twist his head off for me and use it as a chamber pot!"

The bandit named Ah Bao, who had a scar resembling a leopard's scratch on his face, had a cultivation that had reached the Peak of Qi Refining Stage 2.

He grinned and replied: "Yes, Leader!"

He didn't take Gu Yan seriously at all, not even bothering to use a weapon. His figure flickered, turning into an afterimage, his five fingers formed a claw, and with a fierce gust of wind, he went straight for Gu Yan's throat!

He wanted to tear this ignorant kid into pieces in the most cruel and direct way!

However, facing the thunderous claw.

Gu Yan remained standing where he was, without moving an inch.

Just as Ah Bao's claw was about to touch his neck skin.

A cold light, fast to the extreme, suddenly lit up in the dark, rainy night!

Hum—

A slight sound of a sword, like the roar of a Dragon.

The ordinary iron in Gu Yan's hand had already been unsheathed, who knew when.

The sword light flashed and disappeared.

Fast.

Fast to the extreme.

So fast that everyone present, including the highest-cultivated Chief, could not see the trajectory of the sword.

Ah Bao's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

The ferocious grin on his face was still stiffly hanging at the corners of his mouth.

His body still maintained the forward-lunging posture.

Then, under the horrified gaze of everyone.

A fine head slowly slid down from his neck.

Gurgle.

The head rolled twice on the water-logged ground and finally stopped at Chief's feet, the wide-open eyes still retaining the shock and confusion from before death.

And his headless torso, after a brief pause, a fountain of blood as thick as a bowl suddenly erupted from the severed neck!

Thump.

The corpse fell heavily into the pool of blood.

The entire Gu Family courtyard fell into dead silence at this moment.

All sounds seemed to have been abruptly severed by that stunning sword light.

The sound of wind, rain, thunder...

All seemed to have disappeared.

In everyone's ears, only their own wildly beating heartbeats, like drums, remained.

The smile on Chief's face completely froze.

He lowered his head, looking at the head that had rolled to his feet, eyes wide with the shock of death; a chill uncontrollably rushed from the soles of his feet straight to his crown!

He suddenly raised his head, staring fixedly with a look of having seen a ghost at the young man who was still standing with his sword, his expression indifferent.

One sword!

Only used one sword!

And instantly killed a Cultivator at the Peak of Qi Refining Stage 2!

This Qi Refining Stage 4...

Something is wrong!