There was a list of people to kill, and to avoid missing anyone, a checklist was made? He always had a flair for the dramatic.
Chen Yang took out a pen, lightly crossed out a name, and handed the list to Yang Hu. "Are you the only one the Ye Family sent this time?"
"Are you insane?" Once he regained his senses, Ye Qiang's expression shifted several times. Although his words were defiant, he instinctively took a step back, hiding behind Tu Huan. The man's calm demeanor and casual actions dealt a significant psychological blow.
"It seems you are," Chen Yang nodded. Without any delay, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
SNAP.
The sound was crisp and clear. As the sound wave rippled outward, Ye Qiang glanced down in astonishment. Lines of blood suddenly appeared across his chest and abdomen, dripping from the hem of his clothes to the ground.
The next second, a cold wind blew past.
BANG.
Ye Qiang's body collapsed to the ground.
Tu Huan was speechless. So was everyone else. The entire Elders' Court plaza fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone stared with wide eyes, as if they had seen a ghost. What kind of divine technique was this?! And more importantly, this is the Elders' Court! He killed someone right in front of Tu Huan?
GULP.
After a long moment, many people swallowed hard. Tu Huan's face was as ugly as if he'd swallowed a fly. He stared at Chen Yang with a pair of dark, brooding eyes.
"You... how audacious!" Feng Ning, his thoughts reeling, finally spoke up out of a sense of duty, his voice a sharp accusation.
Chen Yang turned his head and shot him a single glance. That one look struck Feng Ning like a bolt of lightning, terrifying him so much that he stumbled backward in fear.
"I wonder, what crime has the Ye Family committed? Or did they somehow offend you, the Former Chief Military Commander?" Tu Huan slowly rose to his feet, clasping his hands behind his back as his white cape fluttered in the wind. At that moment, he exuded the faint aura of a superior.
"Some people like to bite the hand that feeds them," Yang Hu said, meticulously folding the list. "They even claim that those of us fighting and dying on the front lines are nothing but their watchdogs. So let me ask you, Yong Master, do they deserve to die?"
His counter-question threw the problem right back at Tu Huan.
So, did they deserve to die? From Tu Huan's personal perspective, of course not, but...
"Please, come inside. I'll have the dishes served right away." Tu Huan, who had intended to make an issue of it and interrogate them harshly, sidestepped the question entirely. He turned to Xie Hai beside him and ordered, "Clean this up. Don't let it affect my appetite or the Former Chief Military Commander's."
"Yes, Yong Master."
The other wealthy scions became even more subdued. They waited until Chen Yang had walked inside before following, their heads bowed low, not daring to meet the gaze of either Chen Yang or Yang Hu. They had only heard stories before, but today, they finally witnessed the Former Chief Military Commander's lethal decisiveness firsthand.
A large round table was soon laden with steaming hot dishes. Everyone took their seats, and soon the entire spread was served.
"Come!" Tu Huan raised his glass with a cheerful smile, as if the bloody incident moments ago had never occurred. "Let's all toast the Former Chief Military Commander!"
"To the Commander!" everyone else chimed in, rising to their feet with glasses raised.
Chen Yang, however, remained unmoved. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "This isn't a place for a banquet."
Everyone was stunned. This guy kills someone the moment he arrives, and now he has this attitude? Is he not going to give any face at all?
A cold glint flashed in Tu Huan's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
BANG!
Feng Ning, ever perceptive, slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, pointing at Chen Yang. "Kid, you're pretty good at pushing your luck, aren't you? The Yong Master is choosing not to lower himself to your level. Don't you think you should rein it in a bit?"
"Hey," Tu Huan said, holding up a hand to stop him. "Is that any way to speak to the Former Chief Military Commander?"
"Heh," Yang Hu chuckled. "There's no need to put on such a clumsy act. Why don't we just get straight to the point?"
THUMP. THUMP.
