CHAPTER 901: Flaying Alive

At this moment, Sha-t'o could not be more sorry for what he had done to the House of Han. Faced with Han Shuo, an opponent he had no chance of defeating, there was nothing else Sha-t'o could do but make excuses and hope that Han Shuo would somehow believe it was all a huge misunderstanding.

Hill, the Witherbone City Lord, felt a dryness in his mouth as he swallowed his saliva. His heart was beating at an unusually high rate - something that had not happened to him in thousands of years. He knew from the involuntary reactions of his body that this fear was coming from the bottom of his heart. He was afraid that this demon of the House of Han would flatten his Witherbone City and himself.

Hill had previously been informed by Sha-t'o of Han Shuo's terrifying strength. Based on Sha-t'o's description, Hill guessed that Han Shuo should have Late-stage Highgod strength. Hill thought that even if he could not defeat Han Shuo alone, with the help of Sha-to and perhaps other Highgods in Witherbone City, they could take care of Han Shuo without expending too much energy.

But never in a million years did he expect Han Shuo to make another breakthrough. After ascending to the Skybreak Realm, Han Shuo's strength was now far, far greater than that of a Late-stage Highgod.

Even Salas and Wasir, sovereigns who had ruled parts of the Fringe for countless years, were no match for Han Shuo. He could crush an expert of Sha-t'o's level like an ant.

"A misunderstanding, you say?" Han Shuo had unexpectedly smiled. However, Hill and Sha-t'o did not feel better after seeing the smile, it only made their hair stand on end.

"It's really just a misunderstanding. We really want to work with the House of Han. We definitely had no other ideas!" Hill was quite nervous as he said in a trembling voice, "Perhaps the House of Kiaran was lacking in certain aspects, but this is definitely not the intention of our Witherbone City. We are sincere in our cooperation with your family clan. Even this battle was started by your House of Han. I only came here to settle the dispute. I didn't mean anything by it!"

Every Witherbone Divine Guard present could see the nervousness and humility Hill displayed. It was as if their City Lord had been transformed into a respectful servant.

"That's right. Not only did we save the House of Han from Larikson and Hofs, but we also hosted them in our Witherbone City and showed them the warmest hospitality. They have inexplicably killed so many of my family's clan guards, but we've just come here to find out what's going on. It is all a misunderstanding," Sha-t'o added.

Since things had come to this, Sha-t'o and Hill understood that if they were to fight, as the leaders of the army surrounding the House of Han, they would be the first to be killed by Han Shuo. Sensing Han Shuo's overwhelming strength, the two Highgods racked their brains to think of a way to avoid fighting Han Shuo.

"Despicable!" Emily shouted angrily. Then she said to Han Shuo, "Bryan, don't listen to the nonsense of these vicious and greedy bastards. They are here to destroy the House of Han! If you had not arrived in time, they would have destroyed us all!"

"Master, there is nothing to discuss. Let's kill them!" Sanguis's bloodthirsty eyes turned to Sha-t'o before he pointed his blood-red glowing broadsword at him and said, "He has insulted Bollands and every one of our House of Han. We will flay him alive!"

"As you wish," Han Shuo replied.

Then, with a flick of his hand, the dark cloud that he had condensed from his killing intent suddenly fell to the ground, wrapping Sha-t'o in a straight line. Han Shuo made another gesture and Sha-t'o was sent flying. He landed in front of Sanguis, Gilbert and Bollands.

The dark cloud had turned into strands of smoke, boring into Sha-t'o's body like countless little worms, holding back the divine energy in his body. Sha-t'o noticed that his senses had been heightened and he were unable to move.

Hill and Sha-t'o, these so-called experts, were completely helpless against Han Shuo. He had immobilised Sha-t'o without breaking a sweat.

The paralysed and toothless Sha-t'o now lay helpless between Bollands, Sanguis and Gilbert. Bollands, once insulted and humiliated by Sha-t'o, coldly drew a long, slender sword and stepped forward.

Gilbert and Sanguis wanted to join in the killing, but when they saw the cold look on Bollands' face as he approached Sha-t'o, they grimaced and sat back to enjoy the show.

Bollands was calmer than any of them. He could take Sha-to's insult, but that did not mean Bollands held no grudge. In the Han family, Bollands was known for his patience, ruthlessness and vindictiveness. Bollands may not have shown it on the surface, but he had never forgotten Sha-to's insult. He had only waited for the opportunity to exact his revenge.

Sha-t'o watched in silence as Bollands approached him with his sword. He no longer tried to claim that it was all a big misunderstanding, for he knew that no amount of words could change his fate. As patriarch of the House of Kiaran, Sha-t'o was not one to fear death. He sighed and stared at the sky with desperate eyes, resigned to the inevitable.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?" shouted the Highgods of the House of Kiaran when they saw Bollands walking towards their patriarch, captured alive.

