Chapter Twenty-Five: A Slaughter That Turns the World Upside Down

[Compendium of Beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas: Beasts are divided into birds, domesticated animals, wild beasts, fierce beasts, demon beasts, magical beasts, spirit beasts, divine beasts, and half-beasts. Birds and livestock are common and need not be detailed; wild beasts often roam human territories, live alongside people, and pose little threat; fierce and demon beasts are powerful, with sharp claws and teeth, tough feathers and scales, and are active in deep mountains and great marshes. They are savage and terrifying—some mighty enough to destroy mountains and cities. The fierce have no intelligence, are filled with murderous intent, brutal and merciless, and their forms are unchanging; the demons have cunning, can assume different shapes, and possess strange arts—thus lies the difference between the two. As for the rest, they are rarely seen, and their appearance foretells great upheaval.]

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The dog demon stood taller than a man, its body enormous. Just its presence was enough to make one’s blood run cold, yet such a being was killed by Yang Fan with a single stroke—an outcome no one had anticipated.

As he watched the dog demon collapse, its unwilling eyes fading into lifelessness, Yang Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The power of “Intimidation” seemed a mere support, yet it possessed the might of true sorcery.

Yang Fan took a step forward, dashing toward Liu Yuanying.

At this moment, the eldest son of the county constable remained frozen in shock. That was a dog demon—whom he had called Uncle Dog—a true source of his confidence, the Liu family’s hidden trump card, now slain before his eyes?

His mind reeled, unable to comprehend.

Seeing Yang Fan rushing over, sensing the approach of death, his expression finally changed.

“Uncle Liang, we must kill him together, or we’re both finished!” Liu Yuanying gripped his sword tightly and, with those words, charged ahead.

“Then kill him!” Uncle Liang’s face contorted with terror. So many had died, along with Uncle Bear and even the dog demon—did the two of them stand a chance?

But seeing Yang Fan’s blood-red gaze, he knew that if they didn’t end this man, their escape was all but impossible.

He met Yang Fan head-on.

Yang Fan’s eyes narrowed, crimson light gleaming within.

With his earthsense, he caught every move Liu Yuanying made with perfect clarity—especially the flow of blood within the man’s body, which stirred some strange intuition in him.

A step to the left, a slight turn, and he sidestepped Liu Yuanying’s sword.

The Black Cloud Blade swept upward at an odd angle, severing Liu Yuanying’s left arm.

“Anticipate the enemy’s move!”

“It works!”

Yang Fan gained new insight.

By locking onto his opponent with earthsense, predicting the flow of blood in their body, and observing the tension in their muscles and movements at the joints, he could deduce the trajectory of their attacks.

He realized his use of “earthsense” was still rudimentary, with much potential yet to be uncovered.

As Liu Yuanying screamed, Uncle Liang’s blade swung toward Yang Fan’s neck. Yang Fan dodged again, and the Black Cloud Blade swept horizontally.

In a hair’s breadth, Uncle Liang blocked the attack.

But Yang Fan had already anticipated this. With a turn of his body, he left Uncle Liang’s center exposed—a fatal opening. He drove his blade into the man’s chest.

A twist of the wrist, and the heart was crushed.

He withdrew the blade, not sparing another glance.

He then charged at Liu Yuanying.

“Stop! No! You can’t kill me!” Liu Yuanying, seeing Uncle Liang slain, was utterly desperate, clutching his shoulder with his sword hand.

But the blood continued to flow.

His face was ashen, and he kept retreating.

“I am the eldest son of the county constable, Liu Kaizong, heir to the Liu family. Kill me, and you are doomed. Behind me stand the county constable, the city guard, the Sky Inspectors, the entire Great Qian Dynasty. Kill me, and there will be nowhere you can hide—the empire will hunt you down. You are dead for sure!” Liu Yuanying’s face twisted in agony, his voice hoarse as he roared, “And Nanshan Town—everyone here will die with me!”

“Hah! You wretch, do you dare kill me?”

He was both hysterical and arrogant.

“I am but a commoner…” Yang Fan uttered the words, then rushed forward, bringing his blade down in a slanting arc.

Liu Yuanying tried to block with his sword, but how could he withstand such a blow? The sword fell, the Black Cloud Blade cleaved through, slicing across his neck.

A head tumbled to the ground.

“County Constable, Liu Kaizong!”

Yang Fan turned his gaze toward the county seat, his killing intent icy. Then, his eyes fell on the terrified Yang Chun.

He strode over.

“Xiao Fan, wh-what are you going to do?” Yang Chun stammered, his face pale as death.

