Chapter 313: The Plans of the People from the Northern Domain

Listening to the wretched screams from the rear courtyard, Ye Shanglun’s heart bled. His face was pale, seething with a rage he was powerless to unleash.

Chu Fan hadn’t moved from his spot. He had instantly killed a Divine Separation Realm master with just a flick of a chopstick. Even the four men from the Northern Domain didn’t dare to make a single move as they watched their companion die. What, then, could Ye Shanglun possibly do?

The guests filling the courtyard wore a myriad of expressions. Even those who were on intimate terms with the Ye Family were now trembling, looking for a way to retreat.

The Ye Family was colluding with people from the Northern Domain. How could they not be terrified?

Even the few officials seated at the same table as Shopkeeper Qiao were full of questions.

Chu Fan alone, merely by standing there, held the entire courtyard of over a thousand people in check. No one dared to move.

An hour later, the screams from the rear courtyard finally ceased, replaced only by the faint, sporadic sounds of weeping.

Ye Xiaohan and the other two men returned to the front courtyard, covered in blood. They then took their places behind Chu Fan.

Chu Fan nodded at them.

“Come now. All members of the Ye Family, kneel here in a row. Let me get a good look at you,” Chu Fan said, his gaze sweeping across the crowd as he pointed to an empty space before him.

“What are you going to do?” Ye Shanglun demanded, his voice a mixture of terror and hatred.

Chu Fan gave him an indifferent glance before his eyes swept over the others. “The truth is now obvious,” he said. “The Ye Family has colluded with spies from the Northern Domain, committing treason for personal gain. If you don’t wish to be branded as their co-conspirators and held accountable, point out every member of the Ye Family.”

“That’s a slanderous lie!” Ye Shanglun retorted. “My Ye Family is unwaveringly loyal to the Empress! When have we ever betrayed our sovereign for personal gain?”

Chu Fan shook his head. ‘It’s one thing for this Ye Shanglun to be ruthless, but he’s also an idiot. I really can’t imagine how Ye Xiaohan’s grandfather fell for this man’s schemes all those years ago.’

“My identity?” Chu Fan asked with a smile. “I’m a Hidden Guard of the Imperial Court. Is that authority enough to deal with you?”

Upon hearing this, the guests in the courtyard all took several more steps back, completely isolating the members of the Ye Family.

Aside from Ye Shanglun and his second son, the other family members, seeing they were exposed, hurriedly dropped to their knees.

“My Lord, we were kept in the dark! It was all Ye Shanglun and his son! We truly didn’t know anything.”

“Yes, My Lord! Our loyalty to the Court and the Empress is absolute!”

Chu Fan reached out and patted Lord Li on the shoulder. “When the people from the Northern Domain arrived at the Ye Estate, did any member of the Ye Family report it to the Government Office?”

Lord Li looked up at Chu Fan and shook his head. “No, never.”

Chu Fan turned to look at Ye Xiaohan and the other two. “The upheaval in the Ye Family eight years ago,” he asked, “did these people take part?”

Ye Xiaohan nodded.

“Then what are you waiting for? Kill them.”

Chu Fan’s voice was frigid. That final word, “Kill,” echoed in everyone’s ears, sending a chill through their hearts.

“Spare us! We were forced into it by Ye Shanglun! Young Master Xiaohan, we truly had nothing to do with it!”

The kneeling members of the Ye Family kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.

Ye Xiaohan, Wang Xing, and the third man walked forward and, in front of everyone, began the slaughter.

Soon, every member of the Ye Family was dead. Not a single one was spared, not even the guards.

The only ones left alive were Ye Shanglun and his son, along with the four Divine Separation Realm Martial Artists from the Northern Domain.

Chu Fan dismissed all the wedding guests.

In the courtyard, amid the corpses and pools of blood, only ten people remained.

Dejected, Ye Shanglun and his son collapsed to the ground.

The Ye Family was finished. And soon, they would be dead too.

“I don’t care who you are. The four of us are generals under the command of the Southern Garden King of the Dahar Khan Kingdom. I advise you to let us go. Otherwise, the Dahar Khan Kingdom will surely march its armies east and annihilate your Great Xia.”

A burly, bearded middle-aged man among the four Divine Separation Realm masters threatened Chu Fan, his voice fierce but his eyes betraying his fear.

