Chapter 638 - Vicious Stratagem

Chapter 638: Vicious Stratagem

Ling One started to snigger as he put his hands behind his back, facing the twenty or so people in front of him much like how a tiger would face twenty odd rabbits, “The feeling of being domineering and above all is indeed amazing, right? Oh great noble Song, your luck is indeed fantastic, so is your courage. In the whole of Heavenly Wind Continent, the number of people who have seen my, Tian ZhiYi’s true face, can be counted on one hand. Even your father Song TianQiao did not have this privilege! But to think that you just needed to shout twice and you would get to see all our faces! Just this point should be enough to make you feel proud, do you want us to kneel down in front of you in one line as well?!”

“I… I…” To think that the three mysterious heads of the Sky Alliance would be here! Song Kuang’s eyes rolled as he was beside himself with panic. On his forehead, beads of perspiration the size of yellow beans formed, slowly rolling down. He looked as if he was about to cry at this juncture. Oh my mother, what sort of luck is this that I have to be proud of? I might have good luck, but that’s if you count walking towards misfortune luck! He could practically be considered the number one unluckiest person in the whole of Heavenly Wind Continent!

“Great leader, we know you’re an esteemed and impartial senior. This matter was indeed the fault of our house’s young noble, and we hope that Sire could be magnanimous and forgive this matter. Treat it as our house’s young noble is still young and ignorant, as well as giving the Song Family some face. We will definitely return this favor!” The black-robed elder had no choice but to be thick-skinned and beg for forgiveness. While he knew that the other party would likely not listen to him, he still had to put in the effort.

“Young and impetuous? It can’t be that you’re trying to tell me this kid never tried something like this before?! The Song Family? What a great family, what great face you guys have, tsk tsk, I nearly died from fear.” The person who spoke such sarcastic remarks was naturally Ling Two. Everyone saw him put on a dark expression as he took a step forward and stuck out his chin towards the elder, contemptuously replying, “Old fellow, how about you report your name, so this second master can write it deep in my heart!”

The black-robed elder’s face spasmed in response. He cupped his hands before replying in a low voice, “This one is Dong HongGuo. I greet the Second Head.”

“Graceful Sword, Ding HongGuo. So you’re that brat!” Ling Two let out an indifferent smile, before suddenly raising his voice, “All of you, kneel for this daddy here! Line up in a line and get on your knees, do you understand! Don’t you guys love kneeling in a line? Today, your daddy here will grant you your wish!”

“You!… Second Head, killing people just requires a nod, don’t push us too far!” Ding HongGuo’s wizened face turned bright red, and even his eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Ling Two, his hand already placed on the hilt of his sword.

If he had a choice, he would definitely have chosen to avoid them at all costs. However, now that his identity was that of Song Kuang’s bodyguard, to listen to the other party and kneel down in front of them would make his life a living hell even if he managed to keep his life to return to the Song Family!

“Why is it that only now do you recall the saying that killing only requires a nod and that there is gold under a man’s knees? When your young noble called us to kneel in one straight line previously, why didn’t you speak out?! Aren’t you obviously bullying the weak? The real act of bullying has yet to begin. This daddy here will open up your eyes today, allowing you to understand what it really means by going too far!” Ling Two coldly snorted in response, before his feet moved. With a ‘ka ka’ sound, his right arm suddenly explosively grew out by two feet with no base, clawing straight towards the head of Ding HongGuo. Even while the palm was midway, strong gales caused by the force were already bearing down on them.

Ding HongGuo only shouted out in response, his hair and beard bristling as his sword flew out of his sheath, soaring up to meet the palm. The figures of the two collided repeatedly in a dazzling spectrum of colors, constantly producing loud explosive sounds. It was broken when Ling Two suddenly let out a clear shout, before his body flipped in midair, landing beside Ling One.

Ding HongGuo let out a stuffy groan as he staggered, his arms sagging down powerlessly. His sword slipped out of his grasp and landed on the ground, and a trail of blood slowly seeped out from the corner of his mouth. His face slowly turned pale.

A gleam flashed through Ling Tian’s eyes as he glanced at Ling Two. The latter grinned in return, with a hint of embarrassment on his face.

Ling Tian thought to himself, This old fox really knows how to act. With the experience of Ding HongGuo over his years of interacting with people, he naturally knew that Song Kuang was as good as dead, without a single bit of hope remaining. However, he did not wish to tear apart all pretenses and offend Song Kuang. He also did not wish to die here and even more so be blacklisted with the label of a bodyguard who had failed to protect his owner. As such, he took the initiative to speak before Song Kuang did, allowing Ling Two to take action and injure him so that he could at least control the degree of injuries suffered.

Through his actions, not only would he answer to Ling Two, but would also have completely fulfilled his duty as a bodyguard. Even if Song Kuang died here today, the Song Family could not push any blame to him. If this wasn’t the case, how could he, with his current strength and fame, actually lose to Ling Two in just one exchange even if Ling Two had a higher cultivation? To be able to come to this conclusion after mere seconds, he was indeed someone well-versed in building social relations.

This thinking and mindset would obviously not be picked up by that profligate young noble Song Kuang, but how could he hide from the eyes of Ling Tian?

“Let’s do it based on what you said. A total of 26 people, 52 knees.” Standing at the back, Ling Tian coldly spoke at this time. “I want to see a straight line!”

This was exactly what Song Kuang had said previously! Ling Tian did not change a single word and returned it to him word for word. Hearing the same sentence in his ears, Song Kuang felt as though it was worse than death!

