Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Yangzhou City, City Lord’s Mansion.

Wu Wei wasn’t actually at ease. He hadn’t slept all night, mainly because he was worried Lu Hanyan wouldn’t be able to capture Fan Jinhua.

”Hurry up and pack. If anything goes wrong, we run immediately.”

”If Lu Hanyan fails to kill Fan Jinhua, she’ll definitely come back and hack us to pieces.”

That’s right. He was currently packing with his family, completely unconcerned about defending the city. Just as Lu Chao had said, with Lu Hanyan nearby, no one would dare attack.

But just then... CHARGE!

The sky-shaking sounds of battle suddenly erupted from outside the city. Wu Wei was stunned. ’What’s happening?’

He hurriedly darted out of the City Lord’s Mansion.

The moment he left the mansion, he ran into a messenger, who said frantically, ”City Lord, we’re under attack! They’ve already breached the walls!”

BZZT!

Wu Wei’s mind instantly went blank, and he stared dumbly at the messenger.

’What in the world is going on?’

Seeing his state, the messenger quickly added, ”It’s... it’s that Life-taking Bone, Lu Chao! He’s leading an army and has fought his way back into Yangzhou City!”

Wu Wei was even more stupefied. ’Leading men? Where did he get men from?’

He stammered, ”How many?”

The messenger shook his head hard. ”It’s too dark to see clearly, but it looks like a lot of them. We were caught off guard, and they broke through the city defenses.”

Instantly, Wu Wei’s scalp went numb with terror...

He paced back and forth, then spun around and rushed back into the City Lord’s Mansion, shouting, ”Quick, grab our things and run!”

He had no intention of fighting back. Even if he succeeded, Lu Hanyan would never let him off the hook.

His only thought was... to flee!

Soon, Wu Wei fled the City Lord’s Mansion with his family.

He spurred his horse toward the South City Gate of Yangzhou, but just as he reached it, he suddenly reined to a sharp halt.

He froze, completely dumbfounded.

Before the gate stood three warhorses, and he was very familiar with the people riding them.

”Life-taking Bone Lu Chao, you... you...”

Indeed, the three people on the warhorses before the South City Gate were none other than Lu Chao, Cheng Yunsu, and Cheng Chuming.

Lu Chao gazed at the group before him. ”Wu Wei, where do you think you’re going?”

KLAK KLAK KLAK...

Wu Wei’s entire body trembled uncontrollably. His face twisted in a furious snarl as he roared, ”You Life-taking Bone trash! I’ll kill you! I will avenge Xin’er! Everyone, with me!”

He saw that it was only Lu Chao and his two companions; the fires of battle in Yangzhou City had not yet reached the South City Gate.

’I’ll kill this damn Life-taking Bone Calamity Star, then fight my way out of the city.’

And so, Wu Wei led Wu Bei and the other experts of his family in a charge toward Lu Chao.

SHING...

Lu Chao leveled his longspear and replied indifferently, ”There aren’t enough of you.”

One man, one spear, one horse, he charged into Wu Wei’s group. With every thrust of his spear, a man fell, and fresh blood splattered ceaselessly before the South City Gate.

Wu Bei of the Qianling Trading Company died. All of Wu Wei’s family members who could fight were killed. Soon, only Wu Wei himself remained. The latter was at the Innate Third Layer, but to Lu Chao, mounted on his Demon Beast Warhorse, he was nothing to look at.

Finally, with a THUD.

Wu Wei was swept from his horse, coughing up blood repeatedly.

At the same time, the tip of Lu Chao’s spear, still mounted on his warhorse, was already pressed against Wu Wei’s forehead, freezing him in place just as he was about to struggle.

After just a single breath, Wu Wei suddenly began to beg for his life...

”Spare me! You’ve already killed my daughter. You’ve already gotten your revenge for Cheng Yunsu!”

He was afraid of death. He was terrified of it.

But Lu Chao just shook his head coldly. ”End your own life. I will not kill the rest of your family.”