Tu Huan tapped his fingers on the table, signaling for Feng Ning to sit down. "Chen Yang, that property has already been approved. Do you have any other demands?"
"Issue another round of subsidies for the Martial Guards who died in the national war," Chen Yang stated.
Tu Huan was taken aback. He had assumed the Former Chief Military Commander would be seeking personal gain, or perhaps a way to secure his own survival. After all this time, he was still concerned about Martial Guards who were already dead?
"That can be arranged." Tu Huan nodded. For him, it was merely a matter of signing a document, and it was a move that would earn him a good reputation. There was no reason to refuse.
"How much?" Chen Yang pressed.
Tu Huan's brow furrowed. He was becoming annoyed; he disliked being interrogated like this, as it put him in an extremely passive position. He gently swirled the wine in his glass and fell silent.
"Unwilling to discuss it further?" Chen Yang smiled. "Then let's change the subject. Why did you arrest Ning Kun? Or rather, what authority do you have to arrest him?"
"It was a misunderstanding," Tu Huan said dismissively, the words leaving his lips without a second thought. "After the Discipline Court concluded its investigation, wasn't that fellow Ning Kun released into your custody?"
"You pin a crime on someone and now call it a misunderstanding?" Yang Hu sneered. "So you, the Yong Master, act on a whim, with no principles whatsoever?"
Tu Huan's face darkened visibly, and he glared at Yang Hu. Yang Hu met his gaze without flinching. Suddenly, the superficially harmonious atmosphere froze over. The guests who had been invited to fill the seats had never witnessed such a scene. With one person already dead on the spot, they all shrank back, barely daring to breathe. When gods fight, what were mortals like them doing here? If they could, they would have fled instantly. It was terrifying.
"How could there be internal strife among the Hanyun Valley Martial Guards I personally led? The facts prove that you, Yong Master, were the one slinging mud," Chen Yang said, flicking the ash from his cigarette with an air of finality. "Issue a public clarification."
He paused, then added, "You will issue it personally."
Tu Huan was incredulous. What is happening? I laid out a feast to welcome him, and it's turned into my own trial? In the Elders' Court, who is the host and who is the guest?!
He couldn't help but sneer. If he issued that clarification, wouldn't his recent purge of the Hanyun Valley Martial Guards be for nothing? Wouldn't it be an admission of weakness from him, the Falcon Master, to those very same guards? What an absurd fantasy!
"They are all honorable men of steel. They don't deserve such an insult," Chen Yang said, raising his head. His eyes narrowed to slits, his cold gaze piercing right through Tu Huan. "I, Chen, once swore an oath in blood to clear their names, yet you dare to slander them?"
"They shouldered the responsibility of their nation, fighting and dying for this country, yet you accuse them of infighting for personal gain?"
"How is that any different from accusing them of treason? Hmm?!" Chen Yang's voice was frigid. "You can eat a meal anywhere, but you can't just say whatever you want!"
"I..." Just as Tu Huan was about to retort, he felt his throat tighten. A bone-chilling cold enveloped him, threatening to freeze the very blood in his veins. A crushing pressure, like a mountain, descended upon him, making it impossible to breathe.
"I am not negotiating with you," Chen Yang said.
SPURT!
Tu Huan, who had been gritting his teeth and desperately holding on, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, his entire body instantly wilting.
Before this moment, the Falcon Master had been so spirited and arrogant, determined to crush the Former Chief Military Commander under his heel and prove to the world that he was the most dazzling star of this era. But now, in his very first confrontation with the man, he was proving to be so utterly pathetic. His opponent had merely released a sliver of his aura, and he, the chosen representative of the Imperial Clan, was as helpless as trash, completely unable to resist.
This...
"You bastard..." Tu Huan's eyes burned with rage, but before he could finish his sentence...
BOOM!
The large round table, laden with food, violently exploded. Shards of the tabletop embedded themselves deep into the nearby walls, and the entire courtyard shook violently.
Tu Huan was left speechless.
So was everyone else.