Killing Right Before Their Eyes, Maintaining a Terrified Silence

That the First Chief fell in a single move exceeded the expectations of everyone from the Clear Water Stronghold.

Originally, they had all unleashed their unique skills, speeding forward with the intent that as long as the First Chief could withstand a move or two, they could swarm forward to surround and kill him. Warhorses could never match the agility of Jianghu experts; once close enough to prevent his long halberd from swinging freely, capturing him alive would be no difficult task.

Yet, with the First Chief killed in a single blow, the situation instantly changed drastically.

Some members of the Clear Water Stronghold accelerated to avenge their First Chief, others braked in a panic, while some secretly slowed their pace, hoping to let others serve as the vanguard.

Lu Wu paid none of this any heed. He placed his left hand on the shaft of the halberd, shook both hands, and vibrated the weapon. Amidst a booming resonance, the corpse of Xiong Rucheng hanging from the halberd tip suddenly burst apart, transforming into a sky-filling mist of blood.

Before the members of the Clear Water Stronghold could curse Lu Wu for his cruelty, the halberd swept horizontally out from the blood mist, winding around him like lightning to form a massive halo that encompassed a radius of two zhang!

Not a single person screamed.

The scene was left with only a ground littered with mutilated corpses.

Anyone who charged within two zhang of the Black God had their bodies cleaved apart by that single halberd sweep. Even those running the fastest, if clipped by the halberd shaft, were snapped cleanly into two, as if the cylindrical shaft itself had transformed into a divine weapon.

Blue Dragon Disturbs the Sea Halberd—The Great Vortex!

With this single strike, over ten experts were directly slain.

Another twenty or thirty experts from the Clear Water Stronghold, whose footwork was slower and who had failed to reach the attack range of the halberd in Lu Wu's hands, managed to temporarily preserve their puny lives.

Yet standing outside that circle of dismembered corpses, every one of them was drained of color, their limbs rigid and frozen, utterly unable to move for a time.

When humans are suddenly confronted with a scene too difficult to accept, their brains struggle to process the external information, entering a refractory period. Outwardly, this manifests as total bodily stiffness and paralysis.

Logically speaking, these martial artists originating from water bandits should have been well-accustomed to life and death. In reality, however, no matter who charged alongside a pack of powerful experts whose martial arts and ferocity surpassed their own, if they suddenly saw those preceding experts transformed into a field of debris—not just one, but a whole group—their minds would inevitably suffer a severe psychological shock.

The Black God took a small leap forward, and Lu Wu swept his halberd left and right, tracing two twisting, winding arcs to consecutively slay seven more men. Then, the Black God advanced again, and Lu Wu killed again, until he had singled out and slain every seemingly familiar member of the Clear Water Stronghold, before finally riding toward Lou Chong, the Third Chief, who stood the furthest away.

These men had been scared out of their wits, standing passively like wooden stakes waiting for death, not reacting in the slightest even as the halberd descended.

As the Black God drew near, Lou Chong, the Third Chief of the Clear Water Stronghold, seemed to finally snap out of a nightmare. He let out a fierce yell, tossed the pair of short sabers in his hands forward, and turned to flee.

Lu Wu slashed his halberd horizontally, swatting down the two short sabers while simultaneously cutting the man in half at the waist.

Having killed these men—especially those members of the Clear Water Stronghold who had been allowed to escape from the tavern just moments before—Lu Wu felt a small measure of satisfaction.

The Black God possessed great spiritual awareness and, knowing its master had no intention of continuing the slaughter, turned around right before the eyes of Bizun County Lieutenant Yu Jing, walking back toward the tavern.

Yu Jing's grip on his spear loosened and tightened four or five times, yet in the end, he still did not dare to make a move.

He watched helplessly as Lu Wu returned to the front of the tavern, dismounted, and walked inside.

"County Lieutenant, what do we do now? The task entrusted by Physician Fang—" Seeing the golden-crowned youth dismount and enter the tavern, one of the men beside Yu Jing asked in a low voice.