Never had he imagined this orphan would become so formidable.

“Why did they covet this land?” Yang Fan kept walking.

Yang Chun and his men shrank back, wiping cold sweat from their brows.

“I—I don’t know!” Yang Chun wailed, “You know I’m just a town mayor, a small-time official. They have the county constable behind them—what could I do?”

“So you became their lapdog, bullying your own people,” Yang Fan’s voice grew even colder. “Ten taels of silver to buy out a family—hah, you meant to drive us from our homes, leave us destitute. Even if you’d offered half, no, even a third of its value, things wouldn’t have come to this. But you’re all too greedy! Black-hearted, worse than beasts.”

He spat.

The hatred in Yang Fan’s heart, old and new, entwined, and with one resolute stroke, he killed Yang Chun.

“As for you lackeys who use your power to oppress your own people—you deserve death all the more!”

His murderous will surging, Yang Fan slaughtered every one of Yang Chun’s followers.

Only then did he exhale heavily, glancing around and seeing many onlookers—most of them townsfolk.

But every gaze was full of fear.

“Brother Xiao Fan!” Lin Xiaoyu ran over, clinging to his arm, trembling all over. “Sob…Brother Xiao Fan, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Yang Fan managed a smile.

“Xiao Fan!” Lin Dashan called weakly, “Go, go as far as you can and never look back. Just go, quickly!”

He urged, coughing blood.

“Uncle Dashan, don’t worry.” Yang Fan smiled, patting Xiaoyu’s shoulder. “From now on, take good care of Uncle Dashan, Auntie, and Erni.”

“Brother Xiao Fan, sob…” Xiaoyu clung to his arm.

Yang Fan gently pried her hand away, then walked over to Steward Wang, who was approaching.

“Uncle Wang, can I entrust them to you?” He nodded toward Lin Dashan and the others.

“I’ve already sent for help—rest assured, I’ll do everything to save them.” Steward Wang looked at Yang Fan with a complicated expression, as if seeing him for the first time.

He had known Yang Fan since his first foray into the mountains. He later bought the herbs the boy risked his life to gather, taught him how to identify plants, how to survive in the wild, and so on.

Right before his eyes, the boy had struggled to live like a blade of grass.

He was pleased when Yang Fan recently became an apprentice, delighted to see someone with such promise. But never did he imagine that, in the blink of an eye, Yang Fan would become so powerful.

To kill without so much as a blink.

Even slaying the dog demon.

It defied belief, felt like a dream.

Yang Fan was only fifteen, yet had killed a dog demon?

Eighth-rank martial artist now?

“Uncle Wang, thank you. Please tend to them first—there’s another favor I’ll ask of you soon,” Yang Fan said as gently as he could.

“Alright.” Steward Wang nodded seriously.

Yang Fan dashed away, heading east.

“Brother Yang, wait for me!” Han Li, still gasping for breath, shouted after him.

He had only just returned, having hesitated but ultimately run back, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He arrived just in time to see Yang Fan slay the dog demon and Liu Yuanying, scenes that nearly left him wide-eyed with shock and excitement, as if discovering a new world.

“Han, prepare a change of clothes for me and wait here,” Yang Fan called without stopping.

“Alright!” Han Li did not hesitate and went off to find someone.

Meanwhile, Steward Wang directed the staff of the Jishi Hall to tend to the wounded.

“That Xiao Fan hides deep,” Yang Dazui, having regained his breath, mused while feeling his broken ribs—at least three, by his reckoning.

Luckily, his life was not in danger. He sighed, “Our town finally has a true dragon, a man of feeling and honor, and yet…”

“Damn Yang Chun, damn the county constable!” Lin Dashan cursed, his face darkening. “Poor Xiao Fan—he’ll be cast adrift after this.”

“Yes,” Yang Dazui’s face was grim. “He’s headed east…”

“To clean out the filth,” Lin Dashan said quietly. “He’ll probably go to the county seat as well, to eliminate threats to us.”

“We can’t let him—it’s too dangerous. We must get him out, let him change his name, and live in peace,” Yang Dazui said, breathing heavily.

“Can we persuade him?” Lin Dashan shook his head.

From the moment he killed Liu Yuanying and Yang Chun, then headed east, it was clear Yang Fan was resolute and thorough—once he made up his mind, nothing would change it.

“We must try,” Yang Dazui said quietly.

Steward Wang looked east as well, worry plain on his face.

Not long after, Yang Fan returned, drenched in blood, every step leaving a crimson print.