32: Chapter 32 Captured Alive, Prince's Mansion Catches Fire

Smiling Tiger shuddered all over; from the Chief's calm tone, he heard a sense of resolution.

He dared not ask more, scrambling away to make arrangements.

Soon, the entire Black Wind Mountain was in motion.

Inside Juyi Hall, torches crackled, illuminating faces filled with panic and trepidation.

"Government troops... the government troops really have attacked!"

"What do we do? We're all going to die!"

"Let's surrender! Let's just surrender!"

Panic spread; many bandits' legs were trembling, and they could barely hold onto their sabers.

Chen Fan walked out from the back hall, carrying his Ghost-Headed Greatsword on his shoulder.

He scanned this rabble, his rugged face showing no excessive emotion.

"Listen to me, all of you!"

His burly frame, paired with the massive Ghost-Headed Greatsword, carried an innate, ferocious oppressive force that silenced everyone's wailing.

"The government troops are coming for me, but once they reach the mountain, they won't spare a single one of you."

"If you don't want to die, pick up your sabers and charge out with me. Kill one and you break even; kill two and you've made a profit!"

"Those who want to kneel and beg for mercy can throw down their sabers now, and see if those government officials will grant you a whole corpse!"

There were no inspiring words, only the starkest reality.

The bandits looked at each other, the fear in their eyes gradually replaced by the ferocity of desperate men.

That's right, they were bandits; their hands were already stained with blood. Surrender was also a dead end.

"Fight them to the death!"

"Screw them!"

Iron-Armed Monkey was the first to raise his saber, roaring at the top of his lungs.

Just then, earth-shaking shouts of battle rose from the foot of the mountain, and the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

The government troops had already attacked.

One thousand personal troops of the Prince of Xiushan, clad in standard-issue armor, surged up the narrow mountain path like a black iron torrent, unstoppable.

They were well-trained, their steps uniform, and the long sabers in their hands reflected a chilling light under the torchfire.

The few sentry posts on the mountain path were engulfed almost instantly, not even having time to let out a scream.

"Meet the enemy!"

Iron-Armed Monkey, his eyes red, led a group of bandits, howling as they charged out from the Narrow Pass.

Then, they slammed into a wall.

A cold wall of steel, composed of shields and long sabers.

"Squelch! Squelch!"

The dozen or so bandits charging at the front were pierced through, both they and their sabers, by the uniform long sabers.

Blood instantly stained the mountain path red.

The bandits' charge came to an abrupt halt.

Their so-called fearlessness was like a joke in the face of a real army.

It was like chopping melons and vegetables.

This was a one-sided massacre.

The personal troops of the Prince of Xiushan did not even change their formation; they simply stepped forward, swung their sabers, stepped forward again, and swung again.

The bandits cried out, routing and trying to flee back to the stronghold, only to be blocked by those behind them, trampling each other.

Chen Fan stood at the entrance of Juyi Hall, watching all of this with cold eyes.

The bandits of Black Wind Mountain were finished.

He held his saber, not joining the pointless massacre.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the person who could kill him.

Soon, a middle-aged man dressed in the uniform of a captain, escorted by a squad of personal troops, walked over the corpses covering the ground to the front of Juyi Hall.

It was none other than the captain of the Xiushan Princes Mansion, Captain Li Zhong.

He looked at the burly figure at the entrance carrying the Ghost-Headed Greatsword, his face filled with an unmelting coldness and fury.

"Black Wind Demon!"

"Where is Her Highness the Princess?"

Chen Fan grinned, imitating the manner of Black Wind Demon, laughing wildly and nonchalantly.

He didn't speak, merely lazily tilting his chin toward the stone chamber behind him.

Captain Li Zhong's body stiffened abruptly.

The personal troops behind him all gasped.

This action was tantamount to the most direct admission.

A monstrous rage erupted from the bottom of Captain Li Zhong's heart.

Her Highness, a woman of such noble birth, had actually been... by this backwoods rustic, this filthy bandit...

"You are courting death!"

Captain Li Zhong roared, and the long saber at his waist instantly unsheathed.