“It’s not impossible for you to leave the Eastern Domain alive,” Chu Fan said with a cold smile. “I ask, you answer. Answer well, and you live. Answer poorly… and I don’t care if you’re a general under the Southern Garden King. Even if you were the Southern Garden King himself, I’d kill you all the same.”

“Fine. Ask your questions!” the middle-aged man said.

“So tell me, what exactly are you doing here in the Eastern Domain?” Chu Fan asked nonchalantly, pulling over a chair and sitting down across from them.

“To purchase warhorses from the Ye Family!”

Chu Fan stared at him, his gaze unwavering. After a long moment, a chill ran down the middle-aged man’s spine, and he finally averted his eyes.

Chu Fan smiled. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

The middle-aged man shook his head.

“If I don’t look like an idiot, then why are you lying to me? It seems you don’t want to leave the Eastern Domain alive, after all.”

“I am telling the truth!”

“You people from the Northern Domain live on the great Grassland. You’re a nation born on horseback. You need to come all the way to the Eastern Domain to purchase warhorses? If you aren’t taking me for a fool, then what are you doing?”

“Since you insist on being dishonest, then…”

As he spoke, Chu Fan rose to his feet, a sword appearing in his hand.

It wasn’t the Juntian Sword, but it glinted with a boundless, cold light.

The middle-aged man asked in terror, “What are you doing?”

Chu Fan thrust out his palm, sending the middle-aged man flying. In a flash, Chu Fan was upon him, his sword dancing through the air in an intricate, flower-like pattern.

A wretched scream tore from the man’s throat as he flew through the air.

Everyone looked up to see slivers of flesh and blood falling from the man’s body.

In moments, only a skeleton remained of the man. As Chu Fan sheathed his sword, the bones clattered to the ground in a heap.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Fan was back in his chair as if he had never moved.

Everyone present, including Ye Xiaohan, was horrified by Chu Fan’s methods.

‘Such a fast sword!’

Chu Fan’s chilling gaze then fell upon the other three Divine Separation Realm masters.

“My patience is limited. Who among you three will answer my question?”

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

All three of them trembled in terror, scrambling over each other to be the one to speak.

Chu Fan pointed to a man with a goatee. “You. Speak.”

“Seven years ago, the Southern Garden King’s own younger brother entered a Secret Realm and was killed by a disciple of the Eastern Domain’s Lingyun Sect named Chu Fan. Our king sent us to the Eastern Domain to investigate this Chu Fan and the Lingyun Sect.”

Chu Fan’s brow furrowed upon hearing this.

‘Had he killed people from the Northern Domain seven years ago?’

Thinking back, he realized it was true. In the Miracle Secret Realm, he and Hui Ke had been captured by men belonging to Prince Fuling, Long Haixin, and had their clavicles pierced to cripple them. Afterwards, the two of them had drunk the Drunken Immortal Brew, and their Cultivation had broken through to the Divine Separation Realm.

They had turned the tables, killing not only Prince Fuling, Long Haixin, and a host of young nobles from the Hua Xu Empire, but also a few people from the Northern Domain.

‘But how could anyone from the Northern Domain possibly know about that?’

‘Hui Ke definitely wouldn’t have talked. Could Yao Zhi and the other six have told someone?’

‘That didn’t seem likely either.’

Still, now wasn’t the time to figure out how the information had been leaked.

“So, after you found out about Chu Fan and the Lingyun Sect, what was your plan?”

“The forces of our South Garden will invade the Eastern Domain in one month’s time. In the interim, our mission is to bribe some of the Noble Families to act as our collaborators, coordinating with our attack from the inside.”

At this, a cold light glinted in Chu Fan’s eyes as he stared at Ye Shanglun and his son.

A shiver of pure terror went through Ye Shanglun and his son under Chu Fan’s gaze. They fell to their knees in a panic, vehemently denying everything.

“Which city does your Southern Garden King plan to strike first?”

“Xingyuan City,” the goateed man said. “The plan is to sweep along the Yunmeng Mountain Range, plunder what we can, and then retreat.”

Chu Fan looked at Ye Shanglun and his son. “Tell me,” he asked in a frigid voice, “does your family deserve to die?”

“My Lord, our Ye Family never intended to betray the Great Xia! They’re the ones making slanderous accusations!”

Chu Fan shook his head and said to Ye Xiaohan, “Kill them.”

He paid no mind to how Ye Xiaohan would deal with the father and son, turning his attention back to the goateed man. “So far,” he asked, “which families have you managed to buy?”