Dragon Canon

At this moment, Willow Ash Town lay in utter desolation. Wei Yuan had relocated even the shops, so there was no way the town was recovering any time soon. The only signs of life left in the entire town were the few grand estates belonging to the Xu Clan.

The chief clerk, accompanied by several soldiers, strode confidently up to the Xu residence. It was then they saw dozens of burly men and the family’s private guards clearing out the shantytowns in the adjacent area.

The chief clerk grabbed one of the burly men and asked, “What’s going on here?”

The man was born with a fearsome face. He glared at the chief clerk and barked, “Who are you? Why are you grabbing me?”

Intimidated, the clerk let go with a shiver and identified himself.

Upon hearing that he was a commandery official, the man reined in his insolence and replied, “The family has outgrown the current quarters. The master wishes to build a few more courtyards and has sent us to clear the land. Luckily, there’s not a soul left in these shacks, so a single fire will do the trick.”

“Do as you please, my friend.” The chief clerk waved the burly man off with a smile and continued toward the Xu Clan’s main gate. Once he had walked a short distance, he immediately dropped the smile, brooding. The western regions were full of outlaws, and that burly man clearly had many lives on his hands. Thus, the chief clerk saw no point in getting into a confrontation with him.

At the entrance to the Xu residence, the chief clerk announced his name. Moments later, the housekeeper rushed over and said, “The master is currently entertaining guests in the garden. Please, follow me.”

However, the clerk snorted and retorted, “Has your master recently grown some nerves? How dare he summon me?”

The housekeeper forced a smile. “The master is currently entertaining important guests. He simply cannot spare the time right now.”

“Fine, then. Let’s find out who these people are and exactly how important they are! Lead the way!”

With a grim expression, the clerk followed the housekeeper through the side hall and into the garden. As soon as they passed through the side hall, a tantalizing aroma filled the air, instantly whetting the clerk’s appetite.

There wasn’t a single merchant in Willow Ash Town at the present, and game was extremely scarce in the Shattered Realm. Since accompanying Yuan Qingyan to his post, the clerk hadn’t had a single bite of fresh meat. The kitchen was stocked only with military rations such as dried meat as well.

Stepping out of the side hall, he saw a banquet had been set up in a pavilion within the garden. The table was already laden with two or three dozen dishes, yet maidservants were still bringing out courses one after another.

There were about ten people at the table. Xu Jingfeng wasn’t even seated in the seat of honor. In the very center sat a mysterious figure wearing a jade-colored, strikingly beautiful mask. The rest of the Everyone else at the table were also wearing masks. They were all quietly watching the chief clerk.

The clerk’s expression darkened as he strode over, his tone sarcastic. “Well, well. While the common folk outside are struggling to make ends meet, and the commandery administrator himself is eating plain porridge and simple dishes for every deal, Patriarch Xu has been living in such luxury! As expected of an aristocratic family—you live far better than the commandery administrator himself!”

Xu Jinfeng remained seated, smiling faintly. “It’s you, chief clerk. What’s the matter? Has the commandery administrator already used up my gift and decided to set his sights on me again?”

Seeing that Xu Jingfeng hadn’t even bothered to stand up, the clerk grunted and said with a sinister edge, “Last time, I gave you a friendly reminder, but it would seem that you didn’t take it to heart, Patriarch Xu. I came today to remind you it’s been several days since your last gift. Isn’t it time for you to show your appreciation again? New estates, banquets for your guests. Do you really have the heart to let the commandery administrator subsist on plain porridge and salted vegetables, and his colleagues at the yamen suffer from hunger and cold?”

As he spoke, the chief clerk pulled out a chair and sat down at the table without waiting to be invited. He then picked up a pair of chopsticks and reached for a main dish in the center of the table.

But just as his hand extended, a masked woman sitting nearby snatched the chopsticks from his hand, snapped them into two, and threw them on the ground. She even stomped on them several times.

The clerk trembled with rage as he shouted, “Rebellion! Rebellion! Who is this woman? Get the men to arrest her already, Patriarch Xu!”

The masked woman replied coldly, “Arrest me? Who gave you the gall?”

The clerk grew even angrier and pointed a finger at her. “Good, very good, very good! Just wait until you’re in prison. We’ll see how many tortures you can endure! When the time comes, the entire dungeon—from top to bottom—will be filled with your husbands! If that’s not enough, I can always call in a hundred grunts to join in on the fun!”

The masked man sitting in the center spoke up, “Even if you want to throw someone in jail, you must have a legitimate reason, right? Surely it can’t be something as trivial as offending you?”

The chief clerk sneered. “Does the commandery office need a reason to throw someone in jail?”

Xu Jingfeng looked at the man in the center. Upon receiving an imperceptible nod, his expression darkened, and he made a hand gesture. The hidden guards of the Xu Clan immediately stepped out of their hiding spots and closed in behind the clerk with grim faces.

The soldiers accompanying the chief clerk tried to intervene at first, but the guards shoved them aside with a single push. The soldiers widely retreated to the side and remained silent then.

The two guards were both Dao Foundation stage cultivators. They lifted the chief clerk into the air as easily as picking up a chick and flung him outside the pavilion. Although the clerk himself was also a Dao Foundation stage cultivator, his Dao Foundation was the frailest, most scholarly type possible—a far cry from the Xu Clan guards, who had been forged in the heat of battle.

The chief clerk, furious and humiliated, stamped his feet and shouted, “Xu Jingfeng! How dare you! What is the meaning of this?”

Xu Jingfeng replied coldly, “Did I invite you to the table? You’re a mere underling. Who do you think you are to sit at the Xu Clan’s banquet?”

The clerk’s aged face flushed crimson with rage. “Good, good, good! Just you wait! The commandery administrator won’t let you get away with this!”

Xu Jingfeng sneered. “It’s not like I’m planning to head out, and here in this residence, I’m protected by the ancestral spirits of the Xu Clan. If Lord Yuan dares to show his face, then I’ll welcome him with open arms. Of course, whether or not he gets to leave is a different story entirely!”

The chief clerk realized he had hit a brick wall today and turned to leave. Just then, the man seated in the center of the table spoke up again, “Are you just going to let him walk away like this?”

Realization struck Xu Jingfeng, and he clenched his teeth with resolve. He barked, “Guards! Break a leg and toss him out of the estate!”

“Four.” The man in the center said calmly.

Xu Jingfeng immediately corrected himself, “Break all four of his legs[1]!”

The clerk let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered, alternating between megging for mercy and issuing threats. However, the Xu Clan’s guards were accustomed to running amok in the Shattered Realm. There wasn’t a single person who hadn’t had plenty of blood on their hands. Since it was a direct order from the patriarch, they didn’t hold back at all. With a series of cracks, they snapped all four of the clerk’s limbs and crushed several small bones in the process, causing him to scream in agony.

But that wasn’t all. Xu Jingfeng ordered them to break every limb of the soldiers who had accompanied them as well. Then, the guards carried them outside the town and tossed them into a muddy pond.

With the eyesores finally cleared away, the guests at the table removed their masks, and the banquet officially began.

1. The innocent among you might ask: He doesn’t have four legs, he has two arms and two legs! To that I raise you: animals don’t have arms, my dude. ☜