Hundred Refinements City, the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.
Li Musheng had been sitting on the ridgeline of the roof waiting for some time when another group of people appeared below.
Looking down through the layers of night air, he saw a white-haired old woman who, the moment she arrived, threw herself over the body of Zheng Shangzong below.
She then wept with a wretched and grief-torn intensity that was harrowing to hear.
Beyond that, the old woman appeared to be of considerable age, yet her killing intent was overwhelming, and the ferocity of her bearing made even Li Musheng on the roof above involuntarily frown slightly.
This caused Li Musheng, who had originally intended to wait for her to finish weeping before speaking, to finally call out in interruption, "Who are all of you from Hundred Refinements Peak? Why has the Hundred Refinements Peak's Peak Master not come?"
At those words, the sound of the First Wife's weeping below cut off abruptly.
In an instant, everyone there, including the two Enforcement Hall elders, simultaneously snapped their heads up and looked toward the roof where Li Musheng sat.
"Who are you?"
But the white-haired, disheveled First Wife stared at Li Musheng with unwavering intensity, and in the next moment the killing intent erupting from her entire body surged outward, engulfing the roof where Li Musheng sat, as she demanded in a fierce voice, "Was it you who killed Zi?"
Faced with the questions from those below, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow and muttered to himself, "What is going on? That Peak Master of Hundred Refinements Peak is truly heartless. Two sons dead, and he still does not dare come in person to take revenge? Really going to send every last person up here one by one?"
The First Wife below heard Li Musheng's muttering and erupted with fury, and the two Enforcement Hall elders also changed expression sharply.
And in the next instant, just as the Hundred Refinements Peak group was about to move against Li Musheng without another word, the First Wife and the Enforcement Hall elders, along with the others, had their skulls pierced clean through before a single thread of martial True Qi had even been released from their bodies.
Every last one of them fell dead into the damaged street furrow below, their vitality gone in an instant.
Only nine Hundred Refinements Peak martial artists below were still alive, but having just witnessed what had happened, having watched with their own eyes as the First Wife and the two elders went down one after another like dumplings dropped in a pot, every one of them was scared witless.
They stood rooted to the spot with bloodless faces, having even forgotten to run.
At that moment, nine faint rune lights settled silently into the nine of them, and at the same time Li Musheng's voice reached their ears, "You all have a Life and Death Talisman inside you now, one that only I can remove. Take a moment to experience what it does, and then help me take care of a few things."
The moment those words fell, the nine of them below were suddenly seized by a torment as though ten thousand ants were gnawing through them from the inside, a suffering that made death seem preferable, and one after another they cried out in anguish and rolled through the furrow unable to control themselves.
Very quickly, the suffering vanished entirely from the nine martial artists, and they were left shaking and gasping in relief.
"Now it is time to help me with something."
Li Musheng's voice drifted down from the roof of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion and entered the ears of the nine martial artists as lightly as a feather.
Every one of them trembled involuntarily. To them in that moment, Li Musheng's voice was like a man-eating demon whispering at their ear.
The Falling God Peak martial artists all immediately dropped to their knees and begged for mercy, not one of them willing to experience again the inhuman torment the Life and Death Talisman brought.
Seeing this, Li Musheng gave a satisfied nod, then pointed at the group below one by one and began distributing tasks.
"You, go back to Hundred Refinements Peak right now and ask your Peak Master whether, after I have killed two of his sons and his wife, he truly has no thoughts of coming to take revenge."
"As for the rest of you, go to the other eight peaks of Falling God Peak. Tell them the Hundred Refinements Peak Master is dead and Hundred Refinements Peak is finished. If anyone wants revenge, come to the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion. I will be here waiting for them."
With that, Li Musheng waved a hand and said no more, "That is everything. Go and get to work."
Hearing this, the nine Hundred Refinements Peak martial artists all froze for a moment.
All of them had been left visibly stunned by Li Musheng's words, and even the fear the Life and Death Talisman had instilled was forgotten for just a single instant.
In their view, Li Musheng's arrogant declaration directed at Hundred Refinements Peak's Peak Master was one thing, but the man was actually planning to provoke the other eight peaks of Falling God Peak simultaneously and alone. This was something they simply could not comprehend.
How was his conduct, which seemed like sheer madness, any different from actively seeking death?
But very quickly, their minds returned to the scene of the First Wife and the two elders being killed a moment ago, and to the memory of the Life and Death Talisman's unbearable torment.
Without daring another word between them, the nine Hundred Refinements Peak martial artists all answered at once while kneeling on the ground, then scattered from the furrow as though fleeing for their lives, mounted their horses, and rode off in the direction of the nine peaks.
Li Musheng sat on the ridgeline and looked down at the departing figures, giving a satisfied nod.
...
On the small hill outside Hundred Refinements City, in the darkness of the night, the hemp-robed elderly man and the little girl in pink were concealed behind a rocky outcrop, keeping watch on the road between Hundred Refinements City and Hundred Refinements Peak.
They had earlier seen the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion courtesans and the City Master's residence martial artists ride out one after another toward Hundred Refinements Peak.
To avoid revealing themselves, they had only been watching and had not interfered.
And just a short while ago, they had even seen the First Wife and the Enforcement Hall elders of Hundred Refinements Peak arriving in person.
The two of them had therefore been hiding as carefully as possible, making not the slightest sound, to avoid being detected.
"What on earth has happened in Hundred Refinements City to bring even Zheng Yunfeng's wife and the Enforcement Hall elders here in the night?"
The hemp-robed elderly man furrowed his brow with a thoughtful expression. The arrival of the First Wife and her group had clearly caught him well off guard.
Hearing this, the little girl in pink beside him rested her chin in her hand and said, "The city master and young city master are both that old woman's own sons, so her coming here makes sense in that regard. But rushing here this late at night is somewhat out of the ordinary."
As she spoke, she wrinkled her delicate brows and said, "And I thought the old woman seemed somewhat off when she arrived just now. She came in with tremendous force and overflowing killing intent, looking as though she wanted to kill someone."
The hemp-robed elderly man gave a slight nod, saying, "Now that I think of it, the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion courtesans and the City Master's residence martial artists suddenly heading to Hundred Refinements Peak one after another is also something of an oddity."
The little girl in pink turned and looked at the hemp-robed elderly man, her bright eyes carrying a faint gleam in the darkness, asking, "Grandfather, do you think any of this could be connected to that person?"
The hemp-robed elderly man was quiet for a moment, then gave a slight nod, "That possibility cannot be ruled out. But we are outside the city right now and have no idea what has actually happened inside."