The Second Night
Lu Sheng once again entered the Lily Flower Room. This time, it was still daylight.
Saber in hand, he moved quietly through the chamber, inspecting every corner without uttering a word. His gaze swept across the furniture, the windows, the walls—nothing escaped his scrutiny. When he had memorized the room’s layout, its shape, and the precise placement of each object, he sat down once more.
Calmly, he waited for dusk.
The Lu Manor remained under his firm control. None dared to flee. Nine Links City was small—too small to hide in—and their only other choice was to run toward Zi Hua City. But with eyes everywhere and nerves strung tight, no one was foolish enough to take the first step.
Fear and greed kept them in place. Lu Sheng had decreed that anyone who reported a deserter would receive one hundred taels for each person exposed.
“A hundred taels! Report ten, and you’d have a thousand!”
It was a fortune most would never see in a lifetime.
For now, the manor was steady. Eldest Uncle had stationed soldiers at every gate, allowing no one to come or go without permission. Those who had already fled were now the targets of wanted posters plastered across the city, orders given to capture and bring them back.
By the time all the arrangements were made, the sky had begun to darken.
Hoo…
The soft currents of air shifted within the house. Lu Sheng sat in Sister Yu’s room, his fingers curled around the hilt of his unsheathed saber. His eyes were closed, his posture still—resting, though he had not slept since the night before.
Jade Crane Skill truly was extraordinary. Even without a moment’s rest, he remained composed, his energy undiminished.
The sunlight waned, the rays thinning into shadow.
Lu Sheng did not light a candle. He sat motionless in the deepening gloom, determined to let the room fall into the same darkness it had known before.
The light faded slowly, swallowed by night.
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Lu Sheng steadied his breathing, relying only on sound and the subtle shift of air to sense his surroundings. Time bled away—minute by minute, second by second.
Before long, the sun was gone. The room sank into utter darkness. He could not even see his own hand before his face. Still, Lu Sheng sat unmoving, solid as stone.
Swish…
A faint rustle stirred near the door—the soft brushing of fabric against wood.
Lu Sheng’s eyes snapped open. In the darkness, a pale blur emerged, the faint outline of a figure slowly climbing through the doorway. It was impossible to make out its features, only the vague silhouette of someone dressed in white.
The figure moved at a crawl. In the pitch-black room, Lu Sheng felt the presence of a smile—cold, soundless, and wrong.
“You finally dare show yourself.”
He rose, eyes gleaming like twin sparks in the dark. Black Fury Skill coursed through his veins, his body heat surging in an instant.
Hoo!
Without warning, the white shadow lunged at him.
“DIEEE!!”
Steel flared. The saber in Lu Sheng’s hand cut through the darkness, Black Tiger Saber’s Tiger Might roaring forth in a single devastating arc.
The blade met its mark—or so it should have. The instant they clashed, his vision blurred, and the world fell eerily silent.
The space before him was empty. Nothing remained. His strike had hit only air.
Such speed!
Instinct took over. Lu Sheng spun, his saber slicing wildly through the shadows.
Chi!
The wooden clothes rack splintered with a sharp crack, collapsing to the floor. The back of a chair split neatly in two.
He exhaled through his nose, a cold snort escaping him as he lowered the blade, ready to reassess—
Then, without warning, an icy chill brushed the back of his head.
Lu Sheng spun around, his saber flashing through the darkness. The white-robed figure was right behind him—so close he could feel the chill radiating from it as it lunged forward.
“You court death!!”
Black Fury Skill surged to its peak. Qi and blood roared through his veins as he drew in a sharp breath, unleashing the third form of the Black Tiger Saber—Tiger Roar.
“ROAR!!!”
Power erupted from him in a torrent. The blade screamed through the air, and from its arc came the echo of a tiger’s cry—deep, thunderous, and soul-shaking.
The roar rattled the room. Furniture shuddered. The air itself seemed to vibrate.
The white shadow shrieked—a sharp, high-pitched wail like that of a terrified child—and with a blur, it shot toward the window.
Lu Sheng didn’t hesitate. He forced his surging Qi and blood back under control and lunged after it.
