0032 Severed Heads, Severed Heads (Please recommend! Please click!)

Jiang Feng stood in place for a long time, unable to make sense of what was happening. It was the middle of the afternoon, sunlight bright and clear, the entire path visible at a glance. He wasn't blind—how could he possibly not see someone walking toward him from the other side?

A sudden thought struck him: Had he vanished from everyone else's world?

Instinctively, he walked to the water's edge and looked down. His own face wavered on the surface, blurry yet distinctly visible.

His confusion only deepened. After a moment's thought, he steeled himself, resolved to stop hiding, and strode briskly forward.

Sure enough, along the way he encountered various guards and maids. They occasionally spoke to one another, but as they passed by him, they never glanced his way, as if he were utterly invisible.

Once, he even scooped a golden koi from the lake right in front of a guard. The valuable fish struggled fiercely in his hands before slipping free and diving beneath a lotus leaf with a splash. The guard, however, didn't spare him so much as a glance—deaf as well as blind, it seemed.

The uncanny situation made Jiang Feng's skin crawl.

No longer lingering, he chose a direction and hurried away, eager to escape.

The farther he went, the more astounded he became. The garden's winding paths revealed new vistas at every turn—clearly the work of a master designer, meticulously maintained.

Most striking of all were the countless exotic plants, species that didn't belong on Mount Taiwu—ones he'd only ever read about in books. Yet here they flourished, blooming and bearing fruit out of season. The cost of transplanting and nurturing such flora alone would be astronomical!

Every corner of this mysterious estate near Dawn and Dusk Peak seemed to spell out the word "wealth."

Jiang Feng saw no sign of the owner, only servants and guards moving about in orderly fashion.

Was this opulent manor real, or some phantom mirage? And what were these people, truly?

At last, he found an exit, passing through two grand residences to reach the garden's main gate. The sight of the vermillion doors brought a rush of relief—finally, he could leave this bizarre place.

Despite the tight security inside, the main gate was oddly unguarded—yet another strange detail.

He was muttering to himself as he stepped forward when a shrill voice cried out, "Jiang Feng, so you are here!"

Jiang Feng looked up, face hardening.

A group approached. At the front strode a tall, powerfully built man with a thin mustache and piercing eyes. Beside him was another man of similar height, sallow-faced and clean-shaven, a little younger.

They were accompanied by six other young men—all from the Jiang family. The one who'd called out was wrapped in bandages, but the voice was unmistakable: Jiang Huaixiao.

The estate was too strange, its inhabitants ignoring Jiang Feng entirely. The oddity had so preoccupied him that he'd forgotten about his pursuers—only to run into them at the gate.

This was trouble.

The sallow-faced one was likely surnamed Li; the mustached man, perhaps the tutor they had hired. No—something was off.

Jiang Feng quickly scanned the group. The assembled Jiang family youths were all fused with Mindseed, but they weren't the most outstanding members—not Jiang Tengqing's true chosen ones.

That must mean the Li and the mustached man were brought by the tutor. The tutor was in charge of the important targets; the rest were left to his disciples as backup.

As Jiang Huaixiao called out, Li Feng glanced Jiang Feng's way, pointing and exclaiming, "Senior brother, that's him!"

But the mustached man didn't look at Jiang Feng; instead, he glanced warily into the depths of the estate and asked in a low voice, "Do you know what this place is?"

The Jiang family youths all shook their heads, peering ahead in curiosity. They'd grown up here, yet never known a manor existed in these parts.

Jiang Huaixiao's burns left his skin raw and torn. Only the medicine Li Feng gave him had eased the pain enough for him to move. His body still felt aflame—if not for his burning hatred of Jiang Feng, he wouldn't even be able to stand.

Clenching his jaw, he stepped forward and screeched, "Jiang Feng is right there! Kill him!"

Still the mustached man hesitated. Jiang Huaixiao shrilled, "What are you afraid of? This is Mount Taiwu—apart from my Jiang family, who else is powerful here? Whatever happens, my father will shield me! Do it—kill him!"

Li Feng whispered, "Yes, we asked around before coming. The Jiang family may have declined, but they're still in control here…"

Hatred seemed to sharpen Jiang Huaixiao's wits. He jabbed a finger at Jiang Feng and shouted, "And that brat grew up eating our food! Later he became that slut Jiang Chen's kept man—never even traveled far! He's a useless parasite, and if someone like him can come and go freely here, what do you, disciples of the Li family, have to fear?"

Standing at the manor gate, he ranted on, working himself into such a frenzy that he forgot how he'd come to be burned so badly. He took two steps forward—and suddenly, someone darted in front of him. A hand clamped around his throat and hurled him back through the gate!

Jiang Feng pinned him to the ground and said coldly, "Those who insult the young miss deserve death!"

