"AHHH!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the swirling snow, chilling enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

Su Can desperately clutched the stump of his severed arm, his body curled up on the snowy ground. Hot blood instantly stained the snow beneath him red. The rush of adrenaline he’d felt moments before was shattered by the icy, piercing pain, leaving only endless terror and regret.

"My son! My son!" Mrs. Chen, with a sudden burst of strength, dragged her broken body across the snow. She crawled frantically, forcing her way to her son’s side, trying to shield him with her own body.

"You animal... Let go of my son!"

Su Da Wen’s eyes were bloodshot with tears of rage. He snatched a chipped fish-killing saber from the ground and slashed down a gang member blocking his way, only to be immediately intercepted by others.

"Haha, you can all go die!" Cao Bin stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked his lips, his eyes filled with the sadistic pleasure of the slaughter.

Su Can struggled in the pool of his own blood. Just as he tried to get up, a foot mercilessly stomped him back into the slush.

Cao Bin raised his long saber, its tip aimed at the back of Su Can’s neck, and sneered,

"Time to send you on your way."

"SHIING!"

The instant the blade fell, a figure suddenly lunged forward.

It was Mrs. Chen!

She had used her own back to block the fatal blow for her son. The long saber pierced through her chest, exiting her body. Blood gushed from her mouth, spilling hotly onto Su Can’s terrified, stunned face below.

"A family should die together, nice and neat. Saves you from having any stupid dreams of revenge!"

Cao Bin kicked Mrs. Chen’s body away in disgust and raised his long saber once more.

Seeing the thick blood staining the blade, he frowned slightly. He took a clean white silk handkerchief from his robes and began to wipe the blade with deliberate slowness.

"Don’t be impatient. I’ll send you on your way once I’ve cleaned this."

He casually ordered, "Haul them up. Make them kneel in a row. It’ll be easier for me to chop off their heads."

Several members of the Water Snake Gang moved forward with practiced ease, dragging the Su Family to the center of the courtyard and forcing them to kneel in a line.

Cao Bin finished wiping his saber clean, tossed the blood-soaked handkerchief onto the snow in disgust, and walked over, weapon in hand.

At this, the members of the Su Family all fell silent.

Su Hong stopped struggling. He stared intently at the approaching Cao Bin, his eyes glaring so wide they seemed to tear at the corners, weeping tears of blood. "Cao Bin... even as ghosts... the Su Family will not let you go!"

"Ghosts?"

Cao Bin’s expression turned savage. He spat a thick glob of phlegm on the ground. "You think you’ll have it any better as a ghost?"

Cao Bin raised his long saber high once more. Its edge glinted with a cold, sinister light in the blizzard, poised to sever Su Hong’s head.

"BOOM!"

Just as Cao Bin’s blade was about to fall, the courtyard’s heavy wooden gate exploded inward!

Splintered wood and swirling snow blasted into the courtyard.

Through the dust and snow, a tall, slender figure strode forward, followed by Qin Yu, dressed in fiery red, and a solemn-faced Xu Feng.

"Who’s there?!"

Several gang members, their faces pale with shock, drew their sabers and shouted angrily.

Cao Bin froze, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the newcomer in the haze. A warning bell sounded in his mind.

Su Yu said nothing.

His gaze swept over the severed limbs on the ground, then over Su Hong and the others kneeling in pools of blood.

Finally, his eyes settled on Cao Bin, who was holding the Ghost Head Saber.

"You’re Cao Bin?"

"I am. And who might you be?"

"CLANG!"

With a backhanded motion, Su Yu drew the wide, heavy Nine-Ring Saber from his back!

The cold wind howled. The nine iron rings on the spine of the saber vibrated in the wind, letting out a crisp clinking sound, like a death knell.

Qin Yu started to act, but Xu Feng stopped her. "Junior Sister, how about you deal with those gang members? As for Cao Bin, let’s leave him to Junior Su himself."

"S-Second Brother?" Su Hong, recognizing the newcomer, roared in despair, "Second Brother, you shouldn’t have come! Get out of here! Run!"

Su Can’s heart was now like stagnant water. His eyes were vacant, and he was no more than a walking corpse.

Su Manjiang’s old, cloudy eyes looked toward Su Yu. A long-absent flicker of guilt rose in his heart. ’I never thought much of this grandson, yet in the end, he’s come here only to throw his life away for us.’

’What a tragedy!’

Seeing that Su Yu had come with hostile intentions, Cao Bin snorted coldly, raised his saber, and charged forward to meet him.

"Kid, you must be that other Su Family member, Su Yu, right? Don’t you know that I’m a Martial Artist? You dare come here just to die?"

