Chapter 41: The Elegy of Mò Líng

  In the dead of night, Mò Líng City was eerily silent, with only the occasional distant meowing of a cat echoing through the empty alleyways.

  Within the Xu family estate, the lights burned brightly, with guards vigintly patrolling, their footsteps echoing in the cold night. The wind howled through the courtyard, adding a chill to the atmosphere.

  Captain Luo suddenly awoke from his sleep, his senses on edge. "Something's wrong tonight!" he said as he quickly donned his armor, drew his long sword, and hurried to the central courtyard.

  "Captain, something feels off tonight," said Zhao Yong, the deputy guard commander on duty, his face filled with concern as he approached.

  Captain Luo didn’t respond immediately. He stood still, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings. "Wake up all the guards, notify the master, and send a few men through the back gate to inform the city garrison. Contact the patrol tonight's guards."

  He calmly issued his orders, his long sword glinting faintly in the dark, as if sensing a storm of bloodshed was about to unfold.

  "Someone's here!" a guard suddenly shouted.

  Before the words even left his mouth, dozens of cold fshes appeared in the darkness. The guards in the courtyard fell like wheat in a storm, their bodies colpsing in an instant.

  A group of bck-cd figures emerged from the shadows, their movements eerie and swift. Their figures were light and nimble, and the air around them was thick with swirling bck energy, giving them a vicious and unnatural presence.

  "Enemy attack! Be careful!" Captain Luo bellowed, releasing the pressure of his Dan-qi warrior rank. The immense energy caused the air in the courtyard to tremble slightly.

  The remaining guards quickly gathered in front of the main residence, brandishing long spears and swords, preparing to defend the mansion and inner courtyard.

  "To think a Dan-qi warrior is guarding this pce!" one of the bck-cd leaders sneered. "I thought tonight was just going to be an easy raid!"

  With that, the bck-cd leader waved his hand, and the bck-cd warriors surged forward like a tidal wave, their swords and bdes fshing in the night as they drew deadly arcs through the air.

  Captain Luo swung his long sword in a sharp arc, instantly decapitating two of the bck-cd attackers. Blood sprayed like a fountain, staining the ground. However, the other attackers showed no fear; instead, they surged forward with even greater ferocity.

  "Damn it, there are too many of them!" Zhao Yong roared, hacking down one of the attackers, only to be struck on the arm by a bde from behind.

  Captain Luo leaped into the air, stepping in front of him. His long sword swept through the air, forcing the attacking enemies back. He turned to Zhao Yong and quietly gave his orders, "Zhao Yong, take a team and escort the master and mistress to the secret passage in the family shrine. Go, quickly!"

  Zhao Yong froze for a moment, then nodded, understanding. He shouted, "There are too many of them! Second team, follow me to Mount Cang!"

  The guards in the courtyard immediately split into two groups. Captain Luo led one team to stay and fight the bck-cd invaders, blocking their frenzied charge. Zhao Yong, leading the second team, moved cautiously toward the inner courtyard, slowly retreating toward the rear hall, following the signal.

  The rear courtyard was in chaos, with several servants nervously clutching their weapons, patrolling back and forth. The maidservants were rushing to pack their belongings in preparation for an escape.

  "Stop packing, we're fleeing, not going on a trip," Baron Xu, the head of the Xu family, urged his wife anxiously.

  "I just want to take a few of Sanbao's personal items. These are things she always kept close to her. When I see them, it's like seeing my daughter," Xu's wife sighed as she rummaged through Sanbao's room.

  "Master, madam! The outside can't hold up any longer. Please hurry and leave through the secret passage!" Zhao Yong said urgently as he arrived with a team of guards.

  Baron Xu frowned. "What about Captain Luo? What's the situation outside?"

  "Captain Luo is holding off the enemies outside. Master, madam, these bck-cd invaders are strong and their origins are unknown. He might not be able to hold them off for much longer. He sent me to escort you to safety through the secret passage!"

  "Did you send someone to notify the city garrison?"

  "I did, but looking at how carefully the bck-cd invaders are deployed, I fear the men we sent to deliver the message have already fallen into their trap," Zhao Yong said, his face pale, his hand trembling on the hilt of his sword.

  Baron Xu paused for a moment before grabbing his wife’s arm. "Stop looking. We must leave now!"

  Zhao Yong led the guards, surrounding Baron Xu and his wife, as they rushed toward the side door and the secret passage.

  No one stopped them along the way. In the blink of an eye, they reached the entrance to the secret passage.