These Highgods of the House of Kiaran could also sense the terrifying aura that Han Shuo exuded and knew that they stood no chance. However, having been brainwashed under the House of Kiaran for ages, they would put the prestige of their family clan above all else. They thought of fighting before Sha-t'o was skinned alive.

The five Highgods looked each other in the eye. Suddenly, they shouted in unison and charged at Han Shuo recklessly.

By now, there were thousands of citizens of Witherbone City surrounding the House of Han. Aside from the divine guards of the Kiaran and Hill Houses, there were also experts from all the major family clans who had noticed the great disturbance.

All of them could tell just by looking at Han Shuo's aura how terrifying he was. When they arrived, they just stood there as silent observers instead of trying to be helpful citizens. No one dared to attack Han Shuo as he stood tall above his House of Han.

Of the thousands of gods present, only the five Highgods of the Kiaran family attacked Han Shuo. They were fighting for the prestige that their House of Kiaran had built and grown over the past tens of thousands of years.

Han Shuo turned his cold eyes on the five of them. With one thought, five of his flying swords whooshed out from his nape. They streak across the sky in a flash and appear in the chests of the five highgods.

Han Shuo had very precise control over his flying swords. Instead of flying through their bodies and liquifying them, he made the flying swords stop halfway through their chests. The five dead highgods were dangling in midair.

<i >Drip… Drop…

Blood slowly dripped down from the five bodies hung in midair. The crowd was so silent that the sound of the blood dripping could be clearly heard.

"AAAAHHHH!!"

While everyone had their attention on the five dead Highgods suspended in the sky, a blood-curdling scream jolted the crowd and many of them trembled. Immediately, the crowd turned their attention to the source of the sound.

The person making the screech was the patriarch of the House of Kiaran – Sha-t'o.

Bollands had completely ignored the five Kiaran Family Highgods and completely absorbed in his task. Using the sword Han Shuo had made for him, he sliced through the skin of Sha-t'o's chest with surgical precision - not deep enough to kill him instantly, but just enough to get the job done. Still wearing a calm, indifferent face, Bollands calmly proceeded to rip the skin from Sha-to's chest with his bare hands.

Having your skin ripped from your flesh was, of course, an extremely painful experience. Aside from immobilising Sha-t'o so that Sha-t'o could enjoy the process as much as possible, Han Shuo had also enhanced Sha-to's senses, increasing the sensory input by more than ten times compared to normal.

In other words, the pain Sha-t'o felt was ten times greater than what he would normally feel.

Even the grim patriarch of the House of Kiaran succumbed to the torture. He screamed helplessly in absolute pain and agony.

Sha-t'o was one of the strongest experts in Witherbone City. But there he was, helplessly and inhumanely tortured in front of the crowd, uttering miserable and desperate cries that made everyone's blood run cold.

Thousands of experts from Witherbone City watched. Some found the sight too horrible to bear and bowed their heads. Others gritted their teeth and stared at Han Shuo with bloodshot eyes.

However, no one dared to step forward!

After all, the five House of Kiaran Highgods who had attacked Han Shuo together were still suspended in mid-air. Their blood was still dripping from their dead bodies.

This kind of intimidation was more convincing than any words!

Many of the members of the House of Kiaran who had the urge to stop Han Shuo and save Sha-t'o would immediately give up the idea when they looked up and saw the five Highgods' bodies dangling in the sky. They would swallow their anger and control themselves.

"Bryan, please, let him go, I beg you!" sounded a loud, tearful voice. Li Wei, her hair dishevelled, came to the front after pushing wildly through the crowd.

Li Wei had once visited the Han residence, and many of the Han family recognised her. They knew that Han Shuo and Li Wei were close friends. During the Han family's stay at the Kiaran Residence, Li Wei had always tried to persuade Sha-t'o to stop mistreating the Han family and maintain their friendly relations.

But blinded by greed, Sha-t'o did not bother to listen. Finally, tired of being pestered, he had someone imprison Li Wei. It was only now, after Sha-t'o had been captured by Han Shuo, that one of the divine guards of the House of Kiaran remembered Li Wei's existence. Thinking it might defuse the situation, he hastily released Li Wei from captivity.

Bollands stopped his execution the moment Li Wei appeared. He turned to Han Shuo and looked at him with a curious look, waiting for his command.

Han Shuo glanced at Li Wei. Thinking of what his family had suffered at the Kiaran Residence, he coldly said to Bollands, "Carry on!"

Bollands nodded and continued.

Sha-t'o began to scream again in absolute misery. When Li Wei heard his terrible scream again, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.