At that moment, Wu Wei’s family was watching from a distance. They had all collapsed to the ground like heaps of mud. Only Wu Wei’s simple-minded son was still there, clapping his hands and muttering, ”How exciting... how wonderful.”

On his warhorse, Lu Chao slowly withdrew his spear and gazed at the rising sun.

Below the Demon Beast Warhorse...

Wu Wei’s expression flickered with uncertainty. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and roared again, ”Life-taking Bone Calamity Star, I’m going to kill your woman!”

He shot up and charged murderously toward Cheng Yunsu and Cheng Chuming.

He was going to take Cheng Yunsu hostage. He was going to live.

However... PFFT!

The instant Wu Wei neared Cheng Yunsu, his head was pierced through by a longspear.

He stopped in front of Cheng Yunsu’s warhorse and turned to look blankly back at Lu Chao. The latter was still atop his mount, still gazing at the rising sun, but the longspear in his hand had vanished.

THUD...

Wu Wei collapsed, dead, his eyes wide with disbelief.

In his final moments, his regret was immense. It wasn’t regret for letting his daughter, Wu Xin, bully Cheng Yunsu, but regret for not immediately cutting Lu Chao down the moment Cheng Weishan had reported him for having a Life-taking Bone.

He was filled with such bitter regret.

Just as Wu Wei took his last breath, Lu Chao turned to Cheng Yunsu and her father. ”We’ve returned to Yangzhou City, but we’ll be leaving again soon. Do you want to visit the Cheng Mansion?”

Hearing this, Cheng Chuming and Cheng Yunsu instinctively glanced in the direction of the Cheng Mansion.

In the end, Cheng Yunsu shook her head and said, ”There’s nothing left for me there.”

Cheng Chuming, however, clearly looked as if he wanted to go back.

With a small smile, Lu Chao said, ”Let’s go back. The scene of Lu Yan’s death needs to be cleaned up anyway, to prevent anyone from discovering anything.”

With that, Cheng Yunsu agreed.

Cheng Chuming, for his part, gave Lu Chao a grateful look. No matter what, he wanted to take care of the bodies in the Cheng Mansion.

The three of them did not participate in the ensuing battle for Yangzhou City. Instead, they returned to the now-empty Cheng Mansion.

A short time later, the scene of Lu Yan’s death was cleaned up. At the same time, the fighting in Yangzhou City gradually subsided. It was clearly a complete victory... Luo Wendeng, Tan An, and the others had taken full control of the entire city.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the Cheng Mansion to meet with Lu Chao...

Luo Wendeng got straight to the point. ”Brother Lu, when do we set out to attack Yinzhou City?”

After taking Yangzhou, they would head south to attack Yinzhou City, and from there, they could march straight into the Tiger Flame Kingdom.

The expressions on Luo Wendeng and the others’ faces were completely different from yesterday.

They had reclaimed the bones of their elders that had been hung from the city tower, and now they had taken Yangzhou City.

Naturally, they were filled with hope...

Lu Chao heard this and replied with a smile, ”We’ll set out as soon as Master Fan returns.”

Fan Jinhua had gone to lure Lu Hanyan’s forces deep into Zhengyang Mountain, so he hadn’t joined them in the attack on Yangzhou City.

To this, Luo Wendeng and the others readily agreed.

Their feelings for Lu Chao now went beyond mere gratitude; they were filled with deep admiration.

Suddenly, Yu Xiaoping stepped forward curiously and asked, ”Big Brother Lu Chao, what are you carving?”

Hearing this, the others also looked at Lu Chao.

Ever since they came in, they had noticed that Lu Chao was holding a mask-shaped piece of wood and carving it.

Lu Chao chuckled and replied softly, ”Something to scare people with. It pays to be prepared.”

The group blinked. ’What’s so scary about a mask? Is he carving it to look like a ghost?’

’That would only scare ordinary people, wouldn’t it?’