The silk-wrapped package flew over the courtyard wall and landed in the much plainer courtyard next door.
This place was separated from the east courtyard, where Eldest Young Master Cao was, by only a single wall, with a narrow passage in between.
The courtyard was small, a place where the mansion’s Hospital Guards and Martial Artists lived together.
The ground was packed earth. In a corner were piled some stone locks and wooden posts, and there were a few low, tile-roofed houses.
The four Hospital Guard Martial Artists sleeping soundly in their rooms were scared out of their wits by the sound of gunfire from next door.
One by one, they haphazardly threw on their clothes, grabbed their pistols, and rushed out, running frantically toward the courtyard gate.
Just then, the silk-wrapped package fell from the sky, landing squarely on the broad back of the big man running at the very rear!
"Ouch! Fuck! Which blind son of a bitch is throwing things around? Are you trying to kill me?!"
The big man staggered, stumbling forward several steps before regaining his balance.
A searing pain shot through his back. Furious, he let loose a stream of curses and turned his head to look for the "weapon."
On the ground, a dark gold silk-wrapped package lay quietly.
His three companions running ahead heard him and turned back. Seeing he had just been hit by something, the one who looked like the leader urged him on, "Stop fucking around! Let’s go! There’s gunfire over at the Eldest Young Master’s place. Something big must have happened!"
With that, the three of them wasted no more time, gripping their pistols and charging out of the simple courtyard gate without looking back.
The big man who had fallen behind rubbed his back, still muttering curses.
Walking closer, he bent down, and, enduring the pain, picked up the "culprit" that had hit him.
"Damn it, that hurt like hell... What time is it to be throwing things around? If I catch you, I’ll skin you alive!"
The big man weighed the package in his hand, gave it a curious squeeze, and was about to use the moonlight to see what it was...
Just then, another dark figure dropped from atop the courtyard wall above him. The big man jumped in fright, instinctively crossing his arms to protect his head and face.
A resonant, elderly voice spoke from in front of him. "Young man, that is my property. Please be so kind as to return it to me."
In truth, Lu Yun had already arrived on top of the wall, but he hadn’t revealed himself immediately.
He wanted to observe if there was anything unusual after the silk package landed. Only after confirming the package was unharmed did he choose to appear.
The big man, still shaken, cautiously lowered the arms protecting his face.
He took one look and froze. His eyes went wide as saucers, and his mouth fell open instinctively.
’What in the world am I seeing?’
’An old, white-haired man, shirtless in the middle of the night?’
His exposed upper body was covered in lean muscle—not the exaggerated, artificially bulked-up kind, but a physique where every inch was fluid and perfect.
The big man’s mind went blank. He couldn’t even process what was happening.
"You... Yours?" he repeated subconsciously.
"Yes, mine."
The big man swallowed hard. He looked at the silk package in his hand, then at the mysterious old man before him. Logic told him it was best not to ask questions or be curious, but to just do as he was told.
"Here... for you..."
Lu Yun reached out and took it. After gripping the package in his hand, he looked up at the still-dazed man before him and asked matter-of-factly.
"By the way, young man, do you have any spare clothes here? Lend an old man a piece to cover himself."
The big man still hadn’t fully recovered his senses. Hearing the question, he nodded almost as a reflex.
"I do... It’s in the room. I’ll go get it for you..."
"No need to trouble yourself. I’ll get it."
Within a few breaths, Lu Yun emerged again, now wearing a reasonably clean, black, coarse-cloth short jacket.
Then, he tapped the wall with his toes, floated lightly up to the top, and vanished into the deep night in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, at the Cao Family Mansion, fires were raging everywhere, painting half the night sky crimson.
It was obvious that Zhao the Third had set the fires.
「In the rear hall of the Cao Mansion.」
In an extremely well-hidden cellar sealed by a heavy bluestone slab, chests of Oceans and neatly stacked gold bars, along with all sorts of jewelry, jades, antiques, and paintings, filled the surrounding wooden shelves and trunks.
At Zhao the Third’s feet lay a disheveled young man of about twenty, dressed in luxurious clothes.
Snot and tears streamed down his face as he trembled, kowtowing and begging incessantly, "Senior... Master... Grandfather! I’m begging you, spare me! Please, spare my life!"
"All the gold, silver, and treasure here is yours! Take it all! I only ask that you let me live! I’ll disappear immediately and never return to Yifeng Province!"
The young man was one of Cao Shaozheng’s many sons.
Zhao the Third looked down at the young man who carried Cao Shaozheng’s bloodline and smiled cruelly.
"Fool. If I kill you, all of this will be mine anyway!"
"You can go to hell now and reunite with that beast of a father of yours."
As he spoke, he chopped with his good right hand, his fingers held together like a blade, swiftly striking the crown of the young man’s head!
CRACK!
The young man’s pleas stopped abruptly. His eyes bulged, and blood gushed from his seven orifices as his body slumped to the ground, silent.
After killing this last member of the Cao Family, the crazed, twisted expression on Zhao the Third’s face gradually calmed.
"Hahahaha... Big Brother, Sister-in-law, my nephews... Did you see that? That bastard’s entire family has gone down to atone to you."
"You... can rest in peace now..."
After laughing, he wiped his face. "Your little brother... will be joining you soon. But before that..."
He turned and swept his gaze across the vault full of treasure, his eyes devoid of greed. "I still need to leave something behind for my two unfortunate grandchildren."

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