Firmament Sword

”You... you dare to kill me?” Wei Yun gritted his teeth, forcing himself to endure the searing, tearing pain. His eyes were a frightening shade of red as he stared daggers at Xu Luo. ”Do you have any idea who I am?”

”Of course. It’s precisely because I know who you are that I won’t let you go... you goddamn piece of scum!” Xu Luo’s gaze was frigid as he looked at Wei Yun. ”Do you remember the massacre in Wansong Town, over a decade ago? You, a citizen of the Cangqiong Kingdom, cast aside your nation’s interests for your own selfish gains. You collaborated with the enemy and put on quite a show. Wei Yun... Instructor Wei... surely you haven’t... forgotten about that, have you?”

As Xu Luo finished speaking, his face became an icy mask. He looked at the horrified Wei Yun and said, ”Your brother holds immense power in the court. Countless people were wrongfully killed in that massacre, and to this day, even with all the evidence I have, I still don’t dare to bring it out. Because... it’s not enough to take down your brother. Are you happy to hear that?”

”Wh-what nonsense are you spouting? What does any of that have to do with me?” A flicker of panic flashed in Wei Yun’s eyes. The immense pain wracking his body, his life’s cultivation draining away... he hadn’t even begun to recover from that devastating blow when he was hit with news that shocked him even more.

”Heh heh, you know better than anyone whether I’m spouting nonsense. Wei Yun, I’ve told you, I’m not telling you all this today to trick you into saying something or to get some kind of evidence. I just want you to know one thing...”

Xu Luo gritted his teeth. ”Don’t blame me for what I’m doing to you today. You all were ruthless enough to frame my father, to frame Vanguard Officer General Wu, to frame the thousands of soldiers who only wanted to serve their country but died a miserable death!

If you had just quietly stayed at True Martial Academy as an Instructor, I might not have suspected you for a while. But you... you came looking for trouble with me on your own. And now, while I’m on the front lines serving the kingdom, you actually came to hunt me down. Wei Yun... ask yourself! Are you not a fucking animal?!”

Xu Luo’s final words were practically a roar. ”Did you really think that just because you succeeded once, you could succeed a second time? Did you really think that being a Tier Eight Great Sword Master made you invincible, free to do whatever you pleased? Did you really think... that I... was so easy to kill?”

A look of deep, venomous hatred shot from Wei Yun’s eyes. He groaned, speaking in ragged bursts, ”Heh heh... You little beast... So it’s true! You really were investigating... I wasn’t wrong, and I didn’t make a mistake... My only mistake was underestimating you. To the victor go the spoils... there’s nothing... more to say. Kill me if you’re going to kill me, but don’t even think... you’ll get anything you want to know... from me!”

”Fuck you!” Xu Luo channeled the immense power of Breaking Army Seven Kills and stomped on Wei Yun’s wrist. With a sharp CRACK, the wrist bone shattered, and Wei Yun let out a short, choked scream.

”That was for the Death Warriors who died so miserably back then, you bastard! You scum! You degenerate! You had a grand time colluding with the Fengyue Building, didn’t you?”

With that, Xu Luo turned to the other side and stomped again, breaking Wei Yun’s other wrist. He gritted his teeth and snarled, ”And that was for the thousands of soldiers who died, for Vanguard Officer General Wu, who was shot until his body looked like a pincushion! They were all prepared to die for their country, but they shouldn’t have died because of a plot by their own people!”

CRACK!

Xu Luo stomped on one of Wei Yun’s shins, snapping it. The pain jolted Wei Yun from the brink of unconsciousness, and he let out an inhuman howl.

”This one is for my father! Your bastard of a brother did a good job forging my father’s handwriting, didn’t he? He must have been secretly pleased with himself, right? I bet he had a wonderful New Year!”

”You little beast... so that incident... that was your doing...” The intense pain had twisted Wei Yun’s face into a grotesque mask, but he still stared daggers at Xu Luo, grinding out the words through clenched teeth.

”That’s right. What are you going to do about it, bite me?” Xu Luo looked down at Wei Yun. ”I’ve done plenty of things! For example... killing you!”

As he spoke, Xu Luo raised his foot, concentrating the power of Breaking Army Seven Kills into his leg, and brought it down viciously, snapping Wei Yun’s other leg.

”AARGH!” Wei Yun could no longer endure the horrifying pain and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Strangely, however, his voice didn’t travel more than ten feet.

It turned out Miaomiao had long since sealed the area, otherwise the commotion would have attracted others by now.

”You must have felt pretty great when you came to hunt me down, right?” Xu Luo crouched beside Wei Yun, who was now twisted into a contorted ball, and said with a smile, ’Did you feel a sense of satisfaction? Like, ”Xu Ji, ten years ago I nearly brought you down, and ten years later I’ll end your bloodline for good!” You must have been pretty pleased with yourself when you got my itinerary, too, right? After all those years in military intelligence, you still have your people everywhere. Did you feel like a master strategist, controlling everything from the shadows, deciding victory from a thousand miles away?’

”You little... beast... Kill me! Just kill me!” Wei Yun’s voice was extremely hoarse. Every word he spoke took a tremendous amount of effort.

”Why should I? I’m not done playing yet!” Xu Luo stood up and let his gaze wander over Wei Yun’s body. Everywhere he looked, Wei Yun couldn’t help but tremble.

Only today did this powerhouse, who had always stood at the apex of the secular world, finally understand what it felt like to be the fish on the chopping block.

He finally understood the meaning of a fate worse than death.

”You know, killing someone is actually a very difficult task. If you don’t kill them in one go, it can be very unpleasant for you...” Xu Luo looked at Wei Yun, a smile on his face, but a furious fire burned in his eyes.