Chapter 374: Chapter 363: Revenge
Fengyu’s eyes were bloodshot as she snatched Fang Lingjun’s longsword and lunged it toward Lin Cheng. Lin Cheng looked at her disdainfully, casually swinging his own sword to deflect Fengyu’s strike.
Lin Cheng’s gaze was haughty and mocking as it flicked to Su Ming’s lifeless body on the ground. "Overestimating yourself. Men, capture Fengyu alive!"
At his command, the soldiers surged forward, aiming for Fengyu. Fang Lingjun wiped her tears away and grabbed Fengyu by the arm, pulling her away. Fengyu continuously glanced back at Su Ming’s lifeless form on the ground as the bodyguards blocked the pursuing soldiers, allowing them a chance to escape.
"Ayu, we will survive!" Fang Lingjun’s voice was fierce, her resolve unshaken. She recalled that moment in the Xiyanshan Mountains, where they had also fled for their lives hand-in-hand. "I will protect you."
The soldiers from Yangzhou, numerous and relentless, soon caught up to them. Both Fang Lingjun and Fengyu were slashed by blades and kicked to the ground. Three soldiers closed in on them, each step intimidating. Fang Lingjun spread her arms wide to shield Fengyu, her voice cold and cutting: "I am the daughter of the Grand Princess and Fang Lian, a relative of the Imperial Family! If you dare to kill me, you will doom nine generations of your own families!"
Fang Lingjun, from her childhood until now, had never used her royal lineage as leverage—whether against Lin Yu Yan whom she detested or during conflicts with the noble ladies in the Capital City. Not once had she relied on her Imperial status to threaten others.
After witnessing Yuwen Jing’s regicide and subsequent ascension to the throne, she had only felt shame toward her royal ties. Yet, birth was beyond her choosing, and she had been raised within the privileges that the Imperial Family provided. Unable to sever her flesh from her bloodline, she had always borne it silently. Her journey to Jiangnan had been an escape in every sense.
But to save Fengyu, she had to wield her royal status as a weapon.
Lin Cheng approached them slowly, his longsword in hand dripping blood onto the ground. The sky, thick with ominous clouds, rumbled with thunder. The soldiers parted to create a corridor. Lin Cheng, expressionless, fixed his gaze on Fang Lingjun.
"Miss Fang, you are truly troublesome," Lin Cheng said, his voice icy. In his eyes, Fengyu saw a murderous intent that made her spine tingle. Lin Cheng continued, "I bear you no personal grudge and have no desire to kill you. The only fault lies in your poor choice of friends. Tonight, amidst Yangzhou’s chaos, how many noble scions and esteemed daughters have fallen victim to rebel hands? The Grand Princess and Marshal Fang will surely avenge you!"
"Lin Cheng, you..." Fang Lingjun’s voice trembled. She couldn’t believe he had descended to such madness. Just as Lin Cheng pointed his longsword toward Fang Lingjun, intending to kill both her and Fengyu with a single strike, a sword flew from the direction of the dock, aiming straight for Lin Cheng’s face. Lin Cheng’s brows furrowed in surprise as he dodged, the sword driving into the ground with a weighty hum.
Fengyu’s eyes lit up with joy as she recognized the unmistakable hilt of the sword. She turned quickly, and there he was—Xie Xun riding a sleek, jet-black warhorse that charged forward with lightning speed. Dressed in dark armor, he appeared like a Heavenly God descending to the mortal realm. Under the roiling black clouds, accompanied by thunder and lightning, Xie Xun stormed into Yangzhou, galloping into the battlefield. Fengyu’s eyes brimmed with tears. Xie Xun’s gaze briefly landed on the battered Fengyu before passing her by. One man, one horse—he swept past them, bringing a wave of icy wind. Xie Xun retrieved the sword embedded in the ground with a swift motion.
"Lin Cheng—prepare to die!"
Leaping off his horse, Xie Xun brought his longsword down on Lin Cheng. At the sight of Xie Xun, Lin Cheng’s chest tightened, his face paling. His reaction slowed by a mere moment, he was struck and wounded by the force of Xie Xun’s Sword Qi.
Lin Cheng gritted his teeth. "Xie Xun, you traitorous rebel! How dare you ride into Yangzhou alone!"
"Because even Heaven knows that today is the day you die!" Xie Xun shouted, his voice thunderous, as the two clashed in a fierce duel. The three soldiers who tried to intervene were quickly cut down by Xie Xun. Despite having trained in martial arts since childhood as a member of the Forbidden Army, Lin Cheng was no match for Xie Xun. He faltered step by step. Blade met sword again and again, producing a cacophony of screeches and sparks. Gripping Fang Lingjun tightly, Fengyu retreated to the side with her, afraid of hindering Xie Xun.
After a dozen exchanges, Lin Cheng began to stagger, his exhaustion palpable. Defeat loomed over him. "Men, Xie Xun is here—summon reinforcements immediately!" he shouted in desperation.
But Xie Xun had already read the fear in Lin Cheng’s heart. His hawk-like eyes burned with ferocity. The icy wind accentuated his killing intent. Lin Cheng was instrumental in the annihilation of the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion, his role critical in engineering subtle and deadly traps—from ambushing the streets of the Capital to crafting the Beiman red-sand arrows. And now, here was Lin Cheng, isolated and helpless before him in Yangzhou.