Bang!
The wooden window splintered as he smashed through it, his figure like a raging tiger bursting from its den.
He landed in the alley outside. The white shadow streaked ahead, darting through the narrow passageways, its speed ghostly and erratic.
Lu Sheng followed close behind.
Bam! Bam!
Two heaps of discarded junk exploded into fragments under the sweep of his saber.
“There’s a commotion inside! Is it Young Master?” someone shouted from the courtyard.
Lu Sheng’s chest tightened. He spotted several guards by the side door, sabers drawn, their faces pale under the moonlight.
Before he could speak, the white shadow lunged again—straight into the body of one of the guards.
“ALL DISPERSE!!” he bellowed, his fury erupting. His Qi and blood surged once more, and the saber in his hand roared like a living beast.
“HOWL!!”
He charged forward, cutting down with Tiger Roar once again.
DANG!
The possessed guard’s veins bulged violently across his skin. His movements turned unnaturally sharp as he raised his weapon—blocking Lu Sheng’s strike with impossible precision.
The two blades met with a thunderous clash. The impact reverberated through Lu Sheng’s arm—his opponent’s strength was no less than his own.
He glanced at the guard. Both eyes had rolled back, leaving only eerie whites staring blankly into the dark.
Possession.
Lu Sheng’s saber flashed again, slicing toward the man’s neck.
DANG!
Steel collided once more. The possessed guard blocked the strike effortlessly, his movements sharp and unnatural. His strength had grown monstrous.
Their sabers danced in furious rhythm—strike after strike, metal clashing with explosive force. The courtyard rang with a deafening cacophony.
The other two guards by the gate froze in terror, then turned and fled into the night.
The noise drew more eyes. Servants and guards rushed toward the scene, their torches flickering wildly as they arrived.
Lu Sheng’s Qi surged through him, Black Fury Skill driving his power to new heights. He pressed the attack, matching the possessed guard blow for blow through more than ten exchanges.
Gradually, the venomous energy within his strikes began to seep into the man’s body. The guard’s arms trembled; his parries weakened. The poison from the Black Fury Skill was living up to its fearsome name.
“SPEAK! WHO SENT YOU?!”
Lu Sheng roared as he brought his saber down in a crushing arc. The blade struck with such force that the possessed guard’s weapon shuddered violently. His entire body quaked, muscles locking, movements faltering.
BANG!
Lu Sheng’s left palm shot forward, slamming directly into the man’s chest. The strike burst forth with the devastating power of Heart-Shattering Palm, a move he had prepared from the start.
“AH!!!”
The guard screamed as blood sprayed from his mouth. His body lifted off the ground, twisting midair before crashing down in a heavy heap.
A flicker of white burst free from his collapsing form—a shadow darting away toward the nearest onlookers.
This time, the shadow entered a servant girl.
Perhaps it had been forced too close to Lu Sheng and had no other choice—its possession was desperate, random.
The girl had barely been taken over when her skin flushed red. Before the transformation could spread, Lu Sheng moved.
With a swift motion, he spun and slashed backward without warning.
Chi!
His saber tore through her body in a brutal arc. The girl was hurled into the air, blood scattering across the floor like rain.
“EVERYONE, STAY BACK! DON’T COME NEAR!” Lu Sheng’s voice thundered through the courtyard.
But it was too late. Several guards had already rushed forward, blades drawn.
The white shadow burst from the fallen body, streaking through the air before diving into another man.
“AH!!!” Lu Sheng’s roar shook the air. Black Fury Skill surged within him, and the Black Tiger Saber Technique erupted at full strength.
A bestial roar echoed—low, violent, and wild—as if a true tiger had been unleashed.
His saber swept out, carrying the force of a collapsing mountain, tearing through the air with a howl of wind and steel.
The newly possessed guard staggered, then turned to flee toward the side gate.
RUMBLE!
Lu Sheng’s next strike smashed through the courtyard wall, stone and dust exploding outward.
Blade in hand, he charged through the breach. With a single, merciless stroke, he cleaved downward—his saber splitting the guard’s skull in two.
