’What a joke. Lu Hanyan’s own expert Personal Guard came to kill him. How could Lu Chao, the one with the Life-taking Bone, possibly still be alive?’

The thought had barely crossed her mind when Wu Xin suddenly stopped in her tracks, dumbfounded.

She had reached the door to Cheng Yunsu’s room, and there, she saw Lu Chao with her own eyes, standing right beside Cheng Yunsu.

’Right now, Wu Xin was utterly confused. What the hell was that female Personal Guard, Lu Yan, playing at?’

’Did she go to warn Fan Jinhua first, and then come to kill Lu Chao? But that can’t be right. A household servant from the Cheng Mansion just said that the first thing Lu Yan did after entering the mansion was head for Cheng Yunsu’s room.’

Suddenly, Han Shu, who was beside Wu Xin, let out a terrified shriek. "You... you actually killed Young Lady Hanyan’s Personal Guard!"

At these words, Wu Xin was stunned again and looked over at Han Shu.

She slowly followed Han Shu’s gaze down to the floor at Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu’s feet. In that instant... WHOM!

Wu Xin’s mind reeled as if struck by a thunderclap, and she nearly collapsed.

Dead. Lu Hanyan’s Personal Guard was dead at the feet of Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu.

She scrambled back several steps and couldn’t help but cry out, "Impossible!"

’This has to be some kind of sick joke! Lu Hanyan sent her Personal Guard here to drive off Fan Jinhua, which means she was an expert even stronger than him. And she was killed by these two?’

Gazing at the two women, whose faces were a mixture of shock and fury...

Lu Chao stepped forward, his voice calm. "Wu Xin, you can drop the act. Since you’ve delivered yourself to my door, you can go to Hell."

...

「In a room in Cheng Chuming’s courtyard.」

"You two, Wu Xin is here now, too. What on earth is happening? Please, just let me go and see."

Cheng Chuming’s voice was full of pleading.

Just moments ago, he had finished getting ready to find his daughter, but Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng had suddenly appeared, forcibly dragging him back to his room and refusing to let him take a single step outside.

When he’d asked them what was wrong, they had only said, "From now on, you must be strong and face whatever happens."

’That was as good as telling him his daughter and son-in-law were about to die.’

Now, Wu Xin’s voice echoed through the Cheng Mansion, saying she had come to collect Lu Chao’s body and crying out for his daughter not to die... Something terrible must have happened. Cheng Chuming was devastated.

’If something happened to his daughter, too, he really didn’t want to live anymore.’

In response to Cheng Chuming’s pleas, Wu Caicai, her eyes red with tears, could only shake her head forcefully.

Lu Chao had instructed her to protect Cheng Chuming’s life at all costs.

Just as Cheng Chuming was about to break down, Cheng Yunsu’s voice rang out, followed by Han Shu’s cry: "You... you actually killed Young Lady Hanyan’s Personal Guard!"

Instantly, Wu Caicai froze. Uncle Leng froze as well.

Uncle Leng opened his mouth, stammering, "Miss, I didn’t mishear that, did I?"

Wu Caicai turned her head, a dazed look on her face, and replied softly, "If I heard it correctly, then you heard it correctly..."

The moment the words left her mouth, Wu Caicai shouted, "Quick, let’s go see!"

The two of them flashed out of Cheng Chuming’s room, speeding frantically toward Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu.

Cheng Chuming blinked, completely bewildered, before running out after them.

...

「Back at the entrance to Cheng Yunsu’s room...」

Facing Lu Chao’s cold killing intent, Wu Xin, her eyes still wide with shock, shouted, "It wasn’t you! It must have been Fan Jinhua! He’s one of the Tiger Flame People, and he killed Young Lady Hanyan’s Personal Guard!"

She refused to believe Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu were the killers; she was convinced it had to be Fan Jinhua.

Turning her head, Wu Xin said hurriedly, "Master Han, we need to get back to my father quickly! Have him send someone to catch up to Young Lady Hanyan and report that Fan Jinhua killed her Personal Guard!"

Master Han was numb with fear. She was terrified that Fan Jinhua was lurking nearby, and she was terrified of dying.

