Firmament Sword

”Yeah, and he even dares to let his son out to gain experience. What an idiot!” the other middle-aged man sneered.

”You’ll pay for insulting my parents.” Hearing them insult his parents, Xu Luo grew furious, a chilling glint flashing in his eyes.

”Pay for it? We’ve already paid! Why else would we be in this miserable state? You want to know the truth before you die, right? Fine, I’ll tell you just what your father did back then!” The older middle-aged man chortled, but a flicker of grief passed through his eyes.

”My name is Yuan Ren, and my brother is Yuan Yi. We once had a beloved third brother named Yuan Zhi.”

”My third brother was once one of your father’s six trusted liaison officers!”

”The Divine Soldiers?” Xu Luo interjected, narrowing his eyes.

”That’s right, they were called the Divine Soldiers!”

Yuan Ren’s eyes glistened with tears as he said sorrowfully, ”My brother was completely loyal to your father, but after a failed battle that had nothing to do with him, your father needed a scapegoat. He pinned the blame on my third brother, kicked him out of the army, and stripped him of his military status!”

”Even so, my honest and kind third brother didn’t resent your father. He fell gravely ill and spent over half a year recuperating in our hometown. He was preparing to come to the Imperial Capital to live with us, but who would have known? Just over ten days after he arrived in the Imperial Capital, he died mysteriously!”

Yuan Ren’s eyes blazed with hatred. He gritted his teeth and said, ”Why? He was already kicked out of the army, his military status revoked. Why couldn’t your father just let him go? Why!”

”Are you implying... that my father killed your brother?” Xu Luo frowned slightly. He simply couldn’t believe his father would do such a thing.

”If he really wanted to kill him, why not do it in the army? Don’t give me that nonsense about a lack of evidence. Does a commanding general really need many reasons to kill someone?” Xu Luo retorted.

That military defeat was the only one his father had ever suffered in his life. It sent shockwaves through the imperial court, and countless people called for his impeachment. His father was despondent for a long time afterward.

Although Xu Luo had been young at the time, he still had some memory of it.

The Prime Minister Wei Group, with Wei Feng at its core, had truly risen to power at that exact moment!

Xu Luo calmly looked at the Yuan Ren brothers and continued, ”Even if he wasn’t killed in the army, couldn’t someone have been sent to kill him while he was recuperating in your hometown? Why wait until he returned to the Imperial Capital to do it?”

As he spoke, a sarcastic smile touched Xu Luo’s lips. ”How stupid would my father have to be to kill your third brother in the Imperial Capital, of all places, and draw all the suspicion onto himself?”

”If not your father, then who? He blamed the failure of that battle on my poor brother. What a convenient scapegoat... Heh, heh. My poor brother didn’t utter a single word of complaint, but even that wasn’t enough to escape your father’s murderous grasp!” Yuan Yi stared at Xu Luo, his eyes bloodshot, completely ignoring his explanation.

”I’m asking, how can you be so sure my father did it? What evidence do you have?” Hearing them insist that his father had killed Yuan Zhi, Xu Luo was getting annoyed.

He looked coldly at the two men and said, ”If you have no evidence, then stop making wild accusations. I know my father. He would never do something like this!”

”Never... What do you mean, never? Who the hell needs evidence? I’m going to kill you right now!” Yuan Yi roared, looking utterly crazed as he lunged at Xu Luo.

A cold light flashed from his hand as he swung a blade at Xu Luo!

”Don’t!”

THUD!

A dull thud echoed.

Yuan Yi’s body was thrown violently through the air, smashing into a tree more than ten meters away and instantly losing consciousness.

”Second Young Master, you truly are treacherous!” Yuan Ren was enraged, his eyes turning red as he prepared to attack.

”He’s not dead.”

Xu Luo looked at Yuan Ren impassively and said coldly, ”Don’t think you truly understand my strength. If I wanted to kill you, it would be as easy as flipping my hand. If you don’t believe me, Yuan Ren... why don’t you try me?”

”You...”

Yuan Ren looked at his unmoving brother, his face ashen with rage. After a moment’s hesitation, he ran toward his brother instead.

