Second Master Wu was completely stunned, and immediately shouted anxiously, "Lord Gu, Lord Gu, don’t be impulsive! The arrow is already on the bowstring!"
With that,
Second Master Wu strode up to Liu Zifang and the others, lowered his voice and angrily cursed, "What the hell are all of you doing? You think this is child’s play? We’re working with our entire clan’s heads on the line! If Gu Zhan doesn’t get involved, what excuse do we have to attack the Hundred Households Office? Did you all leave your brains at home?"
Liu Zifang’s face was dark. "Gu Zhan is too arrogant, he—"
"What the fuck does his arrogance have to do with you?" Second Master Wu gritted out, barely suppressing his anger. "Don’t you know who Gu Zhan is? He’s notorious for being insane! Does he ever play by the rules? Has he ever cared about consequences? If he followed the rules, we wouldn’t even be here tonight! And you want to use the noble family’s set of rules to restrain a madman like Gu Zhan? Got your heads kicked by a donkey?"
Liu Zifang wanted to say something else, but Second Master Wu took a deep breath and said, "I don’t care what grudges you have. Everything must serve the bigger picture. If you keep fussing right now, this whole thing is off. You know what’s happening at the Prefecture Government? This is a house-raiding, clan-exterminating business!"
Liu Zifang’s face turned green, then white.
The other heads of the noble families also looked sullen and held their tongues.
Second Master Wu snorted coldly, quickly put on a fawning smile and walked up to Gu Zhan, saying, "Lord Gu, don’t get angry, don’t do anything rash. These people left their brains at home—please, with your magnanimity, you decide what happens next, we’ll follow your lead!"
Gu Zhan threw a sidelong glance at Liu Zifang and the rest, then snorted. "I won’t waste time with extra words. I’ll say just one thing—don’t fuck with me from here on out. I, Gu Zhan, have never cared about consequences!"
"Yes, yes, understood." Second Master Wu let out a long breath.
Immediately, Gu Zhan shouted loudly, "The Inspection Team of the Hundred Households Office has colluded with the White Lotus Sect, ambushed colleagues in the South City. I, Gu Zhan, am here at the Hundred Households Office to demand accountability and investigate the truth!"
Right away,
A team of South City Embroidered Uniform Guards marched toward the Office gates, dragging a few Inspection Team guards who’d been taken alive earlier.
The Court still stood, and though these past years had brought it to the brink, there was still no one bold enough to rebel openly. Of course, neither Gu Zhan nor the nobles dared to launch a blatant assault on the Hundred Households Office. At the very least, they needed a proper excuse—at least on the surface.
The Inspection Team appearing in the South City was the perfect reason.
Second Master Wu sighed in relief, seeing that Gu Zhan wasn’t going off the rails, and made a small hand signal,
The very next moment,
The people from the Six Great Families all surged forward.
Each of them held some sort of position inside the Embroidered Uniform Guard—even those without real rank still counted as supporters, which was enough to stand on principle.
"Boom!"
The main gate of the Hundred Households Office was smashed open.
At the same time, with a signal flare, people from the major families started filing inside, charging toward the long street in front of the Office from all directions.
"Pftt!"
Suddenly, a feathered arrow shot from the darkness,
Piercing straight through a Martial World henchman’s body.
Immediately, figures appeared everywhere around the long street—inns, shops, homes—dozens of Embroidered Uniform Guards from the Hundred Households Office poured out, already waiting with crossbows in hand.
Countless arrows, like a storm, rained down from the black night, whistling as they flew—a terrifying storm that drowned out even the howling wind.
"Kill!" "Kill them!"...
Blood-chilling shouts filled the air—battle cries, commands, and the heavy thud of shields slamming into the ground rose and fell in chaotic waves.
The Six Great Families were not unprepared—they’d brought plenty of wooden shields, which now proved invaluable.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Feathered arrows hammered into the wooden shields, making a deep, war-drum thunder—only far more frenzied and terrifying. Still, arrows slid through the shields’ cracks now and then, striking bodies, drawing out grunts of pain as men collapsed, rolling on the ground, wailing in agony.
The people of the Six Great Families, eyes locked on blood and death, pressed toward the Office. Simultaneously, many Martial World toughs hefted their shields and charged the surrounding buildings through the arrow rain,
One, then another...
Ten, then a hundred...
Once large groups scrambled into those buildings, close-quarters combat exploded—a real, direct slaughter began at that moment.
But in that single wave of arrow fire, the Six Great Families suffered heavy losses. Corpses lay packed thick along the street, soaking in blood—an utterly wretched scene.
"Move!"
The last to move—the South City faction—managed to dodge the first wave of deadly charges and pressed toward the Office’s gates.
Clashing footsteps and the ring of steel,
Screams, battle cries, and wails blended into the night.
Breaking into the Hundred Households Office,
The wooden shields the Six Great Families had prepared forced their way to the very front, sheltering everyone from another round of terrifying arrow storms—the whistling of arrows, the thud of shields, muffled groans, and pitiful howls, all jumbled together.
"Kill!"
Second Master Wu and the other Innate Martial Artists finally became the main force, quickly leading a charge and launching direct combat with the Embroidered Uniform Guards of the Office.
In the chaos,
Gu Zhan threw the cold iron bow and quiver from his back to Rong Wanshan.
"Your main job tonight is to carry my bow for me!"
Rong Wanshan gripped the bow and arrows tightly and said, "Rest assured, Lord Gu—even if these old bones of mine are buried here, your bow and arrows will not be lost!"
Gu Zhan nodded, then drew his Horizontal Saber from his back and charged headlong into the bedlam.
The Hundred Households Office was a huge estate, now filled with roaring fires and deadly fighting—complete chaos.
Soon, Gu Zhan and Second Master Wu, along with the other top Innate Experts, carved their way into the inner courtyard.
In the inner courtyard,
A squad of the Thousand Households’ Personal Guard stood in a pavilion, weapons drawn.
Inside, Wan Yan leisurely whittled an apple with his dagger, unhurried and calm.
"Wan Yan!"
Suddenly, a Noble Inheritor among them roared, "Surrender and you’ll keep a whole corpse!"
Wan Yan’s hand trembled, breaking the apple peel. He immediately lost interest, looking up slowly at the noble crowd, finally settling his gaze on the Innate Martial Artist who had spoken. He frowned and said, "The thing I hate most is people bothering me when I’m peeling an apple. What I hate even more is when they make me break the peel. It pisses me off, you know..."
Before he finished,
Wan Yan casually tossed his dagger—a flash of pale blue sword-light, spinning and cutting the wind as it flew, silent but deadly,
Utterly calm, free of theatrics,
Yet such a plain dagger,
Shot straight into the mouth of the Innate Martial Artist who’d spoken, right in front of all the Innate Experts, with blatant, deadly precision.
"Pftt!"
The dagger went clean through the man.
Fast—so fast—
So fast that not a single Innate present could stop it—not even Fourth Layer Innates like Liu Zifang and Second Master Wu.
Amidst the tense crowd, Wan Yan slowly stood up, sighed, and said, "Boring. So, let’s end this."

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