She grabbed Wu Xin and turned to flee...

CLANG!

Suddenly, a fiery streak of sword light blocked their path. It was none other than Lu Chao’s Nine Primordial Yang Swords.

Immediately after, Lu Chao landed before the two women, as if riding the very light of his sword.

He said coldly, "You’re not going anywhere... Xiao Su’er, Wu Xin is yours. I’ll take care of this Master Han."

With that, the Nine Primordial Yang Swords flashed out, aimed straight for Master Han’s face.

Meanwhile, Cheng Yunsu, wreathed in the Light of the Fire Sparrow, charged toward Wu Xin. "Wu Xin," she said in a chilling voice, "we settle our score today."

Instantly, both Han Shu and Wu Xin had no choice but to grit their teeth and fight back.

Master Han glared at Lu Chao. "If Fan Jinhua wasn’t lurking around, I could kill you in an instant, even with only one arm!"

In her mind, she was still convinced that Fan Jinhua was the one who had cut off her arm.

After all, Fan Jinhua himself had admitted to it yesterday.

"Is that so? I’ve made some progress, you see," Lu Chao replied indifferently as his Postnatal Eighth-Layer True Qi pulsed from his Nine Primordial Yang Swords.

A cold glint flashed in Master Han’s eyes. "Postnatal Eighth Layer is still nothing but trash."

She was an Innate Sixth Layer expert. Although losing an arm hampered her abilities, her cultivation realm was unchanged.

After a full day of rest and recovery, a good portion of her True Qi had been restored.

’My combat power has definitely dropped, but suppressing a Postnatal Eighth Layer cultivator should still be a piece of cake...’

But that was only what Master Han believed. Lu Chao couldn’t be bothered to reply, instead unleashing a flurry of strikes with his Nine Primordial Yang Swords all around her.

In Lu Chao’s eyes, Han Shu, who still hadn’t fully adapted to fighting with one arm, was riddled with openings. She couldn’t bring the full force of her Innate Sixth Layer True Qi to bear, which meant she couldn’t suppress his Postnatal Eighth Layer power.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG...

As their blades clashed, Lu Chao’s swordplay overwhelmed Master Han in the blink of an eye, leaving her struggling to breathe.

Meanwhile, with Cheng Yunsu... SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

She landed one vicious slap after another across Wu Xin’s face. Her cultivation realm was higher, and her Martial Arts Talent—not to mention her combat instincts—far surpassed Wu Xin’s.

Because of this, she didn’t even need to get serious. The slaps alone were more than enough.

"This slap is to sever the ties of our so-called sisterhood."

"This slap is for you tearing off my cloak in public."

"This slap is for you proposing marriage at the Cheng Mansion! And this one is for the outrageous gift you gave at our wedding banquet!"

Slap, slap, slap...

Every slap had a reason. Every slap was a release for all the pain and frustration Cheng Yunsu had endured.

Wu Xin screamed pitifully as she was slapped back and forth, her body thrown about by the force of the blows.

Just then, Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng arrived. They stared, dumbfounded, at the two battles: on one side, a Postnatal Eighth Layer expert was thoroughly suppressing someone at the Innate Sixth Layer; on the other, Wu Xin was being slapped senseless.

Finally, their gazes fell upon the corpse lying in front of Cheng Yunsu’s door.

"He... he... how did he do it?"

Wu Caicai muttered to herself. Lu Chao had actually killed Lu Hanyan’s female Personal Guard—an expert at the Transformation Realm.

’I regret it now,’ Wu Caicai thought. ’I should have stayed to watch the show.’

She didn’t know that Lu Chao had sent her and Uncle Leng away on purpose. His identity would have been exposed in front of Lu Yan, and more importantly, Lu Chao had been preparing to fight for his very life, with no certainty of victory.

He hadn’t wanted Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng to get dragged into his mess and die because of him.

Just as Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng were reeling with shock and confusion...

Wu Xin let out a wild shriek. "Help! Somebody help me! This little bitch Cheng Yunsu is trying to kill me!"