His entire body turned into an afterimage, carrying a sharp Killing Intent as he lunged straight at Chen Fan.

A Seventh-Rank Martial Artist!

Before the blade even arrived, the sharp wind had already scraped Chen Fan's cheeks, causing pain.

It's here!

Chen Fan was not alarmed but delighted. The massive Ghost-Headed Greatsword swung in a semicircle in his hands, carrying a howling gale as he met the attack.

As long as he died at the hands of this Seventh-Rank captain, he could ascend to the heavens in a single step, complete Possession of his identity, and become a captain of the Xiushan Princes Mansion.

This deal was worth it!

"Clang!"

Saber and sword struck, bursting with blinding sparks.

An overwhelming force came from the saber.

Chen Fan only felt his tiger's mouth go numb, and his entire body uncontrollably retreated five or six steps before he could barely stabilize himself.

What strong Internal Energy!

Eighth-Rank and Seventh-Rank—a difference of one rank, yet a world of difference.

"Die!"

Having landed the first strike, Captain Li Zhong gave Chen Fan no chance to catch his breath. His saber technique was continuous, like a raging storm, each strike faster than the last.

Chen Fan could only passively swing his saber to block; the massive Ghost-Headed Greatsword seemed incredibly cumbersome in his hands.

The shallow variations of the "Gale Saber Technique" were full of flaws in front of his opponent.

In just over a dozen rounds, Chen Fan already had several wounds deep enough to see bone.

Blood dyed half his body red.

But he was laughing.

Die, quickly, give me a swift end!

Looking at the blood-covered bandit before him who was still laughing wildly, Captain Li Zhong felt the opponent's ferocity had been thoroughly ignited, and he struck even more mercilessly.

With another strike, Captain Li Zhong's blade tore through Chen Fan's defense, stabbing straight at his heart.

Chen Fan gave up all resistance, preparing to welcome this moment of release.

However, just as the tip of the blade was about to touch his skin, Captain Li Zhong twisted his wrist.

The sharp blade became a heavy saber back.

"Bang!"

A heavy force slammed solidly into Chen Fan's chest.

Chen Fan's vision went black, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments, collapsing to the ground, having completely lost the ability to resist.

Not killing me?

This was his last thought before losing consciousness.

Captain Li Zhong panted, sheathing his saber.

"Tie him up! The Prince wants to interrogate him personally!"

Several personal troops immediately stepped forward, using special ox-tendon ropes to bind the unconscious Chen Fan tightly.

At the same time, other personal troops rushed into the stone chamber.

Soon, they carried out a woman wrapped in a cloak, who was also unconscious.

It was the Princess of Xiushan.

Looking at the Princess's disheveled clothes and pale face, all the personal troops clenched their fists.

Their hatred for that bandit Chief reached its peak.

The battle at Black Wind Mountain was nearing its end.

Hundreds of bandits were nothing more than lambs waiting to be slaughtered before the elite troops of the Princes Mansion.

Inside and outside Juyi Hall, corpses lay everywhere, and blood flowed like a river.

Just as Black Wind Mountain was being bathed in blood.

Dozens of miles away at the Xiushan Princes Mansion, deep in the backyard, an elegant pavilion suddenly burst into raging flames.

"Fire! The library is on fire!"

"Come quickly to put out the fire!"

"There are assassins! The ancient texts have been stolen!"

The entire Princes Mansion instantly fell into chaos.

...

Cold rain lashed against his face.

Chen Fan was jolted awake by the pain.

He realized he was being dragged down the mountain like a dead dog.

The excruciating pain in his chest made every breath feel like a knife cut.

He had lost.

Not only had he lost, but even his attempt to seek death had failed.

He had been captured alive.

He turned his head and saw the corpses covering the mountain, and the Princess being carefully escorted down the mountain by the personal troops.

White Lotus Sect...

I'll remember you; I must settle this debt in the future!

He was roughly thrown onto the back of a horse by two personal troops, and cold iron chains locked his hands and feet.

"Giddyap!"

Captain Li Zhong vaulted onto his horse, not even glancing at him once. Leading the main force, they escorted him and the Princess, galloping away in the direction of the Xiushan Princes Mansion.