The killers from the Five Poisons Hall looked at Ling Xiao with faces full of anger, yet mixed within that anger was a strong sense of dread.
They had already sent out two groups of assassins.
Both groups were completely wiped out.
The first wave consisted of five First Cave Heaven Realm martial artists, dozens of Half-Step Cave Heaven Realm martial artists, plus Feng Xidao. In the end, only Feng Xidao survived.
The second wave involved two Cave Heaven Realm killers skilled in disguise techniques. Even they were entirely annihilated, and before dying, they failed to touch Ling Xiao even slightly. This was not just a great humiliation, but something utterly terrifying.
In the past, their branch hall had handled similar missions. A mere Second Cave Heaven Realm martial artist was nothing difficult. Feng Xidao alone could have dealt with it.
But this time, they had run into massive trouble.
The most terrifying part was that this person had actually come looking for them today.
A faint smile hung on Ling Xiao’s face. He released no trace of killing intent, yet those deep pupils and devilish smile still made many people present feel a chill of fear.
“Hehe, you lot seem quite relaxed, still sitting here discussing how to deal with me, right?”
He casually sat down on an empty chair, then picked up a cup of fine wine and took a sip. These people really knew how to enjoy themselves. The wine and delicacies were all top quality.
“Isn’t it better to eat and drink well every day? Why insist on fighting and killing? Are you all so eager to die?”
Finally, Ling Xiao suddenly unleashed a thick wave of killing intent. Jia Tianfeng and Kong Ming both shot up from their chairs, their faces turning deathly pale.
“Ling Xiao, what do you want?”
Jia Tianfeng was clearly panicking. The calm and confident manner he usually showed had completely vanished.
“What do I want? I gave you a small lesson before, hoping you would back off. I never expected you to keep making the same mistakes. Looks like that prosthetic limb is pretty good. Which puppet master made it for you? From the outside, it looks completely real, impossible to tell apart.”
“And you, Kong Ming. Your eyes may be blind, but is your heart blind too? Kongque Huangzi was crippled because he provoked me. Do you want to follow the same path?”
His tone grew sharper, as if sword qi could burst from his mouth, making both Jia Tianfeng and Kong Ming shiver all over.
The two of them actually hid behind the killers from the Five Poisons Hall branch, trembling as they stared at Ling Xiao. They had a strong feeling that Ling Xiao had come today to kill them, and he could strike at any moment.
The current Ling Xiao was extremely dangerous. No one should get close to him, or they would surely bring disaster upon themselves.
“Ling Xiao, you had better understand clearly. I am from the Zhengqi Alliance, and this place belongs to the Zhengqi Alliance. You dare kill me here?”
Jia Tianfeng suddenly shouted.
His voice was loud, but it was obviously all bluster with no real strength behind it.
The killers from the Five Poisons Hall frowned. They truly had not expected that Ling Xiao could bring such immense fear to the dignified successor of the Zhengqi Alliance.
This was truly unbelievable.
“And me, from the Peacock Clan. Last time you crippled Kongque Huangzi, our clan could endure it. But if you keep doing this again and again, you know what the consequences will be!”
Kong Ming chimed in to support Jia Tianfeng.
In their view, this was Lingyue Courtyard, the Zhengqi Alliance’s territory. Ling Xiao could not possibly act as wildly here as he did outside, could he?
“I knew all of that a long time ago. So what?”
Ling Xiao asked with contempt: “Does that mean I won’t dare touch you? How much time has passed? Have you already forgotten how Mingxing Huangzi and Tianpeng Huangzi died?
And that very night, I even wiped out Emperor Fengming Wuliang’s son, Fengming Heishan. Do you think you are more noble than him?”
“The Jia family will never tolerate losing a successor twice. You should understand that their revenge will be far more brutal than the Emperor’s.”
Jia Tianfeng spoke word by word, as if terrified that Ling Xiao did not know how important he was in the Jia family of the Zhengqi Alliance.
He had to say this, because he needed Ling Xiao to know that behind him stood the Jia family of the Zhengqi Alliance.
Otherwise, Ling Xiao would definitely kill him.
Fear drove him to keep finding reasons for survival.
Although he knew Ling Xiao was a madman.
A madman who acted entirely on his own whims. From the first time Ling Xiao came to the Divine Phoenix Imperial Capital, he directly crippled Fengming Yu and Fengming Bo, two noble sons of the Ice Phoenix Clan.
Then this time, upon returning to the capital, he directly killed the Emperor’s adopted son Ji Mingxing and the Tianpeng Huangzi of the Great Peng Clan.
This guy really had nothing to fear.
The only thing that might make Ling Xiao hesitate was probably that they also had madmen on their side.
“So what?”
Ling Xiao smiled with disdain, looking down on Jia Tianfeng even more.
It is said that one person should bear the consequences of their own actions, yet Jia Tianfeng wanted to drag his entire family in to die with him.
“Ling Xiao, as long as you do not kill me today, from now on we will absolutely stay out of each other’s way. How about it?”
Jia Tianfeng was truly on the verge of collapse. Ling Xiao seemed to disregard any threat, so he could only speak in near-pleading tones.
“What a pity. If you had done this earlier, perhaps you would not have to die. Of course, today you still have a chance to live.”
Ling Xiao took another sip of wine and said calmly.
“What chance?”
Jia Tianfeng asked urgently, as if grasping at a life-saving straw.
“Very simple. Tell me who is really behind you, ordering you to deal with me. As long as you say it, I will immediately let you leave and never trouble you again.”
Ling Xiao said lightly.
“How do you know? No, that’s not it. No one is behind me!”
Jia Tianfeng got excited and let the truth slip out in the moment, then desperately tried to cover it up.
Unfortunately, once the words slipped out, there was no way to take them back.
“If you won’t say it, then die!”
Ling Xiao slammed the wine cup down on the table with a sharp sound.
The cup did not break, but the wine inside instantly ignited. Flames rose, and the cupful of wine dried up in an instant.
“Ling Xiao, you are mad! This is Lingyue Courtyard. Do you know what will happen if you attack me here? You will immediately be surrounded by countless Zhengqi Alliance martial artists and die right here.”
Jia Tianfeng roared, seeming full of anger on the surface, but in reality filled with extreme terror.
He knew very well that numbers would not scare Ling Xiao.
Back at Ji Mingxing’s wedding, so many people faced Ling Xiao, yet in the end, each one met a miserable fate.
This guy Ling Xiao killed without batting an eye.
Superior numbers seemed to mean nothing to him.
But Jia Tianfeng thought again. After all, this was Lingyue Courtyard. Surely Ling Xiao would not want to act here. The Zhengqi Alliance still had experts stationed in Lingyue Courtyard.
Perhaps Ling Xiao would be wary of those people and choose to spare him.
Yet Ling Xiao still only smiled indifferently and continued eating the food and drinking the wine on the table, as if deliberately tormenting Jia Tianfeng.
He spoke of killing, yet made no move.
He refused to kill, yet also refused to let Jia Tianfeng go.