Although Cao Bin spoke with contempt, his instincts—honed by years of living on the edge—told him that something was off about this kid.

’Either he has something to rely on, or he’s just a reckless fool blinded by rage.’

’But are his two companions just going to stand there and watch?’

Before Cao Bin could think further, the snow beneath Su Yu’s feet suddenly exploded!

He moved with the shock of thunder and the swiftness of a phantom!

Su Yu’s body suddenly dropped low, like a white ape skimming across the ground, and in an instant, he shot through the swirling snow.

"Die!"

The gleam of his saber was like a flash of snow, so fast its path was invisible. It slashed viciously toward Cao Bin, giving him no time to react.

"So fast!"

Cao Bin’s pupils contracted.

’This speed, this saber technique... this is definitely not something an ordinary person can do!’

Cao Bin roared. The Qi and Blood in his body erupted as his Ghost Head Saber whipped up a vicious gust of wind.

"Vicious Tiger Blocks the Path!"

He put power into his hips and waist, sweeping his saber horizontally. It created a brilliant arc of light that completely sealed off every possible trajectory of Su Yu’s descending Nine-Ring Saber!

He cultivated the Black Tiger Breaking Gate Saber, a Middle-tier Martial Arts technique. Although his talent was lacking, he had reached the entry-level. With his Qi and Blood surging and a full-power strike, he could instantly kill any enemy below the Martial Artist Realm!

"CLANG!"

The two great sabers collided with a resounding crash.

Cao Bin felt a massive force travel up his arm. With a great shout, he managed to block and push back the Nine-Ring Saber.

"A Martial Artist!"

Although Cao Bin had repelled his opponent, he was now certain: ’This kid is definitely a Martial Artist!’

"Well, well, kid. So the Su Family was hiding a Martial Artist expert like you!"

"Black Tiger Breaking Gate!"

Cao Bin shouted and attacked with all his might. ’We’ve made a mortal enemy today. I must kill him!’

"Vine Demon Lock!"

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

The two sabers clashed repeatedly, the immense force of their impacts sending the falling snowflakes scattering!

Su Yu’s Nine-Ring Saber moved like a living vine, sliding along the shaft of Cao Bin’s saber before coiling around it!

A strange Spiral Force erupted. Cao Bin felt as if his weapon had been ensnared by a giant python. An irresistible rotational force twisted it, sending a sharp pain through the web of his thumb. He nearly lost his grip on the Ghost Head Saber!

Cao Bin was aghast. ’This kid’s saber technique is terrifying!’ He instinctively tried to pull his saber back and retreat.

"Too late!"

Su Yu, pressing his advantage, saw his opening and instantly closed the distance.

He wielded the saber one-handed. With a smooth extension of his ape-like arm, the heavy Nine-Ring Saber carved a perfect half-moon arc through the air, enveloping Cao Bin’s upper body.

"Ape Arm Star-Picking!"

The range of this strike was incredibly wide. Wherever the blade passed, the falling snowflakes were sliced cleanly in two, as if time itself had momentarily frozen!

"SQUELCH!"

The sound of the blade sinking into flesh was exceptionally clear amidst the snowstorm.

Although Cao Bin desperately leaned back to dodge, a wound so deep the bone was visible was still carved across his chest, stretching from his left shoulder all the way to his right abdomen.

Blood gushed out, dyeing half the snowy ground red.

"AHHH!!!"

Cao Bin screamed and stumbled backward, clutching his chest, terror finally showing in his eyes. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’This saber style... He’s clearly using a heavy saber, so how can his strikes be so fast? This is a God of Slaughter! That merciless gleam of his blade makes my very soul tremble!’

"Su Yu! Stop! You can take these useless members of the Su Family with you! It’s better to resolve an enmity than to create one... The Water Snake Gang will let this matter go!"

Cao Bin was utterly terrified now. He retreated, shouting threats that were belied by his fear.

Su Yu’s face remained calm. He didn’t respond. His great saber trembled slightly in his hand, and the blood on its edge dripped down, blossoming like red plum flowers on the snow.

Not far away, lying in a pool of blood, Su Hong stared at the figure who had wounded Cao Bin, completely dumbfounded.

’Is... is... is that my Second Brother?’

’Is this really not a dream?’

’He not only became a Martial Artist, but his mastery of the saber has reached such a level?’

An intense feeling of unreality washed over him, then transformed into tears of wild joy that mixed with the blood and grime on his face.

’Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!’

"Second Brother, kill him!!!" Su Hong roared with every last bit of his strength.