The Shi Family is No More - II

Inside a half-destroyed mansion, two old men were towering over a middle-aged man who was laying on the floor struggling to breathe. It seemed an invisible force was crushing the middle-aged man to the ground. His right arm was badly damaged; fresh blood was oozing out making a pool of blood surrounding him.

A regal-looking young woman entered the vicinity, followed by another old man. She looked at the man bleeding on the ground and spoke.

"Shi Gang, any last words?"

The man spat back. "Bitch, I curse your nine generations. All of you will die a dog's death!"

"Hehe… that won't be happening. The only one dying like a dog today is you. Oh… and also your brother, I poisoned him just enough to live past midnight." She grinned at him.

Shi Gang started panicking. He twisted and turned in newfound energy to free himself. But the unified Qi force of two late levels of Origin Realm cultivators was too much for him.

"I'll kill you… Aaahhh… I'll drink your blood. Bitch… you ruthless bloodthirsty demon…" He finally lost it. Cuss after cuss escaped from him. Some were so vile to the point even would make a man blush. But the young woman didn't even frown at the obscene use of language. If anything her menacing smile widened by the second. She looked at the two old men who were pushing Shi Gang to the ground and nodded.

The pressure increased without a delay. Shi Gang felt he was crushing under the weight of thousand mountains. And he was not wrong.

Under the heavy force, his yelling was reduced to a groaning than to a whimpering. After another few seconds, even that stopped and the half-destroyed hall was engulfed in silence.

Two elders withdrew their Qi pressures. The lifeless body of the feared patriarch of the Shi family was laying among the debris of the ruined mansion.

"Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder, you two wrap up the situation here. Don't let any upper echelon members escape." Young mistress commanded. "Me and Fourth Elder will visit the tomb on Green Giant."

"Mistress, what about the young master of the Shi family?"

"Hehe… that wimp! Let him off, don't dirty your hands by killing scum. He is so incompetent; he won't even last a day without the protection of his daddy." She gestured at the dead man lying on the floor. "Even Shi Wei is a dead man walking… It would be entertaining to see how that coward would react after knowing his protector is gone. Hehe… Sadly I have better things to do." She faced the two elders. "Pass a message to the other three families, those vultures will take care of the rest of the Shi family. No need to act personally to squash ants. Tell them something believable as an excuse." She waved her hand dismissively. Her behavior was a clear indicator of how insignificant these people's lives were in her eyes.

"As the young mistress wishes." They nodded back.

Next, the Young Mistress Lee along with Fourth Elder left for the Shipyard leaving the two bloodthirsty elders behind. What followed was a massacre. All the upper members of the command chain were killed mercilessly. None left alive. The whole compound was drenched in blood.

---Deep into the Shi family compound---

Every family that inherited a great history maintained an ancestral ground. It was the resting place of the brilliant scions of that family produced throughout history. Other than that it was the place those scions left their inheritances for the future decedents.

Therefore, in a sense, ancestral grounds were dangerous testing places for youngsters of a family. It was their opportunity to explore the ancestral ground. If one managed to acquire an inheritance they would be highly valued by the family. So almost every member of the younger generation craved a chance to enter the ancestral ground. Even though it was threatening enough to cost them their life, they were willing to take that one chance to strive for greatness.

But not everyone appreciated the chances that were given to them. Especially spoilt brats.

"How long do I have to stay in this dull place." Shi Chao threw a stone at a nearby tombstone in frustration. If someone saw that he would be whipped for the disrespect. But luckily or unluckily the Shi family was going through a disaster, and no guards were there to witness his tantrums.

It was more than a week ago that he was sent into the ancestral ground along with his lackeys as a punishment. Rather than taking advantage of the situation, he decided to waste time on the outskirts of the ancestral ground. He had no interest nor courage to explore the place anyway.

"Young master, more than a week passed, we will be out in a few more days." Said Old Wang to Shi Chao's side.

"Few more? Damn." He stomped the ground. "Let me get my hands on that bitch. She's going to regret the day she was born. It's that bitch's fault I'm in this mess. Just you, wait!"

His ever faithful servant jumped in to please him. "Don't worry young master, I know where that whore lives. We'll get to play with her once we're out. She cannot hide from me." He stated proudly.

Suddenly loud steps disrupted the silent surrounding. Shi Chao looked into the distance hopefully.

"Who's that? Does my father finally send someone to take me out?" He thought out loud. They saw a Shadow Guard come running. As they were about to cheer for their upcoming release, they noticed something odd about the incoming figure. The Shadow Guard stumbled like a drunkard.

Their curiosities were answered once the guard reached near. There was a huge wet mark on the figure's chest. The metallic smell in the air confirmed their suspicions. The guard was wounded. Not in a small amount either.