“AH, AH, AHHH!!!”
A shrill cry—female, distorted—ripped through the night.
Blood and bone splattered across the broken ground. Even as the body collapsed, the guard’s arm twitched violently, lashing out one final time.
BANG!
The palm strike slammed into Lu Sheng’s lower abdomen. He stumbled back two heavy steps, breath ragged, chest heaving. A strange, demonic energy coiled around him, and a flush of crimson crept across his face.
Blood glistened at the corner of his mouth.
He lifted his saber once more—
CLANG!
The blade cracked, splintering apart as fragments fell to the ground.
Lu Sheng discarded the broken saber, letting it fall with a dull clang. He lunged forward, channeling all his strength into his palms.
Dark energy surged beneath his skin. The centers of his palms turned faintly black as he unleashed two strikes in succession—Heart-Shattering Palm.
BAM! BAM!
Two heavy thuds echoed. The possessed guard convulsed, and the white shadow was forced out of his body once more.
It tried to flee.
But Lu Sheng was faster. His hand, pulsing with Black Fury Qi, shot out and seized the edge of its tattered robe. The instant he made contact, a biting chill rushed up his arm, like gripping solid ice.
He didn’t flinch. His Qi and blood raged like wildfire, pushing back against the cold.
The second level of Black Fury Skill surged through him, flooding into his arm—into the very fabric of the shadow’s form.
“DIEEE!!!”
Lu Sheng roared, hurling every drop of power into a final palm strike.
All the Black Fury Qi within him erupted outward in a single, violent burst.
BAM!!!
“AH!!!”
The shadow screamed—a piercing, inhuman cry. Its pale figure convulsed, warped, and with a tearing sound like cloth being shredded to ribbons, it burst apart and vanished into nothing.
Lu Sheng’s eyes glimmered with killing intent. His breath came harsh and uneven as he dropped to one knee.
Plop.
Black blood spilled from his lips, thick and acrid.
His hands trembled as he reached for the broken saber on the ground, stabbing it into the dirt to keep himself upright.
Within him, Jade Crane Skill and Black Fury Skill spun violently, working in tandem to mend his torn body. But his injuries were grave—the blow from earlier, the overdrawn Qi, the fractured meridians now riddled with fine cracks.
Pain burned through every vein. His strength ebbed away.
At last, his breathing steadied, shallow but even.
Only after a long while did the guards and servants, who had fled in terror, begin to creep back toward the courtyard. By then, Lu Quanan and the others had already arrived at the scene.
Everyone stood frozen, staring at the devastation before them. The courtyard was in shambles—walls collapsed, blood on the ground, and the heavy scent of iron thick in the air.
At the center of it all, Lu Sheng knelt half-collapsed, one hand gripping a shattered saber buried in the dirt. Blood stained the corners of his mouth and darkened the floor beneath him.
Lu Quanan rushed forward at once.
“Little Sheng! Are you alright? Call the physician—quick!!!”
His voice trembled with panic as he caught his son by the shoulders. Turning sharply, he barked at the stunned servants.
“What are you standing there for? COME HELP!!”
The spell broke. The men scrambled into motion, hastily moving to lift Lu Sheng from the ground.
Eldest Uncle Lu Anping stood nearby, his gaze sweeping over the wreckage—the broken saber, the crushed wall, the mangled bodies strewn across the courtyard. Then his eyes fell on Lu Sheng, still emanating killing intent, his breath ragged, face pale yet fierce.
A cold shiver ran through him.
This… was no act of a mere boy barely past ten. The sheer violence of the scene reminded him of a wild beast’s rampage—raw, unstoppable. He recalled a time long ago, when he had seen a black bear burst into a mountain hut, leaving behind destruction not unlike what he was seeing now.
“About what happened tonight,” Lu Anping’s voice was low and sharp, “no one is to speak a word beyond these walls. Otherwise…”
His glare swept over the gathered servants, cold and unforgiving.
“Clean up this mess. Leave no trace.”
The guards and housemen stiffened, fear running through them like ice. With corpses at their feet and the young master’s blood still fresh on the ground, none dared to utter a sound.
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