The man standing at the head of the hall, toying with a dagger in his hand, asked carelessly, "Speak! Where did you hide those things and the Valley Master Gongsun? And who instructed you to do this? As long as you tell me, I won't make things difficult for your family."
Chen Dahe, enduring the intense pain, struggled to crawl forward. "Sir... your subordinate truly... not..."
"Ah~"
"Ah!" Before he could finish speaking, the man at the head of the hall threw the dagger at a woman beside him.
It was Chen Dahe's newly wed tenth concubine, who was only 15 years old. The dagger struck her directly in the chest. She only managed to let out a scream before instantly losing her life.
The other women in the hall watched in terror at the corpse of the tenth concubine. They covered their mouths tightly, too scared to even breathe heavily.
A subordinate pulled the dagger from the tenth concubine's body, wiped it clean, and handed it back.
The man gazed at the blood-stained dagger in his hand and slanted his eyes at Chen Dahe. "What? Governor Chen still refuses to tell the truth? Your concubines are all as delicate as blooming flowers. It's a shame to see them wither like this, even I feel it's a pity..."
Although Chen Dahe was lustful, he still felt some affection for these women. Seeing the man kill his concubine at the slightest disagreement, he was angered and spat out another mouthful of blood. However, this person was someone close to the master, and he couldn't afford to offend him.
He once again trembled as he answered the man's words. "Sir... I truly don't..."
"You still want to say you don't know? Weren't you deliberately trying to lure this lord away just now? If you genuinely intended to take a concubine, why would you have suddenly ordered someone to help her prepare? Chen Dahe, you have quite the nerve. Not only are you stealing from your post, but you even dared to use me as a stepping stone!" The man's temper flared as he spoke, and he threw another dagger. Read books.
"Ah~"
"Ah! Feng'er!"
"Sister Feng..."
... This time, it was a five or six-year-old girl, Chen Dahe's eldest daughter, who died. The main hall was once again filled with earth-shattering cries and wails.
Su Muqing, from within the space, hadn't expected the man to kill someone with every sentence.
He didn't even spare the children, who were just a few years old... She was too slow to even have a chance to save the little girl! What a heartless beast!
"Wang Bingchang! I told you... I don't know, I didn't do it! I've done so much for the master, even if I don't have merit, I have labor. You can't treat me like this!" Chen Dahe roared at the man with grief and indignation, tightly clutching the small hand of his deceased daughter.
"Merit and labor, I don't know about that. All I know is that people and things were lost under your charge. Furthermore, I sent people to search just now, and there was no such woman as you described. Do you still dare to say this wasn't premeditated?" After speaking, the man signaled to the subordinate beside him.
The man in black quickly finished off a concubine with a single strike. Seeing that Chen Dahe would not speak even to his death, Wang Bingchang figured he wouldn't get any results.
Therefore, he didn't call for his subordinate to stop. The men in black continued, one strike after another. Before long, only an infant in swaddling clothes remained of Chen Dahe's family.
"Wang Bingchang, you eunuch dog who is neither male nor female! Stop... How can you do this to me... I am the master's person, you..." Chen Dahe watched the man step closer to his youngest daughter, struggling to get up.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what an adorable little baby! It's a pity she has such a heartless father! He doesn't care about your life at all." The man squatted down and looked at the female infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. As he spoke, he raised the dagger in his hand, his eyes fixed on Chen Dahe, his threat unmistakable.
Chen Dahe glared at the man with eyes wide with fury, but he was powerless to resist. He could only watch as the dagger was thrust towards his infant daughter.
He had cursed, he had shouted, and finally, he pleaded with tears streaming down his face. "Don't! Please, let her go! She's only three months old, she doesn't understand anything. I beg you to let her go. If you want to kill someone, kill me! Come and kill me. If you treat me and my family like this, the master will not spare you either."
"Hahahaha, the master won't spare me? Did you think I came here to reward you this time?" The man didn't want to waste more words with him and suddenly raised the dagger and stabbed downwards.
"No..."
Just as the dagger was about to stab the infant, a strange gust of wind suddenly blew from nowhere, directly at the man's wrist. The dagger in his hand instantly fell to the ground with a "clang."
"I didn't expect there to be such a master. May I know which renowned martial artist it is? Why not come out and show yourself?" Seeing that the man was injured, the men in black quickly surrounded him for protection.
Wang Bingchang, holding his trembling right wrist, stood up and retreated to his chair. He couldn't help but be surprised. This person possessed profound internal energy and was skilled at concealing his presence. His martial arts were certainly superior to theirs.
When did this Chen Dahe get to know such a powerful individual? Or was this his new master?
After Wang Bingchang spoke, he waited for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. However, the main hall remained silent, not even a mosquito flew in. Could it have just been a coincidence?
He took another dagger handed to him by his subordinate and unexpectedly threw it at the female infant.
As the dagger was about to reach the infant, with a "duang~!" sound, it was again sent flying by a strong internal force.
This time, the entire dagger was embedded deep into a wooden pillar behind, an feat that even decades of internal energy might not be able to accomplish.
"Attack!" Unable to kill even an infant, Wang Bingchang was unwilling. He waved his hands, ordering the black-clad subordinates behind him to attack the infant girl with their swords.
Suddenly? A fierce wind swept through. All the doors and windows in the main hall rattled loudly, and even the tables and chairs were blown out of place.
The strong wind whipped up dust from all directions into the air. The people in the hall were blown off their feet and their eyes were blinded by the wind and dust. They quickly raised their arms to shield themselves from the debris. The infant girl also started crying loudly from the fright.
At this moment! A slender, fair, and tender little hand stretched out from the void. Supporting itself with two fingers, it walked forward as if it were legs.
The fingers walked to the side of the swaddling clothes and poked the infant inside. The crying sound that had been incessant suddenly stopped...
The strong wind suddenly gusted and then abruptly ceased. It came as suddenly as it disappeared, and with a blink of an eye, the main hall returned to its previous tranquility. However, everyone was disheveled by the wind, their faces covered in dust.
Wang Bingchang and his subordinates exchanged glances and quickly turned back-to-back, scanning their surroundings. For the first time, they felt that this magistrate's mansion was eerie and ghost-ridden.
"Where is that child?" Wang Bingchang finally realized that something seemed to be missing from the hall. The infant girl who had been crying incessantly had inexplicably disappeared.
"I don't know! The wind was too strong just now, we didn't see anything!"
"I didn't see her either..."
"With such strong wind just now, perhaps she was blown somewhere and hit her head?"
"We don't hear her crying anymore..."
"Don't worry about her! Kill Chen Dahe first, then set this place ablaze!" Wang Bingchang cursed inwardly. He glanced at the man lying on the ground and quickly walked out of the main hall. This magistrate's mansion was too strange today, it seemed truly unclean.
The black-clad subordinates received the order, plunged a sword into Chen Dahe's chest, and then the group retreated from the magistrate's mansion. Before leaving, they also set a large fire.
The fire spread rapidly. In a short while, the entire magistrate's mansion was engulfed in raging flames.