Jiang Huaixiao had always bullied the weak and feared the strong, and Jiang Feng—isolated and powerless—had always been his favorite target. Even now, choking for air, he managed to snarl, "So what if I insulted her? That slut Jiang Chen, she deserved to be—"

Before he finished, there was a sickening crack. His head lolled to one side, and he instantly went limp.

Jiang Feng had snapped his neck with a single wrench.

"Jiang Feng, how dare you!"

Every Jiang family youth present recognized Jiang Feng—at least half had joined Jiang Huaixiao in beating him.

They had been surprised enough to learn he was the one being hunted, but never imagined he would dare kill the patriarch's son, right before their eyes!

Jiang Feng rose, fixing them with a frigid, murderous gaze. His hands still trembled from his first kill, but his eyes blazed with icy fury.

His voice was steady: "Those who insult the young miss deserve death."

Under his gaze, all the Jiang family youths involuntarily took a step back.

In the next moment, they recovered and screamed in unison, "Jiang Feng killed Young Master Xiao! Seize him!"

The mustached man and Li Feng exchanged a glance and charged together.

Jiang Huaixiao's death was no great loss, but as the boys had shouted, he was the patriarch's son. Killed before their eyes, they had no choice but to seize the murderer and bring him to Jiang Tengqing.

Jiang Feng cast them a cold glare and turned to flee deeper into the manor.

Both men were already past the Dawn realm, their strength far beyond Jiang Feng's. They moved with lightning speed, crossing the threshold in an instant, hot on his heels.

By now, Jiang Feng's hands had stopped trembling, but his heart dimmed. Two Dawn-level warriors at his back—he couldn't handle one, let alone both.

But then he wheeled around suddenly.

If he couldn't escape, he wouldn't run. Better to go down fighting and leave them a scar to remember.

As he turned, something miraculous happened.

With two heavy thuds, the mustached man and Li Feng slammed into an invisible barrier just past the gate and were hurled backward, crashing hard to the ground.

The impact was brutal. Both spat blood and struggled for a long moment before managing to get up.

The mustached man stared in horror, voice trembling. "Who? Who's there?"

From the shadows beyond the gate, an old man stepped forward.

He was of average build, unremarkable face, plain clothes, and neatly combed graying hair—nothing about him stood out. Yet as he emerged, no one could look away.

At his appearance, two guards in blue quietly withdrew. It had been they who struck the two men down.

The old man surveyed the group and bowed. "Please forgive me, gentlemen. This is the Zhou family's private manor. Without the owner's permission, no outsiders may enter."

Only then did they realize this was merely the steward—a servant, yet bearing such imposing presence!

The Zhou family manor? Which Zhou family?

Realization dawned, and both the mustached man and Li Feng turned ashen.

Jiang Feng, meanwhile, stood just inside, his expression bewildered. He too was an "outsider," and had trespassed here even earlier and deeper than the others—yet had been ignored the whole time.

Even now, after the two Dawn warriors were thrown out and wounded, he remained unharmed and unseen!

Unable to resist, he took a few steps toward the blue-clad guards and waved his hand before their faces. Neither so much as blinked.

One Jiang family youth immediately shouted, "That brat is an outsider too! Why aren't you stopping him?"

The old man turned, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Feng as he asked mildly, "Oh? Is there someone here?"

The guards replied, "Aside from these intruders, there is no one else."

The old man nodded, then suddenly frowned as his eyes fell on a particular spot. He said calmly, "These people have trespassed and damaged property. What is the Zhou family rule for such offenses?"

Without hesitation, the guards replied, "Trespassers must die."

The old man nodded again, waving his hand lightly. "Then deal with them all."

At this, the Jiang family youths were incredulous. The mustached man and Li Feng, however, turned deathly pale.

Clutching his chest, the mustached man struggled to sit up. "S-sir, I am from the Li—"

He never finished. A head spun high in the air, followed by a fountain of blood.

Li Feng recoiled in terror, shrieking, "I'm a disciple of Li Ming, you can't—"

Another head flew, blood spraying.

Only then did the Jiang family youths react, screaming as they tried to flee. The sounds barely formed before being cut off mid-throat. Moments later, every youth lay dead, heads severed from bodies.

In the blink of an eye, seven men fell, not one left alive.

————————————————————

Suddenly realized it's already a hundred thousand words. (⊙_⊙)

Feeling a bit down.

Still hanging around the fortieth spot on the new book rankings and just can't climb higher.

I know a lot of you are waiting for more chapters before reading—but the new book period is critical. If we can't break through in the rankings now, it'll have repercussions later on.

Despair and hope bring completely different energies, so please, support me—let's strive forward together!

>__ Please recommend, click, and bookmark!!!