  As one guard touched the hidden door, a red talisman suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

  "Ah!" The guard screamed, his body slowly melting as the talisman released a blinding red light, turning him into a puddle of blood.

  Several shadowy figures suddenly appeared in the darkness. One of the bck-cd leaders, holding a string of prayer beads, cackled as he walked forward, his bck aura thicker than the others. Wherever he passed, the pnts by the side of the road withered.

  The guards in front were caught off guard and were immediately consumed by the bck energy. In the blink of an eye, their bodies turned to piles of armor and bones, scattered on the ground.

  "Dark element ability user!" Zhao Yong excimed in shock.

  The bck-cd leader sneered, his prayer beads spinning slowly in his hand. The bck energy around him coiled like venomous snakes, twisting around him. His eyes were cold and his voice grating as he spoke, "Those of the Xu family who resist shall die without mercy."

  Zhao Yong gritted his teeth and shouted, "Do not let these demons get close to the master! Brothers, follow me!"

  The guards, suppressing their fear, charged forward to fight with the bck-cd invaders.

  The bck-cd leader cackled, releasing his pressure. The bck energy surged like waves, quickly engulfing the guards. The brave guards were quickly reduced to piles of bones.

  Zhao Yong's face turned ashen as he gathered his energy and swung his sword at the bck energy, slicing a small tear through the dark fog. He let out a roar as he charged at the leader, swinging his long sword at his neck with all his might.

  "Foolish," the leader muttered coldly. He flicked his finger, and a prayer bead shot out like an arrow, hitting Zhao Yong in the chest. Zhao Yong hurriedly raised his sword to block, but the prayer bead pierced through the bde and continued toward his chest, piercing through it. Zhao Yong was sent flying back several feet, crashing to the ground, coughing up blood.

  The leader's bck energy surged, enveloping Zhao Yong completely. When the dark mist dissipated, only an armored skeleton remained on the ground.

  At that moment, the cries from the Xu family estate courtyard ceased. The main house and inner courtyard had been breached, and the bck-cd invaders swarmed into the rear courtyard. Baron Xu, seeing the inevitable, colpsed to the ground, his eyes filled with anger and despair.

  The bck-cd invaders bound Baron Xu and his wife tightly and, through the secret passage, took them to a temple outside Mò Líng City.

  "Find out the truth," the leader ordered coldly, his prayer beads glowing slightly as bck energy swirled around his fingertips.

  A bck-cd figure stepped forward and kicked Baron Xu, shouting, "Tell us! Where are the cultivation techniques, formation maps, and firearms manufacturing secrets hidden?"

  Baron Xu was kicked in the chest, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Just as he was about to curse the invaders, the leader suddenly shouted, "Not telling the truth? Beat him!" He silently gestured to the bck-cd figure beside him.

  Another bck-cd figure walked to the wall and struck it with a powerful palm, sending shockwaves through the wall that shattered several water jars pced outside.

  The jars shattered, spilling water everywhere. One of the jars was empty, revealing a monk hiding inside.

  The monk, hit by the shockwave, fainted immediately.

  "He's already fainted," the bck-cd figure reported back to the leader.

  Baron Xu looked up at the leader, his eyes filled with suspicion. "What do you want from us? My Xu family has no formation maps, no firearms secrets, and no cultivation techniques."

  The leader sneered, "We know." With a wave of his hand, the bck energy coalesced into a sharp bde, stabbing through Baron Xu’s chest. Baron Xu gasped in pain, falling to the ground as his eyes lost their light.

  Lady Xu screamed and struggled to crawl to her husband's side, but a bck-cd figure from behind thrust another knife into her, and she colpsed on her husband's body, blood spttering.

  The bck-cd invaders took Baron Xu and his wife’s bodies back through the secret passage to the Xu family estate. They id their bodies in the main hall of the mansion.

  "Prepare the fire oil, burn the entire estate," the leader commanded coldly.

  Fmes erupted into the night, thick bck smoke rising toward the sky as the Xu family estate was reduced to ashes.

  The Mò Líng city garrison and townspeople rushed to the scene, desperately trying to extinguish the fmes, but the fire raged so fiercely that they could not get close. The fmes burned for a day and a night, finally dying down by midday on the third day.

  Once the fire had been extinguished, they searched the ruins, eventually discovering that no one had survived. All the guards and members of the Xu family were found dead.

  "Not a single one escaped..." the garrison commander muttered, his face filled with sorrow.

  Night had fallen again, and Mò Líng City was silent. Only the charred remains and scattered bones told the tale of the massacre.