At the end of the early morning hours, just as the sky began to brighten, a group of people descended from the direction of Hidden Dragon Mountain.
Shen Chongming and Zhao Tuan heard the commotion, exchanged a glance, and hurried to meet them.
"Uncle?"
As the two approached, they vaguely saw that the person leading the group seemed to be Huang Lin, Shen Chongming called out.
Huang Lin said nothing, silently carrying Huang Qingzhou's corpse past the two of them, and knelt down in front of Shen Wenxing with a thud.
Seeing this scene, Shen Wenxing's heart tightened, he rushed forward to support him and said:
"Brother Lin..."
"Uncle... has passed away..." Huang Lin choked out, seemingly unable to hold back the sorrow in his heart any longer, and began to sob mournfully!
Shen Wenxing's expression instantly froze, he turned his head to look at Huang Qingzhou in front of him, and muttered.
"Father-in-law..."
Shen Chongming, who had caught up from behind, also heard Huang Lin's words, and the Rhino Horn Bow in his hand fell to the ground, tumbling and scrambling to hug Huang Qingzhou, weeping loudly.
"Grandfather!!!"
Tears gushed like a broken dam from the eyes of father and son.
Behind them, other clan soldiers and the village youths also gathered around, feeling heartache as they looked at the elder's corpse.
Ever since the Shen Family established the Martial Arts Hall at Black Water Pool with Huang Qingzhou as the hall master, the villagers of Yunshui Town, whether they had trained in martial arts at the hall or had family members who trained there, had some understanding of him.
Huang Qingzhou was approachable, straightforward, earnest, and was greatly respected by the disciples of the Martial Arts Hall.
Now seeing the elder's sudden death, everyone found it hard to accept.
"Damn Barbarian Race!"
"I want to kill them!"
"Kill them!"
"No waiting, let's go into the mountains to find those bastards!"
Some villagers trained at the Martial Arts Hall were burning with anger and immediately decided to launch an attack to avenge Huang Qingzhou, going into the mountains to seek out the Barbarian Race warriors.
"Everyone stop right there!"
Shen Wenxing suddenly stood up, shouting loudly.
The villagers clamoring to enter the mountain were deterred, turning to look at Shen Wenxing.
"Patriarch..."
Someone was unwilling, wanting to speak.
Shen Wenxing's eyes swept over him coldly.
The person was frightened into immediate silence.
"Brother Lin, please trouble you to take Father-in-law back to the village first. Once we've dealt with the current enemies, I will personally take him home."
He turned to speak to Huang Lin.
"Chongming!"
"You take people to send your grandfather home, Uncle needs to stay and kill the enemies!"
Huang Lin suddenly grabbed the long spear beside him and spoke.
"Brother Lin!"
Shen Wenxing raised his voice significantly, with pleading in his eyes.
Seeing this, Huang Lin was stunned for a long while, and in the end could only nod with hatred, guarding Huang Qingzhou's body along with several villagers as they headed down the mountain towards the village.
In the dense forest on the edge of Hidden Dragon Mountain.
Many Western Wilderness Barbarian Race warriors were agilely shuttling between the mountains and forests, gradually leaving behind the pursuing Shen Family government soldiers.
These Barbarian Race warriors slowly gathered around a young man holding a peculiar great bow, his face tattooed with mysterious runes.
This young man was Alai Gu, who had previously reported to Yang Xun, the Chief Disciple of Hundred Beasts Mountain.
He was also the one who had ambushed Huang Qingzhou earlier.
Alai Gu clearly possessed peak Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer cultivation, and even in a direct confrontation, Huang Qingzhou could not withstand it.
Yet he stood by and watched Huang Qingzhou slaughter his tribesmen, using the lives of his own tribesmen to exhaust the spiritual power of the cultivator.
When Huang Qingzhou let his guard down, he chose to secretly launch an ambush.
"How many people do we have left?"
The east was already showing a hint of dawn, Alai Gu turned to a squat, stout tribesman with short braids beside him and asked.
The short-braided Barbarian Race warrior looked back at the tribesmen behind him, respectfully placing his left hand on his right shoulder as he spoke: "Commander, should be less than two thousand."
Alai Gu listened, his eyes slightly raised, full of resentment.
In this attack on Yunshui Town, he brought a total of five thousand elite tribesmen.
These five thousand were all the assets of their Alai Tribe, and yet they had already lost over three thousand without even reaching Yunshui Town.
"Chief, many brothers died at the hands of that old man from the Shen Family!"
The short-braided man gritted his teeth and said.
Alai Gu's eyes narrowed slightly, he said coldly: "That old man has been killed by my shot."
"We're just about to leave the mountain, tell the men to stay alert, food, women, treasures, and those Spirit Rice and Spirit Medicine are right in front of us!"
"The master has promised that when we return this time, everyone will have a share in the Immortal Fate reward!"
Hearing his call, the Barbarian Race warriors, exhausted from running wildly, suddenly became invigorated with excitement.
"Hold your bows tight, grip your knives, charge with me!"
With another thrilling shout, Alai Gu immediately prepared to lead the charge down the mountain.
But just at this moment, a streak of blue light swiftly shot through the forest behind him.
The next moment!
The blue light sped along, piercing through the Barbarian Race warriors' ranks!
Anything in its path, whether a person or towering ancient tree, was pierced like tofu in the face of that blue light!
One after another, Barbarian Race warriors were slain, with the speed of the blue light remaining unaffected, rushing towards Alai Gu at the forefront of the crowd.
Hearing the commotion, Alai Gu turned around just in time to see the blue light piercing two of his personal guards and closing in on him!
Clang!
