A nasty run-in with the Xiao Clan (2)

"Why did you kill the Xiao Clan's Fourth Young Master!?"

The roar echoed across the Peaceful Road, dispelling the last vestiges of grief and mourning from the three elder's and the young lady's countenances.

The three elderly men stepped forth to shield the figure of the young lady from additional harm, and one of them narrowed his eyes as he stared in the direction of the young girl.

"This Young Lady here," he spoke with a clear voice dripping with visible anger and righteousness.

"You need to give our Xiao Clan an explanation! Why, why did you slaughter Xiao Cui as though he were nothing but a pig!?"

The hazy fog generated by the aftermath of an intense agony and pain obscured anyone's vision, causing their scalps to tingle with unease and hesitation.

The thirty men, three elders, and one young lady awaited with bated breath as they bored holes into the murky, obscured figure of An Fei with rage-filled eyes.

"He wished to rape me; an action blasphemous to the holy covenants of the heavens."

A charming voice that tugged at the heartstrings of the listeners swept through the streets with an indifferent tone, and the male listeners vividly lost their expressions for several breaths as they indulged themselves in the vocal pleasure.

As the men momentarily gave themselves into the lust of appreciating beauty, the young lady took a step forth until she stood level with the three elders, her countenance besmirched with wrath.

"He is of the Xiao Clan!" she roared with a hot voice.

"If he wishes you as a concubine, then you must become his concubine! Before the Xiao Clan, even the heavens must oblige – who cares about the holy covenants!?"

"Then the Emperor of Great Yong is his servant, and the Empress Feng Yu Hong warms your Xiao Clan's beds?"

The young girl raised an eyebrow as she tossed a bemused reply towards the blithering young lady, her countenance fighting hard to suppress her laughter.

An Fei toyed with the cool hilt of a butterfly sword, her mind wandering towards the lotus petal stuck in her hair.

…although, would Feng Yu Xin manage to repress herself from butchering the Xiao Clan of Bone Spirit Town if they heard their slander?

"You!" the young lady stamped her foot in speechless anger, allowing her mind to be further clouded by her inbred arrogance and grief over the loss of her raucous but fairly loyal younger brother.

"Young Lady, though you may have suffered a minor mishap from Xiao Cui, you must offer my Xiao Clan an explanation for your actions."

The elder on the left stepped forth, his eyes suffused with a calculating glint with an underlying tinge of lust.

The old man cleared his throat, his fingers cautiously stroking his brow as he once attempted to pierce through the hazy fog arbitrated by the sadistic moon.

"Offer your Xiao Clan an explanation?" the young girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"I have to offer your Xiao Clan an explanation for nearly being raped by your promiscuous and lust-filled youngster?"

"Ahem!" another elder appeared to have caught onto his compatriot's scheme, his lips tinged with a knowing smile as he carefully assuaged the young lady's grief.

"This Young Miss, you don't fully understand the circumstances, I now fully realize. Obtaining such a favor would net you a wonderful future as a member of our clan, but you must realize that your current actions warrant a full war against my Xiao Clan."

"I give the Young Miss a choice; if the Young Miss were to surrender obediently, then the repercussions would be much more restrained. However…"

"If I were to crawl over and submit my head, my body would be violated to the depths, and then killed without even knowing how or when, no?"

An Fei released a cold laugh.

"My apologies, but the trustworthiness of your small clan can't be trusted when your arrogance trumps the Emperor, ah!"

"Don't reject the offer to heaven, and fall into the depths of hell!"

The young lady found her ability to speak once more, and thoroughly lashed out unto the young girl with her words.

Though her expression was obscured by the dense net formed by the hazy mist, An Fei was certain she appeared no more than a rabid fool with an impudent smirk on their countenance.

"Why should you decide whether I should go to heaven or to hell?" the young girl chuckled in mockery.

"Do you have personal connections with Meng Po? Perhaps the Black or White Impertinence, or even the King of Hell himself?"

"You!"

The young lady's countenance flushed at the obvious snide within An Fei's words, and she nearly rushed into the mist to avenge her fallen sibling.

The elders narrowly held her back, though their amicable disguise was no longer on display, their malicious gazes and smirks firmly pasted on their faces.

"Young Lady, you've already been offered a chance by my Xiao Clan," the elder in the middle stated with a tinge of pride.

"Thus, for everything that occurs now, you can only blame your sorry fate!"

The three elders gestured towards the platoon of thirty soldiers behind them to fall into action, and the old men fell back into a triangular arrangement, spiritual essence broiling to an agitated fury within their bodies.

The thirty men charged at the hazy mist, their weapons blindly jabbing forth as though to sunder an invisible enemy.

"Huh? Only a smokescreen?"

The first powerful man stepped through the barrier of mist without any difficulty, his armored boot striking onto the cobbled stone ground on the other side.

His eyes landed onto the mysterious figure that had successfully taunted the three elders of the Xiao Clan, and the virile man couldn't suppress his urges from leaking out.

A delicate, short young girl stood away from him at a distance of fifteen meters.

Her hair hung towards her waist, swaying gently with the tune of the night breeze.

Though her appearance was merely average and plain compared to the sparkling beauty of the Xiao Clan's Young Miss, Xiao Yue, the powerful man couldn't help but gulp.

The sheer innocence captured within the pair of scarlet irises!

The delicate shape and curves of the body that couldn't be concealed behind the linen coat regardless of how large it fit compared to her body!

As well as the large handle-less blade that was piercing into his neck!

Wait…

The powerful man's eyes glazed over in clueless surprise as he faced the length of an angered steel sword stripped of its handle, and his head clattered onto the stone ground with a soft plunk.

The body with bulging muscles remained standing for a brief moment, before similarly collapsing at its joints.

The remaining twenty-nine members of the personal troops underneath the Xiao Clan of Bone Spirit Town broke through the barrier of fog, only to stop at their tracks upon realizing the condition of their leader.

Fifty-eight eyes froze with shock at the figure of the young girl standing before them, but their attention was focused on what was before her.

A steel sword guarded An Fei as though a loyal sentinel, the blade plain and utilitarian to the eye. Nonetheless, that was the least of the men's concerns.

It was hovering in the air!

…and scarlet inscriptions were glowing along the length of it's blade!

That kind of ability – such a miracle could barely be sustained by the three elders if they gave it their all, but this young girl didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat!?

"What's going on?"

The three elders and a young lady rubbed at their chin with perplexed expressions, their eyes flickering with doubt as they attempted to gaze at the eternally damned barrier of hazy mist.

Their hearts fluctuated with confusion as they searched for any traces of the troops that had rushed beyond the misty barrier.

Why was it quiet?

Even if the young girl could fight, they should be able to capture a glimpse of it – since they were cultivators, right!?

On the other side of the sham of a barrier, An Fei tilted her head at the appearance of a mass crowd of powerful men in their twenties and thirties.

Each wore a full set of armor cast of iron and plated with an unusual insignia upon their breastplate.

Furthermore, they grasped a menacing polearm in their hands that spanned a total length of two meters, with a fully-developed sword sheathed at their waists.

Compared to the meter-length swords, her twin butterfly swords appeared to be nothing more than tiny hunting daggers…

"…it's only be more interesting this way, ah."

The young girl revealed a dazzling smirk as she surveyed her first human opponents since she appeared at the Shattered Star Continent.

An Fei's hands drooped to rest against the hilts of the twin butterfly swords, her mind concealing a crafty smile.

The sensation was similar to her experience back at that world, when she was hunted by every living person and organization.

She had survived through hundreds of circumstances that spelled her death each time…

But tonight, she was the predator!