As Xu Luo unleashed that strike, the potent True Essence in his Dantian surged. Unfortunately, the light that had been shimmering on his Shaking Light Star Soul dimmed considerably, just as it had when he first discovered it.

In that instant, a massive amount of True Essence Power had poured out from the Shaking Light Star Soul, saving Xu Luo’s life at the critical moment.

’Good, you don’t just take in energy without giving any out. Otherwise, I really would have died here today, and for such a stupid reason.’

Xu Luo looked inward at his dim Shaking Light Star Soul and thought, ’Don’t worry. I’ll find plenty of Spirit Medicine in this Black Forest to replenish what you just lost.’

The Shaking Light Star Soul flickered gently, as if responding to him.

Yuan Ren paid Xu Luo no mind and ran to check on his brother. He was relieved to find that Yuan Yi was only unconscious and not seriously injured.

Xu Luo stood there and sneered, ”Believe me now? You insulted my parents. I should have killed you both on the spot to appease my anger. But considering you have your reasons, I’ll spare your lives. Now take your brother and get lost. Don’t interfere with my business here!”

”So, when you killed a member of the Black Wind Gang and then fled... was that intentional?” Yuan Ren suddenly asked, as if he’d thought of something.

”What does that have to do with you?” Xu Luo rolled his eyes. ’If I was really that capable,’ he thought, ’I would have wiped out that whole damn group already. Why would I have run? But that’s a secret I can’t tell you!’

”You’re right, it has nothing to do with me. Xu Luo, you claim your father didn’t do it. Fine, then we’ll go back to the Imperial Capital right now and demand an answer from him!” Yuan Ren declared loudly.

”Are you out of your mind?”

Xu Luo looked at Yuan Ren and couldn’t help but sigh. ”My father has already left for the Border Region; he’s not in the Imperial Capital at all. Besides, if you go back just like this, aren’t you afraid Wei Ziting will come after you? Think about it. He’s not from a military family, so how would he know about the relationship between you and your third brother?”

Yuan Ren’s expression changed slightly, and he fell silent. He and Yuan Yi had discussed this before, but they had never had any contact with the Empire’s upper echelons and had no idea how things worked at that level.

They had subconsciously assumed that a powerful figure like Wei Ziting could truly find out anything.

Hearing Xu Luo’s words, Yuan Ren suddenly felt that his third brother’s death was shrouded in mystery.

”How about this. What you’re talking about concerns my father’s reputation. My dad has been a hero his entire life. How can he be saddled with such a baseless accusation?”

Xu Luo continued, looking at Yuan Ren, ”If you can trust me, just give me some time. After I finish my business here and return to the Imperial Capital, I will immediately investigate this matter. Once I find out the truth, I will definitely get you justice!”

”Do you really mean that?” Yuan Ren looked at the handsome youth before him, whose face still held a trace of immaturity, his eyes filled with suspicion.

”And what if I don’t? Killing you would be child’s play for me! I can’t stand people who ask so many questions!” Xu Luo said with a cold arrogance, utterly dismissive of Yuan Ren’s question.

Goaded, Yuan Ren rolled his eyes. Looking at Xu Luo’s calm expression, he knew they had truly picked a fight with the wrong person today. His opponent’s strength was too great; he had knocked out his brother with a single blow, and it even looked like he’d held back!

At this level of power, it would be completely useless for him to charge forward.

”If that’s the case, then I’ll wait for you for half a year. After six months, I will come find you in the Imperial Capital.”

With that, Yuan Ren hoisted his brother Yuan Yi onto his back. After taking a few steps, he turned back and said, ”When the time comes, I hope Young Master Xu can give me justice! If this matter has nothing to do with the Grand General of National Guardian, then kill us or flay us, we brothers will be at your mercy! But if it really was General Xu’s doing, then we’ll be ready to give our lives for it!”

With that, Yuan Ren strode away.

Watching Yuan Ren’s back disappear into the forest, Xu Luo shook his head and sighed softly. ”A little foolish, but a respectable man nonetheless.”