Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 48 There's no escaping it.

Jiang Xun was awakened by a gust of wind.

It wasn't an ordinary wind; it was a wind carrying the stench of blood.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and the effects of the alcohol had mostly worn off.

The night wind blew in from the direction of the Gu residence, and the fishy, ​​sweet smell entered his nostrils like a cold needle, making his scalp tingle.

No, something's happened.

Jiang Xun flipped over and leaped up, his toes touching the tree trunk, and he flew silently across the alley like a night bird, landing on the wall of the Gu family mansion.

He looked down and his breath caught in his throat.

There was a person lying in the garden.

more than one.

The maids and servants lay scattered about, motionless.

The moonlight fell on their faces, making them appear deathly pale, like expressionless masks.

Some had their eyes open, some had them closed, but they were all the same—their chests were not rising and falling, and their bodies were stained with dark blood, which gleamed with a dark brown sheen in the moonlight.

Jiang Xun's hands began to tremble, not from fear, but from anger.

He leaped down from the wall, landing silently, his gaze sweeping over the people lying there.

A maidservant lay on the ground, her face turned to one side, her eyes open and empty.

They're all dead.

A sword lay on the ground not far away, its blade stained with blood and gleaming a dark red in the moonlight.

He walked over, bent down, and picked it up. The hilt was cold and covered in sticky bloodstains.

He looked up at the main room. The door was ajar, and the room was dark inside, like a gaping mouth.

Jiang Xun took a deep breath and rushed in.

On the bed, Gu Wenxu and his wife lay side by side, motionless.

The blanket was pulled to one side, and Gu Wenxu's hand dangled over the edge of the bed, his fingertips still stained with dried blood.

Jiang Xun rushed over and reached out to check for breath. It was cold; they were already dead. They were all dead.

His mind went blank, everything went white.

How could this be...?

He recalled Gu Wenxu's words: "Seeing those people displaced and homeless, I felt really bad."

Remembering Gu Yunqian's request—"Young Master Jiang, I don't ask you to stay in the Gu family forever, I only ask that you... take care of my father."

Remembering his promise—"Okay, I promise you."

But he failed.

I drank some alcohol tonight and took a nap, so I didn't keep watch properly.

If only I had been more alert, if only I hadn't had those few drinks...

Countless "what ifs" surged in my mind, each one like a knife, cutting into my heart.

"ah--"

A scream came from the backyard—it was Gu Yunqian's voice!

It was desolate and desperate, as if something had forcibly severed the latter half of its body.

Jiang Xun felt a chill run down his spine. Without thinking, he turned and rushed out, using the Azure Lotus Divine Power to its fullest extent as he ran wildly towards the backyard.

The backyard is Gu Yunqian's boudoir, a detached little building hidden behind several osmanthus trees.

When they arrived, the upstairs window was open, and tearing sounds and suppressed sobs could be heard coming from inside.

Jiang Xun's heart tightened, and he leaped up, using a pillar as leverage, and crashed through the window in mid-air.

The scene he witnessed made his eyes widen in horror.

The room was a mess, with tables and chairs overturned and curtains torn to the ground.

Gu Yunqian was pinned to the bed by a man in black, her clothes torn in half, revealing her fair shoulders and thighs.

She struggled desperately, but the man was too strong. He held her hands down with one hand and groped her body with the other.

Her face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were filled with fear and despair.

Hearing the noise, the man in black turned around abruptly.

He was in his early twenties, with a sinister face and a lewd smile on his lips.

Jiang Xun recognized that look—the look of a vicious wolf, its gaze lingering on its prey, still unsatisfied.

"brute!"

He roared and thrust his sword forward.

Seeing the sword flash approaching, the man in black quickly rolled off the bed and narrowly avoided it.

But instead of running away, he suddenly turned around, looked at Gu Yunqian on the bed, and revealed a cruel smile.

Jiang Xun's heart sank, but it was too late.

The man in black raised his right hand, and a cold light flew out from his sleeve, heading straight for Gu Yunqian's throat.

A short dagger, fast and ruthless.

"don't want--"

Jiang Xun rushed over desperately, but it was too late.

The dagger plunged into Gu Yunqian's throat, and blood gushed out.

Her body stiffened abruptly, her eyes widened as she stared at Jiang Xun, her lips moved slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Then, his eyes gradually became unfocused, his head tilted to one side, and he stopped breathing.

Jiang Xun was stunned.

He stood by the bed, watching Gu Yunqian's face gradually lose its color, watching her once clear and bright eyes become empty, watching the blood stain her clothes and the sheets.

My mind went blank, as if something had shattered in that instant.

Gu Yunqian is dead.

Right before his eyes, a knife slit his throat.

"ah--!"

Jiang Xun let out a hoarse roar, like a wounded wild beast.

His eyes turned red, his veins bulged, and his internal energy surged out like a tide, making the air in the room feel hot and dry.

He turned around, staring intently at the man in black, and said, word by word, "I want you dead."

The man in black was intimidated by his imposing manner and took a step back, but quickly regained his composure, grabbed the sword beside the bed, and sneered, "You think you can take me on?"

Jiang Xun pounced on him.

He only thrust with his sword, without any moves, just thrusting wildly, again and again, as if he wanted to turn the person in front of him into a sieve.

The man in black blocked a few times, then his expression changed.

It's not that we can't beat him, it's that this guy is determined to fight to the death.

Every sword strike went straight for the vital points, every move left no way out, giving him no chance to breathe.

"clang!"

The two swords clashed, sparks flying everywhere.

The man in black was knocked back two steps and crashed into the wall. Before he could react, Jiang Xun's sword was already at him again.

The sword slashed his shoulder, tearing open the flesh and drawing blood.

"ah--!"

The man in black screamed, his face turning deathly pale, and he whistled through the pain.

Rapid footsteps echoed up the stairs, and seven or eight men in black rushed into the house.

Jiang Xun didn't turn around, but instead forced back the people behind him with a backhand sword strike and continued to thrust forward.

The man in black who had assaulted Gu Yunqian was stabbed in the thigh by his sword, fell to the ground, and scrambled backward.

"Kill him! Kill him!"

Three men in black surrounded Jiang Xun, their swords flashing, trapping him in the middle.

Jiang Xun did not dodge.

He didn't hide.

He just kept stabbing, stabbing, stabbing.

If you get slashed on the shoulder, don't flinch; if you get slashed on the back, don't flinch.

Blood flowed down, staining half his body red, but he still didn't flinch.

His bloodshot eyes were fixed on that person—the man in black lying in the corner, staring at him in terror.

He was going to kill him.

He must be killed.

But Jiang Xun's movements became slower and slower, his chest felt tight, and his throat tasted sweet.

Driven by his anger, the internal energy within him surged wildly, like a flood bursting its banks, rampaging through his meridians.

He gritted his teeth and refused to back down, but his arm grew heavier and heavier, and his vision blurred in waves.

Two more men in black attacked from different directions; he could block one attack but not the other.

"clang!"

The sword in his hand was knocked away, slipped from his grasp, and landed in the corner of the wall.

Jiang Xun staggered a step, knelt on one knee, and gasped for breath.

Blood trickled down his shoulders and back, dripping onto the floor with a soft pattering sound.

In a daze, he saw Gu Yunqian lying there.

The moonlight shone on her face, and she was quiet, as if she were asleep.

But those eyes were still open, staring at him.

Tears streamed down Jiang Xun's face; he was already powerless to continue.

A man in black brought his knife down on his head, whistling through the air, fast and ruthless.

There's no escaping it.