"Bang" The guard stumbled down as he reached them. With shaky hands, the guard removed the cloth mask that covering the face. A deathly pale face of Shi Wei came into their view.

His appearance resembled a sickly dying man. Under his pale skin, black veins were visible. He was poisoned.

Shi Chao cried in alarm and knelt before him. "Uncle! Wha…What happened?"

"Huh… dear nephew, we ran into a problem. We were attacked by the White Overloads!" Shi Wei's voice was weak to the point it was barely audible.

"Overloads? Why do they want to attack us?"

"It's a long story. We don't have time. They will start a massacre. As the last descendant of the Shis, it's now your responsibility to make sure our family survives."

"Last descendant? Fa..father…!" Shi Chao muttered fearfully almost afraid to know the answer.

"He should be dead by now." Tears were threatening to escape from Shi Wei's eyes. But he held them back in the hope not to discourage Shi Chao further. "There were at least three late levels Origin Realms. We couldn't do anything." Then he handed over a pouch. "Take this, this has enough wealth for you to survive."

"Bu…but uncle. Where... where should I g…go?" The sudden impact of the disastrous news left Shi Chao shaken. Shi Wei felt his disappointment toward his nephew increase to a new height.

'How could he not know? Too much of a complacent life made him weak. And we allowed it!'

He felt anger towards himself. But as the dying man he was, he kept his thoughts to himself.

He looked at the two servants that followed his nephew. "We're currently going through a crisis. It's your duty to help the young master to get through this. Your young master treated both of you well. Now is the time to repay. There's a special ship to escape, the young master knows its whereabouts. Help him to get to the ship and escape with him to a faraway place and start fresh." He squeezed out words with huge effort. Even voicing a few words had become tiresome.

Although there was panic hidden deep in their eyes, Old Wand and Boris nodded solemnly. They might be degenerate low lives but at least they were loyal to Shi Chao. That was why Shi Gang and Shi Wei let the young master Shi associate with them continuously.

"Uncle… I… I don't think I can do this!" Shi Chao stuttered. His uncle gripped his arms tightly. Then he spoke cheerily.

"Heh… dear nephew, every time me and my brother ordered you to do anything, you rebelled against us being headstrong. Be like that and make us proud. At least this once."

His words made Shi Chao feel all sorts of feelings. He felt his heart pumping harder and his chest was burning from a sign of newfound courage. His hands curled into fists subconsciously. His face hardened.

"Uncle, I… I will do it." He forced the words out. To which Shi Wei smiled back.

"That's my nephew. You should go now. You don't have too much time."

"How touching!" As Shi Wei encouraged him and wished him good luck a foreign voice cut through the air. All four of them were startled. Their heads unknowingly snapped at the source of the unfamiliar voice.

Nearly a dozen feet away from them stood a dark-clad figure whose dark robe resembled a Shadow Guard. But it was obvious that person was not one. Because the stranger was a youth. No Shadow Guards were youngsters.

"Who's there?" Shi Wei vigilantly asked. His weakened voice became somewhat energetic. He was genuinely confused about the identity of this strange youngster. Even though he didn't know the other three recognized him immediately. The recognition left them god-smacked.

"You…"

"No way!"

"How could you be alive?"

Three fired questions at the same time. They were shocked to see him alive. It was the kid they were used to picking on. The same kid that went missing after their beating.

"What can I say? I'm hard to kill." The youngster said cockily.

"Who is this?" Shi Wei glanced at his nephew wondering how this kid managed to sneak up on them without him noticing.

"It's the kid I used to beat up. Because of that, I was put under house arrest. Later he went missing. Kayson... That's his name." Shi Chao uttered in an offended tone.

Before Shi Wei reply it was Boris who jumped in pointing a finger at Kayson.

"Kid what are you doing here? How did you get to the Shi family's ancestral ground? Do you have a death wish?" He neared Kayson aggressively with each word. He stopped in front of Kayson and pressed his pointed finger repeatedly on Kayson's chest fearlessly.

And he had no reason to be afraid of the kid they had beaten up so many times.

Without a warning, Kayson's hand moved at a lightning speed, except for the only Origin Realm cultivator Shi Wei others only saw a blurry streak.

Shi Wei was flabbergasted. He instantly realized the youngster was a cultivator and a powerful one at that. It might be the reason why he didn't feel the youngster's presence. He suddenly felt an ominous feeling, as if something bad was about to happen.

"Argh…" Kayson's hand was tightly grabbed onto Boris's neck, and his hand was not bare. He was wearing a dark metallic claw, the signature weapon for Shadow Guards. The sharp tips of the claw gradually sunk into Boris's neck under their gaze. Blood poured out like a spring. But the claw didn't stop, it constantly tightened around his neck.

