Chapter 55: I gave you a way out, but you chose to walk to your own deaths

"Yang Le? Isn't this the one who killed the young master?"

"How dare he show up and make a move directly? Take him down!"

"Wait, didn't White Phoenix and Black Feather accept the contract to assassinate Yang Le tonight? Why is he still able to appear here?!"

When Yang Le and Li Qier arrived, their movements were subtle, and almost no one noticed their figures emerging from the gloomy alley.

However, as Yang Le stated his purpose and raised his sword to directly execute the two collateral members of the Xue family who had stepped forward to question his identity, it was like a sudden clap of thunder that instantly shattered the surrounding calm. The surrounding crowd stood up one after another, their gazes instantly locking onto Yang Le.

Their expressions were filled with a complex mix of shock, doubt, and astonishment.

They truly could not believe it.

Tonight, on the eve of the funeral of Xue Ting, the eldest young master of the Xue family, Yang Le—the murderer himself, who was also being hunted by hired assassins on behalf of the Xue family—was actually standing right at the threshold of the Xue family estate.

"Master, these people look very shocked."

"It's not surprising that they're shocked. I doubt many could have anticipated this move of mine."

"So, Master, do you plan to strike directly?"

Glancing sideways at the people still frozen in shock, Li Qier looked up at his master. "If we're going to fight right away, I should run a bit further back."

"Scared?"

A trace of a smile appeared in Yang Le's eyes as he looked at Li Qier. "If you were scared, you shouldn't have come in the first place."

"It's not that I'm scared."

Li Qier shook his head, then pointed ahead toward the Xue family estate. "Since it's a wealthy and powerful family, if Master is going to kill people, someone has to help pick up the loot afterwards."

"Understood."

After Li Qier's explanation, Yang Le understood the boy's intention. As he drew his sword for battle, he smiled and said, "Remember to pick things up quickly. Your master's sword is very fast."

"Rest assured, Master. I might not be great at killing people, but following behind Master to scavenge is something I can do without any problem."

"Best be that way."

...

Having finished his brief exchange with Li Qier, Yang Le strode forward, sword in hand.

His pace was unhurried, but as he drew closer to the Xue family estate, the imposing aura emanating from him grew increasingly heavy and oppressive.

At a distance of a hundred meters, Yang Le looked like nothing more than an ordinary youth carrying a sword.

At fifty meters, some of the more sensitive servants and those without any martial arts cultivation could already feel a trace of fatal pressure weighing down upon them from Yang Le.

At thirty meters...

Even martial practitioners within the lower seventh grade could sense an overwhelming, matchless pressure radiating from Yang Le.

At this point, some spectators who had merely wanted to attend the Xue family's funeral to boast about it later when traveling through the martial world could no longer sit still.

Some quietly distanced themselves from the Xue family estate, while others turned around and left without looking back.

At twenty meters...

Yang Le was no longer just a sword-wielding youth who had suddenly emerged from a dark alley.

He resembled a ravenous tiger, his cold gaze sweeping over all those who had yet to depart, locking them firmly in his sight.

"I, Yang Le, only kill members of the Xue family. I will give you all ten breaths of time to leave with your lives."

Just in time, Yang Le had walked up to the grand gates of the Xue family estate, gazing at the wavering crowd before him.

With every breath he took, Yang Le was brewing the sword intent within his heart.

Those ten breaths of time were Yang Le's gift of survival to those unrelated to the feud, as well as the time he needed to accumulate his sword momentum.

"Hmph, Yang Le! The people present today are not just members of the Xue family; over half of the martial factions in Linqing City are gathered here as well. You are simply walking to your own doom!"

"Ha! What a clownish fool! How dare you demand that we retreat without a fight?"

"The Xue family needn't bother lifting a finger. Since everyone came to attend the eldest young master's funeral without bringing any decent condolence gifts, this brat's head will make a fine offering!"

The Xue family was a first-rate power in Linqing City, absolute masters second only to the city prefect.

Even though Xue Ting's death had been sudden, the vast majority of factions in Linqing City had immediately dispatched representatives to attend the funeral upon receiving the news.

In other words, the Xue family estate had gathered virtually all the prominent factions of Linqing City at this very moment.

Yet this fellow named Yang Le not only refused to run away, but actually delivered himself to their doorstep seeking trouble and bloodshed?

In their eyes, such behavior was tantamount to courting death.

No sooner had Yang Le's words fallen than a large number of martial practitioners gathered at the entrance, a dozen of whom fixed intense, murderous glares upon him.

If this Yang Le possessed fourth-grade cultivation, then let alone killing a Xue Ting, even if he had slain Xue Tianlong, the current head of the Xue family, they would have pretended not to see it.

However, Yang Le was merely an obscure martial practitioner with humble sixth-grade cultivation.

Yet he dared to commit such a provocative act under these circumstances.

Naturally, those eager to curry favor with the Xue family would not let slip such a golden opportunity.

"Strike!"

"Kill him!"

"We happened to lack a proper gift for the Xue family, and this brat delivered himself right to our doorstep at such a time. He is simply courting his own destruction!"

At that moment, three dark figures suddenly burst forth from the crowd.

They were high-ranking members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang in Linqing City. Their cultivation was not low—all three were at the sixth grade—making them formidable experts within Linqing City.

Although Yang Le had a growing reputation—with rumors claiming he killed Xue Ting with a single sword stroke and somehow managed to escape from the renowned assassins White Phoenix and Black Feather tonight—none of that changed the fact that Yang Le was nothing more than a sixth-grade martial artist.

Therefore, the three members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang moved to attack immediately.

Their reasoning was very simple: they wanted to capture Yang Le before the Xue family even had to lift a finger.

"The ten breaths have not yet passed, and yet you are all so eager to die?"

As the three Heavenly Tiger Gang members lunged forward, members of the Xue family's main clan also arrived at the gates. However, seeing that others had already made a move against Yang Le, the Xue family members were in no rush to act themselves, choosing instead to stand aside and observe the situation.

Yang Le paid no mind to these newly arrived individuals.

Though the ten-breath limit had not yet expired, since people had come courting death of their own accord, Yang Le saw no reason to spare them.

He drew his sword.

Originally, Yang Le had intended to give them a chance, but at a time like this...

Yang Le understood now: these people were determined to die.

Since they had chosen this path of self-destruction, it no longer mattered whether Yang Le wanted to let them go or not.

Their actions had made their intentions abundantly clear to him.

"Brat! White Phoenix and Black Feather may have failed to kill you tonight, but we of the Heavenly Tiger Gang will certainly take your life!"

Faced with Yang Le charging towards them with his sword, the three members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang showed no fear whatsoever, instead drawing their blades to hack at him.

They truly could not fathom...

Under these circumstances, how dare this Yang Le still draw his sword?