Ling One now opened his eyes, angrily hollering, “Did you not hear that?! All of you come and form up in front of this daddy now! If there’s even a slight crookedness in the line, I’ll cripple all of your legs!”

Ding HongGuo continued to sway on the spot, the blood from his mouth increasing. Suddenly, his body softened, and he crumpled onto the ground. He had clearly fainted.

“Old Fox!” Ling One lowly cursed.

With a few dull thuds, the five guards closest to Ling One could not long withstand the pressure that Ling One brought, and with all their intentions to resist annihilated, their knees buckled and they began to kneel down.

Ling One arrogantly gazed at Song Kuang as he barked, “You! Kneel down!”

“Tian ZhiYi, you might be the head of the Sky Alliance, but my Song Family is not the least bit inferior to your Sky Alliance. You want me to kneel before you? Are you worthy?” Song Kuang angrily spat before he suddenly struck out with his legs, kicking the two guards on his sides towards Ling One. As for himself, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as he broke free from the encirclement of pressure created by Ling One and company at the expense of internal injuries, rushing straight towards the courtyard.

Since matters had turned nasty, he could only escape. Song Kuang knew that the other party would never let him go off scot-free, and this spurred his courage to make a prison break.

“Hmph!” A dull snort filled with immense killing intent suddenly sounded within Song Kuang’s ears. At that same instant, Song Kuang bled from all seven orifices on his face. From mid-air, he froze before dropping downwards. However, his body strangely contorted such that he formed a kneeling position, and landed directly in front of all the Song Family warriors, facing Ling Tian directly.

Originally, Song Kuang had already lost consciousness due to the impact to his psyche caused by the snort. However, the moment he landed he woke up again, screaming in misery before he once again fell unconscious. This was due to the fact that he landed on his knees, which caused them to directly shatter into fragments. However, the mysterious force continued to restrict him, preventing him from falling over.

With this mistake from a predecessor to follow, the rest of the warriors did not dare to resist any longer, immediately kneeling beside Song Kuang in a fearful manner. They carefully arranged themselves into a long line, not daring to even disobey the slightest bit, for fear of angering this malignant star.

“How orderly.” Ling Tian sighed in praise. “Why did this bunch not bother to sign up to be ceremonial troops? This is such a waste.”

“The people from the Song Family have all been captured. May I ask Young Noble as to the plans on how to deal with them?” The three Sky Alliance heads glanced at Song Kuang with unfriendly eyes, as though wishing for nothing more than to chop him up into a million pieces right away. This was because such a trash had actually embarrassed the trio so badly in front of their young noble, and this anger was something which they did not wish to swallow.

“Deal with them?” Ling Tian slightly smiled. He gestured with a finger, sealing up the nostrils of Ding HongGuo so that he actually fainted, before snapping his fingers delightedly at his control. He then continued, “Just slaughter all the guards, and leave our young noble Song alive.”

Ling One jumped in shock, before replying in a low voice, “Yes!”

The trio jumped into action, and soon, 24 of the guards turned into 24 cold corpses.

Ling Tian pinched his nose, as though unsatisfied about the bloody scent wafting through the air. He frowned, “How many sons does Song TianQiao have? Any grandchildren?”

Ling Four replied this time, “Song TianQiao is a treacherous and sinister person, and his sons Song Kuang and Song Ao are cruel and arrogant people. But both of them are still unwed, so I don’t think he has any grandchildren.” He did not understand Ling Tian’s intentions, but as a key figure of Sky Alliance, he would of course have all this information at his fingertips.

“That makes things easier.” A cold and sinister smile surfaced on Ling Tian’s face. “I have two choices for you. The first is to set up a play, allowing the Song Family to think that Song Kuang and his guards were killed by the HuangFu Family. We will allow them to battle it out, and be the fisherman by the side that reaps the profits, swallowing both families later. However, the difficulty in doing this is quite great, and this is only for consideration at the moment.”

“The second method is to also go and capture his second son, and string them up like lambs. Then we will boldly send out the news, telling Song TianQiao that if he wishes to get back his children, he has to pay a ransom, and that is to destroy the entire HuangFu Family. Hmm, the second son is called Song Ao, right? I heard that this guy is my love rival as well. In that case, I lean more towards the second option. I believe there are no questions, right?”

The trio nodded their heads mutely in reply, shivering in fear. Their young noble’s plan… was too evil.

Ling Four replied, “Young noble, should we also give the HuangFu house a beating? The HuangFu Family’s HuangFu YanHan is a two-faced, double-dealing fellow. Just inside Jade River City they have already humiliated and bullied an uncountable number of people. Last year they forcibly occupied a piece of land, even excavating the family’s tombstones. When the village showed minor resistance, they actually killed off the entire population of over 400 people! Even the heavens cannot tolerate them. Because they have had a few dealings with the Sky Alliance, they do not dare to provoke us, but they have also given us quite a bit of trouble…

“Oh, that’s right. There’s still the HuangFu Family.” Ling Tian rubbed his forehead, looking extremely vexed as he replied, “Since that’s the case, then why don’t we just capture the b*st*rds from the HuangFu family too. We will draw a tiger using a cat as a model [1], telling HuangFu YanHan that if he does not wish to be without descendants, then he had better destroy the Song Family. Hmm, that settles it, we’ll let the number two and three places of the Heavenly Wind Continent duke it out while we watch on the sidelines.”

[1] It means to do something purely by imitating, without any originality. In this case, Ling Tian is talking about using the same plans for both families.