Meanwhile, Boris tried everything he could do to get away from the devilish grip. He kicked, he punched as hard as he could while using his rapidly declining strength. Even though the attacks connected there was no effect. His enemy remained unfazed. And more importantly, his attacks did no damage to Kayson's body. It was like he had lost the ability to inflict damage on the person they were used to picking on.

It didn't cross his mind it was not he lost his ability but Kayson had upgraded himself to the point his pathetic attacks were no longer effective against Kayson. He was futilely twisting like a wounded snake. The only thing that did was the claws sunk in more.

"Glag… Glag…" Boris started choking on his blood. The scene was so gruesome and gory, it made them feel sick in their stomachs. But what made them most uncomfortable was the pure smile on Kayson's face. He was smiling! Just like a kid who got his favorite candy. That pure joy he felt while choking someone's neck struck fear in their hearts.

"Crush… Gush…" A crushing sound came followed by a disturbing squash sound. Boris's body became still. Dead. Within seconds. In a gruesome manner. Kayson pulled his claw. Another horrifying scene followed.

More than half of the neck flesh came ripped out making a disgusting sound. "Bang." Without any support, the body fell to the ground. Its head bent backward at an unnatural angle and rested on the shoulders.

All the three Shi family members couldn't take their eyes off their lifeless member's body. That was the tipping point for young master Shi. He couldn't control his guts anymore.

"Blah…" All the food he stuffed in was gone.

"Tch… what a baby. You're just like my late slave Eric. So sensitive." Kayson shook his head. The calm way he talked with blood drenching human flesh in his hand created a terrifying menacing aura around him.

Among the three Shi members, Shi Wei suddenly picked up on what he said.

"Eric…? Slave…? Wh… what do you mean?" His voice was shaky and weak; the poison was already wreaking havoc in his body. With every second his end loomed closer.

Kayson threw a teasing look at Shi Wei before adding. "Oh… someone's suspicious! Being this focus even on your death bed. Admirable!"

"Tell… me damn it… which Eric was that." His breathing became harder and he was already drenched in sweat.

"Huh… yes, it was the same Eric you're thinking about. That parchment. It is me who planted it." He walked near him and bent forward to make his words more striking.

"Bu… but why?"

"You should've controlled your nephew if so this wouldn't have happened." He said as if he was disappointed at Shi Wei's conduct. "You see; I cannot do anything to you people openly since I have to keep my identity hidden for some reason. So I had to pass the matter of dealing with your family to someone else. And who is better than your owners to tame you, people."

He paused a bit and then proceeded. "I have to be honest though, I was just hoping to stir up some trouble with that parchment, but the Lee family is more tyrannical than I initially thought. They didn't leave anything for me to do. Only cleaning up scum like this was left to me." He gestured at panic-stricken Shi Chao who was frozen in fright.

"No… no… it can't be…" He muttered unintelligently. He suddenly snapped at Old Wang. "Take young master and ru…" His words stopped in mid-sentence. The old man Wang was already running away with his tail between his legs. In the face of a psychotic killer, all his loyalty seemed to be evaporated.

"Wang where are you running… you cowa…" He was again rudely interrupted as something moved so faster near him.

As he looked to his side, he saw a painful scene. Shi Chao was struggling to breathe. Same as Boris did before. And same as before a bloody metallic claw was already sinking into his neck.

He couldn't do anything than lay there helplessly looking at his suffocating nephew. He didn't even have an ounce of strength in his body. No matter how much he struggled he couldn't muster any strength.

"Crack" The crushing sound came he looked away and tightly closed his eyes in pain. Both physically and mentally. "Bang." He hazily heard something heavy drop on the ground. He didn't have to look to know what it was. Then the next moment he felt someone move near him and towering over him. That time also he didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Finish it!" He muttered under his breath. There's no point in living anymore. The Shi family is no more. So there's no reason for him to exist anymore. The only thing he could do was to ask for a quick death from his enemy.

"Gladly." Kayson raised one of his feet above the ground a silvery energy swirled around his leg creating tiny crackling sounds in the air. In the next moment, his leg recoiled and stomped down heavily.

"Crack…" His energy-wrapped leg pierced through the half-dead man's neck, snapping and crushing it to bits. Blood splashed everywhere, creating intricate patterns of a crimson painting. Kayson looked at the gruesome scenery he produced and smiled!

The She family, which dominated the Blue Green star system for three consecutive centuries ceased to exist, just like that.

'The Shi family is no more!'

Kayson picked up the pouch held by Shi Chao. It was filled with gold coins. Even a little bit of money is still money. "Thank you. I'll use this to buy me a victory drink." He put them away into his space storage.

"Let's go I cannot be late for the meeting… But before I go I have an old goat to hunt." He smirked in the direction old Wang ran away.