A surge of irritation rose in Yu Jing's heart.

When Lu Wu struck just a moment ago, these men had been standing within arm's reach yet didn't even dare to let out a single fart. Now that the man had walked far away, you come to ask me what to do?

Physician Fang, personal name Liao, courtesy name Tanyuan, was the head of the aristocratic Fang family in Mian'an Commandery, one of the seven commanderies of the Wu State. He also served as the Chancellor of Chehua Prefecture and was a high-ranking minister of the Wu State, with Bizun County being a subordinate county under Chehua Prefecture.

"What do you suggest we do?" Yu Jing retorted in a low voice.

According to the military system of the Wu State, excluding border cities, a single county was typically garrisoned with four battalions of commandery and county troops, totaling two thousand men, with the County Lieutenant serving as the highest military commander.

Aside from the County Lieutenant, each of the four battalions had a Battalion Commander. The person who had just spoken was Sha Xing, the commander of the battalion Yu Jing had brought along.

"County Lieutenant, this man's martial arts are terrifying, but he wears no armor. Perhaps we can riddle him with arrows!" Sha Xing said fiercely.

The reason he hadn't spoken earlier was because the black horse beneath Lu Wu was exceptionally majestic and the distance was too close. In the event that the man charged over and delivered a halberd strike, Sha Xing felt he could not withstand it—even with the County Lieutenant joining forces, the two of them together would be hard-pressed.

Although Xiong Rucheng was merely a water bandit leader, his martial arts were solidly at the fifth rank. His internal Qi could already be circulated freely, allowing him to execute all sorts of astonishing techniques. In close-range infantry combat, practically no one in Bizun County was his match.

Even the County Lieutenant would need to fight on horseback across open terrain to hold a slight upper hand.

Yet against such an expert, the golden-crowned knight hadn't even lifted a hand; merely by letting his mount charge forward, he had pierced him to death with a single halberd thrust.

"Do you dare call these few bows a hail of arrows? If you want to die, do not drag me down with you," Yu Jing scolded in a low voice.

"Then what do we do? Just watch them escape? How are we to answer to Prefecture Chancellor Fang?" Sha Xing asked anxiously.

Prefecture Chancellor Fang placed immense importance on the Li family, even mobilizing water bandits to seal off the roads. Although the underlying connection was unclear, if the Li family were to escape right under their noses, he feared he would have no more peaceful days ahead of him.

"I observe that the Li family and these individuals are not traveling the same path. Go and test the waters to see if you can persuade them to stay out of this," Yu Jing said, feeling quite helpless. After a moment of thought, he signaled Sha Xing to go negotiate at the tavern.

Sha Xing could only think of a profanity in his heart.

Usually, you act like such a fierce warrior, but the moment you encounter someone even fiercer, you shrink back. You are the County Lieutenant, yet you send me to negotiate?

The man dared to slaughter wantonly right before our arrayed troops; do you think he would hesitate to kill me?

However, while Prefecture Chancellor Fang was his superior, Yu Jing was his immediate commanding officer.

Sha Xing turned and ordered a glib-tongued confidant beside him, "Go and tell that golden-crowned nobleman that we seek only to capture the Li family members, and would never dare offend a noble person."

The confidant: "————"

Inside the tavern.

As Lu Wu stepped out and rode forward alone, the blue-robed girl Li Heru grew anxious. "Hurry and call your young master back! There are so many people on the other side!"

"My, you little girl actually have a bit of kindness in your heart. Instead of seizing this opportunity to run for your life, you're actually here worrying about our young master?" Jinhua turned her head to glance at her with a smile.

"Those people outside are here for you lot, aren't they?" Zhuzhu asked coldly.

The members of the caravan looked at one another, and for a moment, no one spoke.

Even the blue-robed girl Li Heru hesitated, words hanging on her lips.

Li Shi braced himself and asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Heh, if they knew my young master's identity, absolutely no one would dare bring this few men to deal with him; if they don't know my young master's identity, then naturally they aren't coming for us."