Stronger by Killing

Chapter 142 - 141: Canglan Dao’s Number 1 Beauty

As soon as the words fell, the inn instantly plunged into a deathly silence.

The next instant,

that Young Master Liu erupted in fury, slamming the table as he roared, "You hillbilly, I’ve put up with you for long enough, you son of a—"

"Cheng!"

Suddenly, a clash of metal rang out in the inn,

a flash of saber light swept past,

Gu Zhan’s figure, ghostly and swift, vanished with the blade’s gleam, only to appear before Young Master Liu, a Horizontal Saber in his hand thrusting straight into Liu’s mouth,

the saber tip pierced through the back of Liu’s skull, and with a slight twist,

his head exploded, brains splattering everywhere.

"Foul mouth!"

Gu Zhan cursed, his Horizontal Saber erupting with bursts of saber qi. With a wave of his blade, cold and clear as autumn water, several heads soared skyward, blood raining instantly. Liu’s bodyguards all lost their heads in the blink of an eye.

In that moment, the inn fell mute again.

From the moment Gu Zhan drew his blade, to the slaughter of Liu and his men, only a few short breaths had passed.

The people in the inn hadn’t even reacted,

until now,

when sprays of blood rained down upon everyone, as if a storm had burst inside, did they finally snap out of their shock.

"Brazen!" "Arrogant!"

Immediately, two Innate Realm martial artists bellowed in fury, drawing their weapons almost simultaneously and charging at Gu Zhan.

Two Innate martial artists unleashed their skills, dazzling blades of killing intent exploding forth, saber and sword lights filling the air. For a moment, true qi surged wildly, making the very inn tremble and teeter on collapse.

Gu Zhan snorted coldly, and with a swift motion drew another Horizontal Saber, hurling it straight at one of the Innate martial artists. The saber’s gleam sliced through the darkness of night, rupturing the martial artist’s true qi barrier,

in the midst of the man’s terrified gaze,

the Horizontal Saber pierced right through his brow into his skull, the tremendous force slamming him back and nailing him onto a pillar.

At the same time, the killing intent surging from Gu Zhan was hellish, his gaze turning ice-cold, devoid of all human emotion, as though he was Death itself,

he swung his blade viciously at the other Innate martial artist,

the terrifying saber shadow crashed down like a waterfall, severing the man’s sword in a flash. But Gu Zhan’s relentless momentum didn’t even pause, the blade splitting the man’s body from head to toe in a single, clean strike!

"Bang!"

The corpse was cleaved in two,

a thick mist of blood burst outward,

Gu Zhan strode forth from the bloody haze, his overwhelming bloodlust and endless saber qi spreading a deep, abyssal chill, making all shudder in terror!

The crowd in the inn was scared out of their wits, shrieking and sobbing as they scattered in panic.

But Gu Zhan was like a savage tiger charging into a flock of sheep,

the Horizontal Saber in his hand like the sickle of the Grim Reaper,

reaping lives with each chop, feeling the hot spray of fresh blood, the madness and killing intent turning this tiny inn into an Eternal Hell of gore,

heads flew everywhere,

cries of terror and weeping ceased abruptly,

some rushed out of the inn, like men who’d seen light after dwelling long in darkness, embracing their deliverance in desperate joy,

yet they didn’t get far,

a Feathered Arrow pierced through someone’s chest,

arrows whizzed wildly, slaughtering without restraint,

Gu Zhan moved among strewn corpses inside the inn, loosing arrows one after another; snow fluttered outside the window, but it could not veil the killing aura,

Gu Zhan seemed to stroll leisurely, but the moment his arrows flew, lives were taken—sometimes one, sometimes two—blood blooming each time,

this massacre,

was a slaughter devoid of humanity,

a true demon out of Hell unleashing carnage!

...

After a long time, the world fell silent,

only the howling wind and drifting snow remained, with the faint sound of blood trickling steadily.

Gu Zhan placed the Cold Iron Bow on the table, two Horizontal Sabers stabbed into the ground.

He slowly wiped the blood from his face, then pulled over a stool and sat down, tipping up the teapot and muttering softly, "No more water."

In the inn, the shop’s errand boy turned pale, his body trembling. When he heard Gu Zhan’s voice, a shudder ran through him, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.

Yet terror drove him to force himself up again, shivering as he carried over a teapot to Gu Zhan’s side, hands shaking as he poured the tea,

furtively stealing glances at Gu Zhan, the cold sweat on his brow mixing with the blood that had splashed on his face.

"S-sir...your...your tea..."

The boy trembled all over, nervously watching Gu Zhan, swallowing hard but not daring to make a sound, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he fought to hold his composure.

Gu Zhan picked up his teacup and drained it in one gulp, then took the pot from the boy and poured for himself, saying slowly, "Now, may I see your shopkeeper?"

The boy shuddered and stammered, "I...I..."

At that very moment,

a cold, crisp voice rang out from upstairs: "Take this guest to wash up, and call someone to clean the inn. I’ll wait here."

Gu Zhan merely tilted his head, glimpsing the hem of a white robe.

But that voice seemed to steady the boy, who spoke more fluently now, carefully saying, "Please, sir!"

Gu Zhan rose and followed the boy upstairs to a room.

Some time later,

Gu Zhan finally finished washing, changed into clean garments, and after shaving his neglected beard, used a thread of True Essence to dry his damp hair; by the time he stepped out, he was, for once, quite refreshed.

After more than a month on the road,

he had truly felt wretched,

but now he resembled a refined young master out traveling.

The errand boy was a bit stunned on seeing Gu Zhan emerge, but at once respectfully led him to a room at the corridor’s turn.

Passing the landing,

Gu Zhan was a bit surprised; the corpses below had already been cleaned up in such a short time, far faster than those Embroidered Uniform Guards in Linjiang City.

"Shopkeeper, the man is here."

The boy waited respectfully outside the door.

Soon, a voice came from within: "Come in!"

The boy quickly bowed, "Please enter, sir."

Gu Zhan pushed open the door and entered directly,

and at the instant he stepped in, he saw a woman sitting upright, holding a plump white cat in her arms.

Her beauty startled even Gu Zhan,

she wore white robes as light as mist, like drifting between clouds and smoke, appearing twenty or so, skin as pale as snow save for her black hair, her features flawless, and her autumn-watery eyes revealed a touch of indifference toward all things.

Yet what truly stunned Gu Zhan was the breathtaking glimpse of beauty hidden beyond the fall of her robes, feet veiled from sight.

The woman spoke, her tone a bit languid, "The rules of Bu’Er Inn have stood three years, and only today has someone truly grasped what ’seeing just one person’ means!"