This head was his to claim.
"King Yan demands your life tonight, Lin Cheng. No one can save you now!" Xie Xun roared, his blood boiling with rage. Yielding his sword with blistering power, his strikes aimed to kill from the very first move.
In his eyes, Lin Cheng might as well have been a Beiman soldier.
The Xie Family’s Swordsmanship was elegant to the point of fanciful, seemingly unsuited for the battlefield. Yet, all four Xie men of Marquis Zhenbei’s household mastered it to perfection, their lethality unquestionable on the frontlines. Lin Cheng lost the psychological battle from the start—his movements betrayed his unease. Although they had never crossed swords before, Lin Cheng had always known he could never beat Xie Xun. Aside from Fang Chuning, no one in the Capital could last a hundred moves against Xie Xun’s blade.
Xie Xun’s attacks were swift and ruthless, his wielding of the sword so precise it seemed like a butcher’s cleaver—no flair, just overwhelming might. Lin Cheng was quickly reduced to a bloody mess, deep gashes on his legs and abdomen exposing bone and flesh.
A vicious kick from Xie Xun sent Lin Cheng sprawling onto the ground. When Lin Cheng scrambled to his feet, Xie Xun was already upon him, his longsword slicing open a gory wound across Lin Cheng’s chest. Lin Cheng let out a guttural scream as he tumbled to the side, rising again with pitiful effort. His hands nearly trembling, he planted his sword onto the ground for support, fresh blood dripping down the blade.
Lin Cheng’s cries had barely faded when another glint of steel lashed out. He raised his sword to defend, only to feel his wrist go numb—Xie Xun’s strike sent Lin Cheng’s longsword flying. His arm was nearly severed in the process.
"Xie Xun, you lunatic! Kill me if you must, but just do it cleanly!" Lin Cheng bellowed, equal parts despair and fury. He knew there was no escaping the shadow of Xie Xun’s vengeance. His body was covered with over a dozen wounds from Xie Xun’s sword.
Xie Xun did this on purpose.
"My eldest brother died pierced by a thousand arrows. What are your measly scratches compared to that?" Xie Xun loomed over him, his gaze as dark and oppressive as the stormy skies. In his eyes, there was no triumph—only cold fury. "Yuwen Jing may be a scheming scoundrel, cruel and vile, but the execution was your handiwork. The red-sand weapons, the ambush in the streets—they were all your doing. You envied my eldest brother. Killing him, did it bring you satisfaction?"
Lin Cheng’s weapon lay far from his grasp, but he continued to stall, hoping desperately for the Yangzhou soldiers to arrive. Xie Xun was only one man. If help came, Lin Cheng might yet live.
"Xie Zhixu, your hatred is misplaced. If anyone deserves your wrath, it is your Marquis Mansion—your family, proud and arrogant, who held no respect for the throne. Negotiations with the Beiman should have been left to the Emperor and the Beiman leaders, yet you and Xie Jue clung to power jealously, unwilling to relinquish control. At Xiyanshan, you pressed them relentlessly. The Yuwen Imperial Family is sovereign, and you are but ministers. When the sovereign commands the minister to die, the minister must obey! But you and your father dared oppose both the late emperor and the current ruler. When Xie Jue was blinded, you even wanted to send Princess Huazhen to marry the Beiman. Why wouldn’t the late emperor cough up blood in rage? You were a family too powerful for any emperor to tolerate. Killing the Marquis Mansion was a necessity to reclaim Imperial authority. Your father fell, but there was always Xie Zhang. And you, along with Xie Jue, are no saints. Who would spare you?"
Fengyu listened in disbelief. Lin Cheng had lost his mind.
He was venomous. And deranged.
The thunder boomed, his voice manic and unrestrained as he vented everything bottled up inside him. "I, born to the noble lineage of the Lin Family, would have had a bright future. I should have been building alliances with my peers, rising to power together. But because of Xie Jue, I was ostracized, rejected by Fang Chuning and the rest. No one dared align themselves with me, treating me like the plague. I, a rightful scion of a noble house, ended up worse off than a commoner! Yet, I climbed my way upward, step by painstaking step. I’ve proven myself better than all of them! The Xie Mansion forced the Lin Family to align with the throne. Your Second Brother’s arrogance and narrow-mindedness brought calamity upon your house. I made the red-sand arrows. I orchestrated the Kyoto ambush. I only regret that I didn’t kill all three of your Marquis sons that day. Hahaha... Xie Zhang, the best archer of Yanyang—what irony it was that I was the one to pierce his heart!"
"Lin Cheng!" Xie Xun roared with rage, and his sword came down with unyielding force. Lin Cheng, having lost all will to resist, was slashed dozens of times. The final strike drove straight into his heart. "Then go now! Kneel before my father and brother, and atone for your sins in the underworld!"
With the blade embedded in his chest, Xie Xun gave a fierce tug, pulling it free. Blood gushed, and Lin Cheng crumpled to the ground. This enmity, at last, came to an end.