Chapter Fifty: The Blood-Drenched Avenue

"Hui Feiran," enduring the biting sword wind, managed to dismantle the majority of the Monthly Edge sword moves of the Decoupling Command. Disregarding his own injuries, he forcefully seized the long sword in his grasp.

"Clang!"

His robes were covered in sword marks, and his entire body was stained with blood, yet he deemed the outcome already decided.

"This sword belongs to me now. How will you respond?"

The expression of the Decoupling Command remained relaxed, which caught "Hui Feiran" off guard. In his view, the Decoupling Command should have been filled with frustration and hatred at having his petty cleverness exposed.

"Hui Feiran" touched the sword body, and a series of lights began to encircle the blade. He flicked it and sighed.

"Decent swordsmanship, especially this sword. It is truly a pity that such quality has fallen into your hands."

"Oh..." "Hui Feiran" was somewhat surprised. There were actually no restrictions within the sword, and the Decoupling Command had not refined it.

Panic suddenly washed over him; he wanted to withdraw his divine sense from the blade, but it was already too late. Deep within the long sword resided a figure in fluttering dresses. Even as a mere projection, that figure made the hair on "Hui Feiran's" body stand on end.

Before he could react, the figure slowly extended a single finger.

"Snap!"

A crisp and resounding sound echoed, seemingly flicked right against his forehead.

Immediately following this, wisps of vapor floated above "Hui Feiran's" head. His expression went blank, the long sword dropped to the ground, and he fell to his knees. It took him quite a while to snap back to reality.

"An... Ancestor is dead?"

His voice trembled, filled with incredulous self-questioning.

Yet the only reply he received was a fist striking his face. The Decoupling Command would not let slip a single opportunity. After pinning him to the ground with a punch, he hurriedly picked up the long sword and began repeatedly stabbing him.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

Sensing that the person beneath him had ceased moving, the Decoupling Command forced himself to stand up. He looked up toward the firmament and smiled broadly.

"Li Shen... I am coming to kill you."

Li Shen's pupils contracted, and his entire body trembled. Watching the Decoupling Command go from being suppressed at the start to executing a counter-kill against Selatu through sheer strategy, he felt utterly terrified.

Yet, upon seeing Hui Feiran's attack, he had felt reassured. He could not understand why someone with such a massive advantage had lost. Why?

Why on earth was this happening?

He truly could not comprehend how such a thing could possibly occur.

He had to run! He began to flee!

He could not die here! What if his wife died? Dead was dead; as long as he remained alive, what did any loss matter?

Let the members of the family die, let them all die! Let everyone perish! I want to live, I want to live... I do not want to die with these people!

As for his parents... none of that mattered. As long as... as long as he stayed alive, that was all that mattered!

"Murder... there's murder!"

The moment he cried out, a flash of sword light suddenly pierced through the small world with a crisp crack, tearing through his robes, piercing his body, and shattering the protective barrier of spiritual energy around him.

"Ah..."

Overwhelming agony flooded Li Shen's neural pathways. Enduring the pain, he forced himself to run outward, desperate to escape the estate where he had grown up since childhood.

He clutched his back, but the black blood refused to stop flowing.

In his twenty-seven years of life, he had never been so disheveled, never so miserable. Madness and pain could be seen in his eyes, but a trace of joy quickly surfaced.

Lying on the ground was the corpse of a woman—his wife. Li Shen smiled, and just as he wanted to mock her with a "look at you today," a mouthful of blood spewed from his mouth.

Knowing he could not afford such superfluous actions, he ran frantically toward the outside.

He was overjoyed, because Li Shen knew he had reached the main street.

By now, Li Shen had been completely transformed into a blood-soaked figure. His injuries were worsening by the second; running was out of the question, and even walking had become arduous. He staggered and stumbled, reeling sideways along the avenue.

He saw that all the retainers of his household had fallen in pools of blood, and he smiled.

"Useless trash... who told you not to protect me properly! And you lot! Get out of my sight!"

Li Shen shrieked at the top of his lungs.

The surrounding townspeople, upon seeing Li Shen in such a state, were utterly terrified, realizing that he was truly about to die.

They dared not step forward, and the hatred in their hearts seemed insignificant before the genuine terror gripping them.

Li Shen staggered in the direction of the high terrace. The prefect was there! The number one martial expert of Douyuan Commandery was there! Of course, neither of those two mattered!

The source of everything was there! The old immortal! Among that group's alliance was that old immortal as well; they were all in cahoots!

No matter what, whoever it was, he just wanted to live!

Gritting his teeth, Li Shen pressed on toward the high terrace.

Not long after he departed, the Decoupling Command emerged. He still wore his bamboo hat, but unlike before, his snow-white robes were now dyed entirely red.

"Immortal Master... are you alright?"

It was the same person from before. Feeling the biting, winter-like sword aura emanating from the Decoupling Command, he shivered all over, yet still forced himself to ask.

The Decoupling Command glanced at him, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, and replied.

"It is of no consequence..."

With that, he pulled his bamboo hat lower and strode in the direction Li Shen had taken.

In truth, recovering right now would have been the wisest course of action; otherwise, the damage to the already fractured foundation of the Decoupling Command would only worsen.

Yet he was unwilling. He had to kill Li Shen; he refused to let him live another day.

As long as that man drew breath, the Decoupling Command would feel that failing to kill him was his own fault.

Upon probing the memories of the person who had tracked him, even just viewing those memories had made the Decoupling Command's hair stand on end.

Infants, the elderly, pregnant women...

He stopped at nothing. In his eyes, it seemed there was no hope, only a perverse joy in ruthlessly destroying other people's families and gazing upon their agonizing expressions, giving vent to a twisted, frenzied delight.

"Murder... a madman is murdering..."

The senses of the Decoupling Command were acute; even from hundreds of meters away, he could hear Li Shen's frantic cries.

People like this always made a great deal of noise when facing death, and this happened to be his home turf.

That old immortal was also a trouble.

Yet the Decoupling Command gritted his teeth. He wished he could move faster, too!

His physical body simply would not allow it. He could only force himself forward step by step, lifting his feet with sheer willpower, tracking the trail of black blood left by Li Shen.

The steward of a certain estate opened his gates, intending to tell the wailing figure outside to shut his mouth, but froze in place upon seeing who it was.

Noticing his hesitation, the young mistress of the courtyard marched forward indignantly, opening her mouth to shout, only to catch sight of a blood-drenched figure struggling onward toward the high terrace.

At that moment, a streak of sword light materialized and impaled the running man.

That person dropped to his knees, let out a cry, and then forced himself back to his feet, continuing his staggering march toward the high terrace.

Seeing this, the young mistress could not help but recoil a step. "Mu... murder..."

Before she could finish, the steward beside her hastily clapped a hand over her mouth.

As the steward of a prominent family, even in such a state, he could see the identity of Li Shen all too clearly.

Thus he knew that a disaster of this magnitude was something they must never, ever meddle in. Without hesitation, he slammed the gates shut.