The blue light transformed into a long sword, hovering quietly in front of his face, the terrifying killing intent had firmly locked onto him.
A figure slowly walked from the distant jungle.
Those soldiers of the Barbarian Race who had narrowly escaped took a glance at each other and, gritting their teeth, charged forward with their blades!
However, Shen Wen'an's gaze remained fixed on Alai Gu, who was locked onto by the long sword formed by Supreme Profound Sword Qi.
The Barbarian soldiers who charged forward had their curved sabers instantly shattered by the invisible Sword Qi as soon as they reached a certain distance.
Next, their clothes and skin mysteriously showed hair-thin wounds, with a lot of blood oozing from the injuries.
When one of the soldiers rushed up to slash, he unexpectedly found his arm, holding the blade, flying away!
Someone, while running, suddenly felt their body lower and upon turning around, realized that their lower half had been left behind…
As Shen Wen'an stepped forward, with each move, the Barbarian soldiers and the ancient trees alike were all cut down by the invisible Sword Qi!
By the time he reached Alai Gu, all five thousand attacking Barbarian soldiers had been reduced to just Alai Gu.
Gazing at the terrifying scene of rivers of blood and scattered limbs, Alai Gu was filled with horror.
He didn't know who this stern-looking youth in a blue robe was.
Nor did he understand what kind of cultivation the opponent had, that allowed countless invisible blades to silently kill all his tribesmen as the youth merely walked forward!
"Which tribe from the Western Wilderness are you from?"
Shen Wen'an calmly spoke.
Upon hearing this, Alai Gu was immediately terrified!
He realized that the reason the other had spared his life wasn't for any other reason than to find out to which tribe he belonged.
"Are you an Immortal of the Immortal Sect...?"
"Behind us is the Hundred Beasts… Mountain… gu gu..."
Alai Gu wanted to mention the Hundred Beasts Mountain, but before he could finish, a thin red line appeared on his neck!
Soon, a large amount of blood gushed from his mouth, and his life quickly faded.
Having dealt with everyone, Shen Wen'an glanced around to make sure there were no survivors before preparing to leave. His eyes noticed the peculiar Great Bow in Alai Gu's hand.
The Great Bow emanated a faint spiritual power, seeming to be a magical artifact.
Noticing this, Shen Wen'an gestured with his hand, drawing the Great Bow into it.
The bow, smaller than a typical Rhino Horn Bow, was several times heavier, crafted from unknown Beast Bone, with pale red bowstring that seemed like the main tendon of some Demon Beast.
On the side of the pristine, jade-like Beast Bone Bow were three small characters engraved.
Silent Guest.
Is this the name of the bow?
It's quite interesting...
Gently touching the three characters, Shen Wen'an's expression softened slightly as he murmured:
"It will make a perfect gift for Chongming."
...
Outside Black Stone Village, the sun had slowly risen. Shen Wenxing and the villagers had been waiting for nearly two hours, yet the Western Wilderness Barbarian Race was nowhere in sight.
As impatience grew among the crowd, a figure slowly appeared on the mountain path.
"Third Uncle?"
Seeing the person, Shen Chongming shouted.
The rest looked at Shen Wen'an with curious expressions.
Most of them had only heard of Shen Wen'an's name and had almost never seen him in person.
Seeing him now, they found it quite novel and whispered among themselves.
Seeing his brother coming from that direction, Shen Wenxing understood.
The crisis had been averted.
Those Barbarian soldiers who encountered him likely didn't have a chance to reach Black Stone Village alive.
"Liu Fang, have the clansmen return."
"The elderly and children can be brought back too."
He turned to Liu Fang, the Patriarch of the Liu Family, and spoke.
Hearing this, Liu Fang heaved a sigh of relief and beckoned everyone to leave.
"Third Uncle…" Shen Chongming approached Shen Wen'an with a sobbing voice, tears in his eyes: "Grandfather is dead…"
Shen Wen'an was taken aback, and the blurry face of Huang Qingzhou appeared in his mind.
He wasn't particularly familiar with Huang Qingzhou, having only met him a few times over the years.
But he knew that he was his elder brother's father-in-law, his sister-in-law's father, and Chongming and Chonghong's grandfather.
Shen Wenxing also came forward, noticing the Beast Bone Bow in his brother's hand, and said in a deep voice, "All taken care of?"
Shen Wen'an nodded: "None were left."
"Brother..."
Seeing the sadness in his brother's eyes, he wanted to offer some words of comfort but found himself at a loss for words.
"Let's go, our father-in-law's body is still in the village. We need to bring him home."
Shen Wen'an nodded and accompanied Shen Wenxing and his sons to Black Stone Village.
Seeing them return, Huang Lin rose from beside Huang Qingzhou's body.
"Shi Tou…"
"Everyone has been killed by Wen'an." Shen Wenxing softly said: "Father-in-law's vengeance has been avenged."
Upon hearing this, Huang Lin glanced gratefully at Shen Wen'an.
"Brother Lin, let's bring father-in-law home."
Huang Lin nodded, and with Shen Wenxing, carried Huang Qingzhou back to the Shen Family Manor.
"This is the bow that killed your grandfather."
Walking behind, Shen Wen'an looked at the grieving, sobbing Shen Chongming beside him and said.
He didn't know how to comfort someone, but thought the enemy's magical artifact might bring him some solace.
Suppressing his grief, Shen Chongming glanced at the Beast Bone Bow, hesitated for a moment, then reached to take it.
In a sense, this bow was acquired at the cost of his grandfather's life.
Holding the bow, Shen Chongming silently vowed to protect his family with it, ensuring they would never face such a tragedy again.
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